I haven’t yet seen the comparison made between the fake news of the Israeli hospital bombing as reported in the New York Times and the fake news of the Kamloops “graves” discovery (yes, as reported in the NYT). These are unrelated events, but the reporting is not. In both cases there was a rush to judgement- that judgement being that the settler colonizers were guilty before the evidence was even in. Great essay Michael
Oct 24, 2023·edited Oct 26, 2023Liked by Michael Melanson
I checked a few public Facebook pages the other day to get a read on what the sentiments might be among indigenous influencers since Oct 7. One 40-ish guy, a ‘life skills educator’ in Saskatchewan, posted this (ahead of the big FSIN powwow held in Saskatoon this past weekend):
“If I was FSIN chief and had some sort of pull, I’d do a Palestinian honouring at the powwow. Inform the people – break down the political relatability of colonial imperialism – and have elders pray for peace – moment of silence for all the children in the Middle East . . .”
It goes on in this vein but gets kind of muddled, then continues,
“I think the younger generations are for this type of movement and understanding . . . But current trends among ‘elected leaders’ and communities indicate that most folks are not ready for that level of political solidarity . . .”
A commenter responds, “So true . . . It’s all so horrific and I will be going to the protest again this Sunday in Calgary. I stand with the Palistinian [sic] Peoples and my Jewish friends that are opposed to these war crimes. As far as our Peoples, education needs to happen.”
Her comment is also kind of muddled, but she makes reference to “over 1600 Babies killed so far” [sense unclear], and the starvation [of the Gazans] “may be triggering a genetic memory.”
Kanahus Freedom Manuel, on the other hand, merely reposted an ‘inspirational’ video from 2018 featuring solemn Tiny House Warriors wearing camo bandanas over their faces and trekking through the land. No commentary, so perhaps no connection, just a coincidental re-posting?
Thanks for the excerpts. My own informal monitoring of online comments shows more or less a lot of aboriginal support for Hamas/Palestinians (they don't make a distinction)
Oddly enough, all but one of the 'signatories' of this open letter are anonymous, and (near as I can tell) they don't even say how MANY people have "signed" -- just that "none of [them] were serving as chiefs or band councillors."
I'm perhaps confused. Maybe the signers names do appear at the end of the letter to Joly, but are not being made public (hence, anonymous)? An unusual way to put forward an open letter.
Very intersting find, thank you. I suspect the many anonymous signers might be due to a fear of backlash While it is good to see some people recoiling at Hamas' barbarism, I have to ownder if these are a nibority opinion.
“The dichotomy between being indigenous or not that has dominated international human rights discourse so far this century is an enabling conceptual foundation for morally justifying the genocidal terrorism of Hamas.” The absurd concept of indigenous essentialism, that it matters who was first to inhabit an area, is a cover for unequal treatment and a prescription for civil war. Whether Hamas was first or not (and Arabs are only conquerors from the 7th century), what Hamas did October 7 should be considered as hideous as any massacre in recent human history.
I haven’t yet seen the comparison made between the fake news of the Israeli hospital bombing as reported in the New York Times and the fake news of the Kamloops “graves” discovery (yes, as reported in the NYT). These are unrelated events, but the reporting is not. In both cases there was a rush to judgement- that judgement being that the settler colonizers were guilty before the evidence was even in. Great essay Michael
I checked a few public Facebook pages the other day to get a read on what the sentiments might be among indigenous influencers since Oct 7. One 40-ish guy, a ‘life skills educator’ in Saskatchewan, posted this (ahead of the big FSIN powwow held in Saskatoon this past weekend):
“If I was FSIN chief and had some sort of pull, I’d do a Palestinian honouring at the powwow. Inform the people – break down the political relatability of colonial imperialism – and have elders pray for peace – moment of silence for all the children in the Middle East . . .”
It goes on in this vein but gets kind of muddled, then continues,
“I think the younger generations are for this type of movement and understanding . . . But current trends among ‘elected leaders’ and communities indicate that most folks are not ready for that level of political solidarity . . .”
A commenter responds, “So true . . . It’s all so horrific and I will be going to the protest again this Sunday in Calgary. I stand with the Palistinian [sic] Peoples and my Jewish friends that are opposed to these war crimes. As far as our Peoples, education needs to happen.”
Her comment is also kind of muddled, but she makes reference to “over 1600 Babies killed so far” [sense unclear], and the starvation [of the Gazans] “may be triggering a genetic memory.”
Kanahus Freedom Manuel, on the other hand, merely reposted an ‘inspirational’ video from 2018 featuring solemn Tiny House Warriors wearing camo bandanas over their faces and trekking through the land. No commentary, so perhaps no connection, just a coincidental re-posting?
Thanks for the excerpts. My own informal monitoring of online comments shows more or less a lot of aboriginal support for Hamas/Palestinians (they don't make a distinction)
Fortunately there's this: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/first-reading-the-indigenous-rejection-of-massacres-as-decolonialization/ar-AA1iOQ3u?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=40e3429381294ddaaf91155d63d5e7a4&ei=12
Oddly enough, all but one of the 'signatories' of this open letter are anonymous, and (near as I can tell) they don't even say how MANY people have "signed" -- just that "none of [them] were serving as chiefs or band councillors."
I'm perhaps confused. Maybe the signers names do appear at the end of the letter to Joly, but are not being made public (hence, anonymous)? An unusual way to put forward an open letter.
Very intersting find, thank you. I suspect the many anonymous signers might be due to a fear of backlash While it is good to see some people recoiling at Hamas' barbarism, I have to ownder if these are a nibority opinion.
What a brilliant article!
“The dichotomy between being indigenous or not that has dominated international human rights discourse so far this century is an enabling conceptual foundation for morally justifying the genocidal terrorism of Hamas.” The absurd concept of indigenous essentialism, that it matters who was first to inhabit an area, is a cover for unequal treatment and a prescription for civil war. Whether Hamas was first or not (and Arabs are only conquerors from the 7th century), what Hamas did October 7 should be considered as hideous as any massacre in recent human history.
To define oneself or anyone else in terms of "race" with respect to rights, character, or morality is the foundational bedrock of "racism " .
Stratafying society with all its attendant virtues of prejudice, discrimination and hate.
Matthews may fancy herself to be an international criminal law lawyer, but she definitely has a bias: Heidi Matthews
@Heidi__Matthews
·
Oct 3
Pleased to share "Writing and Resisting Colonial Genocide" by myself,
@luanngg
& Joel Ong in
@SageGSP
, from our Colonial Genocide interdisciplinary project. Below, some photos I write about that aren't included in the print version.
Pretty hard for her to say Hamas is wrong and still sell books and seminar tickets on the topic of "resisting colonial genocide."
She seems to be trying to find a way to make genocide lawful.