Category Archives: Government Oppression

Conversations around antisemitism on campus often flare up in conjunction with reports of increased violence in Israel and Palestine. The discourse that arises typically positions Palestinians and their allies against the Zionist Jewish community. As a Jewish student who doesnt identify as a Zionist and routinely criticizes the Israeli government, I often feel that conversations about antisemitism on campus have more to do with silencing Palestinians than protecting Jews.

On parents weekend, when my dad picked up a Ziploc bag filled with flyers that blamed Jews for COVID and accused them of child grooming and controlling the media, I was incredibly surprised and disturbed. This was the most blatant and upsetting act of antisemitism I have personally witnessed, and the distribution of these flyers on Erev Rosh Hashanah was particularly hurtful.

While I have been struggling with the incident because it was jarring to see such hateful messaging, my anger and sadness extends beyond the flyers. Im upset that the majority of conversations about antisemitism are obscured by fights over whether or not it is acceptable to criticize the Israeli government taking attention away from the severity of these harmful and violent acts. I have witnessed Zionist students heckle and boo Palestinian students at the Apartheid Wall on the Diag and deface the Palestinian flag on the Michigan Rock. I believe these actions undermine the fight against true antisemitism.

I think the most important consideration when assessing whether or not something is antisemitic is the impact it has on Jewish safety. Organizations like AIPAC have blurred the lines between Jewish safety and the existence of a Jewish state by positioning unequivocal support for Israel as the sole qualifier for the safety of the Jewish people. Their methods of preserving the U.S.-Israel relationship have imperiled American democracy through their endorsement of dozens of insurrectionist Republicans who refused to certify the results of the 2020 election. In Democratic primaries this election cycle, they poured more than $21 million to elect pro-Israel candidates, most notably intervening in Michigans 11th-district race between incumbents Andy Levin and Haley Stevens.

AIPAC began targeting Levin and his re-election campaign after his sponsorship of H.R. 5344, a bill that would prevent American military aid to Israel from being used in human rights violations. In an email endorsing Stevens, former AIPAC president David Victor called Levin (who is Jewish) the most corrosive member of Congress to the US-Israel relationship and more damaging than Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. This statement, in addition to being deeply Islamophobic, highlights right-wing pro-Israel advocates fundamental misunderstanding of how the relationship between the U.S. and Israel connects to antisemitism. Jews in America are not safer simply because the American government writes Israel a blank check. Jews in America are safer when the fight against antisemitism is intersectional and encompasses other forms of oppression, including Islamophobia and violence towards Palestinians.

Jewish safety extends beyond establishing a singular geographical space for our community to call home. It requires a broader understanding of safety for all marginalized groups and a commitment to making places other than Israel safe for Jews as well. My hope is that conversations around antisemitism are focused on insidious acts like the flyers my parents and I received last weekend, and that when conversations critiquing the Israeli government arise Jewish students on campus are able to listen empathetically to Palestinian students. As Ive reflected during the 10 days of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I am reminded both of the scary and imminent danger presented by antisemitism and the importance of confronting all forms of bigotry and oppression to build a safer world for everyone.

Cora Galpern is a senior in LSA and can be reached at cgalp@umich.edu

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Reflections on antisemitism and intersectionality during the High Holy Days - The Michigan Daily

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'I worry that (the sanctions) are not going to be as effective as they could be, because the government doesn't want to be transparent on how that's being rolled out'

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OTTAWA The Liberal governments announcement of new sanctions against the Iranian regime Monday, in response to protests there over government oppression, was met with skepticism by observers concerned about Ottawas lack of transparency and follow-through with past sanctions.

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The Liberal government has overall a bit of an issue with following up on rhetorical commitments in its foreign policy in general, and specifically on sanctions, to actually implement sanctions, said University of Ottawa associate professor of international affairs Thomas Juneau. He said Canada already has a history of announcing but not fully implementing sanctions, which carries a cost in terms of credibility both with allies and opponents.The issue for me is always to actually follow through, he said.

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NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPhersonsaid she has already been struggling with trying to get information about how sanctions on Russians related to the war in Ukraine, which have been in place since February, have been implemented. We cant get information about how much, whats been seized, how effective have they been, she said. I worry that they (the new Iranian sanctions) are not going to be as effective as they could be, because the government doesnt want to be transparent on how thats being rolled out, said

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The Liberal government named 25 individuals and nine entities in a list of new sanctions Monday. The list includes individuals from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the countrys morality police and its notorious Evin Prison.

Protests against the cleric-led regime that has been in charge of Iran since the 1979 revolution have now reached their third week. They began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in custody of Irans religious police, allegedly for violating the countrys hijab rules, which force women to cover their hair.

The protests have also spread worldwide, including protestors marching in the streets of Canadian cities. The biggest rally, in Richmond Hill, Ont. this past weekend, drew more than 50,000 people.

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Juneau said the symbol of announcing sanctions on these individuals is necessary, and its a good first step, but what I think we should all be looking at now is if it actually happens.

The Opposition Conservatives say the sanctions should go further, with the government listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity. The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian military, responsible for safeguarding the countrys Islamic regime.

The Iranian regime are known to have assets, are known to come and go freely in this country, and they should be banned as a terrorist organization, said Conservative foreign affairs critic Melissa Lantsman.Once an organization is listed as a terrorist entity, its property is automatically frozen, while persons seeking entry into Canada may be inadmissible if they are found to be associated with a listed entity, Public Safety Canada said in a press release last year.

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The IRGC as an entity has been under economic sanctions since 2012. Juneau said sanctioning each member of the organization would involve hundreds of thousands of individuals, some of whom are already legally living in Canada.

What if an individual shows up at the Canadian border, or an individual is a permanent resident or a citizen in Canada, and he says, yes, I was in the IRGC, but I was a cook as a conscript for one year in 1997. How do you know thats true? he said. Having to verify that information in hundreds of cases becomes a massive resource demand on the RCMP, CSIS, CBSA, and others who have to implement this.

Juneau said the United States, which has the IRGC on its terrorist list, has significantly more resources and actively more bureaucratic capacity than Canada does.

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The 25 individuals named on the Canadian sanctions list will have their accounts frozen and wont be able to enter the country. Lantsman said the government should go further and seize the assets of the Iranian regime in Canada, redistributing the money to victims of flight Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, which was shot down by Iran in January 2020 which killed 176 people, as well as seeking prosecution at the International Criminal Court of Justice for the attack on a civilian aircraft.

Lantsman noted that attack killed more than 50 Canadians. Thats what would do justice to those victims, she said.

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Liberals face credibility questions over whether announced Iran sanctions will actually happen - National Post

This week the Supreme Court reconvened for another landmark session likely to set new precedents with striking impacts on American society for years to come and Harvard finds itself right in the center of one of the most controversial cases on the docket.

Students for Fair Admission is suing Harvard, alleging their race-conscious admissions have led the school to discriminate against Asian Americans in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. SFFA, an organization that represents thousands of students who claim to be victims of discriminatory admissions policies, is asking the nations highest court to overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, the 2003 decision that allowed the University of Michigans law school to consider race in admissions decisions to promote diversity.

Defendants of affirmative action argue that considering race is essential to reverse centuries of oppression imposed on Black people, the lasting impacts of which contribute to obstacles in the admissions process for people of color. The policys critics lambast the crude use of skin color when deciding who gains entry to elite colleges, and bemoan the injustice faced by Asian Americans today.

Focusing the discussion on race allows both sides to tell compelling narratives about racism, yet this reductionist approach misses an important issue: the socioeconomic makeup of Harvards students.

Poor individuals are significantly underrepresented in Harvards student body discussions about race and admissions ignore this important issue. According to U.S. Census Bureau population surveys, about 29 percent of American households earn less than $40,000 and 55 percent earn less than $80,000, compared to an estimated 13.9 and 26 percent of the Class of 2025 with income in these brackets, respectively.

The discrepancy is striking.

And despite a full-throated embrace of affirmative action in the courts, Harvard has not ensured socioeconomic diversity in its student population.

Creating a diverse socioeconomic student body and creating a racially diverse student body are not mutually exclusive pursuits, and the University should attend to both goals in tandem. Yet the current policy that focuses exclusively on race is unfair to poor students of all ethnicities.

Proponents of affirmative action maintain that it fosters diversity a claim that Harvard itself has advanced in legal arguments in the SFFA case. It is also designed as a reparational correction to compensate for the challenges Black students face due to the long shadow of a racist history. But why not apply these arguments to poor applicants?

In a Government section discussing the importance of social welfare, or an English lecture analyzing the portrayal of poor people in a novel, or in an Economics class about the tradeoffs between government welfare spending and economic efficiency, the perspective of a student who lives below the poverty line or even a student whose familys income is in the bottom quintile would only strengthen Harvards mission of educating students of all backgrounds. Yet Harvards current demographics ensure these conversations are largely dominated by privileged individuals from well-off families. While these students undoubtedly have valuable insights to share, the beliefs of a large portion of America are missing from these discussions.

Poor students are also highly disadvantaged in the college application process. Research suggests that financially disadvantaged upbringings are predictive of low SAT scores more so than racial background. In a nation with low levels of social mobility in comparison to other OECD countries, this phenomenon should not be surprising, but Harvards inability to compensate for the challenges poor students face is damning, especially given its commitment to equity.

Admitting a representative amount of underprivileged students is fairer than the current system, which hurts low-income applicants, presuming poor students are no less meritorious on average than their richer counterparts. A fairer admissions process would also enrich conversation on Harvards campus by adding new perspectives. Ensuring proportional representation of students across economic classes generally would make Harvard look more like America.

Harvards need-blind admissions policy, which ostensibly acts to protect poor individuals from discrimination by the admissions office, should be replaced with a policy that allows the admissions office to learn about applicants socioeconomic backgrounds and judge them relative to the resources available to them. The current system, although need-blind, de facto punishes poorer applicants by holding them to the same academic and extracurricular standards as richer students. Instead, Harvard should adopt an equitable approach that asks students about their familys income and judges students by metrics tailored to their household earnings, ensuring more even representation across economic classes.

With Harvard in the news and affirmative action on the chopping block, it makes sense why discussions about admissions are focused on race. But we should not forget that Harvards current admissions process falls short of providing diversity in college and equity during the admissions process. Regardless of the SFFA case outcome, we can call upon Harvard to admit more low-income students.

The Supreme Court has an important issue to decide, but so does Harvard too.

Jacob M. Miller 25 is a Crimson Editorial editor in Lowell House. His column Diary from an Echo Chamber appears on alternate Thursdays.

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The Discussion Missing From Affirmative Action Conversations | Opinion - Harvard Crimson

The outcome of San Diegos District 6 City Council election will test the limits of what it means to be an Asian empowerment district.

It is the only open seat on the Council, home to the citys highest concentration of Asian and Pacific Islander residents, and a high-profile Asian business community that is a cultural heartbeat of the district, which covers Kearny Mesa, Mira Mesa, Sorrento Valley and University City.

For the last eight years, the district has been represented by Chris Cate, who is of Asian descent, and when he won his seat in 2014, all of his opponents were, too.

But vying for the seat this time are two Democrats, Kent Lee and Tommy Hough. Lee is Asian, but Hough is not.

Both have vowed to protect AAPI interests as the area densifies.

Hough, a county planning commissioner, said hed hire staff fluent in a variety of languages to ensure every resident can advocate for themselves. But he also said many of the issues in District 6, like parks and infrastructure, are universal and extend across Council boundaries.

Lee agrees. What we need in terms of problem solving and collaboration at City Hall is the same across districts, he said.

While hes not running because of his ethnicity, he said, he still considers it an important dynamic in the race, especially after a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the pandemic. He would be only the fourth person of AAPI descent to ever join the City Council. Tom Hom was the first in 1963, followed by Todd Gloria more than four decades later and then Chris Cate, the current District 6 representative whos termed out at the end of this year.

But Lee also stressed that the AAPI community is not a monolith its a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experiences.

I dont pretend to understand all of it, he said, but being immersed in that diversity for years has helped him grasp the varying needs and concerns. Lee is executive director of the nonprofit Pacific Arts Movement, which hosts the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Lee and Hough are both supportive of the Kearny Mesa community plan, which was updated in 2020 to make way for more dense housing in the largely commercial area. Lee said its particularly important that the District 6 representative understand the history of the Convoy Street business district home to many immigrant businesses that had nowhere else to go in San Diego and be mindful of it as the city changes.

Convoy is special because a new generation of small businesses pop up that may not be the same as the parents generation, he said. Its constantly evolving.

Houghs pitch to the AAPI business community mirrors his wider pitch to the district as a whole.

I dont want to see a lot of those mom-and-pop shops getting pushed out by overdevelopment, he said.

The attempt to create an Asian empowerment district in San Diego goes back at least two decades. Those efforts led to Cates election in 2014 and his re-election in 2018 over Hough.

At the time, Hough had the backing of the regional Democratic Party. Its endorsing Lee in November, partly in keeping with the districts reputation for Asian empowerment and because some political operatives felt as though Hough had lost a winnable race in the midst of a blue wave. Lee also has the support of major labor groups and the Regional Chamber of Commerce, while Hough is drawing on environmentalists.

Last year saw a series of contentious meetings as the redistricting commission set about drawing the new boundaries based on the 2020 Census. Advocates wanted to push the total AAPI population in District 6 to as high as 51 percent, fearing that the electoral turnout would otherwise be low. Historically, AAPI turnout has lagged compared to other groups for several reasons, one being that voting and staying informed on the campaigns isnt always easy for people who speak limited English.

In the end, the map approved by the commission was closer to 40 percent.

One analysis of the district, conducted by Ryan Clumpner of Public Dynamics, whos working on an independent expenditure committee in support of Lee, shows that AAPI residents account for 22 percent of registered voters in District 6 and comprised only 17 percent of the June primary turnout.

It was lower than some had hoped and indeed warned against suggesting that an Asian empowerment district doesnt guarantee Asian representation. Rather, as advocates acknowledge, its part of an ongoing effort to increase civic participation and boost the chances of an AAPI voting bloc.

Lee is ethnically Chinese but his parents fled Vietnam and Burma, now known as Myanmar, so he said he understands why others with similar experience of government oppression might be turned off by the political process. He considers it important to represent those who abstain, as well as those who vote, and sees his election as a step toward greater inclusion.

Lee has the support of more than 120 San Diegans of AAPI descent, some of whom, like Cris Liang, co-owner of Common Theory brewhouse, said Lees background was less important than the time hes spent on Convoy Street and the relationships hes built there. Liangs endorsement was based on knowing someone on that deeper level, he told me.

One of the districts long-standing leaders has offered a dual endorsement in the race.

During the redistricting effort, Mitz Lee, who co-founded the Asian Pacific American Coalition, came under fire for supporting a map that differed from what many AAPI community members had been advocating for. She resigned after a former Asian Pacific American Coalition board member who went on to work for Kent Lees campaign accused her of an ethics violation.

Mitz Lee, who ran unsuccessfully for District 6 in 2014, told me in an email that her resignation from the redistricting commission did not influence her decision to offer both candidates an endorsement.

As a voter with no party affiliation since 2013, the D6 race should focus on the needs and priorities of our community and neighborhoods, she said in a statement. The voters will decide who will represent their interest at City Hall.

Nevertheless, Kent Lee has the overwhelming support of AAPI leadership, including Wesley Quach, business advisor and programs manager at the Asian Business Association. Quach, like Liang, cited Lees knowledge of Convoy and said hed pick up seamlessly where Cate leaves off.

During his time in office, Cate has secured a variety of funding to boost tourism and place banners and other signage. In 2020, Convoy was officially designated a Pan Asian Cultural and Business Innovation District. Cate also worked with Quachs group to put in angle parking, increasing the total number of spots that serve businesses along Convoy.

Our success paralleled having someone like us in office, Quach said. Theres so much nuance you cant just teach someone.

From this viewpoint, partisan distinctions become irrelevant. Cate is a Republican and Lee is a Democrat.

As long as they can truly represent the community they serve, Quach said, thats what matters the most.

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Council Race to Test the Voting Power of Asian Empowerment District - Voice of San Diego

March 26 protest in the Bronx

The following statement was issued by the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, a grassroots, community-based peace group, dedicated to challenging U.S. militarism at home and abroad and fighting for community reinvestment in our borough. Our goal is to end the $800-billion per year military budget used to uphold U.S. imperialist interests all over the world. The coalition is made up of anti-war peace groups and community organizations, veterans, tenant unions, racial and environmental justice activists, workers, abolitionists, and anyone else fighting in our borough for the liberation of all oppressed people worldwide.

The South Bronx, a community composed of 98% Black and Latino families, is one of the most poverty-stricken and oppressed districts in the U.S. More than 40% of South Bronx children live in poverty. Described as a food desert, the South Bronx has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country. Neighborhoods lacking affordable supermarkets cause people to rely on small bodegas, which typically lack fresh produce or nutritious options. Obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure affect more than one-third of adults.

The South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven, located only six miles north of Trump Tower on Manhattans Fifth Avenue, is nicknamed Asthma Alley because it has some of the worst air pollution levels in the U.S. Mott Haven residents see rates of asthma hospitalizations 21 times higher than other New York City neighborhoods. And for the third year in a row, the Bronx led the state in eviction filings and had the highest unemployment rate in the country in 2020.

With countless U.S. communities suffering from racist neglect, Congress approved another $12 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in addition to the $54 billion in weapons provided so far. The U.S. government is making a conscious decision to deprive majority Black and Brown communities from the South Bronx to Jackson, Mississippi, to Flint, Michigan of funding needed to address decades of structural underinvestment and environmental racism.

The police state is domestic imperialism

Only with an anti-imperialist analysis can one begin to understand why the U.S. government has no problem finding funds to fuel their NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, while neglecting the crisis that this overseas, organized violence has exacerbated for Black, Latino, Indigenous and migrant populations within U.S. borders.

U.S. imperialism, rooted in white supremacy, manifests itself both at home and abroad. The violence, racism and oppression that communities of color face in the U.S. are directly linked to U.S. imperialism overseas. Lynchings of Black people by police are a continuation of the violence inflicted by U.S. military occupations on the African continent and on Africans throughout the Global South broadly. The U.S. empire maintains its hegemony and control over colonies through mass violence and terror so domestic mass shootings reflect overseas imperialism.

Military veterans and retired mercenaries, hired to murder anyone standing in the way of U.S. interests, return home and join their local police department. U.S. militarism and policing are so intertwined that they exchange more than just personnel but also equipment, suppression tactics and white-supremacist ideology.

Empowering the military empowers policing. Every expansion in overseas military capacity has subsequently advanced the sophistication of domestic warfare against African, Latino and Indigenous people.

Every dollar spent on war and militarism is money that could be spent on providing vital social services to the people. The U.S. government has stolen trillions of dollars from health care, public schools, public housing, transportation and infrastructure budgets and sent those resources around the world, to Ukraine and elsewhere, in the form of weapons.

We, the workers, demand

We, the workers of the South Bronx, demand an end to U.S. military provocations, occupation, war and sanctions against Russia, China, Puerto Rico, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Palestine, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and everywhere! We understand corporations profit from these endless wars at the expense of poor and working-class people, both overseas and domestically.

We, the workers of the South Bronx, demand an end to the billions of dollars devoted to war, death and destruction caused by U.S. militarism and demand that those billions be spent on addressing the dire economic and social need for housing, jobs, schools, infrastructure, clean air and water.

We, the workers of the South Bronx, demand that Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council restore the $469 million in cuts to the Department of Education budget and end the privatization of public education via charter schools. At a time when students severe learning loss is exacerbated by the pandemic, the City is funding more cops instead of funding more teachers, counselors and social workers for our youth.

We, the workers of the South Bronx, demand that Mayor Adams shut down migrant tent encampments and provide asylum seekers with safe, private and permanent housing. We understand that U.S. imperialism is the root cause of the migration crisis, a direct result of regime-change operations and colonialism.

We, the workers of the South Bronx, demand an end to union busting and defend the right of workers to unionize. By supporting union struggles for Amazon, Starbucks and all workers, we fight against racism, colonialism and imperialism. We understand the imperialist war machine seeks to open up Global South markets in order to shift jobs to areas with cheaper wages. We will continue to struggle for a world free of imperialism where workers are not compelled to leave their homelands due to violence and superexploitation.

End the wars at home and abroad! No to NATO, war and racism! Money for jobs, schools and housing! Invest in our youth and communities now!

The South Bronx Rally Against U.S. Wars, Militarism and Imperialism will take place Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET in Fordham Plaza. This demonstration is held in coordination with United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), which is calling for a week of actions Oct. 15-22 to stop Washingtons military aggression against Russia and China, and to stop the endless wars in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Palestine and everywhere. Visit bxantiwar.org for more information.

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Wheres the $60+ billion for the Bronx? - Workers World

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is seeking nominations for the 2022 Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards.

The commission presents awards annually to acknowledge the courageous work of Nova Scotians who advance human rights in the province.

People can nominate individual Nova Scotians and groups who have demonstrated excellence in this area until November 9.

Todays human rights champions are walking the path toward truth and reconciliation, addressing the harms of colonialism, and challenging racism and other forms of oppression and discrimination, said Joseph Fraser, Director and CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. Celebrating activists, advocates and educators is an endorsement of the incredible value they bring to our lives and an acknowledgement that their work is making a difference to Nova Scotians and generations of future Nova Scotians.

The award categories are youth (up to age 20), individual (21 and older) and group/organization. People nominating an individual may request that person be considered for an award named for the late Burnley Allan (Rocky) Jones if the nominees work organizing and advocating for the rights of a marginalized community has brought lasting change.

The 2022 Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards will be presented in Halifax on Friday, December 9, in recognition of the United Nations International Human Rights Day on December 10.

More information about the awards and the nomination form are available at: https://humanrights.novascotia.ca/

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Nominations Open for 2022 Human Rights Awards - Government of Nova Scotia

The Urgency and Rightfulness of Reparations: Cash Money, Its Immediate and Larger Meaning

An ethical philosopher, author, holder of two PhDs, and professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, Maulana Karenga (File Photo)

It is no accident of history, or inscrutable reason to be discovered, nor the result of an organized effort that Black people in overwhelming numbers understand and engage reparations first and foremost as the just and urgent receipt of direct cash money payments for damages done and justice due.

For them, cash money in the hand is what is needed now and the most urgent, useful and meaningful form of reparations, regardless of other forms it can and must take. Such a position speaks clearly and loudly to the unjust, obvious and disabling disparities of wealth and financial security between Black people and Whites.

But it also reveals and reflects the severity of the sustained suffering of Black people, who often and widely lack the money and means to live a life of dignity and decency, to have adequate food, housing, health care and other necessities of life and as we say, to have enough just to make ends meet. Thus, for Black people, reparations, as a compelling justice to be done, is undeniably due, indefensibly delayed and urgently needed now, regardless of other real and bogus considerations.

In the midst of the national liberation struggle, Nana Amilcar Cabral gave the revolutionary cadres going forth to engage and organize the people a lesson central to righteous and successful struggle. He said to them, Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for things in anyones head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better lives in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.

Now, neither Nana Cabral nor Black people deny the power and meaning of ideas to us and others in the world. But, there is always a need to turn ideals, ideas and principles into a practice and concrete reality whether we talk of freedom, justice, peace, progress or reparations.

Thus, elsewhere he says, National liberation, the struggle against colonialism, the construction of peace and independence are hollow words and devoid of any significance unless they can be translated into a real improvement in living conditions of the people.

And as I wrote in 1974 on the demands and direction of our liberation struggle, until men, women and children get beyond the basic three food, clothing and shelter until they are assured of survival, they cannot turn their attention and efforts to higher levels of human activity in ways they would otherwise do.

Continuing, I said Hunger and homelessness are definite limitations on thought, and philosophy comes into being only after theres a surplus to support it. And this too, No, we dont live by bread alone, but we can only come to this conclusion after weve eaten.

Again then, Black peoples history, cultural and intellectual tradition demonstrate a deep commitment to ideas that ground and orient them and direct their lives toward good and expansive ends. And freedom, justice, equality and power over their destiny and daily lives are central to their lives, thought, commitments and practice.

But again, all of this must be translated into conditions that improve their lives and open a horizon toward a good and expansive future for our children and our people. And money and material benefits, money and wealth are essential to achieving these conditions and future.

And so, the struggle for reparations, although a larger project and practice, must soon and substantively yield direct cash payments. But, there has been and continues to be intense and varied debate and conclusions about what amount this would be in both the USA and California, where the Weber Bill AB 3121 has produced a Task Force to explore this.

It has been estimated that to close the wealth gap in this country, each African American would have to be paid $300,000 cash. Certainly, compared to the millions won in court for lesser injuries, this is a paltry sum and what price can justly be put on a single human life, though corporate coldness has set theirs at $10 million. Still, we know any sum will be contested on the national and state level and considered unrealistic and unmerited.

Let me conclude by noting that even though I stress the urgent need of direct cash payments now, the Kawaida conception of reparations is a larger concept, process and practice. It requires: 1) full communal and a public dialogue around the meaning of reparations and the root injury to be repaired, the Holocaust of enslavement; the savagery of segregation and various other forms of systemic racist oppression; 2) public admission of the Holocaust of enslavement and subsequent and ongoing oppression; 3) public apology by the U.S. government who legalized, protected and perpetuated the Holocaust of enslavement and systemic racist oppression; 4) public recognition through building of monuments and institutions that tell and teach the horror and meaning of this Holocaust and forms of oppression in the public education and university system and the media and other and public venues; 5) compensation, in addition to cash money, a whole list of possible forms: return of land and wealth stolen and seized, free education, healthcare, etc., to be discussed and determined by the community; 6) preventive measures through structural changes achieved through the radical reconception and reconstruction for this country, through righteous and relentless struggle; and 7) our self-consciously playing our social and moral vanguard role as injured physicians, repairing, renewing and remaking ourselves in the process and practice of repairing and remaking the world that has wounded us.

Lets face it, this will not be a quick struggle or an easy victory or come without costs, sacrifice, setbacks, diversions and delays, but we will eventually win if we dare to struggle, dare to sacrifice and dare to take it to the end and a new beginning regardless. As we teach, the struggle, both the larger and our smaller ones are dangerous, difficult and demanding. And therefore, as Nana Cabral taught, we must mask no difficulties; tell no lies and clam no easy victories.

The evidence of gross injury is there: the Holocaust of enslavement; the savagery of segregation, the deadly and ruinous record of systemic racism; lost lives, freedom, homes, jobs, income, wealth, neighborhoods, land and other property seized and stolen; police violence and viciousness; massive incarceration; divisive and destructive freeway construction pathways; urban raze and renewal projects; lack of or inadequate healthcare, housing, education; and the erosion of a strong sense of self-possessive dignity and security of person and place. And all of this was done under the authority, aegis and active involvement of the U.S. and other government and corporate crime partners, and others named and unnamed co-conspirators and perpetrators.

But they will not easily concede and will claim innocence, non-responsibility and even victimhood against the victims of their ill-gotten wealth and power, and the lives they live at our expense historically and currently. They are too invested in a system of racist domination, deprivation and degradation that benefits them economically, politically, culturally and psychologically even the poor ones, hungry, homeless and howling hate can still say at least Im White. And for the racist and humanity-deprived mind, thats satisfaction in itself.

So, the struggle must and will continue, and the people, our people, must be respected, believed in, engaged and organized into an undefeatable self-conscious social force for good in the world and allied with other progressive forces in this country and the world. Indeed, as Nana Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune taught, Our progress as a race is in precise relation to the depth of faith in our people held by our leaders.

Listen to the people, then, struggle with them to achieve what they need and want out of this project money in hand and the material basis for living a good and meaningful life. And be willing to realize and face the fact that the truth needs its defenders, right needs it advocates, and justice and freedom needs its fearless fighters

Yebo, it is all a question of struggle regardless of how well reports are written, how cordially or heatedly conversations are held, and how much agreement is achieved concerning the radical evil of racist oppression and the rightness of reparations to correct and end it. Although rightness has a power in itself, in the final analysis to be a living, achieving social force, it must be embodied, given breath, bone and life in the people themselves.

For it is not the principle alone that is transformative, but the people themselves who become its head and heart, it arms and legs, its body and strength in motion. Indeed, the social force and future of good and right is rooted in the people themselves, in what they think, feel and fight for, what they justly claim and act audaciously and defiantly to achieve through righteous and relentless struggle.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, http://www.MaulanaKarenga.org; http://www.AfricanAmericanCulturalCenter-LA.org; http://www.Us-Organization.org.

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The Urgency and Rightfulness of Reparations: Cash Money, Its Immediate and Larger Meaning - Lasentinel

Suppose that one evening as the sun was setting and dusk was settling in, a strange mist fell over the United States that resulted in the entire population of the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, falling into a deep and restful sleep. Similarly, as evening settled in across the Russian Federation, the same type of mist enveloped the entire country from the Pacific to the Baltic Sea, with the Russian people falling into an equivalent restful and deep sleep.

When the people of the two countries awoke from their nights slumber, they found themselves, respectively, living under two radically different political regimes from the ones that they had been under the day before. In Russia, the country was still physically the same. There still were the deep forests, the rich soil of the steppes, the mountains of the Urals, and the stark, frigid terrain of the Siberian north.

But the Russian political system had been transformed into a constitutional, strictly limited government, with every citizen secure in his personal and civil liberties under an impartially enforced rule of law. In their economic affairs, the Russians found themselves living under a laissez-faire, free-market order in which every individual was free to peacefully live his life as he personally chose, with all interpersonal relationships based on honest and voluntary associations inside and outside of the marketplace.

In the United States, the Rocky Mountains still stretched southward from the Canadian border, the central plains still had miles upon miles of corn and wheat fields, the wide Mississippi River continued to flow from Minnesota south into the Gulf of Mexico, and New York and Chicago still had their majestic skylines. On the other hand, however, the country had been transformed into a fully totalitarian political regime.

The American people possessed no individual rights, no constitutional guarantees of their civil liberties, and no legal recourse if abused or imprisoned by those in dictatorial control through a one-party political system. In economic affairs, everything was now owned and controlled by the government, with a central planning agency determining and dictating what, how, and where all production would occur, with that government the single employer of all in the society. Standards and qualities of life for each and every citizen were decided by those in political power. There existed no corners in the society, no interstices in which to hide and live outside of the controlling and commanding power of the state.

Young Americans know little about the past

Over the years, I have sometimes posited this dream in some of my classes in which I have taught the principles of economics and the political institutions underlying a free society. I have asked the students, if this were the world into which they woke up one morning in America, in which of these two countries would they prefer to live and to give their support and loyalty?

Most of the students found the question very disconcerting. But, of course, many of them said America. I then followed up with the simple question, why? What makes America the place you would want to live? Is it merely the physical landscape that you are used to? Is it the flag to which you gave a pledge of allegiance at the start of every day in grammar school? Is it your family or friends whom you have known all your life, or the convenience of speaking the language you learned as a child?

Ive looked around the classroom and usually found that a large majority of those in the class were the children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of earlier generations who chose to leave the old country, the native lands in which they had been born. They had left places in many other parts of the world to travel to America and make it their new home and start a new life.

Ive asked them why they would have done that. It is amazing how many of these students know little or nothing about how, why, when, or even from where an earlier generation of their families had made the journey to America. Some know some things about their familys histories, but many do not, and equally amazing, some of them dont care.

Many chose America to escape from tyranny

I explain that, historically speaking, many in those earlier generations of immigrants were escaping from political oppression, or religious persecution, or the destruction and agonies of war and civil wars, or the lack of economic opportunities due to the controls and corruptions of the political systems under which they had been living in their countries of origin. And that the current waves of immigrants coming to America today, legally or illegally, are usually motivated by the same factors that influenced their own ancestors.

What these waves and generations of immigrants arriving in America wanted and were searching for was freedom in some or all of its facets that they were denied in the places from which they had come. Making a choice to emigrate, to leave the country of ones birth, is never an easy matter for most of those who do so. You leave behind your family and friends, the customs and traditions under which you have grown up, the familiar surroundings that psychologically feel like home. You lose, usually, the comfortableness of speaking the language you learned from childhood and, instead, have to master a new language with which you may have no starting knowledge. The migrant often finds himself or herself in a social environment in which he or she knows no one or only a small number compared to back home. At first, it can be lonely and scary.

And, yet, tens of millions have made that choice and undertaken that journey from the old country to America. Since many of my students, as I said, seem to know little or nothing about the reasons and circumstances behind their own earlier family members coming to the United States, I remind them of what often guided their decision.

An imperfect America offered freedom and opportunity

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Italian classical-liberal historian Guglielmo Ferrero (18711942) visited America. In several of his writings over the years before the First World War, he wrote about the social and economic uniqueness of the United States and its appeal for so many who made the journey to make America their new home. For instance, in his work onMilitarism(1899), he contrasted European life and circumstance with that in the United States. Ferrero did not presume that America was some perfect and pure utopia of liberty and opportunity. For example, he said:

How can one give an unreserved opinion on a nation that possesses the most perfect penitentiary institutions in the world for the shelter and education of criminals, and which at the same time tolerates the arbitrary punishment of crime by infuriated mobs? A nation which protects the rights of inventive genius so rigorously and wisely by the law of patents, a society which has thus reached a most perfect comprehension of this last and subtlest ideal of property, but which countenances also the public organization of those associations of malefactors which are allowed to impose the most monstrous levies on the populations of entire cities by means of intrigue and fraud [government-bestowed municipal monopolies]. A nation whose Government retains so much of the wolf nature inherent in the worst European Governments, which allows the most colossal squandering of public moneys such as that most ingenious of all, protectionism? (p. 15)

In spite of all this, in America, the immigrant, the new arrival in this new land, usually had chances for work and wealth-making not open to him or her wherever they may have come from. Though Ferrero noted that brutal and degrading works devolve upon negros, Chinese, and Italian immigrants (p. 18), nonetheless, when looking over American society as a whole, Ferrero continued:

In the United States the extreme freedom and ease of the individual, not handicapped as we are [in Europe] in changing occupations, habits, social caste, received ideals, and social axioms by a social tradition, become almost sacred; the innumerable opportunities in the midst of such constant material and intellectual change for the association of individual talents and energies; the prodigious rapidity with which these combinations can be formed and dissolved; the frequent return of opportunities brought about by the rapidity of revolving wheel of fortune; the instability of all things of good but no less bad; the purely temporary nature of all conditions; the almost complete want of any definite solutions; of necessity imply that there is no defeat without reconquest, nor decay without rebirth.

These conditions prevailing in America, render it easy for any ordinary intelligent and energetic man to obtain for his work remuneration which errs rather on the side of being beyond than beneath his deserts Thanks to the almost complete lack of Intellectual protectionism thanks, in consequence, to the lack of government curriculum of unprofitable and obligatory studies, America is exempt from an intellectual proletariat and the declasses, the chronic disease of the middle classes in Europe. Let him who can do a thing well step forward and do it, no one will question where he learnt it; such is the degree required of an American engineer, barrister, clerk or employee. And as the opportunities to do well are innumerable, everyone can develop the talents with which Nature has endowed him, changing his occupation according to circumstances and opportunity. An American is always ready to see the particular stream at which he has been drinking dried up, and be prepared to pack up his belongings and set off in search of another. (pp. 17, 19)

Liberty and dignity in a freer America

Finally, in Ferreros view, the basis for these never-ending opportunities and chances for prosperity for most in the late-nineteenth-century United States arose from the moral foundations that guided the thinking and acting of the vast majority of Americans, including a belief in individual rights and responsibilities and the accompanying principle of respect for the equal rights of others and yourself. Once more, as Guglielmo Ferrero expressed it:

The greatness of a nation depends on a high standard of moral solidarity, and this is high only where each respects in others the rights he himself claims, and admits for himself the same duties which he would impose upon others under similar circumstances; it arises from the recognition of the fact that if men differ from one another in talent, culture, and wealth, they are nevertheless morally equal, and that no one of them is morally bound to serve his fellow without receiving just and equivalent remuneration. Where this sentiment of the moral equality of men is most deeply felt, everyone resents the injustice done to others, and in thought and action aims at social justice.

But the conditions most favorable to the development of this sentiment are those under which no one depends for his livelihood on the capricious benevolence of others, but like the Americans and the Englishmen, only on his own capacities to serve in some way his fellows, receiving their services in exchange, and these not measured arbitrarily by some power outside himself, but governed by his own judgement. This liberty develops in him the sense of moral dignity, which is the backbone of the human character and of the sentiment of moral equality. In short, what has made American society appear to Europeans in the light of an enchanted world, is the freedom of the individual from those oppressive historical, political, moral, and intellectual tyrannies which the State accumulates and imposes on all our anciently civilized countries. (pp. 2425)

Space does not permit Ferrero to continue to directly speak for himself, but in summary, and in the context of the then-recent Spanish-American War of 1898, he juxtaposes this description of America with the domestic policies of the Spain of that time: a society of hierarchical power and privilege in which civil liberties were not recognized and honest labor of free men was neither fully permitted nor socially respected, since status and social positions were based on the plunders and corruptions of the past kept in their static place by a government dedicated to limiting or even preventing any liberal market freedoms as were widely present in America. Innovation and change, whether societal or economic, were frowned upon and resisted as threats to the government-secured monopolies, subsidies, privileges, and protections assured for a few at the expense of the rest.

Wanting freedom and risking your life to have it

This now gets us back to the students in my classes, to whom I have asked those questions. Clearly, I explain to them, many of their ancestors were looking for a land of freedom and opportunity to which to come and give their energies and loyalties. The country in which accident of birth had first placed them did not permanently dictate where they had to make their home The Italian, or Irishman, or German, or Swede, or Pole may still have had personal roots and memories and cultural nostalgias that gave psychological connectedness to the places from which they had come. But for most of them, they chose to become Americans because what America stood for and offered was a better place to call their home than the homes from which they had departed.

So, again, if you were to wake up one morning, I say to them, and America was now a totalitarian state and Russia was a completely free country of personal liberty and economic freedom, where would you want to live? What makes a place worth living in, defending, and fighting for? Is it an accident of birth and the familiar things around you as you grow up, or is it the ideas and ideals that a country stands for and at least seriously attempts to practice?

A few of the students sometimes respond that they would want to stay to fight and try to make America a free country once again. I often have responded that that is, of course, a meritorious position, to want to restore freedom to your homeland if it has been lost or, perhaps, never experienced. But suppose some of your fellow Americans decided that for their own wellbeing and that of their families it was desirable, even necessary, to make a new life in a now-free Russia compared to a totalitarian America.

I have asked, would you view them as traitors to their homeland, or as individuals deciding their own futures and that of their loved ones rather than be prisoners with no liberty in a totalitarian state? I have reminded them that in the actual totalitarian states of the twentieth century, their governments did all in their power to prevent their citizens from leaving their respective countries. Since it all happened before they were born, I tell them about how the Soviet government constructed the Berlin Wall to deter attempts to escape from the communist regime in East Germany. In spite of this, many hundreds of people between 1961 and 1989 devised ways to make their way out of that socialist paradise, and many of them not merely risked but lost their lives in the attempt to make it to a freer West Berlin.

But isnt America still free today?

Other students have sometimes replied that they understand the point Im trying to make, but that, luckily, it is a moot point since America still remains a free country, far better than many, many other places around the world. If America is so bad, how come so many people still want to come to the United States by legal and illegal means? I usually have responded that, yes, in comparison to many other places around the globe, America still offers greater freedom and opportunity.

But I suggest that that is not the only basis of comparison: for example, America versus places like North Korea or Afghanistan today. An equally relevant benchmark of comparison is America today versus the America of the late nineteenth century, the period that Italian Guglielmo Ferrero described earlier in this article. I emphasize that Ferrero did not claim that the United States was some kind of heaven on earth. I highlight the fairly large number of instances of hypocrisy and inconsistency in the practice of liberty and lack of protected equal rights before the law that Ferrero enumerated for his European readers, as well as how governmental corruption and interest group politics were scars on the American landscape.

But what he saw in the United States of that time was a country in which the individual, either born in America or newly arrived, was almost unrestricted in peacefully and honestly pursuing virtually any profession or occupation without government approval or license. He was able to freely and voluntarily associate and negotiate the terms of trade on the basis of which he might be hired or at which he might sell the product or service he had brought to market. Regulations over the methods of production and trade were scarcely known in the America of that time.

The American government spent and squandered what Ferrero considered too much of the citizens money, with politicians buying votes and interest groups acquiring favors and privileges, including a variety of trade protections against foreign competitors and domestic subsidies and contracts from the political authorities. But when Ferrero visited the United States, all levels of government siphoned off barely 7 percent of all the wealth produced by those earning a living in the private sector. There was no federal income tax and no presumption that government had a lien on all that was earned by the citizens, with those income earners being permitted to keep the residual not claimed by those in political power.

It was not considered the governments business where you lived, how you earned a living, when and for what purpose you traveled, either inside the United States, or between America and the rest of the world. The students are astonished when I tell them that for most of the years before the First World War, almost anyone could travel to the United States without a passport or a visa. Freedom of movement was considered a natural accompaniment to freedom of association and freedom of trade. (The embarrassing and immoral blemish on the American principle of free entry and residence were the anti-immigration laws passed in the last decades of the nineteenth century against Chinese and Japanese due to racial prejudice.)

The narrower range of liberty in modern America

I compare that earlier America with the United States of today. Yes, there are many things better in the United States now than back then. Racial and religious prejudices are far less than in the 1890s. The Southern segregation laws are a thing of the past, and social acceptance of interracial relationships is practically universal in modern America. Women have the vote and greater marketplace opportunities and freedoms of choice. And due to the extent that market openness and competition have persisted, all Americans of today have standards and qualities of life that were almost unimaginable in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

Yet, in spite of all this, government interferes, regulates, controls, prohibits, and compels far more corners of our everyday lives than anyone could have imagined during the time of Guglielmo Ferreros visit to the United States. Government siphons off a percentage of peoples earned income and wealth that would have been considered confiscatory and oppressive by the ordinary and average American of the 1890s. The government operated back then with a modest and limited budget, with an almost nonexistent national debt. Today, government gorges on trillions of dollars of tax money every year, and still has to borrow a trillion dollars a year on top of all that, which has created a huge national debt.

Back when Ferrero wrote about his impressions of America, the Spanish-American War was a recent event, with the United States having acquired its first war-based overseas imperial territories in the form of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, a protectorate over Cuba, and the annexation of the Philippine Islands in East Asia. But this fledgling American empire seemed almost trivial compared to, say, the global-encompassing British and French empires of that time.

Today, the America taxpayer covers the cost of a worldwide network of foreign bases and alliances that at any time can drag the United States into overseas wars. The Americans of the 1890s would have never imagined the United States in a 20-year war in Afghanistan or Iraq, with the accompanying abridgments of freedom and loss of wealth and lives that such foreign adventures have entailed.

I ask my students, at the end of such discussions, how free is America, really, today? What is the direction toward which we seem to be continuing to head? And if this road were at some time to lead to a far more comprehensive government control-and-command society in the United States, and if there was some place at that time that was closer to the freer society that America was in the late nineteenth century, where would you want to live, and to which society would you want to give your loyalty and support?

This article was originally published in the September 2022 edition ofFuture of Freedom.

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If America Were Totalitarian, Where Would You Want to Live? - The Heartland Institute

The Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHRO) announced that the number of people killed in the on-going protests in Iran reached at least 154 people.Among this number of deaths 9 were probably children and 63 are citizens of Zahedan.

Iranian officials reportat least forty dead, while independent sources claim it is much higher.

Irans state TV has reported the death toll from violent clashes between protesters and security officers could be as high as 41.

According to the report of IHRO, which was published on Tuesday, the dead are from 17 provinces, but the provinces of Sistan-Balochistan, Mazandaran, Gilan and West Azerbaijan had the most victims.

According to the IHRO, a number of these people were wounded who died in the following days in the hospital, and the most deaths were reported on September 21, 22 and 30, respectively.

According to this report, the number of victims by province is: Sistan and Baluchistan 63, Mazandaran 27, Gilan 12, West Azerbaijan 11, Kurdistan 8, Kermanshah 7, Tehran 6, Alborz 5, Khorasan Razavi 3, Isfahan 2, Qazvin 2, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad 2, Zanjan 2, Ilam, East Azarbaijan, Bushehr and Semnan, 1 person each.

Protests in Iran started 18 days ago in the city of Saqqez, his hometown, after the death of Mehsa Amini in the custody of the Irshad Patrol, and then spread to other cities in Iran and continue despite the suppression of the protesters.

The IHRO has confidently announced that 9 of the dead were under 18 years of age, but birth certificates and documents showing their exact age have not yet been received for all of them.

This organization says that on the 8th day of Mehr, a number of citizens of Zahedan, who gathered after the Friday prayer, protested against the rape of a teenage Baloch girl by the police chief of Chabahar, have left at least 63 people dead.

In this regard, an informed source told the IHRO: The condition of those injured on Bloody Friday in Zahedan is very serious and this number will increase

Media reports said:

Protesters are demanding an end to compulsoryroosari, or hijab, laws; denouncing economic inequality; and even calling for a complete toppling of the theocratic government. Mass Protesters are chanting No Mullahs, No Shah, Just Democracy.

Thousands of protesters have been detained in recent weeks, and internet blackouts have been being implemented to deter organizing and the spread of information.

The scenes have been striking: young people fighting the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); protesters taking over cities; women shaving their heads, lighting their roosaris on fire, and shouting Down with the Islamic Republic!

Irans security forces have sought to disperse demonstrations with tear gas, metal pellets, and in some cases live fire, rights groups say. Irans state TV reports that violent confrontations between protesters and the police have killed at least 41 people, but human rights groups say the number is much higher.

If Killing Of People Does Not End, We Will Strike, Warn Oil Contract Workers

A NewsReader report said:

The contract workers in Irans oil industry warned the government that if the arrests, the killing of people, the oppression and harassment of women because of the hijab, and the oppression of the people do not end, they will not remain silent and join all the people. They will protest and shut down the work.

On Monday, the 4th of Mehr, the organizing council of oil contract workers protests announced the anger and hatred of these workers regarding the murder of Mahsa Amini by the Irshad patrol.

This council also added: We support the peoples struggles against organized and everyday violence against women and against the poverty and hell that dominates the society.

In the statement of this council, it is emphasized: Protesting is the inalienable right of our workers and we are all people, and we are protesting the oppression and oppression that has been inflicted on us for more than forty years.We are no longer willing to continue tolerating this slavery and injustice.

By announcing that they are giving a warning to the government in this regard, the oil contract workersaskedthe authorities of the Islamic Republic to listen to the message of the workers and the people.

In recent years, the workers of Irans oil and petrochemical industry have protested many times about their job situation.

In the middle of Shahrivar and two days after the visit of the Speaker of the Islamic Council to the South Pars complex in Bushehr, dozens of official employees working in the South Pars gas platforms who planned to hold a protest rally in front of the Oil Ministry building in Tehran were arrested.

In early July, the Free Union of Iranian Workers announced a nationwide strike by scaffolding workers working in Irans oil projects.

But the biggest strike of oil industry workers is from last year.In July of last year, the strike of contract, project and daily wage workers of Irans oil, gas and petrochemical industry spread to many

Protests, And Strikes Of Students, Teachers and Marketers Spread On 19th Day Of Peoples Nationwide Uprising

The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said on Oct 4, 2022 (https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/statement-iran-protest/iran-spread-of-student-protests-strikes-of-teachers-and-marketers-on-19th-day-of-peoples-nationwide-uprising/):

Marking the 19thday of the Iranian peoples nationwide uprising, protests, and strikes, especially by students, continued Tuesday in Tehran and various cities across the country.

In several schools in the capital Tehran, students protested by chanting Death to the dictator! The students of Karaj, a city west of Tehran, chanted I will kill whoever killed my sister! Imprisoned college students must be released! and Death to the Basij, referring to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) parliamentary forces. Students in Shiraz, a city in south-central Iran, took to the streets chanting This year is a year of sacrifice. Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be overthrown! Shame on you! and Basij get lost!

Female students in Saqqez, a city in western Iran, protested by chanting Have no fear, we are all together! and Death to the dictator! Some of them were arrested. In Marivan, a city in western Iran, students joined the nationwide uprising and demonstrated in the streets, and people also expressed their solidarity with them by honking their car horns. In Mashhad, a city in northeast Iran, female high school students protested and chanted Mullahs must get lost!

High school teachers in cities of Kurdistan Province, such as Sanandaj and Saqqez, went on strike to release their detained colleagues.

Demonstrations and protests continued in many universities in the country. The students of the Khajeh Nasir University in Tehran protested and chanted Iranians will die but will not accept humiliation! Students in Tehran Universitys Faculty of Management protested by chanting If we do not stand together, we will end one by one! And students at Meli University protested by chanting Basij is a liar!

Students in the Imam Reza University of Mashhad voiced their solidarity with Sharif University students. Students at Ferdowsi University held a protest gathering where they chanted Justice Freedom Optional Hijab! The medical students of Gilan University in the city of Rasht protested and carried placards reading, among other things, Freedom is our right! and Imprisoned college students must be released! They also held a pamphlet reading Ambulances are for transporting patients, referring to the use of ambulances by regime authorities to transport suppressive forces to crackdown, arrest, and kill protesters.

In a bid to intimidate the families of students and prevent students strike and protests, the regimes security agents in universities are calling the students families, threatening them to stop their childrens activities.

Following last Fridays killing of worshipers in Zahedan, a city in southeast Iran, many shops are closed, and they are still on strike.

Shop Owners

Shop owners on Taleghani Street in the city of Isfahan in central Iran went on strike and closed their stores.

Farmers

Farmers of Khorasgan, a city in Isfahan Province, joined the nationwide uprising and took to the streets today. Raisi is a liar! Where is our Zayandeh Rud? they chanted, referring to their local Zayandeh Rud river, which is dried out. They also chanted With Gods help, victory is near! Down with this deceptive government!

Protests spread to universities

As the new academic year began this week, demonstrations spread to university campuses, long considered sanctuaries in times of turmoil. Videos on social media showed students expressing solidarity with peers who had been arrested and calling for the end of the Islamic Republic. Roiled by the unrest, many universities moved classes online this week.

The prestigious Sharif University of Technology in Tehran became a battlefield on Sunday as security forces surrounded the campus from all sides and fired tear gas at protesters who were holed up inside a parking lot, preventing them from leaving.

In one video on Monday, students at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran marched and chanted, Jailed students must be freed! In another, students streamed through Khayyam University in the conservative city of Mashhad, shouting, Sharif University has become a jail! Evin Prison has become a university! referring to Irans notorious prison in Tehran.

Protests also appeared to grip gender-segregated high schools across Iran, where groups of young schoolgirls waved their hijabs and chanted Woman! Life! Freedom! in the city of Karaj west of the capital and in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj on Monday, according to widely shared footage.

Security forces have rounded up an untold number of demonstrators, as well as artists who have voiced support for the protests. Local officials report at least 1,500 arrests.

Shervin Hajipour, a singer who emerged as a protest icon for his wildly popular song inspired by Aminis death, was detained last week. His lawyer said he was released on bail Tuesday and rejoined his family in the northern city of Babolsar.

In his somberballad, For the sake of, he sings of why Iranians are rising up in protest.

For dancing in the streets, he intones. For my sister, for your sister, for our sisters.

Top University Shuttered, Hundreds Arrested

An AP report said:

On Monday, Iran shuttered its top technology university following an hours-long standoff between students and the police that turned the prestigious institution into the latest flashpoint of protests and ended with hundreds of young people arrested.

Meanwhile, Sharif University of Technology in Tehran announced that only doctoral students would be allowed on campus until further notice following hours of turmoil Sunday, when witnesses said antigovernment protesters clashed with pro-establishment students.

The witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the police kept hundreds of students holed up on campus and fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the demonstrations. The student association said plainclothes officers surrounded the school from all sides as protests roiled the campus after nightfall and detained at least 300 students.

Plainclothes officers beat a professor and several university employees, the association added.

The state-run IRNA news agency sought to downplay the violent standoff, reporting a protest gathering took place without causing casualties. But it also said police released 30 students from detention, acknowledging many had been caught in the dragnet by mistake as they tried to go home.

The crackdown sparked backlash on Monday at home and abroad.

Irans latest protest movement has grown into an open challenge to the Iranian leadership, with women burning their state-mandated headscarves and chants of Death to the dictator, echoing from streets and balconies after dark.

The demonstrations have tapped a deep well of grievances in Iran, including the countrys social restrictions, political repression and ailing economy strangled by American sanctions. The unrest has continued in Tehran and far-flung provinces even as authorities have disrupted internet access and blocked social media apps.

Schoolgirls Remove Hijabs

A 9News report (https://www.9news.com.au/videos/world/iran-schoolgirls-remove-hijabs-in-protests/cl8uqc2m600040jle0zxkg8ex) said:

Iranian schoolgirls have taken off their hijabs to protest against government and clerical authorities.

Most of the protesters appear to be under 25, according to witnesses Iranians who have grown up knowing little but global isolation and severe Western sanctions linked to Irans nuclear program. Talks to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal have stalled for months, fueling discontent as Irans currency declines in value and prices soar.

A Tehran-based university teacher, Shahindokht Kharazmi, said the new generation has come up with unpredictable ways to defy authorities.

The (young protesters) have learned the strategy from video games and play to win, Kharazmi told the pro-reform Etemad newspaper. There is no such thing as defeat for them.

As the new academic year began this week, students at universities in major cities across Iran gathered in protest, according to videos widely shared on social media, clapping, chanting slogans against the government and waving their headscarves.

The eruption of student anger has worried the Islamic Republic since at least 1999, when security forces and supporters of hard-line clerics attacked students protesting media restrictions. That wave of student protests under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami touched off the worst street battles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Dont call it a protest, its a revolution now, shouted students at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, as women set their hijabs alight.

Students are awake, they hate the leadership! chanted crowds at the University of Mazandaran in the countrys north.

Riot police have been out in force, patrolling streets near universities on motorbikes.

1,500 Arrested

An untold number of people have been apprehended, with local officials reporting at least 1,500 arrests. Security forces have picked up artists who have voiced support for the protests and dozens of journalists. Most recently Sunday, authorities arrested Alborz Nezami, a reporter at an economic newspaper in Tehran.

Irans intelligence ministry said nine foreigners have been detained over the protests. A 30-year-old Italian traveler named Alessia Piperno called her parents on Sunday to say she had been arrested, her father Alberto Piperno told Italian news agency ANSA.

We are very worried, he said. The situation is not going well.

Dozens Of Journalists Arrested

An escalating crackdown on the press, with dozens of journalists arrested in the last few weeks, has stifled most independent reporting on sensitive issues such as the deaths of protesters.

Disappearance Of A Girl

The recent disappearance and death of a 17-year-old girl in Tehran has unleashed an outpouring of anger on Iranian social media.

Nika Shahkarami, who lived in the capital with her mother, vanished one night last month during the protests in Tehran, her uncle Kianoush Shakarami told Tasnim news agency.

She was missing for a week before her lifeless body was found in a Tehran street and was returned to her family, Tasnim reported, adding relatives had not received official word on how she died.

Foreign-based Iranian activists allege she died in police custody, with hundreds circulating her photo and using her name as a hashtag online for the protest movement. The prosecutor in the western Lorestan province, Dariush Shahoonvand, denied any wrongdoing by authorities and said Shahkaramiwas buried in her village Monday.

Woman! Life! Freedom

Protests also have spread across the Middle East and to Europe and North America. Thousands poured into the streets of Los Angeles to show solidarity. Police scuffled with protesters outside Iranian embassies in London and Athens. Crowds chanted Woman! Life! Freedom! in Paris.

Irans President Tries To Ease Unrest

Another media report said:

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday appealed for national unity and tried to allay anger against the countrys rulers, as weeks-long protests critical of the governmentcontinued to spread to universities and high schools.

Raisi acknowledged that the Islamic Republic had weaknesses and shortcomings, but repeated the official line that the unrest sparked last month by the death of a woman in the custody of the countrys morality police was nothing short of a plot by Irans enemies.

Today the countrys determination is aimed at co-operation to reduce peoples problems, he told a parliamentsession.

The protests, which emerged in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating the Islamic Republics strict dress code, have embroiled dozens of cities across the country and evolved into the most widespread challenge to Irans leadership in years. A series of festering crises have helped fuel public rage, including the countrys political repression, ailing economy and global isolation.

The scope of the ongoing unrest, the most sustained in over a decade, remains unclear as witnesses report spontaneous gatherings across the country featuring small acts of defiance protesters shouting slogans from rooftops, cutting their hair and burning their state-mandated headscarves.

One Percent

The hardline daily Kayhan on Tuesday tried to downplay the scale of the movement, saying that anti-revolutionaries, or those opposed to the Islamic Republic, are in the absolute minority, possibly oneper cent.

Government Claim Doubted

But another hardline newspaper, the Jomhuri Eslami daily, cast doubt on government claims that foreign countries were to blame for the countrys turmoil.

Suppose we beat and arrest, is this the solution? asked a column in the Jomhouri Eslami daily, a hard-line Iranian newspaper. Is this productive?

Neither foreign enemies nor domestic opposition can take cities into a state of riot without a background of discontent, its editorial read.

It Would Be Wrong To Think We Can Force People Into Following Us, Says Zarif

A report by Iran Front Page said:

Irans former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iranian authorities are definitely mistaken if they think they can ignore people.

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The Number Of Death In The On-going Protests In Iran Reaches 154 - Countercurrents.org

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said on Friday that he would soon give the nation call to come out against there would be no return oppression and there would be no return.

Addressing the students at Peshawar Edward College on Friday, he thanked the principal of the college for inviting him and urged him to invite Melo and Diesel and question Diesel for standing with the crooks.

The PTI chairman said that the thieves have been given NRO after reaching a deal with them today, thieves are returning to the homeland and their cases are being dismissed. He said today, Pakistan is in the grip of worst inflation, the nation is going down, adding that Maryam is making money for her son-in-law.

I am preparing the nation but I would come out alone against them if I would have to because I am not afraid of jail, Imran Khan said and urged the nation to wait for his call.

The former prime minister said societies cannot prosper without rule of law in the country. The law and justice system should be the same for rich and poor, he added.

On the economic situation, Imran Khan said the rupee has devalued over 30pc against US dollar since the ouster of his government and said the masses are facing the worst inflation in the history of Pakistan.

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Will soon give protest call against oppression, says Imran Khan - The Nation