#at least he's anti-nazi
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My Two Cents on the Joker: My Love/Hate relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime
I think something we tend to forget in fandom is that you can like or dislike a character without liking or disliking everything about them. Before anything else said, I want to make this clear as crystal. This is my opinion. I am not saying it is right or that you have to agree. No one has to agree with me. All I ask is that you hear me out, acknowledge my opinion, and if you don't like it, agree to disagree. I fully respect the opinions of those who dislike/hate this character. Okay, let's talk about this frikkin' clown.
It is absolutely no surprise, to me or to anyone, that a lot of people LOATHE the Joker. And with good reason. He is a monster. In nearly every continuity he's in, he's done terrible things. He killed Jason Todd, paralyzed Barbara Gordon, abused and manipulated Harley, tormented and experimented on Tim Drake, turned Superman into a dictator, the list goes on. I understand why people hate him. Their reasons are valid, especially if they relate to his victims.
I myself have a love/hate relationship with the Joker.
Here's what I love about the Joker:
I love that he's Batman's opposite, a bright, loud, colorful clown.
I love that when written right, he can be scary AND funny.
I love his overall classic design. Purple suit, bow-tie, green hair, red lips, etc.
I love that he's deadly, as any Batman villain ought to be.
I love his genius-level intellect. Though, arguably, all the great Batman villains have that.
I love his weapons. Joker venom, acid-squirting flowers, ninja-star playing cards, etc.
I love the whole "Joker card as a calling card" shtick. To me, that never gets old.
I love how ruthless he is. Some of the best villains are ruthless.
I love his whole "agent of chaos" shtick.
I love the idea that he's a deadly maniac hiding behind the humorous image of a clown.
I love the fact that he's anti-nazi. Good to see he has some sort of standards, at least in one or two continuities.
I love his obsession with Batman and their rivalry.
Now here's what I hate about the Joker.
I hate that he has zero respect for anyone other than himself, or even if he does respect them, it's only as a means to an end. At the very least, he ought to have more respect for his allies.
I hate how he serves as a bad representation of mental health. I will not sugarcoat it or give it a pass. I have my own share of mental illnesses, so him serving as an example of the mentally ill? Terrible.
I hate the whole "Life's a Joke and only I know the punchline" shtick.
I hate the way he treated Harley. It was wrong then and it's wrong now. There's no hiding it, or excusing it.
I hate the growing amount of "edginess" the character has been given. He's a clown villain. At least half of his crimes should be nonsensical fun.
I hate how he treats the younger members of the Bat-Family. I know they're his enemies, but still.
I will never condone the Joker's actions, nor the actions of any villain. And again, I fully understand and acknowledge that my enjoyment of the Joker as a villain is unpopular. But I feel like I should be honest. At the end of the day, the Joker is one of my favorite villains. Do I like everything about him? No. But I don't have to.
#villains#opinions#dc comics#dc universe#batman#the joker#death mention tw#torture mention#torture mention tw#death mention#abuse tw#abuse cw#Yeah i like the joker as a bad guy and an antithesis to the hero#but i will never condone his actions#at least he's anti-nazi#i have a love hate relationship with this clown#i guess he's a guilty pleasure character#problematic fave#unpopular opinion#possibly unpopular opinion
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i rmr when all the initial meta around endgame was coming out people were talking about steve being depressed and whatnot and it's like well yeah but he's BEEN depressed, like he woke up alone in this century and he kept going, now i can understand it being worse this time after finding a family and getting bucky back and losing them all except of course that's not why endgame steve was on about so like......the people writing meta were trying to connect these things that of course weren't really there on screen because that simply wasn't our steve
but i think it really could've been SO interesting to see this is the thing that finally makes steve stay down like he's lost so much and he just CAN'T keep fighting like i get some people think that's what they were going for but considering the ending......it's really not. and so i'm just thinking about a version after iw, maybe he gets some of the thor treatment except not turning his depression into a dumb fatphobic joke lol and maybe nat and others are trying to get through to him and it just doesn't work and then we get some flashbacks (which you could have done for all the original avengers actually which would be particularly important for bruce and nat and clint who did not have their own trilogies) including his mom telling him "you always stand up" and THAT being the thing to finally get him moving like it would've been such a perfect way to finally show sarah rogers some respect and ACTUALLY show steve really struggling instead of whatever they tried to do with him in that movie
#steve rogers#mcu#anti endgame#why am i still rewriting this movie five years later#really though i think i rmr just trying to work through it all#and a lot of the meta i was reblogging initially still wasn't really accurate to endgame or the rest of the mcu#like they were still making steggy more important than it canonically was while trying to explain why it was a bad ending#and it's kind of like you can say steve would respect that peggy had a life and wouldn't interfere with it but that's about it like#going on about how he DID love her so much and just wouldn't be selfish enough to do those things#or that she was soooo important to his moral compass (hence why so many fic writers had her telling him to go back to bucky lol insanity)#are just not accurate lmao i do think much as she may be rightfully disliked#while canonically he did not LOVE her he did respect her even if we think that's annoying bc she's an asshole to him in catfa#but yeah no he had a moral compass before her i understand what people were going for with the compass being symbolic but like....#any time she said anything did he listen? except for maybe when she told him he was meant for more? it really doesn't seem like it#nor did he need it! jesus! the whole point of catfa is he was chosen for a REASON he was already a good man#he did not need peggy 'sure i'll let nazis into shield' carter to teach him shit#but yeah it was bc i followed one stucky blog at the time who was reblogging a lot of good shit but a lot of that nonsensical shit too#and i was just reblogging it all bc everything sounded better than endgame#and i really did start seeing more of the discussions around peggy where her culpability in catws hadn't even occurred to me#bc i was so in fic from the beginning of joining fandom that not only was their relationship made as impt as stucky#it was also made out like what happened to shield was hurting her legacy and it's like...but she had to have at least SOME responsibility#and yeah eventually it's like okay no it's not just that steve wouldn't Do That it's also that they would've been a terrible couple#and not only would he not be so selfish but he wouldn't give up everything for HER lmao but he would've for bucky as was shown over and ove
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Omfg UK and US 18-25s I'm begging you to vote in the general/presidential election 😭😭😭 young people already don't vote and then to actively abstain (I get it, all your options suck) but then politicians will have zero reason to appeal to you ever! You're entirely excluding yourselves from the conversation! Vote strategically to vote OUT the worst dude but just vote fr
I know they're all doing genocide and it's fucked but like you literally are not preventing genocide by not voting you're just sitting on your hands
#politics#voting#general election#presidential election#potus#uk#usa#tories#labour#lib dems#republicans#democrats#i know i hate keir starmer and rishi sunak too#trump and biden should be in a retirement facility#but trump is a full on nationalist and biden is at least not a complete nazi like thats a low bar and hes still doing genocide#but so is trump like genocide is unfortunately a given for both elections like none of your options are anti genocide#yes this is hell but like you have to show out in large numbers to prove youre even around and caring about this stuff#or like neo liberals and conservatives will run your countries into the ground even more#like the uk housing and healthcare systems rn are about to collapse entirely#trump is going to manipulate the functioning of government to creep into authoritarianism#its like not a secret this is their platform#serious you have to vote#protest vote#strategic vote
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what was the point of Golem. like its not as though wildbow thought he Did Something and failed. he just created a character and did nothing with him. guess you could argue that theo is Supposed to be a subversion of a chosen one thing and that him being boring and having no personality or opinions is part of his avoidance deal but like a) then why have him accept jack's challenge in the first place and b) i still do not care. motherfucker was raised by abusive nazis and doesn't even have an opinion on that one way or another CMON NOW go girl give us nothing!!!!!
#like. before u can even think about how In Poor Taste the whole thing is.#its boring#at least if he like stuck up for his crap parents that'd be INTERESTING#like he could at least suck!!!#he could at least be a horrid bigot like purity and cause tension just by existing + ppl not wanting to work w him against jack#OR like at least have him live up to his name and get really anti-nazi and protect jewish communities from violence#still maybe weird of him to pick the name!!!!!#but i might be invested if it MEANT anything#misguided but trying to right his father's wrongs wld at least be SOMETHING#how on earth do u write a character defined by being the son of a white supremacist supervillian.#and his only thoughts on the matter are like yeah my dad wasnt perfect#hes SO NOTHING#wormblr
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Can't believe I am saying this...
but Loki is somehow better than Velma.
Yes. That fucking garbage Marvel show that actively shits on the title character and said character's fan base, as well as genderfluid folk; that has abuse, incest and fascism apologism sewn within the very blood stream of the series, is somehow better than Velma.
#Is it a compliment?#Is it an insult?#IDK#but jesus fucking christ#Velma is a godawful show#Loki at least had Owen Fucking Wilson and he is a delight (despite him playing a nazi)#Velma has fucking nothing in terms of... anything!#So congrats Loki - you bumped your score from a .5/10 to a 1/10#But I still loathe you for ruining your title character for a TERF icon/actress as well as the horrible themes and messages#velma show#anti velma show#anti velma#HEY LOOK - both Loki and Velma have equally problematic creators!#loki#loki tv series#loki show#anti loki series#stan Mystery Inc. & Agent of Asgard for clearer skin
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i keep thinking i’m done with kevin but i miss his videos sm. i can never go back to watching him, im so disappointed in his apology and i will never feel safe in his community again, but i love his content, i wish the whole thing just never happened.
#cmk#idk i just have a lot to say about it#the more reactions to his apology i read the more disappointed i am in it#it feels like he’s trying to appease his transphobic/racist/antisemetic followers and his trans/jewish/poc followers at the same time#like#if you can’t come out and say support trans people / stop being fucking borderline nazis#i don’t think he really gives a shit at all lmao#at the very least i wish he’d addressed it on youtube#most of the people leaving shitty bigoted comments aren’t even going to see the reddit post#and i’m so sick of people defending him by saying he’s just very offline#the man has an entire massive platform Online#he needs to do the bare minimum research#like?? he’s a youtuber his entire platform is online#i’m probably more upset now than i was when the video originally came out lmao#sold out his trans jewish poc followers for money and then halfassed an apology that was 80% “idk man i just don’t really use social media#also why does he think that because jk didn’t code the game she doesn’t get anything from it??#like “people can feel it’s not endorsing her directly “ it’s her ip of course it’s fucking endorsing her she gets royalties#and then very publicly says she uses said royalties to fund anti-trans organisations#do people think the second the last movie in the series came out she just stopped getting profit from it???#she owns the franchise#also can the man stop acting like he’s allergic to the word transgender#fucks sake
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Yeah the fact that Peggy is able to recognize Bucky even though his hair is way longer, he’s wear more black makeup than Robert Pattinson’s Batman, and half his face is covered with a mask is telling…
I'd heard the rumors. But even if they're true, the man we knew is long gone, Peg.
#whatifedit#wtf is going on#marveledit#bucky barnes#like if I didn’t know he was the winter soldier I definitely wouldn’t have recognized him in this scene#she definitely knew about Bucky#and Howard probably did too#they didn’t even try to help him#anti peggy carter#anti howard stark#fuck them both#they’re both Nazis or at the least Nazi sympathizers#Hydra didn’t ‘infiltrate’ SHIELD it was invited in with open fucking arms#and Peggy and Howard are the reason for that
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Election poster of the Nazi party (AFD) in Thüringen (via spiegel.de): "The [Nazi party] keeps the promises of the [conservative party]!"
And that's why we don't vote conservative either 🙃
#the lady general rambles#random thought but when martok ds9 said he regrets that he didn't get to kill more civilians i understand now. sane & measured reaction#1 in 5 germans would vote for right extremist anti-democrats#and don't think i'm letting nrw off the hook just bc of thuringen they did this vote nazi shit back in 2017#if people really hate human life why don't they at least vote liberal
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Why Big Money Supports Trump
Fascism backed by Big Money is one of the most dangerous of all political alliances.
We saw it in 1930s Germany, when industrial giants bailed out a cash-strapped Nazi party right before Hitler’s election, thinking that Hitler would protect their money and power.
We are seeing something similar now. Earlier this year, the GOP was running out of money. So Trump turned to his wealthy backers for help. Many super-rich donors who once criticized Trump for stoking the violence of January 6 have since had a change of heart, deciding their profits are worth more than our democracy.
Trump has promised them that if elected, he’ll extend his 2017 tax cuts that went mainly to the wealthy beyond 2025 when they’re scheduled to expire, and hinting at even more.
He promised oil executives he would scrap regulations favoring electric vehicles and wind energy if they would give his campaign one billion dollars.
The Trump White House is for sale, and the wealthy are buying. 50 billionaire families gave at least $600 million in political donations as of May, with over two thirds going to support GOP candidates and conservative causes.
Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, who also controls and manipulates one of the world’s largest communications platforms, has committed to spending millions of dollars to elect Trump.
In previous videos, I’ve highlighted alarming similarities between fascist regimes of the past and Trumpism. The alignment of American billionaires with Trump’s anti-democracy movement is one of the most dangerous parallels.
The billionaires want the rest of us to fight each other so we don’t look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone, so we don’t join together and raise taxes on the super-rich to finance childcare, better schools, our health care system, and everything else we need.
They fear democracy because there are far more of us than there are of them.
We need to see through their fear tactics and vote in overwhelming numbers this November.
We can learn from history and spot the danger. We are not doomed to repeat it.
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"[L]ate last month Rutgers required its RAs, whose job is to supervise students living in on-campus housing, to participate in a “bystander intervention” course aimed at training them to identify antisemitism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. Several of the RAs, however, abruptly left the session after a Jewish speaker explained that Hamas’s antisemitism and desire to destroy the world’s only Jewish state precipitated the Oct. 7 massacre, which resulted in the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.
The paper added that the RAs took issue with the program’s citing a definition of antisemitism offered by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). After walking out, they reportedly contacted Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which proceeded to author, on the RAs’ behalf, a series of Instagram posts denouncing the antisemitism trainings as racist and upholding white supremacy.
"The mandated training program organized by the Office of Residence Life requires RAs to learn about DEI, restorative justice, community engagement, and more — all of these are inspired by Indigenous practices meant to unpack systems of white supremacy,” SJP said. “On the contrary, this specific session worked to perpetuate Zionism, racism, and white supremacy.”
SJP’s post included comments from the RAs who involved them in the controversy. One of them, who claimed to be Jewish, said, “I am tired of the word antisemitism being used to talk over genocide, I am tired of antisemitism being inflated.” The RA added, “I fear that when the Nazis and radicals come once again for the Jews that no one will believe us … it will be your fault.”
Another who took issue with the Israeli nationality of one of the course’s presenters said, “One of the facilitators even identified as ‘Israeli’ and made mention of this multiple times. He justified his authority on the topic by citing his 12 plus years spent in ’48 Palestine, going so far as to call ‘Israel’ [sic] a ‘beautiful land.'”
A milieu of extreme anti-Zionism at the school has resulted in at least one death threat against the life of a Jewish student since Oct. 7. In November, a local news outlet reported, freshman Matthew Skorny, 19, called for the murder of a fraternity member he identified as an Israeli, saying on the popular social media forum YikYak, “To all the pro-Palestinian ralliers [sic] … Go kill him.”
Similar incidents at Rutgers have occured frequently. In the past few years, the school’s AEPi fraternity house has been vandalized three times. In one incident, in April 2022, on the last day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, a caravan of participants from a SJP rally drove there, shouting antisemitic slurs and spitting in the direction of fraternity members. Four days later, before Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, the house was egged during a 24-hour reading of the names of Holocaust victims.
In March, the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce launched an investigation of Rutgers’ handling of antisemitism, responding to complaints that it has, for years, allowed an open season of hate against Jewish students."
#what i quoted was an excerpt but there's more at the link#antisemitism#antizionism is antisemitism#jumblr#october 7#israel#usa diaspora#the one who was triggered by someone saying “I'm Israeli” is almost hilarious#touching grass is not enough for them#they need to actually go to this place they are so obsessed with#touch the ground at Ben Gurion airport then we'll talk#rfk is not the only one with brainworm#hamasniks
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Snape Fan: So the words "Snape complained" aren't in the text?
Me: I mean, it's not so much that "Snape verbally complains", it's more like Snape expresses his frustration at not being chosen by Lily by actively bullying her orphaned child? I feel that's a bit worse than verbally complaining.
Me: Also my main point was Snape was a fantasy Nazi and that any relationship between him and Lily was inherently stupid because of that.
Snape Fan: So the words "Snape complained" aren't in the text? Your whole post is bullshit.
Me:*incredulous silence*
Me: I'm a bit concerned that you focused on the "show me in quotes where Snape complained" than the whole "Snape was literally a fantasy Nazi" bit of this post, but go off I guess.
I never will get over how fundamentally stupid Snape was, dude really became the wizard equivalent of a Nazi and then complained that Jewish crush wouldn't date him.
#ship what you want to ship but really you missed the fucking point#anti snily#anti snape#snily is romantic in theory but i can't get on board with the child bullying nazi#severus snape#snape and lily#snily#i fucking hate james potter but i hate snape more#james potter was a swine but at least he wasn't a racist pig#cant believe someone looked at a post about snape being a stupid naxi and went “show me in the text where he complained”#my brother in christ i will remove the word conplain if it helps you focus on the literal nazism
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by Lincoln Brown
Beckett Law, a religious freedom advocacy group, has taken up the cause of three Jewish students at UCLA. The students claim that in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, they faced mounting antisemitism, which included barring them from access to areas of the campus. The students are also represented by Clement & Murphy, PLLC.
In the lawsuit, Frankel v. The Regents of the University of California, the plaintiffs claim that pro-Hamas/anti-Israel protesters set up barricades on the Los Angeles campus, effectively creating a "Jewish Exclusion Zone." Beckett Law states that after creating the encampment, protesters not only constructed barriers but also linked arms to prevent Jewish students from accessing the most popular areas on campus. They also imposed an ideological test, and those whose views were deemed to be sufficiently anti-Israel were issued wristbands and allowed to pass unmolested through the "checkpoints."
By contrast, Beckett law says that Jewish students were harassed and even assaulted. Law student Yitzchok Frankel was forced to find other ways to reach his classes because his route was blocked by the exclusion zone. Sophomore Joshua Ghayoum could not attend classes or study sessions because of the zone and the antisemitic activities on campus. Additionally, he was forced to listen to chants of "death to the Jews" and "death to Israel." Eden Shemuelian had trouble getting to her final exams because of the zones and had to listen to the vitriol from the encampment as she tried to study. These, said Beckett Law, are just three examples of the problems faced by Jewish students at UCLA.
Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, stated:
If masked agitators had excluded any other marginalized group at UCLA, Governor Newsom rightly would have sent in the National Guard immediately. But UCLA instead caved to the anti-Semitic activists and allowed its Jewish students to be segregated from the heart of their own campus. That is a profound and illegal failure of leadership. This is America in 2024—not Germany in 1939. It is disgusting that an elite American university would let itself devolve into a hotbed of antisemitism. UCLA’s administration should have to answer for allowing the Jew Exclusion Zone and promise that Jews will never again be segregated on campus.
The suit notes:
Defendants have deprived Plaintiffs of the free exercise and enjoyment of religion without discrimination or preference, as secured by the California Constitution, through a policy and practice that treats Plaintiffs differently than similarly situated non-Jewish individuals because Plaintiffs are Jewish.
Defendants furthered no legitimate or compelling state interest by engaging in this conduct.
Defendants failed to tailor their actions narrowly to serve any such interest.
As a result of Defendants’ actions, Plaintiffs have been injured by losing access to educational opportunities, losing access to library and classroom facilities, losing in-person learning opportunities, losing the ability to prepare for exams, being denied equal participation in the life of the university, suffering emotional and physical stress that has diverted time, attention, and focus from study, and by other harms.
In addition to seeking compensation for damages, the primary goal of the lawsuit is to hold the leadership of the University of California accountable and ensure that such a situation never arises again.
As usual, "never again" is here and now. The fact that these "students" take a great deal of pride in slinging the term "Nazi" at anyone with which they disagree yet use tactics that echo those of the Third Reich is ironic and chilling. But their savage nature can be attributed, at least in part, to those who educated them.
Given that, one must ask if the regents of the University of California were merely caving to mob pressure. Did they turn a blind eye to the madness out of fear or because of the optics? Ideally, there should be nothing wrong with discussing the war and even debating whether or not Israel's response to the Hamas attack has been proportionate.
The regents, president, vice-president, and chancellors never stopped to think, "Gee, it seems to be getting awfully brownshirty around here." And if they did, they were too cowardly or indoctrinated to say a word.
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since zionists want to act obtuse about why we're criticizing a superbowl ad, here's an explanation from before the ad even aired. it was openly designed to act as pro-genocide propaganda. fighting antisemitism is a worthy goal but that's not what's happening here:
"The New England Patriots’ 81-year-old owner, Robert Kraft, writes seven-digit checks to the right-wing Israeli lobbying machine AIPAC, but his personal, political, and financial ties to Israel run deeper than the occasional donation. The multibillionaire married his late wife, Myra, in Israel in 1963 when Kraft, then 22, was older than the nation itself. Together they set up numerous business, athletic, and charitable ties to Israel, a record of which is proudly proclaimed on the Kraft company website. In particular, the Kraft Group boasts of its 'Touchdown in Israel' program, where NFL players are given free, highly organized vacations to see 'the holy land' and come back to spread the word about 'the only democracy in the Middle East.' (Not every NFL player has chosen to take part.) Kraft also attends fundraisers for the Israel Defense Forces, currently—and in open view of the world—committing war crimes in Gaza."
Now, as Israel wages war against the civilians of Gaza—more than 25,000 Palestinian have been killed with at least 10,000 of them children—Kraft is again flexing his financial and political muscles in order to defend the indefensible. His Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) will be spending an estimated $7 million to buy a Super Bowl ad titled 'Stop Jewish Hate' that will be seen by well over 100 million people. Under Kraft’s direction, the ad’s goal is to create a propaganda campaign to counter the reports and images from Gaza that young people are consuming on social media.
... The content of the Super Bowl ad is not yet known, but FCAS has afforded Kraft the opportunity to make the rounds on cable news saying things like, 'It’s horrible to me that a group like Hamas can be respected and people in the United States of America can be carrying flags or supporting them.'
This is Kraft enacting the mission of FCAS: fostering disinformation. He is far from subtle: A Palestinian flag becomes a 'Hamas flag,' and people like the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets of Washington, D.C., last month to call for a cease-fire and end the violence are expressions of the 'rise in antisemitism.' Without a sense of irony or the horrors happening on the ground in Gaza, Kraft says he is giving $100 million of his own money to FCAS, because 'hate leads to violence.'
Let’s be clear: What Kraft is doing politically and what he will be using the Super Bowl as a platform to do is dangerous. He appears to think any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. For Kraft, it is Jews like myself, rabbis, and Holocaust survivors calling for a cease-fire and a Free Palestine that are part of the problem. Kraft seems to think that opposition to Israel, the IDF, and the AIPAC agenda is antisemitism.
... Right-wing Christian nationalists, with their belief in a Jewish state existing alongside their conviction that Jews are going to Hell, are welcome in Netanyahu’s Israel and Kraft’s coalition. Left-wing anti-Zionist Jews are not. The greatest foghorn of this evangelical right-wing 'love Israel, hate Jews' perspective is, of course, Donald Trump. Kraft, while speaking of being troubled by events like the Charlottesville Nazi march and the right-wing massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, counts Donald Trump as a close friend and even donated $1 million to his presidential inauguration.
No one who provides cover for the most powerful, public antisemite in the history of US politics should ever be taken seriously on how to best fight antisemitism. No one who funds AIPAC and the IDF and opposes a cease-fire amid the carnage should be allowed a commercial platform at the Super Bowl. But given that the big game is always an orgy of militarism, blind patriotism, and big budget commercials that lie through their teeth, perhaps that ad could not be more appropriate. We can do better than Kraft’s perspective on how to fight antisemitism. Morally, we don’t have a choice."
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"I watched a film today at the Venice Film Festival titled "Russians at War." Since our film is in the same section as this one, I usually wouldn’t speak publicly about it. However, in this case, I cannot remain silent, because it’s not just about films and art, but about the lives of thousands of people who die in this war— a war that has instrumentalized propaganda as its weapon.
This film may mislead you into believing that it is an anti-war film, one that questions the current regime in Russia. However, what I witnessed is a prime example of pure Russian propaganda. Here’s why.
The filmmaker begins by expressing her surprise at the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In her film, she always uses the term “invasion” and never "full-scale invasion." She does not mention that Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014. These two events seem to not exist in the world of this film. The filmmaker also states that her country hasn’t participated in wars for many years and that she has only read about wars in books. Thus, the war in 2022 was a complete shock for her. It’s interesting how the filmmaker could overlook the fact that her country has been inherently involved in various wars and occupations for at least the last 30 years (1992-93 Transnistria, Abkhazian War, 1994-96 and 1999-2009 Chechen Wars, the 2008 war in Georgia, and the 2015-2022 invasion of Syria).
The filmmaker starts her narrative with a Ukrainian who now lives in Russia and fights on the Russian side. This is a very intriguing choice for the beginning of a story about Russians at war. Later, this character will claim that a CIVIL war began in Ukraine in 2014. He will also suggest that Ukrainians bombed the eastern parts of their own country (and this is why he moved to Russia). Another character will declare that Ukrainians are Nazis. We’ve heard these narratives before; they are (and apparently still are) widely and actively propagated by Russian media. One of those horns of propaganda is Russia Today channel, for which the director of "Russians at War" has previously made several documentary films.
Throughout the film, all characters express their confusion about their actions in Ukraine, stating they want the war to end and that most of them are fighting for money. In the final part of the film, the battalion is moved to Bakhmut, and most characters die in battle. We then see their comrades and relatives grieving at their graves. All of them repeat that they don’t understand why this war is happening and who needs it. In the end, the filmmaker concludes that these are poor, ordinary Russian people who are being manipulated into war by larger political games. I found this perspective amusing because the filmmaker—like putin and his regime—plays an interesting game with these people. They deny them the simple ability to possess dignity and to think and decide for themselves. To her, these people are merely powerless objects. If those engaged in a war that has lasted over 10 years were not powerless, it would imply that they, in the majority, actually support this war, wouldn’t it?
You will feel pity for the people depicted as dying in the film and for those we see crying for their loved ones. And you should—if you are a normal human being, you should feel pity, sadness, and emotion. However, it is also important to remember that these individuals joined the army that invaded an independent country, many of them willingly, as we learn from the film. You should also recall Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, and the civilians who were murdered there. Remember the thousands of children who were illegally transported from Ukraine to Russia. While I’m writing this and while you’re reading it, missiles are striking Ukrainian cities. The buttons are pushed by ordinary Russians. Are their crimes any less significant simply because they claim to be unaware of why they are involved in this war?
By the way, the director asks one of the characters if he thinks the Russian army commits any war crimes. He answers “no,” claiming he hasn’t witnessed any war crimes. Interestingly, the director echoes this in her interviews, stating she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front (https://www.reuters.com/.../russian-soldiers-given-their.../). We can only be happy for her that she was fortunate enough not to witness any war crimes. Unfortunately, thousands of Ukrainians have not been so lucky.
I could continue, but I believe it’s enough to understand that this film presents a very distorted picture of reality, spreading false narratives (calling the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea a civil war; suggesting that the Russian army does not commit any war crimes; presenting those who are part of the aggressors army as victims).
If you decide to watch it, I recommend following it with another documentary about Russian soldiers titled "Intercepted," directed by Oksana Karpovych. "Intercepted" also opens a door into the lives of ordinary Russians fighting in this war. You’ll be curious to explore it, as it will undoubtedly surprise you. You may also want to add "20 Days in Mariupol" to your viewing list, just to be able «to see through the fog of war," as the director of "Russians at War" so aptly put it."
—Darya Bassel, Ukrainian film producer of war documentary “Songs of Slow Burning Earth
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Have you noticed how almost everything that the anti-Israel crowd accuses people who simply recognize Israel's right to exist of, is (in additional to usually being false) stuff they're guilty of themselves?
"You support ethnic cleansing!"
What do you think it means, when you chant the English translation of "From water to water, Palestine will be Arab"?
"You support an ethno-state!"
Do you call for the destruction of every single nation state, such as Germany, Japan, France, and so on? No? Then so do you. Have you called for the establishment of a Palestinian state? Then, so do you. Between Hamas ruling Gaza and being genocidal when it comes to Jews, and Mahmoud Abbas (president of the Palestinian Authority) stating no Israelis will be allowed in the State of Palestine (and by "Israelis" we all know he doesn't mean the Arab citizens of Israel, he's talking about Jews) that's going to be an ethno-state, too. Oh, you meant a "pure" ethno-state. Those don't exist in today's reality, and Israel, with 27% of its citizens being non-Jews, is no exception.
"Oct 7 didn't happen in a vacuum, you're ignoring the context of the past 75 years!"
You are ignoring big chunks of anti-Jewish violence during these 75 years, you're ignoring the expulsion of almost 900,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, you're ignoring the anti-Jewish violence and persecution that preceded the establishment of the Land of Israel, and you're ignoring all 3,500 years (at least) of Jewish existence in and connection to our ancestral homeland, Israel.
"You support collective punishment!"
The same way you do, when you chant, "When people are occupied, resistance is justified"? Because that's what it means, that for the sin of Israel supposedly being a colonial state (a false claim, since Jews are native to Israel), you're justifying raping 13 year old girls, shooting them in the head, murdering Holocaust survivors, burning babies alive... what's that if not supporting collective punishment? (that's before we get into the fact that Israel not surrendering in a war started by Hamas is NOT collective punishment, or else we would have to define the allies not surrendering to the Nazis in WWII as collective punishment of the Germans)
"You suppor apartheid!"
All Israeli citizens have the same civil rights. Apartheid in South Africa was a system where citizens of the country had their rights limited based on skin color/ancestry. The issue in South Africa wasn't that racism existed (IDK a single country where racism doesn't), it's that it was codified into law, and used against the rights of that country's own citizens. Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs have the same rights. Non-Israeli Palestinians not having the same rights as Israelis, including as Israeli Arabs, is the same as French Canadians not having the same rights in the US as French Americans. It is NOT proof the US is applying a system of apartheid unto French people. And if it were, then I have news for you, every country applies different rights to citizens vs not citizens, so every country would be an apartheid state by this criterion. Which would make the word meaningless, and it would diminish the suffering of non-whites under South Africa's apartheid (as some young black South Africans who have actually been to Israel now point out). Meanwhile, I'll point back up to where Mahmoud Abbas said no Israelis (i.e Jews) will be allowed in Palestine, and that under the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian can be jailed or executed for selling land to Jews, which means the PA demolishes the right to property (of Jews to own it, and of the PA's Palestinian citizens to sell it as they see fit) based solely on the ancestry of the buyer... And you support the PA, right?
"You deny the Nakba!"
I had never encountered any Israeli denying that roughly 850,000 Arabs fled Israel due to the War of Independence. Pointing out that the Arabs are the ones who started that war isn't the same as denying it happened. Meanwhile, the people who make this accusation, largely deny the expulsion of the Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, deny the suffering, discrimination, expulsions and massacres Jews had endured for centuries under Arab and Muslim regimes, and deny the atrocities of Oct 7.
"You support colonialism!"
Say the people who deny the native rights of the Jews, who act as if these rights are limited by time (as if such a limitation benefits anyone other than actual colonizers), who ignore the fact that Palestinians wouldn't exist here without Arab colonialism, or who wish to confer a native status unto them by virtue of... being settler colonialists for a "long time" (to be clear, the way the UN's definition of a Palestinian refugee works, it only requires a person to have been an Arab* settler colonialist in Israel during the 2 years prior to the founding of the Israeli state, to be recognized as a Palestinian. To become a US citizen, in addition to other requirements, you have to live in the US for at least 5 years, 3 if married to an American citizen. That means in June of 1946, it was easier to become a Palestinian "native" in the eyes of the UN, than an American citizen). Don't get me wrong, Palestinians have a right to live in the place where they were born. I can both recognize that they're here due to Arab colonialism, AND be okay with them living here. Just like I can recognize that no Americans today deserve to be displaced, even though the majority of them are there thanks to colonialism. And I don't have to pretend like Americans of European descent have suddenly become native (something that if I did, would probably hurt actual Native Americans), in order to recognize their right to live where they were born. It's just ironic that if we took the logic of the anti-Israel crowd when it comes to native Jews, and applied it to all native peoples, this would harm the natives, erase their rights, recognize their colonizers as natives, and generally help colonialism.
There's probably more, but I think this is demonstrative enough.
* Technically, the UN didn't specify ancestry. As an idea, you could be Arab, Jewish, a Polish Catholic priest living in a convent in the Land of Israel from Jun '46 to May '48, and you'd be recognized as a Palestinian by the UN, but in reality this definition ended up favoring all non-Jewish colonizers of the land. In 1952, Israel said, "It's okay, we'll take care of the Jewish refugees displaced by the War of Independence. No need for the UN to do so. This is what we set up a Jewish state for." This is in addition to Israel taking care of the Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries, and Jewish Holocaust survivors. And for Israel's show of responsibility, the now-Israeli Jewish refugees have been punished. They don't get recognized as existing, as having been displaced by, and having suffered due to the war the Arabs started in the Land of Israel against its Jewish communities. "Palestinian" refers to non-Jews only from the second The British Mandate in Palestine's Jews became Israeli Jews, but that doesn't stop the anti-Israel crowd from falsely claiming there are Palestinian Jews today... even though since May of 1948, there aren't, and before that, those Palestinian Jews were British subjects, not the citizens of an Arab independent state called Palestine (something that has never historically existed). Thanks to the exclusion in practice of Jews from the definition of Palestinian refugee, the UN agency for taking care of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA became a tool of spreading anti-Jewish hate.
(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)
#israel#antisemitism#israeli#israel news#israel under attack#israel under fire#israelunderattack#terrorism#anti terrorism#hamas#antisemitic#antisemites#jews#jew#judaism#jumblr#frumblr#jewish#resources
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Hey I just wanted to thank you as a queer Jewish woman for calling out that dick calling you a Zionist just for believing Jews deserve to be safe and to have self-determination while also acknowledging how Zionism is board spectrum of beliefs in regard to that self determination of the Jewish people and what it could entail and not a catch all term term for 'bloodthirsty colonizer' despite how non Jewish people are using it and the Nazi propaganda that comes along with it. Yes there are branches within the movement that do have anti-arab rhetoric but as a whole it's all about the right to return to their homeland and self determination.
You should definitely want better for those who live in the Gaza strip and I do hope one day Palestine will have statehood and self determination of their own but that isn't gonna happen until both sides work out their history and hateful rhetoric and of course jihadist like Hamas no longer in power and people such as Netanyahu out of office.
(Sorry to break to most of you but neither Israel or Palestine are going anywhere and those who are chanting 'death to Israel' are fucking hypocrites considering half of the world's Jewish population live there. You can't be against genocide but then turn around and say you support genocide of a group you don't like. Also Biden has been trying to keep Bibi (Netanyahu) under control on the tactics used to fight Hamas and has been pushing for a ceasefire for a year because what happened on Oct 7th was nothing but evil but at this point I think most of us just want the hostages home. Trump will let Bibi do whatever he wants now that he's back in the white house and won't hold back. Most of the general Israel population want peace and believe in the two state ideas as do a lot of Jews outside of Israel. The government sucks but the people are no different than you and me)
Most of this site seems to have fallen into antisemitism and won't listen to Jewish voices so it's a breath of fresh air to see someone be an ally and call this shit out. Thank you.
(ps you don't need to reply to this I just wanted to send this)
Hello, I am doing my best to share Jewish voices and raise awareness about and combat the rampant antisemitism on this site. I am glad to know that I am helping at least a little bit!
#also i am replying to this post because i do think what you wrote should be heard by more people#there is a big issue with goyim redefining what zionism means so maybe this will enlighten some of them#thank you for the ask!#my asks
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