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Showing posts with the label colonialism

Bibi to Biden: "You Carpet Bombed Germany. You Dropped the Atom Bomb. A Lot of Civilians Died"

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At a recent Democratic fundraiser organized by the Israel lobby in the United States, President Joseph R. Biden shared some details of the conversations he has had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu about protecting civilians in Gaza. Justifying Israel's genocidal war on Gaza , Netanyahu told Biden: “You carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died”. Netanyahu is “a good friend, but I think he has to change, and… This (extremist coalition) government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden told the attendees at the campaign fundraiser in Washington hosted by former AIPAC board chair Lee Rosenberg.  Last month, Biden used the word “indiscriminate” to describe Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza, according to a report in the Times of Israel .  President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu The Israel Lobby: American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC), also known as the Israel lobby, is considered the ...

The Reign of Queen Elizabeth II Saw the Sun Set on the British Empire

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Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) died this week. The sun set on the British Empire during her reign that began in 1952. The dismantling of the empire had already started with the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 before she ascended to the throne. It continued in the 1950s and 60s with dozens of nations in Asia and Africa declaring their independence. British colonialism was soon replaced by western neocolonialism led by the United States. Black and brown people continue to suffer from the scourge of racism in a world dominated by white Europeans. Corrupt ruling elites with colonized minds ensure that true decolonization does not occur in the former British colonies. They treat their own people with the same disdain as did their former colonial bosses. The struggle for true independence continues.  Haq Family With British Royal Family at Madame Tussauds in London Economic Extraction: When the British arrived in Mughal India, the country's share of the  world GDP was 25%...

Pakistan Day: Will "Naya Pakistan" Be Truly Free?

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Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations this year coincide with a momentous change in leadership.  It has been brought about by the  triumph of the insurgent Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI)  over Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), both regarded as dynastic political parties.  PMLN and PPP are each controlled by a family.  Pakistan's Prime Minister Elect Imran Khan is part of a generation that he says "grew up at a time when  colonial hang up  was at its peak."  How will the acknowledgement of this upbringing affect Imran Khan's leadership of " Naya Pakistan "? Let's examine the answers to this question. Colonial Era Education:  Imran Khan attended Aitchison College, an elite school established in Lahore by South Asia's colonial rulers to produce faithful civil servants during the British Raj. He then went on to graduate from Oxford University in England. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in an article...

Pakistani Academia's Growing Interest in Decolonizing Minds

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There is increasing recognition in Pakistan and other nations colonized in the past by the West of the need to " decolonize knowledge " and to deal with the entrenched "injustices inherited" from colonial masters. Language is being recognized as a "library of ideas" essential for creation and transmission of knowledge in former colonies. Habib University Conference: Habib University, Pakistan's leading liberal arts institution of higher learning, is leading the way forward with "Postcolonial Higher Education Conference (PHEC)", an annual conference held each year at the university's Karachi campus since 2014. The conference attracts scholars from around the world. This year’s PHEC's theme was “Inheritance of Injustice” to highlight the results of historical injustices seen today in many facets across the world, from economic and ecological to geo-political, according to report in Newsline Magazine .  The conference featured ...