Listen to Your Ancestors By William Bowles

18 October 2003

[This is another essay out of the past that on rereading, seems even more relevant than it did when I wrote it almost exactly ten years ago in 2003. It exists in its old non-Wordpress form but republishing it here, makes it more accessible as well as tying into my current writing. WB]

I am a big fan of history. Ever since I was a kid, history fascinated me and perhaps in another life I might well have become a historian. And, in an age where history gets rewritten by the corporate media hour by hour, day by day, understanding where we come from and how we got here is a critical issue.

Zionism loves colonialism, Zionism is colonialism By William Bowles

7 March 2012

Ynet Op-ed: Zionism will only cease being demonized when West stops to demonise colonialism

If I didn’t know any better I’d think the following Op-ed piece from the rightwing Israeli news source Ynet was another Yes Men spoof but it’s for real. I decided finally to publish the opinion in its entirety (if in a somewhat fragmented form) for it reveals the insane irrationality that underpins Zionism as the only ‘defender of the Jewish people’ (aside that is from its benefactor the US).

Libya: The Empire conducts a war fest (or business as usual) By William Bowles

8 April 2011

To paraphrase, the first casualty of capitalism is the truth and the outrageous and totally illegal invasion of Libya, launched with so much super-heated air, has degenerated into a vile exposé of the true nature of imperialism. The Tonkin Gulf of Libya that was the excuse for this sordid and disgusting operation rested on the claims of two allegations: bombing of civilians and Gaddafi’s use of ‘African mercenaries’. Both claims have proved to be complete fabrications, but guess what?

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil By William Bowles

15 November 2007

AIDS, truly the white man’s burden

It’s taken decades to unmask the story of how AIDS came to be, and far from being an ‘act of nature’, the real story of its origins is one of ruthless ambition and professional rivalries, entrenched interests, racism and the arrogance and the indifference of the ‘master race’ toward their fellow humans and to our closest relative, the chimpanzee, hundreds of whom were needlessly slaughtered allegedly in the cause of ‘science’ and our well-being.

Oh my, how things haven’t changed By William Bowles

10 May 2006

‘[I]f force enough can be concentrated on the area most concerned in the next few weeks, the back of the [Mau Mau] conspiracy may be broken.’ -The Manchester Guardian, September 1952

For those readers old enough (or well up on history) what strikes one about the current situation is just how nothing has actually changed when it comes to how the media covers events of importance, especially when it’s ‘us’ versus ‘them’, the ‘us’ being white, European/American ‘civilisation’ and the ‘them’—well pretty much the rest of the planet.

Jive8: Bob Geldof does damage control for international war criminal By William Bowles

6 July 2005

The last few weeks have seen a gigantic propaganda onslaught by the state and corporate interests to confuse, misdirect and finally channel peoples’ concerns anywhere except where they truly belong, that is, directed at big business and the political class that represents them, that has for hundreds of years raped Africa and the rest of the poor of this planet that in turn, made possible the obscene wealth we in the developed world not only possess but squander. A squandering that is directly responsible for the other major crime of our age, climate change.

Africa Bound By William Bowles

6 June 2005

Kwame Nkrumah and Martin Luther King

Africa’s winner-takes-all politics lies at the heart of everything that has gone wrong with Africa… It is the reason why it has fallen behind the rest of the world economically, the reason for its wars and poverty.
Richard Dowden, director of the Royal Africa Society and former Africa editor of the Independent. The Independent, 1/6/05, p.2

The statement above pretty well sums up the Western propaganda line on Africa, the alleged ‘basket-case’. That it’s written by the director of the Royal Africa Society and former Africa editor for the Independent speaks reams about the interlocking nature and hence common ideological thrust that the Western ‘intelligentsia’ peddles to the ‘masses’ about how Africa got to be where it is today.

Guilt or Guilty? By William Bowles

14 November 2004

“We must find new lands from which we can easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labour that is available from the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.”
– Cecil Rhodes, “founder” of Rhodesia

Listen to your ancestors By William Bowles

18 October 2015

I’m a big fan of history. Ever since I was a kid, history fascinated me and perhaps in another life I might well have become a historian. And in an age where history gets rewritten by the corporate media hour by hour, day by day, understanding where we come from and how we got here is a critical issue.

Let history be our teacher By William Bowles

8 August 2003

In the context of the events that are unfolding in Liberia, it’s important that we do not forget how these conditions came to pass, and the role of the West in making it so. This is especially important given the kind of media coverage and ‘analysis’ we are being subjected to, now that the West has ‘rediscovered’ Africa.