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Where you read it first | Friday, November 15, 2024
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Ben Choucroun

Ben Choucroun is a first-year studying race, colonialism and diaspora. Ben can be reached at benjamin.choucroun@tufts.edu.

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Viewpoint

Neoliberalism won’t save us from the far right

By Ben Choucroun | December 11

On Sept. 11, 1973, the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of Chile. In its place, fascist military officers led by Augusto Pinochet took power, crushing opposition and infamously throwing political dissidents out of helicopters. The regime also brought in a group of American economists, known as the Chicago Boys, who immediately privatized much of Chile’s economy and created one of the first neoliberal economies in the world.

Replacement graphic for Ben Choucroun's column "Antisemitism Unpacked by Ben Choucroun"
Column

Antisemitism Unpacked: The myth of the Jewish hive mind

By Ben Choucroun | December 7

The saying “two Jews, three opinions” can be frequently heard in Jewish circles, and it’s true. As a Jewish person, the stereotype that Jews argue and disagree with each other a lot is pretty true. My grandfather even likes to joke that Sephardic Jews were kicked out of Spain for arguing too much. ...

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Column

Antisemitism Unpacked: The cyclical nature of antisemitism

By Ben Choucroun | November 16

In my last column, I discussed how antisemitism differs from other forms of racism because antisemitism allows a few Jews to very visibly succeed in society. Another important difference between antisemitism and other forms of racism is the cyclical nature of antisemitism. Oftentimes before the worst antisemitic massacres in history, Jews appear to be prosperous, well-integrated minorities.

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Viewpoint

It’s time to bring home the lessons of the Rojava Revolution

By Ben Choucroun | November 15

The most important revolution of the 21st century did not occur in Tahrir Square, where Egyptian youth, some of whom call themselves “black bloc,” battled police forces. Nor did it occur in Ukraine in 2014, where government troops violently clashed outside Kyiv’s Central Square. Rather, the most important revolution of the 21st century is occurring in an oft-forgotten slice of Northern Syria. There, beset by a half-dozen outside forces, a ragtag coalition of Kurdish groups, ecosocialists and anarcho-feminists are managing to create a beautiful society based on cooperation, self-determination and acceptance. Their egalitarian principles of environmentalism, communism and gender equality provide a crucial model for a better world.

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Column

Antisemitism Unpacked: A Jewish face of power

By Ben Choucroun | November 2

When we envision racism, many processes come to mind: impoverishment; underrepresentation in government; theft of land and resources; mass incarceration. These are all insidious methods of oppression enforced by the settler-colonial, white supremacist system that characterizes the modern-day U.S. But ...

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Viewpoint

Biden’s hypocrisy is enabling war crimes

By Ben Choucroun | October 26

On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine. Though the reasons for Russia’s invasion were complex, the offensive constituted an illegal attack on a sovereign nation. The U.S. government immediately and strongly condemned the invasion and began sending billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, with President Joe Biden stating, “If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?” 

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The dangers of ignoring Ukraine’s neo-Nazis

By Ben Choucroun | October 13

The name “Azov Brigade” should be recognizable to anyone who follows the conflict in Ukraine. To Ukraine, it is a key military unit composed of motivated fighters who have resisted Russian aggression. To Russia, the Azov Brigade is a neo-Nazi terrorist formation. Both of these ...

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Viewpoint

The dangerous myth of overpopulation

By Ben Choucroun | October 6

Last November, the world’s population reached eight billion. This milestone was accompanied by a renewed interest in the concept of overpopulation — the idea that Earth has too many humans on it. Articles entitled “Eight Billion People in the World Is a Crisis, Not an Achievement” and “Planet Earth: 8 billion humans and dwindling resources” have become widespread. However, overpopulation is not a serious issue — the idea of overpopulation excuses capitalism’s worst excesses. To make matters worse, the far-right is weaponizing the idea of overpopulation for its own nefarious aims. In order to actually end world hunger, we must move towards socialism.

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