VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CALLS OUT UN OVER ISRAELI ATROCITIES

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro lashed out at the international community for failing to stop Israel's military onslaught against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the Lebanese people.

In a passionate address during the recent BRICS+ summit held in the Russian city of Kazan, the Venezuelan leader questioned the purpose of international organisations, such as the United Nations (UN) and its International Court of Justice (ICJ), if they are unable to stop Israel from k*lling innocent civilians.

He added that every time Israel carries out a massacre, the reputation and integrity of the UN erode in the eyes of the world.

Maduro concluded his address by saying the time has come for a new and more balanced global political system to replace the current one he described as 'dying.'

Continued......His comments come as Israel has k*lled nearly 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, with the University of Edinburgh's global health chair estimating the death toll as high as 335,000 in September. The majority of victims have been women and children, despite Tel Aviv's claims that it is only targeting Hamas fighters.

In September, British non-governmental organisation Oxfam reported that the Israeli military had killed more children and women in one year than any other conflict over the last 20 years has killed within the same time span.

SOURCES:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-tops-42-900-with-no-letup-in-israeli-assault-/3375458

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-19/gaza-death-toll-numbers-killed-israel-strikes-buried-body-parts/104259532

https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/more-women-and-children-killed-gaza-israeli-military-any-other-recent-conflict

The presidents of Burkina Faso and Niger have spoken out about Benin's relationship with Western militaries attempting to destabilise the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). However, Benin, a West African state tucked between Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger, has denied these claims. 

However, the US Africa Command head, Michael Langley, sent a letter to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating Benin may be working to strengthen its military relationship with France, especially in the border zone near Burkina Faso and Niger. The French ambassador to Benin replied that the United States had no right to comment on French bases in Benin.

A little over a month after anti-imperialist military leader Abdourahamane Tiani took power in Niger following a coup, his government claimed to have noted that 'two Super Puma multi-role helicopters' and 'around 40 armoured vehicles' have been deployed 'in Kandi and Malanville in Benin' and that a French military vessel was docked in Benin's largest city, Cotonou.

Continued……Tensions were at an all-time high between Benin and Niger toward the end of 2023, leading the countries to close their borders. However, while Benin lifted its blockade on Niger on 28 December 2023, Niger kept part of the border to Benin closed off, claiming the French military was operating in the country. However, Benin refuted the accusation.

On 12 July 2024, Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore stated the following in a speech to the nation:

'Nobody is going to tell us that there is no French base in Benin directed against us. We have proof of two major bases. No one can dispute that, and I challenge them. And we have nothing against the Beninese people. We have a problem with the policy of the Beninese leaders and we say so loud and clear. Again, in this diplomacy, we have decided to tell the truth. There are indeed two bases: One towards Kandi and the other towards Porga or I don't know which locality.

DOLLAR IS JUST PAPER

At the 16th annual BRICS summit (22-24 October), member states adopted the ‘Kazan Declaration’, with provisions to strengthen multilateralism, enhance cooperation for global and regional stability and security, foster economic and financial cooperation, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges for social and economic development. They also approved a BRICS ‘grain exchange’ to ensure food stability. 

Some, like Zimbabwe-born motivational speaker Joshua Maponga in this clip, argue that fiat currencies, like the US dollar, Euro, British pound and Japanese yen, should be abandoned in favour of a gold-backed system. 

At the summit, the bloc of five original members (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) plus four new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) welcomed using local currencies for transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners.

Continued........Many African presidents have called for de-dollarisation, but the biggest win may be when Saudi Arabia pulls away from a decades-old petrodollar deal with the US.

The US dollar was pegged to gold’s value until US President Richard Nixon (1913-94) removed the gold standard in 1971. Since then, the US has printed the world’s reserve currency at will, sealing its status as a global hegemon. 

So, how can countries break free of the US dollar's grip? Maponga argues gold is the answer.

Let us know what you think.

SOURCES:

https://www.the-star.co.ke/world/2024-10-27-key-events-as-curtain-fell-on-2024-brics-summit-in-russia

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/23/putin-world-economy-bloc-brics-summit

https://english.news.cn/20241028/fed915b027bb4342808e236755a92bd7/c.html

https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/brics-brazil-lula

https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/will-us-dollar-be-dethroned

https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how-the-nixon-shock-remade-the-world-economy

https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/fiat-money

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/dollar-dominance-dedollarization-petrodollar-saudi-crude-greenback-china-yuan-brics-2024-6

MOROCCO COZIES UP TO FORMER COLONIAL POWER

On 28 October, France's President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Morocco for a three-day state visit, the first in six years.

The trip came after Macron decided to back Rabat's claim of sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory that the United Nations considers a 'non-self-governing territory.' Morocco annexed Western Sahara after Spain ended colonial rule in 1975. The move triggered a 16-year war with the Polisario Front, a liberation organisation representing the region's indigenous Sahrawi people, who demand the right to self-determination. A UN-backed ceasefire brokered in 1991 collapsed in 2020. Morocco has rejected UN efforts to hold a referendum to determine the territory's final governance status.

For decades, successive French governments attempted to stay neutral. However, in February 2024, Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne declared Paris backed Morocco's 'autonomy plan' for Western Sahara.

Continued…….. That decision was confirmed in a letter Macron addressed to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, on 30 July, joining the US, Israel and Spain, all of whom have backed Morocco's claim in recent years.

Macron's move angered Morocco's neighbour Algeria, which has supported the Sahrawi people for decades. It described France's decision as the 'result of a dubious political calculation.'

Some sectors have attributed France and other Western states' move to back Morocco's decision to normalise ties with Israel in 2020 under the so-called Abraham Accords, a product of US President Donald Trump's administration. Those accords have not been reversed under his successor, Joe Biden.

Economic reasons may have motivated Paris' change of heart. Among the deals signed during Macron's trip to Rabat include one that will give French mining firms access to Western Sahara's gigantic phosphate reserves. According to the US Geological Survey, Western Sahara holds some of the world's largest phosphate reserves, a key ingredient in fertiliser manufacturing. Its coastline is also rich in fish and has been the target of European fishing companies for decades.

SOURCES:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/tens-of-thousands-of-moroccans-protest-ties-with-israel-on-eve-of-oct-7-anniversary

https://www.euronews.com/2024/10/28/macron-visiting-morocco-amid-new-honeymoon-over-western-sahara-pivot

https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/france-morocco-western-sahara/

https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2023/mcs2023-phosphate.pdf

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n02/249/87/pdf/n0224987.pdf

https://wsrw.org/en/news/the-fishing-industry

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/frances-president-visiting-morocco-after-western-sahara-change-115207597

https://www.africanews.com/2023/01/24/burkina-faso-to-expell-french-troops

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577152/world

https://www.voanews.com/a/france-shifts-western-sahara-stance-seeking-closer-ties-with-morocco/7725520.html

https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt/western-sahara

https://minurso.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/sg_report_on_the_situation_concerning_western_sahara_1_october_2024.pdf

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/17/israel-recognises-western-sahara-as-part-of-morocco

https://www.atalayar.com/en/articulo/politics/spanish-government-reaffirms-its-support-for-moroccos-sahara-plan/20240213161157196831.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/algeria-slams-france-recognising-wsahara-autonomy-within-moroccan-sovereignty-2024-07-25/

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/07/31/france-faces-algeria-s-wrath-after-concessions-to-morocco-over-western-sahara_6705956_4.html

https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20241007-algeria-s-tebboune-refuses-france-visit-in-snub-to-former-colonial-ruler-accusation-genocide

https://www.newarab.com/opinion/israel-morocco-western-sahara-price-normalisation

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/massive-rally-in-rabat-protests-moroccos-ties-with-genocidal-israel-16951023

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/10/25/thousands-across-morocco-hit-the-streets-for-palestine-and-an-end-to-normalization

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/massive-rally-in-rabat-protests-moroccos-ties-with-genocidal-israel-16951023

https://www.africanews.com/2023/02/02/morocco-demonstrations-against-normalised-relations-with-israel

https://www.timesofisrael.com/tens-of-thousands-of-moroccans-protest-ties-with-israel-on-eve-of-oct-7-anniversary

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14115273

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1077672

RAMAPHOSA AT BRICS: 'WE MUST STOP THE K*LLING IN GAZA, SUDAN'

At the 16th BRICS summit that concluded on 24 October in the Russian city of Kazan, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated his country’s commitment to the Palestinian people, whom Israel has launched a military onslaught and escalated siege since 8 October. 

In his moving speech, Ramaphosa said the world cannot continue to sit by and watch the slaughter of innocent people. Ramaphosa also remarked on the plight of the people of Sudan, trapped between two warring forces backed by foreign powers, the Congolese, who have been forced to flee in the millions amidst an almost 20-year war over resources exacerbated by foreign powers and militias.

In January, Pretoria made history by taking Israel to the International Court of Justice for failing to uphold its commitment under the 1948 UN G*nocide Convention.

Continued.....Since 7 October, Israel has indiscriminately bombed the Gaza Strip, a 25-mile-long enclave of more than 2 million people, k*lling 43,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. However, according to the Lancet medical journal, the death toll as of early July may have already topped 186,000. Plus, University of Edinburgh global health chair Devi Sridhar estimated deaths at 335,000 in September.

Video credit: @SABCNews

SOURCES:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/at-brics-south-african-president-calls-for-peaceful-resolution-to-all-disputes/3373234

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241025-at-brics-south-africas-stance-on-palestine-welcomed-president/

'HOPE YOUR BEEPER DOESN'T GOES OFF' - CNN GUEST

CNN guest Ryan Girdusky, a political consultant and writer, was escorted off the set following a racist remark in a heated exchange with fellow panellist Mehdi Hasan. When Hasan claimed he’s used to harassment because he supports Palestine, Ryan wished Hasan’s beeper wouldn't go off, which others on the set took to refer to Israel allegedly detonating pagers across Lebanon and Syria a few weeks ago.

For Girdusky to comfortably make the remark required years of normalising the dehumanisation of Palestinians. CNN, like many major media outlets, is complicit with its coverage depicting Israel as the innocent actor merely allowing Jews to return to a Biblical home while showing Palestinians as savage barbarians.

Continued……Plus, Islamophobia amplified following the September 11, 2001 attacks, with Muslims and anyone who appeared to be Muslim (a racialisation of the religion’s adherents) depicted in racist Oriental stereotypes of savagery. This then justified increasing policing of Muslim communities around the world and Western interventions and occupations, such as in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and other places.

Video credit: @CNN @abbydphillip

Sources
Mainstream media dehumanization of Palestinians
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-how-media-language-manipulated-justify-killing-palestinians-and-used-dehumanise-them

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/editorial/2023/10/23/media-coverage-israel-and-gaza-double-standards

Islamophobia following 9/11
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/10019797/islamophobia-after-911-september-11-hate-crimes

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/09/politics/islamophobia-september-11-race-deconstructed-newsletter/index.html

Orientalism and empire building
https://theconversation.com/orientalism-edward-saids-groundbreaking-book-explained-197429

THIERRY HENRY IN SOLIDARITY WITH MARTINIQUE & GUADELOUPE

Former Arsenal and France national team striker Thierry Henry recently expressed his heartfelt support for the people of the French Caribbean colony of Martinique following protests against the high cost of living. 

‘Life is expensive in Martinique and Guadeloupe,’ he said during the CBS Sports Golazo Network, where he analyses football. ‘Enough is enough... Lower the prices because people can’t live and they earn less also.’

Henry, whose mother is from Martinique and whose father is from the nearby archipelago of Guadeloupe, called on the French government to take immediate action to address the high cost of living. The median income on both islands is less than half of mainland France’s. Meanwhile, Martinique residents pay more than 40 per cent more for food than the imperial core, according to 2022 French statistics.

Protests also broke out over food prices in September in the French Pacific-Ocean colony of New Caledonia.

Continued……. News reports say Martinique’s government officials, importers and distributors have signed a protocol to reduce essential goods' prices by an average of 20 per cent and boost local production. 

France colonised Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1635, making both island countries French ‘overseas departments’ in 1946. This designation is not only an extension of France's colonial legacy but also imposes an ambiguous status with a locally elected government that reports to the national government in Paris. However, few enjoy a quality of life comparable to that of mainland France.

Video credit: @CBSSportsGolazo (X)

SOURCES:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thierry-Henry

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/police-clash-with-protesters-french-island-martinique-2024-10-25/
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/oct/03/newsstory.sport1

https://apnews.com/article/martinique-violent-protests-a877760da839735fa92030e1435bdfb4

https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/7649202#:~:text=n%C2%B0%2063-,En%20Martinique%2C%20les%20produits%20alimentaires%20sont%2040%20%25%20plus,chers%20qu%27en%20France%20m%C3%A9tropolitaine&text=En%202022%2C%20l%27%C3%A9cart%20de,France%20m%C3%A9tropolitaine%20atteint%20%2B14%20%25

https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/7649202#:~:text=n%C2%B0%2063-,En%20Martinique%2C%20les%20produits%20alimentaires%20sont%2040%20%25%20plus,chers%20qu%27en%20France%20m%C3%A9tropolitaine&text=En%202022%2C%20l%27%C3%A9cart%20de,France%20m%C3%A9tropolitaine%20atteint%20%2B14%20%25

https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/7758862?geo=REG-01

https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/7758862?geo=REG-02

https://timeular.com/average-salary/france

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/armed-activists-launch-new-protests-martinique-high-living-115070810

https://www.britannica.com/place/Martinique/History

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20259685

https://www.britannica.com/place/Guadeloupe/History