campists

The Logic of “Solidarity for Me, But Not For You” in Xinjiang Denialism

Walaa Alqaisiya's paper in Middle East Critique, “Moving Beyond Imperialist Frameworks: The False Equivalence Between Palestine and Xinjiang”, proves a masterclass in a failure of solidarity. What is most distinctive about the paper is that the author is Palestinian, but rejects comparisons between Palestine and Xinjiang. Alqaisiya takes issue with such comparisons, as most famously ventured by Chinese dissident intellectual Wang Lixiong, who suggested in 2007 that Xinjiang would be treated by China much as the West Bank has been by Israel....

Campists React to Iran Protests With Usual Dehumanization of Non-Western Struggles

With the protests that have broken out in Iran, one has seen all-too-typical reactions from those often referred to as tankies or campists. With the emergence of protests against an autocratic, theocratic regime that has positioned itself in opposition to the US, tankies and campists have been quick to denounce the protests as a US-orchestrated “color revolution.” Indeed, if the Trump administration carries out airstrikes or some other form of military intervention directed at the Iranian government, it is to be anticipated that tankies and campists will lean into this narrative all the more. This occurs even as some estimates have more than ten thousand dead as a result of brutal crackdowns in Iran...