By Maung Zarni,
Dear Friends,
I know no rational discussion is conceivable between the Colonized and the Colonizer. There is no shared humanity, nor moral foundations between these two sets of populations.
That much we know from history. Situations of categorical and absolute bondage are no dialogic matters.
As the freedman Federic Douglas pointedly wrote, “power never concedes. It never has, and it never will.”
What is most outrageous and morally most repugnant – far more than another Global Powers are including the brutish Russia and China- is the United States as the most imperialist rogue power has for decades given Israel – now officially The Jewish State – a blanket impunity.
When the Wretched of Palestine fight back their occupying Colonizers, they are “terrorists”, or worse.
I may have lost several close Jewish friends over the last few days, including some genocide scholars and fellow leftists
Friendship (or career or even my life) has never been as important to me as my Conscience.
So, it’s not my loss. I am nobody, in the grand scheme of things, without Power, Influence or Status to shape global public opinion.
But I feel this deep existential need to raise my tiny voice. Whether it’s heard or heeded by any other human is not my concern.
I speak – and live – my conscience. I hope you do too.
Not a good time for the 2-million Palestinians.
11 October 2023
Maung Zarni is a Burmese educator, academic, and human rights activist. He is noted for his opposition to the violence in Rakhine State and Rohingya refugee crisis.