The U.S. Treasury Department quietly signaled on February 2 that it was “tweaking” sanctions against Afghanistan’s Haqqani Network, a Sunni Islamist militant organization. International banks can now transfer money to the Taliban, including its affiliated Haqqani Network, without fear of breaching sanctions, which means the United States may now have a say in the Taliban-run government, writes M.K. Bhadrakumar.
Far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in March 2020 a 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb a pandemic caused by COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. The lockdown was extended to 67 days, causing 121 million people to lose their jobs within the first month, writes Sanket Jain.
Academic and activist Dan Kovalik’s new book, "Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture," was written on the frontlines of the twin struggles of our time, the class struggle and the fight for Black liberation, writes Danny Shaw.
A telegram warned Israeli diplomats that, in the upcoming 49th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which is expected to begin on February 28, a report will be tabled regarding Israel’s 2021 bombing of Gaza. This report will apparently use the word “apartheid” to refer to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians, according to the telegram, writes Vijay Prashad.
The apparent incapacity of white leftists to understand the cultural and ideological impact of white supremacy and its powerful effect on their own consciousness has weakened and deformed left analysis of U.S. and European foreign policy initiatives, resulting in the U.S. and European left taking political positions that either objectively champion U.S./NATO imperialist aggression or provide tacit support for that aggression though silence, writes Ajamu Baraka.
Israel is no longer the party shaping events in Palestine and controlling the discourse around these events. Palestinians, and a growing international movement of supporters, are proactively shaping global perceptions of the realities on the ground, writes Ramzy Baroud.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019