Moment of silence to the whole lands, whole languages, whole cultures, whole peoples that did not survive the terror of European colonialism and bless all those who have and continue to survive it’s long standing impact and oppression all of the world.
Special shout out to Palestine which is being colonialised today, it’s people killed, driven into exile and demonised, it’s culture appropriated by it’s colonisers, it’s land stolen on a daily basis. All this is done in the name of an ideology developed at the height of the European colonial era.
European colonialisation still exists and is aided, abetted and appeased by the majority of European and North American countries.North American countries are colonies. The last residential school closed within my lifetime. Wet'suet'en and Standing Rock were just a few years ago and remain unceded. Attawapiskat’s water crisis is ongoing. The falsified history of Thanksgiving is celebrated annually. The Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Blackhawks. Indigenous people are the largest group per capita in the US prison system and are more likely to be affected by police violence than any other racial group in America.
I’ll leave it to others with greater expertise to speak of Australia and Aotearoa and Hawai'i.
Yiddishe solidarishkeyt mit de Palestina Falk. Palestine has endured the most brutal military genocide I’ve been aware of in my lifetime, and it started three quarters of a century ago. But let us not pretend it’s unprecedented, or separate from the colonial genocide which Israel’s allies have been engaged in since their founding, as part of their operational premise.
Colonial genocide and its whitewashing are alive and well throughout the noble West.
Also shoutout to West Papua, which is currently being colonized by Indonesia with American and Australian support. The Free Papua Organization is fighting against some of the most advanced technologies such as AI drones with captured guns and sometimes bows and arrows. They are facing genocide TODAY, but we dont hear about it as papuans dont possess as much social media access and Indonesia bans journalists ftom West Papua.
It’s not even relegated to the West, unfortunately.
The history of Taiwan is told in cycles of occupation and violence by both China and Japan, and its indigenous people are also a small, struggling minority from what I recall.
Imperialist violence is a global issue; no empire is innocent, and people are suffering and have been suffering for ages. Every imperial power is worthy of criticism.
That’s my take, anyway! :)