Afleveringen
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Joy at others misfortunes. It's fine when it's punching up, but I've noticed it too often be used to punch down. I talk about it.
Headlines:
- Israel kills two more journalists in Gaza: Hussam Shabbat and Mohammad Mansour
- Protests seize Turkey after Erdogan's latest power grab
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I talk about the idea that I have for the next video essay.
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Support Ali's Go Fund Me
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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There were numerous massacres that happening in the Syrian coast over the last week. I talk about them, share some information that I have about them and the reactions to them. I also provide some context to recent developments in Syria which I think too many are confused by and even more are coopting for ideological purposes.
Here's some additional resources on the coast massacres:
Article by Robin Yassin-Kassab
Report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights
Short video by Megaphone News
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New video essay 'Where Are the Arabs?'
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As always I'll be going live this Sunday at 6pm CET to talk more about what I discuss in this episode. Join me if you have any questions or just want to hold space.
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Just a personal rant about feeling sad that my therapist can no longer do sessions with me. I also share some thoughts about why therapy was so useful/helpful for me, especially in this present moment of despair and gloom.
Headlines: Zelensky v. Trump, Vance; Israeli aggression on Syria.
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A LOT has happened in Lebanon (and the region) in the last few months. This is the first of many episodes where I try to unpack not just the situation of Lebanon but the situation of the region as a whole from a Lebanese (leftist) perspective. There's a lot of moving pieces, a lot of history, and most important, a lot of seismic shifts that I think needs to be accounted for in our analysis, discussions, and actions.
I'll be doing a live-stream for this episode (where you can ask your questions, ask for elaborations, or just chat about stuff). It'll happen on Sunday 23rd at 8pm CET. Here is the link to join (press notify me to get a notification when I start):
https://youtube.com/live/KBxiEWlUFx0?feature=share
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On Feb 16, 2013, the revolutionary Syrian anarchist Omar Aziz was martyred by the Assad regime. His legacy and actions, specifically around the local councils during the Syrian revolution, will be commemorated in events and talks held around the world on Feb 16, 2025. Here is a link with texts, resources, and dates:
https://rememberomaraziz.net/
Here is the comic I did on the Syrian rev + local councils:
Comic on Syrian Revolution
As part of the new series, I'll be hosting a live-stream discussion on this episode tomorrow (Tue 11th) at 6PM CET on Youtube. It'll be a space for you the listener to engage more, ask your questions, get more clarity on stuff I may have skimmed over, etc. Here is the link to the live stream:
https://youtube.com/live/yc6qQoWkn2c?feature=share
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New season! Same format! Not much will change with breaking up this podcast into seasons, it's just more helpful for planning/organizing. I am going to take the opportunity to try to regularise some of the formats I was playing with towards the end there.
Announcement:
- New Podcast: Mutual Aid Podcast
Headlines:
- Musk and 4chan
- Lebanon ceasefire: displaced force their way back home
- War on Jenin
- Egypt and Jordan reveal their hypocrisy
Main topic:
- Personal baggage in political organizing
- (Self) Projection of parental roles onto leaders
- There are no adults in the white house
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It's finally happening. I finished the video essay. There's a live drop happening on Patreon on Sunday 26th at 8pm CET. Ayman will be in the live chat. Join us!
Link to the Video Essay
Free for members, available for one-time purchase for anyone else!
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Even when things feel pointless, we have to keep going. We have to give our actions meaning. Whether it's our own individual contributions or the movements we participate in, we can't completely lose hope in their possible impact and meaning. I think doing so is giving our enemies an unnecessary victory over us.
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Today it is officially one year exactly since I started this podcast. I look back and reflect on this year and talk about the year ahead. What has changed, what has stayed pretty much the same, what has gotten much worse? I ask these questions at the political, personal and polito-personal (to coin a term) level. Thank you to everyone who has listened over the last year. I appreciate every single one of you. May we mark the 2nd year of this podcast with new achievements, new breakthroughs, new ruptures to this depressing, catastrophic existence.
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So I got rejected from yet another writing grant. But I persist. From now I'm gna focus on doing my work and hoping those listening/reading appreciate enough/are able to support me. This episode is basically a free-association personal ramble about stuff I've been thinking about re my work and what I'm reluctantly calling 'diasporic discomforts'. Very little politics in this one, except brief talk about the "ceasefire" in Lebanon.
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It's finally happened. After 13 years of struggle, the Syrian people emerge victorious. What started as military operations in the north quickly escalated into country-wide revolt, built on decades of resentment, organising and, counter-revolutionary violence. Prisons liberated, Assad fled, and for the first time, in over a decade, Syrians are celebrating. They know, more than any of us, the work that comes now, but for now, let's celebrate with them.
This episode is dedicated to Omar Aziz, to Razan Zaitouneh, to Alan Kurdi, to all the brave fighters who were martyred by this regime, to all the ordinary men and women who dared to dream, to the organisers of the councils that sustained their communities through years of siege, to those who perished in refuge under the crushing weight of exile, to all the revolutionaries who are no longer with us: this moment is for you.
May this inspire all of us to dare to dream, to understand that sacrifice may well pay off, that the long struggle towards justice is but that: a long struggle. The people wanted the overthrowal of the regime, the people overthrew the regime. May we experience such joy in Lebanon, may the Palestinians experience such joy. May all oppressed peoples across the globe be victorious in their struggle against their oppressors. Oppression leads to resistance which oppression can never crush.
I have so many thoughts and feelings, so I share with you this episode. It of course is not expansive. Three main things I forgot to discuss:
The Israeli opportunism in this moment, bombing areas in southern Syria and seizing new territories.
Sednayel prison as a place not just of disappearance but wholesale massacres.
Accepting Syrian agency the way we do with Palestinians. Are you reading Syrian poetry? Listening to Syrian music? Engaging with Syrian twitter or insta? Centring Syrian voices? Are you accepting and trusting that Syrians understand their situation better than anyone else? If not, you may be falling for narratives that ultimately hurt Syrians and contributing to their erasure.
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But for now Syrians celebrate. Let's celebrate with them.
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These horrible two months seem to have come to an end. At least for the time being. A brief bittersweet moment amongst all the horribleness. I share they thoughts and reflections about the ceasefire deal that was announced just two days ago.
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I've been doing terribly. All of us are. But I can't go on like this. I will not cede them this victory.
This is possibly my most personal episode yet as I try to make sense of it all.
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What was meant to be a reflection on The Peoples Want festival ended up being a long discussion of how insane Germany has become. Doqsi (Egyptian living in Berlin) shares their experience and analysis of the current situation of the Palestine solidarity movement in Berlin as well as the intense and white supremacist crackdown from the state, the media, and liberal organizations. We do talk a bit about the festival but end up really lamenting that the safety we both sought in Europe is increasingly being chipped away.
Essay I make constant reference to:
https://criticalmuslim.com/explore/issues/halal/german-redemption-theology
The Peoples Want Links
Website: thepeopleswant.org
Instagram: instagram.com/lespeuplesveulent
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I had the extreme pleasure of spending the last week discussing and organizing with a group of activists and revolutionaries from across the global south. This happened at a conference hosted by The Peoples Want, a collective working on building genuine, strong internationalist bonds between struggles across the globe. Holding these conversations was intense but full of inspiration, especially at a time where I'm witnessing my world being destroyed, while everything feels empty of meaning, let alone hope. I share my reflections of this past week as well as brief comments on: the continued Israeli aggression on Lebanon, the impending U.S elections, and climate-crisis induced flooding in Spain and Saudi Arabia.
The Peoples Want Links
Website: thepeopleswant.org
Instagram: instagram.com/lespeuplesveulent
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What is liberalism? Who are liberals? Where do they stand in relation to the colonies? Where do they on genocide? I think the answer to the last question is pretty obvious to anyone paying attention over the last year. But regardless, I thought I'd do an episode sharing my reflections and understanding of liberalism, as a historical movement and political tendency that is riddled top to bottom with contradictions. History has shown that liberals are much friendlier to fascism than they are to anything resembling communism. We see this history repeating itself painfully clear. I share my, admittedly messy and incomplete, impressions on the matter.
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A question people have asked over the last year (and half a century). A constant mark of shame for the entire 'arab world' but also the beginning into a very serious inquiry - which I would contest has radical potentials that have yet to be fully explored. As I develop my next video essay, on this very topic, I'm doing this episode to just explore the things I'm thinking about out loud. I also provide some - incomplete - highlights on the latest developments in Lebanon and Palestine. One thing I definitely neglect to mention, specifically in southern Lebanon, is how great the losses are of Israeli soldiers who are trying to invade Lebanon. They cannot win real confrontations, so they use their aerial superiority to bomb hospitals and civilians.
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It's so difficult to speak. Confirming in words what we know, but cannot believe, is happening. Lebanon, my home, has been subjected to an unfathomable aggression by Israel over the last week. Over 1600 people have been killed, thousands more injured, and approximately 1 million people internally displaced! Almost all of this in almost two weeks. In this episode I share my reflections as a Lebanese, but also my bitter analysis based on what Palestinians have been showing us over the last year. Israel will not stop, it needs to be stopped. Otherwise we're all doomed.
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The criminal and vile escalation of Israel's aggression in Lebanon has forced 10s of thousands to flee the South. In lieu of a government, organizations, grassroots groups, and local communities have been stepping in and doing, essentially, the government's work - to provide for and protect its population. I'm dedicating this episode to talking about one of these groups, which has in fact been operating since 2020, and which I helped found. It's a group I'm proud to be a part of and whose members are the most inspiring, powerful, and caring comrades that a queer could ask for. I talk about the work we do, the context within which we work, as well as the necessity for mutual aid and community work in this time of war and displacement. Also just to note, I ofc don't claim to speak on behalf of the group, just as myself as a member and comrade.
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This is also a 'Fundraiser Episode'. Please donate what you can, become a member of our Patreon, or just share it with your friends, families, comrades and allies:
QMA Patreon -- https://www.patreon.com/qmalebanon
Reach out to this email for direct x-fer (bank, paypal,etc.):
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Referenced Materials:
My Old Essay's on Mutual Aid
https://thepublicsource.org/charity-mutual-aid
https://thepublicsource.org/charity-mutual-aid-2
Essay written by two members of QMA Lebanon
https://jeem.me/en/society/1286
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Love and Soldarity,
Ayman
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