Arabs | عرب

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/5764460

The organisers of the Western Sahara international film festival (FiSahara) have criticised Christopher Nolan for shooting part of his adaptation of the Odyssey in a Western Saharan city that has been under Moroccan occupation for 50 years, warning the move could serve to normalise decades of repression.

The British-American film-maker’s take on Homer’s epic, which stars Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o and Anne Hathaway, is due to be released on 17 July 2026.

According to the Hollywood studio Universal, which is backing the project, the film will be “a mythic action epic shot across the world” made “using brand new Imax film technology”.

But the decision to film in the Western Saharan coastal city of Dakhla has provoked fierce criticism from Sahrawi activists and those who were forced to live under occupation or to go into exile after Morocco annexed the country following the withdrawal of its former colonial power, Spain, in 1976.

The UN classifies Western Sahara as a “non-self-governing territory”. In a report last year, the UN secretary-general noted that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had not been granted access to the territory since 2015, adding that OHCHR “continued to receive allegations relating to human rights violations, including intimidation, surveillance and discrimination against Sahrawi individuals particularly when advocating for self-determination”.

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A UN conference in New York last week, attended by more than 100 countries and co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed to advance momentum for a two-state solution.

Numerous diplomatic sources told MEE the UK was pivotal in pushing for these demands to be included in the statement, as well as the inclusion of strong language condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

It was described as "both historic and unprecedented" by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

He hailed that for "the first time" Arab and Middle Eastern countries "condemn Hamas, condemn 7 October, call for its disarmament, call for its exclusion from any form of participation in the governance of Palestine, and clearly express their intention to maintain normalised relations with Israel in the future and to join Israel and the future state of Palestine in a regional organisation".

Sellouts.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/5755793

Four weeks after Israel signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain on 15 September 2020, Tel Aviv’s Higher Planning Council approved 4,948 new settler units in the occupied West Bank. No public fanfare.

No tanks rolled in – just signatures authorizing another layer of occupation. The first wave of expansion advanced quietly, legitimized by the language of “peace.”

This sequencing deliberately reflects the core logic of Zionist expansion: Normalize when the region submits, colonize when the world blinks.

Where possible, the occupation state's army conquers land directly. Where resistance or scrutiny makes that unfeasible, the occupation government builds a web of security pacts, trade routes, and intelligence partnerships that extend its reach without a single uniformed soldier. This dual formula, territorial conquest and hegemonic integration, has underpinned Israeli strategy since 1967, and today stretches unimpeded from the Jordan Valley to the Atlantic coast.

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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/5717213

After the Ansarallah-aligned Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) announced that it would resume attacks on merchant ships linked to companies operating with Israeli ports, tensions in the Red Sea and beyond have reignited, as Tel Aviv's ongoing genocide in Gaza fuels instability across West Asia.

As part of the fourth phase of the blockade, the Yemeni army sank two commercial vessels earlier this month, showcasing not only its enduring capabilities but also the failure of US-led strikes to curb its maritime campaign.

On 6 May, US President Donald Trump claimed, “The Houthis have declared they no longer want to fight. They simply don't want to fight anymore. And we will honor that. We will stop the bombings, and they have surrendered.”

Yemeni officials immediately dismissed the claim, reiterating that Sanaa had not negotiated with Washington nor agreed to halt operations in support of Gaza. The Sanaa government's naval campaign resumed soon after, with fresh attacks targeting Israeli-linked vessels – undermining Trump’s attempt to declare victory.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/33683334

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/5682391

As a Palestinian in Gaza, I can’t imagine a hopeful future, even if a ceasefire is announced soon. What lies ahead feels even more terrifying than what we’ve already endured, not only because of the vast destruction but because our genocide has become background noise to “peace talks.”

After 21 months of slaughter, in which more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed, Arab governments appear to still be moving toward normalizing relations with Israel. It is hard to believe that Israel is being rewarded after ruining our lives, instead of being held accountable.

This feels like a betrayal.

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