The Trump administration’s assault on Palestine activism may seem unprecedented, but the parallels to the post-9/11 “War on Terror” are chillingly familiar. However, this attempt to quash dissent will fail, because you cannot deport a movement.
July 27 marks 20 years since charges were filed against the Holy Land Foundation and the organization’s five founders’ homes were raided. The case against the HLF5 is an attack on all who care about Palestine, we must not stop until they are free.
For the last few weeks people who have been wrong about virtually everything for two decades got trotted out to make the case for perpetual war yet again. However, I’ve been struck that one name hasn’t come up more: Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. embarked on the “war on terror” with Israel as a model. Occupy Muslim lands, bomb civilians to defeat political opposition. It didn’t work in Afghanistan; and the U.S. withdrawal will force the Israel lobby to come up with new messaging to maintain the false belief that Israel and the U.S. face the same “bad neighborhood.”
The West had 20 years to advance the cause of social development in Afghanistan. Its failure opened the door for the return of the Taliban.
The Taliban defeat of the United States is a turning point in world history. Not only will the power of the American empire be weakened, but the War on Terror has also been politically defeated in within the United States. This is the beginning of the end of the American century.
Biden’s speech defending withdrawal was a terrible exercise in imperial hubris.
A month after Osama bin Laden was killed Barack Obama declared that the United States was reaching its goals in Afghanistan and that he’d begin withdrawing troops. By 2016 he went back on that promise. Joe Biden’s speech defending the U.S. withdrawal was a terrible exercise in imperial hubris, but it reflected an attitude that has been consistent across the U.S. political class since 9/11.
The Taliban’s leadership has tried to reassure the public of a “peaceful transition,” but has not yet articulated a plan for Afghanistan. What comes next is unknown.
Journalists get fired for sharing political opinions, except when that opinion is in support for U.S. foreign policy and endless war. This is playing out vividly now as the mainstream press effectively spins its coverage on the U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan into an argument for continued military occupation.