Category Archives: European history
Michael Roberts Papers at Adelaide University Library
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Bertrand Russell’s Message to the World on Zionism in January 1970
“Bertrand Russell’s Last Message“…. January 1970 — presented at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egfCTz-ZuZU .… & now sent to me by “A Sri Lankan in Brisbane” who reiterates the stance he took a few days back with An APPRAISAL that I present for readers to appraise after listening to the You Tube presentation marked above and is attached Blogging Theology MEMO below.

Portrait of British philosopher and social activist Bertrand Russell smoking his pipe as he looks out to sea, circa 1960….. Photo by Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, arab regimes, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, citizen journalism, demography, disparagement, ethnicity, European history, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, refugees, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, social justice, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
The GAZA Clash & Its Ramifications: Fundamental Grounding …. A Sri Lankan’s Reading
A Sri Lankan in Brisbane … responding to my Thuppahi Question: Why did HAMAS launch an attack in Palestine [with implicit awareness of extreme Israeli retaliations] ? … with the highlighting in red being that of the Editor, Thuppahi and that in black being the author’s.
HIS RESPONSE
Dear Michael,
Israel has never been a country that abided by International rules.
Although the majority of Jews migrated to Israel from Russia & Eastern Europe, the British & US heavily back Israel because the wealthy Jews who fund US Congress are in the US & UK. The US Congress is beholden to these wealthy Jews for their election funding. In addition, almost all Arab countries are headed by corrupt US cronies, beholden to the $.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, arab regimes, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, counter-insurgency, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, Fascism, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, human rights, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, Middle Eastern Politics, military expenditure, nationalism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, religious nationalism, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, World War Three?, zealotry
The Jews in History: The Circle & Cycle of Atrocities
A Sri Lankan Aussie
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The Netherworld of International Espionage: Then … and ???
Fair Dinkum reflecting upon ……………………………………………….. https://thuppahis.com/2023/10/02/international-espionage-of-a-jihadist-flavour/ ………… with the highlights being the Editor, Thuppahi’s insertions
A = I knew about this history, but was aware of the curious perspective taken here with regard to a nexus between global Islam, India and the Russian revolution. Nonetheless, it is a perspective worth considering as one theory (of many) on the matter. It’s about Maulana , a founding member of the Ghadar Party. Not sure if he had much influence on world affairs but…. the tale is interesting in the light of other nationalists such as Bose and Gandhi.
Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah … ubhas Chandra Bose
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Lançarote de Seixas and Madampe: A Portuguese Casado[i] in a Sinhalese Village
Chandra R. De Silva, refereed article originally pubd in Modern Ceylon Studies, Vol II/1, 1970, pp. 18-34.
At the end of the sixteenth century[ii] when the Portuguese came into possession of the south-western sea-board, Madampe proper, was a sizeable village inhabited by about a hundred families.[iii] Though situated some forty miles to the north of Colombo, the centre of Portuguese power and activity, Madampe was in some respects well located being within seven miles of the important port of Chilaw and within three miles of the sea, over which the Portuguese still had undisputed control.[iv] The village moreover, had twenty two minor villages attached to it, the whole forming the gabadagama[v] or royal demesne of Madampe, an area of approximately sixty square miles.
Statue of horse at Taniyavalla Devalaya, Madampe (constructed 1894) …… Photo from 2017
Filed under art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, Uncategorized, world events & processes
François Valentijn’s Book on Ceylon in 1724-26
Thiru Arumugam, in The CEYLANKAN, 2023, where the heading runs thus: “François Valentijn wrote a 462 page ‘Description of Ceylon’ 300 years ago”
Part 1: Francois Valentijn (1666–1727), Fig. 1, was a Dutch Calvinist Minister employed by the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie or VOC) which established its Asian base in Batavia, which is present day Jakarta in Indonesia. Between 1724 and 1726 he published a book in Dutch titled Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien1 (Old and New East Indies) which was in five volumes and eight books in all. The book describes various countries including Ceylon. His description of Ceylon is in Volume 5 and is 462 pages long. The interesting point is that he never set foot in Ceylon!

D98PE4 Ds. Francois Valentijn, famous for his voluminous work on the Dutch East India Company, a clever compilation from essays or studies, written by others. His book contains a lengthy chapter under the heading ‘Descriptions of the Cape of Good Hope’, 1726.
Filed under authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, religiosity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, world events & processes
‘Nuclear War’! An Escalaton to Nuclear Weaponry Around the Corner NOW!
An Observer in a Black Sea Town
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Is the Tide Turning in Favour of Russia in the Ukrainian War?
An Observer in A Black Sea Resort Town
1. Russia has started deploying nuclear weapons to Belarus to counter the build up of weapons and forces in central and Western Europe targetting Russia.
A pro-Russian cartoon of the failed Ukrainian terrorist attack in Belgorod
The Anzac Story: Rushing into the Fields of Slaughter?
Binoy Kampmark, in Countercurrents, 26 April 2023, where the title reads “Politicians and the Anzac Tradition: A Story of Manipulation and Mythology”
While the mass slaughtering of, and slaughter by, soldiers, is always a touchy subject of commemoration, a tension has existed between those who did the fighting, and those who ordered it. Comfortably secure in furnished rooms and battle props, planners would, as they still do, draw up the blueprints, concoct the strategy, and give the orders.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, European history, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry