#Swingset

[gorillawithautism]

@anxious-andconfused linguistics stuff

[gorillawithautism]

i don't really know how to even articulate how painful it is to look at photos like these

(settlers celebrating purim in occupied west bank with police and soldiers. several of them dressed as a man who killed 29 palestinians three decades ago. they idolize this figure as a hero of their genocidal movement)

for anyone unaware, purim is a jewish holiday commemorating a time when we escaped imminent genocide by fighting back against our oppressors. violent resistance was involved. violent resistance was successful. purim is a holiday that celebrates freedom, resistance, and liberation.

tradition around purim often involves dressing up in costume. when i was little, the girls all wanted to be esther. the boys would be mordechai. purim is fun. fond memories of babies in little animal onesies. of making and eating hamentaschen. of booing hamans name and laughing together.

when i see these genocidal zionists dressing up and drinking and having fun like this it reminds me of the ways i've celebrated purim in the past. and it makes me so extremely angry. what right do you have to celebrate jewish resistance and liberation? what right do you have to parade your weapons around and walk on stolen palestinian land and celebrate?

zionists fancy themselves esther but they are no less than haman himself. groggers should be used to curse their names.

while gazan hospitals are being bombed and raided they celebrate with my customs and my holidays. and it makes me so angry

[animeglitch]

[mat-of-superwholock]

Erik: *on a swingset* *magnetically swings really far* *starts swinging in complete circles around the swingset* -somewhere far away- Charles: *somehow able to tell that Erik is doing something stupid* ERIK NO-

[gorillawithautism]

the autism in me can't tell if you're trying to be snarky about it or if you're genuinely asking so if this backfires on me i'll just block and move on but i'll try to act like you were being genuine and not just giving sass to a palestinian for no good reason :)

olly (a palestinian) made a post is discussing the fact their culture is just that: a culture. it is rich and it's meaningful. it's nuanced and diverse. however, olly has also noticed that some people who aren't palestinian take this culture and flatten it. they appropriate it. they wear it like a costume. using aspects of the culture to signal in a two dimensional way that they are Morally Upright by (theoretically) Supporting Palestinians. however, it's impossible to tell how much someone truly supports palestinian liberation and decolonization from just a garment of clothing or something similar. that means that these people are not doing anything substantial for the cause by appropriating the culture in this way. they oversimplify and misrepresent it. and this behavior ultimately harms palestinians. because olly is palestinian, they know exactly how much this hurts them, their people, and their liberation.

now that i've so kindly explained what cultural appropriation and virtue signalling are, we can move on to how your responses were unhelpful at best, and actively antagonistic at worst! :) isn't that exciting <3

you posted "No. Stop this. When a culture is on the receiving end of a genocide, that is not the time to stop and consider the purity of your intentions. Of course it is important, but wouldn't you agree that celebrating any shred of Palestinian culture is what is important right now? Liberals love making perfect the enemy of good. Get out of your head and do whatever you can. This isn't the time for this kind of nonsense."

in the first two sentences, you commanded them to stop. you positioned yourself as more powerful and more knowledgeable than olly. this established two things right off the bat: that you do not know anything at all about olly and that you believe yourself to know better than them despite this. in the third sentence, you act as though it is unquestionably impossible for nonpalestinian antizionists to truly have pure intentions when engaging palestinian culture, community, and liberation. there are people out there who listen to palestinians when they speak. there are people out there who believe that being kind to palestinians is just as important as ending their genocide. there are people out there who know that just because the nature of genocide dehumanizes its victims, that does not mean we must also treat them as though kindness is not a priority. in the fourth sentence, you pose a question. a question that acknowledges that kindness and sensitivity is important in one breath but then acts unkind to olly in the next. you act as though "celebrating any shred of palestinian culture" is a service, regardless of whether that celebration is a respectful one or not. you act as though respect is not important, despite starting the question itself with "of course it is important" which tells me that you don't really believe that yourself. respectfully engaging with palestinians as though they are real people living real lives with real families and real cultural history is clearly not as important to you as being a Good Person who (theoretically) Supports Palestinians. that is exactly the sort of virtue signalling discussed above, both in olly's original post and when i (a nonpalestinian white person) re-explained it. perhaps some part of you realized that olly's target audience was people like yourself. or perhaps you missed that entirely because you weren't willing to try listening to them. either way that's kinda embarrassing ngl. i can see why you might get defensive instead of doing any amount of self reflection. finally, we come to the last bit of your initial reblog. honestly it's not that important to discuss bc i think i mostly covered everything but i do want to point out that it's kinda funny that you called olly a liberal. and you said that they are making "an enemy of good." who's the "good" in this? is it supposed to be you? are you the good guy here? is being disrespectful to palestinians on the internet something that good guys do?

anyway hopefulaly you now see that there was not a single person saying anything about "hesitation and inaction" since i was so gracious to do an analysis of olly's post :) one that you should have done yourself :) and next time, if that analysis is something that's difficult for you, i recommend asking questions instead of immediately jumping to being a dick. as long as you're cordial about it, i'm sure people won't mind explaining a couple things

palestinian culture isn't something for you to "consume". buying as many "palestinian themed" things as possible isn't being an ally. please focus on real life decolonization rather than being a performative ally. pay attention whether you are actually appreciating the culture or just consuming it for your own self interest and gain.

[alcalystrasz]

I can't wait to see the flashback with Miwi as kids... this is going to be so cute <3

Swingset on fire......

The Swingset which is green by the way (blue + yellow)

[starvice]

Bro I love the swings

[imaginationvalley]

Tropical breeze

[s0larize]

[nagitothehopelover]

Spring! Don’t you just love the park?

[gorillawithautism]

image id is missing the fact that his tail is wrapped around his little chicken leg which i feel is very important to note

im doing my Garfield impression

ID: An orange and white tabby laying on a blanket in a hamper sticking one foot out

[duvalpete]

Teddie. Pop's Park. September 2024.

[gorillawithautism]

i would like to point out that in order to believe comparing palestinian genocide to hiroshima, bosnian genocide, the holocaust, armenian genocide, etc would be trivializing those events, you must first believe palestinian genocide is trivial in itself.

palestinian lives are not expendable. get that through your head before you start talking down to them and their supporters.

[animeglitch]

[candieduranium]

i had forgotten how fun swingsets are. man, THIS is how i like to connect with my theriotype. i really feel like an owl in that moment where i swoop down and lean back, then up again when i turn my face to the stars. that’s what makes me feel right. it sounds stupid, and a lot of people would think i’m absolutely batshit crazy, but wow. just wow. i’ve always loved that feeling of weightlessness when i drop. the feeling of flying and the wind blowing in my face. ♾️/10 will absolutely do whenever i get the chance (plus its a pretty good workout too lmao)

[whereifindsanity]