Mental Colonisation

The mind colonised by imperialism loses the ability to recognise atrocities when committed by the “correct” side.

Post-war Germany provides a clear example. After 1945, a defeated imperial power was restructured by Allied occupation forces who retained many Nazi officials while absorbing others into Western institutions. The Marshall Plan rebuilt infrastructure, but the deeper project was ideological reconstruction - replacing one form of authoritarian thinking with another that served new imperial masters.

This mental colonisation operates through historical trauma weaponised for present purposes. German guilt about the Holocaust becomes justification for supporting Israeli atrocities. “Never again” transforms from universal principle to selective protection, enabling the very crimes it was meant to prevent.

The colonised mind cannot process moral consistency. Someone who once offered complex geopolitical analysis reduces their thinking to partisan cheerleading. Resistance to occupation becomes “terrorism” when committed by the wrong people. Documented war crimes become “self-defense” when perpetrated by the right flag.

Most tragically, this mental colonisation makes Jewish communities less safe globally. When a state claiming to represent all Jews commits documented genocide while using Jewish identity as a shield against criticism, it creates backlash against Jewish people worldwide who had no role in these decisions.

The imperial project continues under new management. Whether we call it World War Three or an extended World War Two becomes academic when viewing the unbroken chain of interventions since 1945, each justified by the previous one’s consequences.

Mental decolonisation requires recognizing that principles apply universally, not selectively based on geopolitical convenience.

From Antisemite to Anti-American

When confronted with documented evidence of war crimes, defenders of atrocities cycle through predictable stages before settling on a final (final?) position: reframing opposition to genocide as “anti-Americanism.”

This evolution is telling. First came the antisemitism accusation - the nuclear option deployed when hospital bombings and destroyed aid trucks became indefensible. But when that weaponisation of historical trauma failed to silence criticism, the charge quietly disappeared, replaced by a more sophisticated imperial framework.

Now the same critic who was supposedly driven by “rabid anti-Semitism” gets recast as an anti-American contrarian. The accusations shift, but the goal remains constant: delegitimise opposition to documented atrocities through character assassination rather than evidence.

The “anti-American” framing is particularly absurd given the intertwined nature of Anglo-American imperialism. British special forces operate in Ukraine alongside extensive arms sales and military coordination with Israel. When Boris Johnson can veto Ukrainian peace negotiations and the UK maintains outsized influence in international organisations despite its declining economic power, we’re seeing coordinated imperial projects rather than American unilateralism.

The “special relationship” allows Britain to punch above its weight strategically while America provides the military muscle. Royal Marines in “high-risk operations” in Ukraine, deep military oversight of Gaza operations, and the historical legacy of the Balfour Declaration all point to British imperial continuity operating through American power.

Critics who oppose both British and American imperial interventions get labeled “anti-American” because the imperial mindset cannot process consistent opposition to coordinated oppression. It must choose sides in great power competition rather than opposing the system of domination itself.

The accusations will keep shifting - antisemitic, anti-American, whatever works - because the goal was never sincere concern about prejudice, but silencing criticism of documented atrocities.

Why complain?

Two years into Gaza’s destruction, you can trace the evolution of genocide denial in real time:

Phase 1: “It’s not happening” - Israel is only targeting Hamas, civilian casualties are minimal, reports are exaggerated.

Phase 2: “It’s justified” - Palestinians brought this on themselves, Hamas (“ISIS” - seriously?!) uses human shields, Israel has the right to defend itself.

Phase 3: “It’s normal” - War is ugly, these things happen, other conflicts are worse, why complain about hospital bombings when other wars exist?

Phase 4: “Why do you care?” - The mask fully drops. Not defending the actions anymore, just questioning why anyone should object to war crimes at all.

Each phase abandons the previous justification while moving the moral goalposts further into the abyss. By the end, you’re not debating policy or tactics - you’re facing someone who has reasoned themselves out of basic human empathy.

The weaponised whataboutism reveals the imperial logic - both Ukraine and Israel are Western client states whose “sovereignty” depends on US backing. When a UK prime minister can fly to Kyiv in order to veto peace negotiations, and US aid determines Israeli military capacity, these aren’t independent nations making sovereign choices.

Some of this stems from historical guilt transformed into moral blindness - where “never again” becomes “never again to Jews” rather than “never again to anyone,” providing cover for Western imperial projects wrapped in humanitarian language.

The most chilling part isn’t the denial itself. It’s watching someone systematically dismantle their own moral framework, piece by piece, to avoid confronting what they’re supporting.

Two years into the genocide and this is now all perfectly normal and acceptable.

Israel struck Gaza's Nasser Hospital four times, analysis finds: bbc.com

The Thought (For The Day) Police are here!

BBC apologises after Jenrick accused of xenophobia: bbc.com

A shocking indictment of Ealing Labour Council from a young black woman.

When I was in primary school the air pollution was so bad, it stopped me from going to the local park,” she says

The same legal scholars who would never question Israel’s right to exist as a state - despite its own contested borders, ongoing military occupation, and complex governance issues - are suddenly very concerned about technical legal criteria when it comes to Palestinian statehood.

Last week Starmer proscribed Palestine Action. Yesterday he advocated the ultimate Palestine action - recognising it as a state - while simultaneously making that recognition dependent on Israel continuing its genocide of the Palestinian people.

Starmer’s actions on Palestine were unforgivable taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/0 I am stunned, shocked and appalled by the continuing support Starmer is offering Israel, because that is what he really did yesterday.

Look away if you’re not interested in reality, right and wrong, or changing it. And yes, that’s politics.

Israel admits no proof of Hamas systematically stealing UN aid. [original NYT article with its misleading url.]

Israel destroyed over 1,000 aid trucks, leaving supplies to rot.

Documentation of American and Israeli forces murdering Palestinians seeking aid.

The pattern is clear: Israel used false claims about Hamas aid theft to justify a blockade that has created mass starvation, while simultaneously destroying aid shipments and shooting people trying to get food. This is the very definition of collective punishment and using starvation as a weapon of war. It’s a war crime.

This is so messed up!

‘Yves Bonnet, the intelligence chief who tried to negotiate Abdallah’s exchange in 1985 and is now a member of the far-right National Rally, said he was “treated worse than a serial killer” and that “the United States was obsessed with keeping him in jail”.

‘According to a report in Le Monde newspaper, no Palestinian prisoner – even those condemned to life imprisonment in Israel – has served more than 40 years in jail. Abdallah served 41.’

Pro-Palestinian convict freed by France after 41 years: bbc.com