#saudis' western

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Canadian government used an opaque U.S. military sales program to provide Saudi Arabia with billions of dollars worth of armoured vehicles, some of which were shipped out urgently after the Kingdom joined the war in Yemen, according to government documents and an arms sales database consulted by The Breach.

It’s the second-largest weapons export deal in Canadian history. But the Saudi clients have never been disclosed by the Canadian government. Nor has the fact been reported that the deal was struck at the behest of a U.S. plan to beef up the Saudi military.

In 2009, under former prime minister Stephen Harper, a Canadian crown corporation signed a deal on behalf of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to provide 724 light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia. Government documents show that, as late as 2018, deliveries of the $2.9-billion worth of LAVs were still being fulfilled.

The vehicles manufactured in Canada were of the same make later seen being used in Saudi Arabia’s operations in Yemen for years.

The documents provide more evidence that the Canadian government may have knowingly supplied armoured vehicles for use in Yemen.  [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @halfwar-halfpeace, @vague-humanoid

[kemetic-dreams]

What is the DNA haplogroup of modern Egyptians?

Haplogroup E1b1b1

Wikipedia (E1b1b): E-M215, also known as E1b1b and formerly E3b, is a major human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is a division of the macro-haplogroup E-M96, which is defined by the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation M215. In other words, it is one of the major patrilineages of humanity, linking from father-to-son back to a common male-line ancestor ("Y-chromosomal Adam"). It is a subject of discussion and study in genetics as well as genetic genealogy, archaeology, and historical linguistics.

The E-M215 haplogroup has two ancient branches that contain all the known modern E-M215, E-M35 and E-M281 subclades. Of the latter two, the only branch that has been confirmed in a native population outside of Ethiopia is E-M35. E-M35 in turn has two known branches, haplogroup E-V68 and haplogroup E-Z827, which contain by far the majority of all modern E-M215 carrying men. E-V68 and E-V257 have been found in highest numbers in North Africa and the Horn of Africa, but also in lower numbers in parts of the Middle East and Europe, and in isolated populations of Southern Africa.

The Study authors consider Mtdna L0 thru L4 exclusively African.

Wikipedia quote: Haplogroup L3 descendants notwithstanding, the designation "haplogroup L" is typically used to designate the family of mtDNA clades that are most frequently found in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, all non-African haplogroups coalesce onto either haplogroup M or haplogroup N, and both these macrohaplogroups are simply sub-branches of haplogroup L3. Consequently, L in its broadest definition is really a paragroup containing all of modern humanity, and all human mitochondrial DNA from around the world are subclades of haplogroup L.

repeat - and all human mitochondrial DNA from around the world are subclades of haplogroup L.

Basal J*(xJ1,J2) is found at its highest frequencies among the Soqotri/Socotra (71.4%).

The people of the Island of Soqotri/Socotra are the genetically PUREST of ALL ARABS.

This is what they look like!

[infiniteglitterfall]

i/p discourse in a nutshell

I'm reading this long-form article about Edward Said, the guy who I've seen credited with imposing American views of race and ethnicity onto Israel and Palestine.

It's interesting to see how very American and privileged he was in some ways.

(When a Vietnam War protest disrupted one of his college classes, he called security. What a preppie.)

But this one line (in the article, not Said's own work) answered a question that's been bugging me for months: why do people so often say, "The West Bank has been occupied since 1967," when Jordan occupied it for nearly twenty years before that?

Israel’s Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, who doggedly opposed a Palestinian state, was encouraging Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, territories seized from Palestinians in 1967.

Territories seized... from... Palestinians?

Egypt had seized Gaza, and was holding it under military occupation and treating people like crap.

Jordan had seized the West Bank, made it a part of Jordan, and called East Jerusalem Jordan's "second capital city."

Not only did it give Palestinians Jordanian citizenship, but Palestinians in the West Bank continued to be citizens of Jordan for almost 20 years after Israel annexed the West Bank in the Six-Day War.

Jordan didn't terminate their citizenship, or its claim to the West Bank, until Palestine declared independence in 1988.

Israel very clearly seized the territories from Egypt and Jordan.

It also doesn't say Israel seized them "from Palestine," the country. Because the leaders of Arab Palestine (as opposed to Jewish Palestine) chose not to declare independence in 1948, and instead to screw everyone over by lobbying the Arab League to invade, destroy Israel, and divide up the land.

It says Israel seized them "from Palestinians," the individual people in those territories.

But that's not true either; individual Palestinians kept their homes.

What it seems to mean is "from Palestinians," the collective people.

From THE Palestinians; the ones who we assume were there first and who were driven out, not by the Arab League's invasion, but by angry racist Jews stealing their homes.

It's striking because it illustrates how successfully the entire history has been retconned to focus solely on one very specific, ahistorical narrative.

And how easily you can fill people's lack of knowledge about the subject with implication and innuendo, if you choose just the right wording.

[blickaufsblut]

[rafole]

crazy how KSA uses sportswashing in an attempt to “westernize” when the things they’re trying to distance themselves from were bought upon by Western imperialism in the Gulf states.

It is difficult for Westerners to criticize KSA without coming off as Islamaphobic, but modern Islam extremism is not a religious phenomenon, but a response to Western imperialism. Which is why it's completely valid to criticize KSA's actions, especially with their history of systematic oppression against women.

But you must realize that you cannot, as a Westerner, just blame Arab countries for these issues without holding the West accountable as well.

[2percentsugar]

>read book by man hailed as the best spec fic writer working today

>its mid

>express confusion that it is so well known on reddit

>"oh dude thats his worst book, read this one instead"

>read it

>its worse

[comradejoanmir]

americans when america does american things they don't like: "what are we, ASIANS????"

[kemetic-dreams]

The term “Middle East” itself is rooted in Eurocentrism, as it references the region's location relative to Europe rather than its actual geographical location.

The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office. However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to "designate the area between Arabia and India"

[runawaycarouselhorse]

[earthleave]

Strange Clouds! 😱 | WATCH OUT For These Clouds 😨 | #viral

শহরের ভিতর এমনই সূর্যাস্ত। ইতিহাস কোনদিকে যাচ্ছে!!! ❤️🌩️🇧🇩

[runawaycarouselhorse]

I watched an old, colourized, English documentary (that also serves as public education about water conservation) about old Riyadh and the eastern province (where I grew up, that last third!) of Saudi Arabia... it was very interesting a look at the past.

"Listen. But the wells do not speak. Listen. Indeed, one and all must guard this precious gift, lest in place of flourishing gardens, there may come instead a barren wasteland. 'Ye, We have made all living things from water.'"

"انصتوا. و لكن الآبار لا تنطق! انصتوا. على كل واحد منا أن يحرس هذه الهبة الثمينة، و الا قد يأتي يومًا تحل محل الرياض المزدهرة، صحراء قاحلة. "و جعلنا من الماء كل شيء حي."

The eastern province suffered drought for many years. Now, even when it rains, it's a very light, passing shower. There was a day in recentbyears itrained nearly all day! My dad remembers a time it would rain all week...

Those brief shots of the airplane at the end made me curious, so I asked my dad to identify it: it's a Douglas Dakota (DC-3.) He says it was King AbdulAziz's first airplane and a statue of it decorated a roundabout in Jeddah.

[stormymind14]

How is this being normalized? How are people still silent or supporting isra*l after all this? How can you care about 'politics' or being 'neutral' when these innocent civilians are being subjected to these atrocities for months now? With evidence, no less. And that's just these past months. Not even touching 76 yrs of colonization by the Amer*can and isr*eli pigs/bastards/terrorists.

There’s nothing Izr431 won’t do to people. Or the US for that matter - Bisan and other journalists have confirmed the presence of US forces on the ground for months now.

@translating_falasteen

The Matar family that barely survived the Nuseirat massacre in Gaza, consisting of a mother, father, and their two children stress how the attackers, who were of American origin, executed people in front of their eyes, including children. They were threatened to reveal the location of fighters and weapons, or their children would be shot. The children were eventually shot right after entry, causing immense pain and suffering.16 year old Mo'min was shot and lost his arm, while his 12-year-old Yamin, was martyred.

Ahmad, 14, links the attackers to the American forces associated with the aid port established by Biden, which was instead of being used for aid was used to deliver tanks and facilitate the massacre.

Source: @aljazeeramubasher

Translation: @translating_falasteen

[digitalislamicguide]

Saudi Model Alqahtani at Miss Universe Sparks Controversy with Shahada Flag

Rumy Alqahtani’s participation in Miss Universe, coupled together with her revealing apparel and the Saudi flag displaying the shahada, has raised Muslim social media concern. Orthodox Muslims see her involvement as opposite to Islamic modesty, reflecting wider worries about westernisation underneath Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reforms. Photo: Instagram/rumy_alqahtani Rumy Alqahtani, a…

[xtruss]

World: The West Isn't Buying Into China's Year of Diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping at a press conference in Shaanxi, on May 19, 2023. A new poll indicates that the West does not believe that China is contributing to Global Security. Florence Lo/Pool/AFP Via Getty Images

Western nations increasingly see China as an interventionist power that is not improving global security, according to recent polling, as Beijing struggles to square its desired peacemaker image with the political realities of its expanding global influence.

The Pew Research Center conducted a 30,000-person survey across 24 nations between February and May and found that people living in European, North American and Indo-Pacific democracies are particularly wary of China's influence. The sentiment was less strong, though still present, among African and South American respondents.

A median of 71 percent of the 30,000 people polled felt that China does not contribute either much or at all to international peace and stability, versus 23 percent who felt China does. Americans (80 percent), Dutch (86 percent), British (80 percent), Germans (80 percent), and French (75 percent) were among those who felt most strongly that Beijing is a negative influence on global affairs.

Democratic Indo-Pacific nations emphatically agreed, with 87 percent of South Koreans, 85 percent of Australians, and 85 percent of Japanese feeling the same.

The list of nations—the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland and South Africa, and Australia—is dominated by Western liberal democracies, with inherent ideological tensions likely somewhat explaining the negative views of Chinese foreign influence.

But only in Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria did a majority of respondents say Beijing contributes either a fair amount or a great deal to international peace and stability.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

China—already considered by many an economic and technological superpower—is still shaping its military and diplomatic clout abroad. Major decades-long investment in the former is openly intended to eventually challenge American hegemony, but on the diplomatic battlefield, Beijing is following a less publicly combative path.

Among the salient diplomatic issues that have helped shape global opinions of China this year are one striking success and one ongoing failure.

The former was the landmark Iran-Saudi Arabia normalization deal signed in April, in which China unexpectedly brokered a détente few thought likely given the deep and historic animosity between the Middle East's power players.

But China's unconvincing neutrality regarding Russia's war on Ukraine has somewhat eroded global trust in Beijing, particularly among the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific nations rallying to Kyiv's cause. China's de facto backing for Russia has undermined its continued calls for peace and the anemic peace plan it proposed in March.

North vs. South

Larger issues involving China—among them the fate of Taiwan, the situation in the South China Sea, lingering frustrations about the pandemic, the brewing showdown with the U.S., human rights, and concerns about political interference—have "completely dwarfed" Beijing's diplomatic efforts, Andrew Small, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Newsweek.

"Publics have evidently not seen either the Saudi-Iranian deal as particularly significant or the Chinese efforts on Ukraine as particularly credible," Small said.

Small noted Beijing will not necessarily be too concerned with continued Western skepticism.

"In one sense, the argument for what China has been trying to do on Ukraine and in some of these other efforts was positioning in the 'Global South,'" he said. "The view on their side had been that no one in Europe is going to take this seriously, but they are able to position themselves through this in the Global South as an actor that approaches these issues in a neutral way."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and China's President Xi Jinping deliver a joint statement in Moscow, on March 21, 2023. China's de facto support of Russia's war on Ukraine has angered Western nations. Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik/AFP Via Getty Images

But the poll's findings also suggest that Beijing's self-framing might not be playing out as it hoped. A median of 57 percent of those surveyed said they felt China interferes in other countries affairs either a fair amount or a great deal.

The sentiment was most notable in Europe, where a majority of national respondents excluding Hungarians agreed, as well as in North America. A majority of all those in Indo-Pacific nations apart from Indonesia saw Beijing as interventionist.

Even in the four of the six African and South American nations surveyed a majority said China intervened at least somewhat in other countries' affairs. Fifty percent of South Africans and 46 percent of Argentinians also agreed.

"It's such a mantra in Chinese foreign policy, so foundational in the way that they frame things that this is not what they do, and it is the antithesis of the Western approach," Small said.

Against this backdrop, Small added, it is "striking" to see so many nations feeling that China is indeed intervening abroad. The data suggests, he said, that the perception of Chinese anti-interventionism is being "shredded."

Recent months have seen a renewed China-U.S. effort to thaw chilly bilateral relations. In June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. And earlier this week, Blinken told CNN the U.S. wants to "put some stability into the relationship."

But the long-term disputes show no signs of easing. While visiting Tonga this week, Blinken hit out at what he called China's "increasingly problematic behavior" in the Indo-Pacific.

In Europe too, major nations are increasingly concerned about Chinese espionage and influence, even if leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are still courting investment.

Worsening Euro-Atlantic ties with Beijing, Small said, might accelerate a brewing confrontation.

"To a certain extent, this will validate an analysis on the Chinese side that starts to write off the West," he said, and instead focus on a "winnable" public opinion battle in the developing world.

— Newsweek Magazine | By David Brennan | July 27th, 2023

[straightlightyagami]

sorry if your country has laws protecting you it is not your place to joke about other people not having that

seeing people (and by people I mean. not even russians) already speaking about the whole thing going on in Russia as if it were a fucking quirky joke. “Oh I’m considered an extremist in this country I don’t live in at all! Uwu!” “LOLZ I’m proud to be deemed a danger in Russia!” “PROUD ASSIGNED LGBT EXTREMIST BY RUSSIAN LAW” You know this shit is very likely going to get people killed right. Like. You know that, right. People are very likely going to die because of this law. And you know you’re not helping in the fucking slightest right