Haiti: Somali pirates donate booty to earthquake victims

[chebol]

Via Aporrea.org (translated)
http://aporrea.org/internacionales/n149313.html

Somali ‘Pirates’ want to send loot confiscated from rich countries to Haiti

Agencia Matriz del Sur

January 21, 2010 – Spokesmen for the so-called “Somali pirates” have expressed willingness to transfer part of their loot captured from transnational boats and send it to Haiti.

Leaders of these groups have declared they have links in various places around the world to help them ensure the delivery of aid without being detected by the armed forces of enemy governments.

The “pirates” typically redistribute a significant portion of their profits among relatives and the local population. In their operations, the “pirates” urge transnational corporations that own the cargo confiscated to pay back in cash as banks can not operate in Somalia.

”The humanitarian aid to Haiti can not be controlled by the United States and European countries; they have no moral authority to do so. They are the ones pirating mankind for many years,” said the Somali spokesman.

Somalia, located at the eastern end of the Somalia Penisula adjacent to the Gulf of Aden to the North and with the Indian ocean to the east, is located in a very important position in the communication routes between Asia, Africa and Europe and the Pacific.

[Tablo]

Very interesting. Anyone have some good links to info about the Somalian pirates. I wasn't aware such things would be of concern to them.

[chebol]

There's a little bit of general background here: Who are the real pirates in Africa's waters? (http://links.org.au/node/1011)

[core_1]

wow this is strange

[Bitter Ashes]

It's just like Robin Hood. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. Christ, I've become a fan. Never saw that one coming.

[the last donut of the night]

This is the utmost irony of capitalism and imperialism: the pirates, the terrorists, the criminals, and the scum of society are usually much more benevolent, helping, and understanding than the so-called "defenders of freedom".

Solidarity with these "pirates" (the real pirates, of course, being the US armed forces and its big-business leaders).

[What Would Durruti Do?]

I love these guys.

[ComradeRed22'91]

Wow. That's all i can say.

[GPDP]

The hell? There's 120 guests looking at this thread.

What's going on?

[DecDoom]

Maybe a bunch of people googled "Pirates donate"?

[Nolan]

The hell? There's 120 guests looking at this thread.

What's going on?

It's the pirates!

[GPDP]

Maybe a bunch of people googled "Pirates donate"?

Huh, if you type those words onto google, this thread is the first result. Interesting.

[Faust]

147 guests now...

[gorillafuck]

Any English websites with this on it?

[Faust]

I so far haven't found any other reference to this article, outside of this website. So I'm unsure whether or not it's true.

[RedAnarchist]

People who live in poverty often feel connected to one another, and the pirates are no exception. I doubt that this story will be broadcast all over the main news papers/sites/programmes though.

[Bitter Ashes]

http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/atco7/somali_pirates_want_to_send_loot_confiscated_from/

I found this. Amazing to see these people attacking the pirates for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor isnt it?

[The Red Next Door]

Now that what i called a charity.

[Red Fist]

does anybody know or got some info on who financial prepared the pirates for the first time? and where did they got there weapons from?

[~Spectre]

The pirate stories are very useful for engaging people and persuading them to a more socialist p.o.v.

Usually the non politically aware will instantly assume these pirates are all bad guys, which gives us a chance to mention the damage imperialism has done to the area, and point to the root of the problem.

[mastershake16]

This article is awesome haha
Who would've ever guessed?



I love pirates :D
Argh
and rum

[DecDoom]

Traditionally, I would always say that Ninjas > Pirates. Now I'm not so sure.

[bcbm]

Traditionally, I would always say that Ninjas > Pirates. Now I'm not so sure.

pirates are libertines sailing the waves and stealing from the rich and powerful.

ninjas were government spies or mercenaries, ie pigs.

i don't think there is much else to say.

[Pirate Utopian]

Well hats off to these pirates, show them who the real criminals are.

[Robocommie]

This is the utmost irony of capitalism and imperialism: the pirates, the terrorists, the criminals, and the scum of society are usually much more benevolent, helping, and understanding than the so-called "defenders of freedom".

Solidarity with these "pirates" (the real pirates, of course, being the US armed forces and its big-business leaders).

As I understand it, this is what spurred Karl Marx to take such a compassionate attitude towards the working class in the first place. In the slums of London, they had nothing, and yet everyone tried to help each other.

[Dimentio]

The hell? There's 120 guests looking at this thread.

What's going on?

Probably because Johnny Depp is doing another Pirates movie.

[NecroCommie]

Probably because Johnny Depp is doing another Pirates movie.
OH my fucking god NO! :crying:
What have we done to deserve this?! More teenagers drooling over vain celebrities and think this is what pirates are all about!

[Tablo]

OH my fucking god NO! :crying:
What have we done to deserve this?! More teenagers drooling over vain celebrities and think this is what pirates are all about!
But I thought pirates were all about treasure hunting, adventures, and wearing an eye-patch? That's what Disney taught me!

[fionntan]

From Socialist Voice, April 2009Somali fishermen: “pirates” or defenders of their national resources?

In the latest display of gunboat diplomacy the US government sent its warships to rescue the captain of an American cargo ship who had been taken prisoner off the Horn of Africa by what the western press describe as Somali “pirates.” While the families of those taken prisoner are naturally concerned for their safety, little if any attempt is made to explain who these so-called pirates are or where they come from.
Somalia is one of the poorest countries in Africa and has had no stable government since 1991, when its government collapsed. Since then the people have suffered under various clan and Islamic groups, with both the Saudis and western powers meddling to gain influence over the various factions while the people have been left to fend for themselves, with many starving.
As is the usual practice, western governments and corporations see other people’s difficulties as their opportunity to rid themselves of a problem or to take advantage of resources that the local people are not capable of securing or defending.
What did European governments and corporations do? For a start, they dumped toxic waste, including nuclear waste, in the ocean off the Somali coast. Somalia has an enormous coastline, stretching for more than two thousand miles. It has no navy or coastguard, and its fishing fleet was not geared to meet the challenge of European factory trawlers. Some estimates put the plunder of Somali fishing resources at more than $300 million worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other marine life every year by vast trawlers from EU countries, illegally fishing in Somalia’s unprotected seas.
Soon after the collapse of any form of central government, European ships began dumping barrels of toxic waste. Those Somalis living along the coast who relied on fishing for making a living and feeding their families suddenly began to become ill and to experience strange rashes and nausea and to give birth to malformed babies. The United Nations envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, stated: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury—you name it.”
After the tsunami in 2005 barrels full of toxic waste began to be washed up on the coast, dislodged from their watery grave. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, with estimates of the number killed at over three hundred. A lot of the material can be traced back to European hospitals and factories. This is the cheap way to dispose of deadly waste—and sure the locals are black anyway. The old European colonial outlook is always lurking in the background.
European governments and the European Union know full well the extent of the problem but have turned a blind eye to the damage being done to the Somali people and to their environment. It is this sequence of events, with people seeing their resources being plundered by the returning colonialists in the form of giant trawlers sucking up all the fish, coupled with the dumping of toxic waste, that forced Somali fishermen to take to the sea not just to catch fish for feeding their families but to try to stop the dumping of poison that was killing their children and to prevent the total destruction of their fishing grounds.
The independent Somali news site Wardher News conducted research into what ordinary Somalis think about the actions of their coastal fellow-citizens, and it found that 70 per cent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country’s territorial waters.”
What are these poor communities supposed to do: lie down and either see their families starve to death or see them die a slow death from poisoning, with no medical support worth talking about?
This is why poor Somali fishermen have turned to raiding western ships and demanding a ransom for their return. It is one form of wealth redistribution—not a pleasant one for those who have to go through it, but life is not and never has been easy for the poor.From Socialist Voice, April 2009Somali fishermen: “pirates” or defenders of their national resources?

[khad]

Most Somalis support "piracy" as national defense policy. At the very least these guys are patrolling the waters against illegal fishing and dumping, which other countries feel free to do because Somalia has no real government to claim maritime rights.

[StalinFanboy]

Now that what i called a charity.
It's actually called solidarity.



I don't know why so many people are that surprised about this. The reason these people are pirates in the first place is because they recognize a need to take of their people, and the only way to do it is outside of legalism. It makes sense that they would see themselves in the poor of Haiti.