“Critical Race Theory” Used by Right-wing to Censure Education and Discourse

By Abayomi Azikiwe 

Jun 25, 2021

Racist thought police seek through legislation and public comments to deny the actual history of the United States and the world.

An exchange between the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and several Republican Congressmen in Washington, D.C. on June 23, illustrates the level of hysteria prevalent among ruling circles as it relates to what can and cannot be taught within educational institutions including the military.

Gen. Milley was questioned about a “diversity training” program within the military which utilized reading materials that some members of Congress strongly object.

This questioning of Milley took place within the context of attempts by the Pentagon to supposedly uncover “extremists” within its ranks who are harboring racist right-wing views. Some members of Congress are even calling for a cutback in funding to the Pentagon claiming that conservatives are being targeted and accused of racism and neo-fascism.

The top U.S. military general said in response to the questioning, that: “I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist. What is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend? And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, our noncommissioned officers, of being ‘woke.'” (https://news.yahoo.com/gen-milley-critical-race-theory-white-rage-gaetz-hearing-195835890.html)

Of course, Gen. Milley is by no means a proponent of anti-racist education. The reasoning of the Pentagon is related to the need for some form of cohesion within the ranks of the various divisions of the military forces. Events in recent months, particularly the right-wing mob attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, could easily prefigure a split within the security apparatus of the U.S. Such divisions which undoubtedly exist between white soldiers and their counterparts from the oppressed communities, would hamper the operational capacity of the Pentagon to engage in combat internationally as well as domestically.

Among the ranks of those involved in the Capitol Hill attack on January 6 were veterans of the military. Milley also said before Congress: “I want to understand white rage, and I’m white. And I want to understand it.”

Earlier Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is an African American career military officer, was questioned on the same topic by conservative lawmakers. Austin disassociated the Pentagon and its training academies from what is being referred to as “critical race theory.”

Austin emphasized before Congress: “We do not teach critical race theory. We don’t embrace critical race theory and I think that’s a spurious conversation. We are focused on extremist behaviors, and not ideology.”

These discussions are taking place across the length and breath of the U.S. In several states, legislative bodies are debating and approving bills which ostensibly ban the teaching of “critical race theory.” In Oklahoma, the governor was asked to leave a state commission on the Tulsa Race Massacre of a century ago after he signed into law a bill which prohibits teaching about the realities of the U.S. being a racist society, born in the forced removal and genocide of Native Americans, and the centuries-long enslavement and national oppression of African Americans.

The U.S. military are the guardians of this racist, capitalist and imperialist system which has extended its tentacles around the globe. Their ability to function as a fighting force necessitates a common viewpoint about who their adversaries are and what needs to be done from an imperialist perspective.

This holds true for U.S. society as a whole in regard to the nature and character of the educational system. To demonize the study and analysis of the actual history and social development of the country can only foster more tensions between the races.

Defining “Critical Race Theory” and Its Origins

What is interesting in the discourse about “Critical Race Theory” is the inability of the right-wing critics to define what they are against. Judging from their public pronouncements and legislative actions, it becomes quite obvious that it does not matter what “Critical Race Theory” is and why it came about in the U.S.

As a field of academic study, the plight of African people in the U.S. and around the world has always been controversial as far as the ruling class is concerned. The fact that education itself was systematically denied to enslaved Africans is a strong indication of the politics of knowledge acquisition and production.

An entry in the online Encyclopedia Britannica describes this school of thought as: “[C}ritical race theory (CRT), [is an] intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of color. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory)

If this definition is accepted in part or in its entirety, then the dominant approach of most African world scholars since the 18th and 19th centuries would fall under this category. The early narratives written by enslaved Africans such as Frederick Douglass were sharp indictments against racist exploitation and its social consequences.

African American women writers and public figures such as Maria Stewart, Mary Ann Shadd, Francis Watkins Harper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Anna Julia Cooper, among others, during the 19th and 20th centuries, published books, newspapers, pamphlets and speeches which served to raise the consciousness of African people. A censorship regime in denial about institutional racism and national oppression, would not allow the works of these pioneers in Africana Studies and mass organizing to be read within the public school system.

During the 20th century, books by scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois, William Leo Hansberry and Drusilla Dunjee Houston laid the foundations for the African and Black Studies programs which emerged during and after the 1960s. Similarly, as in the 21st century, these scholars were subjected to political attacks by the ruling interests of the time period.

Du Bois, a Harvard graduate with a doctoral degree in History awarded in 1896, was never invited to teach or lecture at the private institution. After being labelled a troublemaker and later communist, his name and works were generally ignored within higher education.

Hansberry, also a Harvard graduate, was unable to acquire a Ph.D in African Studies in the 1920s and 1930s due to the fact that not one university in the U.S. had anyone that could supervise his dissertation. Efforts were made to have him removed from the same African Studies program he created at Howard University, the first in the U.S. Later in life, Hansberry’s contributions were recognized when a former student of his, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, invited him to establish an African Studies program at a leading institution in that West African state.

Houston worked as a journalist and publisher in Oklahoma and other states during the early 20th century. Her prodigious research on African history in the eastern region and West Asia remains a source of discussion today.

Education as an Arena of Struggle

Almost all of the Black, Latinx, Asian and Gender Studies programs at universities and colleges around the U.S. emerged as a result of mass demonstrations during the 1960s, 1970s and beyond. These programs and hiring of staff and faculty from African American and other oppressed communities were the products of political pressure exerted by student and community organizations.

African Americans in several former Confederate states created the framework for public education during the 1860s and 1870s. One source on the history of Georgia noted: “Before the Civil War (1861-65), Georgia had no system of public education. Its school tax assisted poor white children with tuition at private schools. In 1870 the state made its first effort to create public schools and found that, in the Black community at least, the rudiments of such a system were already in place. Reconstruction-era legislation required segregated schools and allowed discrimination in the distribution of school funds to white and Black schools.” (https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/freedmens-education-during-reconstruction)

Therefore, recent and long past events suggest that the attempts to outlaw the teaching of African American, Latinx, Asian, Native Indigenous and working class histories which are rooted in the experiences of these peoples, will prompt the continuation of the struggle against racism in all its forms.

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Thursday June 24, 2021

Commentary

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed by Press TV: Germany Withdraws its Troops from Afghanistan

Watch this worldwide television news interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, on the announcement by Germany that it has withdrawn all of its troops from Afghanistan.

To view the interview just click on the following URL: Germany completes troop withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly two decades | Urmedium 

Abayomi Azikiwe in the news segments emphasizes that the United States-NATO war in Afghanistan has been a abysmal failure over the last two decades.

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed on Press TV: Ethiopian Government Withdraws from Tigray Declaring Unilateral Ceasefire

Watch this worldwide television news interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, discussing the retaking of the Ethiopian Tigray regional capital of Mekelle by the TPLF.

To view this interview just click on the following link: Ethiopia govt. declares ceasefire as former local rulers retake Tigray | Urmedium 

The Ethiopian government appears to have dissolved the interim authority imposed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and withdrawn the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) troops out of the province. Abayomi Azikiwe emphasizes the external pressures being placed on Addis Ababa by the western imperialist states which has historically supported the TPLF for more than three decades. 

The interview originally aired live on Mon. June 28, 2021.

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview by Press TV: WHO Sounds Alarm over Vaccine Inequality 

To view this interview just click on the website below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTzK4Hw7w4Y

Watch this worldwide television news interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. Azikiwe discussed the recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on COVID-19 vaccine inequality related to Africa and other underdeveloped geo-political regions. The interview aired live on June 26, 2021.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. June 27, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. June 27, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following website: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/27 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the announcement by the government in Zimbabwe that it has secured another half million doses of the COVID-19 sinopharm vaccine from China; Ethiopia has completed an election amid attempts by western countries to interfere in the internal affairs of the Horn of Africa state; ministers from across Africa have met in Cameroon to discuss the need for affordable housing across the continent; and over 100 migrants have been captured off the coast of Tunisia. 

In the second and third hours we conclude our programming for Black Music Month with focuses on the life, times and contributions of John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. June 26, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. June 26, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following link: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/26 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our PANW report with dispatches on the surge in COVID-19 cases in several African states; Madagascar is facing potential famine due to the drought in the southern region of the country; several German soldiers were wounded in an attack in the West African state of Mali; and the collapse of a building in Florida illustrates the need for infrastructural repair in the United States. 

In the second hour we hear a briefing from the Director General of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. John Nkengasong, on the status of coronavirus cases and vaccinations across the continent. 

In the final hour we continue our Black Music Month commemorations with a focus on Cesaria Evora, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Quoted in Press TV Report: Study Says Big Drop in Life Expectancy for Blacks, Hispanics in US

Thursday, 24 June 2021 4:27 PM

Press TV 

A new study has found that a big drop in life expectancy, especially for Blacks, Hispanics, in the United States. 

The study published in the British Medical Journal finds that US life expectancy declined by the largest amount since World War II between 2018 and 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the United States.  

US life expectancy declined by 1.87 years between 2018 and 2020, from 78.74 years to 76.87 years, according to the study. 

The drop was disproportionately high among Black and Hispanic people in the US. Life expectancy declined by 3.88 years among Hispanic people, and 3.25 years among Black people, and only 1.36 years among White people. 

“The US had a much larger decrease in life expectancy between 2018 and 2020 than other high income nations, with pronounced losses among the Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black populations,” the authors write. 

Richard, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the results should be a wake-up call for Americans. 

“For decades, the US has been losing ground in life expectancy to other wealthy nations, and these findings show that the gap widened even more due to Covid-19,” he said in a statement. 

“The study further confirms that how long people live in the United States depends in large part on income, skin color, and geography,” added Besser, who is also a former acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We must use this moment to correct the mistakes of the past and create a fairer and more just future,” he added.

COVID-19 'disproportionately' killing African Americans, Latinos: Analyst

Summary: The COVID-19 is “disproportionately” killing African-Americans, and Latinos, an African American journalist says.

Racial factors in the United States are "disproportionately" causing more African Americans and Latin Americans to die from the COVID-19 outbreak compared to other groups living in the country, according to an African American journalist in Detroit.

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor at the Pan-African News Wire, told Press TV in an interview on Tuesday that Americans belonging to oppressed strata in US society, such as African-Americans and Latinos," have been suffering immensely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The analyst said institutionalized racism in the United States is a main factor plunging these groups into dire conditions. 

Kenneth Kaunda, 97, Played a Major Role in the African Liberation Struggle

By Abayomi Azikiwe 

Jun 24, 2021

Zambia’s co-founder and first president provided political and material support to many independence movements.

A leading light in the campaigns to overthrow white minority rule and to foster African unity, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, has died in Zambia at the age of 97.

Kaunda was born on April 28, 1924 in Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, an area then known as Northern Rhodesia and controlled by Britain.

This colony along with Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, were established by the capitalist colonizer Cecil Rhodes during the late decades of the 19th century. Rhodes created the British South African Company leading the economic and consequent political seizure of the land and resources of the indigenous African people.

After the land seizures by the settler-colonialists, Africans were forced to work in the mines and plantations of the British corporations. Africans revolted against the encroachment during a series of wars in 1896-1897. Eventually, through the force of superior armory, the British maintained control over Northern and Southern Rhodesia until the mid and late 20th century.

The young Kaunda was the eighth child of a minister father and school teacher mother. His father died while Kaunda was quite young leading to many hardships. Kaunda would continue his education becoming a teacher within the colonial educational system.

By 1949, at the age of 25, Kaunda had become involved in mass politics with the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress. He would later form other more militant organizations such as the Zambian African National Congress and eventually founding the United National Independent Party (UNIP), which played an essential role in the liberation struggle of the 1960s.

Kaunda was imprisoned by the British colonial authorities on several occasions in the 1950s and early 1960s. He would later come to dominate political life in the country under the leadership of UNIP. By 1964, the colony had gained independence and changed its name to Zambia.

Pioneering Stalwart of the Pan-African Movement of the Post World War II Era

Tributes to Kaunda have been articulated throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) as a whole.

The co-founder and longtime president of the mineral-rich nation formerly known as Northern Rhodesia under colonialism, emerged from the national oppressive conditions imposed by British imperialism beginning in the late 19th century. Kaunda at a very early age began to understand the character of institutional racism and state tyranny.

During his tenure as president of Zambia, the country hosted numerous national liberation movements from throughout Southern Africa and other regions. Despite his stated commitment to nonviolent social change during the efforts to win independence in the 1950s and early 1960s, after attaining power Kaunda provided a base for liberation movement organizations which advanced armed struggle as an important means to break the chains of European domination.

Radio Freedom, the Voice of the African National Congress (ANC), was broadcast from Lusaka, the capital of the country. Radio Freedom relayed information to people inside South Africa under apartheid bringing a message of resistance and organizational culture to the masses of people seeking to unleash their fury against the racist system of colonial exploitation and social degradation.

An article published by Al Jazeera based in Qatar, says of the Kaunda legacy that: “Leaders across Africa have paid tribute to Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, who died on Thursday at the age of 97, declaring several days of mourning in their respective countries.

While in power, Kaunda hosted many of the movements fighting for independence or Black equality in other countries around the continent, standing up to white minority rule in countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/18/africa-honours-zambias-kaunda-with-days-of-mourning)

The development policy of the UNIP was based upon the nationalization of key economic assets principally in the mining sector which were owned by foreign capital. Zambia under President Kaunda expanded access to primary and secondary education which had been denied in the colonial era.

At the time of independence in October 1964, very few Zambians had acquired secondary education and far less were able to attain post-secondary training. Consequently, in 1966, Kaunda founded the University of Zambia in Lusaka. The University contained numerous faculties along with a medical school. The country became a center for regional education throughout Southern Africa.

Zambia maintained close economic and political ties with the People’s Republic of China during the era of leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong. In addition, the UNIP government developed good relations with the Soviet Union and the Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia.

When threatened by the military power of the former South African Defense Forces (SADF) under the apartheid regime, Kaunda had requested to purchase sophisticated military equipment from the U.S. The request was denied, while soon after Kaunda was supplied with MIG-25 fighter aircraft from the USSR. The Humanism of the UNIP in Zambia resembled other efforts aimed at non-capitalist reconstruction in the post-colonial independence period.

Modern Ghana, founded by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the 1950s and 1960s, adopted policies aimed at industrialization and the mass education of the population. Nkrumaism, a term given to the thoughts, ideas and organizational work of the former prime minister and president of the First Republic, represented an attempt to apply socialist theory to the concrete conditions as they existed in Africa at the time.

Other post-independence African states such as Guinea-Conakry under President Ahmed Sekou Toure, Egypt (United Arab Republic) during the era of President Gamal Abdel Nassar, Tanzania as well, while former President Julius Nyerere was in power, among others, all advanced ideological and political policies designed to achieve genuine independence guided by internationalism in alliance with the struggle for world socialism.

The Significance of Kaunda and the Legacy of the Independence Struggle

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to Kaunda acknowledging publicly the Zambian leader’s role in the eradication of the racist apartheid system since 1994. Kaunda spoke at the funeral of former President Nelson Mandela in December 2013 conveying the importance of the alliance between the Frontline States and the liberation movements which clinched the defeat of white minority rule in Southern Africa.

Kaunda was a co-founder in 1980 along with the late President of Mozambique, Samora Machel, of the Southern African Development Coordinating Council (SADCC), the predecessor to SADC, founded in 1992. SADC convened a summit beginning on June 23 where tribute was paid to Kaunda.

An article appearing in the state-controlled Zimbabwe Herald on the visit of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to the SADC summit being held in the Mozambican capital of Maputo emphasizes: “The summit is taking place at a time when the region is mourning the death of Zambian founding father Kenneth Kaunda who died last week at the age of 97. Flags are flying at half mast at this summit in reverence to the late Pan Africanist.” (https://www.herald.co.zw/president-arrives-in-maputo-for-crunch-sadc-summit/)

President Kaunda was removed from office after the1991 election in Zambia. The UNIP government had been under pressure by global finance capital through the pressure exerted upon the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF and World Bank caused tremendous social dislocation during the early independence decades in Africa through the imposition of economic conditionalities which directly sought to remove nationalization policies, free public education and the growth in industrialization projects which sought to build economic independence from imperialism.

Kaunda eventually abandoned the one-party political system which guided the national development strategy based upon his theory of Humanism. After other political parties were allowed to contest national elections with the support of the western powers, UNIP fell from power.

Although the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) led by Frederick Chiluba won the 1991 elections saying their grouping would end corruption and inefficiencies, Chiluba and subsequent administrations over the last three decades have faced the same contradictions as UNIP under Kaunda. In fact, corruption increased within Zambia during the 1990s while the country lost its leading role in African and international political arenas.

The historical trajectory of the post-independence African states should be studied by the current generation of activists and political organizers. Any serious review of the period extending from the late 1940s through the 1990s will clearly conclude that Kaunda earned an important place within the struggle for African emancipation.

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday June 23, 2021

Historical Review

Malian Whirlwinds: AFRICOM and the Military Presidency

By Abayomi Azikiwe 

Jun 22, 2021

New leader was trained by the Pentagon and subsidized by France

In the aftermath of a second military coup within nine months in the West African state of Mali both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) are calling for a speedy return to civilian rule.

ECOWAS and the AU suspended the coup leaders from the regional organizations while France has threatened to reduce its military presence in Mali until the political situation is stabilized while suggesting that a more “internationalized” force is needed.

Mali has been a center of attention by the United States and its former colonial rulers in France for many years. The most prevalent notion about the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Paris’ Operation Barkhane in West Africa is that these foreign military forces are there to assist in the wars against Islamic rebels.

Yet long before the threat of armed groups in northern Mali, the U.S. was already making preparations to militarize the country. Concurrently, France has always sought to maintain a military involvement in its former colonies and other independent states for the purpose of protecting and expanding its economic interests in the region.

An attack on Operation Barkhane forces in central Mali on June 21 may give the imperialist power pause in regard to its downsizing of military troops. A car bomb explosion was reported in the Kaigourou neighborhood in the city of Gossi injuring several troops. Eyewitnesses say that there was a flurry of military helicopters racing towards the scene of the attack to evacuate wounded soldiers. (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210621-car-bomb-hits-france-s-barkhane-force-in-central-mali-several-soldiers-injured-france-24)

Such operations are attributed to the Islamist armed groups which are ostensibly fighting the central government in the capital of Bamako which is in the south of the vast country. Several days prior to this incident, France had reported the arrest of a rebel leader inside of Mali.

The group which the rebel leader was heading is known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS). This is one of several rebel organizations which have been battling the Malian government and its French military backers since 2013.

Mali is not the only state within the Sahel region which is facing similar security issues. An area which connects Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been a focal point for jihadist activity prompting the interventions of Operation Barkhane and AFRICOM.

These three states have resources which are important to the western industrial complex. Mali and Burkina Faso have gold and Niger is a major source for uranium. The basis for colonial intervention on the African continent beginning in the 15th century was to acquire slave labor, mineral resources, agricultural commodities, and new avenues for transnational commerce.

After the collapse of the Atlantic Slave Trade and classical colonialism during the 19th and later 20th centuries, the phenomenon of neo-colonialism came to the fore. This new form of economic and political domination can only be carried out if the African continent and other nationally oppressed regions remained under the domination of the global capitalist system.

The imperialist governments have consistently interfered in the internal affairs of the AU member-states to the extent that the national security of these nations remain elusive. Since 2012, France has admitted that 5,100 troops under their command have served in the tri-state territories of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso along with Mauritania and Chad. Yet these countries remain sources of instability throughout the West and Central African regions.

With specific reference to the present situation in Mali and other contiguous states, the news agency France24 says: “Dadi Ould Chouaib, also known as Abou Dardar, was arrested on June 11 in the flashpoint ‘tri-border’ region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the site of frequent attacks by jihadist groups, according to the French military…. The extremists, affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State militant group, have moved from the arid north to more populous central Mali since 2015 where their presence has stoked animosity and violence between ethnic groups in the area.”

Therefore, the ongoing role of Operation Barkhane and AFRICOM is not resolving the security issues in the Sahel region. Quite to the contrary, not only is the level of uncertainty escalating, the conflicts between various groupings within these states are worsening.

Malian Coup Leader Trained by the Pentagon

Of course, the situation in Mali and throughout the Sahel region in Africa illustrates the detrimental impact of imperialist militarism. Since the military coup led by Col. Assimi Goita even the Voice of America (VOA), a U.S. propaganda radio, television and print media outlet funded by the State Department, has openly admitted that this individual who has staged two coups in contravention of the protocols of the AU and ECOWAS was indeed trained by the Pentagon.

According to an article published on August 22, 2020 by the VOA, it notes that: “[T]he Pentagon acknowledged that Goita previously has participated in training with U.S. Africa Command and its special forces as part of multinational efforts to counter violent extremism in the region. But the Pentagon also condemned the mutiny, which it said runs counter to the training it has provided. ‘Colonel Goita and many other Malians have participated in Flintlock training exercises focused on countering violent extremist organizations, the rule of law in armed conflict, professionalism, and the primacy of civilian authority,’ Col. Christopher P. Karns, spokesperson for the U.S. Africa Command, said in an email to VOA. Flintlock is an annual special forces exercise organized by AFRICOM. ‘U.S. Africa Command has had a partnership and engaged with the Malian armed forces to confront violent extremism in the Sahel, a common interest and mutual concern.’” (https://www.voanews.com/africa/envoys-optimistic-after-meeting-mali-military-junta)

Although the Pentagon and the U.S. government as a whole are saying they disapproved of the military usurpation of power by Col. Goita, this is not the first instance of Pentagon-trained officers in Mali seizing power from an elected administration. In 2012 a similar situation developed when lower-ranking army officers took control of the government after an escalation in attacks by Tuareg and Islamist fighters in the north of the country.

The 2012-2013 recrudescence of military coups against civilian governments was linked to the failure of the administration of President Amadou Toumani Toure to quell the Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country. Another mid-level military officer, Amadou Sanogo, led a coup against the government in March of 2012.

Sanogo as well was given instructions in Pentagon-controlled military training facilities in the U.S. where he purportedly studied counter-terrorism tactics. Therefore, the link between counter-terrorism training, military coups against civilian governments and the continuing problems of insurgencies indicate that the existing policies towards Africa by the imperialist states can only result in more underdevelopment and political stagnation.

Whither Mali and the Sahel?

These are profound lessons for the post-colonial African administrations attempting to build their state structures and economies in a world system still controlled by international finance capital. In the U.S., the newly elected administration of President Joe Biden has yet to articulate a foreign policy towards Africa which distinguishes itself from the previous regimes of Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

In fact, it was the Obama administration which engineered the imperialist war against Libya resulting in the destabilization of North and West Africa. The dislocation from Libya has been cited in the resurfacing of the regional conflict in Mali only this time it involves the presence of Islamist rebel groups.

These same Islamist groupings were utilized in Libya as a means to justify the sanctions, blanket bombings and overthrow of the former government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Since 2011, the problems of displacement have intensified leading to the migration of tens of millions of people not only from Libya and neighboring states, notwithstanding the initiation of a war in Syria and Yemen, contributing to further instability and forced migration as refugees.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Mali under the political leadership of Modibo Keita, was a leading force in Pan-Africanism and non-capitalist development. Keita along with President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and President Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea-Conakry formed a coalition known as the Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union. They pledged to integrate the economies and political structures of their countries as a first step towards continental unification.

President Modibo Keita was overthrown by the military leader Moussa Traore in November 1968. Nkrumah was removed from office at the aegis of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in February 1966. President Toure of Guinea died in April 1984 in the U.S. while receiving medical treatment and his government headed by the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) was removed from office by lower-ranking military officers soon after his death.

All three countries: Ghana, Mali and Guinea-Conakry, have never been able to reclaim their vanguard role within the African Revolution since these respective time periods when they fell victim to imperialist intrigue and opportunism. Consequently, the role of the military in post-colonial Africa has largely been a reactionary one. These historical trends can only be reversed when the masses of workers, farmers and youth take control of the state structures to construct socialism and African unification.

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Monday June 21, 2021

Political Analysis

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. June 20, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. June 20, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

Listen to the podcast of this episode by going to the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/20 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our PANW report with dispatches on announcement by the Ethiopian government that land has been prepared for agricultural production in the restive Tigray region; a recently released article says that the African continent has not reached a 10 percent investment level in agriculture; Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has again spoken out on the need to democratize multi-lateral organizations; and the Angolan state is battling an upsurge in Malaria infections. 

In the second and third hours we continue our focus on Black Music Month with examinations of the contributions of Willie McTell and Rosetta Tharp.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. June 19, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. June 19, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following link: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/19 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the continental tributes being paid to former Zambian co-founder and President Kenneth Kaunda; Malawi is reporting that the country has depleted its supply of coronavirus vaccines; Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has made an appeal to maintain the national unity of the Horn of Africa state; Sudan and South Sudan are still discussing border demarcations some eight years after the partition. 

In the second hour we explore the life, times and contributions of the President Kenneth Kaunda. Finally, we continue our focus on Black Music Month with examinations of the works of Dinah Washington and Willie Mae Thornton. 

Africa Today Press TV Program Features Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Analyzing the Security and Political Situation in Chad After the Assassination of Idris Deby Itno

Watch "Africa Today" a worldwide television broadcast featuring Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, discussing the current political and security crisis in Chad.

To watch this program just click on the following website: Trouble in Chad (presstv.ir)  

The summary description for the program says: "Protests and demonstrations have continued to rock Chad following a military takeover after veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno died fighting rebels. 

"Many have taken to the streets of the capital N'djamena rejecting the installation of Mahamat Idriss Déby, the son of the late president, as the head of the transitional authority. 

"The masses want the military to step down in favor of a civilian leadership. This week we focus on the unfolding crisis in Chad where the governing military council is cracking down on angry protestors who are defying a ban to demonstrate against the junta that took power in violation of Chad's constitution. 

In the second part of the show we shall talk about the renewed push to return the famous Benin bronzes looted by Britain during its colonial rule in Nigeria. But why are Nigerians demanding the return of these sculptures? A Nigerian curator explains here."

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. June 13, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. June 13, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this program just go to the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/13 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the efforts by Egypt and Sudan to force an United Nations agreement with Ethiopia over the operations of the Grand Renaissance Dam Project (GERD); an Islamic Party in Algeria is claiming victory in the national parliamentary elections even though the government has not announced any definitive results; the Palestinian resistance movements have criticized United States Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for statements made regarding the character of the struggle for liberation; and there has been a reaction to the appointment of another Israeli prime minister less than a month after the declaration of a ceasefire in the latest round of military operations. 

In the second and third hours we continue our commemoration of Black Music Month with focuses on Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. 

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. June 12, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. June 12, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following link: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/12 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the criticism levelled against the G7 Summit in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in England where the leaders of the capitalist world pledged one billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines; the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, is reporting that coronavirus cases are overwhelming the hospital system in this Central African state; Nigerian police have dispersed demonstrators protesting the insecurity inside the country; and South African officials are analyzing the safety concerns related to the J&J vaccines imported to address the pandemic now in a third wave. 

In the second hour we will listen to the weekly briefing by the African Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Director General Dr. John Nkengasong. 

Finally, we continue our focus on Black Music Month with additional examinations of the contributions of Art Tatum and Phineas Newborn, Jr.

Minneapolis Erupts Again After Another African American is Killed by a Federal Task Force

By Abayomi Azikiwe 

Jun 10, 2021

Minneapolis authorities remove George Floyd Memorial

In Hawaii, a South African immigrant is also slain by local police in Honolulu.

Demonstrations have taken place in Minneapolis since June 3 when news quickly spread throughout the city saying yet another Black man was gunned down by law-enforcement.

On June 3-4 numerous businesses were damaged, and property taken, when crowds gathered during a police examination of the area where the shooting occurred. Nine people were arrested in the immediate hours after the killing.

Tensions had already escalated earlier on June 3 when the city removed a barrier erected around what has become known as “George Floyd Square”, marking where the horrendous police execution took place on May 25 of 2020. Residents in the area quickly set up other barriers preventing normal traffic at the thoroughfare around 38th and Chicago.

Initial reports in the corporate media from the Uptown section of the municipality indicated that the victim wanted on a murder warrant was shot to death by County sheriff deputies. Several hours after, however, it was revealed that the man was not wanted for murder and was killed by multi-jurisdictional squad operating within a fugitive task force attempting to serve a warrant. News reports were later corrected to indicate that the victim was not wanted for murder.

The Marshals claim that the victim, identified as Winston Boogie Smith, Jr., 32, a father of three, was being arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Even the local Minneapolis Star Tribune was forced to print a correction in regard to the circumstances surrounding the killing of Smith.

Witnesses in the vicinity said that they heard several gunshots in connection with the incident which occurred in a parking structure. The deputies involved in Smith’s death have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation by the federal agencies.

Federal law-enforcement agents claim that Smith was sitting in a parked car and purportedly failed to comply with commands by the officers. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under which the agents are assigned have said that Smith had produced a weapon prompting a fatal response.

Emergency medical personnel summoned to the incident later pronounced Smith dead at the scene. A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals were quoted in the Star Tribune saying that the warrant for Smith’s arrest was issued in the state of Minnesota.

There was a woman in the vehicle with Smith who was injured by flying glass. No information is available about the number of police agencies involved in the task force. Media reports say two officers fired their weapons at the vehicle occupied by Smith and the unidentified woman.

A friend of Smith, Shelly Hopkins, questioned the official narrative being promoted by the Marshals. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear while the federal law-enforcement agencies attempt to justify the death of Smith.

Hopkins was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “I wasn’t there. I don’t know exactly what happened. But I know him. And he didn’t deserve that… He had the best heart out of anybody I’ve ever met in my life.” (https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-business-death-of-daunte-wright-shootings 0c3907f72981ad591187d07a393e698d)

Another close friend of Smith, Waylon Hughes, told the Associated Press as well that she was not aware that the victim carried a firearm. Her assessment of Smith was that he cared very much about his children and friends.

The victim’s brother, Kidale Smith, questioned the law-enforcement version of events which resulted in Winston’s shooting death. Smith emphasized: “This man had a family, and he’s just like anybody else. (People) always try to pin something on a man and try to identify him as a criminal, especially if he’s Black. You’ve got seven unmarked cars and you shoot a man in his car. You don’t even give him a chance to get out… You’re the U.S. Marshals. You’re supposed to be highly trained men, and you can’t handle a simple situation?”

Smith’s family is demanding transparency in the investigation. Reports indicate that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the U.S. Marshals Service does not allow its agents and officers from other law-enforcement units assigned to its task forces to wear body cams.

Activists have been protesting everyday since the killing of Smith. At least two different organizations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Black Lives Matter in Minneapolis, are calling for the removal of the head of the U.S. Marshals Service in the state of Minnesota. Demonstrations are being held outside the home of Ramona Dohman, the director of the Marshals Service.

According to the Minnesota CAIR’s executive director Jaylani Hussein: “The system in this state is fundamentally flawed, and the federal oversight is also fundamentally flawed. We need transparency and accountability.” (https://news.yahoo.com/black-man-fatally-shot-deputies-171617616.html)

Black Lives Matter Minnesota co-founder Monique Cullars-Doty described the law-enforcement killing of Smith as “reckless.” She accused all agencies involved of being “completely reckless” and acting with “an intentional lack of transparency and an intentional lack of accountability.”

Since the police killing of Smith, the U.S. Assistant Attorney General in the region has ordered the usage of body cams for federal agents. Whether this will be implemented remains to be seen.

Black Man Killed by Hawaiian Police

Meanwhile earlier during the month of April in the U.S.-occupied state of Hawaii, another man was killed by the Honolulu police. Lindani Myeni, 29, was a South African immigrant married to a Caucasian woman whose family has lived in Hawaii for three generations.

Myeni and his wife, Lindsay, had moved to Hawaii from Denver with their two children in the hopes that the racism they experienced in Colorado would not be present in the Pacific islands state. The circumstances under which he was killed by police remain obscured due to the lack of information from the state authorities and the U.S. government.

Lindsay Myeni said that apparently Lindani had entered a home in Honolulu after taking off his shoes. He was wearing a traditional Zulu head covering representing his ethnicity from South Africa. His shooting death occurred after he had exited the home.

The South African government has repeatedly demanded information on the incident from local authorities and the U.S. State Department. South African diplomatic personnel in the U.S. have persistently sought an explanation for the killing of Myeni.

South African Minister for International Relations, Naledi Pandor, issued a statement on the position of the African National Congress (ANC) led government in regard to the police killing of one of its citizens. Pandor emphasized on behalf of her ministry that: “The department also conveyed to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria the concerns of the government about the lack of a comprehensive report on the circumstances that led to the death of Mr. Myeni and the utterances by the Mayor of Honolulu that the police had acted correctly. A request was made that the State Department should intervene to obtain a report as soon as possible and that the personal belongings of Mr. Myeni should be returned to the family. A follow-up request was later made to the U.S. Embassy for Mr. Myeni’s belongings, including his cellphone, to be returned to his family without further delay. As of 25 May 2021, the Consul-General in Los Angeles reported that the requested police report was still outstanding. The lawyers of Mrs. Myeni undertook to inform the Consul-General once there are new developments on the matter.” (https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/dirco-still-waiting-for-us-police-report-on-lindani-myeni-killing-says-naledi-pandor-5f375d26-43a4-4887-8840-9680d0a84f46)

Lindsay Myeni took her husband home for burial in Richards Bay located in KwaZulu-Natal Province and is currently living with her in-laws in South Africa. She has applied for permanent residency in South Africa and does not want to return to the U.S. in the immediate future.

Failure of the U.S. Congress to Pass the George Floyd Policing Act

These two incidents of police killings of men of African descent, one from the U.S. and another from the continent, illustrates the continuing crisis in police-community relations. A George Floyd Policing Act designed to institute reforms on a national level has still not been passed by the Senate.

The family of George Floyd visited the White House on May 25, the one-year anniversary of the brutal police execution, to push for the immediate adoption of the bill. The Act was passed by the House of Representatives along party lines in March due to a Democratic majority. It has yet to be voted on in the Senate which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Nonetheless, the police abuse, brutality and killings continue despite the mass demonstrations and rebellions which have taken place over the last year since the killing of Floyd. What is required is the total dismantling of the existing system of law-enforcement and criminal justice which has its origins in the forced removals of Indigenous people and the enslavement and national oppression of Africans and other communities of color in the U.S.

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday June 9, 2021

Commentary

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed: WHO Issues Alarm over "Vaccine Nationalism" by the Imperialist States

Watch this Press TV worldwide television news segment featuring Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressing the World Health Organization (WHO) statements about the inequality in the access and distributions of COVID-19 vaccines on a global scale.

To view the interview just click on the following URL: W.H.O head warns against unequal COVID-19 vaccine distribution | Urmedium 

Many states in Africa are far behind the United States and other western countries in regard to the percentage of their populations which have access to the vaccination program. 

Azikiwe notes that the pandemic cannot be eradicated without an international effort which the industrialized states must fully participate. The interview aired live on Mon. June 7, 2021.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. June 5, 2021, Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. June 5, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear this podcast just click on the website below: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 06/05 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the response by the Namibian government and traditional leaders in regard to the offer of Germany to pay $1.1 Billion euros for reparations during the colonial genocide of the early 20th century; South Africa is escalating its COVID-19 vaccination program amid another wave of infections; Nigeria has suspended twitter from operating inside Africa's most populous state after a dispute over a deleted message; and Zambia is temporarily halting campaigning for the upcoming national elections due to an escalation in coronavirus cases. 

In the second and third hours we begin our annual recognition of Black Music Month with focuses on Evelyn Preer and Adelaide Hall from the early decades of the 20th century. 

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed Over Sputnik Radio: Mali’s Coup Regime Meets Regional Resistance From African Union, ECOWAS

By Any Means Necessary

️🎧 Mali’s Coup Regime Meets Regional Resistance From African Union, ECOWAS - By Any Means Necessary - Podcast (podinstall.com)

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Pan-African News Wire editor Abayomi Azikiwe to discuss the stern rebuke by the African Union and ECOWAS to the recent coup d’etat in Mali, the role of the French and American imperialism in the ongoing political crisis, and why many of the recent moves by the French government seem designed to perpetuate long-standing colonial relations.

Ceasefire: Ethiopian PM Explains Why His Government Declared a Withdrawal  of Forces from Tigray

June 29, 2021

Ethiopian PM Abiy explained why ceasefire was needed. He said his government spent 100 billion birr in the Tigray region after the conflict started – which is more than tenfold of the regional budget from the Federal government

Borkena

Ethiopians have been perplexed for the past two days after the Ethiopian Defense Force withdrew of Mekelle and most parts of the Tigray region following what was described as an immediate and unilateral ceasefire . For many, it appeared as if it happened instantly and against the anticipation of Ethiopians. 

Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces reportedly entered Mekelle on Monday, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian Forces from the region. However, reports that cite government sources indicate that the key TPLF leaders have not yet entered the capital Mekelle as of Tuesday. 

There have been speculations about a backdoor negotiation between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the TPLF regarding what many believed was a sudden and unplanned withdrawal.

According to social media sources, PM Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday in the evening met with over 100 reporters in the capital Addis Ababa to talk about the election and the ceasefire in Tigray region of Ethiopia.

He is cited as saying that his government spent over 100 billion Ethiopian birr for humanitarian assistance in the Tigray region, and the spending is said to be ten times higher than the region’s total budget from the Federal government. 

However, he said, a good portion of the assistance was clandestinely delivered to what he called Junta ( he is referring to TPLF leaders and their forces) via residents in the region.  A family with two children claimed to have five or seven children to receive aid with a family size of seven and the Junta used to get aid that way, he added. 

Despite all that, he said, the international community did not want to recognize the humanitarian assistance that the Ethiopian government was making in the region. 

“The pressure on the Ethiopian Defense Force from domestically and the pressure from the international community triggered the question as to why the Ethiopian and to whom the sacrifice is paid,” Abiy Ahmed reportedly said. 

Furthermore, he said that the TPLF devised a strategy of protracted war to weaken Ethiopia and a change of strategy was needed in order not to die with a group that is dying. 

Several countries that were putting pressure on the Ethiopian government  see the unilateral decision on the part of Ethiopian government as the right move, and the prime minister said he has received phone calls from many leaders. 

Other international actors also see merit in the ceasefire. In a statement issued on June 29, The African Union chairperson,  Moussa Faki Mahamat, hailed the ‘ ‘humanitarian ceasefire’ in the Tigray region by the Federal Government of Ethiopia as a right step towards the resolution of the conflict.” 

There are, however, concerns for the safety of Ethiopians who are from different parts of the country. A report by VOA Amharic service on Wednesday said parents whose children are in different universities in the region are concerned as they could not get information about their situations. They are appealing to the TPLF forces, to the Ethiopian government and to the international community to help them reunite with their children. 

Meanwhile, the TPLF is claiming that Ethiopian government forces withdrew from the region after losing a series of battles. Spokesperson of TPLF, Getachew Reda, also told reporters that TPLF forces will continue the offensive in the direction of Eritrea with the aim to control Asmara and in the Amhara region too. 

TPLF supporters have been celebrating on social media what they call military triumph while throwing ethnic slurs against the rest of Ethiopians.

TPLF Rebels Reject Ethiopian Government Ceasefire, Vows to March to Eritrea

June 29, 2021

There are reports of wide spreading killings in the Mekelle region of Ethiopia after TPLF rebels took control of the city following the withdrawal of Ethiopian Defense Force  

Borkena 

An ethnic Tigray organization, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political force that ruled Ethiopia ruthlessly for nearly three decades until their domination in the central government ended after the then ruling coalition elected Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister in April 2018, rejected Ethiopia’s immediate “humanitarian ceasefire.” 

They entered Mekelle on Monday after the Ethiopian Defense Force, over which they claimed a decisive military victory, withdrew from it. 

“… Tigrayan forces categorically ruled out a truce, with a spokesman for the region’s ruling party saying their forces would not rest until the Ethiopian military and its allied forces had left the entire region,” reported CNN, media that has been giving extensive coverage to alleged rights abuse and famine in the region. 

Getachew Reda, spokesman for the TPLF, called the ceasefire a “joke”. “  He is quoted as saying,  “We are not party to and will not be part of such a joke.”

The spokesperson also said war against the Ethiopian forces was still underway about thirty kilometers away from the regional capital, Mekelle. 

Another report from the Associated Press said that the TPLF has the resolve  to take the war to Eritrea and outside Tigray to the rest of Ethiopia, including the capital Addis Ababa. 

“The fighters now retaking parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray region will pursue soldiers from neighboring Eritrea back into their country and chase Ethiopian forces to Addis Ababa ‘if that’s what it takes’ to weaken their military powers,” Getachew Reda is quoted as saying. 

Ethiopians are waiting for answers from PM Abiy Ahmed’s government as to why the government declared immediate unilateral ceasefire and withdrew troops from most parts of Tigray region of Ethiopia. 

TPLF claims Ethiopian government decision came after a crushing defeat, which the Ethiopian government dismisses as lies. 

In May 2021, the Ethiopian Parliament designated TPLF as a terrorist organization. It attacked northern command of the Ethiopian Defense Force on the night of November 4, 2020 – an incident that triggered the conflict as an immediate cause.

Ethiopian Army Never Attacks Civilian Targets: Ambassador Fistum

June 29, 2021

BY BILAL DERSO

ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United States Fistum Arega said that the Ethiopian Army never attacks civilian targets and it has given utmost care not to harm them whilst carrying out operations.

 In his interview with CNN International Becky Anderson, Ambassador Fistum stated that the government is working hard to review allegations of civilian casualties by last week’s airstrike targeted to remnants of the terrorist TPLF clique that have been engaged to destabilize Tigray State.

Some media’s report about the Ethiopian government committing crime against its own people and the death of civilians at Tigray market place by the airstrike is part of the intensified disinformation campaign perpetuated by some interest groups, he elaborated.

“To put the facts straight, first of all it is the TPLF extremists that started the attack in November and we are having a continuation of what transpired there. So, the government of Ethiopia has responded like any government in the world to stop the terrorists destabilizing our people. The recent attack is also the continuation of the government’s military response to TPLF’s aggression.”

Concerning the presence of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray, the Ambassador said that the terrorist faction had indeed  invited them by launching rocket attacks to Asmara and it did attack on the ground from inside Ethiopia; the Eritreans responded in self-defense.

“Now diplomatic discussion with Eritrea regarding their orderly and diplomatic withdrawal is going on.” Noting dissemination of false information is TPLF’s trademark experience, Fistum highlighted that the global community and corporate media should be aware of its lies about government’s blockage of passage to international humanitarian agencies.

The Ethiopian government ensured unfettered access to international aid agencies operating in Tigray and in some pockets, the TPLF terrorists are blocking aid movements. “The now defunct group is known for the disinformation and sometimes they are done through international media.”

About the two countries bilateral ties, the Ambassador stressed that Ethiopia is always committed to cementing the strategic relations and values the support it has gained so far.

The Ethiopian Herald June 29/2021

Ethiopian Government Announces Unilateral Humanitarian Ceasefire Following Tigray State’s Request

June 29, 2021 

BY STAFF REPORTER

ADDIS ABABA – The government declared a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire without any precondition in Tigray State until the end of this farming season, the Office of the Prime Minister said.

In a statement yesterday, the PMO indicated that all federal and regional civil and military entities are instructed as of yesterday to respect and enforce the ceasefire based on the details they obtain from the government. It also added that the government would be forced to ensure the rule of law if there are attempts to subvert this provisionaiming at taking any advantages.

Later on the same day, the news of Tigray State Interim Administration Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abrham Belay (PhD) request made for the federal government for a humanitarian ceasefire was released.

The request was made on account of facilitating conditions for the people to carryout agricultural activities, it was learnt.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.), the CEO submitted a proposal a week ago in which he believed would address the problem created by the TPLF.

The request for the humanitarian ceasefire was made following consultations the Administrationsaid hadundertaken with public representatives, members of zonal and bureau leadership, Tigrian people living in different places, Tigrian Scholars, investors and religious fathers.

The 10-point proposal stated that a ceasefire would facilitate conditions for farmers to focus on agricultural activities in the region while paving the way for some factions of the terrorist TPLF that has shown interest to resort to peaceful settlement of the problem. The TPLFremnants are now unable to undertake any major threat, according to the proposal.

The Ethiopian Herald June 29/2021

Nujaba Urges All Military Institutions to Support Resistance in Push to Restore Iraq’s Sovereignty

Tuesday, 29 June 2021 10:27 AM 

Press TV

Iraqis march with a banner showing (L to R) slain Hashd al-Sha’abi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, other martyrs and top Muslim Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a symbolic funerary parade organized by the resistance group in the capital Baghdad on June 29, 2021, in remembrance of those killed in a recent US raid against one of the Hashd's brigades. (Photo by AFP)

Iraq’s Harakat al-Nujaba movement, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, has called on all Iraqi institutions to throw their weight behind the resistance to restore the country’s sovereignty.

Nujaba Secretary General Sheikh Akram al-Ka’abi issued the call on Tuesday, one day after US warplanes targeted three locations belonging to Hashd al-Sha’abi in the border town of al-Qa’im in Iraq’s western Anbar Province.

The US strike killed four Iraqi fighters who were performing their dupties of preventing the infiltration of Daesh terrorists from Syria into Iraq.

Ka’abi “invited all the military institutions to support the resistance in restoring the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promised the evil occupiers that military resistance would have the final say on the battlefield and make Iraq proud.”

He also noted that the US targeting of the 14th Hashd al-Sha’abi Brigade “proved that the [current] foolish US government is following in the footsteps of the former ignorant administration.”

“The evil occupiers should know that martyrdom is our path and we have performed the ablution of martyrdom in our burial shrouds for the great battle,” Ka’abi said, stressing that the political strategy seeking the expulsion of US occupation forces has failed.

“Until the complete liberation of Iraq from your evil (presence), we will not retreat, we will not give up and we will respond twofold to any attack,” he warned the Americans.

The Nujaba chief further thanked the officials in charge of Iraqi checkpoints for facilitating the passage of the resistance fighters.

He also criticized the mercenaries who slander about pro-resistance individuals and institutions, saying, “Their prosecution will be near and heavy, and sooner or later they will be tried for their great crimes and treachery.”

The US claims staging airstrikes against targets allegedly belonging to Iraqi resistance groups along Iraq and Syria’s border.

Iraq’s presidency condemns US air raid

Meanwhile, the Iraqi News Agency quoted a spokesman for the presidency as saying that “the escalation is condemned and represents a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and national security and undermines the existing national efforts to achieve and strengthen security and stability.”

Through diplomatic efforts, Iraq strongly supports dialogue with various parties in order to ensure its security, stability, and full sovereignty and to ease tensions and crises in the region, the spokesman added in a statement.

“We condemn the US air attack that targeted a site ... on the Iraqi-Syrian border, which represents a blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” Prime Minister Kadhemi said.

US dropped 1,250kg bomb on Iraqi fighters

Ahmaf al-Maksumi, commander of the 14th Hashd al-Sha’abi Brigade, said the US targeted resistance fighters with a 1,250-kilogram bomb during the attack that involved several drones and a fighter jet, the Telegram channel of Iraq’s al-Maloumah news agency reported.

He also called on the United Nations and human rights organizations to condemn the crime, which Washington has itself confessed to.

In early 2003, the US invaded Iraq under the later debunked pretext that the regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

It withdrew soldiers from Iraq between 2007 and 2011, but redeployed them in 2014 along with other partners to allegedly counter the threat from the Daesh terrorist group.

On January 3, 2020, the US assassinated Iran’s legendary anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Hashd al-Sha'abi, in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.

Two days later, the Iraqi parliament unanimously approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.

Since then, however, Washington has been dragging its feet on the pullout and targeting anti-terror groups from time to time.

Haniyeh, Nasrallah Discuss Ways to Achieve ‘Final Victory’ against Israel

Tuesday, 29 June 2021 1:58 PM

Press TV 

Ismail Haniyeh (L), head of the Politburo of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, meets with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, June 29, 2021.

Top leaders of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements have exchanged views on the latest Palestinian military gains against Israel and ways to achieve “ultimate victory” against the occupying regime.

Accompanied by a delegation, Ismail Haniyeh, the visiting head of Hamas’ Politburo, met with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday for talks on “the latest developments related to the resistance [campaign] against the Israeli enemy in the region,” Lebanon’s al-Manar television network reported on its website.

During the meeting, the two sides held talks on the details of Operation Sword of al-Quds and its repercussions, Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office said in the statement.

The Palestinian resistance groups that are based in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip launched the operation on May 11, days after the Israeli regime turned a deaf ear to their earlier ultimatum and kept assaulting their compatriots and their sanctities in the occupied territories.

Palestinian resistance factions say they have launched ‘Operation Sword of al-Quds’ in retaliation for the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression against Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds.

Upwards of 4,000 rockets were fired towards the Israeli-occupied territories during the operation, killing 11 Israelis and causing millions of dollars in damage to the occupying regime’s various structures and facilities.

The rockets flew throughout the entire expanse of the territories, reaching as far as Tel Aviv, the holy occupied city of al-Quds, and even northern-lying cities such as Haifa and Nazareth, forcing the regime to desperately demand a ceasefire.

The Palestinian factions had so far fended off several wholesale Israeli wars, but the recent victory marked the most decisive one to ever be scored by them given its grand scale and manner of achievement.

Haniyeh and Nasrallah discussed ways of leveraging the victory through “utilizing all capabilities in a bid to reach the final and decisive victory,” the statement added.

The two sides also laid emphasis on the strength of their brotherly relations, which they said have an important role in the consistency of the regional resistance axis.

Haniyeh reached Beirut on Sunday at the head of a delegation. The official has so far sat down with several other notable Lebanese figures.

After meeting with President Michel Aoun, he said the two had talked about the political and field developments that concerned Palestine, and the strategic outcome of the Operation Sword of al-Quds.

Hamas says Operation al-Quds Sword was the best response to Israel

According to the Hamas’ official, the two underlined that resistance was the “strategic option” to be used towards Palestine’s liberation and also underscored the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland.

Lebanon is also technically at war with the Israeli regime given the regime’s 1967-present occupation of the country’s Shebaa Farms. The regime also launched two massive wars against the country in the 2000s, both of which were successfully confronted by Hezbollah.

Haniyeh also met with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab. During the meeting, the former said Hamas would continue its efforts to finalize reconciliation among various Palestinian factions, stressing the contribution of such reconciliation to victory against the occupying Israeli regime.

Syria Information Minister: We Face a Media Terrorism Led by Specific Countries

29 June، 2021

Damascus, SANA- Information Minister Imad Sarah stressed that Syria is facing the fiercest form of armed terrorism that is practiced by its enemies to destroy its infrastructure, such as the takfiri terrorism, the unfair siege, as well as the media terrorism which has been used as a platform to demonize everything in Syria and to turn it into a failed country.

In his speech at the opening of the activities of the 10th Meeting of the General Assembly of the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union (IRTVU) kicked off on Tuesday in the Iranian capital city of Tehran, under the slogan “Media Justice and Freedom of Expression,” via video conference technology, Sarah said that 40 Syrian journalists were martyred and more than 60 others were injured in their fight side by side with the Syrian Arab Army to preserve their country’s sovereignty and dignity.

He denounced that the West has applied in Syria and several Arab countries, what it called “the fourth generation war” or the ‘exhaustion and slow erosion war’ that aims at establishing widespread and gradual devastation and stirring up the society against the state and the government in addition to the acts of killing of children and women.

The Information Minister stressed that the wide popular rallying around President, Bashar al-Assad, in the last presidential elections, has managed to refute tall what the enemies have promoted against Syria in recent years.

Sarah reiterated that the hostile mass media, despite of that they still have large area of influence and possess several tools which they attempt to develop, but we look at the future and the work together to achieve the common goals based on the just issues, wishing the participants in the meeting a success.

The 10th Meeting of the General Assembly of the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union (IRTVU) kicked off on Tuesday in the Iranian capital city of Tehran, under the slogan “Media Justice and Freedom of Expression,” with the participation of Information Minister Imad Sarah via video conference technology, as well as representatives of member states, political experts and cultural officials.

This round is held via electronic means, in conjunction and partnership with a number of Arab and Islamic capitals and cities, namely Tehran, Baghdad, Beirut, Sanaa, Gaza, Kabul and Istanbul, in addition to a number of participants via the special electronic application from the rest of the world.

Hala Zain