Angry White Kid

Closing up and moving on

800 posts. 2,943 comments. 481,261 pageviews. It is time to move on.

As I alluded to in my post below, I no longer feel this blog fits me. So I've started a new one, called Falling Into Incandescence, over at www.fallingintoincandescence.com. If you're interested, please join me over there. This site will no longer be updated or maintained (not that it really has been in the past few years).

As this is just a transition, I won't be writing a farewell or final reflection. As always, anyone who spends any time here has my thanks. I hope you may find something of similar worth at the new site. Take care and be well.

Reorienting and debranding

And I promise to learn to love the way I've learned to fear
To unknot all the inhibitions tangled in my hair
To let my ego mound in piles around the barber chair
And make a graceful exit from my vexed and troubled years

- Saul Williams, Sea Lion

I open up Facebook or Twitter and immediately get hit by a battering ram of bad news. My social media feeds are seeing red. Once notifications or messages are tended to, I close the pages almost as quickly as I open them.

Up until a few months ago, I would have been spending much of the day online, tweeting and posting alongside my virtual comrades. Now, I cannot afford to engage in that activity.

There is a reason. For the past two years, I’ve been in an intense struggle to address a life-threatening condition. Something that has very nearly killed me. I’ve tried many different methods of treatment, and feel through much work and assistance I have arrived at an approach that, with vigilance, will hopefully keep the disease in remission.

Part of that approach has to do with me assessing the activities I’m involved in and engaging in those which are more true to myself as I’ve come to understand myself during these past two years.

Save Yarmouk - Salva Yarmouk - Salve Yarmouk

English

ISIS has invaded Yarmouk refugee camp in cooperation with Al Nusra front after clashes that lasted for a few days. This happened after two years of continuous siege imposed by the Syrian regime and its collaborators. The camp is completely ignored and neglected by both official and non-official bodies, leaving the inhabitants of the camp and its defenders without any support.

Residents of the Yarmouk camp are still showing a steadfastness as they have done during the years of the siege, but, as the camp is transferred into an open battle field, the risk for murder, expulsion and arrest is acute, especially after ISIS has demanded the residents of the camp to hand over their sons who have fought against ISIS, and after ISIS has initiated a kidnap campaign of tens of them.

We are standing today, the Palestinian people and those in solidarity with the Palestinian cause all over the world united as one people in solidarity with Yarmouk, to take action to rescue whatever is left to rescue there, and to support the residents of Yarmouk in their battle right now to liberate the camp.

We send our appeal to all media in general and the Palestinian media specifically to cover the news of Yarmouk, and we call everyone to start organise protests in all forms, to support Yarmouk refugee camp and call on the world’s obligation to protect it.

Spanish

El campamento de refugiados Al Yarmouk fue invadido por ISIS en colaboración con El Frente de Al Nusra tras enfrentamientos que duraron varios días, tras años de asedio por el ejército del gobierno y sus aliados en las cuales los organismos oficiales y no oficiales ignoraron y descuidaron del campamento y no apoyaron a su población y sus combatientes. 

Los residentes del campamento de refugiados Al Yarmouk siguen resistiendo como lo han hecho durante los últimos años de asedio, sin embargo, hoy en día el Al Yarmouk se ha convertido en campo abierto de batalla, lo que incrementó el índice del riesgo de homicidio, deportación y detención, sobre todo después de que ISIS exigió a los residentes entregar a los combatientes del campamento, y haber realizado amplias operaciones de secuestro que alcanzaron a decenas de los combatientes.

Hoy nos paramos los palestinos y sus partidarios en todo el mundo unidos para apoyar la causa del Al Yarmouk, y salvar lo que queda por salvar, y apoyar a los residentes que combaten para recuperar al campamento en esos momentos.

Nos dirigimos a todos los medios de comunicación en general, y en particular a los medios palestinos para que cubren las noticias y los acontecimientos del campamento, y hacemos un llamado a todos a comenzar inmediatamente organizar movimientos de protesta en todas sus formas y herramientas, para apoyar y proteger al campamento.

Portuguese

ISIS, em cooperação com a Frente Al Nusra, invadiu o campo de refugiados de Yarmouk depois de confrontos que duraram alguns dias. Isso aconteceu depois de dois anos de cerco contínuo imposto pelo regime sírio e seus colaboradores. O campo está sendo completamente ignorado e negligenciado por ambos os organismos oficiais e não-oficiais, deixando os habitantes do campo e seus defensores sem qualquer apoio.

Moradores do campo de Yarmouk ainda estão perseverando, como têm feito durante os anos de cerco, mas à medida que o campo se transforma em um campo de batalha a céu aberto, o risco de assassinato, expulsão e prisão é grande. Principalmente depois que o ISIS exigiu que os moradores do campo entregassem seus filhos que lutaram contra o ISIS, e depois de ter dado início à uma campanha de sequestro onde dezenas deles já foram sequestrados.

Estamos de pé hoje, o povo palestino e aqueles em solidariedade com a causa palestina em todo o mundo, unidos como um só povo em solidariedade com Yarmouk, para tomar medidas para salvar o que resta a ser salvo lá, e para apoiar os moradores de Yarmouk na luta que está acontecendo nesse momento para libertar o campo.

For autonomous, horizontal and anarchist struggle and an invitation to the libertarian caravan for the peoples in resistance in the Isthmus of Oaxaca

[Spanish original]
December 21, 2014
Translated by Scott Campbell

[See update below]

To the autonomous and libertarian forces.
To the relatives of the disappeared from Ayotzinapa.
To the independent and community media.
And to all those who carry a new world in their hearts.

The accumulated rage in the unsettled hearts from the south of the territory dominated by the Mexican state knows how to move forward using an organizing process which takes horizontality as a way of life as its starting point. Self-determination has become an indispensable part of daily life for the peoples who know how to shout to the four winds of the injustices committed by domination and power; from the indigenous Zapotec rebellions, through the short-lived autonomous process of General Charis, up to the struggles in defense of the land, territory, territoriality and autonomy which at this precise moment are stronger and more vibrant than ever.

In Oaxaca, the struggle for autonomy has been dormant, expressing itself through the peoples’ resistance, such as in the communities of the Isthmus region where the Binizaa and Ikoots people interlink. For more than three years, the megaproject they have tried to put into place on these lands, consisting of the installation of wind farms on the Santa Teresa Shoal, has triggered escalating conflicts and widespread repression.

The Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural

Presented by Art Forces, the Estria Foundation and NorCal Friends of Sabeel, the Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural is a monumental work of public art located in Uptown Oakland on 26th Street between Telegraph and Broadway. The mural pays homage to the history of Bay Area public art and expresses solidarity with Palestinians as bombs continue to fall on Gaza.

The Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural adopts the image of the tree as a central motif and global visual signifier to link seemingly disparate issues and distant locations. Spanning 157 feet and reaching 22 feet high, the mural is comprised of nine separate panels, where each artist or team of artists has painted his or her own interpretation of a tree to address social and political issues.

These issues include the shared histories of colonization, environmental exploitation, internal exile of indigenous peoples, resilience and resistance to these injustices. The mural dedication will be held on August 10, 2014 from 1-4 pm and is free and open to the public. The dedication will include poetry, music, traditional Palestinian dance, local stiltwalkers from LocoBloco and an art exhibit From Gaza to Oakland.

This exhibition includes artwork from Gaza artists and photo journalists responding to the recent assault; historical photos of the expulsion of Palestinians from what is now called Israel; print portfolios from Middle East Children's Alliance and work by muralists and friends of Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural.

This exhibition will open in conjunction with the mural unveiling on August 10th and will run through September 30, 2014.

The twelve participating artists come from a wide array of backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures. They include Dina Matar, who is participating virtually (Gaza); IROT (Native American); VYAL (Chicano-Native American); Deadeyes (African American); Erin Yoshi (Japanese American); Susan Greene (Jewish American); Emory Douglas (African American); Nidal El Khairy (Palestinian); Chris Gazaleh (Palestinian American); SPIE (Asian American); Fred Alvarado (Latino American); Miguel Bounce Perez (Chicano-Pacific Islander American).

Massacre(s) in Gaza

 

 

Elbit: Exporting Oppression from Palestine to Latin America

By Scott Campbell
June 27, 2014
Upside Down World

Surveillance. It’s in the headlines and on the tips of tongues. As technology offers new possibilities for connection, it also offers new means to keep tabs on people. Surveillance has become seemingly ubiquitous, from the NSA reading emails to drones in the skies. As a nation that has for 66 years been ruling over an indigenous population by force, one of the main countries practicing surveillance is Israel. And it is the Israeli defense industry that has been reaping the profits off of the oppression and surveillance of the Palestinian people.

One of the top occupation profiteers in Israel is the defense firm Elbit Systems. The largest non-governmental defense company in the country, its revenue stood at $2.83 billion in 2010. Using knowledge and expertise gained from assisting in the occupation of Palestine, Elbit has made millions exporting surveillance and defense materiel worldwide – and increasingly so to Latin America. While Israel’s role in arming dictators and oppressive regimes in Latin America during the last century is well known, Elbit is at the forefront of a new wave of Israeli arms industry involvement in countries in the region. Elbit has a presence in at least five Latin American countries, as well as along the US-Mexico border. Far from being benign, the application of its technology should raise concern among those working for human rights in the area.

Jackass - Israeli Occupation Forces Edition

A little video I put together. Enjoy.

Some memes dedicated to the Palestinian Authority

 

"It is Time for Accountability"

Originally published by Mondoweiss.

By Scott Campbell
June 24, 2014

July 9 will mark ten years since the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s wall in the West Bank illegal under international law. The ICJ also ruled that the wall must be torn down, that Israel must pay reparations for the damage caused by its construction, and that the international community should work to ensure Israeli compliance.

None of the above has occurred. Instead, Israel has used the past ten years to complete 70 percent of the more than 700 kilometer long wall. More Palestinians have been boxed in, cut off from their land, work, families and friends, education, and healthcare. Israeli and multinational companies have made millions off of constructing the wall. And shirking its obligations, the international community has stood by the sidelines, letting impunity reign.