#Latin Americans can be refugees

[motsimages]

The thing with US imperialism is that the marketing has been so good for the past century (almost) that we have believed it to be A Good Thing, an Ideal, something to copy and export. It may have been briefly so, but it certainly isn't anymore. It is a failed state.

There are many other countries full of inequality, violence and all kind of social problems that we don't envy or idealise of try to copy. We don't even hear of them, we have virtually no reference. Do they have universal healthcare in Afganistan? We don't know. Do people have unemployment benefits in Sudan? We don't know. Do people have paid leave in Russia? We don't know. They may be famous countries for some terrible shit, but we are not told anything other than The Terrible Thing They Are Famous For.

But the US? I have all the fucking details of the new horrifying law that has been passed in one of the 50 something states. And the worse part is I better pay attention because our government may think it's a good idea and try to copy it. We don't want to copy The Terrible Politics of Third World Country we get refugees from, but we are willing to get inspired by the country where you can't walk anywhere, where homelesness is a big fucking problem to unheard levels in many other countries, where schools shootings are a thing, where segregation and slavery still exist under another name, where religion makes law, and so on.

We tolerate things from the US that most countries in the world are penalised for. The dream is falling apart, we are starting to see glimpses of real life US and it is horrifying. And many people and governments still believe it is an ideal to achieve.

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - January 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. Homes built with clay, grass, plastic and glass: How a Caribbean island is shying away from concrete

“[… Clay] traps moisture which then evaporates and pulls heat from the surface as it goes. […] The roof is covered in old recycled advertising banners and piece of a water tank, the other half of which is used to house some of Rahaman-Noronha's fish [… and] multi-coloured glass bottles inset into walls provide an avenue for streams of light and colour.”

2. To Combat Phoenix’s Extreme Heat, a New Program Provides Sustainable Shade

“The neighborhood workshops allow residents to get a shade plan tailored to their community’s needs and identify the locations where officials can plant trees. Meanwhile, the workforce-development side of the program creates the jobs needed to keep the trees alive for generations[….]”

3. Conservation corridors provide hope for Latin America’s felines

“[… S]cience has shown that to maintain healthy populations there needs to be connection between individuals. [… A] protected area that is close to another has more species and more potential for their survival.”

4. Social program cuts tuberculosis cases among Brazil's poorest by more than half

“The decrease [“in TB cases and deaths”] was over 50% in extremely poor people and more than 60% among the Indigenous populations. […] "We know that the program improves access to food [… and healthcare…] and strengthens people's immune defenses as a result.””

5. Geothermal has vast potential to meet the world’s power needs

“New geothermal systems could technically provide as much as 600 terawatts of carbon-free power capacity by 2050[…. C]ountries could cost-effectively deploy over 800 GW of geothermal power capacity using technology that’s in development today[….]”

6. New D.C. Catholic archbishop is pro-LGBTQ+ and anti-Trump

“In 2018, he objected to the blaming of gay priests for the clergy sexual abuse crisis, “saying that such abuse was a matter of power, not sexual orientation[….]” “We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies [… and] seek to rob our medical care, especially from the poor.””

7. Chesapeake Bay Will Gain New Wildlife Refuge

“The Chesapeake Bay area will have a new wildlife refuge for the first time in a quarter century. […] “This new refuge offers an opportunity to halt and even reverse biodiversity loss in this important place, and in a way that fully integrates and respects the leadership and rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.””

8. Inside Svalbard seed vault’s critical mission to stop our favourite fruit and veg from going extinct

“[… T]he world’s largest secure seed storage […] sits proudly in a massive former coal mine[….] Right now, there are over 1,331,458 samples of 6,297 crop species. […] “During 2024, 61 seed genebanks deposited 64,331 seed samples, including 21 from institutes that deposited seeds for the first time this year[….]””

9. Medical debt will be erased from credit reports for all Americans under new federal rule

“The rule will affect more than 15 million Americans, raising their credit scores by an estimated average of 20 points. [… S]tates and localities have already utilized American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to support the elimination of over $1 billion in medical debt for more than 700,000 Americans[….]”

10. 'Forgotten' water harvesting system transforms 'barren wasteland' into thriving farmland

“"The process started with the community-based participatory planning[….]” 10% to 15% of the water will actually soak into the ground to replenish the water table, creating a more sustainable agricultural process.”

December 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[aliencatwafers]

Be weary

While the Tik Tok ban is taking a lot of attention, it’s being used as a distraction and stunt to draw attention away from the mass deportations and raids set to happen this week.

I’m not saying the ban isn’t important, it reflects censorship and is being used by Trump to gain favor with people so he can say he brought it back. But, don’t let the ban distract you from the oppression immigrants and undocumented people go through, and that they are being heavily targeted this week. It’s common for governments to pull stunts to hide an atrocity happening. For instance, the terrible debate between Trump and Harris last year hid the fact that Gaza was being bombed and refugee camps were being invaded from the American populace. Governments love to do something to draw American attention away from what the government wants to do but knows they won’t have mass approval or don’t want attention. This is happening again with the Tik Tok ban and planned unbanning going at the same time frame as the mass deportations planned.

Trump is a very dangerous man and I am sickened that he is in office and people support him. I’m not shocked but am extremely disappointed that the country picked an incompetent hateful fascist that reflects racist rhetoric. He is destroying communities and will leave so much damage. The nation built off immigrant labor rejects the same people that built this nation (the US was built off exploited Indigenous, Black, Asian, Latin, queer, trans, disabled, women labor).

Remember: DO NOT HELP ICE!!

Remember: If you know an immigrant, NO YOU DON���T

Remember: Protect your neighbors and make sure they’re safe during this time

Remember: Legality is NOT morality

Remember: Pay attention to what the government puts in front of you, and ask yourself if something else is happening behind the scenes

Everyone always says that they would’ve fought the Nazis and help to hide the Jewish people if they were born in Nazi Germany. While what’s happening now is a different time period, take that pride that you’d do better than the Germans who allowed Nazis to get away with this, and actually do better. See humanity in immigrants and ask what they need. The government isn’t going to help you. Once they hurt everyone else, they will go after you. Speak up while you still can. Help vulnerable communities while you still can. Even reblogging is still activism by spreading awareness.

Do not let Trump get away with this.

Do any help you can.

Do what you can.

[xmaveria]

So in case folks do not know there has been an incredibly unjust act passed that has left the Venezuelan community in the US with panic and anger. The orange administration has passed immediate actions which literally strips the legal standing of Venezuelan refugees.

Kristi Noem, secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, rescinded the immigration protections for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans and stopped an extension filed by President Joe Biden in the last days of his presidency that would have allowed TPS recipients to remain in the U.S. until 2026.

This will affect their ability to have legal documents like a driver's license down to even holding a job. Making them vulnerable to ICE raids and encounters. Refugees programs from other countries are probably going down same path like Nicaragua, Haiti, Ukraine, El Salvador, Lebanon you get the picture. This country truly despises immigrants running away from regimes or tragedy.

This basically hands the sheep straight to the wolf in the name of moral goodness of "I'm for people returning to their home countries"

Ofc people are going along with this is going after criminals. But beloveds the top immigration official basically insinuated that every Venezuelan is a criminal from a gang and that Venezuela sent people here to sabotage the US LOL? There was never a room in their mind for exceptions bc immigrants are all the same in their minds, leeches and criminals.

The decision to remove TPS comes as a Trump administration official has been meeting with Maduro, negotiating the release of several American hostages. Pereira wonders why Republican members of Congress, long-time supporters of Democratic rule in Venezuela, aren't criticizing the decision to negotiate with the authoritarian regime. In the past, he says, "They always speak very hard against the Maduro regime. Now because Papi Trump is negotiating with Maduro, they close their mouth?" Venezuelan activist Beatriz Olavarria said that, for some, “returning would be almost suicidal.” Many Venezuelans have fled amid brutal crackdowns on protests against the government and struggles for basic goods such as food and medicine. “Some of those people that are here, that have spoken about the situation in Venezuela on cameras and everywhere, they set foot in Venezuela and they will be jailed”

People do not understand that the Venezuelan government will not kindly receive these refugees. When a regime that has caused even its soldiers to have dissented because of how bad things are, journalists, political prisoners that have escaped (which can range from I posted a funny meme from the other candidate to actually being another legal campaign running against Maduro) , and threatened its own people so much with death threats that they leave the country. Will they be received with open arms by this dictator now? I do not blame the Naturalized Venezuelans for their poor decision and support bc there is such a thing as being traumatized by a political party so much they vote the other no matter what (Something that is common in latam after regimes). They were stupid yes but still should not be dunked on by leftists saying they deserve this. The orange and US democracy is giving the dictator golden keys to begin punishing these ‘traitors’ in Latin America’s largest prison and make them disappear from existence. Essentially sending many to their deaths and torture. Estos son los mismos comentarios para Venezolanes en todo América, que ningún latine me venga con la vaina que todo esto solo lo hacen los gringos. Por favor vean que puedan hacer para imigrantes en sus paises.

Si alguien leyendo esto está en la incertidumbre, se que dicen que se puede cambiar pero quiero que sepan que eso se demora años. Por ejemplo esta decision paso después de SEIS años. Tomen iniciativa piensen en otros planes.

[ishomieokay]

It's 2024 and there's still Americans out there trying to convince white passing latinos that we are not latinos. Can we like, progress as a society or something? It's getting tiring.

Please, call us privileged and colonizers and shit all you like. Please, disregard the fact that not all white latinos descend from colonizers, but from refugees who came here after World War I and II.

In my (admitedly very specific) case, my mom came to Venezuela after the fall of the Soviet Union looking for a better life. Her ancestors were certainly not complicit in Spanish colonization 💀

And yeah, we do benefit from white privilege and IT is fucked up, don't get me wrong. But like, look at yourself in a mirror, maybe? 🤦🏻‍♀

We are not the ones gentrifying Latin American cities and making everything so expensive the locals can't even efford to live in their own countries anymore. We are not the ones funding the fucking cartels with our nation wide drug problem. Yes, that's a thing. And we are certainly NOT the ones electing presidents who keep bombing the Middle East and overthrowing our goverments for funsies.

Dear god, I know I will get crucified for saying it but here it goes. Even if you are POC, you are more privileged than we will ever be just for having an American passport and speaking English without an accent. Leave us the fuck alone.

[liesmyth]

has something from a tlt fic ever become headcanon to you? i ask because i find this happening to me all the damn time with this fandom but not others

OK SO, my tlt headcanons are like schrodinger's cat, they explicitly contradict each other sometimes and all of them exist at the same time in different quantum states of canon. So in that sense I've never read a fic and thought, okay, THIS is my canon from now on.

But I've read so so many fics that burst my third eye wide open and made me consider different perspectives on a character / dynamic, or helped me shape some I already had. A few favourites:

the soul that seeketh him by bittybelle — missing scene pre NtN ft. John and Kiriona. Wherein John Gaius meets his daughter, remembers the women he left behind, and deals poorly with being the male god of a universe in which the divine is essentially feminine.

AO3 user LesbianJesusLovesYou gave me Big Feelings about Gideon's childhood on the Ninth and her relationship with Harrow, Aiglamene, Ortus and Crux

believing in everything (and knowing nothing at all) — A series of childhood memories from the Ninth

when i call, will you come to me? — “My Lady,” Ortus wheezed, shifting uncomfortably. “I only thought you should know… Gideon Nav was flogged before the congregation.”

A few fics set right after NtN that really stayed with me:

never hear the sound of someone calling me home by @corpsesoldier — Kiriona Gaia returns to the House of the Ninth.

One More Son by captainpeggy — After Nona, Pyrrha Dve walks the Ninth.

two old broads split a cigarette by @forjodssake — Aiglamene/Pyrrha. “sometimes the girl you like becomes one person w her soulmate and you have to jack off about it”

Post HtN missing scenes:

Death in its season by @ancientannoyance — John holds Mercymorn's 24 minutes funeral

recognize them by their fruits by @ceruleanvulpine — John and Ianthe emerge out of the River

Other stuff that Stuck With Me

so I open the window to hear sounds of people by @sunderedstar — post NtN flashbacks. John and Alecto are the only two beings on earth, and he starts working on the Resurrection. This is harrowing and I'm absolutely obsessed with the implications in this fic of WHY John removed everyone's memory.

and they were roommates by @herenortherenearnorfar — pre Resurrection Mercy and Cristabel, from their first meeting onwards and it just really burrowed a hole in my brain and grew roots and sprouts and everything. Latin American nun Cristabel it's all I can see now, and YES they met working with climate refugees when M— was a bright eyed idealistic doctor. It also lines up great with the Asian Mercy headcanon that exist in my head (I have a whole elaborate backstory about M— aged 12 proclaiming to her Filipino Catholic family that she's an atheist now). Anyway, it's just a lovely, gorgeous fic. I think about it every day.

John 25:12 by @halfeatenmoon — pre-Resurrection, John and his friends escape the cow fortress to spend Christmas Day at the beach. With beer, salads, pavlova, and the corpses of a million fish killed by nuclear weapons testing. Ft. Southern hemisphere holidays in Mururoa Atol and 100% canon. To me.

Operation: The Most Honorable Man by @cadmean — Augustine has a proposal for the Saint of Duty (Dios Apate. That's the proposal)

lowkey cheating but I can't choose — absolutely anything AO3 user Raxheim has posted has been SOO up my alley. Every time I read one of their fics I feel like I'm enlightened by some never-before-considered detail. And mean ANYTHING, from Harrow Nova to Wake to Cytherea and the Lyctors to the Universe's #1 Sadgirl Gideon

[mariacallous]

Through the twists and turns of the U.S. presidential race, immigration has remained one of voters’ top concerns. Former President Donald Trump has consistently made allegations about the supposed danger posed by migrants, including repeating a false claim that Haitians in Ohio were eating Americans’ pets. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has touted the sharp drop in migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border in recent months as a sign of the White House’s control over the issue.

U.S. authorities’ encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border—when a migrant is apprehended by Border Patrol before they are generally expelled or allowed to enter asylum proceedings—fell from 249,741 in December 2023 to 58,038 in August. But while the White House has taken some unilateral steps to lower those numbers—such as a June presidential proclamation that severely restricted the ability to seek asylum at the border—Harris and U.S. President Joe Biden may owe just as much to countries such as Mexico and Panama.

In coordination with the United States, Mexico and Panama have constructed their own new barriers to northward migration in the last year. Those include a busing campaign to move migrants southward within Mexico, as well as fencing and deportation flights to tighten up the Panama-Colombia border. After Mexico stepped up the current campaign in January, U.S. border arrivals dropped by a whopping 50 percent in one month.

The chaotic discourse surrounding immigration in the United States obscures a broader story: The Western Hemisphere boasts an increasingly synchronous approach to managing migration. Through negotiations with Latin American countries, the Biden administration has helped develop a regional strategy that goes beyond enforcement to include steps such as creating new legal pathways for labor migration. The approach has won praise from organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the U.N. Refugee Agency, even as migrant rights groups have also criticized some of its tactics.

At its core, the hemispheric strategy is straightforward, said its coordinator on the White House National Security Council, Marcela Escobari: “creating consequences for irregular migration—and for the smugglers preying on vulnerable migrants—while creating alternative lawful pathways.”

Before the recent decline in migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border, authorities were wrestling with a record influx; encounters soared to more than 2 million in both 2022 and 2023.

This increase has multiple causes. More than 7 million people have fled Venezuela in the last decade. Most reside in Latin America, while others have ventured toward the United States. Cuba’s economic crisis, meanwhile, prompted its largest emigration wave in history between 2022 and 2023. People have also fled violence and poverty in countries such as Haiti and Ecuador. And some migrants reach the U.S. border from starting points beyond the Western Hemisphere, having flown to Latin America from countries such as India, China, and Afghanistan to trek northward.

Smugglers often play a major role in encouraging migrants. “They sell the route like it’s adventure tourism,” said Ronal Rodríguez, a migration expert at the University of Rosario in Bogotá. Thanks in part to organized crime groups that see migrants as a revenue stream, the Darién Gap—the dangerous jungle border between Colombia and Panama—went from being considered mostly unpassable to becoming a migrant highway since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Historic migration flows have strained Latin American countries and their asylum and refugee systems for years. So governments started talking. In 2018, 11 Latin American countries gathered in Quito, Ecuador, to launch a series of negotiations on assisting Venezuelan migrants, pledging steps such as granting them legal status in host countries and connecting them with international aid.

Then, at the 2022 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries along with Canada and the United States signed on to a U.S.-conceived pledge for multipronged migration cooperation that included boosting enforcement, expanding legal pathways for migration, and stabilizing migrant populations where they currently reside.

The LA Declaration was conceived to apply to migrants of all nationalities, but some of the clearest examples of how it works in practice pertain to Venezuelans.

Countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize have introduced visa requirements for Venezuelan visitors since 2022—an example of an enforcement move meant to deter illegal migration. But since October 2022, some Venezuelans have been able to apply to fly into the United States under a temporary protection mechanism called humanitarian parole, a new legal pathway. To stabilize migrant populations, the United States helps fund aid for displaced Venezuelans living in Colombia to discourage further migration.

The fact that the talks for the LA Declaration included countries from Chile to Canada marked a new chapter in Western Hemisphere diplomacy, said Diego Chaves-González of the Migration Policy Institute. Smaller regional blocs such as the Caribbean Community and Mercosur had in the past mostly conducted migration negotiations internally; now, they are swapping strategies. “These bubbles, in terms of migration, have burst,” Chaves-González said.

As a broadly defined strategy, the LA Declaration includes signatories that sometimes disagree about the fine print. Latin American countries have occasionally chafed at U.S. demands for greater migration enforcement in the hemisphere.

Even after Colombia, Panama, and the United States announced a joint campaign to “end the illicit movement of people” through the Darién Gap in April 2023, Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the New York Times that it was not his goal to stop migration through the gap; he said he would not send “horses and whips” to address a problem that Colombia did not create and instead blamed U.S. sanctions on Venezuela for exacerbating the issue. (The campaign ended after two months with little change on the ground.)

Even so, Petro has gone along with other tenets of the LA Declaration, such as allowing the U.S. government to screen certain migrants in Colombia for refugee resettlement and refer them to information about other lawful routes via a program called the Safe Mobility Initiative.

The declaration’s goal of adding legal pathways has earned especially strong enthusiasm among Latin American governments. It has also allowed for a conceptual innovation, Chaves-González said: connecting migration management with countries’ labor market needs.

“Today, the labor force of the United States would be rapidly shrinking without immigration,” said George Mason University economist Michael Clemens, who advised the Biden administration on migration policy between 2021 and 2023. In Mexico, some of the country’s largest employers are cooperating to recruit migrants and refugees to fill their workforce needs. And in Colombia, migration was in large part responsible for saving the country’s coffee and flower industries over the last five years, Chaves-González said.

Voters often don’t realize migrants’ positive impact on host economies, Clemens said, because of incorrect measurement and false stereotypes. For a more complete accounting, he pointed to a July Congressional Budget Office estimate that the U.S. immigration surge since 2021—composed of groups such as asylum-seekers, undocumented people, and those admitted through executive parole—will add some $9 trillion to the economy over the next decade.

Eyeing not only humanitarian principles but also economic benefits, the Biden administration has paroled some 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans into the United States since 2022. Washington also worked with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to grow the number of temporary H-2 work visas issued to their citizens, from 9,800 in 2021 to around 27,000 in 2023.

Mexico, meanwhile, has issued work authorization to more than 17,500 asylum-seekers since 2022 and created an online platform to connect migrants with jobs. A nascent U.S. program called Labor Neighbors also aims to build a matching system between workers and jobs throughout the hemisphere, U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said on Sept. 17.

Mexico has been an especially vocal advocate for new legal pathways. In a high-stakes December 2023 meeting where U.S. officials requested Mexican help stopping migrants moving northward, Mexican officials pushed for increased legal migration routes, they later wrote.

“Where we have to place our bet,” then-Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena said in June, “is on regular pathways for labor migration.”

The LA Declaration has gained praise inside and outside the Western Hemisphere. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi hailed a ��growing convergence of views” in the hemisphere on migration, while the Danish and Swiss governments have funded research discussing whether the Safe Mobility Initiative could be replicated in Europe. “The current U.S. government has sought to create a positive agenda with the region when it comes to managing these [migrant] flows that are somewhat inevitable,” Brazilian diplomat Carlos Márcio Cozendey said.

Despite those accolades, some migration and human rights experts have also criticized actions taken under the scope of the declaration, which they say chip away at the international right to asylum.

Hemispheric actions since 2022 have in practice included more steps to restrict migration pathways than to create new ones, the University of Rosario’s Rodríguez said. New legal pathways often have strict cutoff dates, nationality requirements, fees, and documentation needs. Biden’s June proclamation was transparent about its intent to make it harder to claim asylum at the U.S. border, broadly restricting migrants’ eligibility for the second time in just over a year.

“With the Los Angeles Declaration, a lot of countries that had a policy of migrant reception are assuming the U.S. posture of migrant containment,” Rodríguez said. Chile, for example, announced “supposed pathways for formal migration, but people in humanitarian need can’t fulfill the requirements because they lack documents like passports,” he added.

Biden administration officials have pushed back against criticism of Washington’s border tightening. The U.S. asylum system “is not built for a higher volume of people” and the way it was being used by migrants was “destabilizing,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in September.

Strains on asylum systems across the world have led policymakers to increasingly bypass them in favor of other methods for handling protection-seeking migrants, Migration Policy Institute researchers noted in a July report. That includes the Biden administration’s use of humanitarian parole for certain Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who might have otherwise tried to seek asylum at the border. The researchers argued for shifting “the focus of protection responses away from an exclusive reliance on territorial asylum and toward a diversified set of policy tools.”

While the U.N. Refugee Agency has encouraged the United States’ and its neighbors’ efforts “to develop a comprehensive response to forced displacement in the hemisphere,” it has also “expressed concern about measures that introduced restrictions on the right to seek asylum, potentially leaving many individuals in need of international protection without viable means to reach safety and at risk of being returned to danger,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

As the U.S. election approaches, the biggest question around regional migration cooperation is how much would survive a potential Trump presidency. Trump has remained neck and neck with Harris in polls as he pledges to carry out mass deportations, “suspend refugee resettlement,” and scrap an app that the Biden administration developed to allow some migrants to register for asylum screenings.

If Trump carries out an anti-migrant crackdown, “I do not think Mr. Trump is going to care, frankly, whether Latin American and Caribbean countries—or anybody else sending refugees and irregular migration—may be upset about this,” said Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States.

While Trump could deal a heavy blow to the current approach, much too depends on other countries in the Western Hemisphere. It was during Trump’s presidency that countries such as Colombia and Brazil started to lead cooperation on hosting displaced Venezuelans despite the White House’s relative lack of engagement on the issue.

In 2018, Colombia granted regular status to nearly half a million Venezuelans, kicking off a wave of similar measures in other South American countries. The same year, Brazil launched a program to connect Venezuelan migrants with jobs that has since transferred more than 100,000 people from border areas. With help from both the government and private sector, Cozendey, the Brazilian diplomat, said Venezuelans “are absorbed around the country without turning into a problem.” The program has survived center-right, far-right, and left-wing governments.

Late last month in New York City, LA Declaration countries announced the creation of a new technical secretariat to ensure their work continues into the future. Colombia was appointed the group’s rotating chair for 2025.

“We have very important progress” in joint responses to migration, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said. “But still we have a lot of challenges.”

[latin-american-diversity]

A Chilean Man of Palestinian ancestry partakes in a pro-Palestinian protest

Chilean-Palestinians

Outside of the Levant and the Arabian Gulf nations, Chile is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora in the world with up to 500 thousand Chileans having Palestinian ancestry. 

Palestinian immigration to the country began in the middle of the 19th century during the Ottoman rule. Like other immigrants from the Ottoman Empire, whether Arab, Slavic, Assyrian, or Greek; Palestinians were often called Turcos (Turks) since they usually entered the country with Turkish documentation. This denominate remains common in Chile and neighbouring Latin American countries to this day; which has erroneously lead many Latin Americans with non-Turkish ancestry and little information about family history, to be under the impression that they are of Turkish ancestry. 

Historically, the majority of Palestinians that arrived in Chile were Eastern Orthodox Christians, as most countries in Latin America barred the immigration of Muslims; for this reason there are more Christian Palestinian descendants in Chile than in Palestine itself. However, in recent times Chile has also taken in Palestinian refugees, the majority being Sunni Muslims. 

Many of the first waves of Palestinian immigrants lived in abject poverty and were illiterate. In addition to this like many other immigrant groups to Latin America, particularly those coming from the Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe, and East Asia they were faced with xenophobia; a product of Chilean nationalism and rising post-independence ethnic/racial tensions. This xenophobia spread as far as the Chilean media, with one of country’s oldest national newspapers "El Mercurio,” writing:

“Whether they are Mohammedans or Buddhists, what one can see and smell from far, is that they are more dirty than the dogs of Constantinople...“

Despite the fact that the majority of people coming from the Ottoman Empire and Eastern Europe were Christian, the stigma of living in an empire ruled by Muslims or around Muslims was enough for them and other Christians such as Slavs, Greeks, and Armenians to be targets of Islamophobic sentiments that were prominent in Iberian American societies. 

Similar to other immigrants from the Ottoman Empire, many Palestinians began to work in commerce as merchants. This factor alongside their gradual assimilation into the white Chilean population, began their upward social mobilization. By the 1950′s Palestinian Chileans garnered a significant economic and political position in Chilean society, a good example of this is the recent presidential candidacy of Daniel Jadue.

The majority of Chilean Palestinians are inhabit the nations capital, and also the city of La Calera in Valparaiso Region, which attracted not only Palestinian immigrants but also other Levantine, Balkan, Italian, French, and German migrants.

[planetary-wolf]

I understand feeling disenfranchised by the current system of politics in the US.

But let's be honest here. Refusing to vote because you "draw the line at genocide" is a moral superiority thing. Have any other reason to not vote, for fucks sake.

Where's that energy for the mass deportation and detaining of migrants and refugee seekers that Trump has promised? Where's that energy for the gas pipelines that are going to be infringing on Indigenous American populations?

I understand wanting to help abroad, but actively ignoring the problems stateside in the process feels like some kind of moral mission-- instead of spreading Christianity to these overseas places, you're playing some kind of Western Savior trope. This is what got all of Latin America in trouble, is this feeling that ONLY THE USA can save the world.

We are allowed to help. We are not the savior. And if you "draw the line at genocide" and forget to fight for the country you live in, we're going to be facing

-an increase in trans deaths,

-a severe increase in complications and deaths in pregnancy and birth (especially in places where the rate is already high, esp. for people of color),

-huge home raids for Latinos looking for people to be part of the "biggest mass deportation the country has ever seen"

-Indigenous American deaths as they fight for THEIR OWN LAND yet again.

VOTE, DOWN THE WHOLE TICKET, EVERY SINGLE POSITION TO ELECT FOR, VOTE. FLIP THE SENATE, FLIP THE HOUSE.

[infiniteglitterfall]

I just saw that Ahmed Alkhatib is speaking at a synagogue in Berkeley on Friday?! He's my fourth- or fifth-favorite Palestinian activist!! He's speaking with an expert on Palestinian trauma! I have zero idea what they're going to talk about beyond that!

This is what he says is his "platform," which is so long I'm gonna paste it into a reblog:

AND FOR THE CURIOUS, YOU CAN ZOOM IN AT 8 PM ON FRIDAY WITHOUT EVEN RSVPing: https://zoom.us/j/8781040

He has had a LOT of trouble connecting with the Pro-Palestine movement and finding people who'll listen to him, much less who will center and support his work as an activist from Gaza.

So share this with all your pro-Palestinian friends!

I WOULD just assume it's like... a general talk about All The Shit. But I heard this week that a coalition of Gazan activists has been working on a plan for self-rule in Gaza.

I don't know if he's involved in that; I'm behind on all this. They're not in the same activist circles, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. But obviously it makes me curious about whether that will come up.

(OK, I know you want to know the top 5. It currently goes: Hamza Howidy at the top with a big gold star for pieces like this:

Then Bassem Eid; Moumen al-Natour; Mo Ghaoui; Ahmed Alkhatib. Those are all very close rankings that shift all the time. Even now, I'm mentally flipping 4 and 5 back and forth. And 2 and 3.

The Center for Peace Communications deserves a mention too. It's based in NYC, but it's devoted to giving the people of Gaza a way for their voices to safely be heard.)

This is what the synagogue event page says:

Potluck oneg after services, followed by HeartSpace at 8pm, featuring a discussion and Q+A with Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Alkhatib and Palestinian trauma expert Dr. Niveen Rizkalla.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7 and grapple with the ongoing violence and devastation in Israel-Palestine, join us in our efforts to hold multiple perspectives with nuance and complexity, part of our ongoing HeartSpace series showcasing diverse voices from the region.

Ahmed Alkhatib is a nonresident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. He is also an American writer and analyst who grew up in Gaza City, having left in 2005 as a teenage exchange student to the United States.

He writes extensively on Gaza’s political and humanitarian affairs and has been an outspoken critic of Hamas and a promoter of coexistence and peace as the only path forward between Palestinians and Israelis.

Alkhatib has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in intelligence and national security studies. His writing has been published in US and Israeli outlets, and his opinions and comments have been featured in international press. Click here for more information and to support Ahmed’s peacebuilding efforts"

Dr. Niveen Rizkalla is a postdoctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley’s Mack Center for Mental Health and Social Conflict. She specializes in research related to trauma, including PTSD, vicarious and secondary traumatization, victims of torture and war, and gender-based violence. She is also working on the mental health of Syrian refugees and the staff who assist them.

Her most recent project delves into the physical and mental health of aid workers who assist traumatized populations (refugees, conflict, and natural disasters) in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

ZOOM INFO

Join with video https://zoom.us/j/87810404956

Join by phone 1-669-900-6833, 1-346-248-7799, 1-253-215-8782

Meeting ID 878 1040 4956

Passcode 972073

Notice: Our Zoom recordings are for archival purposes only, and therefore are not available to the public.

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• Donate online chochmat.org/give

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[ariel-seagull-wings]

PORTRAYALS OF PALESTINIAN X JEWISH LOVE STORIES IN BRAZILIAN TELENOVELAS

@professorlehnsherr-almashy @princesssarisa @themousefromfantasyland @lord-antihero @gravedangerahead

@tamisdava2 @faintingheroine

So, as many brazilians, I grew up with telenovelas as the main source of national enternainment.

An interesting characteristic of brazilian telenovelas (specially the ones produced by the channel Rede Globo, the most powerfull TV channel in the country) is that, besides the extra production value that can go to cinematic levels, above the usual budget of other latin american telenovelas or british and US american soap operas, is that they experiment with mixing the escapist love story with discussions of serious real life topics in the side plots: politics, street crime, drugs, mental ilness,domestic violence, sexuality, etc. are themes frequently explored in brazilian telenovelas.

In recent years, there were also international real life topics incorporated to telenovela plots, besides the brazilian reality, including, more recently, two attempts of exploring the Israel x Palestine in love stories between born in imigrant families from those two regions.

One a late night telenovela, the other an evening telenovela.

I would like to present the resume of them here, and how they were received by audiences at the time:

Pérsio and Rebeca (Amor a Vida, 2013-14)

2013's Amor a Vida (Love for Life) included the subplot of the romance between medicine doctors Pérsio (Mouhamed Harfouch), of palestinian origin, and Rebeca (Paula Braum), of jewish origin. The two originally entered in frequent verbal fights before becoming a couple, and when they did, it started as a secret to Rebeca's family, and there was a period they expent broken up because the character of Pérsio revealed that he had a past as a member of a terrorist cell and considered being a bomb man before coming to work in Brazil as a doctor.

But eventually they reunited.

When it camed to reception of this subplot, the average brazilian viewer wasn't much involved because there were already a lot of other subplots to be invested in (particularlly the romance two male character that became the first kiss between two man in a mainstream telenovela), and some leftist groups who were acompanying this story interested in how it would explore this real life conflict were left disapointed, repudiating the reveal of Pérsio as a former terrorist as stereotypical and feeling that it simplified too much the complexity of the real conflict between Israel x Palestine.

Ali and Sara (Órfãos da Terra, 2019)

2019's Órfãos da Terra (Orphans of the Earth) was a telenovela of the 18:00 p.m time spot that experimented in exploring the theme of refugees who were coming in mass to Brazil (particularly from Siria, during the height of the US x Siria warn news) and their descendants. One the plots included inside in this theme was the love story between Ali (also played by Mouhamed Harfouch), the owner of a restaurant, and Sara (Verônica Debom), a customer who learns belly dance with Ali's sister Muna (Lola Fanucci).

Ali was the grandson of the palestinian imigrant Mamede (Flávio Migliaccio), who had lost his home in Gaza during the destruction caused by the Israeli Army.

Sara was the granddaughter of the jewish imigrant Boris (Osmar Prado), daughter of the flower shop owner Eva (Betty Gofman) and sister of Davi (Vitor Thiré), a young woman who was serving in the israeli army due to the encouragement of his grandfather, and against the will of his mother and sister.

The old patriarchs Boris and Mamede were neighbors, and started the story hating each other so much that they wouldn't bear the interactions between their dogs, even less so the romance between their grandchildren.

Sara at first pretended to be a gentile, thinking that Ali would reject her if he knew she was jewish, but that didn't happened: the two kept the relationship strong after she told the truth, and had the support of Sara's mother and Sara's and Ali's siblings to be together.

Despite their grandparents schemes to separate the two and make marry people of shared cultural background (which provided a light hearted comedy), Sara and Ali fortunally got happily married.

The two families ended supporting each other trough sad moments, like Davi's death while serving in the Israeli Army and Mamede's development of Alzheimer's when, and had happy moments like Ali and Sara welcoming twin children.

Unlike the more controversial aproach of 2013's Amor a Vida, the portrayal of the love story between a Palestinian and an Arab in Órfãos da Terra was much better received by audiences and critics, by the levity and the respect in wich the two groups were portrayed, without either being villanized, and the strong trust between the two characters that became the couple.

[a-queer-seminarian]

Puerto Rican Jewish poet & activist Aurora Levins Morales speaks on solidarity & the history of antisemitism

From her poem "Red Sea":

...We cannot cross until we carry each other, all of us refugees, all of us prophets. No more taking turns on history's wheel, trying to collect old debts no-one can pay. The sea will not open that way.  This time that country is what we promise each other, our rage pressed cheek to cheek until tears flood the space between, until there are no enemies left, because this time no one will be left to drown and all of us must be chosen.  This time it's all of us or none.

I was deeply moved by an article on Levins Morales' website in which she examines modern-day Israel through a zoomed-out lens of millennia of antisemitism:

‘Long before that state was founded out of the ashes of genocide and at the expense of a colonized Arab people, Jews were the shock absorbers of Europe's class societies, "Middle Agents" drafted into being the local representatives of distant and definitely Christian ruling classes who alternately exploited and persecuted them while squeezing the life blood out of Europe's peasants and workers.'

People are often confused by anti-Semitism. They see many US Jews accumulating wealth, moving up, gaining positions of influence, and they say, "What oppression?"... 

The whole point of anti-Semitism has been to create a vulnerable buffer group that can be bribed with some privileges into managing the exploitation of others, and then, when social pressure builds, be blamed and scapegoated, distracting those at the bottom from the crimes of those at the top. Peasants who go on pogrom against their Jewish neighbors won't make it to the nobleman's palace to burn him out and seize the fields. This was the role of Jews in Europe. This has been the role of Jews in the United States, and this is the role of Jews in the Middle East…’

Levins Morales explains those “buffer” roles in detail, describes how Latin@s are often put in these roles as well, and then brings up an author who said of Israelis, “given all they’ve endured, they should know better.” She responds to this with this insight:

‘Trauma doesn't make people into better human beings. Most of the time, trauma just makes people terrified and easier to manipulate. It makes starving Irish tenants fleeing a devastating famine willing to own slaves or homestead Native American land or police the ghettos they used to live in. It makes the formerly kidnapped and enslaved willing to set up shop in Liberia and hold their African kin in contempt. It makes the survivors of Hitler's Final Solution be willing to become harsh colonial masters, agents of US oil greed and militarism, to bulldoze the villages of Palestinians to make Jewish settlements, torture and kill those who resist, and still insist they are the victims here. People who have faced destruction don't necessarily know better.’

While naming that trauma doesn’t make people “better,” just leaves them terrified and grasping at any sense of security they can, Levins Morales is also sure to note how Jews have always been “disproportionately present in movements for social justice wherever [they] have landed.” To her, fighting antisemitism means supporting Jewish integrity, the Jewish commitment to justice and compassion. 

Furthermore, solidarity with the people of Israel and Palestine alike depends on our clear stand against antisemitism in our own communities, because, she says, 

'The central justification for Israeli militarism and the subjugation of Palestinians is the belief that Jews are alone in the world, that no-one will fight for us, that the next time Jews are blamed and attacked, most of the world's people will stand by and watch.'

Only through all of us standing up to antisemitism and standing side by side with our Jewish neighbors, she says, can Jews feel secure enough to “abandon the middle agent role and get the backs of other peoples, knowing that they also have ours."

It is this vision of interdependence and mutual aid that Levins Morales brings into her poem “Red Sea," which imagines the kind of liberation when Moses parted the Red Sea happening today — but only if we support one another.

[militantinremission]

A thought about 'Minority Groups'

As I said in previous Essays- while (Indigenous) Black Americans continue to get lip service & empty tributes, i'm looking at WHO is getting WHAT. There has been a lot of activity under The Biden Administration, & I found myself looking at these events from an abstract perspective. 'Jim Crow' Joe said that he appreciated Black America 'having His back' throughout the years, & he would have Ours. Since that statement, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx (Citizens & Illegals), LGBTQ..., have All received legislation & funding. On top of the $113 Billion spent in Ukraine over the last Year, Israel continues to receive Billions annually from The U.S. Now provisions have been made for 100,000 Afghani & 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to relocate to America.

We Black Americans/ ADOS/ FBA/ Freemen/ Indigenous Americans can be a well intentioned, but socially naive group. The efforts of White Supremacists w/i Local, State, & Federal Government Agencies to systemically oppress Our Community has created a 'Collective Consciousness' that empathizes (abstractly) w/ the oppression of other Ethnicities. We can identify w/ the hardship of Others, & when possible, We do what We can to combat that hardship. We fought against the oppression of American Slave Codes, Black Codes, & Jim Crow Laws; simultaneously, We fought for The Rights of Irish, Chinese, Mexican, Jewish, Italian, Haitian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Filipino, & Japanese immigrants that faced a measure of the oppression We experienced here.

Looking at this 'Collective Consciousness' historically, a Pattern can be seen over the centuries. Every Immigrant Group in America has gone through a 'Hazing Period', where they are the target of Social Bias & Prejudice. During this 'Social Phase', newcomers tend to identify w/ the Black Americans that they are in contact w/. We encircle these people w/i Our Community, & take the lead in protesting injustices against them. In the past, 'Brownfolk' tended to identify w/ Us. We shared Culture & Traditions; in some instances, we intermarried. In this Era, things have changed. If Black Immigrants & 'Brownfolk' start off in Black Communities, they don't always stay.

By the 2nd Generation, their children either identify w/ The Black Experience in America, or they make every effort to move away from it. Ethnic Enclaves have literally 'popped up' outside of Black Communities over the last 30Yrs, creating true Buffer Zones between Black & White Communities. Black America was oblivious to any possible agenda amongst Minority Groups- We also identified as Minorities, & assumed We were all in the same boat. Black Power isn't a selfish endeavor- Our Right of Autonomy grants other Minorities the same Right. American History substantiates this truth. To be honest, We were naively ignorant about the 'Culture' of these Minority Groups in their Native Land. We assumed they shared a similar experience of White Supremacy.

We knew about the Racism in Europe, but were unaware of the Tribalism that existed in Afrika & The Caribbean; or the Colorism that exists in Arabia, Asia, & Latin America. Many of the minorities that We had 'First Contact' w/, were friendly. As a Marginalized People, they had something in common w/ Us. We collaborated in business & in Social Action. We shared Our Community, & worked together to improve Our collective Quality of Life. We thought that We were united in the fight against White Supremacy. Then a funny thing happened- one by one, these 'Marginalized Groups' were accepted into Society, & given Rights & Privileges that We were (still) denied.

Over the Centuries, We watched- as Irish, Jewish & Italian neighbors elevated their status. The more they achieved, the more distance they placed between Us. Collectively, each group became increasingly intolerant of Blackfolk. They began to speak the Anti- Black rhetoric of Mainstream America. Our old neighbors appeared to 'pledge allegiance' to the same people that discriminated against them. Black Americans were now victims of mob violence, stemming from (perceived) competition that Irish & Italians had w/ Black Men for Jobs. The Irish in particular, were brutal in their efforts to push Black Men out of specific Trades & Sports. The only reminder of Black involvement in Horse Racing, are 'Lawn Jockeys', that many Black People see as racist. 150Yrs- 200Yrs ago, Black Jockeys dominated Horse Racing.

As disappointed as We were w/ the actions of the Irish, Italians, & Eastern Europeans, the current Anti- Black American sentiment held by today's 'Minority Groups' (POC), truly stings! We can't say that We didn't see it coming though. Many (Indigenous) Black Americans have an experience of being 'in the company' of a given Minority Group. When they are in mixed company, the conversation is civil; but when they outnumber Us, We begin to hear the stereotypes about Us. The larger the advantage, the more prejudiced the language becomes. While they may repeat White Supremacist talking points, they lack the power to truly be 'Racist'. That being said, quite a few individuals have ridden this rhetoric into Mainstream notoriety; the names represent a literal Who's Who in Pop Culture & Politics.

Collectively, these Minority Groups seem comfortable w/ their place in AmeriKKKa's Caste System, as long as they are 'positioned' above Black America... Hispanic & Asian women are currently testing the racial waters, by way of recent attempts to gauge their degree of White Privilege. Their actions legitimize the notion that White Privilege is defined by Anti- Black Racism & Oppression. The actions of these 'Karens of Color', are no different from the garden variety Karen. All of these women are trying to exercise their 'Right', but Women Of Color are also establishing their position in the Social Caste. I personally don't understand the need to gauge one's 'Power' on the ability to harass or harm what is believed to be a Soft Target. I thought that White Supremacy is a philosophy premised on strength & 'Might makes Right'- Where is the challenge?

Joe Biden's Policy actions have made clear his intention to extend White Privilege to Asians & Hispanics. Like (White) LGBTQ... individuals, & European Jews, Asians enjoy meaningful Hate Crime Legislation. Meanwhile, Black America still fights for this legislation, as the #1 Victim of Hate Crimes in America- according to the latest FBI Crime Stats. For Latinx, Biden is fast tracking Citizenship for illegal immigrants in Sanctuary Cities. Many Cities are suggesting Drivers Licenses for illegal immigrants, while California is talking about hiring non- Citizens for the LAPD & State Police. In short, 'America' has become a Multicultural & Multilingual Nation. All of this is very curious. Just a generation ago, Local, State, & Federal Officials were adamant that America is a 'Judeo- Christian' Nation that speaks 'English'. Efforts to make Spanish an Official 2nd Language were quickly shot down. 100Yrs ago, America was a 'White Man's Country!'.

Black Americans were looking for a Seat at The Table, but didn't have a problem sharing w/ Our fellow 'Minorities'. Affirmative Action was designed to level the playing field between Blackfolk & Whitefolk. It was supposed to make up for The New Deal & G.I. Bills that excluded Black Families. Despite this, We didn't complain when these resources were diverted (via Diversity Initiatives) away from Us, & given to people who NEVER had to experience what We went through. We were as compliant as Cows being bled by Vampire Bats, until We renewed the Reparations Conversation. Suddenly, We were xenophobes. The loudest voices have come from 2nd & 3rd generation Americans, who (collectively) enjoy a better Quality Of Life than the average Black American. The fact that the children of immigrants from the 1980s are now attacking Black America w/ White Supremacist talking points, is simply mindboggling!

An Ethnic Group that appears to do A LOT of 'Racial double dipping', are Hindi/ Pakistani/ Bangladeshi Americans. They are conveniently 'Black' when there is opportunity, but otherwise, they not only identify as 'White'; they subscribe to a visceral Anti- Black sentiment that needs to be addressed. This is important, because Joe Biden is putting Kamala Harris at the forefront of his Re-election Campaign. America is still calling Kamala the 1st 'Afrikan American VP', but both of her parents are Brahmin. Kamala's 'Black Experience' ends at Howard University & Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She is otherwise an Elitist, who has a decades long resume of undermining Black Californians (Black Women in particular), & looking out for her own best interests.

Former Governor of South Carolina & U.N. Ambassador, Nikki Haley (Nimarata Nikki Randhwara- Haley), is the flip side of Kamala Harris. Both Women are Brahmin, but while Kamala is 'Asian' w/ a cultural leaning towards Black America; Nikki is 'Brown', but has consistently shown a cultural leaning towards White Privilege. Both Women highlight a simple truth- that 'Black' Issues aren't 'Brown' Issues. People Of Color (POC/ BIPOC) tend to be victims of Discrimination, more than Racism. This is evidenced by their Collective Autonomy throughout America. They have a Right of Expression that Indigenous Black Americans never truly had; not even during Reconstruction. It may be due to their sovereign status, but it's clear that they DON'T share Our plight.

Vivek Ramaswamy is yet another type. He is a 2nd Generation child of [Elitist] Asian Immigrants, but he tries to weave an Ellis Island narrative out of his experience. Like Kamala Harris & Nikki Halely, both of Ramaswamy's parents were Post Graduates w/ more education than the average [White] American Family. He gives the impression that they were Blue Collar Workers living the American Dream for their children. Ramaswamy casually speaks about his 'rough' Public School experience in Cincinnati, before going to a Private (Jesuit) School- that 'didn't conflict w/ his Hindu values'. This experience supposedly positioned him for College, Post Grad work, & starting his 1st Biotech Company... He implies that EVERYONE gets this opportunity in America.

Kamala Harris' Mother had the support of the Black Community in Oakland & Berkeley. Nikki Haley's Father had the support of (HBCU) Voorhees College, where he worked for nearly 30Yrs. Despite that support for their Parents, Nikki Haley & Kamala Harris have done NOTHING meaningful or specifically for Black Americans. In fact, both have supported measures that were detrimental to their Black Constituents; i'm reminded of The Tale of 'The Tortoise & The Scorpion'... Vivek Ramaswamy takes it up another notch. His 'Anti- Woke' Campaign, is a not too subtle Anti- Black dog whistle. Ramaswamy has the audacity to use his Experience (as a 2nd Generation Brahmin- American) to minimize, if he can't outright disclaim The Black American Experience altogether.

Vivek Ramaswamy's family has been in America for roughly 40Yrs. That means that they arrived sometime in the 1980s, nearly 20Yrs after the End of the Jim Crow Era; but Vivek feels that he can speak about the History of Anti- Black Racism in America. Ramaswamy, along w/ Harris & Haley represent the 'People Of Color' Prospects for POTUS. The similarity of their Agendas speaks volumes. All of them benefited from opportunities meant for Blackfolk, but they lecture Us about 'bootstrapping'. Add in Joe Biden's thoughts about Latinx being 'the largest Minority Group in America'(???), along w/ weird Culture Appropriation rhetoric coming from Eva Longoria, then John Leguizamo, & it looks like a conspiracy.

It's crystal clear that collectively speaking, Indigenous Black America has NO FRIENDS. We should act accordingly... These Minority Groups forget that Our 'Culture' is fighting White Supremacy, not bowing to it. We're not Here for a Come Up, or a Hand Out- We're indigenous to This Land. We were Here before the first Colonizer, & We'll be Here long after the Last.

-Just Sayin'

[humanrightsupdates]

US Should Expand Refugee Definition

People Fleeing Disasters Related to Climate Crisis Need Protection

Representatives from Latin American and Caribbean states convened recently to address responses to “forced displacement due to disasters,” including the effects of the climate crisis, following up on their Cartagena Declaration of 1984. The United States has not adopted the declaration and did not join the group, but it should pay attention and reflect on its own policies, as some people in need of protection – particularly from the Americas –will seek to move to the US.

Often, the people most impacted by extreme weather events, including those intensified by climate change, live in locations least responsible for the climate crisis. Extreme weather caused over half of new displacement in 2023 globally, with 26.4 million people displaced by extreme weather events, including floods and droughts.

As the climate crisis worsens, the US has paradoxically worked to restrict asylum access and narrow the qualifying grounds of protection.

Since 2020, Human Rights Watch has maintained that the increasing effects of the climate crisis necessitate broadening international protection and incorporating complementary protection. The threat of injury and death from climate change, disproportionally impacting already at-risk communities, can result in similar physical harm and endangerment as other grounds for protection.

In December 2023, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Refugees International, and others filed a brief in ongoing litigation in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding state obligations to people displaced in climate contexts. The organizations argue that states are obligated to protect populations before and after displacement occurs.

Though the US is not bound by Inter-American Court rulings, the court’s imminent advisory ruling on the impacts of climate change on human rights will offer guidance on rights-based approaches to a growing threat.

The US should expand protection for people displaced in the context of climate-related events and adopt the broader refugee definition in the Cartagena Declaration to include people fleeing circumstances seriously disturbing public order, including extreme weather events intensified by the climate crisis.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh hey, sorry let me explain what I meant

I understand the Americanization of saying the main cast of ATLA because the cartoons was a Y7 NICKTOON that hade to be compatible enough to bye syndicated with SpongeBob when needed

Nothing against the og show, just you can pick up the obvious westernization when you get into more Asian fantasy stories

But what I’m talking about is the lack of cultural exchanges despite the access of African kingdoms being for more accessible than before

Also what those things that assassin creed milk the living FUCK out of to explain why we can go to the crusades to Italian renaissance to the North America

And recent to the Viking era to a prequel that take place in 9th century Baghdad?

(Also teasing that India will probably be used in future games)

Oh yeah

TRADE ROUTES, TRADE ROUTES, TRADE ROUTES, ESTABLISHED A WHOLE LOT OF FUCKING TRADES IN YOUR FANTASY WORLD PEOPLE

Sorry, but I remember Dave pointed out the issues of modern fantasy stories is that they are written by metropolitan people who can’t comprehend life outside of their cities

Vs me who you know grew up in various places ie a college town for a bit.

Also under thing, if your ass can barely comprehend modern farmer lives

Your shit out of luck when writing proper world building

It like the issues with Yasuke for ac red, the thing is that story leaks revealed that Yasuke outsider status will be acknowledged

Hopefully it was a team idea not sbi suggestion

But as you know the assassins value free will, so when research and learning that Yasuke was kicked out of Japan by Mitshundie who refer to Yasuke as animal. I can see the devs desires saying the assassins saved him and Yasuke slowly agrees to help unify Japan to ensure the country won’t be at the mercy of Templars

Also I mention before because I did my own research and theorize that assassins Yasuke will die in Southeast Asia given the East African population there

Oh your other friend who the lawyer with the Cookie Monster icon pointed out that in rings of power made Gaderial a burnout millenial…ugh writers I understand you were told to write what you know

But you need to be VERY conscious especially if it a pre industrial setting

Yeah this is an issues, established. Fucking. Trade. Routes.

Make African kingdoms based off the Mali, the Yoruba, the Moors

Say in your fantasy world a group of refugees and immigrants decide to leave their ancestral homeland and move to the European kingdoms, now in reality most would be in trading ports and such

But say a second gen of them already assimilated into the surrounding area wanted to be a knight, of course it would have a lot of discrimination and such. But it make sense for that one character

Sorry, I was thinking about the Latin Americans and how they acknowledge they are mixed. Now yes Anglophones had a lot of separatism….but I think what huge root cause between black Americans and Africans is that my community don’t realize we’re like the Latinos-wait wait most of them have their native roots so nvm.

Because we grew up in an extremely different culture from them. Yes we can now interacted with native Africans due to globalism

But black activists, if the French and British were at each other throats for centuries. What the hell you guys think we are to Africans when we only started to have casual relations in the 60’s?

Sorry for these essay long anons, but I was thinking what wrong with modern fantasy beyond the woke shit…it’s because these fucks had very limited life experience or understanding of pre colonial times

Nothing against the og show, just you can pick up the obvious westernization when you get into more Asian fantasy stories. But what I’m talking about is the lack of cultural exchanges despite the access of African kingdoms being for more accessible than before

It's that money thing again, managed a great story still tho,

and ya have to wonder about the difficulty of gathering up a collection of "folk tales" from various indigenous groups around the globe, Africa being a massive untapped resource for that,

Not sure how many would lend themselves to movies, but anthology type tv series like twilight zone style with no set cast other than Rod Sterling as the announcer that does a new one every week, I could actually see that working

Your shit out of luck when writing proper world building

All this stuff feels pretty spot on

Also I mention before because I did my own research and theorize that assassins Yasuke will die in Southeast Asia given the East African population there

AC people seem to do a very good job, to the point that folks were thinking the one game could be used to help rebuild Notre Dame, that didn't pan out, but they still gave the game away free on Steam so people could visit if they wanted.

Say in your fantasy world a group of refugees and immigrants decide to leave their ancestral homeland and move to the European kingdoms, now in reality most would be in trading ports and such But say a second gen of them already assimilated into the surrounding area wanted to be a knight, of course it would have a lot of discrimination and such. But it make sense for that one character

Look up the Jewish diaspora that formed after the last time they thought it would be a good idea to piss off Rome. Not for integration so much as routes taken and areas settled

Sorry, I was thinking about the Latin Americans and how they acknowledge they are mixed. Now yes Anglophones had a lot of separatism….but I think what huge root cause between black Americans and Africans is that my community don’t realize we’re like the Latinos-wait wait most of them have their native roots so nvm.

Funny you mention them, that thing that nobody ever expects resulted in large numbers of, once again, Jewish diaspora who not only settled in North Africa they also went to Latin America, weird little pockets of Jewish people dotting places in various countries in the Caribbean and South America, couple that are widely disavowed by 99.9% of the Jewish population that knows they exist.

Might be less useful since they've managed to hold on to their Jewishness and not assimilate

-wait wait most of them have their native roots so nvm.

Number of Mexicans I've known that think they're descended from the Mayans I'm not so sure about that, but you're not actually wrong either.

But black activists, if the French and British were at each other throats for centuries. What the hell you guys think we are to Africans when we only started to have casual relations in the 60’s?

yay technology, it really has made some things better, other things worse but eh equivalent exchange as the Alric brothers say (my animu reference for the year)

Sorry for these essay long anons, but I was thinking what wrong with modern fantasy beyond the woke shit…it’s because these fucks had very limited life experience or understanding of pre colonial times

No worries, sorry bout the time it took to get this out got things pulling left and right and I want to be able to get a good answer out to you so we can call it even, lol.

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

Actually, before 7 Oct 2023, hundreds of thousands were in the streets (including half the army), demonstrating against the Israeli government, and in the wake of the attack, majority (56%) opposed annexation of Gaza, with only 33% in support.

Also, there have been street fights between soldiers, and right-wing Ultra-Orthodox men, because they were exempted from national service, despite being the main political force behind most conflicts.

And half opposed Invasion.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-poll-finds-49-support-holding-off-gaza-invasion-2023-10-27/

You're helping Hamas create an imaginary Israel, because their surrogates in social media told you to…

Also, the Gazan government (Hamas) gaslighting of their own populace is even more severe, than our own.

It's worth noting that American GI's committed war crimes in Europe during WWII, but they were a vanishing minority.

However TransOcean radio would've told you that they were representative.

Just like Nazis are a tiny minority of Ukrainian fighters, as they are a tiny minority of the Ukrainian populace (they don't even have enough support to gain a single seat in the parliament).

Yet RT (Russia Today), Sputnik and The Gray Zone (and others), would have you believe they are representative.

“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion." -John Stuart Mills

"Facts are stubborn things, so fuck your feelings." -John Adams

There was never a nation-state called Palestine.

Before 1948, the last time that Israel had a nation-state was the kingdom of Solomon.

And Palestine never had one.

The closest they got was a Roman province called Syria-Palestinia, which included the split kingdoms of Israel and Judea.

After WWI, most of the arable land was owned by absentee Ottoman landlords, who sold the land to Jews.

The fate of Palestinian tenant farmers was a bit of a mixed bag, as some were driven off said agricultural projects, while others remained and worked for the Jews, while still others refused to do so.

When the Jewish refugees started arriving in the British colony of Palestine after WWII, most thought they could coexist with the Arabs, but there were dark forces that could never allow that to happen.

During the war, most Arab leaders had sided with the Nazis.

In fact, when Syria invaded Iraq, they did so with an able-assist from the Luftwaffe.

After the war, the main escape for Nazi war criminals on the lam, was through Damascus and Beirut, to Cairo, to Algiers, and onto Latin America.

To make matters still worse, the British promised the same land to the Israelis AND Palestinians.

So, the region has always been chock full o'fascists, and I would no more side with Israeli fascists (Likkud), or Palestinian fascists (Hamas), than I would between Lebanese Falangists and Syrian Ba'athists.

To err is human, but to really screw things up, you need the British Crown.

There is no Palestine in the Quran. There was no Palestine in the area under Ottoman occupation.

There is no call for a state of Palestine or two State solution or peace in the Hamas charter. That is never mentioned. Peace is explicitly rejected.

The decades prior to 1948 were intermittent serious massacres of Jews living in Jewish cities, plus the constant threat of violent attacks by Arabs on Jewish refugees who were pretty much defenseless until they purchased weapons and formed militias.

It's possible to look up exactly how much Jewish families paid for land they PURCHASED from Arab Christians and from Arab Muslims. The mayors of several major cities in family clan leaders were quite positive about living with Jews, sharing improved wealth, sharing improved health, sharing the eradication of malaria and opening up new lands. What's the problem?

The hostile Muslims who dominate the news slaughtered the friendly Muslims for being too nice to Jews. They eliminated the political opposition that wanted a peaceful 2-state solution in the 1930s. That's not much different from how Islamists do politics in other countries, murdering the opposition.

Look at the succession of brilliant and competent Iraqi leaders before Saddam Hussein. Each current leader was killed off by the new leader. Look at what Iran did to leftists who helped the Iranian clergy seize power.

Egyptian leaders need to firmly suppress the risk of a coup, by radical islamists.

If you want to help Palestinians, here are some excellent resources:

Help the people of Gaza

https://crisisrelief.un.org/opt-crisis

Palestine Emergency Relief

UNRWA

https://www.unrwa.org/

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)

Oxfam International

Doctors Without Borders

World Central Kitchen

let us take a moment and grieve for all the lives lost. so many thousand people have been murdered by the zionist entity in the last fifteen months. palestinians in gaza have lost too much, from friends and family to their homes and livelihood.

this ceasefire is not an end to our solidarity with gaza. we will all be here waiting and praying for palestine to be wholly liberated from the occupation and watch her people be happy and free.

in the meantime, please keep donating to palestinian fundraisers. it is essential to support families planning on rebuilding.

alaa is a mother of two young children. her fundraiser has been verified. i request you to help her by sharing and donating to her gofundme.

please donate here