JEREMY CORBYN: THIS IS A LIVESTREAMED G*NOCIDE, NOT A WAR!

On 4 June, UK Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn declared to his colleagues that Israel's assault on Gaza 'was never a war but a g*nocide, livestreamed all over the world.' 

That day, he introduced a bill requesting a comprehensive, public and independent enquiry into the UK's arms sales, intelligence provisions and military cooperation with Israel amidst its military onslaught. The bombardments and escalated siege may have k*lled as many as 186,000 people by July 2024, according to the Lancet medical journal.

Ruling Labour Party whips reportedly told MPs to abstain or vote against the bill that day. Still, the party's rank-and-file members demand radical action to stop the UK from supplying Israel.

Continued……If the bill passes, it would lead to an investigation similar to the 2016 enquiry into the UK's decision to join a US-led coalition to invade and occupy Iraq in 2003.

Corbyn accused Israel of collective punishment and civilian starvation and argued that continuous arms sales by the UK make it complicit in Israel's military onslaught. British companies export parts to F-35 fighters deployed in Israeli attacks. The UK has not halted arms export licences. Corbyn said the UK's actions could violate the 1948 G*nocide Convention, which defines g*nocide as acts intended to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group and obligates states to prevent and punish such crimes.

Global pressure is mounting. South Africa took the g*nocide case to the International Court of Justice in December 2023, with several countries joining the case. Meanwhile, experts at the UN have warned that Israel's actions, including mass k*lling, starvation, and destruction of infrastructure, may constitute the legal definition of g*nocide.

Video credit: @jeremycorbyn (X)

Sources

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk-export-f-35-parts-israel-unlawful-palestinian-ngo-tells-court-2025-05-13/#:~:text=LONDON%2C%20May%2013%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Britain's%20decision,group%20told%20London's%20High%20Court%20on%20Tuesday.

https://www.oas.org/dil/1948_Convention_on_the_Prevention_and_Punishment_of_the_Crime_of_Genocide.pdf

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67922346

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/genocide-as-colonial-erasure-report-francesca-albanese-01oct24/

https://www.stopwar.org.uk/article/jeremy-corbyn-calls-for-a-chilcot-like-inquiry-into-uks-role-in-israels-assault-in-gaza/

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/jeremy-corbyn-stokes-divisions-gaza-vote

The week’s proverb evokes a vivid image of Africa besieged by ravenous predatory powers, an urgent call for vigilance when imperial vultures circle, eager to strip us bare. It resonates with a recent SwissAid report, which exposes countries that serve as hubs for smuggled gold from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Billions’ worth flow out each year, fuelling violence, exploitation and instability. The ‘vultures’ are the neocolonial financiers, Western-backed elites, complicit officials and imperial foreign markets that prey on Africa’s resources. Every day, Africans must muster their resilience to resist this exploitation - to ‘try not to die’ - by reclaiming control over vital resources.

Sources

https://swissaid.kinsta.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/swissaid-on-the-trail-of-african-gold-web-ok.pdf

TUPAC: U.S. SOCIETY LEECHES OFF THE GHETTO

Fifty-four years ago today, on 16 June 1971, hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, who cemented his legacy in the history books before his tragic death in 1996, was born. 

In this candid moment during his 1994 interview with MTV News’ Abbie Kearse, Tupac explained that no matter how far he climbed as an artist and how much he earned, he could not ignore the systemic inequities that Black people face. That is why he used his platform to shed light on these issues. 

Continued……. Here, he touched on the loneliness Black people who make it out of poor conditions feel when they must live amongst white people because financial success puts one at risk of being robbed in the ‘hood,' a product of centuries of oppression. He also asserted that while the entertainment industry continues to 'leech off the ghetto’ by commodifying Black people's culture and creativity, little trickles back to our communities.

Today, 84.2 per cent of wealth in the US is held by white households, although they only make up 66 per cent of households. Meanwhile, Black households only hold 3.4 per cent of wealth, while accounting for 11.4 per cent of households. Racial disparity, almost three decades since Pac's death, remains pervasive in US society with no end in sight. Even though we still see no changes, his music remains timeless and on playlists worldwide, continuing to inspire the struggle for justice and freedom. 

Happy birthday to one of the greatest to ever blast through our speakers. 

Video credit: @mtvnews

Sources

https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/tupac-me-against-the-world-anniversary-6517174

https://inequality.org/facts/racial-inequality

https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/dear-mama

https://www.biography.com/musicians/tupac-shakur

SUDAN: MORE COLOMBIAN ID CARDS FOUND

On 21 May 2025, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) discovered Colombian identity cards in the Al-Salha neighbourhood of Omdurman city, Khartoum State, after recapturing it from the Emirati-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It comes after earlier claims that over 300 Colombian mercenaries have been involved in Sudan’s proxy war. They were reportedly recruited by retired Colombian Colonel Álvaro Quijano, a Dubai resident, in partnership with the United Arab Emirate’s Global Security Service Group. The mercenaries had allegedly been promised security jobs protecting oil infrastructure in the UAE.

Despite Bogotá officials apologising twice towards the end of 2025 and Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo promising Sudanese officials that his country would ‘guarantee the return’ of its citizens fighting in Sudan's proxy war, meaningful action has yet to be taken on this front.

Continued……The devastating war, which started on 15 April 2023, may have claimed over 60,000 lives in its first 14 months in just the capital city of Khartoum alone, according to the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine. It’s created the world's worst humanitarian and displacement crisis of the 21st century, with over 30-million people in need of assistance and over 12-million people displaced both internally and externally, according to the UN.

Moreover, an estimated $1 trillion will reportedly be needed for reconstruction in Sudan, whose infrastructure has collapsed due to the war, according to Sudanese authorities. Analysts argue that the widespread devastation of this war would not have been as severe without foreign interference and instigation.

Sources

https://x.com/AfriMEOSINT/status/1925244469663645698

https://sudantribune.com/article294166/

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/sudan-says-colombia-apologized-for-participation-of-some-of-its-citizens-as-mercenaries-within-rsf/3411567

https://northafricapost.com/82286-colombia-apologizes-for-involvement-of-some-of-its-citizens-as-mercenaries-within-rsf-militia-in-sudan.html

https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/invisible-and-severe-death-toll-sudan-conflict-revealed

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/14/sudan-war-death-toll-much-higher-than-previously-recorded-new-study-finds

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/25/us-un-sudan-aid-war

https://www.lasillavacia.com/silla-nacional/el-engano-del-coronel-quijano-asi-envian-a-exmilitares-colombianos-a-sudan/

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sudan-war-shatters-infrastructure-costly-rebuild-needed-2025-05-28/

https://www.rescue.org/article/crisis-sudan-what-happening-and-how-help

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162096

16 June, 1971: HIP HOP ICON TUPAC SHAKUR IS BORN

On this day, 16 June, in 1971, legendary rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in East Harlem, New York. Also known by his stage names Makaveli and 2Pac, Tupac became one the last century's most prominent politically conscious artists.

Some say his political education began in the womb. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was a former Black Panther Party member. When her son turned a year old, she named him Tupac Amaru Shakur, after the 18th-century Peruvian revolutionary Túpac Amaru II.

Continued……. In this clip, Tupac eloquently draws parallels between US foreign policy and the gang mentality prevalent on America's streets. His unique perspective sheds light on the aggressive nature of US interventions, whether it's in Cuba in the late 1950s and early ‘60s or in Yugoslavia in the 1990s (where war was raging when this interview took place). Since then, the US has continued its pattern of interventions, including the invasion and destruction of Libya in 2011.

Tupac was more than a hip-hop hero. He was an activist dedicated to the liberation of Black people in the US. Moreover, he often pointed out the class struggle and the marginalisation and disenfranchisement of people by the global elite. His music and speeches resonated with millions and earned him supporters far beyond the borders of the US.

Does his view of US foreign policy strike a chord with you? Have a listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Sources

https://thevogue.com/artists/2pac/

https://www.gq.com/story/tupac-politics-art-exhibit-wake-me-when-im-free

https://hiphophero.com/the-strange-origin-of-tupac-shakurs-name/

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/220-bombing-to-bring-peace

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_52-1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II

CRIMES OF APARTHEID: SOWETO STUDENT MASSACRE

South Africa commemorates 16 June as National Youth Day in remembrance of the school children massacred by the apartheid regime on this day 49 years ago.

The atrocity began on the morning of 16 June 1976, when over 20,000 students in Soweto township, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, took to the streets to protest against the apartheid regime's education policy - in particular, the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction.

The students attempted to march to Orlando Stadium for a rally to register their displeasure, but heavily armed police officers and soldiers confronted them.

Continued……After a brief standoff, police fired teargas and live ammunition on the peaceful march, killing at least 176 students and injuring nearly a thousand. Some estimates of the death toll are even higher.

A government commission in 1980 concluded that 575 people had been k*lled and 3,907 wounded, but the official count still stands at 176 massacred.

One still painful aspect of the Soweto massacre is that, like many other apartheid-era atrocities, the perpetrators were never brought to justice. Many have since died peacefully in their sleep on their farms on land violently stolen from African people.

Nearly 50 years later, the question remains: will the children massacred on that cold morning for merely standing up against an oppressive regime ever get justice?

Sources

https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-05-08-100-years-of-afrikaans-a-language-of-diversity-and-complexity/

https://archive.ph/yucaM

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/afrikaans-is-officially-a-gogo-now-a-full100-years/

https://www.fairplanet.org/story/anger-as-south-african-court-restores-language-of-the-oppressor-at-largest-university/

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/soweto-uprising/

https://time.com/6087699/south-africa-wealth-gap-unchanged-since-apartheid/

https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/51977/south-africas-unanswered-land-question

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/soweto-riots-the-day-our-children-lost-faith-africa-media-online/rgXRWni4ZpOiLA?hl=en

https://www.britannica.com/event/Soweto-uprising

https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/afrikaans-celebrates-100-years-as-official-language-346950?srsltid=AfmBOopZaWld7y2Wgs9dfH-GfdBqlccc3vwdFH9HwQkW-nHArDdfZF8E