'ANY OF YOU MIGHT BE NEXT'

Was Syria's Bashar al-Assad the latest target of a Western-engineered regime-change agenda against Global South governments? That's what many are thinking after the lightning seizure of power by al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

His fall is seen as confirmation of a prediction made by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Speaking at an Arab League summit in 2008, he warned his fellow Arab leaders that if they did not unite, they would suffer the same fate as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 in the wake of the US-led Western invasion of his country.

Back then, Arab leaders chuckled at Gaddafi's warning. Sixteen years on, it's no longer a laughing matter: a number of those in that room, including Gaddafi himself, have since been deposed. Assad was also there. His laugh was most notable, although he probably doesn't see the funny side now.

Video Credit: Al Jazeera

MALCOLM X: MAU MAU SELF-DEFENCE

The word ‘terrorist’ has been bandied around since the US kicked off its ‘War on T*rror’ in 2001 and really even before that. But who gets the label depends on whose interests the ‘t*rrorists’ serve.

For example, although the mainstream media touts Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as Syria’s new tolerant leader, the US still designates HTS a t*rrorist organisation, with US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claiming on 9 December that the US can still work with such entities. Miller said he could not verify that a $10-million bounty remained on Jolani, though a 2017 FBI press release indicates so.

Similarly, more than a century ago, European colonialists claimed they brought civilisation and progress to the 'Dark Continent', despite employing extreme violence and brutality to subjugate and exploit Africans.

Continued….. However, when our ancestors rose up to liberate our homelands, the West depicted them as t*rrorists and savage criminals. 

In this clip, Pan-Africanist Malcolm X (1925-65) courageously defended Kenya's Land and Freedom Army, popularly known as the Mau Mau. Like so many Pan-African freedom fighters, such as Frantz Fanon (1925-61), Kwame Ture (1941-98), Josina Machel (1945-71), Amilcar Cabral (1924-73), Titina Silá (circa 1943-73), Malcolm X understood that the violence oppressed deploy differs fundamentally from the oppressor’s violence, hence his famous line, 'by any means necessary.'

Subscribe to our handle @african_stream to benefit from journalism that gives proper context to African liberation struggles. You can find us on Bluesky, X, Telegram, Patreon and Rumble.

Sources:

https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-abu-mohammed-al-jolani-and-what-are-his-links-to-al-qaeda-13270212

https://www.history.utoronto.ca/events/mau-mau-face-international-terrorism-1950s-contemporary-perspective

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1952/oct/21/mau-mau-terrorism-in-kenya

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-december-9-2024

https://www.odni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/hts.html

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/up-to-10-million-reward-offered-for-information-on-the-leader-of-the-al-nusrah-front

The US government had Nelson Mandela on terrorist watch list until 2008, 14 years after he became president of South Africa. Why, you might ask? Because Mandela fought against racist white-settler minority rule in his homeland. Yet, it seems like headchopping terrorists in Syria won't have to wait as long as South African freedom fighter.

The US State Department added Al-Qaeda's 2017 off-shoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to its terror list in May 2018. Yet, today, the mainstream media is actively aiding in rebranding the group, presenting them as supposedly reformed terrorists. The US and the UK have even floated that they may remove HTS from terror lists. What has changed? It's certainly not the group's ideology or actions. Still, HTC appears to have seized power in a country that the US and Israel have strategic interests in and already occupy parts of.

It makes you think, is the terrorist designation really about terrorism or more about geopolitical interests at any said time?

Let us know in the below.

Sources:

https://thecradle.co/articles-id/28005

https://www.csis.org/programs/former-programs/warfare-irregular-threats-and-terrorism-program-archives/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir

https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations

GRAMMYS IN KENYA: CULTURAL POSITIVE OR MISPLACED PRIORITY?

Kenya’s President recently revealed that the country spent $3.8 million to secure hosting rights for the Grammy Awards in 2027, sparking widespread public outrage given the country’s pressing issues.

For more news like this, follow us on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble, Telegram and X.

Sources
https://x.com/i/status/1866195627295543378
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2024-12-10-kenya-has-paid-sh500m-bid-to-host-grammys-ruto

Medical intern frustrations
https://nation.africa/kenya/news/no-pay-insults-and-running-errands-the-rough-life-of-an-intern-in-kenya-4581298

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGroEGWx4Ec

Govt slow walking on 2017 CBA
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2024-04-10-why-we-settled-for-sh70k-stipend-for-medical-interns-src

Continued….. Kenya police in Haiti resigning over pay
https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyan-police-haiti-tender-resignations-over-pay-delays-2024-12-06/

Kenya’s economic woes
https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/opinion-analysis/columnists/kenya-s-tax-crisis-chasing-more-amidst-economic-strain-4844666

RACIAL SEGREGATION IN CUBA: BEFORE AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Was the Cuban revolution positive for Black people in Cuba? We explore that question in this video, recorded from when African Stream spoke directly to Rolando Julio Rensoli Medina, who leads many of the country's government-supported, anti-racist educational initiatives.

This week, 9-13 December, Cuba hosts a special conference in honour of the UN’s Decade of Afro-descendants programme. The conference will explore government-led anti-racist initiatives and African cultural contributions to Cuba's national identity. Rensoli Medina will play an active role in the events to unfold.

When a delegation from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—comprised of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—visited Cuba last month, Rensoli Medina explained the Cuban revolution was a deathblow to the racial segregation that existed on the island during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista (1901-73) when the country was a neo-colony of the United States.

Continued……He said Black Cubans could not go to every hotel, restaurant, social club or beach before the revolution.

As early as 1959, Fidel Castro (1926-2016) denounced racism and clarified that while all workers have a shared class struggle, Black Cubans have an extra layer of oppression as both proletariat and racialised people.

Some critics of the Cuban revolution say that the government does not acknowledge the vestiges of racial prejudice or discrimination. This sentiment is primarily in response to a statement Castro made in the early 1960s, when he proclaimed that the revolution had ended racism. However, Castro apologised in 2000, retracted his statement, and acknowledged that work still needed to be done. Today, Rensoli Medina's work demonstrates that the Cuban government is making efforts to rectify the racism that still exists. 

Rensoli Medina can be followed on Facebook: facebook.com/rolandojulio.rensolimedina. This is the YouTube playlist of one of his organisations, Color Cubano: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_JTlBag_eLUbaU-mcfXBTLT-5t2OT8b-. This is the Facebook page of another one of his organisations, Comisión Aponte: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072321090594

Sources:

https://www.plenglish.com/news/2024/11/29/cuba-to-host-international-event-on-afro-descendants

https://pulitzercenter.org/projects/we-are-not-hidden-race-cuba

https://www.cetri.be/Revolutionary-Racism-Afro‑Cubans?lang=fr#:~:text=Three%20years%20into%20his%20rule,egalitarian%20society%20officially%20ended%20racism

For Wednesday’s Wisdom this week, we remember the words of great Congolese pan-African revolutionary Patrice Lumumba (1925-61). They’re as relevant as ever, with his home country hooking up to the so-called Lobito Corridor - a rail road, backed by US and EU investments, that will facilitate the transportation of minerals out of DRC to Western markets.

Concerns have been raised over whether the rail road will improve the conditions of Congolese people. It’s feared things could actually get worse for them - while the West continues to benefit from the nation’s resources and cheap, slave-like labour.

The Congo is the world’s richest country in terms of natural resources, with its vast untapped raw minerals valued at $24 trillion. Despite this, one out of every six people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa lives in Congo, where 73.5% of the population earns less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank.

Continued……Lumumba, who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo before he was assassinated in a US-backed plot is famous for saying that independence is only symbolic if it does not translate into actual economic prosperity.

Sources:

https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/lumumba/1960/08/31.htm

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/patrice-lumumba-executed/

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview

It’s happening… French troops are starting to leave another African country after being shown the door. It’s expected the contingent will be fully out of Chad within a few weeks.

Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/france-chad-military-withdrawal-mirage-fighter-jets-6d98f486f122e0792b66397633aca3a8

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/france-begins-military-withdrawal-from-chad-as-influence-in-africa-wanes

https://www.reuters.com/world/france-begins-withdrawal-chad-says-french-army-2024-12-10/

BOXER FLOYD MAYWEATHER ROUGHED UP IN LONDON

Boxer Floyd Mayweather faced a hostile crowd while shopping in London’s upscale Hatton Gardens. The 47-year-old attracted attention from a group of men who confronted him over his pro-Israel stance and support for Israel’s bombardment in Gaza. A chaotic scene unfolded as approximately ten individuals approached Floyd, attempting to land punches. His security team intervened and managed to escort the boxer away before the situation escalated further.

This incident follows Mayweather's announcement of the Mayweather Israel Initiative, which aims to support orphans in Israel.