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Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Sixty Eight

 

A Morning Thought @ 3142

Azar Majedi & Homa Arjomand ✍Maryam Namazie’s belated reply or a timely damage control?

Maryam Namazie after nearly two years has responded to Azar Majedi and Homa Arjomand’s article: Masks are Torn! EX-Muslim from Frying Pan to Fire,  which was written in response to her article Azar Majedi and Homa Arjomand’s Islamist propaganda and Morality.

The first question that comes to mind is why it has become necessary to respond to a critique from two years ago? A critique that came to fore and got heated around the Palestinian genocide. It is because, if 8 months into the genocide (when our article was published) many, such as EX-Muslim, Secularist, Humanist and mainstream Feminist organisations could get away with keeping silent about Israel’s genocide in Gaza and look the other way, without risking their reputation as “progressive and humanitarian”, now it is impossible. Even some European states are now condemning the genocide and boycotting the Eurovision, because of Israel’s participation.

The murder and bloodshed committed by Israel with the full support of the US and the West is out in the open and impossible to look away from. The “anti-Semite” catch phrase used to gas-light those who opposed the genocide and Israel, has lost its edge. It only creates backlash now.

So why is it now the time to reply? Because, more than anything, it is about damage control; Maryam’s, her organisation and her movement’s reputation is at stake. Their reputation has been stained by hypocrisy, double standard, racism and pro Israel/Zionist tendency. Therefore, in order to stay effective, she needs to whitewash her reputation as a “left progressive.”

These bloody three years have changed the world. The world is awakening, eyes are opening up. The world is empathising with Palestine and people have come to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians and all victims of Israel/US. People see the real reason for all this murder, destruction and misery in the whole region. Therefore, in order to remain among the “left progressives” one must distance oneself from the genocide and Israel and the US. Two years ago when Maryam wrote her first article calling us “Islamists” she still did not dare, nor saw it necessary to openly condemn the genocide and Israel.

There is another event that makes her article even more necessary, the war on Iran by US and Israel. Maryam is expected to make a stand; Iran is her birth place, a difficult situation. But here too, she uses the “Islamism” and “religious-Right” (whatever that means) to soften the blame on US and Israel.

War on Iran

She states No to war, but formulates the argument around the topic in a way that this “No” becomes conditional to the “No” to the Islamic Republic. Therefore, this slogan becomes viable when either there is no Islamic Republic or it is attacked at the same time. Every decent, freedom-loving and progressive person agrees to the No to the war and Islamic Republic. However, the point under debate is that these two No-s are not dependant on each other and any effort to represent them as such is an attempt to justify the war, to soften the critique against the war and to whitewash the warmongers. This is the main point that Maryam tries to mystify. This is not a puzzle; it is a clever way to soften the blame and criticism towards Israel and US.

EX-Muslim and Co. have used this technique for the past 2 decades: Turning the narrative around in order to benefit state terrorism, US and Israel, by pointing the finger at Islamists. This is to imply that if Israel commits genocide, wipes off a whole people from the land, if it is constantly expanding, it is because of Hamas and Islamic Republic. This resonates with the same “victimhood” mentality that Zionism is built upon. A very useful and simple formula!

To imply that Islamic regime is the cause of war, it’s either propaganda or idiotic. Islamic Republic is responsible for many crimes, crimes against humanity, brutal exploitation and enormous suffering imposed on the people, but it is not the cause of this war. Islamic regime cannot both be so clever to be the leader of Islamic terrorism which Maryam and her movement deem as more dangerous than state terrorism and at the same time so dumb to cause a war which is a real threat to its survival. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Can you see how this “religious-Right” monster and Islamism come to the rescue of Israel and US in their obvious crimes against humanity? One must just remind her that your just hatred of the Islamic Republic cannot and should not be used to soften, or even subtly justify another crime. One does not need to condemn Islamism anytime one feels the need to condemn state terrorism, that is, US imperialism spearheaded by Israel.

An attempt to discredit us!

Maryam’s first attempt to label us “Islamist” two years ago had a purpose, trying to discredit two known socialists, women’s rights and secular/atheist activists who defended the Palestinians throughout their political history and condemned the massacre and genocide of the Palestinians and who rightfully criticised the secular/humanist/feminist movements for their deafening silence. She called us “Islamists.”

We refuted all her arguments and propaganda in the above-mentioned article. A response to our article does not have any meaning or credibility without a solid clear condemnation of Israeli’s genocide in Gaza. Therefore, Maryam kept quiet because at the time it was not possible for her to do so and the world still was under such deep propaganda that one could perhaps get away with silence. We described her situation in our article titled . . . from Frying Pan to Fire. Just to mention an example: In a secularist conference in Paris months after the start of genocide they criticised Islam in and out, nothing about Judaism and no mention of the bloodshed in Gaza which they could watch right there on their screens. This long wait is not accidental, it is calculated propaganda technique. She is acting according to a script again.

The main thesis of Maryam’s article

The article presents a false, arbitrary dichotomy:

A politics of emancipation must confront both imperialism and the religious-Right. The attempt to subordinate one to the other is a form of political erasure.

What does she mean by “religious-Right?” No explanation is given. Is there also a religious-Left? If yes, which religion? Does she tolerate that?

One can assume that by this term she means Islamism. Because the only religion she criticises is Islam. The only religious political movement she refers to is Islamist. She has not even once specifically criticised Judaism nor Israel as a Jewish apartheid state; and no mention of Zionism as a terrorist movement which fought for the creation of Israel and it is still running the show.

The whole article is incoherent, pompous and superficial. She uses a lot of empty jargons to say Azar and Homa are pro-Islamists. The arguments are haphazard, arbitrary and inconsistent. It seems the aim is to create mist and fog rather than throwing light at some political and philosophical truth as it is claimed. It is propaganda not reasoning and arguments. She seems to have a script she has to follow.

Her article does not contain a polemic, a reasoned argument trying to prove the false position of the other side; it is rather more gas-lighting. Her method is exactly like what we have observed in the past two and half years - call your opponent an “anti-Semite” or pro Hamas. But, this doesn’t work anymore. It has lost its power. It’s been exposed.

Our position is that a Socialist, a progressive, a freedom-loving person with conscience must condemn any forms of reaction, brutality and oppression. We condemn and oppose the Islamist movement for all its crimes and oppressive methods. We have fought against the Islamic Republic since the moment of its inception. But we do not lose perspective. We have a clear vision based on a clear analysis of the political situation in the region and worldwide. It was the US imperialism with Israel as its spearhead that created the Islamic movement and have supported and funded it while “fighting” it. This was a clever scenario to create war and devastation in the region to achieve the goal of the New Middle East and the Greater Israel. They are admitting it themselves, but these “anti-Islamists” refuse to listen.

Islamic Republic was brought to power through a regime change imposed on the 1979 Revolution in Iran. All Islamic terrorist organisations, Al Qaida, Taliban, and ISIS were created by CIA, Mossad and MI6. Hamas was created by Israel. They have been funded by the US. (There are videos of US officials, including Hillary Clinton, and former intelligence officers who have admitted this.) Yes, we condemn them both, but we don’t use one to excuse the other side.

Maryam writes:

Islamism was fostered in specific historical conditions such as the US Cold War strategy to create an Islamic belt around the Soviet Union and the West’s role in the expropriation of the Iranian revolution by Islamism. (In clear speech, the West organised a regime change to abort the Iranian revolution.) These origins are relevant. But causation is not exoneration.

We are baffled by what she really means by this pompous expression: “causation is not exoneration.” She is apparently implying that we are “exonerating” Islamic movement; but on what basis? Her response is not clear. She continues, by stating without any proof, that:

Their politics is clear: political positions must align with one of two opposing camps; critique becomes illegitimate if it risks benefiting the other.

It is difficult to make sense of her arguments; one un-based claim after another.

Another example of a vague and arbitrary statement:

Hamas, enabled by Israel as a counterweight to the secular PLO, is not reducible to Israeli strategy. To explain them as secondary displaces the social relations through which domination is exercised.

This is another example of pompous and hollow argument. What does she mean by “is not reducible to Israeli strategy?”

Hamas was created by Israel in 1987 as an instrument to divide and weaken Palestinian resistance movement, which was mainly secular with leftist tendencies. “Divide and Rule” is the main reason for this creation. Furthermore, Israel has used Hamas to completely occupy Gaza and to create a concentration camp there. This is the history before the recent genocide. Since its creation by Israel, Hamas has been used as the main tool to justify murder, genocide, expansion and ethnic cleansing. Hamas card has played a monumental role in Israel’s politics of expansion and occupation, i.e. its political strategy. That is why Hamas was being funded by Qatar on the request/order of Israel/US until 7th of October 2023 and beyond. (Netanyahu has been taped in 2019 where he adamantly defends funding of Hamas.)

Another mind-blowing statement that is in fact amusing is as follows:

Dissent is judged not on its truth but on its geopolitical alignment. This is the politics of enforced binaries. It is also Eurocentric. By centring Western power as the organising axis, it renders all other forms of domination derivative.

This is a desperate attempt to look clever and sophisticated when one has no valid case or argument. It is shocking to see the term Eurocentric is used in this upside down context. It seems she has lost any coherent train of thought. The article in reality is empty of any viable thesis or argument. The aim is not to encourage a debate to reach some eye-opening conclusions. It is to defend her reputation so as to continue to whitewash atrocities by the US imperialism and the West spearheaded by Israel by justifying their actions as a response to actions of an Islamic evil created by the perpetrator themselves. A very clever scenario!

EX-Muslim is a mosaic in the “Clash of Civilisation” myth which was scripted to prepare the world for a total destruction of a region, killing millions of people, ruining a whole region to rubbles and destroying any reminiscence of ancient civilisations; that is to erase a whole people, their memories and histories. This narrative was necessary for the extension of the colonialist project which was planted after the WWI; the creation of Israel until the Greater Israel is reached and the New Middle East is formed. They have succeeded to carry out the project, by killing many million human beings and the total destruction of the region.

It is not necessary to dwell much on the origins of EX-Muslim, we have elaborated on it before. It is sufficient to say that the patron of British EX-Muslim, the main donor and moral supporter of CEBM is the famous atheist Richard Dawkins who in the midst of genocide and activation of far-right and anti-Muslim sentiments in England, in an interview with L Rachel Johnson at LBC radio described himself as a "cultural Christian”, expressed discomfort at the promotion of Ramadan over Easter and the rise in number of mosques in Europe, calling the decline of Christian culture "dreadful." He specifically noted that in places like Africa, if Christian and Muslim missionaries are fighting for loyalty, he is "on Team Christianity". (Using the term missionaries for Islam is rather odd. Perhaps he was softening the word mercenaries.) 

To add salt to the wounds, his name has come out on Epstein files.

Epstein was supporting him and some other “atheist philosophers.” One wonders why Epstein, a high member of American ruling class with access to anyone anywhere in the power structure, a representative for Rothschild, the family to whom Balfour Agreement was addressed by the British Prime minister, a man who was at the top of a Mossad intelligence/blackmail operation, (called honey trap) who was so “fanatically” Jewish that called any non-Jewish “Goyum”*, was interested in an atheist professor? One should try to scratch the surface and look deeper.

The role some of the famous atheists played in demonising Muslims, creating a psychological environment where people in the West saw Muslims and people in the Middle East as lower beings is undeniable. They played a significant role in propaganda campaign in the war on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, now Iran, but first and foremost Palestine; people like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. When one sees this reality, then everything falls into place. US, the West spearheaded by Israel wrote and executed the scenario and the narrative for decades in order to forge the total destruction and occupation of the Middle East. Netanyahu warned about Islamic terrorism in a conference in Washington in 1984 and the rest is history.

Secularism and humanism as a movement have been predominantly focused on Islam, some critique of Christianity almost nothing about Judaism. The secularist/atheist think-tank played an important role in demonising Muslims and implementing the anti-Muslim narrative deeply in society.

Maryam throws this so-called critique us:

The same logic that reduces dissent to imperial instrument also reduces dissenters to a homogeneous bloc serving a single geopolitical function.

Honestly, we do not comprehend what she means. Chat GBT writes more clearly, argues more logically and coherently.

Protest or not protest, that is not the question!

Maryam writes:

If political legitimacy is determined by which camp you are aligned with, then forms of resistance that do not conform to it are recast as illegitimate.

Another pompous claim! We must state that these claims are arbitrary and self-made.

We have criticised her and EX-Muslim for their provocative actions. This is not to deny them the right to protest and freedom of expression; these are legal concepts. We are criticising their methods and actions as socio-politically harmful. We find drinking alcohol and smoking in front of places which are identified with Islam or Muslims during Muslim fasting provocative, which helps intensify anti-Muslim environment in the West and create a climate of hostility. It demonises Muslims. Moreover, it is contrary to the secularist doctrine of rationality and logic. What is your message? Is fasting bad, alcohol and cigarettes good? Are the two latter superior to the former? A claim which you don’t need to be a doctor or a health practitioner to refute; the response might be: the aim is not to compare the two acts but to mock fasting and Islamic rules. This is playing in the hands of far-Right. From the fear of Islamism you run towards the far-Right, Reform Party and Tommy Robinson.

Our criticism of your provocative actions has nothing to do with which camp you belong to. We are concerned about the effects of your actions on the society, in intensifying hostility towards Muslims, demonising Muslims, harassing Muslims and feeding the fascist (far-Right) movement that has become incredibly aggressive.

Your acts against “religious-Right” are helping the “far right.” In Britain it is the Reform Party and Tommy Robinson who benefit the most from your mockery of Islam. Your “fast-defying” methods are toxic, in the midst of alarming anti-Muslim racism, when Muslims are being attacked and run over by cars; EX-Muslim continues to demonstrate in these provocative modes. Drinking alcohol and smoking in front of places identified with Islam and Muslims is not mind-opening, it is not about rationality, reason, against superstition; it is toxic. Just imagine if some young kids take your advice of drinking and smoking and laughing at people who fast.

It is interesting that mocking Muslims by drinking alcohol in the place of worship is not EX-Muslim’s invention, it is historical. French colonialist army officers used to enter mosques in Algeria and North Africa, on horseback and drink wine in the 19th century to belittle and dehumanise Algerians. Maryam has modernised an entrenched and despised historical act with pride on one side and disgust on the other. Perhaps, this is why the French government has awarded her with a medal. Showing their gratitude for bringing French history to life in the most “modern” way possible!**

Naked protest alienation not liberation!

Azar Majedi has written an article to criticise the false idea that naked protest by women is a liberatory tool. We are not going to debate this here. We will leave this to another occasion. But mentioning one fact is crucial and it completes the whole puzzle of EX-Muslim and its actions.

Naked protest in this modern form started by FEMEN an originally Ukrainian feminist organisation which is located in France since 2013. FEMEN is a regime-change tool, established by a man in 2008 in Ukraine, stating that they use female naked body to protest because it attracts more attention. They played a significant role in the Colour Revolution in Ukraine, 2011-2013. Their then deputy leader Inna Shevchenko (as their leader was still a man) moved to France and very soon after arrival, President François Hollande in July 2013 unveiled a new French postage stamp featuring a Marianne (the symbol of the French Republic) that was designed based on Inna Shevchenko, The stamp was unveiled on Bastille Day (July 14, 2013) to represent the youth of France. This is considered a very high award being offered to a foreigner. Then Manuel Valls, Hollande’s prime minister awarded Maryam Namazie with Prix International de la Laïcité (International Secularism Prize) 2016.

Awarding one of the highest national symbols to a foreign national is a very significant act, it cannot be overlooked. One must look deeper. FEMEN is supported and promoted by the West for the purpose of regime change in Ukraine and since moving to France it has become an important anti-Muslim tool. Perhaps now one can connect the dots; the connection between EX-Muslim and FEMEN becomes clear as well.

Awards are not given without a reason and expecting something in return. From national awards to Noble peace prize are political tools. And here, can you see the connection? FEMEN and EX-Muslim united in action as propaganda tools of Western imperialism.

The last word: As we already stated, Maryam’s article is empty of any serious content or logical argument. We tried our best to respond to the points as to demystify the debate. We must tell Maryam, that this method if it once worked, it does not work anymore. You must clearly, strongly, unequivocally condemn the genocide of the Palestinians by Israel supported by US and the West, i.e. State Terrorism. The Wishy-washy, liberal statements of always condemning Islamists for crimes committed by Israel/US, such as the one below, do not save your face. Your reputation is vastly tarnished. You are losing your use-value.

Maryam says:

Opposing the Israeli state's genocide in Gaza is a moral and political necessity. But progressive politics does not end with denunciation of one pole of power. It interrogates all dominant forces, including those within societies facing imperialism and occupation.

Even here she is not ready to categorically condemn the Israeli genocide. She nonchalantly opposes the genocide and immediately adds a “but”, the famous “but.” While she insouciantly refers to, in one short sentence, a historical genocide which brutally killed thousands, including thousands of children; in the same article she writes a long heart-breaking description and condemnation of 7th of October and Hamas. A day that has shown how Israel is capable of killing its own citizens for its political project; Israeli media, including Haaretz have exposed the role of Israeli army in killing many of the “hostages” according to what is called the “Hannibal Directive.” The rape and child beheading accusations have not been proved or confirmed by any credential body; some of the testimonies of freed hostages completely contradict the Israeli narrative of the treatment of hostages.

If you want to be on the right side of the history you have to accept your fault and make an honest turn around. You can’t whitewash your silence, your complicity by throwing empty jargons at your critics. These jargons do not mean anything. They do not serve the purpose you intend. You know it and we know it. It is now time for the people to also see it.

* Goyum or Goyim (singular: goy) is a Hebrew and Yiddish term for a non-Jewish person or people, literally translating to "nations" or "peoples". While neutrally used within some Jewish communities, it is often considered pejorative depending on context and tone. It is sometimes utilized by anti-Semitic groups as a derogatory term or in conspiracy theories. (AI. Online)

** According to data released in February 2025 by the anti-hate crime monitoring group Tell MAMA, assaults against Muslims in the UK surged by 73% in 2024 compared to the previous year. However, EX-Muslim still continues with its provocative, dehumanising acts. But they are very sensitive to what they call anti-Semitism.

⏩ Asar Majed is the Chairperson of Organisation for Women’s Liberation.

⏩Homa Arjomand is an Iranian political activist, resident in Canada, where she is a member of the International Campaign against the Sharia Court and the Director of Children First Now.

Ultimate Absurdity!

The Guardian 📰 Written by Patrick Wintour. Recommended by Hedley Lamarr. 

26-April-2026

Head of UN’s humanitarian agency frustrated that $2bn daily cost of conflict comes amid big cuts to aid budgets

The $2bn (£1.5bn) a day that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday.

He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone ages, was very dangerous since it encourages every “wannabe autocrat” to use similar threats and tactics, including the destruction of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Speaking at Chatham House in London, Fletcher, a former UK diplomat and adviser on foreign policy to successive prime ministers, also accused British politicians of forming a circular firing squad for more than 10 years which has left the UK in a “defensive crouch”.

The scale of the recent UK aid cuts had been so severe that people giggle at conferences where the UK claims to be thought leaders on the subject, he said, before later adding the judgment might seem harsh.

Continue @ Guardian. 

US Spending On ‘Reckless’ Iran War Could Have Saved 87m Lives, Says UN

Ukraine Solidarity Group ✊ A Digest of News from Ukrainian Sources ⚔ 5-May-2026.

In this week’s bulletin

⬤ Ukrainians on the Global Sumud Flotilla.
⬤ Try Me for Treason film.
⬤ New report on the freedom of movement of civilians in the occupied territories.
⬤ More evidence of Russian torture of prisoners and torture to death.
⬤ Mass grave of Russia’s victims found in occupied Mariupol.

News from the territories occupied by Russia

The Face of Resistance: The Story of Military Expert Dmytro Shtyblikov (Crimea Platform, May 1st)

‘Three and a half years of search for my Yura’ (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 1st)

Ukrainian political prisoner tells Russian court of torture after which you’ll sign anything (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 1st)

Deliberately concealed mass grave of Russia’s victims found in occupied Mariupol (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, May 1st)

One Out of Ten. Russians Tortured a Kherson Environmental Officer to Death (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 29th)

Russia sentences abducted and tortured Melitopol journalists to 26 years for pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 29th)

Uzeir Abdullaiev Spends 10th Consecutive Birthday as Political Prisoner (Crimea Platform, April 30th)

Abducted by Russians Four Years Ago: Crimean Human Rights Defender Iryna Danylovych Remains Illegally Held in a Penal Colony (Crimea Platform, April 29th)

Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea (Crimea Platform, April 28th)

Crimean pensioner sentenced to six years for social media comments against Russian aggression (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 28th)

Secret Russian court upholds ‘foreign agent’ repression against Crimean Tatar human rights defender Lutfiye Zudiyeva (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 27th)

EU follows Ukraine in holding Russians to account for illegal excavations in occupied Crimea (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 27th)

One belt, one Donbas: China gaining foothold in Russian-occupied Ukraine (The Insider, April 27th)

55-year-old from Russian-occupied Skadovsk sentenced to 12 years for supporting Ukraine (Tribunal for Putin, April 23rd)

Freedom of movement in occupied territories: Taking the long way around (Alter Pravo, April 2026)

News from the front

Cyberspace as Another Front of War (Tribunal for Putin, May 2nd)

Ukraine’s drone forces commander says no part of Russia is safe from strikes, as drones hit oil infrastructure deep inside the country (Meduza, May 1st)

News from Ukraine

Corruption scandal latest: is Zelensky implicated? (Kyiv Independent, 3 May)

Ukraine bypassed as Russian archaeologist wanted for crimes in occupied Crimea freed in 'Poland - Belarus' exchange (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 30th)

A Museum of Childhood in Unchildlike Times (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, April 28th)

War-related news from Russia

The anti-war protesters imprisoned in Russia – in their own words (Labour Hub, May 3rd)

Political prisoner Aleksandr Nesterenko: they fabricate cases, just as they did in Soviet times (People and Nature, May 1st)

Wrong side of the law: The Russian state is institutionalizing abductions, torture, and other repressive practices (The Insider, April 30th)

A ‘Turgenev girl’ and her cats: Siberian war resister Arina Ivanova (The Russian Reader, 30 April)

Tuapse: Russia’s Pride (The Russian Reader, 29 April)

The home front: Opponents of domestic violence are facing increased pressure in wartime Russia (The Insider, April 28th)

Torture of Political Prisoner Azat Miftakhov by Putin Regime Continues (Russian Reader, April 27th)

Analysis and comment

May Day: Ukrainian Trade Unions Call for Global Solidarity (Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, May 1st)

Why Stop the War and No2NATO lie about the 2014 deaths at Odesa (Red Mole, April 27th)

Events of 2025 (Human Rights Watch, April 2026)

International solidarity

Israeli Navy’s criminal attack on Gaza flotilla: Release them all now! (labour Hub, May 1st)

Help Ukraine’s Children Learn in Safety (Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, April 30th)

Breaking the Gaza Blockade: Ukrainians on the Sumud Flotilla (Commons.com, April 29th)

Pussy Riot Shows Art by Russia’s Prisoners in New Protest Exhibition (Hyper Allergic, April 27th)

Ukrainians join Global Sumud Flotilla Mission to Gaza (Labour Hub, April 26th)

Upcoming events

Sunday 17 May: premiere of Try Me For Treason, the film. In-person premiere in London: 6.30pm, Upstairs room, the Lucas Arms, 245a Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8QY (arrive for drinks from 6.0pm). Youtube premiere at 8.0pm. Information at trymefortreason.org.

🔴This bulletin is put together by labour movement activists in solidarity with Ukrainian resistance. More information at Ukraine Information Group.

We are also on twitter. Our aim is to circulate information in English that to the best of our knowledge is reliable. If you have something you think we should include, please send it to 2U022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com.


We are now on Facebook and Substack! Please subscribe and tell friends. Better still, people can email us at 2022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com, and we’ll send them the bulletin direct every Monday. The full-scale Russian assault on Ukraine is going into its third year: we’ll keep information and analysis coming, for as long as it takes.

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News From Ukraine 💣 Bulletin 194

Friendly Atheist ★ The man who reshaped white evangelical politics also helped create a culture where victims of abuse never stood a chance.

In 2015, when Sen. Ted Cruz was running for president (and before Donald Trump was seen as a viable candidate), he ran an ad featuring an endorsement from Paul Pressler.

Pressler said he had known Cruz since he was a teenager and “observed personally” Cruz’s integrity and principle. He went on to say:

I’ve dedicated my life to the conservative principles on which our country was founded, and I know Ted Cruz has done the same thing and that he will stand firm.

That’s downright wild to watch in hindsight because, in the decade since, Cruz has proven to be nothing but a MAGA cultist who doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution. He’s a right-wing zealot who’s never seriously been considered a model for integrity. You knew that back in 2015. I knew that back in 2015. Why didn’t this guy know?

In fact, who the hell is he and why was his endorsement such a big deal at the time?

The video listed Pressler as a former Texas state representative, a retired district and appellate court judge, and leader of the “Conservative Baptist Resurgence.” 

The Dark Legacy Of Paul Pressler And The Southern Baptist Convention

Right Wing Watch 👀 Written by Kyle Mantyla.

Recently, two Republican members of the Texas state legislature, Reps. Daniel Alders and Brent Money, appeared on the "Kings & Statesmen" program to discuss the importance of "Christian political influence" in government.

During the program, Money declared that he sees his role as an elected official not to do what his constituents want and elected him to do but rather to do "what God wants me to do."

It was no surprise to learn from Money that he was deeply influenced by theocratic Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson, which was abundantly clear in his explanation of how he governs like "a true Christian" as a legislator.

Money recalled that during his run for office, he would tell voters that, 'I'm here to serve you, I'm here to do what you want to do," but realized that he didn't really mean that.

"I'm sitting there going, 'Man, I'm here to do what God wants me to do," Money said. "That doesn't mean you ignore the will of the constituents, but there are things that I think we're called [to do]. 

Continue @ RWW.

TX State Rep. Brent Money Says His Role As A Legislator Is 'To Do What God Wants'

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Sixty Seven

 

Pastords @ 43

 

A Morning Thought @ 3141

Donal O'Driscoll ✍ For all my opposition to successive Irish governments, I feel some of the sensationalist rhetoric of the last week or so needs to be scrutinised.

1. This government has no legitimacy.
 
This is patently not true. I may not like this government, but Ireland is a parliamentary democracy. Ireland is divided into constituencies, each constituency elects a set number of TDs. Out of those TDs, parties negotiate alliances. Governments are formed as a result of these alliances. I may not support this government, but it was elected legitimately as per the Constitution.
 
2. This government is a dictatorship.

Again, patently false. The government was elected in 2024, people had the right, as I did, to vote for alternative options. An insufficient amount of people did so. This government has done nothing to change rules to guarantee their power or anything else to indicate they are dictators.
 
3. We're being taxed to the Hilt. 

I don't disagree at all that tax monies are not well distributed in Ireland, but we are a comparatively low tax economy, certainly by European standards.
 
4. We can find money for everyone else but our own. 

Apart from the dangerous overtones of this argument, it is a total red herring. There is nothing to suggest spending on overseas aid directly takes from domestic spending. Again the problem here is distribution of public funds, not the amount spent on foreign aid.
 
5. The government have sold us out.
 
Have they though? I despise both FF and FG, but as much as they may put a positive spin on things at election times, they essentially are honest about what they are. We have decades of history to tell us what to expect from FF or FG in government. Collectively as people, we didn't vote in sufficient numbers to get them out. That is on us.

⏩Donal O'Driscoll is political activist from West Cork.

Sensationalist Rhetoric

Geordie Morrow 🖌 with a painting from his collection of art work. 



⏩Geordie Morrow is a Belfast artist.

Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow

Dixie Elliot ✊It was a day like any other on the Blanket Protest. 

Bobby Sands paced the length of his cell deep in thought. As he did so he repeatedly stroked his thick beard with the cup of his hand. It was something he did out of habit. His long fair hair was lank and matted as he hadn’t washed in well over a year. The blanket which covered his naked body from the waist down was filthy, as was the foam mattress he slept on. This he had propped up against the wall so as to give him more space to walk back and forth from his cell window to the steel door. His cellmate sat on his own foam mattress with his back against the wall and remained silent as he knew Bobby was trying to find the words with which he could complete yet another poem. Just a few more lines was all he needed.
 
Bobby’s cellmate didn’t realise it then but he was in fact baring witness to a period in the life of a man; a deeply convicted Irish Republican, whose name, while it was still relatively unknown beyond the walls of these H-Blocks, would become as synonymous with freedom as that of the revolutionary Che Guevara or Martin Luther King Jr. There would come a time when streets would be named after him. Sadly he would die on hunger strike, along with nine brave comrades, for that to happen.
 
The sun shone that day and the birds sang to their hearts content, which lifted the spirits of the prisoners a little, but they were denied even the feel of it's warmth. They could only peer through the concrete pillars of their cell windows and remember how it had felt. Bobby stopped his pacing and looked out at the yard between the two wings, then he turned his attention to the clear blue sky and a wisp of white cloud which seemed reluctant to move on. He was searching for inspiration.
 
He imagined what it would be like to be a bird, free to go where he wished, being able to soar high into that blue sky with the wisp of cloud and out over the barbed wire topped fences and the high concrete wall which separated the H-Blocks from the Cages. In his mind's eye he could see Lough Neagh off to his left, the water's surface shimmering in the sunlight. He hung in the air then turned and flew over Black Mountain and Divis, with the city sprawled out below hugging the shoreline of Belfast Lough.
He swooped down and flew below the ridgeline of Cave Hill, along it's basalt cliffs and the feature known as 'Napoleon's Nose' with the ringfort known locally as McArt's Fort at its highest point. It was there back in 1795 that Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy McCracken and the other Presbyterian members of the Society of United Irishmen gathered and pledged “never to desist until we had subverted the authority of England over our country and asserted our independence”.

Bobby spotted the three large caves on the face of the cliffs and with the eye of a poet he envisaged the ancient inhabitants of McArts Fort storing food in them for the cruel months of a winter which lay ahead. Close to the lowest of the three caves he saw 'The Devil's Punchbowl'. This steep hill, strewn with rocks and boulders, was where they had sheltered their livestock from the elements. He glanced down the slopes of Cave Hill at Belfast Castle surrounded by woodland. It had once been the residence of the Chichester family, landed gentry who had come to Ulster, during the Plantation, forced the Gael off their land and took it for themselves.
 
He could see Glas na Bradan wood and remembered how, as a child, he had played along the river of the same name, which flows through it and into Belfast Lough. The English translation being 'Stream of the Salmon.' The M2 motorway, with traffic rushing to and from the city was like a scar on the face of the beautiful landscape. Then he was looking down on Carnmoney Hill. It was as he had remembered it, carpets of bluebells, the whin bush with their distinctive yellow flowers and remnants of ancient woodland.

Always the Gaelgeoir, Bobby thought of it's Gaelic name, 'Cairn Monaidh' meaning 'carn of the bog’. That carn had long ago disappeared but there are several raths or ringforts in or around the hill. Overlooking Carnmoney Cemetery on the southern face of Carnmoney Hill are what little remains of Dun Áine meaning ‘Áine’s fort’. He loved the view from up there and imaged the beautiful Celtic sun goddess Áine admiring the same view with the wind in her hair. At least two souterrains, man-made underground tunnels, had also been discovered on the hill. Ancient hedgerows, mostly hawthorn and hazel, border some of the pathways which wind up and across the top of the hill. In the 1800s these pathways would have led to isolated farmhouses.

Above the cacophony of birdsong Bobby heard children's laughter which frightened an Irish hare lazing in the shade of the undergrowth. It took off and bounded across the open ground. Bobby then saw a group of children making their way to the top of the hill along a pathway and the memories came flooding back to him of how he had done the same thing as a child during beautiful sunny days such as this.

One of the children, a boy with fair hair, looked up and saw a Lark hanging in the sky. It's song was so enthralling that he instantly felt an affinity with that little bird. That boy was Bobby himself. His sisters Bernadette and Marcella were also there, as were the friends he hadn't seen since childhood. He remembered looking up at that Lark as it sang in celebration of it's freedom. Bobby knew in his heart that he was only reliving the past through his memories and that freedom was the dream which gave him strength during the darkest days and nights in the H-Blocks.
 
John Sands married Rosaleen Kelly on March 28th 1951. Shortly afterwards they moved from the overcrowded streets of Belfast out to Abbots Cross a newly built village and shopping centre in the Glas na Bradan valley between Cave Hill and Carnmoney Hill, five miles to the north of the city. Unfortunately any hope John and Rosaleen had of finding happiness in the countryside was short-lived. They were soon to discover that Abbots Cross had been built for Protestants. Uniformed members of the RUC and B-Specials casually walked past their home each day going to and from work, which mainly entailed keeping the Catholic citizens of Belfast in their place. John's Ulster-Scots surname was likely the reason they managed to slip through the sectarian net and into number 6 Abbots Cross. For a long time their neighbours believed that they were Protestants and they certainly weren't going to let them know any different.

On March 9th 1954, two years after their move to Abbots Cross, Rosaleen gave birth to their first child, a boy who they named Robert Gerard. Just under a year later in April 1955 Bobby's sister Marcella was born. There was a three-year gap before the birth of his sister Bernadette in November 1958. His brother Sean would be born in June 1962. 

When their neighbours in Abbots Cross came to realise that John and Rosaleen were Catholics, they made life intolerable for them. Their next-door neighbour, a woman, started hammering incessantly on the walls of their home after John left to go to work. Anytime Rosaleen went out to hang the washing on the line, that neighbour would do the same thing while sneering over the fence at her. The same thing would happen while she cleaned her windows. This woman would go out and clean her windows and again she would be sneer across at Rosaleen. It eventually got so bad that she would take the children out for long walks during the day to get away from the strain. The mental torture she endured during the day would have stopped by the time John got back home from work. Rosaleen became so ill with stress that John and herself eventually decided that they had no other option but to leave.

In December 1961 the family moved into a new home in a newly built housing estate beside Abbots Cross called Rathcoole. This new home, 68 Doonbeg Drive, was at the foot of Carnmoney Hill. Seven-year old Bobby could look out their front window at an uninterrupted view of the hill so it was hardly surprising that he, his sisters and their newfound friends from other nearby streets would climb the paths which wound up the hill, build themselves a hut and then light a fire. They would throw raw potatoes into this fire and watch them burn before attempting to eat them. Needless to say they were always hungry by the time they got back home again.
 
Bobby’s education began at Stella Maris primary school and he went on to attend the secondary school of the same name which was next door to it. He was only ever interested in playing football so himself and his best friend Tommy O’Neill joined the youth team of Stella Maris, the local football club. This club was remarkable for the times because it attracted Protestant boys from surrounding areas despite the fact that the team trained in the gym of Bobby’s school. It mattered not if a player was a Catholic or a Protestant, if they were anyway good at playing football they got on the team. Bobby also took part in other sports like swimming and cross-country running for which he won quite a few medals.

By 1966 things began to change as Rathcoole became the centre of Protestant intolerance when the religious demagogue, Ian Paisley established the area as his power base. He spat sectarian hatred from the pulpit and wherever else he could find a platform from which to vent it. In his ignorance neither he nor his followers realised that whenever they said Rathcoole they were speaking a bit of Irish. Rathcoole is Ráth Cúil in Gaelic, meaning the ‘Fort of Coole’ and it is pronounced the same in English as it is in Irish. Hanging on his every poisonous word Loyalists began to launch attacks on Catholic homes, schools and shops. 

The UVF’s first actual killing during this period was an unfortunate old Protestant lady because they had mistaken her for a Catholic. The parents of a Protestant he had befriended in the Stella Maris team told him to stop bringing Bobby around to their house.
 
Bobby finished secondary school in 1969 at the age of fifteen and enrolled in Newtownabbey Technical College. The following year in March 1970 he began working as an apprentice bus builder with Alexander’s Coach Works earning eighteen pounds a week. However, the ugly face of sectarian hatred wasn’t long in coming to the surface on the factory floor, but Bobby endured it as he wanted to learn a trade. One morning he turned up at work to find some of his workmates cleaning guns. One of them pointed a gun at him and told him to go or he’d be shot. He refused to be intimidated and stayed until his boss called him into his office and told him that there would be staff cuts and that he was being laid off.
 
Bobby would soon find another job, working nights as a barman in the Glen Inn, a pub in Glengormley. He became friendly with an older barman called Gerry Noade who lived beside the Sands family home in Rathcoole. He soon started dating Gerry’s daughter Geraldine. The couple would eventually get married after Geraldine became pregnant, but the wedding would be held in the chapel of Crumlin Road jail on March 3rd 1973 just six days before Bobby's 19th birthday, as he would be arrested on October 16th 1972 and put on remand. Geraldine gave birth to a baby boy, Gerard, on 8th May 1973.
 
During his time working as a barman Bobby made the decision that the time had come for him to fight back against the tyranny of the sectarian state which had, for decades, made life unbearable for Catholics in the North of Ireland and the British military which had been sent over to defend it. The peaceful protests of the Civil Rights Movement had been met with state violence during the 1960s. He witnessed the murderous events in Ballymurphy and a few months later in Derry, which would come to be known as Bloody Sunday. The Parachute regiment murdered innocent people during both massacres but the real orders had come from the British government.
Bobby knew that IRA volunteers drank in the Glen Inn so he waited for the right moment to approach one of them and ask about becoming a member himself. He noticed that one of them seemed to have more authority than the others so one night toward the end of 1971 he walked over to him while he was sitting alone, sat down and asked him straight out about joining the IRA. The man was impressed but he counselled Bobby to think carefully before joining. Bobby had his mind made up and nothing the man said could change it so he told him he’d think about it and get back to him.

It wouldn’t take too long until he did get back to Bobby. The IRA man needed to move a gun from Rathcoole to Glengormley but the volunteer who was supposed to do it hadn’t turned up. As he passed a football pitch he noticed that Bobby was playing in one of the teams. He called him over and asked him if he would do something for him. Without asking what it was Bobby changed clothes and took the gun the IRA man produced from inside his coat and handed to him. He was in.

Bobby's cellmate wondered why he was spending so much time standing at the window of their cell just staring out through the concrete pillars as he was normally pacing the length of the cell deep in thought. He got up and stood beside him little realising that he had just interrupted Bobby’s memories bringing him back to the reality of their present-day situation. He remained silent for a while and just stared out the cell window. Then he asked Bobby did he think that they'd ever see freedom, real freedom when the British would have left Ireland for good. Bobby turned to him and said, "Tiocfaidh ár lá,” (Our day will come). Then he went over to the wall and began putting the finishing touches to the poem he had been composing. Having done so he memorised the lines until he had it word perfect.

Later that night Bobby went to his cell door and announced to the men in the wing that he had just finished another poem. The lads were all excited as they were aware that he had been writing one and couldn't wait to hear it.

"It’s called ‘A Place to Rest', began Bobby before reciting his poem from the side of his cell door...

'As the day crawls out another night crawls in
Time neither moves nor dies.
It's the time of day when the lark sings,
The black of night when the curlew cries.
There's rain on the wind, the tears of spirits
The clink of key on iron is near,
A shuttling train passes by on rail,
There's more than God for man to fear.
Toward where the evening crow would fly, my thoughts lie,
And like ships in the night they blindly sail,
Blown by a thought - that breaks the heart -
Of forty women in Armagh jail.
Oh! and I wish I were with the gentle folk,
Around a hearthened fire where the fairies dance unseen,
Away from the black devils of H-Block hell,
Who torture my heart and haunt my dream.
I would gladly rest where the whin bush grow,
Beneath the rocks where the linnets sing
In Carnmoney Graveyard 'neath its hill
Fearing not what the day may bring!'

There was a hushed silence when he finished, then his comrades erupted into cheers and shouted words of praise from one end of the wing to the other.

At 1.17am on the morning of Tuesday May 5th, forty-five years ago, brave Bobby Sands MP took his final breath in the prison hospital after 66 days on hunger-strike. He was 27 at the time of his death.

Fuair sé bás ar son saoirse na hÉireann.

Note: I used Bobby’s biography, Nothing But An Unfinished Song by Denis O’Hearn to reference the early days of his life.

Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman.
Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie


A Lark Sang On Carnmoney Hill

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