#on behalf of women! on behalf of the spirit of cooperation and solidarity!

[thefeastandthefast]

I'm OBSESSED with the terrifying Princess Wanning and want ALL the backstory about her time as a hostage and everything she did to survive (and possibly even thrive?) in such a situation. Please, drama, give it to me! (Do I feel fic urges coming on?)

She's over-the-top and openly, gleefully cruel and sadistic in a way that female villains don't often get to be, but the actress makes her chillingly believable. The actress Li Meng oscillates so naturally between all the minute shades of her many malevolent moods and is clearly having a ball playing her. Li Meng was great in The Bad Kids and now I know I will definitely be seeking out more of her work. Suggesting two men murder each other in front of her as a job interview is exactly the kind of unhinged psychotic creativity that I appreciate about Wanning.

[pope-francis-quotes]

1st December >> Pope Francis addresses interreligious meeting for peace (Photo ~ Pope Francis blesses a Rohingya orphan girl during an Interreligious and Ecumenical Meeting for Peace in Dhaka - EPA) (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday greeted and blessed a group of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to Bangladesh from neighboring Myanmar. The moving meeting took place during an Interreligious and Ecumenical Meeting for Peace in the garden of the Archbishop of Dhaka’s residence. The meeting, which saw the participation of representatives of different faiths, took place on the second day of the Pope’s Apostolic Journey to Bangladesh. The 16 Rohingya - 12 men, two women and two young girls - traveled to Dhaka from Cox's Bazar, the district bordering Myanmar where refugee camps are overflowing with more than 620,000 Rohingya who have fled violence in Myanmar. One by one, each one of the refugees approached the Pope at the end of the event and through the aid of an interpreter told him their stories and their experiences. During his address to the religious leaders at the meeting, the Pope said a spirit of openness is fundamental for building a culture of harmony and peace: (Report by Chris Wells) Please find below the official English translation of the Pope's speech: Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends, Our meeting, which brings together representatives of the various religious communities present in this country, represents a highly significant moment in my Visit to Bangladesh. For we have gathered to deepen our friendship and to express our shared desire for the gift of genuine and lasting peace. My thanks go to Cardinal D’Rozario for his kind words of welcome, and to those who have greeted me warmly on behalf of the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities, and in the name of the civil authorities. I am grateful to the Anglican bishop of Dhaka for his presence, to the various Christian communities, and to all those whose have helped to make this gathering possible. The words we have heard, but also the songs and dances that have enlivened our assembly, have spoken to us eloquently of the yearning for harmony, fraternity and peace embodied in the teachings of the world’s religions. May our meeting this afternoon be a clear sign of the efforts of the leaders and followers of the religions present in this country to live together in mutual respect and good will. In Bangladesh, where the right to religious freedom is a founding principle, this commitment stands as a subtle yet firm rebuke to those who would seek to foment division, hatred and violence in the name of religion. It is a particularly gratifying sign of our times that believers and all people of good will feel increasingly called to cooperate in shaping a culture of encounter, dialogue and cooperation in the service of our human family. This entails more than mere tolerance. It challenges us to reach out to others in mutual trust and understanding, and so to build a unity that sees diversity not as a threat, but as a potential source of enrichment and growth. It challenges us to cultivate an openness of heart that views others as an avenue, not a barrier. Allow me to explore with you briefly some essential features of this “openness of heart” that is the condition for a culture of encounter. First, it is a door. It is not an abstract theory but a lived experience. It enables us to embark on a dialogue of life, not a mere exchange of ideas. It calls for good will and acceptance, yet it is not to be confused with indifference or reticence in expressing our most deeply held convictions. To engage fruitfully with another means sharing our distinct religious and cultural identity, but always with humility, honesty and respect. Openness of heart is also like a ladder that reaches up to the Absolute. By recalling this transcendent dimension of our activity, we realize the need for our hearts to be purified, so that we can see all things in their truest perspective. As with each step our vision becomes clearer, we receive the strength to persevere in the effort to understand and value others and their point of view. In this way, we will find the wisdom and strength needed to extend the hand of friendship to all. Openness of heart is likewise a path that leads to the pursuit of goodness, justice and solidarity. It leads to seeking the good of our neighbours. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Saint Paul urged his hearers: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). This is a sentiment that all of us can echo. Religious concern for the welfare of our neighbour, streaming from an open heart, flows outward like a vast river, to quench the dry and parched wastelands of hatred, corruption, poverty and violence that so damage human lives, tear families apart, and disfigure the gift of creation. Bangladesh’s different religious communities have embraced this path in a particular way by their commitment to the care of the earth, our common home, and by their response to the natural disasters that have beset the nation in recent years. I think too of the common outpouring of grief, prayer and solidarity that accompanied the tragic collapse of Rana Plaza, which remains fresh in the minds of all. In these various ways, we see how the path of goodness leads to cooperation in the service of others. A spirit of openness, acceptance and cooperation between believers does not simply contribute to a culture of harmony and peace; it is its beating heart. How much our world needs this heart to beat strongly, to counter the virus of political corruption, destructive religious ideologies, and the temptation to turn a blind eye to the needs of the poor, refugees, persecuted minorities, and those who are most vulnerable. How much, too, is such openness needed in order to reach out to the many people in our world, especially the young, who at times feel alone and bewildered as they search for meaning in life! Dear friends, I thank you for your efforts to promote the culture of encounter, and I pray that, by demonstrating the common commitment of believers to discerning the good and putting it into practice, they will help all believers to grow in wisdom and holiness, and to cooperate in building an ever more humane, united and peaceful world. I open my own heart to all of you, and I thank you once more for your welcome. Let us remember one another in our prayers.

[socialismwithasmile]

Just another ISO presentation

This is in the context of a multi-org anti-semitism/islamophobia solidarity event.

Hello,

I am here on behalf of the ISO. We decided to put this event together in response to the skyrocketing number of cases of both anti-Semitic and islamophobic violence that are sweeping the country. This has included A Sikh man shot in Kent Washington, a Muslim boy hung outside Seattle, four mosques burned and more than 140 bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers… 

With all of that horrific shit going on it seems reasonable to ask: where is this coming from?

An easy answer seems to be the Trump Administration. Among them are those known for their islamophobic and anti-Semitic and even fascistic beliefs. Advisor to the President, Steve Bannon for example is alleged to have said that he “doesn’t like Jews and that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiney brats’ and that he didn’t want [his] girls going to school with Jews” and then there is Senior Advisor Steven Miller who in university was not only personal friends with Richard Spencer but worked with notorious islamophobe David Horowitz’s Organization to design a so-called “Islamofascism Awareness Week” to be used at campuses nationwide.

With these openly racist faces in the White House the white-nationalist and neo-Nazi scum that inhabits American far right has taken note of this change in tone by prominent members of the US government and they have been crawling out of the gutters, emboldened to commit a new wave of violence.

As a recent article in Jacobin Magazine put it:

“Although the alt-right remains on the fringes in the United States, it has come within proximity to real power and is trying to position itself as court philosopher. Figures like [the neo-Nazi] Richard Spencer see themselves as the Trump movement’s organic intellectuals, guiding the president’s followers, whom they characterize as a directionless ‘body without a head’”.

It would be easy to say that these are simply new and bad actors in American politics but the roots of these problems go back a long way and are deeply embedded in the US political system.

Islamophobia has long played a dual role in the US political machine, especially since 9/11, on the one hand it functions as a tool to dehumanize Muslims abroad and justify their slaughter by US troops in Iraq, Libya , Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and further abroad while on the other hand it divides working class Americans against each other here at home allowing for a particularly perverse kind of nationalism to take root.  Take for example George Bush’s comments from 2006 when he remarked:

“Since the horror of 9/11, we’ve learned a great deal about the enemy. And we have learned that their goal is to build a radical Islamic empire where women are prisoners in their homes, men are beaten for missing prayer meetings, and terrorists have a safe haven to plan and launch attacks on America and other civilized nations…. This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations. In truth, it is a struggle for civilization.”

This kind of rhetoric calls to memory the words of Marxist writer and psychologist Frantz Fanon who described how in order to justify their oppression colonial overlords depict their subjects as “impervious to ethics, representing not only the absence of values but also the negation of values”

This dual form of racism is no stranger to American Jews either. In the 20s and 30s according to the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations: “A typical Jewish worker… could easily belong to a Jewish labor union and/or a mutual aid organization… send their child to a socialist… after-school program and summer camp, live in cooperative housing, attend lectures by Yiddish and socialist speakers and vote for the Socialist Party.” However, decades of anti-Semitism and McCarthyism teamed up to paint these liberatory ideas, so popular among the Jewish community, as somehow “foreign” and “un-american” and those spreading them as merely “agents of a global judeo-bolshevik conspiracy”

On top of that this idea of conspiracy doubles as a foil against critques of the capitalist system as a whole. Any systemic problems with capitalism can be easily scapegoated against Jews leaving the American ruling class off the hook for their crimes while Jews get shafted and attacked by fellow members of the working class.

While the Jewish Labor movement might no longer be a target of the mainstream political establishment, racist islamophobic ideas have since 9/11 enjoyed broad cross-the-aisle political consensus in our government. Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton for example, when asked in a presidential debate about national security went on a long rant about how American Muslims need to be on the “front lines” of the fight against “terror” and after the Pulse nightclub shooting she called for a return to the spirit of 9/12. Ironically, we might have achieved just the tenor of racist paranoia that reigned supreme after 9/11 under the Trump government.

        On the policy substance while republicans might have been behind the more heinous acts of islamophobic legislation it was the democrats who organized a congressional sit-in with the goal of forcing Republicans into voting on a so called “no-fly, no-buy” gun control measure. A ban that just like Trump’s immigration order would have overwhelmingly been targeted at Muslims, many of them innocent and unrelated to terrorist groups. On top of this, while he was president Obama continued to attack and imprison innocent Muslim civilians.

Along with this consensus against so called “Political Islam” has been a consensus on neo-liberal policies that have overwhelmingly enriched the 1% at the expense of ordinary working class people. These economic policies and the fallout of the global economic recession from 2008 have caused a sustained downturn in standards of living which has led to the very political polarization that has contributed to the rise of Trump and his brand of racist populism. The thing we of course realize as Socialists, is that the problem isn’t caused by Jews running the Banks or by Evil ‘Jihadis’ swarming our shores in the guise of refugees to kill our children, but in the way that these concerns have very strategically been used to turn us against each other and our own self interests. Take for example the story of Peter a former member of the Southern Poverty Law center recognized hate group: the III% organization.

Peter might have continued to share the racist views of his compatriots if it wasn’t for an encounter with a Muslim neighbor of his, through which they became close friends. This rocked Peter’s world and he shortly afterwards dropped out of the III% militia. In the statement, he drafted after leaving he said that:

        “I came to understand that … the III% Movement … had been subtly maneuvered into shifting our attention and efforts towards ensuring that… Muslims were kept in check, and that groups like Black Lives Matter were resisted. It didn’t make any sense anymore. Those people want the same things we do. Better quality of life. Less government intrusion. More justice and accountability. The only difference is the way we were going about getting those things. We should be uniting the working class and poor people across the country, not dividing along racial and religious lines. That is precisely what the rich want. They want more division. More strife in the working class.”

        The general sentiment of his comments ring shockingly true. Islamophobia, more than just a tool of imperialist aggression has, just like anti-Semitism been used to turn people who benefit from unity against each other. Ultimately the same people that have inflicted the economic damage that drove Peter to stand up against the US government in the first place are the ones now carrying out imperial invasions of Muslim countries and perpetuating Islamophobic stereotypes while neo-Nazis and anti-Semites blame the whole thing on a “Jewish conspiracy”. Only through unity and solidarity with each other’s struggles can we possibly hope to overcome this dark time. We must follow in the footsteps of people like Muslim activist Tarek El-Messidi who, when he saw that a local Jewish Burial ground had been attacked raised 80,000 dollars of donations from his local Muslim community to help repair the damage.  Or in the footsteps of the president of Temple Bnai Israel in Victoria Texas who gave the keys of their synagogue to the local Muslim community so that they would have a place to pray after their mosque was set on fire. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, or none of the above, we must all hold to the truth of the classic slogan, an injury to one is an injury to all.

[pope-francis-quotes]

30th March >> (@Vaticannews By Robin Gomes) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis encourages the people of #Morocco to build a society of greater solidarity and to promote respectful dialogue.

Pope Francis in Morocco: culture of dialogue and respect for common good

Pope Francis on March 30 addressed the people, authorities, representatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Saturday encouraged cooperation in building a world of greater solidarity, marked by honest, courageous and indispensable efforts in order to promote a dialogue that is respectful of the richness and distinctiveness of each people and every individual.

The Pope’s exhortation came during his 2-day weekend visit to Morocco. The Pope arrived in the Rabat’s international airport in the afternoon, where he was received by King Mohammed VI. Later, he was accorded a state welcome at the Tour Hassan or the Hassan Tower, where he addressed the people, the authorities, representatives of the civil society and the diplomatic corps.

In order to build a “society that is open, fraternal and respectful of differences,” the Pope said, “it is vital to foster the culture of dialogue and adhere to it unfailingly, to adopt mutual cooperation as our code of conduct and reciprocal understanding as our method and standard”.

The Argentine Pope noted that his visit was taking place on the 800th anniversary of the historic encounter between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in Egypt 1219. He said that the “prophetic event shows that the courage to encounter one another and extend a hand of friendship is a pathway of peace and harmony for humanity, whereas extremism and hatred cause division and destruction.

Dialogue to overcome extremism

His Moroccan visit, he said, is an opportunity to advance interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding among the followers of Christianity and Islam. All need to help each other overcome tensions and misunderstandings, clichés and stereotypes that generate fear and opposition. Likewise, it is essential that fanaticism and extremism be countered by solidarity on the part of all believers.

In this regard, the Holy father expressed appreciation for the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates . The institute trains men and women preachers in order combat all forms of extremism, which, the Pope said, often lead to violence and terrorism, that constitute an “offence against religion and against God himself”.

Religion and authentic dialogue

The Pope pointed out that for authentic dialogue, religion needs to build bridges between people. While respecting our differences, he explained, faith in God leads us to acknowledge the eminent dignity of each human being, as well as his or her inalienable rights. Therefore, freedom of conscience and religion are inseparably linked to human dignity.

For this to happen, all need to go beyond mere tolerance to respect and esteem for others, accept the distinctive religious beliefs of others and enrich one another through diversity. Thus, creating bridges between people through inter-religious dialogue calls for a spirit of mutual regard, friendship and fraternity.

In this regard, the Pope expressed appreciation for the International Conference on the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries, held in Morocco in 2016, that condemned the exploitation of religion as a means of discriminating against or attacking others.

He also commended the creation in 2012 of the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute in Rabat, that seeks to help promote ecumenism, as well as dialogue with culture and with Islam.

He said all these are ways to halt the misuse of religion to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and the invocation of the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression.

Our common home

The Pope further explained that genuine dialogue also includes the care of our common. The International Conference on Climate Change, COP 22, held in Morocco, underscored that authentic solidarity between nations and peoples is needed to protect this planet and to contribute to a true “ecological conversion” for the sake of integral human development. A patient, judicious, candid and sincere dialogue can help reverse the trend of global warming and achieve the goal of eliminating poverty, he said.

Migration

The 82-year old Pontiff also drew attention to the grave crisis of migration. He said it represents an urgent call to concrete actions aimed at eliminating the causes that force many people to leave country and family behind, often only to find themselves marginalized and rejected.

Despite the Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration held in Morocco in December, he said, much remains to be done, especially in passing from commitments to concrete actions. But what is most needed is a change of attitude towards migrants that regards them as persons, acknowledging their rights and dignity in daily life and in political decisions.

He hoped that Morocco will continue to be a model of humanity for migrants and refugees, offering them generous welcome and protection, a better life and a dignified integration into society.

He warned that the issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families.

Christians of Morocco

Speaking on behalf the Christians of Morocco, the Holy Father, pledged their commitment in building a fraternal and prosperous nation, out of concern for the common good. He particularly mentioned the Catholic Church’s engagement in social services and in the field of education, especially through its schools.

Later on Saturday the Pope was scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to the king, meet Muslim leaders and visit a centre for migrants run by Caritas.

Sunday morning, he is scheduled to visit a rural centre run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, after which he is to hold a meeting with the clergy, religious and representatives of the Ecumenical Council of Churches at Rabat cathedral.

Topics

POPE FRANCIS

APOSTOLIC VISIT

MOROCCO

DIPLOMACY

30th March 2019, 14:42