habibti please

This week Habibiti Please is focused on a favorite topic of the show: disarmament. Nashwa and Geneviève host Jeremy Corbyn and Paul Rogers in advance of Selling Death: Why the International Arms Trade Must be Controlled, an upcoming event hosted by Egypt Watch and Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project. Join Jeremy Corbyn, Paul Rogers, and Geneviève at the event on Saturday, July 17th, 2021, at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and 4 p.m. London time here. 

We discuss the Peace and Justice Project, an initiative that works to bring people together for social and economic justice, peace, and human rights in Britain and across the world.

This episode explores the arms trade and why we must move towards disarmament. The international arms trade fuels forever wars, bloody occupations, and the military-industrial complex. The detritus of war and occupation will linger long after militaries leave the countries they ravage. As this episode highlights, COVID-19 serves as a canary in the coal mine; a warning for how things can only get worse if change does not happen now. A virus cannot be nuked, yet the rush to create and sell arms from the imperial core has continued without challenge even during the pandemic. 

The Corbyn Peace and Justice Project illustrates why domestic and international problems and injustices cannot be separated. We also explore how we build solidarity beyond borders and across communities. 

This episode also draws links between the arms trade, the climate crisis, and other ongoing struggles, including the growing number of refugees. Industrialists selling weapons and war promoters are akin to the mythical hydra, where chopping off one head sprouts another. This hydra is a monster, directly supported by Western governments. And blowback is to be expected. Continued death and destruction fuelled by the imperial core through tradecraft will have global consequences,

Forward-looking movements are needed now. Join Egypt Watch and Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project for Selling Death: Why the International Arms Trade Must be Controlled this Saturday on July 17th. We look forward to seeing you there. Now, more than ever, we must stand in solidarity to stop our governments from funding mass death throughout the world. 

Head over to thecorbynproject.com/armscontrol to sign up for Saturday’s event. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network and we are grateful to partner with Canadian Dimension on this episode.

Organizations to check out: 

Egypt Watch 

Egypt Watch is a media services company based in London and was founded in 2019 by Osama Gaweesh, a well known Egyptian journalist and TV Presenter.

Their mission is to put Egypt under the international spotlight and to raise global awareness about the declining situation in Egypt; to advocate for freedom of press, for human rights, and for upholding democracy. 

Corbyn Peace and Justice Project 

An organization founded by longtime activist for social justice and former Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to bring people together for social and economic justice, peace, and human rights, in Britain and across the world.

The Event

Selling Death: Why the International Arms Trade Must be Controlled

War is big business. The international arms trade is worth hundreds of billions, and arms deals brokered by the rich and the powerful continue to extend human misery around the world. 

The UK is the world’s second-largest arms exporter in the world, fuelling conflicts like the war in Yemen which has claimed a quarter of a million lives to date. 

We must come together across borders and backgrounds to fight back against this economy of war and suffering, and demand real security for all. 

The Peace and Justice Project is proud to support Egypt Watch’s upcoming event: Selling Death: Why the International Arms Trade Must be Controlled, an international conference that aims to shed light on the horrific abuses of the arms trade, and help build a movement to fight back. 

Join the event on Saturday July 17th, 2021, at 11 am Eastern Standard Time and 4pm London time, and sign up now.

Additional Resources:

Some resources that complement this episode: 

* Boris Johnson is leading the UK into an even greater COVID catastrophe by Paul Rogers

* Unions must stand united to end Canada’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia by Simon Black

* WESCAM controversy highlights double standards in Canadian arms controls by Lital Khaikin 

* 100 million Egyptians at risk of going thirsty by Osama Gaweesh

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week: Jeremy Corbyn and Paul Rogers

Jeremy Corbyn served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020, and has represented Islington North since 1983. He is a lifelong campaigner for peace and justice, holding roles in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Stop the War Coalition.

As Labour leader, he oversaw the development of a comprehensive programme to rebuild the UK economy, transfer wealth and power from the few to the many, tackle poverty and division, put Britain at the forefront of confronting the climate emergency, and pursue a peace and rights-based foreign policy.

Jeremy received the Gandhi International Peace Award in 2013 and the Seán MacBride Peace Prize in 2017.

Paul Rogers is an Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University. He is a biologist by original training, lecturing early on at Imperial College and also working as a senior scientific officer in government service in East Africa.   For the past forty years, he has worked on international and environmental security and has written or edited thirty books.  He is International Security Advisor to Open Democracy.

In the late 1990s, he wrote Losing Control: Global Security in the 21st Century, which was years, if not decades, ahead of its time, anticipating the 9/11 attacks and the twenty-year war on terror that follows. A new edition has just been published updating and expanding the analysis. It looks forward to the 2030s and 2040s as the decades that will see a showdown between a bitter, environmentally wrecked, and deeply insecure world and a possible world order rooted in justice and peace. You can order the updated edition here.

Co-hosted by Geneviève Nevin

Originally from the West Coast, Geneviève Nevin (she/her) is a white Ashkenazi settler based in Montréal (unceded and unsurrendered Kanien’kehà:ka territory) where she is a community organizer and JD/BCL candidate at McGill University. Geneviève is passionate about politics and social justice and is actively involved in movements for migrant rights and Palestine solidarity, particularly within the Jewish community, as the former Membership & Fundraising Coordinator with Independent Jewish Voices Canada. Geneviève was also one of the organisers behind the successful Palestine resolution at the 2021 NDP Convention which called for a ban on illegal Israeli settlement products as well as an arms embargo against Israel until Palestinians are free. 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica and Canadian Dimension

Production by Canadian Dimension

Production Assistance by Geneviève Nevin, Nashwa Lina Khan and Canadian Dimension

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

Two weeks ago hundreds of police officers and parapolice descended upon Trinity Bellwoods park in Toronto to violently evict the residents living there, displacing people from their homes and severing communities. Toronto has been cruel and brutal to the people living in this city. The austerity measures put in place using the pandemic as an excuse for imposing cruelty will not suddenly dissipate after the pandemic “ends.” It is important to note how the pandemic continues to ravage other places in the world. Many are under the illusion that it is near the end because of the inequitable global vaccine rollout and apartheid. While companies thrived, many have died. 

This episode was done in collaboration with the Encampment Support Network (ESN) in Toronto. We worked with Charlotte, an outreach volunteer with ESN. We discussed the evictions at Lamport Stadium that took place in May which involved a bulldozer to forcibly remove residents. 

Throughout the pandemic Encampment Support Network Toronto has provided help for people in encampment sites. Right now in the city, there is increasing pressure to re-open, and we must reckon with what reopening and “back to normal” means for those most disenfranchised. 

Public officials informed the “general public” to socially distance, while at the same time pushing unhoused people to live in crowded shelters and shelter hotels where the virus was spreading and killing. There are a number of obscene contradictions like this that reveal how people in power intentionally make others live in deplorable conditions to die.

The lives of unhoused people do not matter to Mayor John Tory and downtown City Councillor Joe Cressy. Although many have known this for far too long, it has again become blatantly obvious this week. Who we let live and who we let die speaks volumes about our society and cities. Depredation and violence by capitalists and the governments that back them were fully demonstrated viscerally throughout the pandemic and should not be surprising. The pandemic again brought this out revealing sores in the underbelly of Toronto brought about by austerity measures. Entire populations are subjected to death and disease by choice. 

Laid bare by the pandemic are the conditions which have always existed for those marginalized by the state. Capitalism is functioning as it should be, and the pandemic has only accelerated its efficiency. The proliferation of narratives by people like high-ranking public servant Brad Ross claiming the park was “dirty” continues to push the selective disposal of human beings. They want you to imagine that people who live in encampments are unclean but also disposable; not worthy of public space or full lives.  As Zoë Dodd posted, “people are not garbage.”

As Dodd and many others have pointed out these were people’s homes. 

Dodd also reminds us how violence is a spectacle and more specifically how words like “safety” are weaponized against those who are cash poor. Parks are public spaces and necessary. Parks are a space of life, however, the City appears to only want some to enjoy parks while others must be dispossessed of public space. 

As Alex V. Green reminds us, parks are a site and space for so much life. 

The violent clearing events at Trinity Bellwoods serve as a harbinger. Austerity and privatization are in full effect as the means with exterminism as the goal. It is reasonable to expect that the new austerity and security measures are here to stay “post” pandemic. The city attempted media rehabilitation after images of the full force of their violence turned public opinion against their immorality,  claiming there were public health issues and that people in the encampment were offered housing. This is false: only one individual was offered housing. It is important that we cut to the truth and do not cast doubt on the City of Toronto’s violence and injustice by their spin and narratives. 

This episode highlights how encampments are an alternative for so many and the reasons behind that. It also speaks to the work Encampment Support Network Toronto is doing. This episode discusses the tactics deployed by the city, police, and para-police. It also highlights how people can and do care for each other.

In these moments, it is also vital to connect our discontents. We will continue to bear witness to evictions and mutations of evictions. It is necessary that we understand the global nature of clearing people. There is creative destruction in so many urban environments, but also an urbanization that has cultivated a specific desire for a specific class of citizen that the nation desires. Here, it is the rich who are desirable. 

It is impossible for low-income and marginalized populations to live in cities or centers of cities. Pulling from Henri Lefebvre, it is a necessity to think about who has the right to the city, the right to everything urban life offers. We deserve cities that offer life to all residents. These discontents should never neglect this struggle globally. Presently in Silwan village in East Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinians are losing their homes and even being forced to destroy their own homes. 

Capitalism, white supremacy, and fascism yield a massive graveyard. Criminalizing poverty is a war on people. The war on drugs is a war on people. Only through connecting our oppressions will we move forward. We do all owe each other so much, and so many deserve so much better.

This is a free episode, but we hope people who are able to consider donating to groups in the mutual aid section of the shownotes. We also hope people support Idle No More, other Indigenous organizations, movements, and people in their calls to #CancelCanadaDay. You can learn more here. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network, this episode was graciously edited by executive director Andre Goulet. The Harbinger Media Network is working towards building a left media ecosystem in Canada and we urge you to check it out if that’s your thing! We are also grateful to partner with Canadian Dimension.

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to any of the causes or groups listed below. 

The Encampment Support Network Toronto (ESN)  is an ad-hoc, volunteer-run network supporting people living in encampments in 6 locations throughout Toronto. This includes ESN Parkdale, ESN Trinity Bellwoods, ESN Scadding Court, ESN Moss Park, ESN LNP, and ESN Cherry Beach. We advocate for better conditions in encampments, report on city conditions and activity in encampments, and advocate for long-term permanent housing for people in their communities of choice. ESN also collects and compiles feedback from residents to support our advocacy efforts and continues to pressure the city to develop real solutions to the housing crisis. The only way to provide effective support and find solutions is by listening to and centring the needs of people experiencing homelessness.You can support their work here. 

website:https://www.encampmentsupportnetwork.com/

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esn.to.4real/

twitter: https://twitter.com/esn_to

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZLEEETJXZtA4kSv6W7qJA

This Way Up Collective is a group of queer and trans BIPOC youth that are on the ground providing mutual aid. Taken from their website: “our goal is to actively engage the communities that we are a part of and fill in the gaps wherever possible. We support encampments, youth in shelters, and anyone in need via care packages, weekly hot meal drops, and community arts programming.” * they are one of the groups that have been helping provide meals to encampment residents and doing amazing work. You can support their work here. 

website: https://www.thiswayup.ca/

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thiswayupcollective/

Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction (TIHR) emerged in April 2020 during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic in response to a massive shutdown of frontline services and a lack of basic needs for Indigenous houseless folks in the city of Toronto. Over the past year, we have provided basic needs, access to critical health support & covid 19 testing, harm reduction supplies, sexual, reproductive health and prenatal support, traditional medicines, traditional food, expressive arts, and ceremony to some of our most vulnerable people. TIHR aims to reduce the negative impacts of substance use and other stigmatized behaviours and experiences through culture and unconditional support. TIHR is an entirely queer and Two-Spirit Indigenous collective founded by Nanook Gordon, co-led by Brianna Olson Pitawanakwat and Lua Mondor, and supported by Dashmaawaan Bemadzinjin (They feed the people) and countless volunteers.

To date they have served over 3,000 meals to the encampments and Indigenous street folks. You can support their work here.

website: https://www.torontoindigenoushr.com/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TorontoIndigenousHarmReduction

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torontoindigenousharmreduction/

Additional Resources:

Some resources that complement this episode: 

* Take action with the #NoEncampmentEvictions toolkit

* ESN Toronto Newsletters

* We Are Not the Virus Podcast

* Fixing the housing crisis will mean treating shelter as a right—not a commodity by David Moscrop

* Eviction at Trinity Bellwoods repeats history by Cathy Crowe

* Demolishing Palestinian homes for an Israeli religious theme park by Al Jazeera

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week: Charlotte Smith of Encampment Support Network Toronto

Charlotte is an outreach volunteer with the Encampment Support Network in Toronto, Ontario. 

The Encampment Support Network Toronto (ESN)  is an ad-hoc, volunteer-run network supporting people living in encampments in 6 locations throughout Toronto. This includes ESN Parkdale, ESN Trinity Bellwoods, ESN Scadding Court, ESN Moss Park, ESN LNP and ESN Cherry Beach. We advocate for better conditions in encampments, report on city conditions and activity in encampments, and advocate for long term permanent housing for people in their communities of choice. ESN also collects and compiles feedback from residents to support our advocacy efforts and continues to pressure the city to develop real solutions to the housing crisis. The only way to provide effective support and find solutions is by listening to and centring the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Andre Goulet

Production Assistance by Charlotte Smith, Ali McKnight, Nashwa Lina Khan, and Canadian Dimension

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Nashwa and Ryan sit down with Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton-Centre and the Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats. ** Please note this episode was recorded in mid-March** Nashwa and Ryan contextualize this episode with an extensive pre-show- if you do not want to listen to the pre-show please forward this episode to the interview that begins at around 26 minutes. 

In this interview Nashwa and Ryan wanted the audience to learn more about Andrea and the Ontario New Democrats. This episode focused on provincial issues such as the vaccine rollout. The rollout continues to be a disservice to Ontarians as many have witnessed egregious lines at pop-ups and people rely on a community-driven twitter feed for information about the vaccines. Ryan and Nashwa also ask about the Ontario NDP’s launch of the Green New Democratic Deal. 

Although this was recorded during phase two and we are now in phase three the rollout remains disjointed and inequitable. As a podcast project, we are constantly thinking about a world beyond electoral politics and hope for electoral politics with teeth that go beyond platitudes. This is why we asked about the Ontario NDP’s stance and their policy paper produced in the Summer of 2020. You can find the NDP policy paper referenced here: End Police Violence. Invest In Black, Indigenous And Racialized People’s Lives. An Ontario NDP Commitment To Action. 

Ryan wraps up by asking an evergreen question about the future of the Ontario NDP, how the base is being built, and how the provincial party plans to retain power. 

During the pre-show, Ryan and Nashwa discuss the current state of so many political issues throughout Ontario and why we want Ford out. While we vehemently recognize and acknowledge the limitations of electoral politics we hope this episode presents an alternative to the Ford Conservatives. 

Last week Doug Ford’s Conservatives rammed through Bill 307. For the entirety of the pandemic, there was no urgency for an adequate paid sick days plan, to stop COVID evictions, to roll out an accessible vaccination program, to redress long-standing issues throughout the Long-Term Care system, and so much more. The list of moments throughout this pandemic that were urgent for so many Ontarians and not prioritized by Ford Nation are quite obvious. 

At the same time, we are witnessing a burgeoning fascist movement in Ontario and throughout Canada. We have been experiencing a rising unchecked white supremacy grow in Canada, overlapping with the anti-mask conspiracy parades. We fear that as Canada “goes back to normal” hate crimes will inevitably increase (terminology that frankly requires its own reckoning and further complexity). 

This contingent, which was emboldened after Donald Trump’s election as well as the general acceptance of far-right hate speech in Canada's political discourse has been left entirely unaddressed. The Ford government is part of this. With cabinet members like Merrilee Fullerton and friendships with people like Charles McVety it is rather clear that this is a government that is friendly to bigotry. 

Bill 307 was rammed through last week after courts had deemed it unconstitutional because it unjustifiably violated Ontarians’ right to freedom of expression – in particular affecting this important right during elections. Instead of appealing the decision, the Ford government invoked s. 33 of the Charter: the Notwithstanding Clause. The legal rule is an emergency tool governments can use to override certain Charter rights, even after a court deems a law unconstitutional. This tool has never been used in Ontario because invoking the Notwithstanding Clause means that a policy is going to violate fundamental civil liberties. This shows just how far Ford will go to achieve his political goals.

Regardless of where you fall politically, even if you are beyond electoral politics, Ford’s time in office has been devastating for activists and organizers throughout the province fighting like hell to keep people safe and alive. From his austerity cuts and right-wing populism, the racist dog whistles he has used to signal that he's on the side with the white supremacists, Ford needs to go. 

In Ontario, one could describe the current electoral political arena as something like the Sanders versus Trump showdown that never materialized in the US. With decades of Liberal governments neglecting Long-Term Care, destroying our public services, and so much more, the NDP finally holds a position as the official opposition in a way they previously have not. 

We have less than one year to get the Ford government out of office, but we can also dream far beyond that. We are very cognizant of the limitations of electoralism, as we've expressed on many occasions on this podcast, but it is also important to recognize multi-method action. We can and should be principled while also knowing that there is flexibility and multiple fronts we must organize on and counter. 

** Please note this episode was recorded in mid-March**

* This episode was recorded before Nashwa began her role at the Ontario NDP.

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to any of the causes or groups listed below. 

Last week has been and will continue to be hard for myself (Nashwa) and the team so I will keep this brief. I will try to better address the murder of multiple generations of the Afzaal family in London Ontario at another time but for now, I am trying my best to be there for my community and help organize. I have been asked to share this page for financial support of the 9-year-old son who was left orphaned and injured. 

I keep this podcast mostly free. I know my listeners are generous people who care about this world and so if you are able to give we urge you to give to the remaining member of the Afzal family, Faez Afzaal. From the team and I, Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un to multiple generations of the Afzaal family. We will keep you in our hearts and continue to fight for a world that does not paper over the vile settler colonialism and xenophobia that is the bedrock of what we know as Canada. 

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week: Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton-Centre and the Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats.

Andrea Horwath

Andrea Horwath is the Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats. From her early career in community development to today, she’s always believed that government should be about giving people the opportunity to build a good life no matter where in Ontario they live, or when this province became home.

Born and raised in Hamilton, Andrea was elected to Hamilton City Council in 1997, then as the MPP for Hamilton-Centre in 2004. In 2018, Andrea led her party to become the Official Opposition – the largest Official Opposition in a generation. Today, half of the members of her MPP team are women, they represent ridings from every region of the province, and together they’re reflective of the diversity of Ontario.

She’s a leader who believes in proposing positive solutions, especially when it comes to ending hallway medicine, giving seniors better care and supporting public schools so they can give kids a great start. She’s fighting for good jobs, and a more affordable life.

She’s an Ontarian, a mom, a Hamiltonian and she’s running for premier in 2022.

You can find Andrea’s online on her website, on twitter, on facebook, and on instagram.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Ryan Deshpande 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Canadian Dimension 

Production Assistance by Ryan Deshpande and Nashwa Lina Khan

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

On the inaugural Harbinger Society Presents live recording it's an evening of history and hard questions on Canadian exceptionalism as Nashwa Khan and Shaadie Ali of Habibti Please and Deathnography's Henry Lee join host Andre Goulet for a conversation on Vincent Bevins' excellent 2020 book 'The Jakarta Method', Ottawa's Victims of Communism Memorial, how to fight for justice for Palestine and more. Please note this conversation was recorded on May 20th, 2021.

Plus: Atlantic correspondent James Brown makes a bold proposal for another kind of monument in our nation's capital.

Special thanks to Zaid Siddiqui for research on this episode.

You can support Harbinger Media Network here: 

https://harbingermedianetwork.com/

You can check out a premium teaser to Nashwa and Shaadie’s interview with Vincent Bevins here: https://habibtiplease.substack.com/p/jakartamethod

You can hear Henry Lee's conversation with Bevins on a recent episode of Deathnography at https://deathnography.libsyn.com/what-is-possible-realistic-dreams-and-the-myth-of-scarcity-ft-vincent-bevins-and-maya-menezes and support the show at https://www.patreon.com/deathnography

Support Palestinian Youth organizing at https://palestinianyouthmovement.com/donate

Islamic Relief is helping to provide immediate medical assistance and vital aid to all those affected by the violence and most in need at

https://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/emergencies/palestine/

Eye on Palestine is providing media coverage that mainstream news never will at

https://www.instagram.com/eye.on.palestine/

Find out more about the Movement to Safeguard Palestinian Communities and how to become part of the movement for peace at

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/icareaboutpeace/

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s episode features a conversation Nashwa and Ryan had a few months ago with Member of Provincial Parliament Jessica Bell. This episode covers provincial politics. An arena where anti-Muslim sentiments have been stoked with Ford’s Conservatives in power. Although this episode does not address Islamophobia we do believe that we need to vote out the Ford government to fight back around rising white supremacy and fascism in this province. 

Nashwa and Ryan spoke to Jessica about the slow developments in building transit. Jessica’s previous work as the founding Executive Director of TTCriders fighting to improve Toronto Transit in part inspired her run. Habibti Please has previously spoken to TTCRiders you can find the episode here.

This episode also highlights the  Green New Democratic Deal (GNDD). The differential impacts of climate change and how the Ontario NDP will address them through just transition and a just transition for people in Northern Ontario whose homes and roads are dramatically impacted by climate change. 

The group also discusses tenant rights and what the Ontario NDP is doing regarding the egregious Covid eviction blitzes. It is important to note that MPP Bell is NDP critic of housing, tenant rights, and urban planning. Nashwa and Ryan have previously covered evictions and rennovictions in Toronto here and here and the lack of political will to move on these issues.

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to any of the causes or groups listed below. 

This week has been and will continue to be hard for myself (Nashwa) and the team so I will keep this brief. I will try to better address the murder of multiple generations of the Afzaal family in London Ontario at another time but for now, I am trying my best to be there for my community and help organize. I have been asked to share this page for financial support of the 9-year-old son who was left orphaned and injured. 

I keep this podcast mostly free. I know my listeners are generous people who care about this world and so if you are able to give we urge you to give to the remaining member of the Afzal family, Faez Afzaal. From the team and I, Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un to multiple generations of the Afzaal family. We will keep you in our hearts and continue to fight for a world that does not paper over the vile settler colonialism and xenophobia that is the bedrock of what we know as Canada. 

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week: Member of Provincial Parliament Jessica Bell 

Jessica Bell, MPP for University-Rosedale, serves as the Ontario NDP critic of housing, tenant rights, and urban planning. Prior to being elected in June 2018 she served as the founding Executive Director of TTCriders fighting to improve Toronto Transit.

She’s been a lecturer at Ryerson University, director of the California Food & Justice Coalition and an advocate for environmental justice. She’s received several leadership awards, including Toronto Community Foundation’s Vital People Award.

Jessica lives in University-Rosedale with her husband and two children.

Find Jessica online on her website,twitter, and facebook.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Andre Goulet

Production Assistance by Ryan Deshpande and Nashwa Lina Khan

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

The austerity measures that were first implemented during the pandemic will not ease post-pandemic. Global vaccine apartheid continues to exist and it seems that only those in North America with relations outside of North America or to communities. It feels eerily familiar for people who straddle worlds to be aware that “back to normal” means back to normal for people completely detached from the global reality of how COVID continues to ravage people outside of the imperial core. 

This episode takes a look at how the world we all now came to be. One where vaccine apartheid is normalized for so many. One where extermination programs and coups are staples. In this episode Shaadie and Nashwa interview Vincent Bevins, author of the Jakarta Method. Nashwa and Shaadie approached this episode with the thought and care they approach other work with. They wanted to honor those who died and survived the mass extermination in Indonesia while also weaving our own understanding as young Muslims of the world into this episode. 

Bevins book Jakarta Method is an accessible must-read about the United State's role in constructing a global anti-communist network. In 1965 and 1966, the Indonesian military killed one million civilians and with praise and enthusiasm from the American government. It was an apocalyptic slaughter of leftists and accused leftists. As Bevins writes, this series of events was instrumental in shaping our global economic system as it exists today. As beneficiaries of US hegemony,  it is important to recognize this gap in collective memory and the responsibilities we have. 

A selection of propaganda leaflets blaming the Indonesian Communist Party for the 30 September (1965) movement that appeared in late 1965. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

The Jakarta Method maps out and tracks the violent anti-communism campaign, subsequent mass arrests, executions, and American sponsored disinformation campaign that rendered deadly results we will always benefit from. For example, the mass murder of Indonesians is why the tourism industry in Bali possible. As Bevins illustrates, this massacre was one of the biggest turning points of the Cold War and it inspired other regions to carry out similar programs.  It is egregious and the replication of what happened in Indonesia should never be forgotten because it remains a blueprint for extermination programs globally. This episode features a number of resources that complement the conversation—please check them out below. 

From Vincent Bevins’ The Jakarta Method.

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network. For episodes focused on different struggles in Canada and around the world, we are grateful to partner with Canadian Dimension for this episode. 

Until Liberation, 

Canadian Dimension, Shaadie, and Nashwa

To Read and Watch:

The Jakarta Method: How to destabilize and control the Third World by Clement Nocos 

How ‘Jakarta’ Became the Codeword for US-Backed Mass Killing by Vincent Bevins 

The Cold War’s unfinished legacy by Noah Tsika

The Act of Killing 

Joshua Oppenheimer on "The Act of Killing": The VICE Podcast 034

Tribunal 1965

Organizations we like this week: 

Anakbayan Toronto 

ANAKBAYAN is the largest and most comprehensive organization of Filipino youth and students for National Democracy, with 20,000 members worldwide. We strive for genuine freedom, peace, and democracy in the Philippines.

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change is building a democratic member-led organization of migrant farmworkers, care workers, students and more to win worker and immigration justice.

Guest Information 

Vincent Bevins is an American journalist and writer. He previously worked as a foreign correspondent based in Brazil for the Los Angeles Times, after working previously in London for the Financial Times. He then moved to Jakarta and began covering Southeast Asia for the Washington Post, and in 2018 began writing a book about Cold War violence in Indonesia and Latin America, that book being The Jakarta Method. 

You can buy Jakarta Method here.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Shaadie Ali

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Candian Dimension

Production Assistance by Canadian Dimension, Andy Assaf, and Ali McKnight

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

This week Nashwa spent time with the guys at The Insurgents. In this special crossover episode, Nashwa joins Jordan and Rob of The Insurgents. We discussed the escalating aggression toward Palestinians and the attacks on Gaza that have left over 250 dead. We are disgusted by the Biden administration’s continued support of Netanyahu’s further annexation of Gaza and the West Bank.

This is a crossover episode that was generously produced by Jordan and Rob of The Insurgents. You can also listen to the Insurgents on iTunes here, on Spotify here, and on Google Podcasts here. Find them elsewhere here. Please support the Palestinian Youth Movement here.

Last Friday MP Jack Harris the NDP has called for an emergency debate, thousands of Canadians have written elected officials also voicing our disagreement with our tax money and our government’s involvement in the occupation and violent dispossession of Palestinian people and Palestine. You can participate in a number of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East’s campaigns here. Please also consider signing this House of Commons petition to stop foreign military recruitment on campus. 

We hope this episode pushes people to go beyond posting. Throughout Canada and the world, many actions are taking place. You can find a list of Canadian actions here. The Nakba never ended. Our solidarity with Palestinians and Palestine must also always continue.  

This is a free episode, if you want to support the creation of more content like this and unlock Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us in continuing to build content like this. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network. We also collaborate with Canadian Dimension for episodes focused on different struggles in Canada and around the world. 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Rob Rousseau and Jordan Uhl featuring Nashwa Lina Khan 

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba. At the same time, the Israeli occupation has once again increased their assault on Palestinian civilians in east Jerusalem and Gaza. We were honoured to be joined by guests from Palestinian youth Movement Toronto and some of the core organizers behind Palestine Resolution 2021 at the NDP Convention. 

As of Friday MP Jack Harris the NDP has called for an emergency debate, thousands of Canadians have written elected officials also voicing our disagreement with our tax money and our government’s involvement in the occupation and violent dispossession of Palestinian people and Palestine. You can participate in a number of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East’s campaigns here. Please also consider signing this House of Commons petition to stop foreign military recruitment on campus. 

We hope this episode pushes people to go beyond posting. Throughout Canada and the world, many actions are taking place. You can find a list of Canadian actions here. The Nakba never ended. Our solidarity with Palestinians and Palestine must also always continue.  

This is a free episode, if you want to support the creation of more content like this and unlock Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us in continuing to build content like this. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network. For episodes focused on different struggles in Canada and around the world, we are grateful to partner with Canadian Dimension.

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to any of the causes or groups listed below. 

Support Palestinian Youth Organizing by donating to Palestinian Youth Movement.

Islamic Relief is helping to provide immediate medical assistance and vital aid to all those affected by the violence and most in need.

Eye on Palestine is providing media coverage that mainstream news never will, follow them but also support their work.

Movement to Safeguard Palestinian Communities, while homes and land continue to be stolen this group works on actionable advocacy.

Additional Resources:

Some resources that complement this episode: 

Joint Statement by Palestinians in North America on Nakba Day

Palestine Resolution 2021

Deadly Exchange

Resources from Palestinian Youth Movement of Sheikh Jarrah 

BDS Movement

The Nakba Demands Justice by Kaleem Hawa 

This Is Not Fine: Why Video of an Ultranationalist Frenzy in Jerusalem Is So Unsettling by Robert Mackey

Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return by Peter Beinart

Guest Information 

From Palestinian youth Movement Toronto, we were joined by Rawan N. and Mohammed W. 

From Palestine Resolution 2021 at the NDP Convention, we were joined by Amy Kishek, Sam Hersh, Geneviève Joëlle, and Omar Burgan.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Candian Dimension

Production Assistance by Canadian Dimension and Ryan Deshpande

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s Eid episode is a double feature! In the first half of this episode, Nashwa sits down with Priya Prabhakar to discuss the ongoing Farmers’ protests in India that began in November 2020. In June of 2020, three ordinances were introduced and eventually passed as acts by Modi and his right-wing government. These bills translate into the mass deregulation and neo-liberalization of the agricultural market. Farmers continue to protest these three farm acts that were subsequently passed by the Indian government in September 2020. The protests are largely set in Delhi. We hope this episode helps people understand the larger context and the righteousness of farmer anger right now. 

The farmers’ protests are critical and we hope this episode provides a nuanced and accessible explainer on why these protests matter and what is happening in India. In India, neither farmer protests nor farmer suicides are uncommon and have been occurring for decades.

The first half of this episode was recorded shortly before India became the epicenter of the COVID pandemic. The second half of this episode highlights how the devastating pandemic has also interacted with the strikes. In the second half of this episode, Priya and Nashwa sit down with Vijay Prashad to discuss how COVID is ravaging India, as well as how the Modi government has been failing the Indian people. Some highlights of this episode include Vijay’s insights on vaccine apartheid and America allegedly withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. 

This is a free episode, if you want to support the creation of more content like this and unlock Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us in continuing to build content like this. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network. For episodes focused on different struggles in Canada and around the world, we are grateful to partner with Canadian Dimension.

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to any of the causes or groups listed below. 

* Mutual Aid India - this is a curated list of Covid response efforts in India. 

* Khalsa Aid - Khalsa Aid is an international NGO with the aim to provide humanitarian aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world.

* Internet Freedom Foundation - The Internet Freedom Foundation defends online freedom, privacy, and innovation in India.

* NewsClick - An independent media organization dedicated to covering news from India and elsewhere with a focus on progressive movements.

* The People’s Forum - Syringes for Cuba Campaign

Additional Resources:

Some resources that complement this episode: 

* Harvest of Dissent by Sharanya Deepak

* Long Live Farmer-Laborer Unity by Veena Dubal and Navyug Gill 

* Leading from the front: The role of women in Farmers’ movement

* In Kerala, the Present Is Dominated by the Future: The Eighteenth Newsletter (2021) from Vijay Prashad

* Waiting for Catastrophes by Vijay Prashad

* ‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’: Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe by Arundhati Roy

* Here’s Why Farmers Are Protesting the 3 New Agriculture Ordinances by Aibhav Palnitkar

* Punjabi Dalit Women Fight Multiple Battles Rolled into One at Farmers Protest by Shreya Sharma

* People’s Leader: A Dalit Woman Becomes The Voice of Farmers In India by  Sania Farooqui

* Burdened by debt and unable to eke out a living, many farmers in India turn to suicide by Salimah Shivji 

* Elite Despair About “Farmers’ Lack of Discipline” is Comical, Though Not Innocent by Subin Dennis

* Government Should Fight Corona, not Farmers and Labourers: SKM by Sabrang India 

* All India Kissan Sabha

* NewsClick

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week: Priya Prabhakar and Vijay Prashad

Priya Prabhakar is an organizer, filmmaker, and researcher currently based out of Oakland, California, and hails from Chennai, India. You can find her online on instagram and twitter.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian and journalist. Prashad is a Marxist commentator and the author of thirty books, including Washington Bullets, Red Star Over the Third World, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, and The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. He is the Chief Correspondent for Globetrotter and a Columnist for Frontline (India). He is the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books (New Delhi). He has appeared in two films – Shadow World (2016) and Two Meetings (2017). He is currently the director of Tricontinental. You can buy his newest book here.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Canadian Dimension

Production Assistance by Canadian Dimension and Priya Prabhakar 

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this May Day double feature, Nashwa and Ryan sit down with Patricio Dávila and Phil Zigman of  RenovtictionsTO and Cole Webber of Parkdale Organize. In this May Day double feature, we discuss the state of renovictions in Ontario as well as how people are resisting. Tenant organizers have been working together to resist and fight back. One example is West Lodge Tenants organizing a food bank and winning space from their massive corporate landlord to host it out of. We also have witnessed rent strikes in the city.

We recommend people also check out and support Keep Your Rent and People’s Defence Toronto, both groups are mentioned on the show and doing amazing work. We also suggest people use and share the Toronto Covid Evictions Tracker if they or their comrades are facing evictions. Anti-eviction action and organizing has an important history. In the second year of the Great Depression, it was so intense that evictions effectively stopped in New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Solidarity to those fighting evictions, upcoming episodes looking at the Farmer’s protests, and COVID-19 in India.

If you want to support the creation of more content like this and and unlock Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us in continuing to build content like this. 

Mutual Aid & Community Support:

Although this episode is not paywalled we would deeply appreciate it if people would share or give (if able to do so) to the fundraiser for The East York 50: this fundraiser was set up to help support a group of 50 immigrant families slated to be evicted.

Additionally, here are further resources for communities from Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area  facing the results of increased austerity:

* Encampment Support Network (ESN) is an ad-hoc, volunteer-run network supporting people living in encampments in 6 locations throughout Toronto. This includes ESN Parkdale, ESN Trinity Bellwoods, ESN Scadding Court, ESN Moss Park, ESN LNP and ESN Cherry Beach.

* RenovictionsTO is a volunteer-run organization that gives tenants the tools they need to organize and fight back against their landlords who are partaking in a renoviction. 

* Keep Your Rent is another vital organization that offers Toronto residents a litany of resources to combat rent evictions.

* Evictions Ontario is yet another great resource for evictions—it also specifically offers a tracker to see where evictions are taking place across the province.

* Disability Justice Network of Ontario is a collective that aims to build a just and accessible Ontario through the dissemination of knowledge regarding issues that people with disabilities face—they promote change through legislative action; also, they support community members through a community caremongering program.

Additional Resources:

Some resources that complement this episode : 

* Doug Ford is Using the Pandemic to Criminalize Tenant Organizing by Cole Webber 

* Ontario is Mass Evicting Tenants, In as Little as 60 Seconds by Cole Webber 

* Above Guideline Rent Increases in the Age of Financialization by Philip Zigman and Martine August

* Anti-eviction mapping project 

* Tenants Rise Up! Fighting for Housing Justice in the Bay Area (short documentary) 

* Online Activism During COVID-19: A Case Study in Rent Strikes by Cierra Bettens 

* Doug Ford is Consolidating the Power of Landlords During a Time of Crisis by Shehnoor Khurram and Ryan Kelpin

* Toronto Tenants Seek Leverage on COVID Relief with Rent Strike by Morgan Sharp

* Parkdale Tenants Rally Against Goliath Corporate Landlords by Shannon Carranco

* Toronto Residents Get Their Massive Landlord to Donate An Apartment to Help Feed Tenants by Olivia Little 

* Why Fighting ‘Renoviction’ is so Hard

Guest Information 

Guests of the Week:  Patricio Dávila and Phil Zigman of  RenovtictionsTO and Cole Webber of Parkdale Organize

RenovictionsTO

RenovictionsTO is a project seeking to document renovictions and above guideline rent increases in Toronto, provide resources and information for tenants, and support tenant organizing. Check out renovictionsto.com to learn more about where in the city renovictions and above guideline rent increases are happening and who are the landlords engaging in these practices. If you're facing a renoviction or above guideline rent increase, reach out to report your landlord and learn more about how you can fight back. In the future they will also start collecting data on the use (N12) evictions and making this information public on their website. You can check out their recent AGI report written by Phil Zigman and Martine August here. You can also find them on twitter @renovictions.

Phil Zigman is the co-creator of RenovictionsTO. 

Patricio Dávila is a designer, artist, researcher and educator. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, at York University. He is the co-creator of RenovictionsTO. 

Parkdale Organize 

Parkdale Organize is a group of working class people who organize to build neighbourhood power in Parkdale. The organization aims to build working class organizations independent of politicians and social service providers.

Cole Webber is a legal clinic worker in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto, who is on Twitter @colefwebber

Checkout Parkdale Organize and learn more about them through their facebook page, twitter page, and website.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Candian Dimension

Production Assistance by Canadian Dimension and Johnny Zapras

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe