Black freedom has never been on the ballot
I almost wish someone would ask us: how does it feel to be a pit stop? To be a refuelling station where sputtering-out political campaigns pull up to receive a laying on of hands; where a Black baritone reverend holds the president’s shoulder and between benedictions issues forth some version of the declaration that “We know Joe”? And that president passes the torch to a Black candidate who can siphon Black popular culture and sponge down a government busy giving standing ovations to the Butcher of Gaza. I almost wish someone would ask before the politicians slip off their oxfords: how does it feel to know that they are only here for the night? To know (what is by now an open secret) that although they promise that we are in this together they have only stopped by to use us. To make us promises and then dart off to fundraising dinners before we can whisper, “Hush now, don’t explain.” Is it not time, now, to refuse to be ping-ponged between those who stand with genocidaires and those who dream of a day of retribution for our surviving them? Can we not saddle up and build a world away from those who dance to our music in the clubs but turn us away at the entrance? Who shoot us when we call for help and circulate minstrel memes of our killed as if they were digital lynching postcards? Why resign ourselves to wait for the enlightenment of evil? To be mules beaten from four years to four years, promised this time really “change is gonna come” as the Earth shrivels, Nazis are inspired, and presidential candidates openly challenge one another to golf. This time will not be different. It is either victory for the lynch mob who marched on the Capitol building with nooses and Confederate battle flags, or those who ask us to look past the slurs they spit at us to “what we have in common”. It is a battle between those who celebrate the reimposition of castration as punishment in a carceral system that disproportionately arrests and sentences Black people and those who are proud to “prosecute the case”. It will be “triumph of the will” or “Be quiet about the genocide. I’m speaking.” The US has proven itself to be a state where a leftist Black candidate who is not accountable, first and foremost, to white liberals is unelectable. The daring few who speak up against ethnic cleansing abroad are cane-hooked from the stage by Super PACs. As for the rest, if they pay lip service to our liberation, it is openly confessed by their surrogates that this is a trick to gain our support and that they will eventually “pivot” to the centre. That is, after teasing freedom they will move closer to the people who ridicule “wokeness” – ie Black conscious scepticism about the good intentions of the settler-colony – and who prefer the more sober soap box proselytising about the deep state and secret, globalist, Jewish conspiracies in their fake Viking helmets. US electoral politics remain hostile to Black liberation. While racists bask in the likely return of a president who promises to be their “retribution”, no Black candidate can win if they utter a word about reparations for slavery, or agree that Black Lives Matter, or make statements seen as sympathetic to the Defund the Police movement. Criticising the inflated budgets of institutions that hire and protect the men and women who shoot us in our nightgowns and leave us to die on our kitchen floors when we call them for help is toxic in a US political campaign. Yet we are asked to be excited. Thrilled about representation and Black “ascendancy” into the degeneracy of colonial office. Happy for Eric Adams despite his fight to keep solitary confinement in prisons. For Barack Obama despite his imperialist wars. Kamala Harris despite her perp-walking parents of “truant” children. Cornel West despite his love will find a way. Tim Scott. Should such a system that punishes any agenda for Black freedom be rewarded with Black energy? Should we still accept as wise the maxim that “progress is slow” when Nazism makes gains overnight? Should we accept to stand by the door, cap in hand, as they speed by in their motorcades? To be lectured, again, about pragmatism? To be told that we must place our hope in a society where one cannot win an election without appealing to racists? Vote if you must, why not? But this time, when we close the voting booth’s curtain, perhaps we should pivot as well. And turn our backs on a system that still sees our liberation as a liability. Reorient our political identity towards the rising Black anticolonial internationalism that does not, after promising to fight racism, shift to winning over racists. That seeks not to “make our voices against lynching heard” but to make those who would lynch hesitate. We must push past the merry-go-round of leaders that say every four years “This is our time” then “We must wait more”. We must pour that snake oil out onto the road. No more waiting on the messiah Democrat politician. None seeks to be our “retribution”. Patience has only led us to the gate of lynch mob rule. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr suspends US presidential bid
Third-party presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has suspended his long-shot bid for the White House, throwing his weight instead behind the Republican candidate, former United States President Donald Trump. Friday’s announcement was the culmination of weeks of speculation, as Kennedy receded in the polls. Still, he offered a message of defiance, denouncing his campaign’s “naysayers”. “We proved them wrong,” Kennedy said at a campaign stop in Phoenix, Arizona. “Beneath the radar of mainstream media organs, we inspired a massive independent political movement.” “In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election,” he later added. Still, he acknowledged his odds were dim. “I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.” Kennedy emphasised he was “not terminating” his campaign, only suspending it. But he said he would be removing his name from the ballot in states where he feared drawing votes away from Trump. “In about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name. And I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” he said. He explained that he and Trump shared concerns about “free speech, the war in Ukraine and the war on our children”. In the lead-up to Kennedy’s remarks, his campaign teased that his Arizona speech would address “the present historical moment and his path forward”. The speculation of a possible Kennedy-Trump alliance was amplified by the speech’s location. Trump himself was set to arrive in Arizona for a rally in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, just three hours after Kennedy’s remarks. On Thursday, Kennedy filed paperwork withdrawing his candidacy in Arizona, in preparation for Friday’s speech. Who is Robert F Kennedy Jr? A former environmental lawyer, Kennedy launched his presidential campaign in April 2023, initially entering the race as a Democrat. “My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power,” he said at his campaign launch. His decision to run sent shockwaves across the political community. Kennedy is the scion of a storied political family with strong ties to the Democratic Party: His uncle John F Kennedy was a president in the 1960s, and his father, Robert F Kennedy, was a US senator and attorney general. Both were assassinated, the former while in office and the latter while campaigning for the presidency. The younger Kennedy’s decision to mount a bid for the presidency in 2024 immediately put him in a match-up against President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat who was, at the time, seeking re-election. It also put him at odds with members of his own family, who denounced his decision to challenge Biden. Kennedy’s youngest sibling, Rory Kennedy, voiced opposition even before he announced his presidential bid in April. “I admire his past work as an environmentalist,” Rory told the news outlet CNN. “But due to a wide range of Bobby’s positions, I’m supporting President Biden.” Kennedy has faced widespread criticism, including from his family, for sharing vaccine-related conspiracy theories and promoting baseless treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also spread false assertions about the origins of HIV and the health effects of Wi-Fi internet. Facing pressure from Democrats, Kennedy eventually switched tactic, relaunching his campaign as an independent, third-party ticket in October 2023. Still, that did not allay Democratic criticism, as some feared he would be a “spoiler candidate” peeling voters away from the party in the general election. What happened to his campaign? Kennedy’s campaigned ultimately failed to generate much traction. An ABC News poll released earlier this month found that his voter support dwindled to 5 percent, down from a high of 12 percent in April. That was well below the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Trump, both of whom were polling between 45 and 50 percent support. His campaign has also generated negative publicity for bizarre revelations over the course of Kennedy’s run. In early August, for instance, Kennedy appeared in a video with the comedian Roseanne Barr in which he recounted how he left a dead bear cub in New York City’s Central Park, staged to look as if it had been run over by a bike. Kennedy insisted he had not killed the bear himself but rather scooped it off the road after it had been hit by a car in upstate New York. As his poll numbers wobbled, rumours of a potential alliance with Trump grew louder. In July, Kennedy’s son Bobby Kennedy III briefly posted a video on social media showing his father on the phone with Trump. In the call, Trump recounts surviving an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally and appears to court the independent candidate’s backing. “I would love you to do stuff,” Trump is heard on speakerphone, telling Kennedy. “I think it would be so good for you, and we’re going to win.” That video was later deleted, and Kennedy apologised to Trump for the leak of the private conversation. Kennedy’s running mate, lawyer Nicole Shanahan, also appeared on a podcast, Impact Theory, earlier this week to talk about potential avenues for the future of their campaign. One path, she said, would be to found a new party. The other would be to join forces with Trump. “We walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump,” Shanahan said, offering that as a possible avenue. “We walk away from that, and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision.” On Thursday, Trump himself told the news programme Fox & Friends that he would gladly accept Kennedy’s endorsement. “If he endorsed me, I would be honoured by it,” Trump said. What did Kennedy say in his speech? When Kennedy finally did announce his campaign’s suspension on Friday, he began with a broadside against the
Parties and grief: A stark contrast at the Democratic National Convention
Chicago, Illinois – As balloons dropped from the ceiling of a packed United Center in Chicago, row upon row of Democratic Party faithful rose to their feet, clapping and shouting out with joy. It was Thursday night, and Kamala Harris had just delivered the closing speech of this year’s Democratic National Convention. The atmosphere was ecstatic: The Democrats in the audience were fired up, and many credited Harris with reinvigorating the party in the weeks after President Joe Biden ended his faltering re-election bid. But while jubilant faces stretched out as far as the eye could see — and red, white and blue balloons spilled out into the halls — the mood took a markedly different turn outside of the arena. There, a small group of people wearing Palestinian keffiyehs stood almost motionless, looking exhausted and bereaved. The convention’s “uncommitted” delegates, who had been calling for an arms embargo against Israel amid its devastating war on Gaza, were dealt a blow after Harris said — in no uncertain terms — that she would continue to provide weapons to the US ally. Asma Mohammed, a delegate from Minnesota, summed up how they were feeling as the convention concluded. “There are balloons raining down on the Democrats in our party, and there are bombs raining down on children and families and people I love,” Mohammed told Al Jazeera, tears streaming down her cheeks. “That’s what I was thinking.” Protesters in Chicago denounced Kamala Harris’s support for Israel [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera] Another activist rubbed her shoulder to comfort her as they both cried. Meanwhile, overjoyed attendees walked past with their “Harris-Walz” signs and American flags. Two radically contrasting realities ultimately emerged from the four-day convention in Chicago. On one side, there was happiness and excitement. But for Palestinian rights supporters, the convention brought further pain and disappointment. More than 40,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as the United States sends billions of dollars in aid to Israel, which continues to bombard the besieged Palestinian territory. Many of the activists who arrived outside the convention to protest were grieving: After all, Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, has the largest Palestinian American community of any county in the US. Those working within the Democratic Party, including the “uncommitted” delegates, had to carry that grief into the festive atmosphere of the convention. They told horrific stories of the carnage, displacement and despair in Gaza — all facilitated by US tax money. But inside the convention hall, the party went on uninterrupted, except for a few shouts of “Free Palestine” on Thursday night as Harris spoke. Those chants were ultimately drowned out by the cheering crowd. As the uncommitted delegates tried to put pressure on the Democratic Party from the inside, protesters outside the convention rallied daily to denounce Harris and Biden for their support for Israel. The demonstrators were diverse, energetic and angry. They gathered with Palestinian flags and chanted against the Israeli occupation and the Democratic Party. “DNC, your hands are red! Over 40,000 dead,” a diminutive young woman in a hijab shouted on a megaphone on Wednesday. Thousands at the march echoed her chant. However, some feared the city would descend into chaos as it did in 1968 when it held a Democratic convention amid the civil rights movement and the unpopular Vietnam War. Back then, police violently cracked down on antiwar protesters. This time, no crackdown materialised. There were a few skirmishes, but the protests were peaceful, and the demonstrators were never allowed to get too close to the convention centre, which was protected by a security perimeter with multiple layers of checkpoints. Still, the 1968 parallels were there in the minds of many protesters, who viewed the Gaza war as this generation’s Vietnam. “Just like 1968, there’s nothing to celebrate,” the protesters chanted. For four days, the protesters and the uncommitted delegates marched, chanted and even begged to be heard and recognised. But it appears that the protesters’ voices did not move the party’s leadership. The Harris campaign and event organisers ultimately rejected the “uncommitted” movement’s request to feature a Palestinian speaker during the convention. And while Harris and Biden have called for a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian rights advocates said their statements fall short. Several activists this week argued that there can be no ceasefire as long as the US continues to provide Israel with the weapons to fuel the war. Al Jazeera spoke to many Harris supporters at the convention; they were either sympathetic or indifferent to the protesters. Convention speakers who mentioned Palestinians and called for a ceasefire received thunderous cheers from the crowd. Still, the Democrats were eager for the show to go on as they rallied around Harris. Palestine, for them, did not appear to be a priority. The war on Gaza and those bringing the issue to the convention seemed an afterthought, if not a nuisance. The convention is now over. But the stark divide between glee and agony in Chicago may plague the Democratic Party for years to come. Virtually every pro-Palestinian advocate and protester Al Jazeera spoke to at the convention had the same message: “We are not going away.” Adblock test (Why?)
Will Kamala Harris succeed in becoming America’s first female president?
US vice president pledges support for Israel as she accepts the Democratic Party nomination. Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, has become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to accept the presidential nomination of a major party in the United States. If elected, she would be the first female US president. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris promised to be a leader for all Americans. She also called for a ceasefire in Gaza while saying she stands up for “Israel’s right to defend itself”. But how will she be different from President Joe Biden? And can she beat Republican candidate Donald Trump? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Mark Pfeifle — founder of Off the Record Strategies, a public relations company, and a former adviser to President George W Bush John Zogby — American pollster, author and founder of John Zogby Strategies Tariq Habash — human rights activist and the first political appointee to publicly resign from President Joe Biden’s administration by citing its policy stance on Gaza Adblock test (Why?)
Nepal lifts TikTok ban after blocking app over ‘social harmony’ concerns
Move comes weeks after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn into office following the collapse of the previous government. Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok less than a year after blocking the Chinese-owned application out of its stated concern for “social harmony”. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung announced the decision on Thursday following a cabinet meeting. The move comes after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who was sworn in last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government, issued a directive calling for the equal treatment of all social networking platforms, state-run National News Agency reported. Al Jazeera understands that the decision was made after TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, communicated with the Nepalese government in recent weeks to assure it that it would abide by all legal requirements, promote digital safety, and establish a designated channel for content-related requests from authorities. TikTok said it was pleased to see the ban lifted. “The creativity and passion of our community has brought joy to households across Nepal and opened vital economic opportunities to incredibly talented creators and businesses. We’re excited to be able to continue enabling Nepali voices and creativity as we work to support the success story of Nepal,” a TikTok spokesperson said. The previous government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal banned the app in November, citing the spread of content that “disturbs social harmony and disrupts family structures and social relations”. TikTok, one of the world’s most popular social media platforms with more than one billion monthly users, has been slapped with restrictions in dozens of countries amid concerns about its effect on young people and alleged national security risks. Nepal’s neighbour India banned the app outright in 2020 along with dozens of other Chinese-developed apps following violent skirmishes along the India-China border. Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating legislation that requires platforms to obtain parental consent to collect the personal information of users under 13. Adblock test (Why?)
South Korea blames deadly battery plant fire on safety failures
Aricell also accused of manipulating test samples from previous inspections and for hiring unskilled labourers. A deadly fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory in June broke out as the company raced to meet a deadline without taking action to address signs of dangerous quality failures, police said. At least 23 people were killed at the Aricell lithium battery plant during the massive blaze, in one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years. Manufacture Aricell, which also produces batteries for South Korea’s military, had failed a quality inspection in April and subsequently increased production to make up the backlog, police official Kim Jong-min said on Friday. It hired temporary and unskilled workers, contributing to a jump in product defect rates, including overheating of finished batteries, but did not take action to contain safety risks, Kim said. The company was trying to produce 5,000 batteries a day and “started excessive manufacturing”, police added. Further investigations showed that Aricell had passed previous quality inspections by manipulating test samples since it started supplying battery products to the military in 2021, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and police asked for an arrest warrant for three officials of Aricell, including CEO Park Soon-kwan. Gross deficiencies “The accident occurred as the company pushed ahead without taking measures despite problems in various steps in the production process,” Kim added. Police further said that the company did not comply with factory safety laws, including a lack of emergency exits and inadequate safety education for employees who did not speak Korean. Security camera footage showed the fire sparking from a stack of batteries and quickly engulfing the factory where 35,000 lithium batteries were stored. The spread of toxic smoke probably rendered workers unconscious within seconds, fire officials have said. Seventeen of those who died were Chinese, and one was Laotian. The rest were South Koreans. “Because of gross deficiencies, the majority of workers were found on the other side of the emergency exit – even though there were 37 seconds in which they could have evacuated after the initial explosion on June 24,” said Kim. South Korea has faced a number of deadly incidents in recent years, including the Halloween stampede, which have been blamed on the failure to implement safety rules. On Thursday, a short circuit or other electrical causes was believed to have sparked a fire at a hotel in Bucheon, west of the capital, Seoul, leaving seven dead and a dozen of others injured. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
Indian prime minister expected to push settlement on ending Ukraine war, even if seen as being too close to Russia. India’s Narendra Modi has arrived in Kyiv, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking the first time an Indian prime minister has visited the country since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Modi is expected to discuss economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology, while also broaching the contentious subject of a settlement to end the war with Russia. “No problem can be resolved on a battlefield,” Modi said ahead of his visit, adding that India supports “dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible”. It is unclear whether the Indian leader could be an effective dealmaker, seen by many in Ukraine as being too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Alex Gatopoulos said India would have to “perform this tightrope act” between the West and Russia. “It is a Russian client state. The vast majority of its military equipment is Russian-made, so India cannot afford to alienate Russia either,” he said. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian arms, and has sought to capitalise on cheaper Russian oil as the United States and European countries seek to limit the Russian energy sector’s access to the global marketplace via sanctions. Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes a month and a half after he was in Moscow for talks with Putin, a visit that coincided with Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital, which the Indian leader implicitly criticised during the bilateral summit. Modi and Putin agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030, increasing investments, eliminating nontariff trade barriers and using national currencies to circumvent sanctions. The meeting elicited fierce criticism from Zelenskyy, who said it was a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”. Al Jazeera’s Gatopoulos said Modi’s visit to Moscow was intended to put himself forward as a mediator. “Whether that’s going to be successful or not, we will tell in the coming days,” he said. ‘A certain influence’ The visit comes at a crucial juncture in the war, after Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning offensive on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 while Russian troops continue to make advances in Ukraine’s east. On Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said 14 of 16 Russian attack drones had been destroyed overnight. Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”. India has avoided explicit condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion and has abstained on United Nations resolutions that criticise Russia, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through direct dialogue. Still, India has good relations with both Russia and the West, Ukraine’s principal backer, and some analysts believe Modi could play a role in pushing the two sides towards talks. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Modi’s visit to Kyiv was significant because India “really has a certain influence” over Russia. Peace summit Ukraine has said it hopes to bring together a second international summit later this year to advance its vision of peace and involve representatives from Russia. The first summit in Switzerland that excluded Russia in June attracted many delegations, including one from India, but not from China. Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, said he expected no breakthrough proposals to be made to end the war during the trip by Modi, who visited Poland on Thursday. For there to be an attempt to negotiate, the military situation has to stabilise and the presidential election must be held in the United States, a close ally of Ukraine, he said. He said the visit was important for India to demonstrate it was “not on Russia’s side” and that Kyiv wanted to normalise relations after Modi’s Moscow trip. Adblock test (Why?)
How far can Ukraine’s military go inside Russia?
Moscow has come under one of the largest drone attacks of the war. When President Vladimir Putin launched Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine two-and-a-half years ago, he expected a speedy victory. Not only did that not happen, but Ukraine has now brought the war home to Russia. The capital has faced one of its biggest drone attacks of the war – according to the mayor of Moscow. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region caught Russia by surprise. Has Ukraine’s bold move put on hold discussions about a stalemate and possible negotiations involving concessions to Russia? And if so, how will Moscow retaliate? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Hanna Shelest – Programme director of security studies at Ukrainian Prism, a Ukrainian foreign policy and security think tank Theresa Fallon – Founder and director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies Owen Matthews – Author of Overreach, a book about the origins of the war in Ukraine Adblock test (Why?)
At least 11 Pakistani policemen killed in ambush by suspected robbers
Police convoy attacked by gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades in Punjab province in area known to have criminal hideouts. Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades have ambushed a police convoy in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at least 11 officers and wounding seven, authorities say. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Rahim Yar Khan district’s Kacha town on Thursday. The officers were ambushed while on patrol in a deserted area in search of robbers who operate in the region. Police said the gunmen were likely robbers and not members of an armed group. “The bandits attacked the vehicles with rocket launchers after one of the vehicles in the convoy broke down,” said a statement from the inspector general’s office in Punjab. Security forces often carry out operations against bandits in Punjab and Sindh province in the south. They hide in rural, forested areas and sometimes carry out kidnappings to make money through ransoms. They have also killed several police officers in attacks over recent months. Kacha is known for robbers’ hideouts along the Indus River, where hundreds of heavily armed bandits evade police. Police said one of the police vehicles apparently broke down while passing through accumulated rainwater along farm fields when dozens of bandits launched the attack, one of the deadliest of its kind in recent years. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif released a statement calling for “immediate and effective action” against those responsible. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks by armed groups in recent years, but such a high number of police casualties in a single attack is rare. Earlier on Thursday, gunmen opened fire on a school van in Punjab, killing two children and wounding six people, police said. No one claimed responsibility for that attack. A local police official told The Associated Press the attack appeared to target the driver of the bus and the motive was likely one of “enmity”. Pakistan’s government has struggled for decades to subdue armed groups that operate in a number of provinces throughout the country. Some are criminal organisations while others, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, aim to depose the government. Adblock test (Why?)
Group behind Emmys defends nomination of Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda
NewsFeed The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has defended its nomination of AJ+ contributor Bisan Owda for an Emmy after a pro-Israeli non-profit asked them to rescind it. The nomination is for the documentary, ‘It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive.’ Published On 22 Aug 202422 Aug 2024 Adblock test (Why?)