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answering a couple questions i got on this post since i realized ppl genuinely wanna know:

tl;dr:

israel lets very, very little aid get into gaza. even the UN can't get in as much as they want to. funding individual families, gazan led initiatives, and mutual aid collectives operating out of gaza ensures gazans can provide for themselves and pay for the extremely expensive aid that is available.

with all the civil infrastructure destroyed by israel, the situation on the ground has devolved into unrestricted capitalism, driving up the price of aid (that should be free!). this makes it more urgent for people to have funding for daily survival.

the post linked above has examples of how donating to individual families can help a lot. if you want to help more than one family at a time, there are many gazan-led initiatives focusing on rebuilding their infrastructure and distributing aid fairly that are worth donating to instead of large charities that already get the majority of donations.

as i mentioned in the last post: @/careforgaza on twitter is a nonprofit started by gazans, it's been endorsed by multiple palestinian journalists.

the sameer project is a collective organized by diaspora palestinians offering emergency shelter to gazans.

ele elna elak is a project aiming to bring water, food, shelter, etc. to gazans and has been promoted by bisan owda.

and the municipality of gaza itself is fundraising to rebuild water infrastructure.

all of these organizations are active inside gaza right now and are being run by gazans. if anyone knows of other gazan-led mutual aid projects, nonprofits or charities feel free to link them in the notes! hope this helped!

long answers under the cut!

if you wanna donate to a charity that's absolutely fine, but the thing is most charities (and even the UN!) are unable to make it into gaza in the first place, leaving aid rotting at the egyptian side of the border or subject to israeli settler attacks

not to mention, charities and nonprofits also maintain a paternalistic colonial relationship with the indigenous people they are trying to help, determining what aid they need for them instead of returning power to them and letting them make their own choices

i'm not here to say that one option is better than the other, just that they achieve different things and are equally legitimate. there's an attitude among people who question the legitimacy of these gofundme campaigns that somehow the people promoting them are telling them not to donate to charities. nobody is stopping you from donating to charities. we are just asking that you do not dehumanize the very real gazans in your inbox just because their method of asking for aid is more direct and risky.

unfortunately that's exactly what has happened. because israel destroyed all of gaza's more formalized infrastructure, it seems that organized crime and rampant inflation has taken its place. aid is supposed to be free, but in order to save for evacuation or the cost of living, people have started selling them at an inflated price. and aid that is truly free attracts intense, large crowds that are dangerous to navigate.

this was posted on abc a few days ago

it's pure, unrestrained capitalism. i've had multiple palestinians describe this situation to me confidence. that's why everything's so expensive now. why people have to rent out tiny plots of land for their tents to sit on, why my friend @siraj2024 still has to buy tarps to cover the broken windows of the overpriced bombed out apartment he rented, and why a bag of flour can cost a thousand bucks in the north.

even before israel closed and then bombed the rafah crossing, the egyptian hala travel agency was only allowing people to cross the border if they paid a hefty $5000 USD per adult / $2500 USD per child bribe. it denies doing this, but the hundreds of stories from palestinians say otherwise.

with regard to the economy, here in america we saw something similar happen in the wake of hurricane helene and milton. the podcaster margaret killjoy describes how she saw dual economies rise after asheville was fully cut off from the rest of the country - some people offered each other supplies for free in a sort of mutual aid honor system, and some people required payment when they lent supplies because they themselves needed to buy stuff for their families. these dual economies exist in gaza too. and this means they all still need money to survive.

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🍗🍗

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The Room That Doesn't Exist

art by SUIMA

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Skull Crochet Patterns // Alice In Crochetland

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the problem with having a decade old tumblr blog is that there are posts on it from a decade ago

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They're in dire need for NOMAD esims in Gaza! Please refer to the website on how to buy esims

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Margarete Schön as Kriemhild of Burgund (parts 1, 2) DIE NIBELUNGEN: KRIEMHILD'S REVENGE (1924)

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Can't vote for Biden and his vicious and cruel destruction of title ix. Really embarrassing that Dems have mainly left it to the right to try to defend it, and it's not like I can vote for them because they also hate women just in different ways. Shat on by the left, shat on by the right, women are in an awful situation

i'm posting this so we can all deconstruct what a far right psyop ask looks like.

on first read, this looks like someone who wishes they could be confident in voting blue but they're bummed by the democrats in office. targets title ix for their ire but doesn't really explain, perhaps assuming i'm out of touch and will just react instead of doing my due diligence (bad bet: i'm an attorney). uses over the top dramatic language like "vicious." they equate the left and right as being identical and indicates they won't be voting for either, with the implication that i shouldn't either, but goes on to blame the dems specifically for...something.

look at the very specific way they've couched this sentence:

Really embarrassing that Dems have mainly left it to the right to try to defend it,

i'm not meant to fight them on this. i'm meant to be embarrassed to be voting blue in november, i'm meant to blame democrats for abandoning some law, and i'm meant to recognize the right as upholding it.

title ix, if you didn't know, bans sex-based discrimination in schools and education. when someone tells you about democrats destroying title ix, that someone is a TERF.

and TERFs largely have aligned with the conservative hard right. I'll link a few articles at the bottom with detailed explainers, but for right here it's enough to say that TERFs want the far right to win because the far right is voting with them on their single issue, which is the destruction of trans rights and the ouster of trans and gnc women from public spaces. TERFs have marched with the Proud Boys. TERFs have partnered with anti-lgbtq groups to advance their anti-trans agenda. they will throw every other issue under the bus repeatedly if their anti-trans agenda wins.

and, importantly, the far right recognizes that TERFs are a tool they can use to destablize the left. the far right knows that as long as they will align with TERFs on this single issue, which they will because they too want to enforce the gender binary and traditional gender roles, TERFs will vote for and with them regardless of every single other issue. not only that, but the far right knows TERFs are a modern movement that's gained traction in social media spaces over the last several years, and they are relying on TERFs to send asks like this one to infiltrate spaces like tumblr and twitter and tiktok to encourage would-be blue voters not to vote because they want the far right to win.

this is a psyop. this is, whether formalized or not, a psychological operation intended to discourage voting in and among the left.

don't fall prey. vote blue in november.

I like this one because they have this great graph that specifically points out the link between TERFism, the far right, and disinformation attempts like the ask above.

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oh to one day live in a world that doesn't hinge on the whims of the united states of fucking america.

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"Report: 2.5 millions Sudanese could die from starvation by September."

The RSF -a genocial militia- is mass starving Sudanese people. They are cutting off or denying food access to many through inflation of necessities and it's beyond horrific to see.

This is 5% of the population, and extends to interrelated issues. It has also been reported that roughly 80% of Sudanese people are not able to farm their lands adequately. So please continue to keep eyes on Sudan. Educate yourself, stay informed, and continue to share and donate to GFM's of Sudanese families. I post them on my page as I see them here, as well as when I come across them elsewhere. And as always, free Sudan.

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verified ways to send aid to gaza directly

Help a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical attention, food, rebuilding homes/businesses etc. (Spotlights 1 verified gfm at a time so if you don't know who/where to donate to just go here and donate to the one they show you!)

Help provide tents (urgent):

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents for displaced families in Gaza (emergency bc tents in Rafah are being burned as we speak) (paypal) (gfm)

Food, cash & essentials:

Care for Gaza: Working on the ground in Gaza to distribute food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. (paypal) (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: also working on the ground in Gaza to distribute food, cash & other daily essential suppliess to displaced families. (paypal) (gfm)

Water:

Gaza Municipality's water project: The official Municipality of Gaza needs help rebuilding the water infrastructure in Gaza City to restore access to clean water and waste management services for the people of Gaza. (This campaign only has a couple of weeks left but it's still only at 15%!)

eSIMs (urgent):

guide to buy & send esims for gaza

crips for esims for gaza: If you don't know how to buy esims or don't have the capacity to manage them (e.g. topping up regularly), this team of volunteers are collecting funds to buy & manage gaza esims regularly

Medical Aid

Palestine Red Crescent Society: Provides emergency medical and ambulance services and humanitarian relief on the ground in Gaza e.g. rescuing and treating the wounded.

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by the way this is the procedure to get out of gaza

it costs 5k USD per adult and 2.5k USD per child

if you want to raise this money via GOFUNDME it has to be arranged by someone who is NOT living in Palestine because GFM does not release money to Palestine. GFM also verifies every detail so it has to be accurate so you need someone who is out of Palestine and also familiar with the bureaucracy.

once you raise the money one of your FIRST ORDER RELATIVES have to deposit this money IN CASH and IN PERSON at the Cairo offices of a company called hala. this person cannot be a Palestinian male under 40 because they are not allowed to be Egypt without a permit

once you pay the money you have to WAIT for your names to be published by Egyptian military at the Rafah crossing and the you have 24 hours to get out

it is a very long and convoluted process that is impossible for most Palestinians who do not have contacts in other counties. Please please donate to the GFMs you see floating around because they’ve been verified and this is only the first step in an arduous journey. Once in Cairo, Palestinians aren’t allowed to work so they need money for their support also.

DONATE TO GAZAFUNDS.COM

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My name is Aya Maher, a 24-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, I want to share the heartbreaking story of my family, We've endured 250 days of continuous bombardment during this devastating war.

Since its onset, we've faced a relentless cascade of losses. Our lives have been emptied, and the dreams we once pursued now seem like unattainable fantasies.

We were displaced from our home, and tragically, we lost our new home as well—a place we had worked tirelessly to create, hoping it would become a sanctuary where we could build beautiful memories.

Here is two pictures of our new home once i captured it in November and the other one on january, our buliding is destoryed more than it was.

Despite being displaced from our home by the presence of occupation forces in our area, we found refuge in the home of relatives. Our lives have been repeatedly endangered by barbaric bombing campaigns. We narrowly escaped death twice during sudden tank attacks. Additionally, we endured intense bombardment while trapped inside our house, enduring a harrowing four-day siege.

Despite the immense difficulties, my family and I insisted on staying in Gaza, facing the constant threat of bombings and the scarcity of essential resources. Now, after nine months of siege, we are on the brink of famine, struggling to find basic necessities like food, water, and medicine. We've decided to leave Gaza for our safety, but the high costs of coordination are a barrier.

My professional life has been utterly decimated. For three years, I thrived as a user interface designer on freelance platforms. However, since the onset of this war, my ability to work has been obliterated. The occupation's relentless bombing campaigns have ravaged internet infrastructure, rendering it barely functional. Now, even basic online tasks are nearly impossible. Consequently, I'm left without any financial means to sustain myself. What's even more disheartening is the realization that even after the war concludes, the road back to work will be fraught with obstacles due to the extensive damage inflicted upon network lines.

I am reaching out, seeking your support to help my family and me coordinate our exit from this dangerous situation.

Your financial assistance will not only provide us with a chance for safety and peace but also help me resume my beloved work once the war concludes. Please visit my business gallery at (https://www.behance.net/ayamaher11) and consider contributing to our journey towards a secure and dignified life.

These are the expenses we've outlined:

• Coordination of my mother's requirements: $5000-

• Coordination of me requirements: $5000

• Coordination of my brother Hamza: $5000

• Coordination of my brother Bader: $5000

• Coordination of my sister Nada: $2500

Additionally, we've allocated $2500 for expenses such as passport stamping ,and our initial month's expenses in Egypt.

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today and yesterday's vetted fundraisers. please continue to share and donate in whatever capacity you can! i know there are lots of posts like this and it's easy to just scroll past, but please resist apathy - the few seconds or minutes you take here can absolutely save lives.

june 8th & 9th:

Tahani El-Shorbaje, her husband Wissam, their three children, and six extended family members ($8,508/$50,000) - @tahanishorbaje2

Mohammed Alanqer, his wife Enas Majed, and their four children, one a newborn (€9,747/€38,000) - @mohamedalanqer, @enasmajed

Mohammed Hilles, his wife, and their four children (€10,825/€20,000) - @hmzamohammed

Mahmoud Khalaf's family of eight (€5,039/€30,000) - @mahmoudkhalaff

Reem Shehab, her husband Fahed, their five children, and the childrens' grandmother (€11,316/€50,000) - @monashehab, @danashehab

Skater Hani Alhajjar's family of ten (they lost their father to kidney failure after he was deprived treatment) (€26,103/€50,000) - @skatehani

Amal Ashour, her husband, and their baby daughter (€4,133/€30,000) - @moatasim20101010

Amani Hasan and her three children ($3,403 CAD/$17,732 CAD) - @amani93gaza

Mahmoud Saleh and family (he's lost his father, niece, and nephew) (€2,484/€20,000) - @mahmoud-saleh444

Mohammad Awni and his family of six (€283/€45,000) - @mohamedawni

Reham Al Jarrah and her family of seven (€1,972/€49,000) - @rehamjarrah

Rana Helal, her husband Ibrahim Sahqura, and their four children, one a newborn (€15,480/€28,000) - @ibshaqura, @runnosan

unvetted but likely legitimate:

Newlyweds Walid Abushaban and Farah Al-Aklouk (€330/€40,000) - @walidabushaban, @engfarha94

i know this is a longer list than usual, but please take that as a sign that the situation of these families is only growing more dire and let it encourage you to action rather than overwhelm you. even the smallest efforts count

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i feel like the knowledge that there are some medical databases with free-to-use 3D scans of various human organs available for 3D printing would have drastically reduced tumblrs amount of bone stealing scandals. plus you can make ones that glow in the dark.

look at my glow in the dark humerus boy