Before you blow off some steam, remember venting your anger might feel good at the time but it’s not very productive in the long run. As this Nigerian proverb nicely puts it, rage won’t feed you.

Momodou Taal, a 30-year-old PhD student at Cornell University in the United States, will neither be disenrolled from the institution nor deported from the country after the British national of Gambian origin won an appeal in October that reversed the university’s decision to expel him. 

Cornell suspended Taal in September for taking part in shutting down a career fair featuring weapons manufacturers, L3Harris and Boeing, which arm Israel. 

Taal, who is Muslim and participates in pro-Palestine activities, is banned from accessing campus premises and is not allowed to teach a course on Blackness and the racialisation process. However, he is allowed to complete his dissertation. Had Cornell expelled Taal, he would have lost his student visa and immediately been deported from the US.

Continued........
University officials bowed to intense pressure from students, faculty, alums and activists to reverse their decision. Taal's predicament came in the backdrop of a massive student protest movement across US universities demanding a US arms embargo and a ceasefire in Gaza. During April and May, students pitched Palestine solidarity tents on campus grounds, demanding their colleges divest from companies supporting Israel.

Photo credit: @momodoutaal on X

Sources:

https://links.org.au/united-states-students-movement-palestine-needs-everyone

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/cornell-protest-palestine-immigration-1235112444/

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/10/11/cornell-international-grad-student-says-he-wont-be-deported

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/it-bittersweet-cornell-university-over-suspension-mamadou-taal

GHANAIAN YOUTH NEED JOBS NOT HANDOUTS

This resurfaced viral clip shows frustrated young people in Ghana rejecting rice handouts - sent in by a minster who’d promised jobs at the last election. The clip (from July 2021) has become a symbol of Ghanaians’ dissatisfaction with political leaders who fail to address the root causes of unemployment and economic instability.

As a fresh election nears, both presidential candidates, Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), are promising to address the country's economic challenges.

Continued.........But many voters remain sceptical, especially in light of past initiatives such as the 'One District, One Factory' policy, which failed to generate sustainable jobs or integrate local resources into industry, ultimately leading to the abandonment of newly-built factories.

Video Credit: @INFORMANT (Facebook)

SOURCES:

https://ghana.un.org/en/239323-25-countries-halved-multidimensional-poverty-within-15-years-11-billion-remain-poor

https://www.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/pressrelease/Multidimensional%20Poverty%20Ghana_Report.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1981279715371636

https://www.theafricareport.com/367808/ghana-elections-what-are-the-five-key-issues/

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Ghana-s-Import-Dependency-The-failure-of-the-One-District-One-Factory-1D1F-policy-1934225

https://thefourthestategh.com/2023/03/newly-built-1d1f-factories-abandoned-some-employing-far-less-than-the-government-claims/

CASTRO ON AFRICAN SACRIFICE

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro (1926-2016) died on this day, 25 November. He was a crucial figure in the international struggle against Western imperialism.

An internationalist by word and deed, Castro’s contribution to the anti-imperialist fight went beyond the shores of his beloved home, for which he led a revolution that succeeded on 1 January 1959.

He dispatched Cuban troops to pro-independence movements in Africa, with about 36,000 deployed in the mid-1970s to help the newly independent state of Angola fight US-backed rebels and South African apartheid forces. This not only consolidated Angola's independence but also ultimately contributed to the collapse of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Away from the battlefields, Castro also sent doctors, technicians, teachers and other essential workers to many African countries and other Global South countries that faced shortages of skilled workers.

Continued.........On several occasions, such as in this clip, he hailed the contributions of Africa's people to the world. Here, he spoke about the four centuries of immense sacrifice that the people of the Global South—and Africa, in particular—have had to make.

Sources:

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/do-you-remember-cuba-dedication-to-angola/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38130554

NIGER SUMMIT ENDS WITH PALESTINE SOLIDARITY MARCH

Niger hosted the historic ‘Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel' on 19-21 November in its capital, Niamey. 

Socialists worldwide representing popular movements, labour unions and peasant organisations attended alongside hundreds of Nigeriens. 

The summit aimed to build international solidarity for the Sahel's anti-imperialist revolution that has thus far booted the French and US militaries from Niger and the French from Burkina Faso and Mali.

Continued….. However, delegates did not forget other ongoing struggles, such as the Palestine liberation movement, so the conference concluded with a march in the streets to express their support for the Palestinians, who have endured a relentless and US-backed Israeli military onslaught that had k*lled more than 186,000 people as of early July, according to the Lancet medical journal.

Video credit: @EugenePuryear (X)

Sources;

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/11/18/niger-hosts-historic-conference-on-the-fight-against-neocolonialism-in-the-sahel/

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-tops-44-000-as-71-more-palestinians-killed-in-israel-s-genocidal-war/3400142

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext

Continued….. The scepticism toward foreign aid programmes may stem from Western countries’ historically using them as instruments to advance their geopolitical interests. Many have criticised institutions like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for covertly advancing US intelligence objectives during the Cold War, including allegations of training operatives and torturers. Similarly, the United States established the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to carry out what was once the CIA’s covert work, with its founding president openly acknowledging that. Further, Vincent Crouzet, a former French intelligence officer, admitted that the African Sahel region’s instability offers opportunities for ‘secretive’ destabilisation operations.

Continued……SOURCES

News
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/eu-recalls-envoy-niger-after-junta-accuses-it-mismanaging-aid-2024-11-23/?taid=674221844dd3f40001cfb853

https://www.barrons.com/news/niger-says-requests-replacement-of-eu-ambassador-amid-aid-row-89e7fcc1

USAID connection to US intelligence
https://archive.ph/5EUEQ#selection-1973.0-1973.77

NED and the CIA
https://mondediplo.com/2007/08/04ned
https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/the-national-endowment-for-democracy-a-second-cia/

French opportunities for destabilization
...

This Washington Post Editorial Board headline says everything one needs to know about the hypocrisy of the West, including that of so-called human-rights advocates.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, for 'crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.’

The editorial board claims that instead of going after Netanyahu, whose government has killed at least 186,000 people as of early July in Gaza, according to the Lancet medical journal, the ICC should pursue suspects in places such as Russia, Sudan, Syria and Myanmar.

Continued………In other words, the board is saying what many of us have suspected for decades: The ICC was created only to prosecute suspects from the Global South.

The court has long been accused of being a tool for Western imperialism, as seen in its selective application of justice. Its 68 defendants overwhelmingly have not been white, with the exception of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commission Maria Lvova-Belova, as well as Serbia's Slobodan Milošević, who died before sentencing, and three South Ossetian officials.

Source;

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/24/israel-hamas-gaza-icc-arrest-warrants-international-criminal-court

FAMILY OF MALCOLM X FILES $100M LAWSUIT FOR KILLING


Ahead of the 60th anniversary of Pan-Africanist Malcolm X’s assassination, Dr Ilyasah Shabazz, his third daughter, said at a New York City press conference on 15 November that the family had filed a $100 million lawsuit against the US government. 

Speaking at the Malcolm X & Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Manhattan, previously the Audubon Ballroom where her father was shot on 21 February 1965, @ilyasahshabazz (X) said they have engaged legal experts to seek justice and ensure ‘the truth will be recorded in history.’ 

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump will lead the lawsuit. The five sisters want answers and accountability from the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for what they allege was a conspiracy to assassinate Malcolm X (1925-65).

Continued…….. Disclosures from a documentary series, ‘Who Killed Malcolm X?’ (2020), and the 2021 exonerations of two men jailed for allegedly shooting Malcolm X—Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam—revived public interest in the unresolved assassination. A New York judge dismissed their convictions following a re-investigation, with the city of New York agreeing to pay the men $26 million and the state settling on $10 million.

Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity to bring together the African diaspora in the Americas in the struggle for liberation. He traveled to numerous countries to promote African liberation, attempting to internationalise a human-rights case on behalf of Black people suffering in the US to be brought before the United Nations.

Video credit: @attorneycrump (IG)

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/nyregion/malcolm-x-killing-exonerated.html

https://www.si.edu/object/malcolm-xs-daughters%3Anmaahc_2021.33.4

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/31/1132757141/the-men-exonerated-in-the-malcolm-x-killing-will-receive-36-million

https://abcnews.go.com/US/malcolm-xs-family-files-100-million-wrongful-death/story?id=115894702

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2509842/malcolm-xs-daughters-accuse-cia-fbi-and-nypd-of-concealing-knowledge-of-assassination

https://theshabazzcenter.org/about

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/national/unpublished-black-history/malcolm-xs-home-firebombed-in-queens-1965-racism

https://nycaribnews.com/justice-delayed-justice-pursued-malcolm-xs-daughters-demand-accountability

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/31/1132757141/the-men-exonerated-in-the-malcolm-x-killing-will-receive-36-million

https://www.passblue.com/2020/06/16/the-human-rights-council-confronts-racism-in-the-usa

KENYA PAYS $16M FOR BELEAGUERED HAITI MISSION

Despite earlier assurances that taxpayers would not fund the operation, Kenya's government has allocated $16 million to support the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.

The mission, launched in June, faces criticism for appearing to be a continuation of US intervention in Haiti. About 1,000 Kenyan troops are on the ground.

The government initially said the United Nations (UN) and the United States’ $300 million in promised funds would cover the mission's costs. However, with it remaining underfunded and underequipped, Kenya and the US have sought to shift responsibility to the UN Security Council, with a proposal in September for a UN peacekeeping mission. However, two UN Security Council members—China and Russia—expressed hesitancy, arguing that a UN mission is too soon to call for and that peacekeeping would require peace already be in place.

Continued……They said such a mission would not effectively address Haiti's challenges, citing past UN peacekeeping failures, including cholera outbreaks, s*xual exploitation and civilian deaths.

Russia's opposition to international interventions in Haiti dates back to 2022, with the Russian representative emphasising the historical roots of Haiti’s instability, such as foreign interference, the Haitian government removing fuel subsidies, and the influx of smuggled US weapons.

Sources
News
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kenyas-haiti-mission-hit-with-mysterious-ksh21-billion-payment/ar-AA1urljq

Russia China against UN peacekeeping op in Haiti
https://apnews.com/article/un-haiti-gangs-kenya-multinational-force-peacekeeping-bab6d3c545c6f2558fd5c45d00b07f55

BLUMENTHAL: PETE HEGSETH LEADS TRUMP'S EXTREME NOMINEES

It is now clear that warmongers, xenophobes, white nationalists, and far-right provocateurs will fill the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

It's pretty difficult to identify the worst cabinet pick. However, in this video, The Grayzone's (@thegrayzonenews) founder and editor-in-chief, @maxblumenthal, gave that noscript to Trump's Defense Secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth.

Aside from being a Zi*nist who has justified the 76-year Israeli occupation of Palestine, Blumenthal said Hegseth seems to be competing to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'Shabbos Goy,' a non-Jew who works on Sabbath on behalf of an observant Jew.

Hegseth has also defended US soldiers' war crimes against civilians where the US military has occupied, such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Continued….. In his 2020 book, ‘American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free,’ Hegseth stated that 'Next to the communist Chinese and their global ambitions, Islamism is the most dangerous threat to freedom in the world. It cannot be negotiated with, coexisted with, or understood; it must be exposed, marginalised, and crushed.'

Considering all this, it becomes increasingly clear why Hegseth may be Trump's worst cabinet pick.

Video credit: @thegrayzonenews

Sources;

https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-white-supremacist-trump-1986435

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/politics/pete-hegseth-defense-department.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hesgeth-tattoo-trump-administration-b2648147.html

https://www.jns.org/trumps-nominee-for-secretary-of-defense-once-suggested-a-temple-could-be-built-on-temple-mount/