The Terminator Line

Since the world has been overtaken by a pandemic, I've been doing a lot of reading about climate change. I think, in a strange way, it's a good time for it. Firstly because, here in Australia at least, the issue exploded back into the headlines last year. The heads of our emergency services told us that climate change is the root cause of the most devestating bushfire season we've ever had. Following on the heels of the School Strike 4 Climate movement, the fires shifted the conversation out of the weeds of market mechanisms, to the need for bold action in line with the science.

Secondly, some of the bold actions we need to take, which seemed unthinkable in the era of neoliberalism, are suddenly on the table again - because of the pandemic. Air travel has been heavily restricted, economies have been deliberately shrunk for the sake of public health, the insecurity of a just-in-time global production and transport system has been been rubbed in our faces. And even more than all that, people are realising that the constant need for more - to work and stress our whole lives to forestall the fear that there won't be enough - is actually a social choice.

Meanwhile, the terminator line keeps approaching. Not the one I started writing about when I was travelling the world, the one that separates day from night; but the one that separates us from a liveable climate for humanity. There may be a blip in global emissions thanks to this pandemic, but if we don't use this opportunity to make radical changes, then the sun will keep setting on us.

The Terminator Line

The terminator line is the line on a planetary surface where daylight begins and ends. I thought it was a suitable enough way to reimagine this blog: I've seen my fair share of sunrises and sunsets moving across the landscape below from red eye flights in my recent months of budget travelling and freelance writing. For that matter, I've seen plenty of them from buses, trains or taxis here on solid land; I've looked out the window after the call to prayer wakeup to catch the dawn, and I've sat with a Stella and watched the sun set behind new horizons.

The title is a little bit philosophical, too. The start of something new always means the end of what came before it.

Thawra Eyewitness spoke to me in 2011, and for me it still encapsulates the heady excitement of being in the Arab world in that year of overthrown dictators and masses in motion. But here and now in 2015, things are different. For me, I'm no longer a full-time activist; I've given up my roles in the Socialist Alliance, and I'm less an eyewitness and more a writer. And for the Arab world, the revolution is over... bukrah.

Reinvention imminent

Watch this space.

Absence

I haven't posted anything since September, for which I apologise. After taking a step back from activism and the Socialist Alliance last year and spending a while dealing with depression and re-centring my life, I've certainly been writing less articles. But truth be told, after getting excited by Amanda Fucking Palmer reading my blog post about why she should boycott Israel, the fact that she went ahead and broke the boycott made me question putting my personal opinions out into the world to be crushed, or worse, ignored. And that feeling made me feel foolish; the issues I write about and care about are so much bigger than me and my ego. But there you go.

I have picked up some of my creative writing again in the last few months, but I'll save that for elsewhere. I do have a couple of old Green Left articles which haven't been put up yet, which I'll catch up on shortly; I've also got a couple more ideas which will be coming out soon. So look forward to that ;)

Also, we made 12,000 pageviews since then. Much slower than if I'd been posting, but it's nice to know people are still reading this :)

10,000 pageviews

So this happened while I was taking a break from the blag.

Pageviews all time history - 10,923

w000t!

Most read articles:
ASIO Harassment - 380 pageviews
On Revolutionary Organisations Today - 297 pageviews
Palestine: The Olive Harvest Diaries - 267 pageviews

Referring sites:
Facebook - 1042 pageviews
Google - 386 pageviews
Twitter - 277 pageviews

Audience by nation:

United States	3305
Australia	3076
Germany	473
United Kingdom	302
Russia	286
Tunisia	252
Poland	219
France	205
Netherlands	100
Palestine	95

Book of the year - After Zionism

Green Left Weekly asked me, once again, to contribute to a list of books of the year. This time around, I've chosen After Zionism, co-edited by Antony Loewenstein (who also contributed his favourite choice, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupation, Resistance and Hope), and Ahmed Moor. I didn't have the space to draw out any of the themes of the different essays - Ilan Pappe's look at apartheid inside Israel draws a very different conclusion to Jeff Halper's argument for a regional national federation like the EU - so if you can get your hands on a copy and read the different arguments for yourself, do so.


After Zionism is a compilation of the different strands of thought that seek to challenge the dominant narrative in the diplomatic community – that the only possible solution to the occupation of Palestine is with two states. Its dedication – "to the Palestinians and Israelis who deserve better" – and the presence of a variety of Israeli, Palestinian and other voices reflects the shifts that have occurred since the breakdown of the Oslo accords and the second intifada, and the escalating horror of the status quo.

Speaking at events in Australia, co-editor Antony Loewenstein has been quick to point out that the book does not seek to hold the solution to the conflict, but to ask the question: What could the alternatives look like? The contributors do not all argue the same vision – but the evidence presented across the essays, considering the question globally and regionally as well as within the Israeli and Palestinian communities, together builds a compelling argument that the two-state solution is dead.

6000 Views

Most viewed month: October 2012 (688; Update on the Australian Left + Colours)
Most viewed article: On Revolutionary Organisations Today (295)

By country: Australia 1873 United States 1702 Germany 244 Tunisia 209 United Kingdom 163 France 144 Russia 137 Palestinian Territories 100 Canada 70 Egypt 65

Referring sites:

www.facebook.com 746 www.google.com 236 en.wikipedia.org 53 www.google.co.uk 53 www.google.com.au 48 themoornextdoor.wordpress.com 42 www.google.tn 35 links.org.au 33

Shoutout: Kristel in Palestine

I encourage everyone interested in reading about life in Palestine to bookmark Kristel's blog. She was one of the organisers of the JAI Olive Harvest program I participated in last year, and she's engaged to a Palestinian man who lives on the other side of the apartheid wall from her. Sofar she's made some interesting posts with little snippets about her work & life. Insh'allah she'll keep writing every day :)

Colours!

Hopefully this is a little easier to read...

Shoutout: The Wall Decorator

A friend from uni blogs at the wall decorator. She wrote about her encounter with anti-carbon price protesters (who make the repeated mistake of describing the recently passed emissions trading scheme as a tax), getting on the camera, and why people protest. Although the people she's writing about are on the other side of the barricades from me, I think there's a grain of truth for all who pick up placards and raise flags. Check it out.

Shout out to Teachers for Palestine

So a friend of mine who volunteers in Palestine mentioned me on her blog. For the record, I haven't been able to spend as much time and energy on Palestine solidarity work since I returned to Australia as I'd like; however, stay posted for info on a Nakba day demonstration, and I've got my fingers crossed for a travel article about harvesting olives to be published in a local paper. So I guess I've been keeping busy :)

I decided I'd give a little shout out to Caseceso and another one of my friends still volunteering in Palestine, E, who have been doing some amazing work with the English language teaching project Teach for Palestine for nearly a year now. They've both also been writing blogs about their experiences and adventures in occupied Palestine, constantly reminding me of how much I wish I could have stayed there longer, and putting together a great wealth of information about Palestinian society and culture and how it's impacted by the occupation. E in particular has written about women's issues in Palestine without buying into orientalist superiority narratives at all - figures, coming from a human geographer ;) Well worth reading.

Landmarks

In February this blog had its 2000th pageview. It's now sitting on 2256.

February was the month with the highest pageviews during this blog's existence sofar, reaching 653 (the same number as during October & November 2011 combined, when I was blogging during my travels and volunteering in Palestine).

During February, the highest traffic posts were Interview with the Palestinian People's Party, On Revolutionary Organisations Today (which is the highest individual post, with 212 discrete pageviews), and Eyewitness - Occupy Sydney - Day 116.

My biggest sources of traffic have been Facebook (where my post of On Revolutionary Organisations Today started exactly the kind of small-minded sectarian infighting between socialists that I was writing against), The Moor Next Door, Wikipedia and LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal.

With these things in mind, I'm going to be writing some posts about Australian politics in March, as well as Arab world politics.

Free Austin Mackell, Free Aliya Alwi, Free Derek Ludovici

Australian journalist Austin Mackell, American student Derek Ludovici, translator Aliya Alwi and veteran union activist Kamal al-Fayyumi were all detained by the police in Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt on Saturday February 11 while attempting to interview workers in the city. I met Austin and Aliya in my time in Cairo in September, and I was immediately impressed with Austin's dedication to telling the dangerous stories in a country still ruled by a dictatorship. He had the sharpest understanding of the real forces at play in Egypt and the region of any Australian commentator I've ever read, and he has dedicated his work to profiling the most critical revolutionary struggles taking place. In short, the kind of person the SCAF doesn't want in the country.

For more info on the case & background to it, please check out the short piece I got up on Green Left Weekly last night.

Right now the latest is that Austin and Derek are to be deported, while Aliya will remain behind bars for at least several days. The charges against them are obviously fabricated; initially there were hopes that it was just a warning for Austin & other journos and he would be freed quickly, but clearly the situation is more serious than that.

For ongoing updates, follow Jess Hill, fellow Australian based in Cairo, and Shahira Abouellail, blogger on the scene in Mahalla.

Tasmanian blogger Bleeter has posted an open letter to his federal MP; please consider emailing it to your local representatives.

   

To: Julie Collins Julie.Collins.MP@aph.gov.au
Member for (the Australian Federal electorate of) Franklin
http://www.juliecollins.com/
Dear Ms Collins,
As my local Federal member, could you please inform me as a matter of urgency as to what assistance the Australian government is providing to my colleague, Austin Mackell, currently facing a court in Egypt after being charged on the weekend and allegedly about to be deported?
Further, I request a statement as to whether the Australian Government believes that Austin has received fair and reasonable legal defence, not limited to the question of whether less than two days is a fair and reasonable time to assemble a defence against the charges faced.
I also seek you to confirm or deny claims that the only Consular access Mr Mackell has received is a telephone call and whether this telephone call was secured against phone tapping procedures that are known to take place in Egypt under the current Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (of Egypt).
Regards,
Peter Lawler.

Please sign the petition calling for the release of Austin, Aliya and Derek.

I've written the below letter based on the text of the petition to the Egyptian Consul-General in Sydney at info@egypt.org.au; please consider sending one of your own, and encouraging civil society groups, unions, community organisations, etc to sign on and take action.

To Consul-General Ayman Aly Kamel & whom it may concern,

I am writing to express my concern at the reported arrest of Austin Mackell, an Australian journalist, along with several others including Derek Ludovici, Aliya Alwi and Kamal al-Fayyumi.

Austin Mackell is a freelance journalist, who moved to Egypt in February last year. His courageous journalism has sympathetically chronicled the Egyptian struggle for freedom. His writings have been featured in respected media outlets across the world, including The Guardian, Al-Akhbar, Crikey and newmatilda.

I write this as an admirer of the Egyptian struggle for freedom. However, Mackell’s journalism is not just valuable in recording Egyptian bravery. It is also important, because of the West’s hand in oppressing Egyptians, and indeed, much of the Arab world. Mackell’s journalism reminds us of the unpleasant truths of Western foreign policy. The Arab world knows perfectly well the role we play there – it is us who need to learn about it. Mackell belongs to the small category of Western journalists who expose the kind of truths that too often remain uncovered in Western media.

I urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Austin Mackell, Derek Ludovici, and their translator, Aliya Alwi.

A variety of Austin's work published from Egypt can be read on the following websites:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/austin-mackell

http://newmatilda.com/2012/01/27/egypt-bread-freedom-justice

http://newhumanist.org.uk/2586/renovation-not-demolition

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11617&page=2

http://austingmackell.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/revolutionary-re-education-in-egypt/

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further information on Austin's case or those of the other foreign & Egyptian citizens who have been arrested alongside him.

Sincerely,

Patrick Harrison

The reports coming from Egypt are that the Australian Embassy is being "unresponsive" in supporting Austin, and doesn't have any personell at the trial in Mahalla. This is an outrageous yet unsurprising state of affairs; I think snap actions outside of DFAT offices here in Australia are well deserved.

Tunisia: ‘This is the start of a global wave of protests’

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Lina Ben Mhenni.

Lina Ben Mhenni, 27, is a Tunisian blogger and activist for freedom of speech, women’s rights and student rights. Her blog, A Tunisian Girl, was censored under Zine el Abidine Ben Ali’s regime.

During the early days of the uprising against Ben Ali that started on December 17 last year, she travelled to the rural Tunisian cities of Sidi Bouzid, Regueb and Kasserine to document police repression and catalysing protests throughout the country.

Ben Ali was overthrown on January 14, inspiring the wave of pro-democracy struggles that have broken out across the Arab world.

Ben Mhenni has been awarded the Deutsche Welle International Blog Award and El Mundo’s International Journalism Prize. She was also nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. I spoke with her in Tunis.

What do you think your Nobel nomination means for Tunisia and the Arab spring?

It’s a recognition of the importance of what happened here and what is happening across the Arab world — it started here in Tunisia, but it spread to other parts of the Arab world, and then to Europe and now to the United States. This is the beginning of a global wave of protest.

How do you see the role of media in a democratic system?

Media is very important for a democratic system. When it’s independent, it can help in changing things. But when it’s manipulated and controlled, it’s a weapon against freedom and democracy.

The role of the media should be to show you the true reality, not to work for governments or dictatorships. It should reflect the perspective of citizens, not the state.

The internet has certainly opened up more space for this. Before January 14, what we had in Tunisia was not media, it was working for the system. The bloggers played the role of media in covering the revolution.

The media is still manipulated by government and political parties — and bloggers and cyber activists continue to play that role of citizen journalists.

Do you think the elections will improve the situation here in Tunisia or change any of the issues that led to the uprising against Ben Ali?

I can’t anticipate things, but the fact that in the election there are parties established by people who worked for the system and who should be tried for what they did make me pessimistic. The truth is, I don’t know if things will change or not, no-one knows at this point.

On your blog you have called the Islamist party Ennadha a “serious threat to democracy”. What do you mean by that?

Of course, I respect all opinions, but I said this because I personally think they have a double discourse. For example, when their leaders are speaking for the media they have one discourse — but on social media, in videos of their member’s behaviour, for example, where they say that women should stay at home as a solution for employment.

I’m a woman, I’m working, my mother is working, I can’t accept this. Here in Tunisia women have played an important role in building the society and the revolution. No one has a right to take away these rights.

My fear comes from this double discourse; otherwise I respect their right to take part in the elections.

Do you think the Tunisian revolution is over? Where is the struggle for democracy here now heading?

No, the revolution did not finish on January 14 — it started on January 14! Ben Ali left the country, but he is just the head of the system.

Every day I am more and more convinced that the whole system is still there. The police are back to committing violence, there are more and more limitations on freedom of speech. We can see that the justice system is not independent yet.

The fact that there are people who worked for Ben Ali presenting themselves for the elections shows that this revolution is not complete. We have to be very careful with what’s going on. Now we have these elections, we have to observe what is going to happen. After that, we will see.

Originally published at Green Left Weekly: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49003