#but I am still for the concept of the state of israel even if I don't love it right now

[frances-baby-houseman]

We went to temple tonight for a yom ha'atzmaut party and they started playing david melech yisrael and I was like a sleeper agent being activated. I haven't sung this in decades-- they didn't sing it at our last temple!-- and yet! when it started I did the hand motions as though the last time I'd done it was yesterday.

[boreal-sea]

Does being indigenous "expire"? Can an exiled, displaced people "lose" the right to return to their homeland? "Sorry, you've been in the Diaspora for too long, so even though it wasn't safe for you to return to your homeland that whole time, you don't have any right to go home now".

If the very thought of that made you recoil, it should.

Jews are indigenous to the Levant. The roots of Judaism, an ethnoreligion, are in the Levant. Jews were systematically exiled from the Levant over the centuries in multiple waves. There are some Jews who never left, some who moved back, and others that were unable to return until recently. Many Jews still live in the Diaspora. Any denial of this is historical revisionism and antisemitic.

So, if you agree with the following:

Indigenous people have a right to return to their homeland that cannot expire

Indigenous people have a right to self-governance

Then guess what: you agree with the basic concept of Zionism.

You might not agree with how all of this was implemented with the modern state of Israel - and I don't either! But the basic concept of Zionism is not the evil boogeyman antisemites have made it out to be.

"But Israel is illegally occupying Palestine!" Yes and no. In some places? Yes. In other places, no. It's complicated.

There is undeniably property and land within the current borders of Israel that belonged to Palestinians before the state of Israel was established in 1948. 700,000 Palestinians were killed or displaced from Palestine during the initial establishment of the modern state of Israel. Any claims that Israel was solely created on "empty desert" is a flat out lie. That doesn't mean all the land in Israel is formerly Palestinian - some of the land was indeed "empty desert" - but there were people living in some of those places. These are facts. This is history.

Personally, any land or property that was lived on by a Palestinian prior to 1948 that is currently held by the government of Israel is being occupied. I don't really know how you could look at it any other way. Someone else lived there, you kicked them out, you're occupying their home. It doesn't matter that Jews are indigenous to the area - you can't steal someone's home and claim it's ok. You can't just go across the street, hold a gun to your neighbor's head, force them out of their home, move in, and claim it's ok because you're both from the same town.

And what's worse, is that Palestinian land continues to be seized. Palestinians continue to be displaced. This is still happening in the West Bank. Illegal (unsanctioned by the state of Israel) and violent Israeli settlers continue to steal land from Palestinians, forcing them to flee their villages, and are destroying homes and schools. There are literally no other words to use for this other than "illegal occupation". Even the state of Israel doesn't sanction these settlements - although it does sanction forming other settlements in the West Bank.

I absolutely believe in the Jewish right to move to Israel and to self-govern in Israel. I am for the modern state of Israel existing in some form. I am against how the modern state was established and I am against how the government of Israel has continued to abuse the Palestinian people and steal and illegally occupy their lands.

I can't change the past, I can't undo the Nakba. But the modern state of Israel could take steps to do reparations for the damage and pain caused by its formation. It could pull the illegal settlements out of the West Bank. It could cease endorsing future settlements in the West Bank. It could work with the Palestinian Authority to establish a strong Palestinian government. It could stop treating Palestinians as second class citizens. It could stop controlling every aspect of life in Gaza. It could be an ally to Palestine and make it strong.

"You have a right to do the thing in principle" and "how you are currently doing the thing is harmful to human life and dignity" are two things that can simultaneously exist. I have the right to drive a car. That doesn't give me the right to drive my car on the sidewalk and mow down pedestrians. Same thing here.

[akajustmerry]

Sorry to bother you, but i would like to hear you opinion on the international day of action taking place on Invasion Day. I know these movements are incredibly intertwined and there have been a lot of pro Palestine movements and solidarity actions co organised by Aboriginal Australians and this years Invasion Day march will most likely be in solidarity with Palestine while also addressing more specific (although similar to the genocide thats currently occurring) issues in relation to Invasion Day, but I am unsure how to go forward without unintentionally overshadowing the significance of both days even though a lot of the what’s currently occurring is similar to why we protest, march and mourn on Invasion Day

hello, okay so just to be clear I'm not the speaker for Aboriginal people everywhere. I can only tell you my opinion as a single Aboriginal person who is also Arab. So, please, only take what I say as one opinion and not a rule.

I believe and know that all colonial powers are linked. Australia as a colonial power is inseparable from the UK and the USA. The UK are responsible for invading and establishing a colony in "Australia", just as they were responsible for invading and establishing a settler colony in Palestine, and the same goes for the US. And while the colonies of "Australia" and the US and "Israel" took on their own identies as settler colonial states, they share and maintain colonial roots with the UK.

So, you see, it's not just that the struggles are similar, they're the same. Literally, the same. So called Australia was colonised under the British law of "terra nullius", the legal concept that no one was here so it was free for the taking. Palestine was colonised by British and European Zionists who saw Palestine as "a land without people for a people without a land" which is just terra nullius by another name.

Palestine and Palestinians, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share similar conditions because our oppressors are the same and are still in fucking cahoots. The Australian government is sending weapons to Israel and Israel bankrolls a LOT of Australian financing, tech companies, and universities. Our struggles for liberation are inseparable because the institutions oppressing us are inextricably linked.

I say all this to remind you that Invasion Day rallies and protests are not about the day itself. They are about how the day represents colonisation and the ongoing violence of it. They are organised to remind settlers that we First Nations peoples are still here and we do not condone the celebration of our colonisation and ongoing genocide.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Free Palestine movement is a global anti-colonial movement. To stand with Palestinians is to stand with every Indigenous person living under occupation and fight for their liberation. The Free Palestine movement isn't a stopgap movement or a charity movement, it's a land back movement. What you need to really sit with and ask yourself is why you're in the Free Palestine movement. Because if it's not because you believe that Indigenous people everywhere should have their land returned to them, then you're not really an ally.

What I mean is, there shouldn't ever be a question of which one you should support because the answer is both. They can't overshadow one another because our movement is the same, our struggle for liberation is the same. You and anyone else out there worried that supporting your local Indigenous peoples' liberation is going to overshadow Palestine or vice versa need to learn more about how our struggles are not separate. They're one struggle against the same Imperial colonial powers. When we say that none of us are free until all of us are, we mean it's because it will take all of us in solidarity to liberate one another because our oppressors are all the tentacles of the same imperial colonial monster.

Most rallies for Invasion Day in major cities will also be in solidarity with Palestine. One of the first times I went to Invasion Day in Eora/Sydney in 2014/15 I was moved to tears by a Palestinian speaker at the rally who said he'd been coming to Invasion Day rallies since he landed in this country as a refugee in the 90s because he instantly saw our shared struggle as Indigenous peoples under settler colonialism.

So I hope I've helped you see that there is no supporting one or the other or overshadowing because we are fighting for the same thing. It's why so many Palestinians advocate for other oppressed peoples and stand in solidarity with Black Americans, Indigenous peoples around the world, and vice versa because it's not that we're in lots of struggles in competition with one another. We're in one struggle, an end to our occupation, and our permanent and whole liberation.

[statisticalcats2]

Please don't take this as hate, I just want to be educated, but what nuance about Zionism is there? How is it complicated? If you could link me to some articles I'd love to read them

So, like I said this is very complicated and deals with thousands of years of history, and I am still learning myself. I'm a gentile who is not a historian or any other relevant type of scholar, and there's a lot of debate about this just amongst Jewish people, and even among people who identify as Zionist, there's difference in opinion on what exactly it means. I'm just a person doing their best to listen to and support people and their safety and lives.

At it's base, Zionism can be defined as the belief in self-determination for the Jewish people and having their own nation-state in their homeland. It can even be defined as simply being neutrally ok with such a concept. Judaism isn't just a religion, Jewish people are an ethnic group with origins in the Levant. They've been scattered around and have mixed with other ethnicities and cultures, but they're still a group in their own right, as so many others are. I see a lot of people compare the Palestine/Israel conflict to the colonization of the Americas but they are not really comparable, there's a lot more history behind it and the truth is more complex than "Jews are foreigners".

Zionism has definitely been militant and colonial, but there are also Zionists who are progressive and support Palestine as it's own nation-state. Simply living and planning to continue living in Israel can be considered Zionist and there are Israelis fighting right now for the rights of Palestinians and for the rights of non-Jewish Israelis. I recommend looking into the organization Standing Together for one such organized example.

And while Zionism has had ties to British and American colonialism, it also has ties to how Jews have been chased out of their homeland and basically every other place they've ever lived in throughout all of history, with many being murdered along the way. In many ways, Israel is a refugee state. It doesn't make everything done along the way or that their governments and militaries have done ok (which, welcome to the whole world!), but their story is way more complicated than "white supremacist colonizers".

There are Zionists who are militant and violent, and support the complete destruction and eradication of Palestine, I have seen them myself. There are also Zionists who simply want to live in peaceful co-existence with their Palestinian neighbors, and support the rights of non-Jews within Israel and I have also seen them myself.

From my personal experience, I see more Zionists actively working to raise up and support Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis than I see anti-Zionists actively working to clean their ranks of blatant anti-semitism. I see Jewish Israelis (whose base existence can be considered Zionist) on the ground actively fighting for the rights of Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis and I see American and Canadian anti-Zionists on the ground actively aiding and abetting hate crimes against Jews and laughing at Jews feeling scared for their lives no matter what their political beliefs are. I see Israelis wanting and actively working for peace and safety for everyone and anti-Zionists cheering on the murders and rapes of Israelis. And there's plenty of people all across and in between that spectrum, I know. Life is complicated. The world is complicated. History is complicated. Too complicated for me to feel comfortable being anti-Zionist or to be against the base existence of Israel.

When life is complicated I turn to and want to work with and be among people who value human life and want peace and safety for everyone.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Thank you for your many insightful posts on the current conflict going on. The one giving a detailed breakdown on the "who was there first?" argument was particularly helpful given that, as someone very familiar with the "Land Back" movement in America, I struggled from trying to approach the Palestine issue from that same perspective.

I did have something else I've been struggling with that maybe you can help me out on, though: I've seen "Zionist"/"Zionism" used a lot to help separate those who endorse the concept of a modern state of Israel from Judaism as a whole, since a very large portion of the Jewish community doesn't support what Israel is doing. For me personally, however, I've frequently seen that word used as a dog-whistle for antisemitism in general (most infamously in relation to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion), so I've been kind of wary about using Zion/Zionist in regular discussion. Did I just have a misinformed first impression towards using that term, or is it indeed something we still have to be careful about using even in regards to current events?

Hello! I hope you don't mind me publishing my response, in case anyone has further information to share on the topic of zionism. I am by no means an expert on this — I'm kind of synthesizing various posts & articles I've read over the years to write my answer, and I may be missing some important elements. I welcome correction or added info from anyone with more knowledge than I.

I'm with you in feeling there's a need for care when encountering talk of "zionists," because this term is indeed bandied about inappropriately. Just here on tumblr, I've seen various Jewish folks speak out about how freely people label any Jew with an opinion they don't like a "zionist" in order to dismiss any concerns that Jewish person tries to raise.

So when "zionist" is used to mean "any Jew I disagree with," or "all Jews," or anything not specifically related to "movement in favor of a sovereign Jewish state (e.g. modern Israel)," it's being used incorrectly and harmfully.

...And ugh, it's bad enough when randos on tumblr are doing it; it's been disturbing to see political leaders and activists and the like doing it on a wider scale these past few months.

We all need to be able to talk about the very real issue of zionism without contributing to antisemitism. How do we do that? Here are some rules of thumb I follow (and again, I welcome more if anyone has other tips):

I educate myself on what Zionism actually is. This article on the Jewish Voice for Peace site is super helpful as a starting point. It discusses where this ideology originated, how zionism takes various forms, and how Zionism is harmful for Jews (for instance, it's harmful because it rejects the diaspora as "inherently toxic and unhealthy for Jews," which means rejecting elements of Jewish culture that have arisen from diaspora).

I resist wondering if a Jewish person is zionist / pro-Israel without any reason to think they might be. (I've seen a couple posts from Jewish people now saying that gentiles do this to them. It's super inappropriate and antisemitic to do this — after all, we don't demand that of every non-Jewish person, so we shouldn't be demanding it of every Jewish person.)

If I see a claim that X person is a zionist, I don't just take that claim at face value; I investigate. See if that person has self-identified as a zionist anywhere, etc. If I can find no evidence, I don't spread that claim around; and I might reach out to whomever posted it to ask what gives.

I focus my time, energy, and concern on zionists / people who are pro-Israel in my own communities — rather than running around declaiming every Jewish zionist I can. As a Christian, I focus on trying to cultivate conversations with fellow Christians whom I know hold zionist or philosemitic views; those are the people I'm more likely to be able to change, after all. For any other Christians interested in what Christian zionism tends to look like and how to combat it, I highly recommend this post.

(Another helpful post tangentially related to this topic is this one about "the three Israels")

[ablednt]

"You can't remove Jewish people from Israel because they're not safe anywhere else"

1. Returning sovereignty to Palestine does not equal expelling everyone else, they'd become citizens of Palestine. The idea that restoring sovereignty doesn't equal colonizing the colonizers is a basic concept of the Land Back movement please actually listen to people

2. You can say that being israeli and being Jewish are synonymous as long as you want but it won't erase antizionist Jews OR Palestinian Jews

3. Imagine thinking Israel is safe for Jewish people like. The whole reason y'all are so loud about october 7th is because it shattered the illusion that Israel is a safe place except instead of considering that a nation that actively and violently displaces people is generating that hostility itself you blame the evil brown people for wanting their homes back

4. Even if Israel was some magical perfect utopia free of antisemitism, if that comes at the cost of violent oppression of the native people then yeah I don't care the same way I don't care when people in the US are afraid of Land Back movements because "they'll do to us what we did to them". Get the fuck over it. Yk like you've been making them do for decades to centuries.

5. To reiterate here when you say that Israeli occupation must stay in power to protect Jewish people everywhere you are quite literally saying "my safety is more important than Palistinian's" and "my life is worth more than theirs" like it's not doing you any favors

Don't get me wrong the world is a terrifying place especially if you're marginalized, especially if you're Jewish, I am not going to deny that or to minimize the centuries of generational trauma and ongoing oppression that Jewish people face. I don't blame you for wanting to prioritize your own community's safety. I just don't think that your need for safety (especially everyone who's never even been to Israel but needs the Israeli state as a symbol of safety rather than a current reality of it) outweighs Palestinian's needs for safety.

"Being Jewish is traumatizing my friend has trauma over being bombed" that's really awful and I feel for them. I also feel for the thousands of children with amputated limbs because Israel is bombing them. Right now. As I type this.

"Jewish people have been displaced for generations we lost our homes" yes and that's extremely traumatizing, everyone deserves to have a home and to feel truly safe and like they belong there. Millions of Palestinian's who made new homes after their real ones were stollen are now living in tents that are still being bombed and shot at.

It's absolutely not that Jewish people's safety shouldn't be a priority or that it's at all okay to pretend that being Jewish is what gives any Israeli their privileges or to equivalate Jewishness to oppressiveness.

It's not even to say that Israel's existence as a colonial project is uniquely evil or that the US is exempt from that same scrutiny (like all the white americans parroting "the only good colonizer is a dead colonizer" without a hint of self awareness)

It's that a nation built on the blood of another's will never truly be stable or safe for anyone. You can stall the violence but it will return eventually and even the most oppressed people Will Fight Back.

I will add to this to any fellow goyim though that whilst you fight for Palestine you should also be fighting to create safe places and communities for Jewish people where you live. The only way to combat the rhetoric that only Israel is safe (when it never has been and never will be) is to prove that there's safety and community to be found elsewhere.

It's important to listen to Jewish people and to take their fears into genuine consideration and act on that. What is never okay is allowing their fears to thrive at the expense of Palestinian lives.

[durnesque-esque]

This is mostly a repost from my IG, but I wanted to make sure it got said on all my platforms.

I worry about saying the wrong thing, but I can’t say nothing. Let’s establish a few things right off the bat: the state of Israel is NOT representative of all Jewish people and criticism of a NATION STATE does not and should not equate to religious discrimination. Criticism of Israel and a defense of the millions of innocent citizens does not and NEVER WILL equate to tacit approval of Hamas. If you cannot understand these concepts, then read no further. 

What the nation of Israel is doing to the citizens of Palestine… it’s not hyperbole to call it apartheid and genocide: to corral millions of people into a section of land smaller than Kansas City - known as the “world’s largest open air prison,” half of whom are UNDER 18 - CHILDREN, to call them “human animals,” to blockade and starve this population that has been systematically oppressed in their own homeland for decades, to demand they evacuate then bomb the evacuation routes and the hospitals. These are war crimes.

The U.S. government is complicit in the purposeful destruction of innocent Palestinians. The massacre of children does nothing to stop terrorists.  

One of my foci in college and my graduate studies was the Holocaust/Shoah. The greatest fuel for those atrocities was the silence of bystanders. We cannot be silent. I have contacted my representatives and you should too.

There are so many doing difficult educational work on this topic and so many directly posting from within Gaza. I know I am still listening and learning and bearing witness. Here are just a couple of accounts to get you started: @sbeih.jpg@gazangirl@ifnotnow This is a link to a post: “a lot of things are true” that I find more complete in its coverage of the nuances of what’s going on. I’m doing a lot more reblogs on my tiktok which I encourage you to watch - especially those messages from the people of Palestine. So many are sending out what may be/ have become their last messages to the world. The least we can do is to hear them. 

I will not be debating anyone in the comments or DMs. This is not an invitation to try. The block & delete are my friends.

It truly distresses me that I can be sitting at my desk trying to manage film billing, or scrolling tiktoks while grocery shopping, or for fuck's sake telling scary stories to drunk people while elsewhere in the world a genocide is happening, paid for and supported by my government. I know many forms of violence and oppression are happening throughout the world always, but this... this is so much. We cannot look away. We cannot be quiet. Even when we continue to go through the motions of our lives.

I reiterate and wish to make clear that I denounce anyone using this situation to fuel either their anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. This is a matter of humanity.

Image is from @chnge

[obislittleone]

It has been brought to my attention by a grand total of four people now that a certain shithead in the fandom is trying to dox me yet again. Though I don't care if someone disagrees with me and can move on with my day, someone posting misinformation about my blog and getting others to block me on the account that I am a 'genocide supporter' is not something I will stay silent about.

So, for the last time... here is my stance.

I do NOT support genocide, and will never support the mass killing of innocent people.

I have, and will continue to publicly condemn Bibi Netanyahu for his actions and use of the Israeli government.

I will keep working closely with the organizations I've volunteered for in collecting funds and aid for Palestinian refugees and families still caught in the crossfire.

I will always call out Islamophobia when I see it, as it’s very common in the far right communities on tumblr.

I am a proud zionist, and I want to reiterate yet again that TRADITIONAL JEWISH ZIONISIM DOES NOT EQUATE WITH FAR RIGHT 'ZIONIST' BELIEFS.

Once more, for those confused, here is the jewish meaning of the word zionsim: the belief that the jewish people have a right to self determinate in their homeland (in most charters stated 'to protect themselves from another holocaust') which as you'll notice, does not say anything about an ethnostate or the rights to wipe out innocent civilians in another territory. It quite literally just means that jews existing in Israel get to keep existing and shouldn’t be wiped out either. It's pretty reasonable of a belief if you're not mentally demented.

I have family and friends in Israel, who are not immigrants, and their lineage far surpasses even the concept of Roman mandated Palestine. They are also traditional Jewish zionists, and I completely stand with them. One of my friends was a survivor of the music festival slaughter by Hamas, and her mother was killed.

I will never stop bringing awareness to the hostages remaining in Gaza , and will always call anyone out who says the hostages are, and I quote 'being treated well' by Hamas. They are hostages. They can not leave, a lot of their family members have been killed, and they have to go through this time wondering if they will also die.

I will continue to block people who interact out of poor faith, or are of the mindest that 'these jews aren't on my side, so I'm going to harrass them.' That’s antisemitism, bub...

I can't believe I even have to say this but: newsflash! Israeli citizens are not evil, and are not responsible for their government, as you should be well aware of, at least if you live in america. Another newsflash! You can support the indigenousness of Jews while ALSO supporting the indigenousess of Palestinians!!!

I am so tired of asswipes virtuesignaling on this site, doxxing jews and crying their eyes out about a word they don't even understand, when I live literally done more for Palestinians than they ever have. It's antisemitism at its absolute worst, and it pisses me off to no end.

As I like to say:

Oh brave tumblr goy, what have you done for Palestine today? Because instead of harassing jews and harassing zionists, I sent actual aid to Palestinians.

For those who would like to actually contribute, here are some links to verified organizations (that ensure your donations will not be stolen by Hamas or their sympathizers):

Water For Gaza

World Central Kitchen (provides food directly to citizens without going through Hamas or UNRWA)

Shelter Boxes

And for those who would like to donate to an emergency fund for Israeli citizens being harmed by incoming rockets and attacks near the border, this org is partnering with a few medical associations in Israel to supply more ambulances to the hospitals:

Israeli Ambulances (Magen David Adom Fund)

And for those interested in donating to both Palestinian and Israeli children that have been caught in the crossfire, visit this link:

Save the Children

I may be keeping this as my pinned post for a while, just because my masterlist links haven't been fixed yet, and I need to keep this at the top of my blog for a while.

[wot-tidbits]

Wheel of Time plagiarized from Dune

With the coming of the new part of the awesome Dune movies, we again witness several people and fans to speculate on the similarities between Dune and WoT. There are many who even step further and claim that Robert Jordan was “inspired” (plagiarized) from Herbert. In that light, I want to bring back to your attention that Robert Jordan has spoken on that topic and he completely denies it.

INTERVIEW: May 19th, 2004 Rome Signing Report - Raven (Translated) ROBERT JORDAN Someone else asked if while writing the Aiel he got his inspiration from Herbert (re: the native inhabitants of Dune [the Fremen people]); he answered that it was not that, that the real source of inspiration is the Cheyenne people, originally shepherds and forced to became warriors and to flee into the desert when the white man came.

INTERVIEW: Nov 11th, 1998 MSN eFriends Interview (Verbatim) TIJAMILISM I love all the similarities between Frank Herbert's Dune and WOT. Was this intended? If so, are you a fan of his? ROBERT JORDAN No, there was no intention to make any similarities between Dune and my writings. And I am certainly a big fan of the original Dune novel. Although I doubt if I've read it since it first came out!

SOURCE.

The fast answer to these two quotes is “But of course he is obviously lying!”. To this day we still have no example of Robert Jordan lying to his fans. Moreover Robert Jordan publicly stated about using Tolkien in his writing and had no problem to admit it. Why he will admit about Tolkien but won’t do the same for Herbert? I do not see any reason to not believe Robert Jordan except the obvious “but it must be a lie”.

For first time we also can finally use RJ’s notes as proof that the similarity is coincidental.

ORIGINS OF |THE WHEEL OF TIME by Michael Livingston Aiel. The idea of people living in a harsh desert landscape beside a great chain of mountains is one that came to Jordan early: Altaii has a similar concept, and the Aiel are present in some of the earliest Wheel of Time notes: “They are infantry, in many ways like a cross between the Apache and the Zulu, with touches of Cheyenne. Physically, most are tall, with blonde or reddish hair and blue or blue-gray eyes most common.” To this he added elements of the culture of the Bedouins and the Irish—the latter, he said, at least initially intended as a joking comment against the tendency of novelists to all have the same kind of desert people (see Tuatha’an). Indeed, it’s nevertheless been commented upon that Jordan’s Aiel are strikingly similar to the Fremen from Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965). That similarity, however, is almost entirely the result of Herbert and Jordan using the same source materials of the real world: in particular, the ancient Israelites who wandered in the desert while awaiting their entry into what they believed was their Promised Land. Rand al’Thor plays a role akin to both Moses and, at least within Christian mythology, Jesus (as the Messiah who both splits and saves the Jews). Other notable Jewish parallels include the Aiel Tribes and, somewhat obviously, their name: Aiel derives from Israel. Their connections to Native Americans (particularly Plains Indians) should not be forgotten, however: from their rituals to their clan names, Jordan made frequent recourse to them.

[theprinceofpeacesposts]

Be still and trust God

"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not," Isa 30:15 SUV

In this world, which is characterized by chaos, conflict, and uncertainty, the concept of strength is often associated with power, might, and military prowess. However, the scriptures offer a different perspective on where true strength is found. It is not in human strategies or military power but rather in quietness and trust in God.

The word of God today delivers a powerful message emphasizing that our salvation and strength lie not in our own abilities or alliances but in quietness and trust in our God. This verse encapsulates a profound truth that resonates throughout the Bible: God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, and true power is found in surrendering to His will.

Quietness, as described in this verse, goes beyond mere silence. It suggests a state of inner peace, calmness, and tranquility—a heart undisturbed by the storms of life. It is a posture of surrender, where one relinquishes control and allows God to take the reins. In Psalm 46:10, the Bible says, "Be still, and know that I am God." This stillness is not passive but an active choice to trust in God's sovereignty despite the circumstances.

Furthermore, quietness is closely intertwined with trust. Trust involves a deep reliance on God's faithfulness and promises. It requires us to let go of our fears, worries, and anxieties and place our confidence entirely in Him. The word of God in Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Trusting in God acknowledges His wisdom and goodness, even when we cannot see the way ahead.

The Bible is replete with examples of individuals who found strength in quietness and trust. David, facing the giant Goliath, declared, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer" (Psalm 18:2). His confidence was not in his own strength but in God's power to deliver him. Also, when the Israelites stood at the edge of the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army closing in, Moses told them, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still" (Exodus 14:14).

Even in the New Testament, Jesus exemplified quietness and trust in the midst of adversity. In the Garden of Gethsemane, facing the agony of the cross, He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus' surrender to the Father's will demonstrated the ultimate act of trust and paved the way for our salvation.

Your true strength is not found in your strategies but in quietness and in trusting God. As you navigate through the challenges of life, may God help you to follow the example of those who have gone before us, finding your strength in surrendering to His will and trusting in His unfailing love.

Prayer: Father, you know my heart, I pray to you, help me to rely on you and to trust you always. I surrender to your Holy Spirit, so He May Guide me in Life. Through all life’s challenges and troubles, I keep my trust in you. I know you are with me to lead me in the way I should go, and you are fighting my battles. Amen

[tomorrowusa]

'They cut heads off people': IDF major general describes aftermath of Hamas attack

A lot of people are still not clear about what happened in Israel last weekend. It was not a military operation, it was a massive terror attack.

It had no military goal that anybody can discern. Its only motive was to kill and kidnap a lot of civilians – and in the most brutal way possible.

Hamas acted like a cross between Hitler's SS and ISIS – and should be regarded as such.

People in the West who make excuses for Hamas terrorism are cheerleaders for atrocities. Do their friends and family know that they approve of babies being beheaded to further political goals?

To be clear, I am sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people. I believe in a two-state (or possibly even a three-state) solution. I feel that Netanyahu's Likud Party has harnessed the support of religious fanatics and ethno-nationalists to prevent such a solution and, as such, they are a danger to peace in the Eastern Mediterranean. Netanyahu is a power-craving dickhead who is on the wrong side of history.

The Hamas orgy of murder and brutality has done nothing for Palestinians and has resulted in a war that will not end until those who committed last weekend's atrocities are dead or off the scene for good.

Ukraine has suffered for centuries – not just decades – because of Russian imperialism. Stalin even starved to death much of the population in the early 1930 in a genocide known as the Holodomor.

And Vladimir Putin has renewed Stalin's efforts to eliminate even the concept of Ukraine. Yet despite this long history of persecution, Ukrainians have not been conducting mass murder sprees in Russian villages across the border – even though Putin's Russia has no qualms about murdering Ukrainian civilians either close up or by drones and missiles.

What Hamas did is not liberation or resistance. Nobody got liberated and many people in Gaza are now suffering because of Hamas.

Read the Hamas Charter. It is filled with anti-Semitic tropes which sound like they come from Mein Kampf. This is NOT anything like the Freedom Charter of the Nelson Mandela era ANC.

It is easily possible to be pro-Palestinian without being a shill for anti-Semitic mass murderers. But some people on social media haven't gotten that message.

[ramorazinn]

I am an Ignorant White Person™ and also an Ignorant American™. (That's not pride in ignorance you're reading, that's acknowledgment of privilege and the inability to fully understand no matter how much I know theoretically, OK?) And my dash is curated such that 99% of what I'm seeing re: Palestine is in line with what the tiniest bit of critical thought would produce, including, but not limited to:

Genocide is bad (and this is genocide)

War crimes are bad (and Israel is committing war crimes with the tacit or outright support of most of the rest of the world, especially the US)

"Israel" is not the same as "Jews" or "Jewish people," whether they be inside or outside Israel (so suck on your antisemitism)

"Hamas" is not the same as "Palestinians" or "Muslims" (so suck on your racism and Islamophobia)

Terrorism is bad (but does not happen in a vacuum)

And I don't want to hijack any of these posts, because this is so very Not About Me, and I know I am treading dangerously close to the Tone Argument regardless. But I do want to scream out into the void because I see so much stuff that is just... tailor-made to shut down USAmerican sympathy/engagement and I don't understand,

because I really genuinely thought the rest of the world had some concept of American culture – not because I subscribe to Americentrism, but just out of self-preservation, because the USA is the big bully around here (or at least the one that's out and proud about it).

Stated-or-implied, there's a strong sentiment of "every individual USAmerican is culpable," including such flavors as:

You voted for these people

There was not a Non-War-Criminal option on our presidential ballot (and there hasn't been in the average Tumblr user's lifetime)

Even if there were, majority vote does not determine the president

Politicians are not afraid of losing their next election over this (most positions are effectively predetermined by demographics)

You aren't protesting loud enough

Only three years ago, "I can't breathe" (George Floyd edition) was international news and prompted global protests and still wasn't loud enough to do anything in our own country

The USA is vast and cannot be disrupted by protest in the same way as smaller countries

The media is owned by the same corporations that own the government and will not be covering protests in an unbiased way if at all

Our police and in-country military are encouraged to do things to our citizens that would violate the Geneva Convention if performed on enemy combatants (we have to walk into any protest willing and able to sacrifice our bodies/lives and by extension our families' safety and security)

You need to educate yourself

This is true, but also

USAmerican media is propaganda

The average USAmerican does not have even a passing relationship with someone who can speak to the issue personally

The average USAmerican is starting at ZERO in this educational journey (Terrorism bad! Palestinians whom? Gaza Strip where? Colonialism what?)

I get what you're saying, Blogpost Written In Justified Anger, but you are speaking to a group that already has trouble distinguishing between criticism of a part and criticism of a whole, so when you skip right over "your country is culpable" and start at "you, as an individual, are culpable," you lose half the people who might have been willing to listen. And I am afraid that the pervasiveness of this sentiment is actively pushing USAmericans to support the actions of Israel.

[anarchywoofwoof]

hey!

i genuinely just had one question to ask, ignore it if you're not comfortable with answering it.

The whole Palestine-Israel conflict has been harbouring a lot of takes and I don't support the hamas nor the IDF, I support the civilians of both Palestine and Israel. But people keep asking me if i expect that revolution is non violent or how else are you supposed to fight your oppressors, i try to answer but they never let me say what i want to and i don't know confidently how to answer that either, Can you pls help me answer that?? If you can tell me at least where to learn more about the Palestinians and their actual history and not the hamas group, which media should i even listen to??

i've had a few days to think about what's going on in the middle east and i think this is a good ask to revisit the topic.

i do believe that armed revolution is an acceptable form of resistance against an oppressor such as Israel. i do believe in Palestinian independence. i do believe that the Palestinians have endured unspeakable acts of violence and terrorism at the hands of Israel for far, far too long. i do believe that Bibi Netanyahu oversees a terrorist state and Israel is actively carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people. i do believe that Hamas only exists as a result of Israel's colonial-settlerism in the Middle East, largely propped up by Western Governments as a defacto "outpost" to commandeer influence in the region.

all of that being said, let me be 100% clear: i am an anarchist. i don't like titles, but that is one i feel wholly comfortable applying to myself. therefore, i reject the concept of a governing state. i reject the existence of groups such as Hamas altogether. even putting aside the terroristic origins and nature of their existence, i reject the existence of Israel. i believe borders cause more harm than they do good and there is nothing to gain from nationalism.

the fact of the matter is: no, i do not expect that revolution should be non-violent. i quite disagree with that assessment actually. however, i also believe that civilians are not a valid target in wartime. military casualties? fine. targeted airstrikes or raids on military targets within Israel? sure. the IDF? absolutely, valid targets. but indiscriminately slaughtering civilians, women, children, etc. is not acceptable. it's not acceptable when Israel does it. it's not acceptable when Hamas does it.

but Israel is not the IDF and Palestine is not Hamas. and i will, and always will, support the people of Palestine and their freedom. Palestine is the quintessential example of imperialist settler colonization and while no, i do not "support" what Hamas did or what Israel is currently doing to Palestine, my support and heart is still with the everyday average human being living in these areas who had the unfortunate fate of being born into living hell.

now, to answer your question about the Palestinians, their history and what media to listen to:

The Palestinian People: A History by Kimmerling & Migdal

A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance by Mary Elizabeth King

Palestine Inside Out by Saree Makdisi

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim

Noam Chomsky also has a number of works surrounding Palestine as well; On Palestine, Interventions, Fateful Triangle to name a few.

as far as mass media goes, there's not really much that i can offer; Al Jazeera is a pretty good source, but most western media is going to be hard slanted against the Palestinians.

this blog is still very much and always will be Free Palestine. but i also am not going to act like there aren't innocent people who are also suffering from this conflict in Israel. to do so would be wrong and just flat out denying the truth.

[agentoffangirling]

First, the population that says ‘never again’ is the Jewish community. The Jewish community is not responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government is. Equating the two is not only anti-semitic but dangerous rhetoric. Some of the most forward perpetrators of Zionism are white American Christians. Not Israelis, who are horrified at their government’s actions. Also, there ARE Arab Muslims living in Israel.

That being said, anyone who knows even the tiniest bit about Jewish history and culture knows how much it is centered around and connected to Jerusalem. It’s our home because even after 2000 years of persecution, we’ve managed to hold onto the idea that we can return to Israel because we have a connection there, not Poland or Germany or Spain or Morocco.

Even if Ted from Baltimore has had family in America since the 1500s, he is not indigenous to America. He is American, sure, but even if he’s never been to Europe he is still European ethnically. Same with Jews. Even if a Jew has never been to Israel it doesn’t change the fact that that is their ancestral home. Jews have never been white. If they were, the Holocaust wouldn’t have happened. In the 1930s, they would’ve have been told to ‘go back to Israel’ if they were never from there.

Also Israel does not have high skin cancer rates. https://fullfact.org/health/israel-skin-cancer-rate/ Lebanon’s is higher. And even then, there are blonde haired blue eyed Palestinians who don’t have European heritage anyway.

Of course the creation of the state of Israel should have gone differently. I completely agree with you on that. But when your neighbors invade your country and bomb it continuously, it’s hard not to retaliate. I genuinely hope that someday Israelis and Palestinians get to live side by side in peace.

I apologize for my use of the term. I was using it in context of how the Israeli government weaponizes the term to justify the genocide of Palestinians and destruction of Gaza. But I do understand that it is mostly used by the Jewish community as a whole, and I did not mean to encroach on that

I am confused by your last paragraph, however. I would assume, based on your previous anons, you are referring to the October 7 events, "retaliation" being the absolute flooring of the Gaza Strip. Tell me, does retaliation justify the 35,000+ dead, majority women and children? Does it justify an attack on a refugee camp? Does it justify the jailing of reporters and more innocents, the intentional strikes against aid workers? Does it justify killing and harming hundreds just to rescue four hostages?

Because that last paragraph really seems to detail what's happening to Palestinians now and the numerous massacres since Israel's conception

[pichuan]

When Arabs Became Palestinians

by Jerold S. Auerbach

Without a history of their own, Palestinians plundered Jewish history to define themselves

May 19, 2022 at 8:45 am | Topics: palestinians, Nakba

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(JNS) With the recent eruption of Palestinian violence on the Temple Mount, followed by the murder of three Israelis from the town of Elad, it is worth reflecting on the history of a people, until recently non-existent, who seem determined to define themselves by killing Jews.

Modern conceptions of “Palestine” date from the mid-19th century when British artist David Roberts followed the trail of the ancient Israelites from Egypt to their “Holy Land.” His lithographs provided stunning vistas of Hebron, Jerusalem, Jericho, Nablus and other ancient Jewish sites. As yet, there were no “Palestinian” locations to include.

Not long afterward, Scottish writer Alexander Keith, identifying the Land of Israel as the “Holy Land,” described Jews as “a people without a country; even as their own land … is a country without a people.” British Lord Shaftesbury cited “the ancient and rightful lords of the soil, the Jews!” Palestinians were not mentioned.

On the eve of World War I, Chaim Weizmann, who decades later would become the first president of Israel, said: “There is a country which is called Palestine, a country without a people, and, on the other hand, there exists the Jewish people, and it has no country.” What else was necessary, he wondered, “than to fit the gem into the ring, to unite this people with this country?”

Although Arabs in small numbers had lived in Palestine for centuries with prosperous elite families concentrated in Jerusalem, there were no signs of an Arab national identity before World War I. Ironically, budding signs of Jewish nationalism—identified as Zionism—were its primary stimulus. But it took time. Shortly before the State of Israel was born, Arab historian Philip Hitti stated: “There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not.” Without Palestine, there could not be Palestinians.

Not until Israel defeated and humiliated Arab countries in the Six-Day War (June 1967), ending Jordanian control over West Bank Arabs, did a distinctive Palestinian identity begin to emerge. Why was it, wondered author Walid Shoebat of Bethlehem, “that on June 4, 1967, I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian.” Even PLO military commander Zuhair Muhsin acknowledged: “There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation.” The vision of a Palestinian state, he recognized, was merely “a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel.”

Without a history of their own, Palestinians plundered Jewish history to define themselves. The ancient Canaanites were identified as the original “Palestinians.” So, too, were Jebusites, the biblical inhabitants of Jerusalem. Based on these fanciful claims an imaginary “Palestinian” history of 5,000 years was implanted in the Land of Israel.

Palestinians’ identity theft has taken strange turns. They have absurdly equated the nakba(“disaster” or “catastrophe”) of 1948 when Arabs launched—and lost—a war of Jewish extermination with the Holocaust. Indeed, Holocaust denial was the core of the doctoral dissertation of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. He preposterously claimed that Zionist leaders were “fundamental partners” of the Nazis, jointly responsible for the slaughter of 6 million Jews.

Palestinians have relied upon the model of the Israeli Law of Return to claim that millions of “refugees”—fewer than 30,000 of whom are still alive—should be permitted to return to the land they abandoned in 1947-48 during the Arab war to annihilate Jews. Teenage Arab girls have been taught to equate their plight with that of Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

So it is that a people without a national history until well into the 20th century have attempted to persuade a gullible world audience that Palestinians are the rightful inheritors of Jewish history and land. Ironically, even the holy Koran (which makes frequent mention of Jews but does not mention Palestinians) was interpreted by Muslims more than a millennium ago to affirm that the Land of Israel was given by God to “the children of Israel” as a perpetual covenant. Murdering Jews was not mentioned. But as scholar and novelist Dara Horn aptly titles her new book, People Love Dead Jews.

[eddieydewr]

Once the online activism devolves into whataboutism over literal terrorist acts or downright blatant antisemitism, I get pissed off. I am seeing this from a lot of the younger generation and also feel like many of them are sort of transferring a lot of the very US/western based sociopolitical problems onto this conflict, specifically calling the people of Israel “colonizers” as if the Jews haven’t been native to that land since biblical times and have just as much, if not more, right to be there than anyone, acting as if they are just western “bad whites” (ignoring that in the US especially, the concept of “white” is very very different then how it is seen in other parts of the world) coming in to oppress. They are boiling down a decades long COMPLEX situation where there currently are NO winners and both sides have done lots of wrong, into a lot of buzzwords and performative activism and very black and white thinking and seeing it fall more and more into overt antisemitism is scary. I wish at the very least, no matter what side you fall on politically, that everyone could have come together to denounce wholly that terrorist like tactics that we’ve seen are an affront to humankind and won’t be supported and it’s ok, and necessary, to denounce them. But the fact most of the people yelling the loudest won’t even do that? And actively get mad at those who do? Yea my faith in humanity is almost gone. I’m glad Noah spoke up. He’s still very young, and so he’s not going to say everything perfectly, but he also has deep ties to the land, friends and maybe even family there he’s worried about, and he literally just came back from there so I am sure part of him is shook up from the idea that he missed possibly being a part of this and dying by a few weeks! And then to see the comments on his posts that triggered him to speak up? Yeah let Noah speak because there was nothing wrong with what he said and the ones who think there is have something wrong with them. it’s ming boggling to me rn that most of the support for Jewish individuals who are upset rn is from the American political right, the kinda people with flags in their twitter bios. What an upside down world we are in rn

perfectly said. i don’t like war and i think civilians should be left out if it if countries/states are unable to resolve conflicts diplomatically. maybe that’s incredibly naive of me; i’m aware i have a westernised perspective but i also try to look at things with nuance, and i understand that the I/P conflict is decades long and incredibly complex while also acknowledging that jewish people have been oppressed and persecuted for over 3000 years.

i’m on the left and no one seems to care that the missing posters of israeli babies are being ripped down in london, or protesters chanting “gas the j*ws”. people on twitter will just say i’m not really left wing or i’m falling for israeli propaganda. 🫠

the backlash against noah is nonsensical; online activists are jumping the gun and twisting noah’s words at best, or conflating palestinans with hamas at worst. whoever wrote the post said “we” (via their insta stories) so it sounds like a group of jewish students, including noah, came together to write the post after seeing the antisemitism and the comments about the deceased young woman. noah is the one with clout, so to speak, so he’s obviously the one to post it and get the word out there. they are young students, they’re not geopolitical analysts, and they’re surely upset and shaken; so yes, the post isn’t perfect but it wasn’t wrong. hamas should be condemned, even if people think it’s what israel deserved.

sorry, i’m basically echoing your sentiments so i’ll stop here now. 🙈 thank you for the message, very much appreciated. tumblr is a hellsite but at least we’re able to discuss things without worrying about character limits or getting enough engagement.