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It's not racist like the confederate flag isn't racist.

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Seems like a good time to remind people that the phrase "from the river to the sea" - while apparently popular on this hellsite, is basically a call for the total eradication of not just the Israeli state (and by that I don't mean the government, I mean EVERYTHING) but of every Jew in that area.

SO. If I see it on your blog? Bye. I do not trust you to have anything even remotely approaching a nuanced take to this fucking tragedy.

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source

[transcript: [slide 1]

we are treated differently and we are so tired

[slide 2] From day one, we were treated differently: the celebrations

Hamas is an internationally-recognized terrorist organization that is explicit in its aim to annihilate Israel and the Jewish people in its very foundational charter. On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded internationally-recognized sovereign Israeli territory and slaughtered 1,200 people in a matter of hours, the majority of them civilians. They went door to door, pulling people from their beds, maiming, mutilating, beheading, raping, and burning entire families alive. About 80 of the corpses showed signs of torture. They also took over 200 people hostage, including Holocaust survivors and a 9-month-old. It was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel is a small country; had October 7 happened in the US, it would be the equivalent of individually slaughtering 50,000 Americans in a matter of hours.

Instead of expressing outrage, there were worldwide celebrations. In the West Bank, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Arab world, candy was handed out on the streets in celebration. In Gaza, thousands gathered to cheer as terrorists paraded mutilated corpses. A group of 3000 United Nations teachers expressed their joy at the murder and mutilation of Israelis, including young children. All over left-wing social media, people celebrated.

On October 8, before any Israeli retaliation whatsoever, crowds of thousands gathered in Times Square to express their support for the murderers, holding signs that declared "decolonization is not a metaphor" and "by any means necessary".

Fringe extremists exist, but this was hardly the fringe. And we know this is not a normal reaction. We did not see entire protests in Times Square in support of the Russian slaughter of Ukranians, 9/11, the ISIS genocide of Yazidis, the slaughter of Yemenis, the slaughter of Syrians, or any other atrocity.

[slide 3] From Day one, we were treated differently: the contextualization and qualification

Secretary General of the United Nations Anthony Guterres' initial response to the October 7 massacre was the following: "It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."

First, let me make one thing clear: there is no context, in international law or anywhere else, that justifies or minimizes the slaughter, torture, and rape of civilians, including women, children, those with disabilities, and the elderly.

But beyond that, there is a glaring double standard when Israel is the victim of a massacre. Let's take a look at another example of terrorism as a guideline. When ISIS bombed an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England on May 22, 2017, killing 22, Secretary General Guterres immediately "strongly condemned" the attack, and the Security Council released a statement, condemning "in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack" and extending its solidarity to the United Kingdom. No one said the attack had to be understood "in the context" of the UKs invasion of Iraq, the war against ISIS, or the UKs long history of colonialism in the region, and no one said that it did not happen in a vacuum.

Similarly, on October 7, millions of people rushed to social media to provide "context" for the cold-blooded, purposeful, and indiscriminate murder of civilians. Others, before their "condemnation" felt the need to clarify that they were not supporters of the Israeli government (okay, and?), when they've otherwise strongly condemned atrocities perpetrated on others, without feeling the need to qualify support (or lack thereof) for any other country's government.

[slide 4] From day one, we were treated differently: the victim blaming

On October 7, as the massacre was still unfolding, 31 Harvard University organizations released a statement holding Israel "entirely responsible" for the slaughter of its own citizens. I reiterate: as Israelis were still being slaughtered by the hundreds simply for being Jewish - or for being associated with Jews - we were told that our own slaughter was our fault.

They were not the only ones to do so. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran, and Iraq blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. Black Lives Matter Chicago blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. Labor unions across the US blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. The list goes on.

After the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article in which one anonymous police officer said that the police is looking into the possibility that some of the victims of the Nova music festival were killed by fire from an IDF military chopper, antisemites took the statement out of context, distorted it, and disseminated it all over the media and internet.

In response to the Haaretz article, the Israeli police put out a statement that the investigation was only in regard to police activities on October 7, not military activities, and that as such, they do not have any indication about the harm to any civilians due to any aerial activity there."

Regardless, the conspiracy has taken a life of its own, so much so that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of carrying out the massacre. Abbas later retracted his statement. A few other unverified reports have also similarly taken out of context to "prove" that Israel was actually behind its own massacre.

To this day, we are told, in response to released hostage testimony that Israeli women are being raped in the Hamas tunnels, that it's justified because "they were soldiers." For what it's worth, no one's rape is justified - even when they're soldiers.

[slide 5] A few days later came the denial

The 10/7 massacre was live-streamed by the perpetrators on their own social media platforms.

Initially, antisemites celebrated. After more and more heinous, indefensible details started to come out, antisemites started denying it happened at all.

To reiterate: the massacre was live-streamed to social media - by the perpetrators. We all saw it in the early hours of October 7. The perpetrators have gone on to boast about it since. For example, on January 10, the leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said, "We should hold on to the victory that took place on October 7 and build upon it."

The level of denial - just a few days after October 7 - is so pervasive that Israel had to compile a 47-minute film of footage with the most graphic, dehumanizing video evidence to screen for international reporters, government officials, and more.

But no amount of evidence seems to be enough. No independent investigators are enough. No video footage is enough. No survivor or eyewitness testimony is enough. Why are people denying what's before their very eyes? Why?

[slide 6] Then the one-sided demands.

From October 7, there were already demands on Israel - on Israel, as its civilians were massacred - to ceasefire. These demands came from important voices, including American Congresspeople, groups such as UNICEF, and more. These calls made little, if any, mention of Hamas, the perpetrator of the October 7 massacre.

No other country would be asked, as a slaughter of their people was still unfolding, to lay down their arms.

Since then, the calls for Israel - and only Israel - to ceasefire have been incessant. They have continued even as Hamas vowed, on October 24, that "there will be a second, a third, a fourth" October 7. When asked to clarify, in the same interview, whether they meant the complete annihilation of Israel, the senior Hamas official responded, "Yes, of course."

The calls for Israel to ceasefire continued as Yaha Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, promised on November 30 that "October 7 was just a rehearsal."

The calls for Israel to ceasefire continued as Hamas violated the terms of the temporary ceasefire every single day between November 24 and December 1.

The calls for Israel to ceasefire as Hamas has fired over 13,000 missiles at Israeli civilians. Even more infuriating, the calls for a ceasefire are often made hand in hand with calls to "globalize the Intifada." An intifada is an armed uprising; it's incompatible with a ceasefire.

The calls for Israel to ceasefire have continued as Hamas has rejected several ceasefires in the past several weeks. At this point, those calling for a ceasefire should be honest: what they care is that Israel ceases, but they are not particularly bothered (or even support) when Hamas fires.

[slide 7] The genocide accusations

There are 153 countries that have signed the Convention of 1948. Before this January, only two had ever been brought to trial before the International Court of Justice. Of the signatories, a number of them have been accused of genocidal acts after signing the Convention, including Azerbaijan, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and more.

Only Israel, however, is put on trial, which is all the more egregious when we consider that the events post-October 7 are in response to a massacre of Israelis that Genocide Watch classified as "an act of genocide."

What's even more egregious is that South Africa, which has brought this case before the ICJ, maintains close relationships with genocidal dictators, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. It is a close ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas' patron, which has been brutally oppressing the people of Iran since 1979. South Africa even hosted Hamas officials for a "solidarity" event in December 2023 - two months after the October 7 massacre.

Per the Hamas Ministry of Health, 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza; Israel claims at least 9,000 of them are Hamas combatants. While any civilian death is tragic, there are far deadlier wars and atrocities happening around the globe right at this very second. In Yemen, nearly 400,000 have been killed and a million have died in a famine. In Syria, over 600,000 have been killed. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 6 million have been killed. In Ukraine, at least 100,000 have been killed. The list goes on and on. In many of these cases, the perpetrators of the atrocities - some of them South Africa's closest allies - have explicitly expressed genocidal intent. Yet South Africa hasn't found it necessary to bring them before the International Court of Justice. Only the Jewish state.

[slide 8] Feminist advocates are suddenly silent - or worse, accuse us of lying

Perhaps among the most infuriating responses to the October 7 massacre has been the response of so-called feminists and feminist organizations.

On October 7, and every day since, Hamas weaponized rape as a tool of war, which is not only a war crime, but a crime against humanity. There is a preponderance of evidence, including extensive forensic evidence, eyewitness testimony, perpetrator confessions, and survivor testimony.

Yet the Women's March has not condemned Hamas' weaponization of rape as a tool of war; instead, it has only called for a ceasefire. Me Too has not condemned Hamas' weaponization as a tool of war. UN Women did not condemn Hamas' massacre until December 2, nearly two months after October 7, after intense public pressure from Israelis and the Jewish community.

Angelina Jolie, perhaps the most vocal global activist against the weaponization of rape as a tool of war, has said absolutely nothing about Hamas' war crimes; instead, she has asked Israel to ceasefire.

[slide 9] Double standard: legitimacy

Israel is condemned more than any other nation in the world, but the double standard doesn't end there. Israel's real or perceived crimes are blown out of proportion in comparison to other countries' real or perceived crimes, but the double standard doesn't end there. Israel's suffering is minimized, contextualized, denied, or qualified in comparison to the suffering of other countries, but the double standard doesn't end there. Instead, there is another double standard: everything coming out of Hamas' mouth is immediately taken as fact, while everything that comes out of Israel is questioned.

This is not merely a matter of "feeling" like there is a double standard.

On October 17, an explosion went off at the Al Ahli Hospital parking lot. Within minutes, Hamas claimed that an Israeli airstrike had targeted the hospital, killing 471 people. Israel claimed that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad missile misfired and hit the hospital. But the BBC ran with Hamas' story. This triggered worldwide outrage, inciting anti-Jewish riots in the Arab world and in Russia. Eventually, most international independent investigations corroborated Israel's version of events. But by the time the media retracted its original claim - that is, what Hamas said - it was too late. Two Jews had already been killed in Tunisia in retaliation for a massacre that Israel never actually committed.

Then there is the issue of the hostage videos. Hostage videos are hostage videos because they are made under duress. The hostage is told what to say; otherwise, their life is in danger. Hamas, of course, has coerced the Israeli hostages into saying that they are being treated well. These statements, made with a gun to the head, have been taken as fact, so much so that prominent figures such as Shaun King have gushed over Hamas' so-called "humane" treatment of the hostages (that they brutally abducted after murdering their entire families and friends before their eyes).

Yet, now that over a hundred hostages have been released, and they are no longer under threat from Hamas, they are coming out with stories of abuse and torture. Suddenly, no one believes these accounts, claiming that Israel must have told them what to say. It's absolutely absurd and defies all logic.

[slide 10] support my work

venmo: @rootsmetals cash app: $rootsmetals paypal: @debbie@rootsmetals.com

complete bibliography for this post: patreon.com/rootsmetals

disclaimer: the intent of this post is to educate, raise awareness, and challenge hate speech]

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I saw a fan fiction writer whose stuff I really enjoyed tag something with “from the r*ver…” and I wrote an anon note saying “hey, just so you know, that’s a genocidal statement, I hope you didn’t know that and it’s not what you meant” and they were like “no, I fully meant it” and went on about it

idk, just very shaken that there are people with no skin in this game who are willing to admit to hating Jews that much

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Tbh I think a lot of the rank-and-file goyische anti-Zionists don’t really realize that a large majority of the Jewish community sees them as a new generation trying (and thankfully not succeeding—yet) to enact another full-scale genocide against us. They’re so insulated by their tokens—who have either been gaslighted into accepting abuse or are actively trying to avoid abuse by being Good Jews—that they honestly do not understand the Evil Jews they call Zionists (who may or may not actually be Zionists) are the majority of the Jewish community.

And we despise you. We’re disgusted by you. Some of us are downright terrified of you. We see you as no better ideologically than the genocidal maniacs who have spent the last 3000 years murdering us in increasingly horrific ways. And I cannot fathom how you can see yourself as a good person or ally to Jews when the majority of the Jewish community fears and hates you as much as we do the literal Nazis.

I know you won’t, because the truth is that you do hate Jews just as much as the Nazis and everyone who came before them did, even if you deny or justify it—but you should be ashamed.

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SAME THOUGH the second youngest regular is like, 27ish & im barely 18. its super cool to talk to older jews but where are the ones my age 😭

I'm going to an Israel related event and now that I'm here I realize it's a similar demographic to my shul: I'm younger than everyone else by at least 3x

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Okay, fuck it, misinformation check.

DISCLAIMER: The primary intent of this post is to correct misinformation and I do not care which side of the argument that misinformation is used to support. Attempts to discredit this post by making unfounded accusations regarding what my views are will be called out and blocked. With that out of the way, let's get on with this post.

All of the following are claims I've seen people make in earnest, and all of the following rely on flawed reasoning and misrepresenting facts.

"The Torah proves Jewish people are not indigenous to the Levant!"

The Torah details the Ancient Israelites' origin narrative, a synthesis of multiple traditions that portray the Jews as coming from regions that, at the time the Torah was being written down, Israel and Judah were both trading with and being influenced by. This type of origin narrative is very common across the world, so by using it to deny Jewish indigeneity to the Levant you're also implicitly denying the indigeneity of a lot of other groups to their homelands.

Additionally, cultural, linguistic, genetic, and archeological evidence all points to the ancient Israelites having originated as a subgroup of Canaanites.

"The majority of Ashkenazi Jews are descended from European converts!"

No they're not.

First, again, the genetic evidence points to Ashkenazi Jews being mostly descended from Jews who were displaced from their homeland by the Romans. Second, for most of European history conversion to Judaism was discouraged by Jewish people (because to convert to Judaism you have to be sure it's the right faith for you) and violently discouraged by Christians (because Christianity has a long history of violent, institutional antisemitism). Third, conversion in Judaism is typically seen as joining the Jewish people, so even those Jewish people who are descended from converts are still considered Jewish. Fourth, this rhetoric is disturbingly similar to various racist talking points around "race-mixing".

"Ashkenazi Jews are actually Khazars!"

This is a Nazi conspiracy theory. If you say this, you are either a Nazi yourself or you are unwittingly helping Nazis.

The Khazars were a Turkic confederation located in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe and they did convert to Judaism during the early medieval period. However, as their power waned and groups like the Pechenegs began to eclipse them, the Khazars converted again, this time to Islam. It's possible that some Jewish groups who historically lived in the region may have been partially (partially) descended from Khazars, but these groups are not Ashkenazim.

As for the conspiracy theory, the "Khazar Theory" is a conspiracy theory which includes claims that the Khazars actually survived as a secretive "Khazar mafia" which now controls Ukraine. This conspiracy theory has been used to justify both antisemitic and ukrainophobic genocide. That's the line of reasoning you're endorsing with this argument.

"The true indigenous people of the region were the Philistines, and Palestinians are their direct descendants!"

Yeah, no.

The Philistines were one of several groups that lived in what's now Israel and Palestine. They were not the original inhabitants in any way: the most plausible explanation of their origins is that they were descendants of probably-European settlers known to the Ancient Egyptians as the Peleshet, one of the constituent groups of the Sea Peoples.

The Philistine homeland was referred to by the Greeks as Philistia which eventually became the Latin Palestina. After the Romans brutally crushed Jewish revolts in the province of Judea, they renamed it to Syria Palestina. The most direct connection between Philistines and Palestinians is that Palestinians are named for Palestine which is named for the Philistines.

That said, the claim that Palestinians are the Philistines' direct descendants is at least partially true, in as much as they're descended from the other groups that were present in the region at the time. Which brings me to the next claim.

"Palestinians are Arabs so they're not indigenous to the Levant"

This claim is a lot less true than it initially seems. Yes, Palestinians are an Arab group and the Arab people did not originate in the Levant - but Palestinians are also very much the descendants of the various groups that lived in the Levant during antiquity, and the Palestinian identity specifically formed in connection to the land, so you could easily make the case that they're just as indigenous as any other group in the region.

Additionally, even if they weren't indigenous to the land, that still would not be a justification for the actions people use this argument to justify - unless you're prepared to also defend a lot of other acts of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

And as a final point, I have seen people argue that the western understanding of indigeneity doesn't really apply in a context like the Levant. I don't think I've ever seen a full rationale for that argument but it's still worth mentioning.

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oh i am crying. oh. it turns out there were a lot of emotions in a box that i didn't know the existence of until now.

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with how often i have to block years old mutuals for spreading blood libel it's not gonna be long before my dash is only jewish accounts

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I’m seeing a lot of discussion about this:

do I think the Artists4Ceasefire pins were designed this way intentionally? probably not. I suspect this happened out of unfortunate ignorance, but that ignorance, or humanitarian intent, doesn’t negate harm. the connotation being made here is disturbing.

and yes, the website does mention a release of the hostages and a focus on aid along with desiring a ceasefire, which are good things that I think most of us support. all that said, this should’ve been done with more consideration.

“Yes, they have something to do with blood-stained hands indeed…

These red hands refer to the Ramallah lynchings hich took place on October 12, 2000 at the el-Bireh police station.

Two drivers in the IDF reserve, chief sergeant Yossi Avrahami (38), a toy salesman, and corporal Vadim Nurzhitz (33), a truckdriver, returned to duty that day. The two reservist drivers made their way in a civilian vehicle towards their unit’s assembly point near the settlement of Beit El. They had little army experience, were unfamiliar with the West Bank road system and drove through the military checkpoint outside Beitunia and headed straight into the Palestinian town of Ramallah 2 miles east of the checkpoint.

Reaching a Palestinian Authority roadblock, where previously Israeli soldiers had been turned back, the reservists were detained by PA policemen and taken to the local police station at Ramallah’s twin city el-Bireh, not far from Arafat’s headquarters.

The arrest took place at the same time as the conclusion of a funeral service, attended by hundreds of mourners, for Halil Zahran (17), a Palestinian youth who had been killed in clashes with Israeli forces two days earlier. There were lots of tensions as many Palestinians, nearly two dozen of them minors, had been killed in the preceding two weeks in violent protests with Israeli forces in Ramallah.

Rumors spread very quickly that Israeli undercover agents were in the building, and an angry crowd of more than 1,000 Palestinians gathered in front of the station calling for the death of the Israelis. According to the Ramallah station chief, there were 21 policemen in the building. Soon after, Palestinian rioters stormed the building, overcame the Palestinian police and murdered and mutilated both soldiers. Approximately 13 Palestinian policemen were injured while attempting to stop the lynching, whilst at least one participated.

The Israeli reservists were beaten and stabbed. At this point, a Palestinian (Aziz Salha), appeared at the window, displaying his blood-soaked hands to the crowd, which erupted into cheers – there you have the origin of the symbol of the red hands.

The crowd clapped and cheered as one of the soldier’s bodies was then thrown out the window and stamped and beaten by the frenzied crowd. One of the two was shot and set on fire, and his head was beaten to a pulp. Soon after, the crowd dragged the two mutilated bodies to Al-Manara Square in the city center and began an impromptu victory celebration.

The brutality of the murders shocked the Israeli public, intensifying Israeli distrust of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The event also deeply damaged the Israeli left-wing’s faith in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, at the onset of the second Intifada.

MARK SEAGER, 29, a British photographer, was working on a pictorial study of Palestinian refugees when he found himself caught up in the horrific lynching of two Israeli army reservists in Ramallah. The only journalist to witness the beating, this is part of his exclusive, eyewitness account:

‘I got out of the car to see what was happening and saw that they were dragging something behind them. Within moments they were in front of me and, to my horror, I saw that it was a body, a man they were dragging by the feet. The lower part of his body was on fire and the upper part had been shot at, and the head beaten so badly that it was a pulp, like red jelly…. I thought he was a soldier because I could see the remains of khaki trousers and boots. My God, I thought, they’ve killed this guy. He was dead, he must have been dead, but they were still beating him, madly, kicking his head. They were like animals… I was scared for my life. At the same time, the guy that looked like a soldier was being beaten and the crowd was getting angrier and angrier, shouting ‘Allah akbar’ – God is great. They were dragging the dead man around the street like a cat toying with a mouse. It was the most horrible thing that I have ever seen and I have reported from Congo, Kosovo, many bad places. In Kosovo, I saw Serbs beating an Albanian but it wasn’t like this. There was such hatred, such unbelievable hatred and anger distorting their faces…. The worst thing was that I realised the anger that they were directing at me was the same as that which they’d had toward the soldier before dragging him from the police station and killing him. Somehow I escaped and ran and ran not knowing where I was going. I never saw the other guy they killed, the one they threw out of the window…. I thought that I’d got to know the Palestinians well. I’ve made six trips this year and had been going to Ramallah every day for the past 16 days. I thought they were kind, hospitable people. I know they are not all like this and I’m a very forgiving person but I’ll never forget this. It was murder of the most barbaric kind. When I think about it, I see that man’s head, all smashed. I know that I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life.’

So the symbol of these red hands at the Pro-Palestine protests are not just some artistic, or otherwise ‘peaceful’ symbols, or some more or less innocent way to draw attention to the cause of Peace and well-being of the Palestinian people.

The call here is a whole other one; it is in the same vein as the calls to Intifada and to globalize the Intifada; they are direct calls to violence and death, murder of Israelis and Jews. They do not signify ‘blood on your hands’ – the context is a whole other one, especially in an Israeli-Jewish context. Not learning history and context does things like this, and simply saying ‘but’…will not change the legacy of this image and its symbolism.

Now you know.”

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little bit more about me:

i've been in the process of conversion for a year and a half, which is not enough to call myself properly jewish but is apparently more than enough to be scared to death of what's happening right now

i'm disabled (semisevere long covid/chronic fatigue)

i'm trans, aroace, and gay

the meaning behind the url and theming is:

for a year or so now, dandelions have felt very jewish to me. both because of how much people tend to hate them, but also because they're survivors. a dandelion will grow in a crack in the sidewalk in an inch of soil and it'll still bloom proudly. it sends taproots deep down into the ground and they're very hard to uproot. and no matter how much people try to get rid of them for the sake of lawns, there's always more come next spring.

dandelions are a symbol of jewish hope for me.