#Mutual 1: there's an ongoing genocide in several countries

[collectorcookie]

Mmmmmm i love knowing my life hinges on the fact how much some random white guys in a fancy room can paint me as disgusting, inhuman, immoral, stealing resources etc. towards some other white people who will then use me as a black sheep for anything they suffered ever. And then we can call that democracy ❤️

[edenfenixblogs]

Hmm. I feel like I’m not being clear if you’re continuing to misinterpret my words like this. Let me try to address this as clearly as possible. Once again, I am trying in the very best faith possible to address your concerns and engage in this conversation despite how we disagree at the moment. I would very much appreciate a small bit of grace in the interpretation of my meanings and intention here. Please, for the sake of this discussion, assume that I am not approaching with any ulterior motive or aggression.

1) Yes, I saw your bio and that you are Jewish.

2) I don’t say only Jews should define Zionism. I say that the term Zionism and it’s opposite, anti-Zionism, are used with nefarious connotations by people who are not Jewish in order to make Jews less safe. So I propose taking the dichotomy off the table entirely for the purpose of ongoing good faith discussions. I am only saying that I do not wish to police the use of “Zionism” within Jewish community spaces at all. I also do not wish to police “from the river to the sea” within Palestinian cultural spaces at all. But, with specific regard only to the i/p conflict, the weight of the history of everything in both cultures is so heavy. Using certain words and phrases can get in the way of the ultimate goal of achieving peace. A mutual agreement to avoid these words and phrases is one way to both lighten that weight (by removing the history and controversy and pain they add to discourse on all sides) and bring us closer to achieving the ultimate goal of peace.

3) I am not saying that we should disallow relevant conversations that involve the Holocaust. Of course it is relevant to Israel’s foundation. That in itself is not Holocaust inversion. The issue comes when everything and everyone “bad” becomes a comparison to The Holocaust. I am asserting there is no comparison aside from mass death at the hands of the state. There are other reference points for that which don’t involve the other very individualistic things that make the Holocaust uniquely painful Jewish cultural property. Some of those things include the history of worldwide prior genocide and expulsion, the transfer of ideology from Russia to Germany, the diasporic nature of Jews as a target (yes. The nakba also resulted in diaspora. The diasporic conditions are not comparable due to the much longer history and wider geography of Jewish diaspora. But that does not negate or dismiss the very real pain of Palestinian diaspora), the lack of a meaningful widespread violent Jewish resistance (no I am not calling Palestinians terrorists. I am calling Hamas a terrorist organization co-opting Palestinian struggles to spread terror and violence), the global support for genocide based on antisemitism, as well as too many other things to mention. I am not interested in arguing these points with you. And not because I’m afraid of the truth or whatever accusation one might throw at me. Simply because that is the limit of my emotional energy. It is the limit of many Jews’ emotional energy. It is too near. It affects me too personally. And I am not interested in giving people an opportunity to manipulate the tragedy of it to fit their own views. An actual discussion of the Holocaust and it’s relationship to Israel is necessary and important. Comparing other struggles to it is not and does far more harm than good. Again, if you disagree with that point, I do not have energy to engage with you about why. So I suggest we set that aside for now and you can make your own post about your opinions on that. But for the purposes of this discussion: I hear you. I agree talking about it is necessary. But it cannot and should not ever be the go-to reference point for bad things happening in the world and countries doing horrible things to innocent civilians. The Holocaust is too unique a trauma to Jewish people and there are, unfortunately, several other recent and more historical genocides and ethnic cleansings to which we can all refer that don’t have such widespread, pervasively triggering dog whistles to sidestep. That is my boundary in this conversation, but if you wish to discuss this further with other Jews willing to engage on this subject, please do so. I am not that Jew.

We don’t have to agree on everything. But I do want you to know that my stances are purposefully pro-Palestine and Pro-Jew. I believe Very ardently in Palestinian self determination as well as Jewish safety in the levant. They are not mutually exclusive and we must all work toward that goal together.

I don’t think “Zionist is often used as a by word for Jewish conspiracy in white supremacist circles so call out Israel by name” is that unreasonable a request actually.

[xtruss]

Empire’s County of Lithuania Provokes Beijing With Plans to Quietly Declare Taiwan and China Seperate! The Braindead Miniature Neocon Outpost Tries to Be More Uncle Sam than Uncle Sam

— Field Empty | Anti-Empire

When you’re a provincial neocon and you have nothing better to do than insert yourself into Chinese culture/identity wars (between Taiwan separatists, Taiwanese Chinese nationalists, and the Mainland communist nationalists)

Editor’s note: The issue is that other governments have outposts on the island that are called “Representative Office in Taipei” but Lithuania wants to call its planned mission “Representative Office in Taiwan”. The state there still formally professes continuity with the pre-Communist, Nationalist China and calls itself the “Republic of China” (ROC), but the Taiwanese separatist faction wants to change that to “Republic of Taiwan” and expunge Chinese identity and ties. Thus the Lithuanian-proposed name is a provocation against Beijing and a favor to the separatists (who currently run the government).

You have to know some internal Taiwanese context to appreciate why this is problematic for Beijing, and even for the anti-PCR but pro-China faction on the island that opposes the Taiwanification of the ROC in the national sense. It’s a struggle between the two that is not yet resolved yet Lithuania is acting as if the separatists had already won out against the nationalists and had proclaimed a “Taiwan”. If there wasn’t a domestic and international movement pushing for a “Republic of Taiwan” and this was just a purely geographic designation rather than part of intra-Chinese culture wars (in which the mainlanders and the old school anti-Communist nationalists are actually aligned) then Beijing would not mind a “Representative Office in Taiwan”.

China said Tuesday it’s recalling its ambassador to Lithuania in an ongoing diplomatic spat over the planned opening of a de facto Taiwanese embassy in Vilnius.

Taiwan has 23 representative offices in Europe, where the island nation’s only formal diplomatic relationship is with the Holy See. All its missions carry the deliberately ambiguous language of “Taipei” instead of Taiwan or its formal title, the Republic of China.

China, which claims the democratically ruled island as a province, appeared to take issue more with the naming of the de facto embassy rather than its planned opening. A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Lithuanian government disregarded “repeated representations and articulation of potential consequences.”

The decision “severely undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it continued. “The Chinese Government expresses its categorical opposition to this move.”

Shen Zhifei, the Chinese envoy to Lithuania, would be recalled as a result, said the Foreign Ministry, adding that China had demanded Vilnius do the same. However, it remains unclear whether Lithuania will be obliged to withdraw its top diplomat in Beijing, Diana Mickeviciene.

Newsweek contacted the Lithuanian Embassy in Beijing for comment but didn’t receive a response before publication.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement online that it is “determined to pursue mutually beneficial ties with Taiwan like many other countries in the European Union and the rest of the world do.”

Plans to establish a Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius were announced on July 20 by Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who said Lithuania also would open a de facto embassy in Taipei later this year.

“Lithuania is a good partner for Taiwan who shares the same values for freedom and democracy,” he told a virtual briefing at the time. It will be Taiwan’s first European office in nearly two decades, following the 2003 opening of the Taipei Representative Office in Bratislava.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office described the decision as a “farce.”

One China Policy

Ambassador Mickeviciene, who was appointed to the role last December, told AFP at the time: “The new Taiwanese office in Vilnius does not violate our One China policy, as it has been demonstrated by the fact that Taiwan has offices in 74 countries in the world, including in most EU members and some of Lithuania’s neighbors.”

“Lithuania is interested in expanding cooperation with Taiwan in many areas of common interest with a particular focus on promoting economic ties and cultural exchanges,” she said.

Despite having missions on every continent, including a dozen in the United States, Taiwan has only 15 formal diplomatic allies. The recent goodwill cultivated between Taiwan and a number of Central and Eastern European countries comes at a time when China is courting the region through its “17+1” investment forum.

Lithuania quit the dialogue on May 22, shortly after its parliament declared China was committing “genocide” against Uyghurs and other minority ethnic residents in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Lithuania established formal diplomatic ties with China in 1992, two years after it regained independence from half a century of Soviet occupation. Its office in Beijing opened in 1995.

There was no indication that plans to establish reciprocal offices in Vilnius and Taipei had been jeopardized by the ongoing disagreement with Beijing.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou described Lithuania’s determination to safeguard its dignity and freedom as “admirable.” “Taiwan and Lithuania plan to establish reciprocal representative offices with the main aim of developing mutual interests and cooperation in trade, technology, education and culture,” she told Newsweek.

“Taiwan currently has 110 offices in 72 countries, the majority (57) of which do not have formal diplomatic ties [with Taiwan]. These offices strengthen bilateral trade, education and culture; they benefit our two peoples cooperating in various fields and deepen their exchanges and friendships,” Ou said.

Taiwan’s future office in Vilnius would serve the same purpose, she added.

— Source: Newsweek

Lithuania plans to open a representative office in Taiwan by the end of the year, Lithuanian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mantas Adomenas said, reflecting a desire for the two countries to forge closer ties.

A vice minister-level official from the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Ministry of Economy and Innovation would attend the opening ceremony, Adomenas said in an online interview earlier this week.

“Opening an office [in Taiwan] is an important event,” he said.

Although no decision has been finalized on which official would attend, Adomenas, who has visited Taiwan several times, said he would like to visit the “lovely” nation again, describing Taiwan as “a very mature and very vibrant, dynamic democracy.”

The representative office could be named the “Lithuanian Representative Office” or the “Lithuanian Trade Representative Office,” but the title was still being discussed within the government, he said.

— Source: Taipei Times