Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The End of a Cycle: From Yasser Arafat to Yahya Sinwar: A Few Words

Great thoughts. Permit me to add that George Washington and those who fought Britain for the American Independence were labelled as TERRORISTS by the UK imperial masters.

I think all that we need in this determination of the "heroes" and the "zeros" is the ability to label freedom fighters or forces of resistance as " TERRORISTS" so that the overwhelming powers won't have to answer for their crimes against humanity.

Interestingly, their media arms often shape our opinions in supporting most at times the war crimes.

The compromised media continues to label the Oct 7 attack by HAMAS as " just the beginning " of the Gaza holocaust. Does the word "occupation" matter in history any longer? The World media continues to address the war as between "Hamas" and the IDF. Could it be because tge Isrealis created HAMAS originally? Is this not a war between Palestine and Isreal for the establishment of the Palestinian State? 

Why is the World press gradually erasing Palestine out of the equation? Is this not a strategy to prevent Netanyahu and the gang from being tried for war crimes?

On Fri, 18 Oct 2024, 8:54 pm Gloria Emeagwali, <gloria.emeagwali@gmail.com> wrote:

Dr Oohay 

You have just raised an important 

point that historians constantly 

have to deal with, namely, the

definition of heroism. 

Who are the real heroes and 

who are the"zeros"? Was 

Alexander the Great, really great, 

or just another imperialist invader 

of Egypt  in 332BCE? What about Christopher Columbus of 1492?

An avaricious greedy 

Italian who triggered the genocide 

of millions, or a hero? What

about Umar Al-Mukhtar of 

Libya in the 1920s?He put up

a great fight against Italian

occupiers but died in a 

concentration camp. His

counterpart Abdille Hassan of

the Somali region, fought the 

British for more than two 

decades with vigor, skill and

 determination.

What about Lumumba, Amilcar 

Cabral (PAIGC),Steve Biko (BC),Robert 

Sobukwe of the PAC,Winnie 

Mandela, Ruth First, and the 

famous Nelson Mandela?They 

fought for the liberation of Africa from

colonial occupation and settler

colonialism. The colonizers and their

puppets condemned them, and

considered them to be villains,

not heroes. They fought against

 land theft and the criminality of

invading settler colonists,  and 

unapologetically fought battles

to bring about change. In the

process they won some battles 

and lost others. Are they heroes?

You raised a great point!

On Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 13:34 'Dr. Oohay' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Please identify the heroes in question in your "Our heroes" —WHOSE heroes?

Best wishes,

Oohay

On Friday, October 18, 2024, 11:58 AM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

The End of a Cycle: From Yasser Arafat to Yahya Sinwar 

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 

Yahya Sinwar is gone. Muhammad Deif is gone.Yasser Arafat is gone. Moshe Dayan is gone. Menachem Begin is gone. Golda Meir is gone. Anwar Sadat is gone. 

Our heroes are going. Many of them covered in the blood of others. 

All gone, in the struggle for that piece of land stamped with the aspirations of Abraham.

What next for Hamas, now that Deif and Sinwar have paid the ultimate price?

After the PLO came Fatah, after Fatah. Hamas.

Can Hamas continue the struggle for justice for the Palestinians?

Benjamin Netanyahu has secured his place in history as the man who fought back mercilessly against the Hamas/Hezbollah coalition, decapitating them, going a significant distance to cripple or destroy them, in the processes sending a deadly message to Iran.

Will the principle of force as the primary negotiating principle remain the primary pillar of Israel's survival in the Middle East?

I came to know of this awesome conflict through my father's TIME magazine and other texts, becoming acquainted with Israeli war hero Moshe Dayan, unmistakable in his eye patch, Israeli PM Menachem Begin, with his uniquely shaped head in advancing years, Israeli PM Golda Meir, looking like a military weapon in a woman's body, Palestinian liberation fighter Yasser Arafat and his distinguishing fedeyeh-Palestinian headband, elegant Anwar Sadat,, Egyptian President, caught unawares by his own soldiers marching past him in ceremonial procession.

Deif and Sinwar emerged after my father had departed to meet his Maker.

My own children have also grown up with the further unfolding of the story, as new actors emerge and depart the bloody stage.

Will their own children also grow up with the further unfolding of the narrative, now defined perhaps by those who survive the 2023-2024 Gaza nightmare, the descendants of those who inflicted it, the successors of those who executed the Oct 7 massacre in Israel and of those who have exacted an epic vengeance?

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfNM6t1CvYDm%3DvUE_D7dM54X%3D-VJQJm_su5dnCCiF0hc7Q%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1028006411.2957325.1729272125098%40mail.yahoo.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAMkN8aq9-hzeZYOTOFGLHfBt4ujSV1bSmxRxF4CH2qRU%2BY%2BvNw%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAHqryX1QXsxdFQV7E2Cd-8CmV8CGsdXe0ZC0r5-UnT_yJfv96Q%40mail.gmail.com.