Liberal Losers

Liberal Losers

When the Right Win, We All Lose

by m seenarine
Xpyr Press. 2024. 307 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-7346514-3-0
Available on Amazon

Summary

Conservative ideology in the United States has undergone a significant evolution since the nation's founding, becoming a defining force on the political landscape for decades. Rooted in core principles such as limited government, private ownership, individual liberty, and free-market capitalism, conservatism has been shaped by influential movements and figures like Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and the rise of the Tea Party. Understanding this historical context is crucial to grasping the modern right-wing agenda.

In recent years, Republicans have made notable gains in areas such as economic policy, social issues, immigration, environmental regulation, foreign policy, and judicial appointments. While right-wing ideology emphasizes values like limited government, its implementation can pose significant risks.

Liberal politics have also been pivotal in shaping the nation's trajectory. Grounded in the belief that government can and should be a force for good, progressive initiatives aim to tackle systemic inequalities and build a more inclusive and equitable society. This book explores the dynamic between conservative politics and liberal critiques across various domains, including the economy, social equality, democratic institutions, women's rights and health, immigration, the environment, and more.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Benefits of Liberal Politics - page 1

Chapter 2: Dangers of Right-Wing Politics - page 8

Chapter 3: Republican Economic Agenda - page 13

Chapter 4: Influence of Corporate Power - page 28

Chapter 5: Influence of Corporate Media - page 43

Chapter 6: Inequality & Homelessness - page 58

Chapter 7: Labor & Workers' Rights - page 76

Chapter 8: Republican Health Care - page 88

Chapter 9: Women's Reproductive Health - page 105

Chapter 10: Right-Wing Social Agenda - page 116

Chapter 11: 'War on Woke' - page 128

Chapter 12: Eurocentric Christian Nationalism - page 145

Chapter 13: Immigration Agenda - page 162

Chapter 14: 'Race' Relations & Diversity - page 178

Chapter 15: Hate Speech & Civil Rights - page 193

Chapter 16: Gun Rights & Violence - page 208

Chapter 17: Republican Prison Reform - page 223

Chapter 18: Right-Wing Environmental Agenda - page 235

Chapter 19: Criticisms of Right's Eco Agenda - page 247

Chapter 20: Going Beyond Conservativism - page 261

Sources - page 266

📣 Listen to Liberal Losers Podcasts (11 episodes) on Youtube   

Liberal Losers Podcast - Introduction

TOC Detail

Chapter 1: Benefits of Liberal Politics

Introduction

Historical Roots of Liberal Politics

Liberal Politics & Economic Equality

Civil Rights & Social Justice

Healthcare as a Human Right

Education & Workforce Development

Environmental Sustainability

Conclusion

Chapter 2: Dangers of Right-Wing Politics

Introduction

Economy for the Wealthy

Increasing Social Inequality

Erosion of Democratic Institutions

Reducing Women's Rights & Health

Dehumanizing Immigrants

Deteriorating Environment

Conclusion

Chapter 3: Republican Economic Agenda

Introduction

Conservative Economics

Free Market Principles

Limited Government Intervention

Deregulation

Tax Cuts

Conservative Trade Policy

Liberal Criticisms of Free Market

Criticisms of Limited Government

Deteriorating Public Infrastructure

Liberal Criticisms of Deregulation

Liberal Criticisms of Tax Cuts

Tax Cuts & the Federal Deficit

Fiscal Responsibility

Criticisms of Conservative Trade Policy

Conclusion

Chapter 4: Influence of Corporate Power

Introduction

Conservative Views on Corporations

Interest Groups & Lobbying

Project 2025

Campaign Finance Freedom

Corporate Governance & Transparency

Liberal Criticisms of Corporate Lobbying

Corporate Tax & Profits

Corporate Bailouts

Criticisms of Campaign Finance Freedom

Criticisms of Citizens United (2010)

Supreme Court Corruption

Justice Clarence Thomas

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Influence of Corporate Media

Introduction

Media Consolidation

Impact of Media Consolidation

Conservative Mainstream Media

Right-Wing Talk Radio

Impact of Right-Wing Media

Media Defamation Lawsuits

Conclusion

Chapter 6: Inequality & Homelessness

Introduction

Conservative Views on Inequality

Welfare Reform & Work Requirements

Market-based Housing Policies

Support for Charitable Organizations

American Poverty

Undercounting the Poor

Racial Income Gap

Racial Wealth Gulf

Criticisms of Conservative Housing Policies

Racial Homeownership Disparity

California Housing Crisis

Florida Condo Crisis

Liberal Criticisms of Welfare Reform

Reduction of Federal Housing Assistance

Gentrification & Displacement

Homeless Crisis

Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024)

Causes of Homelessness

Liberal Criticisms of Charities

Conclusion

Chapter 7: Labor & Workers' Rights

Introduction

Free Market Principles

Personal Responsibility

Competitive Labor Markets

Labor Market Deregulation

Worker Freedom & Flexibility

Tax & Wage Policies

Education & Workforce Development

Racial Employment Gap

Liberal Criticisms of Personal Responsibility

Criticisms of Competitive Labor Markets

Criticisms of Labor Market Deregulation

Worker Flexibility vs. Job Security

Criticisms of Minimum Wage

Criticisms of Skills Training

Conclusion

Chapter 8: Republican Health Care

Introduction

Basis of Conservative Health Care

Repeal & Replace ACA

Attacks on Social Security & Medicare

Criticisms of Conservative Health Reform

American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017

Medicaid Reform

Declining Life Expectancy

Medical Debt Crisis

Impact of Medical Debt

Medical Tourism

Mental Health Crisis

Politicizing Mental Health

Drug Overdose Crisis

Addiction Treatment

Benefits of ACA

Proposals for Better Health

Conclusion

Chapter 9: Women's Reproductive Health

Introduction

Historical Context

Influence of Political Parties

Influence of Religious Organizations

Influence of Grassroots Movements

Broader Societal Attitudes

Conservative Gains Over Women

Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8)

Mississippi's 15-Week Abortion Ban

Ohio's Heartbeat Bill

Alabama's Human Life Protection Act

Impact on Women's Rights

Impact on Women's Health

Impact on Society

Pro-Choice Advocacy Groups

Liberal Legal Challenges

New York's Reproductive Health Act (RHA)

Intersectional Approaches

Conclusion

Chapter 10: Right-Wing Social Agenda

Introduction

Individual Responsibility

Limited Government Intervention

Traditional Family Values

Project 2025 Social Policies

Conservative Education Reforms

Religious Freedom & Conscience Protections

Criticisms of Traditional Family Values

Criticisms of Project 2025

Ignoring the Mental Health Crisis

Criticisms of Conservative Educational Reforms

Religious Freedom vs. Discrimination

Conclusion

Chapter 11: War on 'Woke'

Introduction

Cultural Wars

Foundations of 'War on Woke'

Key Areas of 'War on Woke'

Right’s Boycott of Corporate America

Opposition to ESG or ‘Woke Capitalism’

Influence of Oil Lobby

'Stop WOKE Act' (2022)

'Don't Say Gay' Bill (2022)

Public Education Battles

Book Bans

Cultural Backlash

Identity Politics

Criticisms of 'War on Woke'

Criticisms of Conservative Curriculum

Criticisms of Book Bans

Conclusion

Chapter 12: Eurocentric Christian Nationalism

Introduction

Historical Roots

Exceptionalism & Biblical Literalism

European Supremacism

Immigration & Project 2025

Influence of Christian Nationalists

Social Implications

Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally (2017)

Capitol Riot (January 6, 2021)

Global Far-Right

Neo-Nazi Network

Criticisms of Christian Nationalism

Separation of Church & State

Christian Megachurches

Criticisms of Megachurches

Conclusion

Chapter 13: Immigration Agenda

Introduction

Border Security and Enforcement

Merit-Based Immigration

Legal Immigration Reform

Enforcement of Immigration Laws

Border Wall Construction

Travel Bans & Visa Restrictions

Ending DACA & TPS Programs

Expanding Public Charge Rule

Criticisms of Merit-Based Immigration

Benefits of Immigration

Economic Impact of Losing Immigrants

Liberal Criticisms of ‘The Wall’

Immigration Humanitarian Concerns

Cultural & Social Integration

Legal & Constitutional Issues

Conclusion

Chapter 14: 'Race' Relations & Diversity

Introduction

Individual Responsibility

Equal Opportunity

Equal Protection

Meritocracy

Colorblind Agenda

Blaming Cultural Factors

Reverse Discrimination

Ending Affirmative Action

Ending DEI

Voter ID Laws

Opportunity Zones

Empowerment Initiatives

Liberal Criticisms of Meritocracy

Criticisms of Colorblind Agenda

Criticisms of Cultural Determinism

Inclusive Meritocracy

Benefits of DEI

Benefits of Affirmative Action

Racist Voter ID Laws

Conclusion

Chapter 15: Hate Speech & Civil Rights

Introduction

Free Speech Absolutism

Individual Liberties

Defending Free Speech

Civil Discourse

Equal Protection Laws

Individual Rights vs. Group Equity

Principles of Group Equity

Challenges to Group Equity

Free Speech & Social Responsibility

Free Speech vs. Harmful Speech

Illusion of Free Speech

Musk & Hate Speech

Influence of Musk’s X

Liberal Criticisms of Absolutism

Effects of Hate Speech

Hate Crime Crisis

Racist Mass Shootings

Addressing Hate Crimes

Protecting Civil Rights

Enforcement of Civil Rights

Conclusion

Chapter 16: Gun Rights & Violence

Introduction

2nd Amendment

Individual Freedoms & Self-Defense

Cultural Significance of Guns

Opposing Gun Control

Supporting Legal Challenges

Expanding Gun Rights

Promoting Firearm Safety

Linking Crime to Mental Health

Gun Violence Crisis

Mass Shooting Crisis

Mass Killings: 2019-2023

Liberal Criticisms of Gun Rights

Public Safety vs. Individual Rights

Impact of Expanded Gun Rights

Gun Culture & Masculinity

Mental Health & Violence

Regulating Firearms

Conclusion

Chapter 17: Republican Prison Reform

Introduction

Criminal Justice Reform

First Step Act (2018)

Privatization of Prisons

Rehabilitation Programs

Incarceration Crisis

Criticisms of Conservative Reforms

Racist Justice System

Police Brutality Crisis

Victims of Police Brutality

Ending Police Brutality

Reforms & Racial Disparities

Mental Health & Crime

Improving Reforms

Conclusion

Chapter 18: Right-Wing Environmental Agenda

Introduction

Historical Context

Key Figures & Their Influence

Energy Independence & Security

Market-Based Solutions

Cap-and-Trade Systems

Carbon Tax

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)

Private Land Conservation

Project 2025’s Eco Agenda

Influence of Conservative Media

Denying Climate Change

Withdrawing From Paris Agreement

Repealing Clean Power Plan

Expanding On & Offshore Drilling

Relaxing Vehicle Emissions

Conclusion

Chapter 19: Criticisms of Right’s Eco Agenda

Introduction

Economic vs. Environmental Interests

Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry

Implementation Challenges

Environmental Impacts

Long-Term Economic Costs

Global Leadership

Equity and Social Considerations

Environmental Justice

Liberal Environmental Programs

Alternative Energy

Benefits of Liberal Policies

Benefits of Sustainable Practices

Land Conservation

Grassroots Movements

Conclusion

Chapter 20: Conclusion

Introduction

Conservative Themes

Limitations of Conservative Policies

Liberal Critiques & Implications

Promoting Equity & Inclusion

Evidence Supporting Liberal Approaches

Conclusion

Sista Resister

Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists
Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism

by m seenarine

Xpyr Press 2023. 327 pages

Available on Amazon

This book presents 50 biographies of radical women of color activists from over 25 countries and territories. 

The book, Sista Resister: Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism, introduce the biographies of women from over 25 countries and territories. This eclectic collection of biographies of female activists show that 'Third World' females are active on a wide range of issues, from women's and children's health, to housing and labor rights, the environment and climate change. The book is divided into two sections. Part I, on current sista resisters, chronicles the lives of 30 contemporary female activists, from Mexico to the Philippines. The 20 life stories in Part II, on foresisters of resistance, establish that women in the Global South were some of the earliest feminist thinkers and writers in the world. Each life story refutes the common misrepresentation of Indigenous, African, Asian, Latina, Muslim, Dalit and other females as docile creatures in need of Western rescue.

Contrary to their depiction in mainstream media as passive and docile, women in the 'Third World' were some of the first women's rightist activists. For instance, Fang Weiyi (1585 to 1668) and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648 to 1695) wrote about women's rights a century before Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 to 1797), whose essay, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” (1792), is widely regarded as one of the first feminist text. And, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's (1880 to 1932) feminist science fiction novella, Sultana's Dream (1905), was written a decade before Charlotte Perkins Gilman's popular feminist utopian novel, Herland (1915). One of the main goals of this book is to amplify the voices of high-melanin female activists, and examples of their work are included in each portrait.

Table of Contents

Defining Terms and Intentions	ix
Glossary	x
Acknowledgments	xv
Preface	1
Introduction	9
PART I - CONTEMPORARY RESISTERS
1. Rebecca Lolosoli (Kenya)	47
2. Audra Simpson (Mohawk/Canada)	50
3. Marielle Franco (Rio, Brazil)	53
4. Sarah Deer (Muscogee/US)	58
5. Lydia Cacho (Mexico)	63
6. Yue Xin (Beijing, China)	68
7. Ece Temelkuran (Turkey)	72
8. Moya Bailey (Georgia, US)	77
9. Asmaa Mahfouz (Egypt)	81
10. Alma Caballero (Mexico)	86
11. Nadia Murad (Iraq)	89
12. Leymah Gbowee (Liberia)	93
13. Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe/US)	97
14. Malalai Joya (Afghanistan)	100
15. Risa Hontiveros (Philippines)	106
16. Wu Qing (Beijing, China)	109
17. Randa Jarrar (Chicago, US)	112
18. Tawakkol Karman (Yemen)	116
19. Norma Vázquez (Mexico)	120
20. LaDonna Brave Bull (Sioux/US)	124
21. Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala)	128
22. Haneen Zoabi (Nazareth, Israel)	132
23. Carmen Cruz (Puerto Rico)	136
24. Phoolan Devi (India)	140
25. Alice Walker (Georgia, US)	145
26. Wangari Maathai (Kenya)	151
27. Haunani-Kay Trask (Hawaiʻi/US)	155
28. Loujain AlHathloul (Saudia Arabia)	161
29. Berta Cáceres (Honduras)	165
30. Assata Shakur (US/Cuba)	169
PART II - FORESISTAS of RESISTANCE
31. Queen Nzinga (Angola)	178
32. Fang Weiyi (China)	182
33. Sor Juana (Mexico)	185
34. Queen Aliquippa (Seneca/US)	190
35. Sojourner Truth (NY, US)	194
36. Bamewawagezhikaquay (Ojibwe/US)	202
37. Savitribai Phule (South Asia)	207
38. Forten Women (PA, US)	212
39. Harriet Tubman (MD, US)	219
40. Dolores Jiménez (Mexico)	228
41. Rokeya Hossain (South Asia)	233
42. Raden Adjeng Kartini (Indonesia)	238
43. Ida Bell Wells (MS, US)	243
44. Bibi Khānom Astarābādi (Iran)	251
45. Hiratsuka Raichō (Japan)	255
46. Lucy Parsons (TX, US)	260
47. Mirair Ngirmang (Palau)	266
48. María Rivera (Peru)	270
49. Yuri Kochiyama (CA, US)	274
50. Lolita Lebrón (Puerto Rico)	281
ADDENDUM
Abolition & Women's Rights (US)	289
Endnotes	297

Haunani-Kay Trask

 

(Excerpt from Sista Resister: Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism by m seenarine. Xpyr Press.)

“Politics - the blind are showing movies/in the plaza/so the deaf are gathering/in the plaza/so the mute can debate/in the plaza/the fate/of one beloved nation.”

            - Merlinda Bobis (born 1959) is a Philippine-Australian writer & academic.

Chapter 27. Haunani-Kay Trask (Hawaiʻi/US)

Introduction: Gynocentrism and Gift Economy

Among the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, corn was the staple crop, and the Green Corn Dance was celebrated from North to South America. This important dance varies by group, but the core is a commemoration of the gift of corn by an ancestral corn Goddess. This sacred gift was reciprocated among the people of many nations. In matrilineal cultures, corn was stored in large granaries and distributed equitably by the clan mothers, the oldest women from every extended family. Since Indigenous communities placed an emphasis on sharing and equity, inequality and stratification were far less of a problem than in Europe.

Gynocentric theorists link many forms of social oppression to male domination and the exchange economy. These feminists suggest that only by dismantling male rule and phallic supremacy will many of the social problems that plague our modern world be mitigated. In her fictional account of a mother-centered culture, “The World of the Gift Economy,” feminist scholar Genevieve Vaughan describes the characteristics of the maternal gift economy as "Giving rather than exchange in the way we transmit our goods." The female-centered system is based on unilateral giving, like the mothering of little children, who cannot give back an equivalent in exchange for what they receive from caregivers.

Gynocentric and matriarchal cultures focus on meeting the needs of its members, which establishes bonds of mutuality and trust between givers and receivers. For example, Vaughan writes, "Hums like to guess each other's needs, so it is not unusual if I need a new pair of shoes to find them on my doorstep without my even asking anyone." The relational economy helps the future society the author describes in “The World of the Gift Economy,” to overcome competition and violence so prevalent in male-dominated societies in each corner of the globe. She writes, "The elimination of Patriarchy and exchange everywhere has defused the emphasis on categorization and belonging to superior categories that was part of racism, classism and sexism."

Despite centuries of patriarchal colonization, it is remarkable that some gynocentric traditions remain, even in the colonized US, and other parts of Turtle Island. Many Indigenous survivors understand and write about the importance of maintaining female-centered ways of knowing and being, like gift-giving. First Nations female scholars also document the intersection of colonization, dispossession and racism on Turtle Island, and feminist, cultural, environmental and social justice activists could learn much from these women. A shining example of Indigenous female leadership is Haunani-Kay Trask of Hawaiʻi.

Haunani-Kay's Biography

Haunani-Kay Trask (born October 3rd 1949) is a Hawaiian nationalist, educator, political scientist and writer whose genealogy connects her to the Piʻilani line on her maternal side and the Kahakumakaliua line on her paternal side. The Hawaiian native grew up on the island of Oʻahu and continues to reside there. Known as "The Gathering Place", Oʻahu is the third-largest Hawaiian Island. The island has around one million people, about two-thirds of the state's population.

Haunani-Kay earned a BA, MA and PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She graduated in 1981, and her dissertation was published as Eros and Power: The Promise of Feminist Theory (1986). Trask is professor emeritus of the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and has represented Native Hawaiians at the UN and other global forums. Sista Trask is the author of two poetry books, Light in the Crevice Never Seen (1994) and Night Is a Sharkskin Drum (2002). And in addition to her thesis, Dr. Trask published the nonfiction, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii (1993).

Professor Trask co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary, Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation (2011). The scholar-activist also created an educational video on the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement, Haunani-Kay Trask: We Are Not Happy Natives (2002). In March 2017, Hawaiʻi Magazine recognized the Oʻahu native as one of the most influential women in Hawaiian history.

As an Indigenous feminist, Haunani-Kay opposes tourism to Hawaiʻi, as well as US military's presence on the islands. In a 2014 interview, the Oʻahu native explained how she got involved with anti-military activism in the Pacific,

I got involved with Kahoʻolawe and the whole archipelagic idea of bombing ranges when I came back from college [in the mid-1970s from the University of Wisconsin Madison]. My mother, who was very straight, said you better come home, these people are going out there [to Kaho‘olawe] and getting arrested, and some of them are dying. It sounds like something you’d like. So that’s how I got into it. I did come home, and I didn’t write my dissertation for two years because I was so engaged in this process.

More recently the professor has spoken against the Akaka Bill to establish a process for Native Hawaiians to gain federal recognition similar to the recognition that some Native American tribes currently possess. Advocates of Hawaiian sovereignty oppose the bill since it disregards the 1993 Public Law (103-150) in which the US Congress apologized "for the overthrow and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination." Professor Trask exposes the Eurocentric settler bias and violence present in her native islands, writing,

The color of violence, then, is the color of white over black, white over brown, white over red, white over yellow. It is the violence of north over south, of continents over archipelagos, of settlers over natives and slaves.

The Hawaiian studies scholar explains further that melaninized subjugation in the island chain is inter-linked with other layers of oppression,

Shaping this color scheme are the labyrinths of class and gender, of geography and industry, of metropoles and peripheries, of sexual definitions and confinements. There is not just one binary opposition, but many oppositions.

Melaninized persecution is one form of patriarchal dualism among many. Intersectional oppression in Hawaiʻi is complicated and requires complex analysis and multi-disciplinary approaches. The political scientist describes different levels of violence inherent in the occupation of Indigenous lands by the most powerful nation in the Anglo-sphere,

Within colonialism, such as that now practiced in my own country of Hawai'i, violence against women of color, especially our Native women, is the economic and cultural violence of tourism and of militarism. It is the violence of our imprisonments: reservations, incarcerations, diasporas. It is the violence of military bases, of the largest porting of nuclear submarines in the world, of the inundation of our exquisite islands by eager settlers and tourists from the American and Asian continents.

Predatory capitalism is part of colonialism and racism, and this gets translated into the society, language and institutions of Eurocentric rule on Turtle Island. The Hawaiian nationalist describes this process with regards to culture,

Colonialism began with conquest and is today maintained by a settler administration created out of the doctrine of cultural hierarchy. It is a hierarchy in which Euro-Americans and whiteness dominate non-Euro-Americans and darkness.

Professor Trask contends that in a colonial country, there must be dominance and subordination, and low-melanin hegemony delineates this hierarchy in the US. Thus, the Indigenous political scientist argues,

white people are the dominant group, Christianity is the dominant religion, capitalism is the dominant economy, and militarism is the dominant form of diplomacy and the underlying force of international relations. Violence is thus normal, and race prejudice, like race violence, is as American as apple pie.

People of European descent are an elite minority in the islands. Low-melanin people comprise about 25 percent of the ethnically diverse state's 1.3 million residents, while those who identify as Native Hawaiian account for around 20 percent. Most residents are of mixed 'race,' so multi-racial people are the majority. The female Indigenous scholar explains how structural racism works in the US,

In a racist society, there is no need to justify white racist behavior. The naturalness of segregation and hierarchy is the naturalness of hearing English on the street, or seeing a McDonalds on every other corner, or assuming the U.S. dollar and United Airlines will enable a vacation in Hawai'i, my native country. Indeed, the natural, everyday presence of the "way things are" explains the strength and resilience of racism. Racism envelops us, intoxicating our thoughts, permeating our brains and skins, determining the shape of our growth and the longevity of our lives.

As an activist poet, Professor Trask employs the “art as an anvil” method in her writing style. Recognizing that Indigenous Hawaiians have been relegated to the margins of their society, the First Nations poet utilizes her words as weapons against the colonizing oppressors. An example of the art as anvil approach can be seen in the poem, "Racist White Woman," featured in her 1994 book, Light in the Crevice Never Seen:

Racist White Woman

I could kick

Your face, puncture

Both eyes.

You deserve this kind

Of violence

No more vicious

Tongues, obscene

Lies.

Just a knife

Slitting your tight

Little heart.

For all my people

Under your feet

For all those years

Lived smug and wealthy

Off our land

Parasite arrogant

A fist

In your painted

Mouth, thick

With money

And piety.

Haneen Zoabi

(Excerpt from Sista Resister: Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism by m seenarine. Xpyr Press.)

Introduction: Zionism and Feminism

The overwhelming majority of people affected by divisive patriarchal ideologies such as racism, casteism, Zionism and Islamophobia are women and children. The survivors of thousands of years of misogynist authority and religion are also mostly women and children. Jews in the apartheid state of Israel consider themselves an integral part of the Anglo-sphere, and for over seven decades, Zionists have practiced some of the worse forms of Eurocentric oppression in the world against Indigenous Palestinians.

The 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine advocated for independent Arab and Jewish states, and a neutral Jerusalem. The UN Plan was rejected by Arab leaders, but the 1948 Arab–Jewish War led to the establishment of Israel over the former British territory. As tens of thousands of Eastern European Jews, Persian Jews, and other Jewish communities from across the globe migrated to colonize Palestine, they displaced millions of Indigenous Arabs, Christians, Druze and other local populations.

The West Bank and Gaza remained under Arab control, but the colonization continues with Zionist military occupation, illegal Jewish settlements, walled-in Palestinian ghettos, and the killings and imprisonment of Palestinians. As of 2013, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has condemned Israel in 45 resolutions. And, the UN General Assembly has adopted numerous resolutions saying that the strategic relationship between Israel and the USA encourages Israel to pursue aggressive and expansionist policies and practices.

Amira Hass, a Jewish female journalist argues, Israeli feminism has a dangerous mutation, namely the demand for an increasing number of women to assume “combat” roles. 

We do not know whether some day they will have to defend the homeland from a foreign army. Meanwhile, they – like the male soldiers – are maintaining the military occupation and defending its trophies: the outposts and the settlements, all of them illegal. The female soldiers, like the men, whether or not they are combat soldiers, are sent to defend the observance of the Jewish mitzvah to abuse, to rob, to expel.(156)

Yet, patriarchal hegemony, including Jewish variants, is never complete, and the feminist agency of Palestinian women like Haneen Zoabi is a model of resistance for struggles in the Global South.

Haneen's Biography

Haneen Zoabi (born May 23rd 1969) is a Palestinian educator, activist and politician. In 2009, Zoabi became the first woman elected from an Arab party to the Israeli Knesset, a parliament increasingly dominated by right-wing Jewish men. Haneen was born in Nazareth to a Muslim family. Nazareth, known as "the Arab capital of Israel," is the largest city in the Northern District. The population in the childhood home of Jesus is around 77,000, mostly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 70 percent are Muslim and 30 percent Christian.

Sista Haneen described her parents as liberal Muslims, 

My parents are Muslims. They pray, they fast, they have been to Mecca, but they raised their children to think and feel as liberal, open-minded people.(157)

The Nazarene child grew up in a home where academic achievement was extolled. Her brother is an economist, with a degree from Tel Aviv University and one sister is an Arabic language instructor. Haneen earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and psychology, and a Master of Arts in communications. She became the first Arab citizen of Israel to graduate in media studies, and she established the first media classes in Arab schools.

After university, Nazareth's native daughter worked as a mathematics teacher and school inspector for the Ministry of Education. In 2003, Haneen co-founded an NGO to expose Israeli media bias. And in 2009, she resigned to focus on her political career. Zoabi decided to go into politics because of her family's commitment to public service, and her "desire to effect even small positive change for my people."

Zoabi joined the Balad party in 2001 and entered the Knesset after the Arab party won three seats in the 2009 elections. The female Arab Parliamentarian served as a member of the Israeli Knesset until 2019. Haneen is a fierce advocate for Palestinian, Arab, women and non-Jewish rights in the Zionist state. She comments, "I was not elected to keep silent or sit at the table and clap."

Like Jesus in his time, this female Nazarene is not afraid of speaking truth to power. Haneen's courageous voice interrupts the false narrative of Jewish Holocaust victims living peacefully in West Asia's only 'democratic' state. For example, the female Arab leader notes the hypocrisy of the Zionist state,

The state treats all Jews and Palestinians differently. Israel doesn't recognize us as the owners of this homeland. The theory is that we have equal civil rights, but the practice is very far from this.(158)

In May 2010, the Parliamentarian participated in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla to deliver aid to the besieged Palestinian territory. The female Parliamentarian was on board the Turkish ship, MV Mavi Marmara, when Israeli commandos attacked and killed nine activists.

Zoabi was arrested, and she accused the Jewish authorities of acting criminally after her release,

It was clear from the size of the force that boarded the ship that the purpose was not only to stop this sail, but to cause the largest possible number of fatalities in order to stop such initiatives in the future.(159)

On July 13th, 2010, the Israeli Knesset voted to strip the female Arab parliamentarian of the right to hold a diplomatic passport, to participate in Knesset discussions, and to vote in parliamentary committees. Asked to describe what is it like being a Palestinian in Israel, the Nazarene politician responded,

Israel did everything it could to make us forget our history: controlling education and the media, putting us in a ghetto, preventing us from having normal relations with the Arab world and visiting our families in Syria and Lebanon.(160)

Zoabi is opposed to any form of mandatory national service for Israel's second-class Arab citizens. In 2009, she characterized right-wing Israeli politicians like Avigdor Lieberman, Tzipi Livni, and Benjamin Netanyahu as "a bunch of fascists pure and simple."

However, Zoabi observed that Israeli president Netanyahu is "much more dangerous" than Lieberman, because he, "shares Lieberman's fascist views but takes care to sugarcoat his message for the international media. My anger is real, not a joke for the TV cameras. I will not shake the hands of these men."(161)

On July 29th, 2014, Zoabi was suspended again from the Knesset for six months. Of the parliament’s 120 members, at least 65 are part of the Zionist right and far-right. Nazareth's daughter regards the two-state solution as politically unrealistic, and the idea that Israel is a Jewish state as inherently racist. Instead, the Palestinian parliamentarian advocates a single state shared by Jews and Palestinian Arabs alike, with full equality and rights for all national and religious groups. Palestinians have advocated for this political solution ever since they rejected the 1947 UN Plan. 

The Arab educator and activist explains her reasoning, 

The reality of Israel's actions shows us that it's unrealistic to have a real sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as the capital. The more realistic solution is one state with full national equality for both national groups.(162)

Zoabi argues that rejection of the Jewish state concept is the only way to combat right-wing Jewish leaders' demand that all Israeli citizens take loyalty oaths. She contends that it is Jewish right-wing leaders like Lieberman who should take an oath of loyalty. "He is an immigrant from Moldova. I was born here, as were my ancestors. He's the outsider, not me."

Despite facing the wrath of the Israeli parliament and state, Haneen remains firm in her Indigenous views. Rejecting the 'Jewish state' concept, the Arab parliamentarian argues, is the only idea that can remove Lieberman from the circle of political and moral legitimacy... When you agree with the 'Jewish state' idea, you necessarily agree with the idea of loyalty to this state. Rejecting the 'Jewish state' concept will block the road for anyone who demands our loyalty to such a state.(163)

The former Palestinian teacher explains the source of her activism and courage,

We didn't expect an easy struggle. I chose to be involved in politics because I was born in a racist context. I will continue using all the democratic tools that are available. I ask Israel not to push us into undesirable activities... We do not want to throw Jews into the sea. We are not against Jews. We are against Israeli policies and the definition of Israel as a Jewish state.(164)

Haneen continued,

I have a vision of our rights as indigenous people. We didn't migrate to Israel; it is Israel that migrated to us.

Chapter 22. Haneen Zoabi (Nazareth, Israel)