cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/13032398

Somebody wrote a paper about us. Apologies to the mods for not censoring names but given that it is literally public I couldn't give a shit.

I find their abstract really funny.. and its even funnier that they are watching us.

Anyhow leave ur reactions below

Rabbi Yaakov and civil rights lawyer Eric Lee defend Orthodox Jewish activist Yehonatan Ovadia, who was detained by ICE after joining Jewish residents protesting an "Israeli" flag in their neighborhood.

Critiquing a contingent of the left that despises the idea of protesting Zohran to hold him accountable for his positions on Palestine and examining how it has devolved into parasocial censorship of his critics.

Video by Guy Christensen

Aleksandar speaks about plenty of topics regarding imperialism:

• Talks about Fidel Castro and Cuba
• Talks about the kidnapping of Maduro and the US aggressions against Cuba and Nicaragua
• Talks about West Asia(Palestine, Yemen)
• Talks about US provocation to China through Taiwan
• Talks about US provocation to DPRK
• Talks about Ukraine and how the Communist Party of Ukraine was forced underground
• Talks about the late Yugoslavia
• He concludes that 21st Century will be the Socialist Century.

Wanted to share with you all because this is the type of speeches that some communists from Europe and Asia are bringing to this Seminar.

Syria under the Jolani regime has embedded itself in the US-Israeli security architecture, argues analyst Kevork Almassian. In this Deep Dive Perspective conversation we examine what that shift means for the axis of resistance , Palestine and the future of West Asia.

In this roaming exercise across West Asia, Almassian describes an existential crisis for both what he terms the Zionist-Western imperialist axis and the Axis of Resistance, with the Syria front as central. He argues the renewed debate over the past is being used to distract from current developments on the ground.

According to Almassian, the Jolani regime is allowing Israeli territorial gains and entrenchment, aligning strategically with the US, and permitting Turkish expansion in northern Syria, while internal corruption grows. He also claims Syrian conflict death tolls have been inflated and misattributed, and argues social media narratives, including those pushed by some Dawah influencers, liberals, and what he calls MI6/CIA strategies, are recycling claims like "Assad is worse than Netanyahu" to undermine resistance actors.

The discussion then expands to Yemen and regional security. Almassian discusses Ansarullah's leverage over Bab al-Mandeb, claims around a Mecca Pact and pressure on Saudi Arabia, criticism of Turkey and Pakistan's positions on Gaza, the possibility discussed of Syrian fighters being deployed to Yemen, Iran's stated loss of trust in US diplomacy, and Iran's aim to minimize US influence to reshape regional security.

In This Episode:

Why Almassian says debate over Syria's past distracts from Jolani's present alignment

What Almassian claims about Israeli gains, US alignment and Turkish expansion in Syria

How he describes PSYOPs, death-toll manipulation and influencer narratives Why he links Dawah preachers and liberal Zionist commentary to undermining the Axis of Resistance What he argues about corruption inside the Jolani administration

How Yemen, Bab al-Mandeb and Ansarullah fit into regional leverage What is discussed about the Mecca Pact, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Whether Syrian troops could be sent to Lebanon or Yemen, in his assessment How he sees Iran's next moves and the absence of an Arab project

CHAPTERS: 00:00​ - Introduction: Kevork Almassian on West Asia Crisis

01:53​ - Blessed Revolution Debate & Jolani Regime Alignment

07:46​ - Dawah Preachers, PSYOPs and Axis of Resistance Narratives

13:04​ - Liberal Zionists, Palestine and Media Manipulation Claims

21:02​ - Jolani's Army, Corruption and Usefulness to the US

29:15​ - Mecca Pact, Turkey, Pakistan and Yemen

39:39​ - Israel, Jolani Non-Intervention Claims and Balkanization

47:46​ - Iran Distrust of US and Reshaping Regional Security

GUEST: Kevork Almassian, described in this conversation as an independent commentator on West Asian affairs with a focus on Syria. He runs the YouTube channel Syrian Analysis.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/12888907

Over the past year and a half, one of ProleWiki's editors has been conducting a course of weekly classes in Marxism and Juche that goes from basic philosophical foundations, such as dialectical materialism, to primary contradictions, and analyzing the real world application of these concepts. This course is open to people in different stages of learning and will adapt according to the needs of the learner.

Classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays (pick the day you can attend as both days are the same class). Classes are conducted in voice chat, currently via Jitsi Meet which is simple to use and requires no account. There is also an announcements-only Discord server for those who would like to see class-related updates there.

Class days and times

• Saturdays: 10am Mexico City time
• Sundays: 7am Mexico City time

Links for further information

• Discord
• DeltaChat

A little more about the course: As noted in the course's Discord server, these learning sessions uphold the inclusive values of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed with critical consciousness and the Siksika pedagogy. This course is developed to be safe for all ages, for LGBT+ people, and people with sensory sensitivites to attend. When it comes to disagreements with classmates or the teacher, the focus is on developing competence in articulating your own understanding and communicating your differences respectfully, not on compelling people to conform. Students may communicate with the teacher to discuss special accommodations.

Dr. Fadi Lama is an international advisor to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a consultant in geoeconomics, industry, SMEs, and academia, with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.

Article | The west's Plan B: Secure the realm https://thecradle.co/articles/the-wests-plan-b-secure-the-realm

0:00​ The west's Plan B strategy 2:38​ Redefining economic power 7:02​ Analyzing sovereign vs vassal 10:35​ Erosion of the empire 15:10​ Financial system manipulation 20:10​ Internal decline and poverty 23:33​ China's economic transition 31:06​ The role of the RIC alliance 37:48​ The Iran war as a catalyst 48:05​ Geopolitical outlook and risk 58:46​ Irreversible decline of the west

The US has no strategy while Iran is very clear about their strategy to remove US bases and Palestinian self-determination...as Western propaganda clouds the reality, we discuss the fight for sovereignty from Iran to Yemen with Iranian political analyst Ali Alizadeh

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/12967634

Five years ago, I visited two cities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region: Kashgar and the capital Urumqi. I went back again to see just how things have changed.

In Kashgar, I was refused entry to mosques, discovered an elderly Uygur working for much less than minimum wage, and chatted with children who are forced to learn a language that is completely foreign to them. But trust me, it's not what you think! And since I'm not the BBC or Buzzfeed, I will actually tell you guys the full story.

Come with me as I explore the ancient city of Kashgar and the modern metropolis of Urumqi, talking exclusively with ethnic minorities in the region.

In Urumqi, I visit a Uygur language radio station and a Uygur language newspaper, despite Western pundits claiming the language is banned.

And I celebrate Eid al-Adha, or Festival of the Sacrifice, the largest Muslim festival in all of Xinjiang, which gives the people of the region an extra five days of annual leave. More than anyone else in the rest of China. That is all despite Western pundits claiming religion is suppressed here.

I spent the day celebrating with a local family, eating lamb that was freshly slaughtered in accordance with tradition.

Don't be tricked by Western media and governments who are using Xinjiang as a tool against China and its development. Instead, come with me to see the place and chat with the locals.

Excerpts from a speech delivered at a conference of the USSR State Security Committee, February 1979

(...)

Ideological subversion takes place in the realm encompassing political, philosophical, legal, ethical, aesthetic, religious, and other views and ideas—that is, in the sphere of ideology where a battle of ideas is waged. Therefore, ideological subversion shares many characteristics inherent with ideological struggle. However, it is not the conventional ideological struggle, which is the objective outcome of the current existence of two opposing systems. Ideological subversion is, first and foremost, a form of subversive activity by imperialism against socialism. Its purpose is to weaken and destabilize the socialist system. It is carried out by special means and often amounts to direct interference in the internal affairs of socialist countries, contravening generally recognized norms of international law and socialist laws. The fact that it is conducted in the field of ideology does not alter its subversive and illegal nature. This is what determines, first and foremost, the firmness and intransigence of our fight against ideological subversion in any form.

(...)

Ideological subversion is based entirely and completely on lies, fabrication, and the gross distortion of facts. It is also distinguished by the fact that nowadays it is not carried out by a conventional propaganda apparatus, but by specially organized services. These special services, of course, make use of the machinery of bourgeois propaganda and utilize all forms of mass communication, but they place their main bets on specialized subversive channels.

(...)

This subversion is aimed at influencing citizens' views and feelings, their worldview, and, through their conscience, their political and moral conduct.

(...) in the sphere of the struggle for men's minds, imperialism does not rely exclusively on the means of conventional ideological struggle, on bourgeois ideas that were long ago exposed as unpopular and reactionary. It employs the poisoned weapon of ideological saboteurs: disinformation and slander, falsification and lies.

(...) it is precisely the morally powerful and politically characterless individual, susceptible to various feelings and rumors, who becomes the first victim of ideological subversion.

(...)

The work of the state security organs in neutralizing the ideological subversion of imperialism is, first and foremost, a political task. State security personnel must always remember that they are the political fighters of our Party in the most crucial areas of the class struggle. The primary and indispensable condition for adhering to the correct political line in all the activities of the state security organs is their daily guidance by the Communist Party and its Leninist Central Committee.

The specific working conditions of the state security bodies impose particularly rigorous demands on those assigned to work and fight in this area. Among all these demands, the qualities of communists hold a place of honor: ideologically dedicated fighters, politically mature, and energetic defenders of the Party line. They are obliged to be principled, selfless, and loyal to the Party.

Speeches and writings, YV Andropov.

Taken from https://telegra.ph/Subversi%C3%B3n-ideol%C3%B3gica--el-arma-envenenada-del-imperialismo-10-05

Welcome again to everybody. Make yourselves at home. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is the weekly discussion thread.

☭ Matrix homeserver and space
☭ Theory discussion group on /c/theory@lemmygrad.ml
☭ Find theory on ProleWiki, marxists.org, Anna's Archive

^image\ from^ ^this\ article^

On La Pirenaica radio, journalist Albert Santin interviewed Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kharlamenko, a prominent Russian philosopher, researcher, and political activist. A graduate and postgraduate of Moscow State University, Kharlamenko's academic and activist career has been deeply intertwined with Marxism, the labor movement, and solidarity with Latin America and Cuba.

He is also one of the founders of the Europe for Cuba Channel in Russia.

Aleksandr Kharlamenko explained what Perestroika truly was, when the process of dismantling the Soviet Union began, the true meaning of Glasnost, the creation of the office of President of the Soviet Union, the referendum to save the USSR, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and his experience during Russia's Black October in 1993, among other interesting topics.

1. Effective analysis should strive to be based in evidence and the most up-to-date scientific paradigm (currently, dialectical and historical materialism).

2. Effective analysis should serve action. Analysis without action is sort of like figuring out that a hurricane is going to hit your home and doing nothing in response.

3. Effective analysis should strive to limit speculation and assumptions, while also being realistic about limitations of information; some amount of speculation and extrapolation is unavoidable due to us always working with incomplete information, but is risky and error-prone as the driving force of an analysis and is not a replacement for investigation.

4. An accurate paradigm can sometimes make up for a limited array of facts. Knowing the principles that govern how an entity behaves and why can tell you things about it that direct research may not. However, it is nevertheless critical to investigate whenever possible. A paradigm and facts together will tell you more than either one alone.

5. Neutrality isn't real, aka: nothing exists without bias. Any entity that speaks as if it is neutral and unbiased is being dishonest, whether intentionally or through naivete. Being aware of this is not an excuse to be recklessly and intentionally biased in an exaggerated manner, as in lying, but rather a recognition of the nature of entities being motivated to do behaviors that reproduce themselves.

Thoughts?

Recommended reading instead of this post, or in addition to it: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-6/mswv6_11.htm