Anti-imperialism and the left

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- zeca
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Anti-imperialism and the left
OP - November 17, 2019, 02:40 PM

Podcast discussing the problems with the approach of a large part of the left to anti-imperialism and how this plays out with the rise of social media.

https://soundcloud.com/arabtyrantmanual/episode-033
Quote
In September, Ahmed spoke to Joey Ayoub, Lebanese writer and researcher, about tankies, genocide denial, red-brown alliances and the uncomfortable affinity between large parts of the political left and authoritarianism.

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- zeca
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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #1 - December 05, 2019, 09:00 PM

Thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/arash_tehran/status/1202393818324242432
Quote
I am seeing the distribution of a disturbing Tankie letter, essentially against #IranProtests (with a lot of 'anti-imperialist' phraseology of course) signed by a lot of big names in academia.

Let them write their letters. The Iranian people will not forget or forgive.

Thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/joeyayoub/status/1202541823589339136
Quote
so much of academia has become a self-perpetuating network of narcissists who couldn't be bothered with how other states work and how other states repress people. It's not difficult to oppose the sanctions without throwing actual protesters under the bus. It really isn't.

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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #2 - December 08, 2019, 12:00 AM

https://mobile.twitter.com/KamranMatin/status/1203215380635893760
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This text is signed by some highly respected figures but deafeningly silent on 100s of protesters killed by #IRI. Is recognising that anti-imperialism & opposition to #Iran's neo-fascist theocracy aren't mutually exclusive so difficult?

It is such declarations and stances pronounced by leftists that have brought the left to political disrepute for large sections of non-Western subaltern classes and intellectuals. Radical politics is not reducible to abstract anti-imperialism

It's the abandoning, or even implicitly opposing, Iranian protesters by forces that ought to be their natural allies that is likely to make them susceptible to imperialist plots.

It's high time the left articulated a genuine, radical internationalism that's not beholden to the Cold War era binary politics which is partially, if not largely, responsible for the current disastrous situation in Middle East and the global south more generally.

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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #3 - December 08, 2019, 07:43 PM

Mina Khanlarzadeh - anti-imperialism as an intellectual trap
Quote
The petition pretends to know what Iranian people want: “The majority of the Iranian people do not seek regime change because they have already lived through two monumental events that destabilized their lives […] Iranians seek economic and political stability, […]. We stand by them and their calls for domestic reform [….]” The petition claims Iranians want stability, but who are these Iranians who want stability? It’s certainly not the protesters who shouted for the fall of the dictator (Ayatollah Khamenei) in the streets and actually destabilized the country by forcing the government to use maximum force to silence them and to the surprise of the petitioners, kill more than 200 of them. The violent politics of stability has, in fact, been employed by the government to silence any cry for transformation towards improvement.

The petitioners must explain how they arrived at the demand for stability from the images and videos coming out of Iran, and on what basis can they represent the needs and demands of the protesters if it is not based on the stories told by protesters themselves in their actions and words. Can Iranians want anything other than stability? The petition does not even attempt to understand what has happened in Iran. Instead, it puts words into the mouth of Iranians, and dictates them their desires; it is infantilizing and even civilizing. But how do the petitioners know better than those putting their lives on the line, daring to think, speak and act in ways that challenges the status quo?

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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #4 - December 10, 2019, 05:41 PM

https://mobile.twitter.com/KamranMatin/status/1204141621555728384
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The ill-thought-out 'Letter Against US Imperialism' seems to have been withdrawn and is no longer available, which is good news.

https://mobile.twitter.com/libcomorg/status/1204436027781320705
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Since the last time I checked, it looks like that incredibly bad open letter, signed by a mixture of some horrible people and some who I was really surprised to see on there, may have been withdrawn. If that's the case, then this is a good development.

https://mobile.twitter.com/OoryadS/status/1204439912717672448
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Also, particularly awesome when you realize she (Davis) and some others withdrew after receiving emails from Iranian leftist activists.

https://mobile.twitter.com/joeyayoub/status/1204437432894136323
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I contacted one of the signatories who defended signing it, but not too confidently I found. Others contacted others who progressively started removing their names.

I have a strong feeling a lot of the signatories didn't fully read the text.

The text of the letter can still be read here.

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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #5 - December 10, 2019, 06:20 PM

Quote from: zeca on December 10, 2019, 05:41 PM
https://mobile.twitter.com/KamranMatin/status/1204141621555728384
https://mobile.twitter.com/libcomorg/status/1204436027781320705
https://mobile.twitter.com/OoryadS/status/1204439912717672448
https://mobile.twitter.com/joeyayoub/status/1204437432894136323
The text of the letter can still be read here.

May be some Iranian old communist guy of 1980s read what happened to communists in Iran after that Khomeini revolution.

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81B00401R000500110001-7.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/05/world/iranians-dissolve-communist-party.html

Do not let silence become your legacy
I renounced my faith to become a kafir,
the beloved betrayed me and turned in to a Muslim
- zeca
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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #6 - January 11, 2020, 09:54 AM

Iran brings down an airliner, what the anti-imperialists had to say: https://mobile.twitter.com/libcomorg/status/1215923430454894594

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- zeca
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Anti-imperialism and the left
Reply #7 - January 11, 2020, 10:19 AM

Thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/BigDrag56311887/status/1215911544032120832
Quote
@IlhanMN sharing that defamatory article against @AlinejadMasih reminds me of the left’s failure to stand with those who are truly marginalized...

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Topic: Anti-imperialism and the left

zeca

OP - November 17, 2019, 02:40 PM

zeca

Reply #1 - December 05, 2019, 09:00 PM

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Reply #2 - December 08, 2019, 12:00 AM

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Reply #3 - December 08, 2019, 07:43 PM

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Reply #4 - December 10, 2019, 05:41 PM

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Reply #5 - December 10, 2019, 06:20 PM

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Reply #6 - January 11, 2020, 09:54 AM

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