#i am not palestinian

[rumplestiltrin]

must it take white people to report to you that what we say about our own queer experiences is correct? or will you get your head out of your ass and listen to what poc have to say about their own god damn experiences.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Please stop seeing politics as an identity and start seeing it as a collective means for change

[iwieldthesword]

I need to talk about this because it's making me feel insane.

Last week, my white leftist goyisch friends sat me, a wholeass antizionist Jew, down for a "talk" because they "needed to check in about Palestine" and make sure "our values aligned before we hung out again". They apparently needed to "suss out" where I stood on Palestinian rights, despite having had several conversations about Palestine and them being some of my closest friends. They needed to check, to search for and uncover my true values, because I had said some "disturbing things" that had made them "suspicious".

Disturbing things included:

Supporting IfNotNow which is a "liberal zionist organization" because it normalizes Jewish heritage in the Levant

Not bringing Palestine up enough, despite them also not bringing it up (this was apparently a test)

Mentioning that the Houthi's flag talks about cursing all Jews

Saying Stalin was antisemitic because of the "all the paw-grihms"

...and apparently other things they wouldn't specify, but had been tracking for months.

To clarify, I am an antizionist Jew from three generations of antizionist Jews. I have been vocal in my support of Palestinian liberation and in my condemnation both of Israel's actions and its violent founding as a state, and of zionism in many of its forms. I am a regular donor to Palestinian and Jewish NGOs and advocate for Jewish antizionism in person, at temple, and online. I have been talking about Palestinian liberation before they could point to Gaza on a map. But they needed to make sure, they needed to "suss out", they needed to check. And it's notable that the majority of moments that made them suspicious of me were times where I talked about antisemitism: not about Palestinian liberation, not about Israeli decolonization, not about anything actually relevant to Palestine. It was talking about antisemitism that made them check to see if I was a cryptozionist.

One of the most pervasive and insidious forms of antisemitism is the idea that Jews are inherently untrustworthy and suspicious. You have to constantly be on guard, track what they say and do, "suss out" the real truth. You have to keep them in line and and watch them carefully because they're liars and sneaks, and if you're not looking closely they'll return to their real values (and drag you down with them). This is where the idea of "cryptozionist" comes from and what it's directly building off of: the inherent untrustworthiness of Jews and the need to check. Because no matter how close you become you can't actually trust them, and any upstanding gentile should make sure to avoid associating with Jews before "sussing out" their real allegiances and intentions. You have to make them turn out their pockets, just in case.

I'm the first and only Jew they actually were friends with; I know because they've told me (strangely proud of it in the way white Americans are proud of that kind of thing). They've asked me questions about Judaism and fawned over how beautiful and unique it was for me to be connected to my community and culture. Pre-October 7th, one of them had even mentioned being interested in coming to services at my temple. She still has my copy of our siddur. But now she needed to "check" before she could be seen with me in public. Which is what it was: it wasn't a "you're my friend and I need to give you some feedback because you're fucking up" kind of intervention (which is normal and important to have), it was a trial. It was a last chance for me to prove to them that I'm clean-enough that they could afford to risk being seen with me in public, just in case someone noticed them fraternizing with a hypothetical Enemy and their leftism was compromised. It was a test to make sure that I behave properly when required to, that I'd play along and do what I'm told and turn out my pockets if asked (because any refusal would validate the notion of having something to hide). And above all it was an opportunity for them to reaffirm their own cleanliness by putting my imagined immorality in its place.

I did what I needed to do: I smiled. I apologized. I "didn't know that". I "appreciated the feedback". I turned out my pockets because what else could I do? They'd decided who I was and what I believed, regardless of what I said or did, so there was no point in explaining that they were wrong about me. If I had told them they were being antisemitic, it would just have been proof that they were right. Caring about antisemitism is a dogwhistle in the spaces they've chosen: it's not a real form of oppression, it's a tactic for sneaky, lying Jews to weasel out of admitting their true alliances. There was nothing I could say.

Nothing's really changed for me. I'm going to continue my activism for Palestinian liberation rooted in my culture and my faith. Antizionism is still not antisemitism. But I got a reminder that many white goyisch leftists fundamentally just don't trust Jews, and that the activist spaces they're in not only exacerbate their antisemitism in an increasingly insular echo chamber, but also allow them to finally vent their internalized bigotry in a socially-acceptable way. In my former friends' eyes, what they did was activism—disavowing a Jew (and making me feel humiliated, scared, and unclean in the process) as a cathartic stand-in for doing fucking anything for actual Palestinian liberation—but for me it was a grief that I'll be feeling for a long time: not only over losing friends I loved and trusted, but also over my sense of belonging and security in leftist spaces.

[stil-lindigo]

SPREADSHEET OF PALESTINIAN ESCAPE FUNDS‼️TIME SENSITIVE

Operation Olive Branch is a continuously updating spreadsheet of Palestinian escape funds where progress towards their goals is being tracked. As of right now, there are over 100 funds listed there.

Any amount of money can make a difference. With their recent decision to bomb Rafah, the only remaining “safe” territory in Gaza, Israel has forced Palestinians into a corner by giving them nowhere else to go. The international community has given Israel the ability to act with impunity - it is long past the point in time to rely on those in power to hold Israel to any standard of compassion.

Today, I want you to look at this document, choose a fund, contribute to it, and share it. The people in Rafah are living on borrowed time. Free Palestine.

[luthienne]

Omar Ziyadeh, “Nobody Can Identify Their Own Remains, and I Am Unable to Identify My Own” (tr. from Arabic by Alice S. Yousef) [ID’d]

[hussyknee]

Freedom for Sudan! 🇸🇩

Freedom for The Congo! 🇨🇩

Freedom for Armenia! 🇦🇲

From River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free! 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[northgazaupdates]

The UN has made the claim that they distribute food in Gaza twice a week. They have made similar claims several times, explaining that hunger is still an issue because they are only able to distribute food two times a week.

However, some on the ground in north Gaza say this statement is dishonest. When the UN makes these statements, it implies that it is servicing the entire Gaza Strip. They are not. Due to Israeli blockade, absolutely no aid of any kind has reached northern Gaza in about two months.

People in northern Gaza are starving to death because there is no food, none. Some report having to make bread out of animal feed, eat cardboard, and drink seawater and dirty puddles. What little food can be scrounged up is not enough to support anyone’s nutritional needs, let alone those of 800,000 people.

If people in the central and southern regions are still starving, even with the UN and partners brining in food twice a week, imagine the state of people in the north. If even adults in the north are reporting severe hunger pains, imagine what children are experiencing.

The point of this post is not *necessarily* to lambast the UN, although there is plenty of reason to do so. Rather, it is to address one source of misunderstanding which is impeding some people’s ability to grasp the full breadth of the catastrophe in the north.

[tributary]

“the israeli government uses accusations of antisemitism as a shield against criticism” does not mean “therefore i don’t have to take antisemitism seriously, and it could not possibly influence my rhetoric on this issue.” the second does not follow from the first.

if you, random person with no connection to i/p who wants to support palestine, do not take avoiding antisemitism seriously, that is a dereliction of duty. you are in fact hurting the people you claim to be an ally to—antisemitic rhetoric actively harms the movement for palestinian liberation.

[eroticcannibal]

You have got to all stop calling Jews zionists just because they are Jews.

[fairuzfan]

Palestinians are blamed for not being kind enough to their occupiers again and again. For not using the right words to describe them. And then they turn around and try to preach politics to us, how we're "oversimplifying" things. I promise you — we know how the system works better than you do. That is why it is all of our dreams to change it. To continue to play in this system is acceptance of the occupier's logic and practices. We will not accept such a thing because their goals are antithetical to our lives. Do not fall for their propaganda — their goal is to obfuscate the truth with half truths and incomparable circumstances.

[edenfenixblogs]

I was having a rough night so I went to my favorite funny website IsMercuryInRetrograde.com

I’m not a huge believer in astrology, but the website only has two pages:

If it’s in retrograde it says yes, which feels weirdly validating.

If it’s not in retrograde it just says “No, something else must be bumming you out,” which always gives me a little chuckle.

Fun silly website. Yay.

Except this time

YES. SOMETHING ELSE IS BUMMING ME OUT.

The fact that unless I lock myself in a room with only pre-written or pre-recorded material that I’ve already read or watched and know is safe I CANNOT GO TWELVE FUCKING HOURS WITHOUT HEARING ABOUT THIS FUCKING WAR.

It’s killing me. There are no breaks. I open any website or social media app and it’s an immediate bombardment of info about the war. I go watch a YouTube video and then there’s a fundraiser at the end.

I flip through channels and see news about an antisemitic attack or a bombing in Gaza or Rafah.

I leave notifications on and get a text from a friend who sees a “rape is resistance” sticker on her walk home from school.

I go to look for pride merch and see watermelon merch mixed in as if war is some kind of gay accessory. I look through a fandom tag and see cartoon characters in a kids cartoon drawn with Palestinian flags.

It’s fucking endless. It’s insane. I just wanted a few days without having to think about all of it so I could recharge and I haven’t even been able to go a continuous 12 hour stretch without something or someone shoving the whole thing in my face.

It’s not healthy to live like this. I already have PTSD. And I’m trying with all my might not to retreat fully within myself but this is fucking killing me.

And I am someone who is pro peace and pro ceasefire and pro Palestinian welfare and anti-Likud but also anti-antisemitism. I do nothing but promote interfaith and intercultural organizations devoted to fostering peace. I want this war over.

And yet I’m fucking stuck in this perpetual hellhole of awful news and constant imagery about war and death and antisemitism and Palestinian suffering. And it’s too much. Why can’t I even go 12 hours. It’s killing me.

The fucking mercury in retrograde website‽ YES. SOMETHING ELSE IS BUMMING ME OUT AND ITS YOU.

[sapphicscience]

vetted palestinian fundraisers from my inbox, part 8

these are from dec 2-6

bolded campaigns are under 20% of their goal

@khismael - fundraiser - vetting (6% raised)

@supportgaza - fundraiser - vetting (64% raised)

@nouraayman - fundraiser - vetting (11% raised)

@tahseenfamily - fundraiser - vetting (58% raised)

@yazan-familly - fundraiser - vetting (38% raised)

@tahani-family - fundraiser - vetting (1% raised)

@anasb3 - fundraiser - vetting (46% raised)

@hebanaseif - fundraiser - vetting (12% raised)

@alihelles1997 - fundraiser - vetting (5% raised)

@mohammedayyads-blog - fundraiser - vetting (23% raised)

[david-goldrock]

[blossoms-phan]

this means so much to me 😭😭❤️‍🩹 (x)

[stil-lindigo]

Context: Israel “allowed” aid in the forms of flour bags to be airdropped into Gaza, waited for hundreds to congregate, and then opened fire into the crowd of desperate, starving Palestinians. 150 Palestinians were killed. Hundreds more wounded. This is being called “The Flourbag Massacre”.

source

Meanwhile, over on the other side…

[ind1g3n0us-lev1t3]

This was in 2021 btw

I will put this here for the people who keep calling us 'zionazis'