6 Comments
Dec 29, 2023Liked by Kiran Kumbhar

Hi, Dr. Kumbhar,

I hope this will be my last comment here and you will forgive me for inundating you with comments on this post. I thought I should add this as a separate comment so that it does not get lost.

I read through your document and it is impressive and has so many sources. Thank you very much. It would be useful for people trying to talk about Israel's attack on Palestine too.

Just two points, which I do hope will not cause offense:

1. Caitlin Johnstone, Max Blumenthal and Jeremy Corbyn have all denied Assad regime's continual atrocities against Syrians. Assad's crimes in Syria are well documented. Max Blumenthal in fact made fun of ordinary civilians in Syria trying to prepare against Assad's attacks. And Assad continues to bomb Idlib at present. It is an ongoing atrocity.

I think our fight against violence and hate will only be weakened by platforming people who deny atrocities when it is conducted by regimes they like (and see as opposing US empire). These people had been marginalised but are now regaining clout thanks to their stand on Palestine. They should not get that. There are enough people who stand for humanity everywhere. A good read on Syria and anti-imperialism that does not care about imperialist policies from Russia, China or Iran: https://libcom.org/article/anti-imperialism-idiots-leila-al-shami.

2. I had written a piece on the human shield discourse. I read through your document, and I did not see this specific point elaborated up on. Of course, I may have missed it. In any case, if you would like to read my piece and find it useful, here it is:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/23/2205294/-The-Discourse-of-Human-Shields-and-the-Tolerance-for-Mass-Civilian-Deaths?

I don't DM people without their permission and hence, I am sharing it here publicly. I hope you will not see this as self-promotion. If so, feel free to ignore this. (Applies to any reader of this comment.). My piece ties into your larger theme for the document: about media critique (except I focus on this specific propaganda).

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Dec 28, 2023Liked by Kiran Kumbhar

This is excellent. I have been trying to write something on Palestine, Kashmir and Indian Muslims (part of an ongoing project to get people to look at power dynamics centered on India but with broader applicability) but it is still woefully skeletal and mostly in my mind. Yours is one I can share with hope that it would be read, reflected up on, and shared broadly.

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