#i’ll add links later

[withbriefthanksgiving]

The director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN (UN OHCHR), Craig Mokhiber, has resigned in a letter dated 28 October 2023

the resignation letter can be found embedded in this tweet by Rami Atari (@.Raminho) dated 31 October 2023.

The letters are here:

Transcription:

United Nations | Nations Unies

HEADQUARTERS I SIEGE I NEW YORK, NY 10017

28 October 2023

Dear High Commissioner,

This will be my last official communication to you as Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

I write at a moment of great anguish for the world, including for many of our colleagues. Once again, we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes, and the Organization that we serve appears powerless to stop it. As someone who has investigated human rights in Palestine since the 1980s, lived in Gaza as a UN human rights advisor in the 1990s, and carried out several human rights missions to the country before and since, this is deeply personal to me.

I also worked in these halls through the genocides against the Tutsis, Bosnian Muslims, the Yazidi, and the Rohingya. In each case, when the dust settled on the horrors that had been perpetrated against defenseless civilian populations, it became painfully clear that we had failed in our duty to meet the imperatives of prevention of mass atrocites, of protection of the vulnerable, and of accountability for perpetrators. And so it has been with successive waves of murder and persecution against the Palestinians throughout the entire life of the UN.

High Commissioner, we are failing again.

As a human rights lawyer with more than three decades of experience in the field, I know well that the concept of genocide has often been subject to political abuse. But the current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in an ethno-nationalist settler colonial ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs, and coupled with explicit statements of intent by leaders in the Israeli government and military, leaves no room for doubt or debate. In Gaza, civilian homes, schools, churches, mosques, and medical institutions are wantonly attacked as thousands of civilians are massacred. In the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, homes are seized and reassigned based entirely on race, and violent settler pogroms are accompanied by Israeli military units. Across the land, Apartheid rules.

This is a text-book case of genocide. The European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine has entered its final phase, toward the expedited destruction of the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine. What's more, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and much of Europe, are wholly complicit in the horrific assault. Not only are these governments refusing to meet their treaty obligations "to ensure respect" for the Geneva Conventions, but they are in fact actively arming the assault, providing economic and intelligence support, and giving political and diplomatic cover for Israel's atrocities.

Volker Turk, High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais Wilson, Geneva

In concert with this, western corporate media, increasingly captured and state-adjacent, are in open breach of Article 20 of the ICCPR, continuously dehumanizing Palestinians to facilitate the genocide, and broadcasting propaganda for war and advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, and violence. US-based social media companies are suppressing the voices of human rights defenders while amplifying pro-Israel propaganda. Israel lobby online-trolls and GONGOS are harassing and smearing human rights defenders, and western universities and employers are collaborating with them to punish those who dare to speak out against the atrocities. In the wake of this genocide, there must be an accounting for these actors as well, just as there was for radio Mules Collins in Rwanda.

In such circumstances, the demands on our organization for principled and effective action are greater than ever. But we phave not met the challenge. The protective enforcement power Security Council has again been blocked by US intransigence, the SG [UN Secretary General] is under assault for the mildest of protestations, and our human rights mechanisms are under sustained slanderous attack by an organized, online impunity network.

Decades of distraction by the illusory and largely disingenuous promises of Oslo have diverted the Organization from its core duty to defend international law, international human rights, and the Charter itself. The mantra of the "two-state solution" has become an open joke in the corridors of the UN, both for its utter impossibility in fact, and for its total failure to account for the inalienable human rights of the Palestinian people. The so-called "Quartet" has become nothing more than a fig leaf for inaction and for subservience to a brutal status quo. The (US-scripted) deference to "agreements between the parties themselves" (in place of international law) was always a transparent slight-of-hand, designed to reinforce the power of Israel over the rights of the occupied and dispossessed Palestinians.

High Commissioner, I came to this Organization first in the 1980s, because I found in it a principled, norm-based institution that was squarely on the side of human rights, including in cases where the powerful US, UK, and Europe were not on our side. While my own government, its subsidiarity institutions, and much of the US media were still supporting or justifying South African apartheid, Israeli oppression, and Central American death squads, the UN was standing up for the oppressed peoples of those lands. We had international law on our side. We had human rights on our side. We had principle on our side. Our authority was rooted in our integrity. But no more.

In recent decades, key parts of the UN have surrendered to the power of the US, and to fear of the Israel Lobby, to abandon these principles, and to retreat from international law itself. We have lost a lot in this abandonment, not least our own global credibility. But the Palestinian people have sustained the biggest losses as a result of our failures. It is a stunning historic irony that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in the same year that the Nakba was perpetrated against the Palestinian people. As we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the UDHR, we would do well to abandon the old cliché that the UDHR was born out of the atrocities that proceeded it, and to admit that it was born alongside one of the most atrocious genocides of the 20th Century, that of the destruction of Palestine. In some sense, the framers were promising human rights to everyone, except the Palestinian people. And let us remember as well, that the UN itself carries the original sin of helping to facilitate the dispossession of the Palestinian people by ratifying the European settler colonial project that seized Palestinian land and turned it over to the colonists. We have much for which to atone.

But the path to atonement is clear. We have much to learn from the principled stance taken in cities around the world in recent days, as masses of people stand up against the genocide, even at risk of beatings and arrest. Palestinians and their allies, human rights defenders of every stripe, Christian and Muslim organizations, and progressive Jewish voices saying "not in our name", are all leading the way. All we have to do is to follow them.

Yesterday, just a few blocks from here, New York's Grand Central Station was completely taken over by thousands of Jewish human rights defenders standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding an end to Israeli tyranny (many risking arrest, in the process). In doing so, they stripped away in an instant the Israeli hasbara propaganda point (and old antisemitic trope) that Israel somehow represents the Jewish people. It does not. And, as such, Israel is solely responsible for its crimes. On this point, it bears repeating, in spite of Israel lobby smears to the contrary, that criticism of Israel's human rights violations is not antisemitic, any more than criticism of Saudi violations is Islamophobic, criticism of Myanmar violations is anti-Buddhist, or criticism of Indian violations is anti-Hindu. When they seek to silence us with smears, we must raise our voice, not lower it. I trust you will agree, High Commissioner, that this is what speaking truth to power is all about.

But I also find hope in those parts of the UN that have refused to compromise the Organization's human rights principles in spite of enormous pressures to do so. Our independent special rapporteurs, commissions of enquiry, and treaty body experts, alongside most of our staff, have continued to stand up for the human rights of the Palestinian people, even as other parts of the UN (even at the highest levels) have shamefully bowed their heads to power. As the custodians of the human rights norms and standards, OHCHR. has a particular duty to defend those standards. Our job, I believe, is to make our voice heard, from the Secretary-General to the newest UN recruit, and horizontally across the wider UN system, incisting that the human rights of the Palestinian people are not up for debate, negotiation, or compromise anywhere under the blue flag.

What, then, would a UN-norm-based position look like? For what would we work if we were true to our rhetorical admonitions about human rights and equality for all, accountability for perpetrators, redress for victims, protection of the vulnerable, and empowerment for rights-holders, all under the rule of law? The answer, I believe, is simple—if we have the clarity to see beyond the propagandistic smokescreens that distort the vision of justice to which we are sworn, the courage to abandon fear and deference to powerful states, and the will to truly take up the banner of human rights and peace. To be sure, this is a long-term project and a steep climb. But we must begin now or surrender to unspeakable horror. I see ten essential points:

Legitimate action: First, we in the UN must abandon the failed (and largely disingenuous) Oslo paradigm, its illusory two-state solution, its impotent and complicit Quartet, and its subjugation of international law to the dictates of presumed political expediency. Our positions must be unapologetically based on international human rights and international law.

Clarity of Vision: We must stop the pretense that this is simply a conflict over land or religion between two warring parties and admit the reality of the situation in which a disproportionately powerful state is colonizing, persecuting, and dispossessing an indigenous population on the basis of their ethnicity.

One State based on human rights: We must support the establishment of a single, democratic, secular state in all of historic Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and, therefore, the dicmantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid across the land.

Fighting Apartheid: We must redirect all UN efforts and resources to the struggle against apartheid, just as we did for South Africa in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s.

Return and Compensation: We must reaffirm and insist on the right to return and full compensation for all Palestinians and their families currently living in the occupied territories, in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and in the diaspora across the globe.

Truth and Justice: We must call for a transitional justice process, making full use of decades of accumulated UN investigations, enquiries, and reports, to document the truth, and to ensure accountability for all perpetrators, redress for all victims, and remedies for documented injustices.

Protection: We must press for the deployment of a well-resourced and strongly mandated UN protection force with a sustained mandate to protect civilians from the river to the sea.

Disarmament: We must advocate for the removal and destruction of Israel's massive stockpiles of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, lest the conflict lead to the total destruction of the region and, possibly, beyond.

Mediation: We must recognize that the US and other western powers are in fact not credible mediators, but rather actual parties to the conflict who are complicit with Israel in the violation of Palestinian rights, and we must engage them as such.

Solidarity: We must open our doors (and the doors of the SG) wide to the legions of Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian human rights defenders who are standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine and their human rights and stop the unconstrained flow of Israel lobbyists to the offices of UN leaders, where they advocate for continued war, persecution, apartheid, and impunity, and smear our human rights defenders for their principled defense of Palestinian rights.

This will take years to achieve, and western powers will fight us every step of the way, so we must be steadfast. In the immediate term, we must work for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the longstanding siege on Gaza, stand up against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank (and elsewhere), document the genocidal assault in Gaza, help to bring massive humanitarian aid and reconstruction to the Palestinians, take care of our traumatized colleagues and their families, and fight like hell for a principled approach in the UN's political offices.

The UN's failure in Palestine thus far is not a reason for us to withdraw. Rather it should give us the courage to abandon the failed paradigm of the past, and fully embrace a more principled course. Let us, as OHCHR, boldly and proudly join the anti-apartheid movement that is growing all around the world, adding our logo to the banner of equality and human rights for the Palestinian people. The world is watching. We will all be accountable for where we stood at this crucial moment in history. Let us stand on the side of justice.

I thank you, High Commissioner, Volker, for hearing this final appeal from my desk. I will leave the Office in a few days for the last time, after more than three decades of service. But please do not hesitate to reach out if I can be of assistance in the future.

Sincerely,

Craig Mokhiber

End of transcription.

Emphasis (bolding) is my own. I have added links, where relevant, to explanations of concepts the former Director refers to.

[knightswaypoint]

Full of Snausage!

(Inspired by this post)

[23fallencomets]

max verstappen and all his little duckies

link

[cokoweee]

Let’s play the “how consistent is Coko” game

I’m losing. Okay I run now 💃💃💃

<===—Shhh….quiet link

[aquared46]

Happy ao3 downtime. Have a little andreil fic. As a treat.

It was only because Neil recognized the cadence of the footsteps downstairs that his pounding heart calmed. He untangled his legs from the blankets, but didn’t rise from the bed. He listened as Andrew locked the front door, the pounding in his head and the sickness swirling in his stomach indicating he only managed about an hour of sleep. Vague images clung to the backs of Neil’s eyelids, a nightmare that slipped from his waking mind. Something Andrew had saved him from before he was even in the room.

Andrew wasn’t supposed to be back in South Carolina for another two weeks, obligated to spend time training with his team between games. Neil himself should’ve been on campus, ready for practice in the morning. Instead, Coach took one look at him yesterday afternoon and sent him away with orders to get some sleep. To give his vice captain a chance to practice for the real thing once Neil graduated in a few short months.

Neil couldn’t get any sleep at the dorms, but his and Andrew’s bed in Columbia called to him. Neil made the trip and collapsed into it, his mind wandering to the countless firsts they shared there rather than the onslaught of memories March brought.

Neil had survived three Marches since the riot, since his father’s people had delivered him to the basement in Baltimore. His fourth March should’ve been no different.

Except there was one thing Neil hadn’t accounted for: Andrew wasn’t there.

Neil was in his final year, Andrew was playing on a professional team states away, and Neil had never realized exactly how much he leaned on him in times like this. How the shared cigarettes steadied his hands, how Andrew’s palm on the back of his neck halted the crawling beneath his skin.

Objectively, he knew Andrew helped, but it was also something Neil should’ve been able to do on his own. It wasn’t something he wanted to burden Andrew with, something that pulled him away from his responsibilities because Neil couldn’t manage to get through just a few fucking days without nearly falling apart.

And now Andrew was standing in the doorway of their bedroom in Columbia, the light from the hall flooding into the room and illuminating Neil in all his disgrace. The sweaty skin, the greasy hair, the circles under his eyes, the t-shirt Neil had bundled under his head.

Neil had found it wedged between the nightstand and the bedframe, undoubtedly tossed aside carelessly on a good day that involved lots of kissing and touching. It smelled a bit like old sweat, but Andrew’s scent also clung to it, and Neil was far beyond denying himself such a simple comfort.

Andrew kicked the bedroom door closed, and Neil listened to his footsteps as he approached in the dark. There was a click as Andrew tugged the chain of the small lamp on the nightstand. Andrew always hated how bright the overhead light was.

Andrew gestured to Neil’s entirety. “This is not fine.” He snagged the shirt from under Neil’s head, wrinkling his nose before tossing it aside.

Andrew had called him just two days earlier. They’d talked as they always did, exchanging stories and sometimes just sitting in silence, knowing the other was there and listening. Except this time Andrew had explicitly asked how Neil was holding up, and Neil had said he was fine.

“I meant what I said.” Neil mourned the loss of the shirt, but tucked his face closer to the pillow, where some of the smell had transferred.

Andrew’s jaw tensed. “I thought you weren’t going to lie to me anymore.”

“I’m not.”

“Then you’re lying to yourself.” Something settled in Andrew’s gaze as he examined Neil, the tension in his shoulders easing. “And you’re an idiot if you think I’d make you bear this on your own.”

Andrew emptied his pockets on the nightstand, and Neil felt something loosen in him as well. As Andrew peeled off his jeans, Neil scooched over to make enough room on the bed.

“There were no games scheduled, so I got cleared for this time off weeks ago,” Andrew said as he slipped under the covers.

The relief Neil felt from his proximity didn’t lessen the weight of his glare. “And you’re telling me this now?”

“You should’ve known I’d be here for your yearly mental breakdown. At least you keep a consistent schedule. I was curious whether you’d be honest with me, but now I have to ask: Was it a lack of self-awareness or sheer bullheaded stubbornness that kept you from telling the truth?” Andrew was close enough Neil could feel the warmth radiating off him. “I didn’t believe you then, and your current appearance only validates that assessment. If I asked again what would your answer be now?”

Neil ignored his first impulse, which was to say he was fine. Not only was it the answer Andrew didn’t want, but it certainly wasn’t true. Frustratingly, everything Andrew said was right. The way Andrew could peel back his layers and see what was underneath used to be unsettling, but nowadays Neil found it reassuring. Even if it pissed him off. Even if Andrew told him things he didn’t want to hear.

“That I can’t sleep,” Neil said through gritted teeth. “That he’s the only thing I see when I close my eyes, and that I wish you were here.”

“That’s better,” Andrew said. “Certainly more believable.”

Andrew reached for Neil, settling his arm over his waist and tugging him closer. Neil sagged into the contact, shuddering with relief as he tucked his head under Andrew’s.

Neil breathed him in. “I should be able to bear this on my own.”

“You don’t have to. I’d rather be here when you don’t need me than be away when you do.” Andrew tightened his arm, tangling Neil’s legs with his.

Neil had been holding himself together by threads for the past few days. In Andrew’s arms, he was safe enough to let himself fall apart. His chest was tight, and he gradually lost the steady breaths he forcibly maintained.

Andrew held him through it, his fingers tapping an irregular rhythm on Neil’s spine. It was something Neil could focus on, something he could latch onto to draw himself back into his own body. Exhaustion crashed into him as soon as he did, but not before he made Andrew a promise.

“I’ll do better next time.”

“I know.”

[glossdebut]

hymns of yoongism

aqua's comprehensive playlist of worship music at the altar of min yoongi a.k.a. the dumbest thing i have ever posted maybe? inspired by conversations i had with @joonary about songs that remind me of yoongi for the most trivial reasons imaginable

01. suga suga | baby bash, frankie j

02. dogtooth | tyler, the creator

03. what's my name | rihanna ft. drake

04. genius | LSD

05. seduce | russ ft. capella grey & tamae

06. doves in the wind | sza ft. kendrick lamar

07. skin | mac miller

08. rah tah tah | tyler, the creator

09. too sweet | hozier

10. valentino | 24k goldn

11. bed chem | sabrina carpenter

12. guess | charli xcx ft. billie eilish

13. big poppa | the notorious B.I.G.

14. man of the year | ScHoolboy Q

15. sweet | brockhampton

16. she | tyler, the creator ft. frank ocean

17. like that | future, metro boomin, kendrick lamar

18. 死ぬのがいいわ | fujii kaze

19. summer bummer | lana del rey ft. a$ap rocky & playboi carti

20. tell your friends | the weeknd

21. starboy | the weeknd, daft punk

22. cherry | lana del rey

23. blue jeans | lana del rey

24. foldin clothes | j. cole

25. iv. sweatpants | childish gambino

26. alright | kendrick lamar

27. motley crew | post malone

28. gangsta | holly roze, j-sizzle

29. mamushi | megan thee stallion ft. yuki chiba

30. rules | doja cat

31. captain hook | megan thee stallion

32. sidewalks | the weeknd, kendrick lamar

33. love love love | epik high

34. so fresh, so clean | outkast

35. rapp snitch knishes | MF DOOM ft. mr. fantastik

36. sweet / i thought you wanted to dance | tyler, the creator ft. brent faiyaz & fana hues

37. love me | lil wayne, drake, future

38. mean | $NOT, flo milli

39. orange soda | baby keem

40. shoot my shot | IDK, offset

41. i know | big sean, jhené aiko

42. ryd | steve lacy

43. all mine | brent faiyaz

44. groupie love | lana del rey ft. a$ap rocky

45. let me love you | ariana grande ft. lil wayne

46. crew | goldlink ft. brent faiyaz & shy glizzy

47. bodyguard | beyoncé

48. angostura | keshi

49. king's dead | jay rock, kendrick lamar, future, james blake

50. michael jordan | kendrick lamar, ScHoolboy Q

51. pose | yo gotti ft. lil uzi vert

52. balloon | tyler, the creator ft. doechii

53. thought i was dead | tyler, the creator ft. ScHoolboy Q & santigold

54. after midnight | chappell roan

55. ego | beyoncé

56. nasty dog | sir mix-a-lot

57. the question | mac miller & lil wayne

58. são paulo | the weeknd ft. anitta

59. ratchet saturn girl | aminé

60. P*RNSTAR | nessa barrett

[starshapedoasis]

~Fanfic Recommendations~

1. World that’s been and gone - Storyshark2005

A classic you’ve prob already read. Multi-part series, Angst, Fluff, Reconciliation, The whole family makes an appearance.

2. My Sister Lover - DeathandCannibalism

Pre-fame, Angst, Comfort, Smut.

3. You never notice you are blind - mansgotalimit

Alan McGee finding out about Liam & Noel’s relationship. Light Smut?

4. The passing of Peggy Gallagher - Jeevey

Another classic you’ve prob already read. Slow-burn, Angst, Reconciliation.

5. Do You Still Feel Like Me? - OnTheWrongSideOfTheBed

Liam wants to be Noel’s boyfriend truly is the best description. Smut, Light Angst, Fluff.

6. FilmStar - OrphanAccount

Noel finds out Liam was in a porn video. Smut, Light Angst.

7. Things We Never See - Jeevey

Jill Furmanovsky realizing Liam and Noel’s “special relationship’. outsider POV.

8. Who Feels Love? -OnTheWrongSideOfTheBed

Early fame, Jealous Noel, Light Smut.

9. Tell me when will the river run green? -Buzz_Wuzzo

Set during standing on the shoulder of giants recording. Smut, Fluff.

10. I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you know -mansgotalimit

Wonderwall is about Liam just a fact, Fluff, Angst, Bittersweet ending.

11. to Photograph what the eye can’t see - mansgotalimit

Noel takes a scandalous pic of Liam. Smut.

12. Baby, you’re gonna be the one to save me - snickfic

Mpreg, Liam would be a beautiful mother. 🙂‍↕️

13. Star-Shaped - Savageandwise

Multi-part series, female Liam, very special to me.

14. Guileless - Anonymous

Guigsy finds out about Liam and Noel’s Relationship and joins in. Smut.

[sunkissedlouis]

louis messing around with steve during the megamix | faith in the future world tour in vienna, austria 09.13.23

[heroes-of-courage]

Young-ish hero of time (nickname mask)

Age: 14 1/2

He’s just a random traveler that looks like a 10 year old.

Info on him: he is dating Malon and she even made him the tunic he wears she even let him make a stitches in the fabric which it’s very obvious which were his.

Design notes:

Like I said malon made the tunic for him

He bought a different pair of boots when he’s was twelve and has mostly grown into them

The bow had been something he found in the lost woods whenever he was leaving them

Big pouch cause he loves collecting random things

White tips on his hair cause that was a side effect from over using the FD mask

[aurosoulart]

ohhhh my god. I can finally share my art with people who don’t have headsets 😭😭😭

the mobile app for the art program I use is in open beta and you can get it from our Discord channel here. works on both iOS and Android

[fox-with-ferns]

I love gay humanoids

[prince-strife]

anywayyyy i put my maxley playlist on spotify

[sharpestlives]

not my usual posts, but i wanted to share this IMEU post here on tumblr. of course direct donations will always do the most, but here are some more options for helping palestine

[coffinkissez]

✧˖ — my obey me ocs

✧˖ valefar — 📀 ✧˖ solas — 🪐 ✧˖ seire — 🦋 ✧˖ seraphiel - 🕊️ ✧˖ sandalphon - 💎 ✧˖ metatron - 📜 ✧˖ eve - 🎞️

[odetojupiter]

nathaniel’s birthday being 19th of jan, which is the same birthday as edgar allan poe, the eponym of edgar allan university, the place neil was sold to.

edgar allan’s wife was called virginia, EAU is based in west virginia. poe and virginia lived in baltimore, but often moved between there philadelphia and new york. poe died in baltimore.

like neil, poe’s mother was english. his father was american. he could speak french, and some sources say he had passable knowledge of german too. he was abused by his father.

the night before he died, poe is said to have called out the name ‘reynolds’ repeatedly. he died of alcohol poisoning.

and of course, the obvious - the ravens at EAU, edgar allan poe’s most famous poem being The Raven, and their stadium is called evermore, a play on nevermore

quoth the raven nevermore

[crabbng]

and, of course, a webcomic fanart version 💕