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By Ashish Singh

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, filmmakers around the world turned their gaze not only toward New York, but also inward — toward their own histories of fear, violence, and grief. Among the most poignant responses came from two acclaimed directors: Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai and Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman. While Gitai contributed a segment to the 2002 international anthology 11’09″01 September 11, Suleiman created a separate, meditative response to the global moment of reckoning. These two films, emerging from different political realities and cinematic vocabularies, feel like echoes across a wall — distinct yet uncannily aligned.

Gitai’s short begins amid the chaos of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Sirens wail, smoke rises, and a news team rushes to the scene, eager to broadcast the horror live. As reports begin to emerge about the attacks in New York, the Israeli anchor shrugs them off: “Why should we talk about that? We have our own terror here.” This blunt dismissal is not callousness, but a critique. Gitai holds up a mirror to national media narratives, asking whose suffering gets attention — and whose is always local, always somehow less urgent in the global conversation. His film is fast, chaotic, and relentless — a storm of sound and movement that forces us to confront how we weigh tragedy.

In contrast, Elia Suleiman’s response to 9/11 is wordless and slow, unfolding like a poem written in silences. Though not part of the 11’09″01 project, his 2002 film Divine Intervention was shaped in the shadows of the Twin Towers. Set in Ramallah and Jerusalem, it captures the surreal normalcy of occupation. Israeli tanks roll past houses. Soldiers stop cars and search passengers. A man peels an apple slowly. On a TV in the background, the world watches 9/11. But Suleiman — who appears in his own films as a silent observer — offers no commentary, only stillness. The violence is ever-present but quiet, embedded in the landscape. His cinema doesn’t shout; it watches.

These films never try to compete with the tragedy of 9/11. Neither Gitai nor Suleiman claims that their people’s suffering is greater, or more deserving of global grief. Instead, they offer something harder to process: the simultaneity of pain. They ask us to hold two truths in our minds — that while the world mourned New York, others lived in cities where explosions were routine, where the air always tasted faintly of smoke, and where grief did not begin on September 11.

Gitai’s urgency collides with Suleiman’s restraint. One film is built on speed, the other on stillness. But both arrive at the same insight — that violence is never localized. Its impact echoes across borders, across screens, across lives. When one city falls, others remember how often they have already been on fire.

Even decades later, these films remain painfully relevant. They ask what it means to be seen, and what it means to be forgotten. They challenge us not just to remember the towers that fell in New York, but to ask ourselves whose stories we never noticed collapsing in silence.

This is not just about history — it’s about empathy. Gitai and Suleiman, in radically different ways, show that true understanding begins when we stop ranking sorrow. When we look at each other’s tragedies not as interruptions to our own, but as part of a shared human condition. In a world where walls still rise and smoke still blurs our vision, these films offer one clear truth: every grief deserves to be seen.   

Ashish Singh has finished his Ph.D. coursework in political science from the NRU-HSE, Moscow, Russia.

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Ramzy Baroud

The profound and unrelenting struggles endured by Palestinians should, by any rational expectation, have irrevocably concluded the Palestinian cause. Yet, the struggle for freedom in Palestine is at its zenith. How is one to explain this? 

Attempts aimed at the erasure of Palestine, the Palestinian people, and their cause go back well over a century.  This encompasses the historical and ongoing impacts of the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent Mandate period, which ushered in an era of extreme violence, systemic suppression, and the imposition of harsh emergency regulations. 

The devastating  Nakba – the catastrophic destruction of the Palestinian homeland – was followed by the enactment of new emergency laws and the widespread dispersal of several Palestinian generations into the Shattat (diaspora). 

A relentless cycle of constant war, new occupations, and persistent ethnic cleansing has been further compounded by a pervasive lack of international action and sustained Arab solidarity, exacerbated by the presence of corrupt Palestinian elites. 

This litany of suffering extends to countless Israeli massacres, escalating violence, the relentless expansion of settlements, widespread destruction, and the recurring demolition of homes. 

The protracted Gaza siege, marked by war after war, has now culminated in the ongoing genocide.

Yet, despite this comprehensive and overwhelming accumulation of adversities, the Palestinian cause not only endures but persists with an unwavering spirit. This remarkable and enduring resilience is most profoundly understood through the concept of sumud.

The Indomitable Spirit of Sumud

Sumud transcends mere steadfastness; it represents a profound and deeply ingrained cultural phenomenon rooted in defiance, historical consciousness, unwavering faith, spirituality, the strength of family bonds, and the cohesion of community. 

The language of sumud is remarkably pervasive and rich, manifesting eloquently in poetry, intricate storytelling, Quranic verses, and the compelling terminology of revolution. Words such as sumud itself, Muqawama (resistance), Hurriyya (freedom), Thawra (revolution), Hatta Akher Nuqtat Dum (to the last drop of blood), and even the very word Falasteen (Palestine) are imbued with profound and multifaceted significance. 

For countless children growing up in Gaza, like myself, the simple, yet powerful, act of writing the word Falasteen on sand, in every text book, or on one’s own hand serves as a foundational and deeply personal experience.

Therefore, any truly genuine comprehension of Palestine must be meticulously shaped by the authentic language and the lived experiences of Palestinians themselves, with particular emphasis on those residing in Gaza. 

This imperative necessitates a deliberate shift in focus, moving away from historical documents like the Balfour Declaration or the Nation-State Law. Instead, understanding must authentically emerge from the narratives of pivotal figures such as Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Abdul Qader al-Husseini, Akram Zeiter, and Ghassan Kanafani, extending all the way to the fighting Palestinians in Gaza, their innocent children, their courageous journalists, their dedicated doctors, and their ordinary people.

Gaza: The Unyielding Heart of the Palestinian Story

One might be inclined to perceive this perspective as sentimental. However, it stands as a clear articulation of a long-held conviction that Gaza occupies the indisputable core of the Palestinian story, its historical trajectory, and its future destiny. 

This is not an emotional plea but a profound recognition of a harsh and unyielding living reality: Gaza has borne the brunt of the most severe manifestations of Israeli occupation, apartheid, siege, war, violence, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. 

Crucially, it is also the place where resistance has never ceased, not for a single moment. This fact alone is sufficient to establish Gaza as the most critical and undeniable component in the entire intricate history of the so-called conflict.

The Israeli genocide unfolding in Gaza is not merely an act of collective punishment. Rather, it originates from a deeply distorted and chilling Israeli perception of reality: that the Palestinian people themselves, and not a specific ideology, a particular group of individuals, or a defined organization, constitute the very heart and soul of the Palestinian cause. 

Consequently, the perceived sole method for thoroughly decimating the resistance is through the mass killing of the people and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of the survivors. If Israel, in its twisted and profoundly criminal way, has managed to grasp this horrifying understanding, then it becomes equally imperative that we, too, fully comprehend this fundamental concept.

Forging a New Understanding of Palestine

Therefore, a new and transformative understanding of Palestine is not just desirable but absolutely imperative. This understanding must unequivocally center Palestinian voices that genuinely reflect the sentiments, wishes, feelings, aspirations, and the authentic popular politics of ordinary people. 

It is crucial that not just any Palestinian voice will suffice, nor will any narrative do. This deliberate and focused approach will also help to liberate the word sumud, and all adjacent terminology, from being dismissed as merely fleeting sentimental language, thereby elevating it to the very heart of our collective discourse.

Palestinians, like all native populations engaged in a just struggle for freedom, should be unequivocally entrusted with the custodianship of their own discourse. They are not a liability to that discourse; they are not marginal actors within it; they are, in fact, the undeniable main characters.

Within an astonishing 600 days, Palestinians in Gaza, largely cut off, isolated, and targeted for extermination, have managed to expose Zionism more comprehensively and effectively than all the cumulative work undertaken over the course of an entire century. 

This monumental achievement, too, is a direct byproduct of their profound sumud. 

It is now time to critically revisit our language of solidarity with Palestine, consciously liberating it from our own ideological, political, and often personal priorities, and decisively reshaping it based solely on the authentic priorities of the Palestinians themselves.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. 

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Sally Dugman

We people who care about integrity, truth, honesty, decency, fairness and justice get satisfaction from our like-minded whistle blowers who lay their lives on the line and sometimes endure incredible hardships on account of sharing secretive, shameful truths like this: here: 

Wikileaks: Document dumps that shook the world, and here:

Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians

in addition to here:

July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike

Excerpted from the latter link: 

On July 12, 2007, a series of air-to-ground attacks were conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the invasion of Iraq. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of classified gunsight footage by WikiLeaks. The video, which WikiLeaks titled Collateral Murder, showed the crew firing on a group of people and killing several of them, including two Reuters journalists, and then laughing at some of the casualties, all of whom were civilians. An anonymous U.S. military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage, which provoked global discussion on the legality and morality of the attacks.

I personally happen to know that this sort of travesty happened quite frequently in that war such as Marines being shot at from their rooftop location from a single apartment in a tall apartment building across the street and their being told to indiscriminately fire into all of the apartments since it wasn’t a situation in which it could be determined as to which apartment held the shooter. Thus, elderly grandmothers fixing meals for their baby grandchildren, the children and other noncombatant civilians were immediately gunned down by U.S. Marines located across the street as a, I suppose, form of collective punishment for the one daring shooter.

At the same time, I do have my favorite whistle blowers with whom I identify and one of my best ones happens to be Mordechai Vanunu, an openly proactive peace activist and a nuclear technician who took it upon himself to publicly inform the world that Israel had nuclear bomb capabilities. So what did he get in return?

Here’s his punishment: Excerpted from 

Mordechai Vanunu

He was subsequently lured to Italy by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, where he was drugged and abducted. He was secretly transported to Israel and ultimately convicted in a trial that was held behind closed doors.

Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 in solitary confinement, though no such restriction is mentioned in Israel’s penal code, nor imposed by his verdict. Released from prison in 2004, he was further subjected to a broad array of restrictions on his speech and his movement and arrested several times for violations of his parole terms, giving interviews to foreign journalists and attempting to leave Israel. He claims to have suffered from “cruel and barbaric treatment” at the hands of prison authorities and suggests that things would have been different if he had not converted to Christianity.^[6]

His own Israeli parents disowned him and he was adopted by an elderly U.S. Quaker couple who, although physically far away from him, ideologically chose to be close to and emotionally support him as well as they could on behalf of both him AND his stance.

He got solace from that occurrence and from other parts of his life such as his writing poetry like this one, my favorite poem of his, which reminds of how easy it is to become part of a murderous war machine when simply obeying orders from higher up authority figures.I’M YOUR SPY
Mordechai Vanunu

I am the clerk, the technician, the mechanic,
the driver.

They said, Do this, do that, don’t look left
or right,
don’t read the text. Don’t look at the whole
machine. You
are only responsible for this one bolt. For this
one rubber-stamp.
This is your only concern. Don’t bother
with what is above you.
Don’t try to think for us. Go on, drive. Keep
going. On, on.
So they thought, the big ones, the smart ones,
the futurologists.
There is nothing to fear. Not to worry.
Everything is ticking just fine.

Our little clerk is a diligent worker. He’s a
simple mechanic.
He’s a little man.
Little men’s ears don’t hear, their eyes
don’t see.
We have heads, they don’t
Answer them, said he to himself, said the
little man,
the man with a head of his own. Who is in
charge? Who knows
where this train is going?
Where is their head? I too have a head.
Why do I see the whole engine.
Why do I see the precipice —
is there a driver on this train?
The clerk driver technician mechanic
looked up.
He stepped back and saw — what a monster.
Can’t believe it. Rubbed his eyes and — yes,
it’s there all right. I’m all right. I do see
the monster. I’m part of the system.
I signed this form. Only now I am reading the
rest of it.
This bolt is part of a bomb. This bolt is me.
How
did I fail to see, and how do the others go on
fitting bolts. Who else knows?
Who has seen? Who has heard — The
emperor really is naked.
I see him. Why me? It’s not for me. It’s too big.
Rise and cry out. Rise and tell the people.
You can.
I, the bolt, the technician, mechanic —
Yes, you.
You are the secret agent of the people. You are
the eyes of the nation.
Agent-spy, tell us what you’ve seen. Tell us
what the insiders, the clever ones, have
hidden from us.
Without you, there is only the precipice.
Only catastrophe.
I have no choice. I’m a little man, a citizen,
one of the people,
but I’ll do what I have to. I’ve heard the voice
of my conscience
and there is nowhere to hide.
The world is small, small for Big Brother.
I’m your mission. I’m doing my duty. Take
it from me.
Come and see for yourselves. Lighten my
burden. Stop the train.
Get off the train. The next stop — nuclear
disaster. The next book,
the next machine. No. There is no such thing.

——————-
In addition, I want to know about how is it my U.S. President’s business that Iran has nuclear medicine making capabilities such as my friend received to drink, a radioactive substance, to study his digestive tract last year.
So, too, the best way to prevent nuclear war might just well be opposed countries like India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, USA and Russia, etc., having roughly equal war capacity and caution about starting a nuclear war that would likely kill the majority of all life on our planet. 
So, yes, I’m thankful to know from Mordechai Vanunu that Israel has nuclear bomb capacity. Likewise, I’m glad to learn from the nuclear overseeing agency and Tulsi Gabbard’s assessment of Iran’s nuclear capacity that Iran’s leadership had no intention to develop a nuclear bomb, although that choice might have changed now that Israel has directly and overtly attacked that country. So, we’ll have to wait and see about outcomes now that Trump joined in on the assault against Iran, which upsets the ante, of course, for other lands like Turkey, Egypt, Russia, China and so on to join in the start of a third world war.

Sally Dugman writes from and lives in MA, USA.

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Tehran (Quds News Network)- The US joined Israel in its attack against Iran, with President Donald Trump announcing that US forces had struck three Iranian nuclear sites. In response, Iran accused Washington of violating international law.

Trump claimed the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility is “gone”.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” he added.

Later, in a televised Oval Office address, Trump said, “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”

[https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1936646971210760513]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s decision to attack Iran.

“Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu added his promise to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “fulfilled”.

“From the beginning of the operation, I promised you that Iran’s nuclear facilities would be destroyed, one way or another. This promise has been fulfilled,” he said.

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of breaching international law.

“The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations,” Araghchi said.

“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.”

He added that Iran “reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people”.

The raid on the Iran nuclear sites was reportedly carried out by B-2 stealth bombers that dropped so-called “bunker buster bombs,” along with submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Israel launched an aggressive attack on Iran on June 13, claiming that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons despite Israel itself widely assuming to have nuclear weapons.

At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the Ministry of Health.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Iranian officials have repeatedly said they do not plan to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.

Iran’s nuclear agency on Sunday confirmed radiation system data and field surveys do not show signs of contamination or danger to residents near the sites.

“Following the illegal US attack on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites, field surveys and radiation systems data showed: No contamination recorded,” the organisation said in a social media post, adding that there was no danger to residents around.

Later on Sunday, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at key nuclear sites in Iran following US air strikes.

“Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran… the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time,” the nuclear watchdog posted on X.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the “dangerous escalation” of the US strikes.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said in a statement.

The US attacks mark a major turning point for Trump, who campaigned for his second term on a pledge to end “forever wars”.

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Binoy Kampmark

Farce is a regular feature of international relations.  It can be gaudy and lurid, dressed up in all manner of outfits.  It can adopt an absurd visage that renders the subject comical and lacking in credibility.  That subject is the European Union, that curious collective of cobbled, sometimes erratic nation states that has pretensions of having a foreign policy, hints at having a security policy and yearns for a cohering enemy.

With its pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and much civilian infrastructure besides, Israel is being treated as a delicate matter.  Condemnation of its attacks as a violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against independent, sovereign states, should have been a formality.  Likewise, the violation of the various protocols dealing with the protection of civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities. 

Rather than chastise Israel for committing a crime against peace, Iran was chided for exercising a retaliatory right that arose the moment Israeli weaponry started striking targets across the country on June 12.  A villain had been identified, but it was not Israel.

With this skewed and absurd assessment of self-defence, notably by the Europeans and the US, French President Emmanuel Macron could only weakly declare that it was “essential to urgently bring these military operations to an end, as they pose serious threats to regional security.”  On June 18, he gave his foreign minister Jean-Nöel Barrott the task of launching an “initiative, with close European partners, to propose a […] negotiated settlement, designed to end the conflict.”  The initiative, to commence as talks on June 20 in Geneva, would involve the foreign ministers of France and Germany, along with Iran’s own Abbas Araghchi and relevant officials from the European Union.

Not much in terms of detail has emerged from that gathering, though Macron was confident, after holding phone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, of a “path” that would “end war and avoid even greater dangers”.  To attain that goal, “we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran.” 

It has been reported that the E3 countries (France, Germany and the UK) felt that Israel would refuse to accept a ceasefire as things stood, while the resumption of negotiations between Tehran and Washington seemed unlikely.  With these factors in mind, the proposal entailed conducting a parallel process of negotiations  that would – again, a force of parochial habit – focus on Iranian conduct rather than Israeli aggression.  Iran would have to submit to more intrusive inspections, not merely regarding its nuclear program but its ballistic missile arsenal, albeit permitting Tehran a certain uranium enrichment capacity. 

It was clear, in short, who was to wear the dunce’s hat.  As Macron reiterated, Tehran could never acquire nuclear weapons.  “It is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful.”

A senior Iranian official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, saw little to impress him.  “The discussions and proposals made by the Europeans in Geneva were unrealistic.  Insisting on these positions will not bring Iran and Europe closer to an agreement.”  Having given the proposals a cold shower, the official nonetheless conceded that “Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting.”

The European proposals were more than unrealistic.  They did nothing to compel Israel to stop its campaign, effectively making the Iranians concede surrender and return to negotiations even as their state is being destabilised.  While their command structure and nuclear scientific establishment face liquidation, their civilian infrastructure malicious destruction, they are to be the stoic ones of the show, turning the other cheek.  With this, Israel can operate outside the regulatory frameworks of nuclear non-proliferation, being an undeclared nuclear weapons state that also refuses to submit to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The European proposition would also do nothing to stop what are effectively war crimes happening, and being planned, in real time.  The EU states have made little of the dangers associated with Israel’s striking of nuclear facilities, something they were most willing to do when Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia plant from Ukraine in March 2022.  During capture, the plant was shelled, while the ongoing conflict continues to risk the safety of the facility.

The International Committee for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has also drawn attention to the critical risks associated with attacking nuclear facilities.  “The use of force against nuclear facilities,” it stated in a media release, “violates international law and risks radioactive contamination with long-term consequences for human health and environment.”  That same point has been made by the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Marino Grossi.  “Military escalation,” stated Grossi on June 16, “threatens lives, increases the chance of radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment and delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.” 

US President Donald Trump’s own assessment of the EU’s feeble intervention was self-serving but apposite.  “Nah, they didn’t help.”  The Iranians did not care much for the Europeans.  “They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help on this one.”  In fact, the European effort, led unconvincingly by Macron, is looking most unhelpful.

Dr Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Francisco Dominguez

On the eve of Venezuela’s presidential election on 29^th July 2024, Guardian correspondents, Tiago Rogero (based in Rio de Janeiro) and Sam Jones (based in Madrid) predicted the vote “could end 25 years of socialist rule.” It did not. The following, 30 July, another group of Guardian correspondents gave prominent coverage to far-right wing Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado, quoting her claim that “Maduro’s exit was inevitable.” Yet, Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated as the re-elected president for the 2025-2031 term on 10 January 2025.

The July 2024 presidential election was followed by the election for National Assembly deputies and all 24 governorships of Venezuela’s federal structure on 25 May 2025. Venezuela’s US-funded far-right opposition, led by Machado boycotted the vote. Corporate media outlets –including the New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, El País, the BBC, and others – framed their coverage by labelling the election “divisive” and extensively quoting Machado’s claim that “85% of the electorate did not obey the regime and said no.” In reality, she falsely portrayed the opposition’s boycott as a political victory, implying widespread voter rejection.

Unlike the July 2024 presidential election –when the far-right factions instigated street violence resulting in 27 deaths at the hands of armed thugs, including two armed attacks on the presidential palace –, the 25 May 2025 legislative and gubernatorial elections (Venezuela’s 32^nd electoral process), proceeded calmly and peacefully. However, the far-right’s boycott was never merely a peaceful protest against an election organized by a government they refuse to recognise. Their actions went far beyond that.

On 28 May, Venezuela’s Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello, reported the arrest of over 70 individuals of various nationalities (Venezuelan, Colombian, American, Argentine, Spanish, Ecuadorian, Serbian, Albanian and others). Several foreign-funded ‘NGOs’ appeared implicated in the plot. Authorities seized explosives, assault rifles, and other military equipment intended for attacks on foreign embassies, hospitals, emergency services, electricity substations, police stations, and high-profile political figures – particularly those from the opposition who participated in the election. The suspects had entered Venezuela via Colombia. Cabello also revealed that Venezuela’s armed forces had thwarted nearly 60 attacks on oil installations in the preceding ten days. Evidence indicated the terrorist group was led by Venezuela’s far-right leaders.

 This was not their first attempt. The government has also reported the arrest of mercenaries coming from Trinidad and Tobago with ties to a broader network trained in Ecuador – a country now reportedly a hub of cocaine exports. A glance at a map reveals Venezuela’s encirclement by US-aligned hostile forces: Guyana, Ecuador, Colombian narcotraffickers, and SOUTHCOM to its north and beyond.

Machado’s boycott strategy backfired, fracturing her already divided coalition further when several former boycotters decided to stand as candidates and urged their supporters to vote. The result? Chavismo secured 253 of 285 for the National Assembly and 23 of 24 governorships, including the election of a governor for Guayana Esequiba –a territory Venezuela claims. The sole governorship not won by Chavismo, Cojedes, went to Alberto Galíndez, an opposition politician who recognises Maduro’s legitimacy and accepted the overall results. Moreover, Chavismo gained 1.3 million more votes than in the 2021 elections, demonstrating growing support. With this victory, President Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution now hold not only the presidency until 2031, but also commanding majorities in the National Assembly and among governorships.

The May 2025 election results marked a resounding triumph for the Bolivarian government and a stinging defeat for the Trump administration –particularly with the election of Chavista, Admiral Neil Villamizar as governor for Guayana Esequiba. On 23 May, The Guardian quoted Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali,  who denounced the election in this state as an “assault on Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Yet, the report conveniently omitted any mention of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which underpins Venezuela’s claim.[2]

In collusion with Guyana, the US has transformed Guyana into a military enclave, using it as a base for regular military provocations against Venezuela since 2021. Strangely, just one day after the election, on 26 May 2025, The Guardian wrote an exhaustively researched feature with stunning photographs –not on Venezuela’s election, but on…the Orinoco crocodile.

Beyond their self-defeating abstentionism, Machado and the far-right further eroded their credibility by enthusiastically endorsing U.S. sanctions –effectively advocating for Venezuela’s economic strangulation – and cheering Trump’s brutal deportation policies targeting Latin Americans, especially Venezuelans whom he falsely labels as “government-controlled criminals.

When asked whether she supported Trump’s deeply unpopular policy of deporting Latino and Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison –a facility notorious for torture– Machado replied “Absolutely!” –uncritically parroting Trump’s baseless claims.

The record of Venezuela’s far-right opposition is simply appalling. Not only have they been heavily involved with Colombian narco-traffickers to carry out terrorist acts against their own country, but their leader, Juan Guaidó, even proclaimed himself “interim president” on a Caracas street in 2019. Worse still, this claim was recognized by the U.S.-led Collective West. They colluded with Western powers to facilitate the confiscation of Venezuelan assets—including gold, bank accounts, and property—in actions that amount to nothing less than high treason.

With the backing of the Collective West, they prolonged the farce of the 2015 National Assembly’s legitimacy—where they once held a majority—long after its mandate expired in 2020. In fact, they still falsely claim legitimacy in 2025, five years after the end of their constitutional term, while continuing to pay monthly U.S. dollar “emoluments” to their obsolete lawmakers.

Under the guise of a humanitarian effort to bring food by force across the Colombian border, they even attempted a military incursion with Colombian paramilitaries, aiming to seize control of a Venezuelan city and install a “provisional government” to be recognized by the U.S. and the Collective West.

The Venezuelan opposition’s actions are indefensible. They have been linked to multiple assassination attempts against President Maduro, including plots to decapitate Venezuela’s political and military leadership using explosives. They organized a mercenary incursion aimed at violently overthrowing the Bolivarian government, with the explicit goal of assassinating Maduro and as many Bolivarian leaders as possible. They have enthusiastically supported the U.S. blockade’s economic asphyxiation—which remains in place—while sabotaging every election since 2013 through violent disruptions.

Repeatedly, they have called on the military to revolt, urging the overthrow of Venezuela’s democratically elected governments (under both Chávez and Maduro). Their tactics include systematic infrastructure sabotage, consistently timed to coincide with elections. They have exacerbated U.S. sanctions by promoting hoarding, artificially inflating prices, and engineering shortages of basic goods—deliberately inflicting severe hardship on the population. Even worse, they manipulated Venezuela’s currency crisis through DolarToday, a platform that daily published inflated exchange rates to fuel hyperinflation.

The opposition’s transgressions go even further. On multiple occasions they have enlisted the services of mercenary Erik Prince, even launching a crowdfunding campaign (Ya Casi Venezuela) to finance his proposed violent overthrow of President Maduro’s government. They are currently under FBI investigation for large-scale corruption, accused of embezzling nearly US$1 billion in humanitarian aid meant for Venezuelans abroad – of which mere 2% as properly allocated). Worse still, they have fraudulently managed over US$40 billion in Venezuelan assets through shady contracts with Miami-based firms, exchanging national resources for personal bribes. Their attempt to replicate the DolarToday scheme was swiftly  crushed by the government, which acted decisively to shut it down.

This brazen subversion aligns with broader U.S. imperial ambitions. In a blatant reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine, SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Alvin Holsey declared before the Senate Armed Services Committee (13 February 2025) that the U.S. must prevail in the “strategic competition with China in the Western Hemisphere” and counter “Russia’s malign agenda” – naming Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as their conduits. Thus Washington now openly frames its assault on Bolivarian Revolution as part of its geopolitical competition with China and Russia. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth underscored this stance on 6 June 2025, bluntly stating “We are preparing for war with China.”

Yet, despite 12 years of relentless aggression since Comandante Chávez’s passing, the Venezuelan people have shown extraordinary resilience, defying predictions of inevitable collapse. The government’s response? Deepening democracy. Ahead of upcoming municipal and mayoral elections (27 July 2025), Venezuela is intensifying its participatory democracy model, empowering the comunas –grassroots, self-managed councils where communities directly decide and implement projects to improve their living standards: direct democracy.

President Maduro has announced the “creation of the Communal Portfolio Fund of the national budget” that will directly allocate resources to projects developed by local communities. These funds will be managed through communal circuits, with spending priorities democratically decided by commune inhabitants themselves.

In revealing interview (7 June 2025), Jesús Faría, PSUV Vice Minister of Productive Economy of the PSUV, emphasized the urgent need to accelerate the expansion of Communal direct democracy and consolidate people’s power. Faría made a critical observation: the PSUV must take the lead in advancing the commune system. With tens of thousands of grassroots organizations across Venezuela, the PSUV maintains a Gramscian hegemony –not by imposition but by organically articulating this vibrant social ecosystem into a cohesive for socialism. Its structural bonds with them enable it to harmonize and mobilize this rich social universe towards socialist construction.

Thus, even as U.S. imperialism doubles down on its fanatical crusade to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuela is fortifying its socialist foundations. By empowering communes, deepening participatory democracy, and strengthening the PSUV’s vanguard role, the revolution is building unshakable resilience—proving that people’s power, not imperial aggression, will shape Venezuela’s future.

Francisco Dominguez is the national secretary of the UK-based Venezuela Solidarity.

23 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Ali Abutalebi

19 June marked the seventh day of Israeli strikes against Iran, with developments appearing to diverge from White House expectations.

Following targeted attacks on senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, along with strikes on nuclear and military facilities, Iran has regained operational control. The country launched its ‘True Promise 3’ operation without delay.

After initial disruption in the opening hours, Iran appointed replacement commanders and enhanced the effectiveness of its air defence systems. Iranian authorities also implemented security measures to identify suspected infiltrators who had allegedly used drones and other small aircraft to conduct covert operations within the country.

US and Israeli authorities likely did not anticipate an immediate collapse of the Iranian government through airstrikes alone. While both governments have made strategic miscalculations, it would be surprising if they genuinely believed a state could be toppled solely through aerial bombardment.

The apparent strategy seemed to rely on triggering civil unrest among opposition groups following the initial government disruption. This would have potentially created openings for trained mercenaries to initiate a secondary phase of operations. However, this scenario failed to materialise.

Instead, the majority of Iranians, particularly after reports emerged of civilian casualties from the attacks, responded with anger and solidarity. The civilian losses appear to have awakened a sense of national unity and patriotism among the population.

Trump’s contradictory statements can be understood within this context of strategic miscalculation, alongside pressure from the Zionist authorities, as evidenced in social media posts and public commentary.

Trump’s messaging has been inconsistent: one day stating he has no plans for US involvement in the conflict, the next threatening to consider declaring war against Iran unless it accepts ‘unconditional surrender’.

On the other side, the televised message from Iran’s Supreme Leader was clear and definitive: ‘We do not accept imposed “peace”, just as we did not accept imposed war, as we demonstrated during the Iraqi Ba’ath regime’s invasion of Iran’.

This stance is reflected in the Iranian armed forces’ retaliation and the positions taken by senior political officials.

Perhaps this explains why International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi acknowledged that they have ‘no proof of Iran’s active plan to build nuclear weapons’.

Notably, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, had previously made similar statements, though Trump recently indicated he dismisses them, saying he doesn’t care about ‘what she said’. This echoes the pretext used to invade Iraq: claims of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that proved to be unfounded, similar to the discredited Nayirah testimony that became a scandal for the George W. Bush administration.

We could debate for hours about the reasons behind the current situation and the timing of direct attacks on Iran: external factors, internal catalysts, international dynamics, and more.

However, three points are clear:

First, Israel is not operating independently. The Israeli state functions as a settler colonial entity representing Western imperial interests in West Asia.

Second, the United States disregards international law, evidence, and public opinion when it calculates that the benefits of military action outweigh the costs.

Third, and most importantly in my view, this is not a religious or regional conflict between two competing powers. This represents a new phase of the ‘New Middle East’ plan, as reflected in the cover of a recent Time magazine issue. And the fragmentation of Iran is a main part of this plan. It builds upon earlier strategic frameworks, including the Yinon Plan (1980s) and ‘A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm’ (1990s), with backing from the Western bloc.

From this perspective, this constitutes a full-scale confrontation between the Global North and Global South, with Iran positioned on the front lines of Western imperialist aggression against national liberation movements throughout the Global South.

Based on this analysis, all revolutionary forces must unite behind this slogan: ‘Hands Off Iran!’

And a message to our friends around the world: Iran resists, to the last person, the last bullet, the last breath.

Ali Abutalebi has been the executive director of Mazmoon Books since 2005. 

21 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory – Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warns of a sharp increase in Israel’s genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly through intensified mass killings. This escalation comes amid a near-total absence of international accountability or deterrence, and as global media attention wanes due to developments surrounding the ongoing confrontation between Israel and Iran.

In just the past four days, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the killing of over 350 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds more, in the context of a wide-scale Israeli assault targeting densely populated areas of forcibly displaced civilians, what remains of homes, and the few remaining humanitarian aid distribution points.

Over 70 Palestinians have been killed since early this morning (Friday 20 June), nearly half of them while waiting for or attempting to obtain food aid—a pattern that underscores Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of its genocide.

Field documentation confirms continuedsystematic attacks on civilians. Eleven members of the Ayash family were killed today when the Israeli military bombed their home, west of Deir al-Balah, while three other individuals—including a child—were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City’s northeast Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, in the north of the Strip. Another Israeli airstrike on a food supply point in central Gaza City killed seven more civilians, including two children.

,” saidLima Bustami, Director of Euro-Med Monitor’s Legal Department.“

Survivors are forcibly displaced to camps lacking even the most basic necessities,” she stated, “and are then deliberately starved—with those approaching aid points gunned down or shelled. This calculated and horrific sequence—combining starvation, systematic denial of survival essentials, and direct targeting—reflects Israel’s intent to destroy the population of Gaza, in whole or in part, fulfilling the elements of genocide.”

Bustami added: “The continuation of this genocidal campaign amid international paralysis seals the circle of injustice for the world, just as the circle of death tightens around Gaza. The world must act now to stop the killing, hold the perpetrators accountable, and restore the credibility of international law.”

Figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health show a dramatic rise in casualties: 69 deaths and 221 injuries were recorded yesterday, with 144 killed and 560 wounded on Wednesday, and at least 61 killed on Tuesday. This reflects a terrifying acceleration in mass killing operations focused on residential areas and protected civilian infrastructure, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

The escalation unfolds alongside Israel’s daily policy of forced displacement, now in its 36th consecutive day. Over 300,000 Palestinian civilians are being pushed westward in the Gaza Strip, under relentless Israeli bombardment. Simultaneously, Israel maintains near-total fire control over the northern part of the besieged enclave, including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and adjacent areas, further tightening the siege and isolating entire populations.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 680,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel broke the ceasefire agreement and resumed its military assault on 18 March. Less than 18% of the Strip remains outside direct Israeli military control or forced “evacuation” zones. With no safe shelter, civilians are crammed into overcrowded displacement sites, temporary shelters, damaged buildings, or even forced to sleep on the street—a stark reflection of Gaza’s humanitarian collapse.

Israeli attacks have killed over 5,400 Palestinianssince the resumption of hostilities on 18 March,most of them civilians, including large numbers of women and children. Aid distribution points, theoretically meant to be safe zones, have become deadly traps. Israeli forces systematically target crowds of civilians gathered around these points, especially as hunger worsens, and killthose who are simply trying to survive.

Euro-Med Monitor has documented the killing of over 120 Palestinians since Monday alone, all of whom were either approaching or waiting at aid centres when targeted by Israeli forces. About 20 similar incidents have been recorded in the past month, reflecting a clear pattern of the Israelitargeting of hungry civilians.

The Israeli army continues to deny responsibility, resorting to vague claims about “suspects” withoutany evidence. Ground investigations conducted by Euro-Med Monitor confirm that the victims have been unarmed civilians, including many children, women, and elderly individuals.

These mass killings are taking place followingIsrael’s deliberate reduction in aid distribution points from more than 400 UN-supervised stations to just four, now operating under a quasi-military system by the US-Israeli-backed “Gaza Humanitarian Fund” (GHF), and guarded by Israeli forces and private security companies. This has deprived hundreds of thousands of civilians of safe access to food and medicine, turning aid centres into scenes of mass killing, and consequently making it so that many people arenow terrified to approach such sites.

Since Israel began imposing its “aid distribution”mechanism on the Gaza Strip’s population, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the involvement of the Israeli military, local armed gangs cooperating with it, and personnel from the US security firm overseeing the aid centres, in the killings of Palestinian civilians at or near these locations. Notably, the victims have been targeted despitepresenting no actual threat to anyone. Under international law, lethal force is only permissible as a last resort in the face of an imminent threat to life—a condition clearly unmet in these incidents.

Israel has also imposed a near-completeblockade on humanitarian aid since March, allowing only symbolic quantities of select items to enter the enclave via UN agencies. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), all of the roughly 2.1 million people in Gaza now face acute food insecurity, while access to clean water has collapsed to catastrophic levels. Since May, cases of malnutrition among children under five have risen by nearly 150%, with severe cases doubling.

All states and institutions must exert maximum pressure on Israel to immediately halt the killing of starving civilians and dismantle its inhumane “aiddistribution” mechanism. The international community must compel Israel to end its illegal blockade and restore full humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip at once; this is the only way to prevent famine and ensure the prompt entry of food, medicine, and fuel. Euro-Med Monitor also calls for the establishment of UN-supervised humanitarian corridors and the deployment of independent international observers.

All countries must fulfill their legal obligations and act urgently to stop the ongoing genocide in the Strip. This includes taking concrete measures to protect Palestinian civilians; ensuring Israel’s compliance with international law and International Court of Justice rulings, and holding it accountable for its crimes; and the swift execution of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defence Minister.

In addition, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor callsfor immediate diplomatic, military, and economic sanctions against Israel and its more powerful allies, particularly the United States, for suchgrave and systematic violations of international law. These sanctions should include total arms embargoes; halting all forms of military and security cooperation; freezing the assets of political and military figures involved in the genocide; imposing travel bans; and suspendingthe operations of US and Israeli military-industrial companies in global markets; plus suspending bilateral agreements that grant Israel and the US trade and economic privileges that enable them to continue committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

21 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By V.A. Mohamad Ashrof 

The assertion that Jesus Christ can be understood as a feminist is one that initially seems anachronistic, given that the term “feminism” and its associated theories emerged many centuries after Jesus’ earthly ministry. However, when “feminist” is understood not as adherence to a specific modern political ideology but as a profound commitment to the dignity, empowerment, and equality of women, and a challenge to patriarchal structures that diminish them, an examination of Jesus’ life, teachings, and interactions with women through such a lens becomes remarkably insightful. Christian feminism seeks precisely this: to understand the teachings of Jesus Christ through the lens of feminist theory and praxis. A closer examination reveals that Jesus’ engagement with women and his broader message contain radical elements that align significantly with feminist concerns for justice and the full humanity of women.

Foundations of Christian Feminist Hermeneutics

To approach the figure of Jesus through a feminist lens requires engaging with Christian feminist hermeneutics. This interpretive framework acknowledges that traditional biblical interpretations have often been shaped by patriarchal biases, leading to the marginalization or misrepresentation of women’s experiences and roles in scripture and tradition. Thinkers like Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza advocate for a “hermeneutics of suspicion,” which approaches texts critically, aware of their potential to uphold patriarchal power structures. This is coupled with a “hermeneutics of remembrance” or “retrieval,” aiming to uncover and reconstruct the stories and contributions of women that have been suppressed or overlooked. Phyllis Trible, for example, has worked to “depatriarchalizing” biblical texts, highlighting forgotten narratives of women.

Furthermore, a “hermeneutics of liberation,” as articulated by theologians like Letty M. Russell, insists that scripture must be read in ways that promote justice and flourishing for all, especially the oppressed. Rosemary Radford Ruether’s work critiques how traditional theology has often reinforced sexism and calls for a reconstruction that affirms women’s full personhood. Christian feminist hermeneutics, therefore, seeks to uncover the liberating themes and motifs that run throughout the biblical narrative, offering a fresh perspective on figures like Jesus. It is through such hermeneutical strategies that one can discern the proto-feminist dimensions of Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus’ Ministry to Women: Challenging Patriarchal Norms

In the deeply patriarchal society of first-century Palestine, where women’s roles were heavily restricted and their public presence curtailed, Jesus consistently challenged the status quo by engaging with women in public spaces and affirming their worth. His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42) is a remarkable instance. This interaction not only transcended significant cultural, ethnic, and religious boundaries but, crucially, acknowledged the woman’s spiritual agency and capacity for theological dialogue, leading her to become a witness to her community.

Jesus’ conversation with Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) further illustrates his appreciation for women’s intellectual and spiritual capacities. He validates Mary’s choice to sit at his feet and learn from him, a role typically reserved for male disciples. In doing so, Jesus implicitly affirms a woman’s right to theological education and spiritual pursuit beyond prescribed domestic duties.

His ministry also demonstrated a profound concern for women’s physical and emotional well-being, often by transgressing purity laws and social conventions that isolated and shamed them. The healing of the bleeding woman (Mark 5:21-43) is a powerful example. By allowing her to touch him and by publicly affirming her faith and healing, Jesus not only restored her physical health but also her social and religious standing, effectively touching the “untouchable.” Similarly, his compassionate engagement with the woman accused of adultery (John 8:1-11), where he challenged her accusers and offered her dignity rather than condemnation, showcases his commitment to challenging social and cultural norms that disproportionately marginalized and victimized women.

Feminist Themes in Jesus’ Teachings

Jesus’ teachings often subverted traditional patriarchal structures and emphasized values such as humility, service, and mutual love, which stand in contrast to hierarchical power dynamics. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus pronounces blessings on the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted. These categories disproportionately affected women in ancient Palestine, making his words particularly resonant with their lived experiences and offering a vision of God’s kingdom that prioritized the marginalized.

His teachings on divorce and remarriage (Mark 10:2-12) also demonstrate a significant concern for women’s welfare. In a context where men could divorce their wives with relative ease, leaving women vulnerable, Jesus’ stricter stance challenged these patriarchal norms and implicitly protected women’s social and economic security.

Furthermore, Jesus’ use of parables and metaphors often featured women as protagonists or key characters, granting them agency and visibility. The parables of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), who boldly demands justice, and the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), who bear responsibility for their preparedness, highlight women’s capacity for action, persistence, and moral decision-making. These stories suggest that Jesus saw women as capable of embodying the core values and responsibilities of the kingdom of God, directly including them in the imaginative landscape of his teachings.

The Significance of Women’s Leadership in the Early Christian Movement

The impact of Jesus’ inclusive approach is evident in the early Christian movement, which was marked by a surprising number of women in leadership roles, including figures like Mary Magdalene, Junia (referenced by Paul as “outstanding among the apostles” in Romans 16:7), and Phoebe (a deacon and benefactor mentioned in Romans 16:1-2). Jesus’ investment in women as disciples, learners, and dialogue partners laid the groundwork for this development.

The resurrection narrative powerfully underscores Jesus’ trust in women’s capacity for leadership and testimony. Across all four Gospels (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18), women are depicted as the first witnesses to the risen Christ and the first to be commissioned as messengers of this foundational good news. In a society that largely devalued female testimony, this choice is profoundly significant, elevating women to a central role in the most critical event of Christian faith.

Christian Feminist Hermeneutics and the Figure of Jesus

As established, Christian feminist hermeneutics seeks to interpret Scripture through the lens of women’s experiences and perspectives. This approach recognizes that traditional interpretations have often been shaped by patriarchal biases and actively seeks to uncover the liberating themes and motifs that run throughout the biblical narrative.

In the case of Jesus Christ, a Christian feminist hermeneutic highlights his radical concern for women’s dignity, empowerment, and equality. Jesus’ life and teachings demonstrate a consistent commitment to challenging the social, cultural, and religious norms that marginalized women. His investment in women as disciples, theological discussants, leaders, and primary witnesses underscores the importance he placed on women’s full participation in the divine economy and the life of the faith community.

Implications for Contemporary Christian Communities

The recognition of Jesus Christ’s ministry as embodying feminist principles has significant implications for contemporary Christian communities. It challenges these communities to critically re-examine their attitudes toward women’s leadership, their affirmation of women’s dignity, and their commitment to women’s empowerment in all aspects of church and societal life. It calls for the conscious adoption of inclusive language in worship, liturgy, and theological discourse, and the development of practices that acknowledge and honour the diversity of women’s experiences and contributions.

Moreover, a feminist Christology, which sees Jesus as standing in solidarity with the marginalized, underscores the urgent need for Christian communities to engage in praxis-oriented ministries that address the systemic inequalities and injustices faced by women globally. This includes advocating for policies and practices that promote women’s economic empowerment, actively challenging cultures of violence and abuse against women, and intentionally creating and protecting spaces where women’s voices can be heard, valued, and amplified.

Reclaiming Jesus: Champion of Women’s Dignity and Liberation

While the term “feminist” is a modern construct, the idea of Jesus Christ as a figure whose life and teachings profoundly align with feminist concerns for equality, dignity, and liberation is rooted in a careful examination of the Gospel narratives. A Christian feminist hermeneutic illuminates the liberating themes and motifs that run throughout the biblical witness concerning Jesus, challenging traditional patriarchal interpretations and emphasizing the centrality of women’s dignity, empowerment, and equality to his message and mission. As Christian communities seek to faithfully follow Jesus’ example in the contemporary world, they are called to recognize the full significance of women’s leadership, to actively challenge systemic inequalities that oppress women, and to engage wholeheartedly in praxis-oriented ministries that promote justice, liberation, and empowerment for all people.

Bibliography

Brock, Ann Graham. Mary Magdalene: The First Apostle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Brock, Rita Nakashima. Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power. New York: Crossroad, 1988.

Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schussler. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1983.
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schussler. Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet: Critical Issues in Feminist Christology. New York: Continuum, 1994.

Heyward, Carter. The Redemption of God. New York: Crossroad, 1982.

Johnson, Elisabeth A. She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse. New York: Crossroad, 1992.

Kwok, Pui-lan. Introducing Asian Feminist Theology. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.

Oduyoye, Mercy Amba. Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995.

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1983.

Russell, Letty M. Household of Freedom: Authority in Feminist Theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1987.
Russell, Letty M. Church in the Round: Feminist Interpretation of the Church. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993.

Tolbert, Mary Ann. Sowing the Gospel: Mark’s World in Literary-Historical Perspective. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1989.

Williams, Delores S. Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993.

V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Indian scholar specializing in Islamic humanism.

20 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Sally Dugman

Unacceptably horrible is the fact that my government, through our USA bunch of politicians, overall prefer give money, bombs and other goods to be used in slaughter and ruination initiated by foreign lands like Israel and the Ukraine rather than uplift and improve the quality of life at home. In fact, what a pathway forward of war supporting shows exactly the priorities that the brunt of our politicians want … and it’s clearly not helping improve USA communities.

Meanwhile, it’s scandalous that many of the financially poor states in the USA have no extra funds to pay out for Medicaid (healthcare and medicine for needy children and adults), SNAP (food stamps) and other aids for the poorest of the poor. So we desperately need a living wage in this country, as well as more (affordable) housing. So that the very hard working and the disabled individuals can manage to stay alive and healthy with a roof over their heads.

As it is, we already have lots of severe health care problems unaddressed in the USA. So let’s not make the situation any worse than it already is through exacerbating the situation by taking away the few basic benefits that some impoverished people in some U.S. locations have that Trump’s “big beautiful bill,”, if passed in the Senate, would deny supportive help to the worst off of peoples in the U.S.

In fact, you should see, for example, some of the hardship cases — the mentally and physically sick people of all older ages living in a small tent village behind the mini-mall where I grocery shop. Then again, on second thought, no, you shouldn’t. It’s too heart wrenching and sickening a view. Besides, it is dangerously to go up there as there are, supposedly, thieves, rapists and crazed angry people needing mental health support in the group.

Indeed, just about any of these tent communities anywhere can break your heart in compassion and empathy! The reason is, of course, that this is absolutely no way for any persons anywhere to have to live!

Meanwhile, I want to know: Why are we USAers as a country giving war supplies and huge financial donations to other countries (like Israel and the Ukraine) when our infrastructure (U.S. water systems, roads, bridges, public sewerage stations and much more) are falling apart at home? Why do we have deeply impoverished whole communities here unable to take care of minimally basic needs like food and shelter beyond just living in dilapidated tents in woods like my tented bunch with poison ivy present, along with too much heat to endure in the summer and too much bone chilling cold in the winter, too much mud in the spring and unpredictable storms in the fall, in addition to their having no sanitation facilities, nor bathrooms, nor showers, nor anywhere to cook or wash dishes. Why in this wealthy country — the USA — must we have such glaring atrocious paucity spotted all across the whole land?

Obviously that this set of circumstances exists is one of the U.S. major outrageous shames, along with many others like support of foreign wars that are openly aimed at burying children alive in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

It is especially unacceptable since some in the USA Congress; the President, himself; some of the wealthiest people in America and loyal Trump “yes men” (and affirmative women) know that they want even deeper cuts to U.S. health care (i.e., nearly a trillion dollars voided in Medicaid), food assistance — SNAP food stamp benefits planned to be cut by at least $211 billion to give millionaires and billionaires a tax break that would impact at least 2.5 million poor children who are for some of them already malnourished, countless frail and emaciated elders and others like permanently injured veterans due to their harm received in our nation’s war engagements … and all to free up money to give to other lands like Israel for further dangerous war (ad)ventures abroad? 

No, this arrangement is needs to be totally rejected! We can’t keep taking away from impoverished families, Veterans (of which many have unaddressed PTSD issues due to the trauma that they faced), fragile elders and others in need in the USA so as to get billions and trillions more freed up for a combination of tax break for the wealthiest, more money for ICE raids and illegal immigrant deportations without due process of law, and to carry out the deliberate murder of children and other noncombatants abroad, in addition to my country joining covertly into new conflicts like the one started up recently against Iran, which just might wake the Sleeping Bear (Russia) and the usually peaceful Panda (China).

No wonder, then, that between five and eleven million people in the USA protested in the “No Kings” demonstrations on last Saturday since so many of us are close to being totally fed up with our dysfunctional and sociopathic government that won’t support us much on the stateside front and keeps intending to destroy both humans, landscapes and other form of life abroad. Enough! We’ve had enough!

Sally Dugman lives in and writes from MA, USA where our local government here is striving overall to make our state exemplary for other to follow as is usual and much to the chargrin of some rightwingers:  We rank number one in many indices, as well as

20 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org