#Islam and the West

[cavalierzee]

All Colonized People

All Colonized People

See Themselves

In Palestine.

They See Same Aspect Of What Was Done To Them In Palestine.

All Colonizers

See Themselves

In Israel.

[thesquireinvictus]

"It’s odd being in a Muslim majority city, once the capital of a great Muslim empire and the last caliphate, and not seeing a single public display of support for the Palestinian terrorists," while "watching videos of that back home in the middle of British cities."

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 20th of February 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates on Thursday.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[la7ma-mafrooma]

I wanted to share something personal because I don't think a lot of you understand the influence of the West and its atrocities on an Arab child's upbringing. English is not my first language; I learnt it initially due to my interest in the language and Western cultures. However, seeing the true face of the West motivated me to continue learning the language to dismantle the false image of Arabs and Muslims which was portrayed by the West. I also talk about how this impacted my standing with the Palestinian cause. Bear with me as this post is long and a little messy, but I need to try and give everyone a clear and full image as much as I can.

I grew up consuming Western media due to my fascination with the English language. However I noticed the lack of Muslim and Arab representation.

When I started seeing representation later on, it was mostly Arabs and Muslims being depicted as 'terrorists' and 'barbarics'.

When a Muslim woman is depicted, she is depicted as 'oppressed' and in need of 'saving'.

I was on social media starting from a very young age. Seeing people online describe my people as 'terrorists' was not only scary, but also confusing. Why am I as an Arab Muslim child -who's living a normal childhood as everyone else- being labelled as a 'terrorist' by the West? Why are people claiming all Arab and Muslim children are trained to use guns by ISIS or/and Hamas? I remember asking my parents as a kid "Is this a real gun with the police officer?" Because I only saw weapons in movies.

I asked questions such as "Why do they think Arabs = Muslims?" The lack of acknowledgment of Christian and Jewish Arabs and non-Arab Muslims confused me.

Why were Muslim women always 'oppressed' in these movies and TV shows I saw? This is not as common as they make it seem. Why are they using the struggle of some Muslim women to demonize an entire religion? Why are they pretending to be saviours when they're actually contributing to further oppression of Muslim women? Why are they weaponizing the awful struggle of some Muslim women against the vast majority of Muslim women? (White feminism is not saving us. It's actually a form of oppression of Muslim women)

Misrepresentation bothered me and made me angry and disappointed. I couldn't finish watching a movie or an episode of a TV show if I saw any mentions of Muslims or/and Arabs, because I knew what would happen next.

When it comes to the Palestinian cause, every Arab grew up watching endless footage of Palestinians being brutally murdered LIVE. Everything and all the footage all of you are surprised to see during this genocide, were a part of our upbringing.

When I was a kid I stumbled upon a newspaper in the house with a headline about a Palestinian father who returned to his house and found all his children shot. And I remember the image very well. The father was holding a prayer mat with people holding him as he broke down on his knees. His dead children were on the floor next to each other. Seeing this image of children my age murdered by the Israeli occupation shocked me. I remember my parents having to hide the newspaper from me because of the impact this image had on me.

I had to start reading into politics at a young age, and I realized that everything that Western media was trying to portray about the West being 'civilized' was a lie. How can you be civilized if you're a murderer or/and contribute to the murder of the innocent?

When I learnt about the history of imperialism, colonialism, slavery,...etc. growing up, I recognized the pattern that colonialists use and I saw that the colonizers of yesterday, are the same as today, except Western media is doing a great job covering for them nowadays, and a lot of people only started noticing that recently.

The West seemed fascinating to me as a child, but after seeing the horrendous false images that're being portrayed of my people in the West, all of my fascination turned into anger and motivation to fight against it.

The real terrorists in the world are not the brown and bearded men, veiled women, or the innocent children. The real terrorists are the ones who set the stage for the murder of innocent people, the exploitation of their resources, using propaganda and painting an image of the innocent that cannot be more false and racist, and the fascists that put on a 'civilized' mask.

I will forever stand with my Palestinian brothers and sisters. I will forever defend my Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters, and I won't give room to any misrepresentation. Enough is enough.

Edit: I wanted to add that growing up, I was scared of telling people about where I'm from, my religion, and what language I speak due to the microaggression and discrimination I was subjected to. Not to mention the amount of times I saw on the news Arabs or/and Muslims getting killed in Western countries (aka hate crimes).

[the-red-planet-mars]

4 Days Until May 14 1948

This date marks the 76th year of the Israeli oppression against Palestine. This date marks the day Israel drove out over 750, 000 people from their homeland to establish its "state".

This heinous event was called al-Nakba (the catastrophe, the disaster). This heinous event was the start of this genocide.

It did not start on October 7th 2023. It stared on May 14 1948. It. has. still. not. ended.

The Nakba did not end in 1948. It is still happening today, right at this very second.

The numbers are growing. Every. Second.

This is the day you remember the corporations that fund the genocide. This is the day you remember the governments that cheer-on the genocide. This is the day you remember how the west instigated hate-crimes towards Arabs. This is the day you remember how the west and Israel are the terrorists. This is the day you remember the millions of people who had been killed for ethnic cleansing.

This is the day you always remember. This is the day you never forget.

This is the day you cry for Palestine. This is the day you scream for Palestine.

This is the day you remind everyone of the country of Palestine. You must never stop talking about Palestine. Never.

Palestinian lives matter. Stand up for the ones that died and the ones that live. Show us you care.

Do not dare forget:

May 14 1948

If you want to help Palestine with financial aid, but don't have any money, there's a website called arab.org that donates for you with just one click of a button.

Please, do your part for Palestine.

[kaapstadgirly]

I have no words. Israel is cruel and inhumane.

via eye.on.palestine on insta

[scarz-xo]

23 years ago 9/11 happened, I wasn't even half a year old at that time, yet it affected me in several ways, I'm brown, middle eastern, Muslim, Arabic speaker & so on, I think you get the picture.

After 9/11 happened, Muslims & Arabs/middle easterns were viewed as terrorists, hate crimes increased too, Muslims were viewed as barbaric people, savages, couldn't integrate & so on.

How did that affect us?

You can't wear hijab in France for example, you can't speak in Arabic on the bus in England without someone calling you out for being a terrorist cause now you're on English lands, you better speak their language, you could get killed in the US cause there's no gun control whatsoever.

Hate spreads like wildfire & so it did against Arabs, middle easterns, Muslims & the Arabic language.

Why am I saying all that?

Because the IDF & Israel today tried to use the buried fear of the Arabic language & the ignorance of the west about it to their own appeal:

This is a freaking calendar but to some who are already scared of the language, that's enough terrorism.

People all over social media here in the East are making fun of that stupid little stunt but for me it depends inherently on the racism, islamophobia & fear of Arabic that has been fed to the west for decades. It's literally another racist move against Arabic speakers but it's Israel so I'm not surprised.

[bottombaron]

you know, i can handle a little bit of fun "Nandor is dumb" talk, but i have a net-zero tolerance for any implication that Nandor is not educated.

Nandor would have been incredibly educated in his lifetime.

even (or especially) as a soldier in the Islamic World. being a soldier was more like getting sent to boarding school that's also a military camp. they weren't just concerned with creating loyal fodder for war. they were building the next government officials, generals, accountants, advisors, etc. it was important that young men knew how to read, write, speak multiple languages, learn philosophy...sometimes even studying art and music was mandatory.

if he was nobility (and its most likely he was), take all that shit and multiply it exponentially. Nandor would have been reading Plato at the same age most people are still potty training. he would have been specifically groomed in such a way to not be just a brilliant strategist and warrior, but also diplomate and ambassador of literally the center of scientific and cultural excellence of the age.

so like yeah, he can be a big dummy sometimes, sure. but that bitch is probably more educated than any of us will ever be.

[secular-jew]

Real Muslims know

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Source

[songs-of-the-east]

Alevis of Azerbaijan

"The centerpiece of the cem is the semah – a ritual dance performed by men and women, who whirl and spin together in circular patterns, while the pir plays and sings an Alevi poem or prayer. Often, each dancer holds one hand over his or her heart, while extending the other to the heavens. It’s an exhilarating act of choreographed rapture, which some say represents the dissolution of the individual ego in the living, divine connection between the community and the cosmos. Others say the semah is an expression of the worshippers’ love of God – and of God’s love for them. Yet others say that the dance represents the ability to magically transform into a crane - a bird sacred to Alevis as a symbol of the voice of Ali - and fly."

[cavalierzee]

Hunger Or Bombs

Palestinians in Gaza are given a stark choice.

“I’ll Give You 2 Options: Hinger Or Bombs!”

Artist: Carlos Latuff

[madamepestilence]

WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE

FREE PALESTINE

[vyorei]

Timestamp: 22:52pm on the 11th of November 2023.

Here is a recap of today's latest developments

[aswiya]

Adriana Adie

Indonesian Muslims attend Eid al-Fitr prayers along the banks of the river Cisadane in Bogor, West Java, on May 2, 2022. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world with an estimated 205 million adherents—or roughly 88 percent of its population.