#bassells

[boomerbroadcaster]

Taking A Stroll Down Memory Lane - aka Yonge Street

The other day I took a literal stroll down memory lane—aka Toronto’s Yonge Street between College Street and Dundas. From 1965 until 1971 I lived downtown, first at Yonge and Gerrard in Willard Hall (a working girls’ residence run by The Women’s Christian Temperance Union) and after a couple of moves, to Alexander Street just north of Maple Leaf Gardens. Yorkville was a very different place and a…

[dontforgetukraine]

"I watched a film today at the Venice Film Festival titled "Russians at War." Since our film is in the same section as this one, I usually wouldn’t speak publicly about it. However, in this case, I cannot remain silent, because it’s not just about films and art, but about the lives of thousands of people who die in this war— a war that has instrumentalized propaganda as its weapon.

This film may mislead you into believing that it is an anti-war film, one that questions the current regime in Russia. However, what I witnessed is a prime example of pure Russian propaganda. Here’s why.

The filmmaker begins by expressing her surprise at the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In her film, she always uses the term “invasion” and never "full-scale invasion." She does not mention that Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014. These two events seem to not exist in the world of this film. The filmmaker also states that her country hasn’t participated in wars for many years and that she has only read about wars in books. Thus, the war in 2022 was a complete shock for her. It’s interesting how the filmmaker could overlook the fact that her country has been inherently involved in various wars and occupations for at least the last 30 years (1992-93 Transnistria, Abkhazian War, 1994-96 and 1999-2009 Chechen Wars, the 2008 war in Georgia, and the 2015-2022 invasion of Syria).

The filmmaker starts her narrative with a Ukrainian who now lives in Russia and fights on the Russian side. This is a very intriguing choice for the beginning of a story about Russians at war. Later, this character will claim that a CIVIL war began in Ukraine in 2014. He will also suggest that Ukrainians bombed the eastern parts of their own country (and this is why he moved to Russia). Another character will declare that Ukrainians are Nazis. We’ve heard these narratives before; they are (and apparently still are) widely and actively propagated by Russian media. One of those horns of propaganda is Russia Today channel, for which the director of "Russians at War" has previously made several documentary films.

Throughout the film, all characters express their confusion about their actions in Ukraine, stating they want the war to end and that most of them are fighting for money. In the final part of the film, the battalion is moved to Bakhmut, and most characters die in battle. We then see their comrades and relatives grieving at their graves. All of them repeat that they don’t understand why this war is happening and who needs it. In the end, the filmmaker concludes that these are poor, ordinary Russian people who are being manipulated into war by larger political games. I found this perspective amusing because the filmmaker—like putin and his regime—plays an interesting game with these people. They deny them the simple ability to possess dignity and to think and decide for themselves. To her, these people are merely powerless objects. If those engaged in a war that has lasted over 10 years were not powerless, it would imply that they, in the majority, actually support this war, wouldn’t it?

You will feel pity for the people depicted as dying in the film and for those we see crying for their loved ones. And you should—if you are a normal human being, you should feel pity, sadness, and emotion. However, it is also important to remember that these individuals joined the army that invaded an independent country, many of them willingly, as we learn from the film. You should also recall Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, and the civilians who were murdered there. Remember the thousands of children who were illegally transported from Ukraine to Russia. While I’m writing this and while you’re reading it, missiles are striking Ukrainian cities. The buttons are pushed by ordinary Russians. Are their crimes any less significant simply because they claim to be unaware of why they are involved in this war?

By the way, the director asks one of the characters if he thinks the Russian army commits any war crimes. He answers “no,” claiming he hasn’t witnessed any war crimes. Interestingly, the director echoes this in her interviews, stating she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front (https://www.reuters.com/.../russian-soldiers-given-their.../). We can only be happy for her that she was fortunate enough not to witness any war crimes. Unfortunately, thousands of Ukrainians have not been so lucky.

I could continue, but I believe it’s enough to understand that this film presents a very distorted picture of reality, spreading false narratives (calling the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea a civil war; suggesting that the Russian army does not commit any war crimes; presenting those who are part of the aggressors army as victims).

If you decide to watch it, I recommend following it with another documentary about Russian soldiers titled "Intercepted," directed by Oksana Karpovych. "Intercepted" also opens a door into the lives of ordinary Russians fighting in this war. You’ll be curious to explore it, as it will undoubtedly surprise you. You may also want to add "20 Days in Mariupol" to your viewing list, just to be able «to see through the fog of war," as the director of "Russians at War" so aptly put it."

—Darya Bassel, Ukrainian film producer of war documentary “Songs of Slow Burning Earth

[nando161mando]

Pro-Palestinian protesters are on the roof of UCLA’s Kerckhoff hall and renamed it Bassel Al-Araj Hall, in honor of a Palestinian activist/author who was killed by the IDF in 2017.

[edwordsmyth]

"Because outlaws are at the bottom of the social pyramid, their world is explicit. They are not fooled by authority’s tricks and lies, nor are they subject to its discourses, tools of mediation, and manufacturing of public opinion. The world in which they find themselves is one that is pristine in its reality, with all its hardships, miseries, poverty, and injustice. One thus finds that they hold justice in the highest regard and that they are the most contemptuous of its absence. It is important here to mention the enormous connection between any covert movement or revolution and the underground world which exists outside of the law. The law is a tool for normalization and hegemony at the hands of power, which reserves the right to interpret or revise said law. Therefore, revolutionary, covert movements exist on par with the outlaw “underworld.” Revolutionary movements have always relied on this underworld to acquire know-how, logistics, and arms, as well as tactics of maneuvering and methods of obtaining financing, in order to confront the enemy." -Bassel al-Araj

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

[lungsoengjuk]

Hafez x Bassel x Bashar

🦁x🦁x🦁

[oscarisaacss-wp]

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT — Satis Pascal from Facade in the 73rd Hunger Games.

“Remember this year? Oh, one of my favorite years and one of my favorite arenas. The use of the rubble, the ruined city, very exciting. A girl from district five — Satis Pascal, our beloved Capitol philanthropist — bludgeons the girl from twelve with a brick. A brick! And this moment here, this is a moment you never forget. The moment when a tribute becomes a victor.”

+ bonus:

[anti-imperialist-squad]

[wereworldsurvivor]

[pitchblacktea]

a good day!

[the-cricket-chirps]

Francis Bacon, Pope with Owls, circa 1958

Tirtzah Bassel, Portrait of Pope Innocent X after Diego Velázquez, 2022

[edwordsmyth]

"Historians differ on the number of massacres that occurred during the Nakba. Salman Abu Sitta mentions 34 documented massacres and suggests the true number is over 100, while Dr. Khalid al-Safi refers to 110 documented massacres according to the Zionist archives. Others cite around 50 massacres. It is clear that the discrepancy in the number of massacres is not about whether they occurred, but rather in what qualifies an event as a massacre, as there is no universally agreed-upon legal or academic definition, and these definitions vary from one legal source to another.

The most notorious Zionist massacres during the Nakba are al-‘Abbasiyya (al-Yahudiya) and al-Khisas; Sheikh Bureik and Balad al-Shaykh; Mansurat al-Khayt, al-Tira, Sa’sa’, al-Husayniyya, Deir Yassin, Qalunya, al-Lujjun, Nasir al-Din, and Tel Levinsky; Hawsha, Haifa, Rama, al-Khayriyya, and Ayn al-Zaytun; Beit al-Khuri, Arab Subeih, Khubbayza, Burayr, Abu Shushah, Beit Daras, Tantura, Jimzu, and the Dahmash Mosque Massacre in al-Lidd; and al-Muthallath, al-Dawayima, Aylabon, Salha, al-Bi’na, Deir Asad, Abu Zurayq, Majd al-Kurum, Umm al-Shawf, al-Sifsaf, and the Jiz Massacre."

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

Poor quality OC

[booksofdelight]

Read chapter three of Bassel Crime Detective Series!

[her-moth]

Bassel Al-Araj

[wereworldsurvivor]