Edouard Chazal

Jamal Khashoggi’s last column for The Post before his disappearance

A note from Karen Attiah, Global Opinions editor :

I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi’s translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul. The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post. This column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for. I will be forever grateful he chose The Post as his final journalistic home one year ago and gave us the chance to work together.

→ The Washington Post

Will You Work For A Murderer?

And he thinks: Can I possibly work for such a regime, and still look at myself in the mirror each morning?

Which is the question that we, as a nation, must ask ourselves now. Even if we still needed Saudi Arabia’s oil, which we do not; even if Saudi Arabia was a strong and principled ally in the region, which it is not; even if it helped push the Palestinians toward peace, or kept its promises in Yemen, or bought the weapons that Trump thinks it is going to buy. . . . No matter what Saudi Arabia offered, could its supposed friendship be worth shrugging off the ensnaring and killing of a critic whose only offense was to tell the truth?

Is that the country we want to be?

No.

→ The Washington Post

XXXTentacion’s Death Is a Reminder to Mourn, but Not to Forget

As the rapper Jidenna tweeted, “For those who are so woke that their compassion is asleep, remember this…if Malcolm X was killed at the age of 20, he would have died an abuser, a thief, an addict, and a narrow-minded depressed & violent criminal. So, I believe in change for the young.” His point is not to equate XXXTentacion with Malcolm X, but to put some perspective that young and lost souls can sometimes evolve into something greater given the opportunity. Whether XXXTentacion would have made good for his wrongs we’ll never know.

And from The Atlantic :

XXXTentacion may have spent his career trying to convince his most ardent young fans that they’re worth more than they believe, but his legacy—of trauma endured and seemingly unrepentantly inflicted—reminds us that worth has never been distributed evenly.

→ HighSnobiety

[Russian Oligarchs] May Have to Explain Source of Wealth to Get UK Visa

Finally :

Downing Street confirmed it was looking at individuals who were still in the UK and holding tier 1 visas, which allow anyone who invests more than £2m in the British economy to stay for 40 months.

‘Cause it never seemed so :

Responding to the reports on the delay with Abramovich’s visa, the Kremlin claimed that Russian businesses often encountered “unfair and unfriendly” actions when applying to come to the UK.

Those “people” applying for a tier 1 visa are so entangled with the Russian “government” :

But Theresa May’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister has been absolutely clear that our argument is not with the Russian people, our dispute is with the Russian government.”

→ Guardian

Trump’s Victim-Blaming Response To The Mass Shooting

Would we really rather lock up people than lock up guns? And is all that supposed to be facilitated with an ethic of mass mutual suspicion? Perhaps the next move of America’s gun promoters will be to place the blame on some other group of people with backgrounds and beliefs that the majority finds jarring. Will they keep drawing the circle of the good with an ever smaller circumference, until it resembles nothing so much as an armed camp, packed with guns? President Trump might call that a great and safe community. And whom will he blame then?

→ The New Yorker