#War and Children

[sayruq]

If you, for some reason, still have a subscription to the Atlantic, cancel it

[i-am-aprl]

says “I’m not getting my diploma at graduation Myself and 3 other seniors were notified that UChicago won’t confer our degrees at graduation this weekend. Despite finishing 4 rigorous and excruciating years of undergrad This comes off the heels of the university already having me and other students arrested & criminalized. The 4 of us have been targeted for “possibly” participating in campus-wide protests which a large majority of our student body has. We assumed we’d have criminal records before degrees. And now we might not even have that We’ve done the work. We deserve our degrees. Standing on the side of justice shouldn’t negate that. Sign, call, write to tell UChicago this is not okay. We need more support.” Go to his profile and click in the link in his bio for a quick way to contact the University.

[sugas6thtooth]

It's unfathomable, even more so when you realize this isn't the first time Israel has done this. She was a baby. The men were so obviously red crescent medics, and still, Israeli soldiers shot and killed them.

It wasn't a misfired bomb. It was guns. They knew what they were targeting.

Anyone who defends this, for whatever religion you believe in, even if you believe in nothing at all, I can only hope the afterlife brings you your deserved suffering on a platter. You're disgusting, vile creatures, who must've snuck onto the Earth because there is no way in nature that you are human. Die.

نَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Save the children of Palestine. Protect the medics. Free Palestine. 🇵🇸

[starrswara]

netizens are desensitising gruesome things that are taking place in Palestine.

even the internet’s reaction to graphic things such as - pictures of injured children, civilians stuck under rubble, dead bodies of families in their destroyed homes etc. is beyond underwhelming.

DO NOT NORMALISE GENOCIDE.

BREAK THE STIGMA.

#save palestine

[vodid]

bedtime

[anqarfamily]

Imagine if education were forbidden for everyone, healthcare denied, and homes just distant dreams...

Imagine that travel, visits, outings, play, and the simplest moments of joy became forbidden…

What would life feel like then⁉️

To all with heart, Please don’t skip‼️

Please take a moment to consider the reality my family and I face daily ‼️

We are now in the second year of this devastating war, where every moment is a fight for survival. The essentials of life security, education, and healthcare have slipped through our fingers, leaving us in a state of despair.

It's only gonna get harder now that UNRWA has been banned in the Settler state. Let's fight this battle together!

We live in a makeshift tent, vulnerable to the elements. The relentless rains flood our home, and the biting cold seeps into our bones. Illnesses are rampant, and we feel helpless against the threats that surround us. Every day is a battle to provide for our children; basic needs like milk, diapers, and food have become unattainable luxuries. The weight of hopelessness hangs heavily on our hearts, and our dreams for a brighter future seem to fade with each passing day. We are in urgent need of help to navigate this crisis and to bring a glimmer of comfort and stability to our family's life amidst the chaos.

Donation urgently needed

€72,595 raised €100K goal

🌟 This campaign has been vetted by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi - #264 on the vetted Gaza fundraiser list. Also verified by @/butterflyeffect.project (line 741)

@90-ghost @heritageposts @gazavetters @neechees @butchniqabi @fluoresensitivearchived @khanger @autisticmudkip @beserkerjewel @officialspec @xinakwans @batekush @appsa @nerdyqueerr @butchsunsetshimmer @biconicfinn @stopmotionguy @willgrahamscock @strangeauthor @bryoria @shesnake @legallybrunettedotcom @lautakwah @sovietunion @evillesbianvillain @antibioware @akajustmerry @neptunerings @explosionshark @dlxxv-vetted-donations @vague-humanoid @buttercuparry @sayruq @malcriada @sar-soor @northgazaupdates2 @feluka @dirhwangdaseul @jdon @ibtisams @sawasawako @memingursa @schoolhatergirl @toesuckingoctober @ot3 @lapithae @ryo-yamada @opencommunion @anneemay @tamamita

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

[inloveanddepth]

no one talk to me NO ONE TALK TO ME

[alkliliyfamliye]

Rafah crossing will open soon. Please donate before it opens so I can escape from Gaza. Hell and death are here—I don't want to suffer any longer. Please donate, I beg you. Please donate 🔂

To all friends, help us in the largest participation to help us 🔂

[almoghaniosama]

Urgent Appeal: Support Our Humanitarian Mission in Gaza

My name is Osama , I am a humanitarian activist and founder of "A Sign of Hope team" a dedicated team committed to providing essential aid to displaced families in the South of the Gaza Strip. As a non-registered organization, our team operates with limited resources but with an unwavering commitment to supporting those in dire need amidst the ongoing crisis.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

The Crisis: A Devastating Displacement

The recent escalation in violence has led to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. Over 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, seeking safety in the south. This mass displacement has left countless individuals and families in precarious situations, having abandoned everything they owned in their desperate bid for safety. The dire conditions are exacerbated by the fact that approximately 390,000 of these displaced individuals have sought refuge in UNRWA schools. The remaining displaced persons, who were unable to secure shelter with relatives or rental accommodations, are left to live in makeshift tents scattered across various locations in the south of Gaza. These individuals face extreme hardships, with basic necessities like food, clothing, and medicine often out of reach.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

Our Mission: On-the-Ground Support

At "A Sign of Hope" our mission is to provide immediate relief to those who are suffering the most. We are actively working on the ground to assist families residing in schools and those living in tents, despite the substantial risks involved. Our team is dedicated to making a tangible difference by addressing the most pressing needs of these displaced families. To this end, we have begun assembling and distributing parcels containing essential supplies , including food , clothing , water , money , Entertainment programs for displaced children and medicine . These parcels are a lifeline for many offering a glimmer of hope amidst the overwhelming challenges they face.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

How You Can Help

Our ability to reach more displaced families and provide for their basic needs depends heavily on the support we receive. We are reaching out to individuals and organizations to help us extend our reach and amplify our impact. Your support can make a significant difference in the lives of those who have lost everything and are struggling to survive. We humbly ask for your assistance in any form whether through financial contributions, supplies, or spreading the word about our mission. Every bit of support helps us deliver critical aid and sustain our efforts during this challenging time.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

Conclusion

The situation in Gaza is dire, and the need for humanitarian aid has never been greater. With your help, "A Sign of Hope" can continue to provide essential support to those who are suffering and help them rebuild their lives amidst the ongoing crisis. Your generosity and solidarity can bring much-needed relief and hope to countless families in their time of need.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #209 )✅️

Thank you for considering our appeal. Together, we can make a difference and bring a glimmer of hope to those who need it most.

[good-old-gossip]

Social media users from around the globe are paying tribute this week to journalist and activist Mousa Qous, a long-time prominent figure in Jerusalem’s Afro-Palestinian community.

Mousa was the executive director of the African Community Society in the Old City of Jerusalem. Much of his life was dedicated to the Palestinian cause and highlighting the often-overlooked experience of Afro-Palestinians.

He passed due to a fire in his home on 9 February and is survived by his wife Joharah and his children, Mohammad and Shaden. An article he wrote for Skin Deep Magazine has been heavily circulated since the news of his passing, in which he wrote about the history and nuanced experience of Afro-Palestinians.

“It is a very specific experience, existing both as an overlooked part of a city’s history and as a persecuted community within a persecuted community,” he wrote. In it, he also interviewed his daughter, 22-year-old Birzeit law student Shaden, who is also very active in the community.

“Israeli forces do not treat the Afro-Palestinian community with humanity,” she said.

“[They] refer to us with the term Koshi [Hebrew for ‘Negro’], while the local Palestinian community calls me Samra [Arabic for ‘Dark woman’]. I am always reminded of my colour and that I am different.”

Shaden, who is also an American citizen, has been very vocal about the Palestinian cause despite Israel’s continuous crackdown on pro-Palestine content online. Israel arrested her on 6 January on charges of “incitement” for social media posts, delaying her release until 10 February – just mere hours after her father’s burial was completed.

There were also reports that Israeli forces stormed the Qous household while many were gathered in mourning, and detained Mousa’s brother, Nasser, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.

✍️ Maysa Mustafa / MEE

[sayruq]

[ghostscribble]

If this doesnt make you angry then you are a heartless demon

I am fucking done with israhell and their stupid excuses. I will never forgive or forget what israel has done. Fuck "oct 7", israel has been attacking RELENTLESSLY after oct 7 and news flash, it has been attacking BEFORE OCT 7, just not on this scale! So fuck israel, fuck usa and fuck all yall zionists.

[grey-viridian]

Little good things in big bad times

[muffinlance]

Consider: Post-canon Zuko wakes up in the body of his childhood self, the morning of That War Meeting. Would he still speak against the plans, knowing his fate? What do you think he would do differently the second time around?

"Turned away at the doors, Zuzu?"

"Shut up, Azula," her brother sulked. But sulked weirdly, after staring at her too long and too wide-eyed, not like she'd surprised him but--

But like he hadn't expected her to be there. At all.

He turned away. ...He turned back. "Hey, Lala? Do you think you could help me practice that one set?"

He didn't meet her eyes.

She narrowed hers. "Which set?"

"The one I'm bad at."

She scoffed. Pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against. "That's all of them, Dum-Dum."

He didn't shout or stomp or yell about the nickname. His lips twitched.

"It's okay," he said. "If you're afraid you won't be a better teacher that my instructor..."

It was the most obvious manipulation ever.

Perhaps if he proved an adequate firebending student, she'd work on his courtly survival skills next. Honestly, it was good that not even Uncle Gets-Cousins-Killed had been fool enough to take Zuko into that war meeting. She could only imagine how terribly that could have gone.

"Keep up," she said, and turned her steps towards the training grounds.

He did. There, and during the katas she ran him through.

Azula kept her eyes narrowed.

"Hey," he asked, "do you know how to bend lightning yet?"

As if he could have missed it, if she'd been able to get more than sparks. "I will soon," she said.

"You will," he agreed, and flowed through his next set. The one she'd only just mastered.

Father didn't notice how weird Zuzu was being. Uncle never noticed anything. Zuko ate dinner and asked a servant for seconds and didn't stutter or flinch or lose his appetite when father asked, coolly, what he'd done with his day. Azula's shoulders tensed, because one mention of how she'd squandered her own training time teaching him--

"Azula hogged the training grounds. For hours," Zuzu scowled, exactly like a petulant thirteen year old.

Exactly like he hadn't been acting all day.

By the time Father was looking her way, Azula had her usual smirk in place. "I'm sure there would be room for both of us," she said, "you're not afraid of a little friendly fire, are you, brother?"

Zuko sulked. And ate his seconds, like he was enjoying each bite. There was something in his eyes, like a joke no one else was getting.

---

Father died that night. A heart attack. There were the faintest of burns to either side of the treacherous organ; the royal physician hypothesized that he'd grabbed at his chest, fingers burning hot in his final moments; so hot they'd only exacerbated the problem.

The royal physician would never have been brought any victims of lighting strikes. Those that occurred in the capital did not generally require a doctor in the aftermath.

Zuzu ate a hearty breakfast.

He didn't order seconds. Azula gave him points, at least, for not being tacky.

---

The sages named Iroh as regent.

They named Zuko as Fire Lord.

"No," the tiny Fire Lord in his perfectly miniaturized Fire Lord robes said, sitting at the head of his war council. "We're not doing that. And I'll be reviewing all recent battle plans, as well. What's this I hear about a division of new recruits being deployed to the front?"

He did not mention how he'd heard of the 41st Division. No one asked.

"Prince Iroh, surely--" one of the generals tried to appeal.

The young Fire Lord's regent was looking as startled as the rest of them, for a moment. Then he sipped his tea, and smiled.

"Your Fire Lord is correct, of course. A change in our leadership--a change the other nations may mistakenly view as weakness--will necessitate a change in our strategy."

"Now," said their lord, "what, exactly, is our overall objective in this war?"

War, the new Fire Lord decreed, was not an end unto itself.

---

The new Fire Lord continued to have time, to pretend to be trained by her. Azula watched him. Adjusted her footwork. Did not tolerate, and was not offered, any commentary on who was teaching who.

"What did you do with my brother?" she asked, as they flowed from one set to the next. As her hands, poised to throw fire, just so happened to be pointed his way.

He missed a step. It didn't look like an act.

"I'm, uh. Right here?"

She didn't bother to dignify that.

He didn't bother to look worried about her hands, one movement off from a true attack.

He looked around, then grabbed her sleeve, and tugged her further from any walls that may hide ears. The royal family's private training grounds were wonderfully large, and wonderfully open.

"It's me," he said. "It's still me. Just. More of me? Longer of me?"

She narrowed her eyes. A familiar expression, by this point. "Explain."

"...I found the Avatar," he said. "And this is definitely his fault, but--but I guess it started at a war meeting, when I was thirteen."

Azula listened. It was a very Dum-Dum story.