Author: Mariam Jooma Carikci
By Mariam Jooma Çarikci Twenty years ago, no one would have predicted the spectacular demise of Manchester United. A club that, under the legendary Sir Alex, was no less royal than the Queen herself is now a shadow of its former self. As an adopted Geordie, Newcastle United are my team of choice—if for nothing else than the very fact that they are indeed the underdogs. So, when the Toon’s team annihilated the Red Devils in a 4-1 defeat in early April this year, it was clear that something was deeply awry. Manchester United was not just a football club;…
(Right of Reply to Adam Charnas’ Politicsweb article: “Jewish power: A misleading trope in Çarikci’s narrative”) The article published on Politicsweb on April 16, “Jewish power: A misleading trope in Çarikci’s narrative,” relies on the formulaic response from Zionist that inaccurately and purposefully conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Adam Charnas’s familiar argument aims to delegitimise principled critique of Zionist ideology and Israel’s policies by labelling such criticism as bigotry—a tactic used for decades to silence advocates for Palestinian freedom. It is an abuse of history that continues to have fatal effects for the occupied people of Palestine. Let us begin with…
By Mariam Jooma Carikci As the daily Israeli killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza continues unabated—and now, arguably, in routine fashion—the questions persist: What will it take to pull the plug on Netanyahu’s killing bots? Who will speak for the thousands of child amputees, orphans and widows? Which moral voice carries enough weight to demand justice, when even the pope’s call goes unanswered? And what privilege should we afford politicians from both the West and the Global South to chart a path out of this civilizational darkness? The answer, I would argue, is none. No political leader anywhere in…
By Mariam Jooma Çarikci It was a crisp winter afternoon in Amsterdam nearly twenty years ago. I had landed from Johannesburg only hours earlier and was wandering through the old city centre with a friend, drinking in the sights, sounds, and smells—the rich aroma of coffee and stroopwafels filling the air, the festive lights casting long shadows across the cobbled streets. As we walked, a group of young women passed us. One smiled and said, “Assalamu Alaikum.” I smiled back, returned the greeting, and kept walking. Moments later, my Jewish friend, visibly irritated, turned to me and said, “That’s not…