#if they wanted Gaza to be wiped clear of anything

[libertarian-druid-ny-separatist]

Nah she's right. We don't get to choose how they "resist", but they don't get to choose how the people they attack respond either.

In other words: "we are allowed to commit genocide on you, but you don't get to kill our millitias"

[moonlayl]

there's a certain amount of privilege and naivety that comes with the people who truly believe in the phrase "you can't fight violence with violence".

What exactly are the oppressed supposed to do to protect themselves and their families and their land that's acceptable for you?

Are they supposed to sit down and write love letters?

Are they supposed to sit down and wait for the world to pressure Israel into no longer oppressing them? I mean it's been more than 70 years, how much longer should they wait for nonexistent International aid?

How many more years of western media acting as though "those Arab terrorists" and one of the most advanced militaries in the world protected behind an iron dome funded by western nations are on the same level and that it's an equal conflict, are we supposed to witness?

How many international war crimes do Israel have to commit without facing a hint of consequences before it becomes clear that the majority of western nations do support Israel and do not want Palestine to be freed because it would be inconvenient for them?

How did you think we were gonna fight for Palestine?

by trending hashtags? by simply preaching "decolonisation" without physically doing anything? By voting? (lmao) be serious.

This is a war that's been going on for decades. Not some playground shit. Palestinians have been oppressed for decades. Hundreds of innocent Palestinians are murdered every year in cold blood. Hundreds are displaced. The people of Gaza have been trapped in one of the biggest open air tightly controlled prisons for a very long time.

Realistically speaking, this horror and this war is not gonna end by Palestinians sitting down, twiddling their thumbs and hoping the state that's shown no mercy and stopped at nothing to try and erase them will show them kindness and mercy all of a sudden.

This is the same state full of civilians that go around chanting "death to Arabs" on their own holiday. The same state who's soldiers and civilians make it a tradition to attack people simply praying every ramadan.

You think those people will stop trying to gain more land and wipe out Palestinians with treaties, kind words and gifts?

When will it be acceptable for Palestinians to defend themselves and for those in Gaza to try and break free from their prison?

What exactly were you expecting?

[sukifoof-art]

Hi, I really liked your art and all and was a fan of you, until you started posting things about supporting a state which is controlled by a terrorist organization that doesn’t care about their own civilians and when any donations come there it doesn’t go to the people who need it but to Hamas, and by donating to Gaza not only do you not help the people in Gaza ,but you also help a terrorist organization who doesn’t care who it needs to kill in order to achieve its goal.

Also when I saw you reposted a post who supported the people in the picture’s with all PLO flags (which weren’t the main problem there) ,it seriously hurt me to see that one picture where people were stepping on USA flags and Israel flags. like….why would you support someone who obviously hate you(assuming you’re from the USA) but even if you aren’t from the USA then think about the fact that you’re LGBTQ, these people HATE people who are Queer and kills them ,so I really can’t understand how are you supporting people who want you dead and are against feminism.

I really hope that what I wrote helped you see this complex situation more clearly and I beg you to look at the situation from both sides.

so this means everyone there deserves to die? this means that a whole school year of children needs to be wiped out? that hospitals must be bombed and millions displaced and communication be cut off? that every palestinian must pay with their lives? that every closeted queer palestinian should die? are you seriously that dense. i made it clear i do not want people who support a genocide following me. have you bothered reading palestinian voices from queering the map? those who regret not saying they were in love and dont even have the chance anymore because thousands are dying? i genuinely don't know what to say to you to make you realize these are real, actual people who are dead. you speak of palestinians as if they're a monolith and not real individual people who had thoughts and dreams. none of these people deserved to die, even if they hate people like me. people can change and learn and grow and they weren't even given the chance. i am so sick of seeing fellow queer people SUPPORT GENOCIDE because they can't be bothered to think about others and their experiences for more than two seconds. of all the queer experiences i've read this is one of the most heartbreaking, and it's from gaza.

do NOT act like queer people and their families aren't being harmed and DO NOT come into my ask box supporting ethnic cleansing. there is never any reason for thousands of people to live in fear of airstrikes and white phosphorous, or to be stuck beneath rubble and in hospitals that don't even have power. if the idea of THOUSANDS DYING wasn't enough to upset you, there are so many videos of parents mourning their children, children mourning their parents, children and pets shaking in fear for me to not have explain to you that genocide is bad. there is NEVER any reason to JUSTIFY GENOCIDE. that should be clear enough. again, if you are complicit or try to justify genocide, do not follow me and DO NOT try to make me "see the situation from both sides". to be so privileged that you can sit here and write out paragraphs supporting genocide says enough about you.

if you see this i am begging you to contact your government, just do anything you can. even just spreading the word helps because palestine can't. the most important thing is to not give up hope. mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living.

[mikichko]

Let me make something abundantly clear to you fucking smooth brain motherfuckers since apparently me saying it nicely isn’t getting through your thick fucking skulls. If you are a zionist or reblogging anything like this get the fuck off my blog.

I do not want you here.

Don’t come in here and try to fucking argue about both sides when my friends have had entire branches of their families wiped out by Israel. Do not fucking let yourself think for a second that I have respect for any of you cunts that think that just because jewish people survived a literal genocide it somehow prevents them from carrying out one in the modern day. Especially after everything we’ve seen coming out of Gaza.

Go fuck yourself.

As always: Free Palestine. From the river to the sea.

[legallyacceptibleurl]

of the blogs that i keep track of, there’s definitely obvious cliques. all of them have posts circulate to all parts eventually, but one thing i’ve noticed is a clear divide between the american liberal zionist bloggers and the israeli zionist bloggers in that space. the american liberal bloggers are more concerned about respectability and here and there might even push back when someone says something more egregiously islamophobic or racist (rarely tho). this is not the case at all for the israeli bloggers, they will just say shit like “all palestinians are nazis and should be wiped out” with their whole chest and then move on with no repercussions

there’s a handful of bridging blogs which keep the flow of posts between the two cliques circulating, but they rarely ever touch the more genocidal posts or reblogs

that’s where i come in I guess, i am working on posting some of the more shocking screenshots and connecting them to the people who reblog from them

i love posting examples, let’s use this one

ID: screenshot of a post that @shofarsogood reblogged from @stupid-jewishwhiteboy

@some-israeli-guy: “I want to take a few minutes to talk about my connection to Israel, as a Jew. I want to do that because some people desperately need to understand this, and also I'm procrastinating on uni homework.”

the rest of the post is cut off by me. End ID.

i often use these two because it’s by far the most infuriating example. shofarsogood is a very popular blog on here and is mutuals both with people who would be incredibly offended at being called zionists, and also just fully unapologetic zionists. meanwhile, some-israeli-guy is someone who will just straight up say “kill all palestinians”, and it’s fucking horrible but from a purely practical perspective i can appreciate the honesty because it makes my job easier. it’s like a touchstone for the level of hate speech these people will tolerate as long as it’s on their side

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“Beautiful! Kill them all and erase Palestine from history!” End ID.

so, how does a post travel from the “kill them all” side of tumblr to the “we just want peace in gaza but conveniently all pro-palestine advocacy is antisemitic” side of tumblr? very easily it turns out

it starts with this

ID: a screenshot showing @homochadensistm reblogging from @some-israeli-guy. End ID.

here’s what kind of blog we’re dealing with at this point

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @homochadensistm:

“1. This poll is from the west bank, or do you think thats a place in gaza?

2. BBC reports Gazans are fed up with hamas: uuuuch WhErE dA BidEO eViDEncE

Some rando with a tumblr posts about 5 gorillion children dying in a nuclear explosion in Khan younis:”

under the text is an image of the wojak meme called “Two Soyjaks Pointing”

@homochadensistm’s tags: “#gazans will be freed of the bronze age islamists who took over them via a coup #whether u like it or not <3”

End ID.

next is this

ID: a screenshot showing @stupidjewishwhiteboy reblogged from @homochadensistm. End ID.

ID: screenshot of a post reblogged by @stupidjewishwhiteboy.

@not-antisemitic-receipts: “"Genocide Denier"

Yes, I "deny" accusations of genocide levied against Jews by antisemites, be they from Jihadist Islamofascists claiming "Palestine Genocide" or Nazi Fascists claiming "White Genocide."

"Denial" of conspiracy theories is simply common sense, Period.”

End ID.

and then it’s… wait that’s it?

ID: a screenshot showing @shofarsogood reblogging from @stupidjewishwhiteboy. End ID.

huh. i’m sure that doesn’t mean anything

oh but i’m going to be fair to everyone involved. at the time he posted that post that went around, he hadn’t yet said “kill all palestinians”. how cruel of me to expect these people to see into the future

except you don’t have to be raven fucking symoné to see that it was only a matter of time

here is @some-israeli-guy three days before his post about his connection to israel

ID: a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“As someone with a relative who fought in the Warsaw ghetto uprising, my first reaction was being infuriated.

My second emotion though? Hope. Same as how everything hamas and the pro hamas crowd blame Israel of, they've done themselves, everything they wish for us, they will receive. The Israeli people love life. We celebrate life in spite of everyone trying to kill us. Palestine, on the other hand, is a death cult. They worship death and find no meaning in life other than sacrificing it. Palestinian society is based on hate and death, and a society like that will never win.

The nazis lost. The nazis always lose, and my relative survived and came to Israel.

#israel #jumbIr #palestine is a death cult #i/p #palestine”

there were also a couple tags in hebrew that i cannot copy paste. End ID.

hell, let’s take a look at the tail end of the post that got reblogged by everyone and their fucking mom

ID: “To anyone who call us "colonizers": These "ancient" Israelites don't just share a religion with us, they ARE us. We were expelled from our homeland, but we kept our identity, we refused to let go, we kept wishing to come back home. We were always indigenous to Israel. We don't belong anywhere but here.

And now they're are trying to tell us that some people with a name invented by Rome to erase Judea and Israel, with a religion and language from Arabia, who didn't have a distinct cultural identity other than "Arab" until a few decades ago, belong here more than we do? I don't think so.”

End ID.

[space-antlers-in-space]

I don't know if I'll even keep this post up because to be honest, the people I see and follow on here don't seem to be guilty of this and also my reach here is not big. But I have to say, the reaction on the "left" to this election result has been a deeply radicalizing experience. What a huge embarrassment. Did I hope for a Kamala win? Yes. I believe that the fights we need to undertake going forward would have been easier. I think we would've been fighting on at least fewer fronts under her administration. Did I give myself one day after we got the result to sulk and feel sorry for myself? Also yes! I'm trans! Donald Trump ran a historic number of ads directed straight at me and my community and farmed up a gigantic amount of fear and hate, and it worked. But oh my god. The scope of the crashout among liberals has been completely insane. I've seen people crowing about going back to Starbucks and McDonald's, praying for hurricanes to wipe out red states and proclaiming they're done and tired and not to ask them for help anymore.

I saw Palestinians and other leftists predicting this exact outcome months and months ago. And me, a lil white queer chilling in a blue state, i thought that might be an overly pessimistic view. Never did I think the reaction would be so instant and vicious and I've been proven so incredibly wrong. And I'll eat that! Of course I never argued with anyone about that prediction because I know my blind spots and where I sit. If longtime organizers and people of color are telling me that milktoast liberals will cut and run the second things get hard, they know something I don't. And I sure know now. GOD. Like i see it now. I see what actual leftists mean by the two sides being functionally the same. I watched democrats take an L and then immediately start acting exactly like conservatives; buying Starbucks in some smug attempt to "trigger" everyone, climbing into comment sections to fantasize out loud about buying beachfront property in Gaza, making cringey dramatic TikToks with filters and audio to act out ignoring a Palestinian crying for help. I get being angry, i get the urge to look for someone to blame but there isnt! Nobody is to blame for electing Trump except Trump voters, and the Democratic party for failing to understand what was important to their base. The numbers simply do not support the idea that "palestinian influencers convinced everyone not to vote" or "jill stein did it again" or anything. What the numbers do show is a huge swing to the right among white gen-z and a predictable majority of white voters of every age voting for him. If you wanna do something productive take a look at how high school boys are being funneled into the alt-right at an alarming pace. But no. You're outing yourselves for what you've always been; punitive, cruel, self-centered and with the moraI convictions of an overcooked noodle. I'm so glad I've surrounded myself with people who are just as disgusted by this as me, and who keep sharing fundraisers and refuse to let this fight die.

I also want to be clear I'm not angry or dismissive of anyone that's really terrified by the prospect of another Trump presidency. I am too, and i do really wish it hadn't shaken out this way. But I promise you, there are frameworks in place to keep as many people safe as we can. Catastrophizing is not helpful and disregards the work people have been doing to prepare for events like this for a long, long time. Queer communities, communities of color, communities supporting reproductive Healthcare, have been around for ages. Find resources, help others out, we can go underground if we have to. We have before. Be smart and be kind, that's the only way forward. Remember that.

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

I've been trying to figure out what I want to say. not that anything I have to say is important; more as a way to think things through.

there's no way to exactly compartmentalize. but if I've realized anything, it's this. in my roughly ten year process of activism and coming to understand social inequity, nothing has radicalized me more then palestine.

nothing has made me more aware of the utter betrayals of our social system. nothing directly at this point, has made me truly see that our political systems can and will turn their backs on human lives when it suits them. it's embarrassing, but it took a scale as big as this to undo 27 years of propaganda that we (as in those in a western capitalist society) have created this system that allows for lives to be wiped out and for others to allow this to happen. how utterly dangerous and cruel. really, you only have to watch so many back to back clips of people being slaughtered right next to clips of rich men in suits chatting casually at the UN like they're not debating over who gets to live or die, to become enraged.

the devastation we were seeing even just a couple days after oct 7th was enough, but when the west did not report or cry over those little lives left all alone to rot in a decomposed hospital like how they wailed over every single israeli hostage - that said everything to me.

I'm sure we're all waiting for the day we can talk about this as a past event and for the palestinians living through it to still be alive to talk about it. for their freedom. but right now, this has changed everything for me. I'm not heavily involved in politics or would pretend like I have a finger on the pulse of anything, but I really do believe, that this has massively shifted things here in north america. note I'm canadian, not american, but regardless, ppl my age and younger have not only never seen such aggressive destruction play out worldwide like this, but more so, been so blatantly lied to and disregarded by their government. their worries quieted, their demands tossed aside; the whole world is calling for a ceasefire, and it's literally like no one in a suit behind a desk can see us. we're screaming and they can't even be asked to look at us. this already fragile line of trust between the public and their politicians, has essentially snapped completely. people like myself, have come into the reality the system & the people in it not only do not care for us, but that they don't need to either. I'm not sure how these politicians in power are going to get people to back them again, when it's becoming very clear to the masses that whatever we have to say doesn't matter to them anyway. it all feels very much like a tipping point, at least to me.

but I'm about to take a hard turn, back to palestine. there was a moment in all this madness that has stuck with me ever since, that I've thought to post about but couldn't verbalize. I think it was AJ who had a clip of it and I've searched their YT pages up and down for the video, but annoyingly cannot find it again - so I apologize that I don't know any names (but if you know what I'm referring to, then PLEASE let me know bc I truly want to know who this happened to). it was early in the war, I believe it was still october.

there was a video from someone who's become one of gaza's media reporters, a man I do not know the name of. from what I understand, he was born and raised there, and did local photography. but like many media personal in gaza, when the war hit, he started to document. he ended up posting a clip that haunts me; he was riding in an ambulance with others that was transporting people to a hospital. while they were riding, people fleeing from what I believe was a bombing stopped the vehicle. they were carrying a baby. the baby was bleeding and bruised and cut, from the recent attack. they pleaded with them, to take the child to the hospital and then placed the baby all alone into this man's arms. imagine that. you're a photographer with no training, caught in the middle of one of the world's bloodiest fights ever witnessed. you're unequipped and frightened. you're just trying to escape with your own life in tact. and then someone hands you a baby. they just place a baby in your arms.

out of nowhere, there's this little life in your hands. blood is cracked over their once soft skin and they're crying, blindly calling out for mom or for dad, who may never come back. their tiny heartbeat hammers under the torn pair of clothes, having narrowly escaped death. but only narrowly. and now, it's yours to bear. a human life, clutching on still, and it's up to you to wrap it in your arms and make sure it lives.

out of everything coming from gaza, I've been unable to shake this image. I just couldn't possibly imagine if that was me. as far as I understand it, this guy wasn't a formal journalist, just a media influencer who photographed and talked about his hometown, no training - and then he's thrown into a warzone. and more, another life is placed onto him.

he handled it, from the clip, very well; kept calm and composed and tried to calm the baby too. I wish I knew, if he was able to help that baby survive. I hope the little life did.

I hope they both did.

[thesitharts]

Imagine taking such glee from genocide that you make a fucking BINGO BLOG MOCKING ITS VICTIMS AND DENYING ANYTHING WRONG IS BEING DONE TO THEM

Seriously, you people are fucking sickening

You see atrocity after atrocity committed, Israeli officials just flat out SAY THEY WANT GAZA WIPED CLEAN OFF THE MAP and go "tehe, look at these antisemites mourn fourteen thousand dead people! Mark off the word "genocide" and "innocents" on your bingo card, everybody!"

Just

Fuck

How can you people exist? Who are you that sees wanton death and destruction, parents cradling their dead children, or children screaming for parents who died days ago buried under rubble, and smiles?

You don't get to fucking claim you care about Palestinian civilians, you've made it abundantly clear they're less than animals to you.

[discuntelysium]

@elohima

imho, the second you turn rbs or comments off, you lose. But there are so many inaccuracies and logical fallacies in your response. Normally i would just let sleeping dogs lie but you’re not the only one who believes this bullshit so i want to respond. 

“Israel is not an apartheid state. you link your articles and resources, but have you ever been to Israel? come visit- it's a beautiful place. talk to arabs living here, in israel- not in the west bank or in gaza, which i never mentioned in my post. ask them how their lives are here.”

This actually made my jaw drop. She said, “Yeah the UN and Amnesty International say it's apartheid but its a beautiful country 🤓”. Everything just flew right over your head, huh? What's the matter, is systemic too big of a word for you? Grab a dictionary and reread what I wrote in my original post, cause there's no way you're stupid enough to believe that this is a valid argument.

You say your argument excludes the West Bank and Gaza? That’s fine. To be clear, you and I both know that Israel is still an apartheid state. There’s something you never mention in any of your posts. Probably because you know that it completely destroys your argument: It’s that your “country” distinguishes between nationality and citizenship.  

Which means that “Arab” citizens do not have the same access that Jewish Israeli citizens do. Because nationality, in Israel is determined by ethnicity, cannot be changed, and this discrimination affects nearly every aspect of Arab-Israeli life. So as you can see, apartheid still exists, even within the green line. 

Let me be clear: when multinational NGOs, multinational IGOs, and human rights groups both in and out side of Israel claim that it is an apartheid state, there is nothing you can say to dispute that. Okay? Nothing. Stop embarrassing yourself. 

“HAMAS is a terrorist organization. they control gaza completely. hamas hides behind children and stores ammunition (that is used against israeli citizens) in the middle of neighborhoods where gazan citizens live: in kindergartens, schools, hospitals and actual buildings where people live.”

But do they, really? 

An investigation done by the BBC found no evidence to corroborate this claim.

An investigation done by the Belfast Telegram found no evidence to corroborate this claim.

An investigation done by Amnesty International found no evidence to corroborate this claim. 

And still, there is no evidence from either side that Hamas is using these “human shields”. 

Furthermore, this kind of logic only serves to dehumanize the Palestinians living in Gaza by making it seem like their deaths are circumstantial; by turning them into accessories to the war; by obfuscating the truth which is, Palestinian people die because Israel carpet bombs them. Because Israel is not targeting Hamas; it’s targeting Palestinians. Because for the past 70 years, Israel has demonstrated a commitment to wiping Palestine off the map completely. 

In fact, Israel is the one who uses Palestinians as human shields; by forcing Palestinian citizens to check homes for traps, or by tying them to tanks to prevent people from throwing rocks. So maybe it’s just a case of projection.  

oh, and by the way, hamas isn't the only terror organization around here. Hezbollah is the one bombing Israeli civilians in the north, so Israel fights back. you know, like every country does, but for some reason we, the one Jewish country in the world, have to justify protecting ourselves from terror.

What does it mean for a settler-colony to ‘protect itself’? Protect itself from whom? The people whose land they took? 

I’m actually genuinely curious as to how you can believe that violence on behalf of the IDF and the Israeli government is an act of self defense. You didn’t respond to anything I said in my first rb about all the palestinians detained in Israeli prisons without trial, do you think that they were put there in self defense? Or the 200+ people killed when Palestinians organized their peaceful march for freedom. Did that stem from the need to protect Israel too? What about when the IDF forces Palestinians to cut down their olive trees, their only source of income, some of which have been in families for generations. What do you say to this? It’s not defense. It’s cruelty. 

And oh my god, stop victimizing yourself. There was massive pushback to the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan. Because guess what— most people feel some amount of discomfort at the idea of innocent civilians being killed in their name. There is nothing unique about your country or the situation that it is in right now. It was born out of violence, it maintains itself through violence, and it justifies this violence through the dehumanization of the other. And you are complicit. 

my country was created because this is our land. 

This line of reasoning + the claims to Jewish “indigeneity” are often presented as justification for Israel’s creation. But this is a response to a strawman argument; as if the question of who lives in Palestine just depends on who got there first. Evidently, between the first century and the nineteenth century, people moved in, populations and demographics shifted. Palestine was not “your land”; if it was, there wouldn’t need to be a mass exodus of Palestinians, you fucking dumbass. 

Do you know who really is ‘a people without a land’? African Americans whose ancestors were brought to America as slaves. Romani people, who also faced persecution in Europe and during WWII. Why do you think they aren’t getting their own ethnostate? 

I don’t trust your critical thinking skills, so I’ll just tell you. It’s because giving them an ethnostate doesn’t further western hegemony like the creation of Israel did. The very roots of Israel are steeped in colonialism. It was described as a “colonial project” by Theodore Herzl, one of the founders of zionism. Other notable quotations from proponents of an independent Jewish state in Palestine include, “Zionism is a colonial adventure”; “The Arabs do not want us here because we wish to be the rulers of this land. I will fight for this. I will make sure we are the landlords.”

It’s not “your land”; even modern day politicians know that there is no legal justification for Israel existing. The only people who believe that it does are people like you. 

on November 29th, 1947, the UN suggested establishing two states—one Jewish, one Arab. the jews agreed. the arabs started a war the very next day.

It amazes me how people always manage to learn just enough history to appease their own world-views, nothing more. 

The UN’s suggestion was just that— a suggestion. The UN does not actually have any authority to create states. In fact, the UN committee on Palestine acknowledged that the establishment of Israel had infringed on Palestinian right to self determination.  

You framed this in a way that implies that “the arabs” are to blame because they started the war. Read this very carefully: colonialism is always, always the original act of violence. Everything that happens after-wards is a symptom of that. The UN’s two-state proposal was essentially just asking Palestinians to agree to their own colonization. No peoples should ever be asked to do this. 

why didn't you mention the horrible massacre that happened on October 7th? the citizens kidnapped by hamas?

Because I recognize that this didn’t happen in a bubble. 

Because Hamas was originally funded by Israel. 

Because Hamas attempted to negotiate a peace treaty with Hamas 5 times, and Israel rejected its terms; to free Palestinian prisoners in Israel; to remove Israeli troops from Palestinian territories; to restore Palestinian borders to what they were in 1967. 

Because Hamas began as a peaceful group and radicalized incrementally, and each radicalization occurred directly because of Israeli violence.

Because Israel prefers violence to peace, as has been demonstrated throughout its short and bloody history. 

i will continue to live here- i have no where else to go. this is my home. that is it.

You can do whatever the hell you want. I have no objection to where you live. What I do object to, is the beliefs that you hold about your citizenship, about your country, and about the people that had to be and still are killed and exiled to justify your country’s existence. 

[moonlayl]

This...got super long and to be clear nothing I have experienced nor will ever experience will come close to the horrors that Palestinians are facing right now. I just need to say that and make that clear, but these are just things I've been wanting to say for a while now.

Just a thought that came to my head, but I remember arguing with lots of liberals before about how I don't really support the idea that people shouldn't be able to say anything they want (except obviously spreading misinformation especially if you're in certain professions), even hate speech not because I ever want to hear hate speech, but because I can't trust any government to decide what hate speech is, and I was told to give an example

I remember at the time saying "what if one day, me speaking about Palestine starts to become classified as antisemitism or terrorism?"

I was told that was silly and would "obviously never happen" (I didn't believe them and called them naive at the time)

well....looking at certain countries right now, trying to ban Palestinian flags, ban common Palestinian/muslim sayings, ban any peaceful protest in favour of Palestine, even looking at imprisoning/fining people etc.... is kind of just proving my point.

Like most of us don't feel included or part of any western communities even if we're lived here our whole lives for so many reasons and it almost always boils down to us being Arabs/muslim.

can't speak for non Arabs and non muslims, but a lot of us feel this way.

seeing how fighting for the people who need it the most (2000+ Palestinians have been killed. 800 of them being children. 45 families completely wiped out, entire bloodlines, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, children, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, etc....like this is actual genocide. their entire family tree has been completely wiped form existence) is being banned or branded as "terrorism", or we're losing our jobs, or we're being silenced, like it says a lot about theses countries and the governments that run them.

They tried to suspend humanitarian aid to innocent people of Gaza for the love of God!! Thank God there were 5 decent countries who voted no!

Israel gets away with every goddamn crime and ANY "condemnation" of any warcrime it commits is just talk, while they continue to aid and support it.

How am I supposed to trust these governments, and MY government to decide what's acceptable and what's not when I know that during the most critical moments that matter the most, they won't be on our side, and they'll side with oppressors because they themselves are just that? That the little I can actually do for Palestine and any other country could be completely taken away?

These are "democratic" countries by the way, or they're supposed to be, and sure we can challenge all these things but there are things even we can't do. the onslaught of propaganda shared everywhere by the same news stations that refuse to invite Palestinians (and refuse to air the few times they do) and refuse to fact check their content, or report on what's actually happening in Gaza, can't really be stopped. We can do our best to spread what's actually happening, and to correct false information, but the damages have been done.

And its getting harder and harder to hear form the people of Gaza because of the bombs, cut of electricity, cut off internet access, and also, you know, the fact that the people sharing news are being killed one by one.

There's also many social media platforms completely erasing anything about Palestine. suspending our accounts and hiding our posts. I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe it's a good thing Elon Musk took over twitter because at least I've been able to talk about Palestine as much as possible without nay censoring and I'm still able to. Palestinians are still able to share their stories and the reality yon there. And sin't that crazy? Elon musk is kind of doing something right???

And you know something else? Israel killed one of their own journalists, and those people weren't able to properly report on it. They couldn't directly say it was Israel that killed one of their own workers. Like....its crazy (and they're cowards). Israel also killed 12 UN workers.

That crime is not making as many headlines as the fake stuff did. Those "journalists" and "reporters" who repeated false information (that resulted in far too many people believing them and suddenly being okay with genocide) are still working. they still have a job and they're still out there spreading more propaganda.

this post isn't well written because I'm just putting out my thoughts and what I've witnessed but to make one thing clear, I won't ever silence my voice or allow anyone to silence my voice when it comes to something like this, and i'm not afraid of what they'll do, but isn't so fucked that I could actually lose my job and have trouble finding another one for supporting the oppressed? Like isn't that just..disgusting?

Like what's that supposed to tell me other than majority of western countries are against us? It's not exactly surprising because I've known this, but everyone being VERY open about it is kind of tough to witness ngl.

Like this is not a complicated issue. if you have any morals and you're not biased against Palestinians/arabs/muslims already, then this is a very clearcut case. Israel is an apartheid state. Israel is and has been committing genocide and ethnic cleansing for literal decades and its been doing it long before Hamas came into the picture. Israel's war crimes and treatment of Palestinians is the reason Hamas even exists in the first place. you can condemn Hamas while also recognising that Israelis have no right to that land and that nothing justifies their never ending crimes. Palestinians are demanding for their rights ot live, be citizens, have rights and freedoms, and have their land that was brutally taken from them. None of those things are unreasonable.

You know what is unreasonable? the world deciding Israel is suddenly gonna be a thing and expecting Palestinians to just be okay with it. You know what is unreasonable? Palestinians being painted as the bad guys for "not wanting to share" when they literally shouldn't have to (especially because of the obvious scams of all those "treaties" and "agreements" that all gave every benefit to Israel)

Like the whole world literally let this happen and supported it and cheered for it. Some stayed silent but are showing their real colours (which those of us who haven't been blind have already seen) now.

We've got girls crying about how "they want to kill us T-T" at a university campus because people were protesting in support of Palestine, while a six year old boy was killed in his own home for being Palestinian. In the same country.

We've got celebs talk about how scared THEY are while 800 Palestinian children have been murdered.

We've got celebs posting "pray for Israel" while using pictures of Gaza in ruins or Palestinian children looking at rockets in the sky.

It's insane.

We had a protest for Palestine the other day. People were telling us to go back to our country. They were telling Palestinians to go back to their country.

....that's....that's what they want? Like we're very much aware of how much we're not wanted here just to be clear, and Palestinians across the damn globe would do ANYTHING to be able to go live in their homeland. except they can't. Israel won't let them. That's part of what we're fighting for. Any jewish person can go get a citizenship easily in Israel (even if they've never stepped foot in the country and none of their ancestors had either) but people who were born in Palestine or who's family owns property there can't get it in at all. It's absolute insanity.

I'm not sure how to end this but on every level this has been horrific. But despite that, the propaganda, the genocide, the threats, the whole world being against us, that's not gonna stop us from fighting for the oppressed and standing up for them. It's not gonna stop us from going out into the streets and no words can explain the bravery of everyone who continues to stand with Palestine but especially to the Palestinians who continue fighting and resisting (despite everything they've been through). Continuing to use our voices, donating, protesting etc... is the absolute least we can do and its our responsibility. and I truly, from the bottom of my heart wish the absolute worst for everyone who disagree with this. Like you guys are gonna pay for it. Maybe not today maybe not for many years maybe only in the afterlife (because I do believe in it) but it's gonna happen and every Israeli supporter or zionist is gonna deserve every second of it.

If you're silent, if you try to throw the "two sides" bs, and if you try to act like Palestine and Israel are in any way equal, you're included in this.

You're part of the problem.

Silence is compliance.

And screw every government that supports Israel in any way. Screw the double standards, the hypocrisy and the absolute cruelty towards innocent Palestinians.

I can't speak for everyone else but no matter what happens moving forwards, I'm never gonna forget this and I'm never gonna forgive.

I'm gonna keep trying to do everything possible which unfortunately is not much and thats frustrating on every level but I'm gonna keep doing it. feel free to unfollow/block me, but I'm not gonna stay silent about this ever. and I'm not gonna entertain any bigot or zionists either. it's gonna be a straight up block.

my asks are open, and my page is currently full of information, this site is as well, but I'm not gonna entertain those who clearly care very little bout genocide, because if you haven't opened your eyes by now, I doubt anything I say will change that. you're welcome to go through my blog or send me a polite ask (can't promise I'll get to it right away but I'll try) but I'm not tolerating pointless arguments that are basically me just repeating that Palestinian people deserve to live in their own country with all their rights and freedoms while the other person disagrees. I prefer not to argue with those who are depraved.

[opedguy]

Iran Denies IAEA Access to Enrichment Plants

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 23, 2012.--Denying the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] inspectors images of Iran’s nuclear sites, Iran’s parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf insisted the obvious, that IAEA inspectors never had access to Iran’s sensitive nuclear sites under the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  Working feverishly in Vienna, the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, are busy trying to resuscitate the moribund nuclear agreement.  When former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement May 8, 2018, Iran was furious that Trump used “snap-back” sanctions to punish the Islamic Republic for noncompliance.  Iran insisted the IAEA had access to nuclear sites but only to ones approved by Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  Trump saw the utter farce in former President Barack Obama Iranian Nuke Deal.    

         Not only was Iran not submitting at its enrichment sites to IAEA inspections but it was conducting at least two proxy wars against U.S. allies, Egypt and Israel. On the Egypt front, Iran has supplied arms-and-cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels that proceeds to fire missiles at Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil refineries. Iran’s 2019 attack on Saudi’s Abaqaiq-Khurais oil refinery disrupted about 25% of the world’s refined petroleum products, including unleaded gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.  Supplying rockets and cash to Hamas in Gaza also continued the proxy war against Israel.  Iran thinks nothing of fomenting revolution around the Middle East, presenting itself as a victim of Western aggression. Today’s announcement by Oalibaf indicates that Iran has no intention of complying with anything in a new JCPOA, expecting Biden to end all of Trump’s sanctions to get a new agreement.   

          After the 10-day-long Hamas rocket war with Israel, it’s clear that Iran has no plans to stop supplying rockets to the Gaza Strip.  Keeping the proxy war going with Israel allows Iran to promote itself as the savior of Islam, when, in fact, Saudi’s Sunni Islam wants no part of Shiites, something the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia calls  apostates.  “Regarding this, and based on expiration of the three-month deadline, definitely that International Atomic Energy Agency will not have the right to access images from May 22, Qalibaf said, making a mockery of any new peace deal.  Biden and his 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken have been hell-bent re-establishing the Iranian Nuke Deal, while Saudi Arabia has no interest in giving up its arms production, especially if Iran continues its state-sponsored terrorism, letting Hamas shoot missiles at Israeli indiscriminately.       

      Re-entering the Nuke Deal can only happen if there’s some verification of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.  Ayatollah Khemeneii said Iran would no allow IAEA inspectors to enter Iran’s secret military enrichment sites where Iran has enriched uranium to about 50%, capable of producing nuclear bombs.  Netanyahu’s committed to keeping nukes out of Iranian hands, especially with treats to “wipe Israel off the map.”  While Khamenei explained he’s talking figuratively, Israel takes it as an existential threat to the Jewish State.  Without IAEA inspectors verifying Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, there’s no way to determine whether or not Iran’s in compliance with the  specific parameters of the agreement.  Iran’s decision today to prevent IAEA inspectors from seeing images of the sites indicates that Iran’s prepared to cheat its way through any new nuke agreement.      

       Before Biden signs onto a new Iranian Nuke, he needs Iran to stop its proxy wars with Saudi Arabia and Israel.  Watching Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to fire missiles into Saudi Arabia, does nothing but disrupt the world’s oil supply.  Biden has pushed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman into Iran’s orbit, continuing to slam Bin Salman for the Oct. 2, 2018 death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by an organized hit most likely ordered by Bin Salman.  But no matter what happened to Khashoggi, it’s bad foreign policy to drive Saudi Arabia into the hands of Russia or, worse yet, Iran.  Saudi Arabia remains an important strategic ally to the United States, regardless of what happened to Khashoggi.  Biden’s foreign policy teams seems inclined to climb onto a high horse and slam other countries that don’t measure up to U.S. standards, like Russia and China.       

      Irian’s decision to end imagery of in nuclear enrichment facilities continues the cover-up of its weapons grade enrichment programs, developing enough fissile material to build several nuclear bombs.  There’s no point in starting up the Iranian Nuke Deal unless Iran complies with strict enrichment limits. Members of the P5+1 are starting to see that Iran was out of compliance from the get-go, never taking the July 15, 2015 deal seriously.  Iran cannot be given sanctions relief unless it’s prepared to come clean about its current enrichment levels.  Whatever glimpse the Gaza War gave the world about Israel’s mission against Hamas terrorists, Netanyahu, if he’s still in power, wouldn’t hesitate to pre-emptively strike Iran to stop the bomb.  No one in the Biden State Department has offered any guarantee that that Iran isn’t continuing to develop weapons grade fissile material for a bomb.

 About the Author 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  

[cwnerd12]

Genesis

“Genesis” David’s POV: blearily regaining consciousness in a white hospital room. A doctor looks at him, shines lights in his eyes, “Vitals are good, keep him hydrated.” “Is it really Shepherd?” Doctor: “I dunno, looks like him.” The scene darkens, comes back, A doctor talking to a military official, “I can’t just make him wake up. He’s been through a lot, his body needs to rest.” Official: “Notify us as soon as he wakes up.” The scene darkens, comes back, two nurses doing their rounds, “God, even unconscious, he’s still hot.” The other nurse giggles, “How the fuck did he end up here?” Scene darkens, comes back. David wakes all the way up. He’s alone in a hospital room. He grimaces and touches his shoulder, which is covered in bandages. A doctor comes in, and sees David is awake, “Oh, hello, Captain Shepherd. I’m glad to see you’ve woken up.” David, his voice hoarse, “Don’t call me Captain. I don’t think I’m a captain anymore.”  Doctor: “What do you want me to call you, then?” David: “Just… David.” Doctor: “Well, David, you’re in a hospital in Gaza. You’ve been unconscious for about a day and a half. You were in rough shape when you came in. You were severely dehydrated, and you’ve got third degree burns on about three percent of your body, some of which were infected. We’ve debrided the wounds, and we’re treating you with some heavy-duty antibiotics. You’re young, strong, and healthy, you should be back on your feet in no time.” David: “Where are my things? I- I had a flash drive in my pocket. It’s important.” Doctor: “Someone wants to speak to you. They’ll be here in a minute.” The doctor leaves. David lays his head back on the pillow. He shuts his eyes. The door opens again, and David re-opens his eyes. King Gerald stands at the end of his bed, “Captain Shepherd. I heard you were dead. Executed. Imagine my surprise when I got word that you’d run into a Gath army camp and surrendered.” David: “Hello, your highness, sir.” Gerald sits down next to David, “How did you end up on this side of the border?” David: “It’s a long story.” Gerald: “I have a while.” David grimaces: “I don’t know exactly what happened. All I know is I was tied up, ready to get shot, and I hear gunshots, but I’m still alive, and someone grabs me and puts a hood over my head and shoves me into a car. Next thing I know, I’m at some army camp, and Reverend Samuels is there, and he says that he’s building this rebellion and he wants me to lead it.” Gerald: “So are you?” David: “Am I what?” Gerald: “Going to lead Samuels’s rebellion?” David: “Fuck no! They tried to overthrow Silas once and look what happened!” Gerald: “What did happen?” David: “I don’t- I hung around, and then went to look at the stars once the sun went down, and suddenly, I hear gunshots, and I ran back to camp, and we were being raided by the Gilboan army. I went to find Samuels, and I saw him get killed, and then I fucking ran. I went into these woods, and then bombs started dropping everywhere. I just kept running. I went north until I found a Gath army camp and surrendered.” Gerald pauses a moment to think everything over, and then says: “You know, I didn’t expect to be made king. I married the king’s daughter because we were in love. I knew I stood somewhere in line for the throne, but I always believed that my brother-in-law, Prince Michael, would inherit that throne when the time came. Then, Michael was killed in battle, and the next day, King Nathaniel was murdered. Do you know who killed him?” David: “Silas.” Gerald: “Yes, Silas. I was crowned at a time when my nation’s resources were utterly depleted, and we had no choice but to negotiate a surrender. Every day, I had to go and look into the face of the man who murdered my king and my father-in-law, and negotiate a surrender to him.” David: “I’m sorry, sir, why are you telling me all this?” Gerald: “I didn’t choose to lead, either, but when my time came, I led. You can do the same.” David: “I’m not leading shit.” Gerald: There were two-hundred and thirty-five people at the rebel camp that night. Eighty-two were captured and are now being held prisoner. Seventy-four were confirmed to have been killed at the camp. The other seventy-nine, it is believed, ran into the woods.” David: “How many have come out?” Gerald: “Including you,” he pauses, “eight.” David grits his teeth and grimaces, tears falling down his face. David: “What about Prince Jack? Is- is he alive?” Gerald: “Princess Michelle has appeared publicly since the raid, but, Prince Jack hasn’t been seen or heard from.” David sobs, “Oh, god, he’s dead.” Gerald: “There’s been no word on what has happened to him.” David: “He’s dead. There’s no way Silas would let him live.” Gerald: “I’ve received word that King Silas is planning a big address to the nation of Gilboa tonight. I believe he’s going to announce that you and Reverend Samuels are dead. My media team has a plan in place for you to interrupt this address and read from the list of crimes that was found on the flash drive in your pocket.” David: “You went through my things?” Gerald: “We had to make sure you weren’t a spy. With the information we found, you are going to call for a rebellion against Silas.” David: “I’m not doing any that! I want to go back home!” Gerald: “You at least need to announce that you’re alive. I’ll give you time to compose yourself, but you should be prepared to go on television tonight. Goodbye, Captain Shepherd.” Gerald leaves, and David throws his head back against his pillow.

In Shiloh, Silas sits in his office and reads from his speech as Michelle sits across from him, “Tonight, I announce that Reverend Ephraim Samuels and Captain David Shepherd are both dead. Samuels was establishing an army to overthrow me. He had a camp located sixty miles south of the border with Gath where he recruited and trained followers. These followers rescued David Shepherd from his scheduled execution, but they were tracked back to their camp. At about nine o’clock that night, I sent an army unit to destroy this camp. Reverend Samuels and Captain Shepherd were both killed in the raid, as were a number of their followers. The rest were taken prisoner and are now awaiting trial,” He lowers his paper and looks at Michelle, “What do you think, puppy?” Michelle, “It’s a succinct description of what happened. I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Silas makes a face, “I want to sound strong. It has to be clear that this is what will happen to anyone who stands in my way.” Michelle: “You can get to that later.” Silas shrugs, “I suppose I can,” he clears his throat, “The attempted coup by William Cross, and this rebellion lead by Ephraim Samuels and David Shepherd, have all failed. I remain as firmly as ever the king of Gilboa.” He smiles to himself. Michelle speaks up quietly, “Are you going to talk about Jack at all?” Silas sighs, “It’s best if I don’t. When he’s ready, he’ll appear in public again, and tell everyone the story of how his wicked uncle tried to use him as a puppet.” Michelle, “Where is Jack?” Silas shoots her a sharp glance, and Michelle looks down at her feet, “I just- I can’t help but worry about him. I know he needs to be punished, but he’s my brother, and…” Silas raises a hand, “Don’t you worry about Jack. I haven’t hurt him. He’s in a safe place where he can learn from his mistakes.” Cut to: Jack is dragged, kicking and screaming, into the cell where David was previously held. Michelle: “What does that mean?” Silas: “He’s by himself. He’ll be there for a long time.” Michelle: “Like solitary confinement? The U.N. considers that to be a form of torture!” Silas: “I know you’re looking out for your brother, puppy, but you must believe me, it’s for the best. When someone is kept in isolation for a long enough time, the mind, it changes,” Jack screams, punches walls, “The person inside breaks down, they are reduced this child-like state of being,” Jack sobbing on his bed, “They becomes soft and malleable. I can re-build Jack from that,” Jack lays on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, “It sounds terrible, I know, but this is the only way I can turn him into a real future king.” Michelle smiles uncomfortably, “Does that really work?” Silas, “It’s going to work.”

Michelle, carrying a baggie full of cookies, sneaks down the dungeon hallway. She counts the doors, and kneels down beside Jack’s door. She knocks on the food delivery slot, “Jack?” She opens it, “Jack, are you  in there?” Jack, lying on his bed, sees Michelle on the other side of his door, and goes to her, “Michelle!” Michelle: “Are you all right?” Jack: “What the fuck is going on? What’s Dad doing? Where’s Mom?” Michelle pushes the baggie into the slot, “I brought you some food.” Jack looks down at the cookies, “What the fuck am I supposed to do with these?” Michelle, “Eat them! Enjoy them! I had to ask a lot of questions to figure out this is where you are, and if I get caught, I could end up in here, as well!” Jack: “What’s going on? How- how many days has it been?” Michelle, “I- I don’t know, four? I guess today makes five.” Jack shudders, “Five days. It’s been five days.” Michelle, “Jack, you have to stay strong.” Jack: “Strong? Stay strong? Against what? What I am I supposed to be staying strong for! David is dead!” Michelle: “Dad has this crazy idea about breaking you down and turning you into a zombie!” Jack, “Fine! I’d rather be a zombie than be stuck with the memories of watching David die!” Michelle cries, “Please, Jack, I- I think I can talk to Dad. I think I can get him to change, I,” Jack interrupts, “He’s never going to change, Michelle! He’s always been like this! You’re only just now starting to see it!” Michelle wipes her eyes, “I’m going to try to get you out of here, okay?” Jack, “Don’t!” he pauses, and his tone grows quiet and serious, “All my life, I’ve done nothing but try to be the person Dad wants me to be. If this is the only way I can be that person, maybe it’s for the best.” Michelle, sobbing, “Please don’t say that.” Jack pushes the cookies back out onto Michelle’s side of the door, “Get out of here, Michelle. Don’t come back to try to talk to me until Dad says you can.” He shuts the door.

Back in Gath, a doctor walks David down a hallway, and into a room, where the seven survivors of the woods sit and wait to meet David. Doctor: “Here they are, the other seven people who have made it to Gath, He points to them and reads names, “Isaiah Clemens, (name), (name), Abigail Hatch, (name), (name), and Rabbi Asher Levinson.” David nods to each one of them in greeting, “You all probably know who I am.” Doctor: “Is there anything else you all need?” David: “No, just leave us alone.” The doctor leaves and closes the door. David, “Well, I don’t know about how you all got here, but I spent three days and three nights alone in the woods with no food or water. How did the rest of you get here?” Isaiah speaks up, “I’m fast, man. I got through undergrad school on a track scholarship. Took me only two days to reach Gath.” David: “Scholarship, huh? What’d you study?” Isaiah: “Chemistry. Up until four days ago, I was a PhD student.” David: “Nice.” Isaiah: “If you want to keep fighting, I can blow shit up for you. I can build just about any bomb with the right materials.” David: “That’s great, but I’m done fighting.” David looks to the others, “How about the rest of you?” One survivor says, “I just ran.” A female survivor: “On the second day, I ran into three soldiers. They said they’d give me food and water and let me go if I fucked them, so I did.” David: “You do what you gotta do.” Abby speaks up, “I knew there was a road about a few miles from camp. I ran away from the bombs, and then went towards the road. When I got there, I hitched a ride and made up a story about having a fight with my boyfriend and being abandoned on the side of the road. I was driven to within a mile of the border, and then I walked the rest of the way, and said I wanted to defect.” David: “Shit, that’s smart. I wish I’d thought of that.” He looks around the room, “What about you, Rabbi?” Asher smiles wryly, “I’m not the first member of my family to escape from a megalomaniac trying to exterminate us.” David laughs inappropriately loudly for an uncomfortably long period of time. The others look at each other awkwardly. David: “Shit! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s not funny, it’s fucking horrible, I just…. If I don’t laugh, I’m going to fucking scream, and if I start screaming, I’m not going to fucking stop. We are fucked. We are so fucking fucked. If anyone thinks I’m going to carry this rebellion on, they’re fucking mistaken. I’m not leading shit!” Asher: “I know Samuels gave you a flash drive with a list of crimes that King Silas has committed. I know because I made that file. You still need to release that.” David shakes his head, “King Gerald wants me to make this big announcement, go on air during Silas’s address, ‘Guess what, I’m not dead!’ I’m not doing that.” Asher: “Why not? Create a big splash, get a big audience, get people to listen to what you have to say.” David: “I am done. I’m going back home. I’m from the borderlands, so I can do that!” Asher, “What about those of us who can’t go back home? Are you just going to say fuck you all, fuck everyone who’s suffering under Silas?” David: “People think I’m a leader, and I never wanted to lead.” Asher: “If people think you’re a leader, then you’re already a leader, like it or not.” David looks hard at Asher. He looks around at the faces surrounding him, and quietly says, “Can I talk to you alone?” In David’s hospital room, he talks to Asher, “Samuels told me that God has chosen me to be king. Is that true?” Asher: “I don’t know.” David: “Silas says God is on his side. Gerald says God is on his side. What does God want?” Asher: “I’d venture to say that they’re all wrong. God’s true will is unknowable.” David: “So what am I supposed to do?” Asher: “We as humans may never know what God wants. But God made us in his image. That doesn’t mean that God has opposable thumbs and walks upright. It means that humans are able to think and reason, and we know right from wrong. Goodness and doing the right thing are hard-wired into us as a species, we’d never survive without it. And that’s the closest thing we have to a knowable God. It’s when men forget this and focus on their own will that God is lost and forgotten.” David: “Does that mean I’m supposed to be king?” Asher: “There’s a saying, ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’” David: “What the fuck does that mean?” Asher: “It means stop being a pussy and lead your people.” David sighs, “I’ll do the announcement. I don’t want my mom to think that I’m dead."

At the media room in the palace, Silas sits in place, getting his final makeup touch-ups. Rose comes over with another tie, “Wear this. The blue washes you out. The red in this one is much more powerful.” Silas takes the tie, “What would I do without you?” Behind the cameras, Michelle paces nervously. A tech person asks, “Are you all right, your highness?” Michelle smiles politely, “I’m fine. I’m just nervous for no reason.” She looks over where Rose makes the final adjustments to Silas’s tie and fixes his hair. Michelle twists her hands and fidgets nervously. The director announces, “Everyone to your places!” Rose goes over to join Michelle. They stand side by side and give Silas two warm, supportive smiles. The lights turn on, and the blank screens around the room fill with Silas’s face. Director: “3…2…1… go!” Silas, “Good evening, citizens of Gilboa. Tonight, I announce that Reverend Ephraim Samuels and Captain David Shepherd are both dead.” Suddenly, the screens go black. Silas keeps going on with his speech, unaware, “Samuels was establishing an army to overthrow me. He had a camp located sixty miles south of the border with Gath where he recruited and trained followers.” Around the room, teach people freak out. Michelle looks around nervously at the black screens. Silas realizes something is amiss, “What’s going on?” Director: “Just some technical difficulties, we’ll get you right back on air, sir!” David’s face appears on the screen, “This is David Shepherd, still alive, and speaking to the citizens of Gilboa from a safe location in Gath, where I am no longer under the threat of death at the hands of a madman.” Michelle sees David on screen, and her jaw drops. In Gath, David goes on: “I call on the people of Gilboa to join me. The time has come to enter open revolt against Silas Benjamin.” Gerald smirks as David goes on, “Five nights ago, I was brought to a rebel camp by Reverend Ephraim Samuels, who gave me a list of crimes committed by King Silas against the people of Gilboa. When the army raided our camp that night, Reverend Samuels was killed, but I survived and escaped.” Silas rises to his feet and screams, “WHAT IS THIS? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? HE’S DEAD! HE IS DEAD! I FUCKING KILLED HIM!” Michelle, forgetting herself for a moment, laughs. Silas runs up to her and grabs her violently by the arms, “What did you do? What did you do?!” Michelle: “Nothing! Nothing!” Rose tries to pull Silas away from Michelle, “Silas, calm down, please!” Silas won’t relent, “You helped him!” Michelle: “I didn’t!” Silas: “How did you do this?” Michelle pulls away, and gets an arm loose. She clocks Silas across the face, and he stumbles backwards. Rose: “Michelle!” Michelle, tearful, “I didn’t do anything! I thought David was dead, too!” Rose rushes over to Silas, “Silas! You have to get back on air! We can’t go back on air with just empty space!” She points him over to where he was sitting. David goes on, “The measles epidemic in the borderlands was intentional. Vaccines were withheld from hospitals, doctor’s offices, and clinics, and disease released among vulnerable children in order to get borderland families to come to cities like Shiloh.” Michelle listens on in horror. Rose frantically tries to fix Silas’s hair. She puts a hand on his face, “Shit!” Silas: “What?” Rose: “Your daughter gave you a black eye. It’s getting darker,” she stands up, “Makeup!” Silas, “It’s too late, it’ll take too long to fix it!” David goes on: “Finally, King Silas has lied about his own family. He has an illegitimate son by the name of Seth. He lives on a farm in the country, and King Silas leads a double life, visiting there regularly, without the knowledge of Queen Rose, Princess Michelle, and Prince Jack.” Michelle looks on, confused. She turns back to Silas, “Is that true?” Silas, “What?” Michelle: “You have another son? Seth?” Silas is terrified, but keeps outward calm, “Not now, puppy.” Michelle looks back at the TV. David: “Undoubtedly, King Silas has committed many more crimes that go unlisted here. As citizens, we ask, what can be done? We must resist. We must demand honesty from our leaders. We must demand our personal freedoms. The time has come for Silas Benjamin to step down. Good night, Gilboa.” The screen darkens, and Silas reappears on screen. Tech people scramble. In Gath, the seven survivors clap and cheer for David, who smiles, sheepishly, knowing he’s done a good job. He stands up and goes over to a TV screen, where a flustered Silas appears. David: “Now what’s he gonna say?” In Shiloh, Rose goes over and stands by Michelle. Silas, caught by surprise, looks into the camera uneasily, “Citizens, I urge you to remain calm and to not listen to the lies and slander sputtered out in desperation by a power-hungry traitor! David Shepherd wants to be king, and I am king!” He stands up, “No one else is king of Gilboa but me! I was chosen by God! Reverend Samuels has been trying to overthrow me for years, and this is his latest, most pathetic attempt! I am king! I make the decisions that affect the fate of this country and the lives of its citizens! Anyone who tries to oppose me will come to an ugly ending! I will fucking destroy anyone who gets the idea in their head that they can put their dirty fucking hands on my crown! I am the king of Gilboa, as chosen by god, and I will remain so until God decides otherwise! Fuck!” He storms off, leaving dead air. Rose: “Silas!” She goes to follow him, but Michelle calls, “Mom!” Rose turns around, “What?” Michelle: “Did you know?” Rose: “Know what?” Michelle: “Dad has another son?” Rose shakes her head, “Of course I knew. My job is to keep your father happy. I’ve always done what I had to.” She turns around and goes after Silas. Michelle stands by herself for a moment, thinking, but then she goes off to a tech guy, “Can you help me for a second?” Tech guy: “What?” Michelle: “Do you know where I can get a pair of bolt cutters?” Tech guy: “Bolt cutters? I dunno, try a maintenance closet.”

Michelle, wearing a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, sneaks into the dungeon again, carrying a backpack, a pile of clothes, and a pair of bolt cutters. She goes over to Jack’s cell. She puts the clothes on the floor, and cuts the lock on his door. It swings open. Jack, lying on his bed, looks over in surprise. Michelle tosses him a hoodie, “David’s alive. We’re leaving.”

[jedi-enthusiast]

I love that on this post calling out people for having double standards for Israel/Israelis v. Literally Everyone Else, some jackass commented this:

I already blocked them because if they can’t even refer to Israelis AS Israelis and instead refer to them as “shitraelis” and Israel as “shitrael” as a form of dehumanization so they can avoid the fact that they’re talking about actual human beings, then I’m not even going to attempt to explain anything to them since they’ve already made it clear that they view Israelis simply existing as a crime that should be punished.

But hey, for shits and giggles, why don’t we look up some statistics, yeah?

Firstly, you call the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas a "genocide" against Palestinians, so let's do a little comparison.

Current unverified casualty estimates of Palestinians in the current Israel/Hamas war, out of the current population of 2.1 million - 41,495

These casualties aren't distinguished between civilian deaths and the deaths of active combatants and these numbers haven't yet been verified, but let's just say---for the sake of the argument---that all 41k are civilians and that these numbers are accurate. These deaths make up about 1.97% of the total population.

Now take a look at these statistics:

The estimated number of Japanese killed in World War 2, out of the population of 72 million in 1937, most of which were killed by the US - 2,521,000

These casualties are also not distinguished between active combatants and civilians, although that's a feature not a bug since we're trying to make as fair of a comparison as we can here. As such, these deaths made up about 3.5% of the total population of Japan.

Continuing on, the word "genocide" was coined by Polish Jew Raphael Lemkin to describe the systemic mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust, so let's look at those casualties now---since all of you antisemites love to compare what's happening in Gaza to that:

The estimated number of Jews killed during the Holocaust, out of the estimated worldwide population of 15.3 million prior to the Holocaust - 6 million

These casualties made up 39% of every Jew in the world and 63% of all of the Jews in Europe- (estimated at 9.5 million) -which...I'm sure you can see, is vastly different from the other two statistics.

----------

America fought Japan in WW2 because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, specifically setting out to kill Americans and therefore declaring war on us. The US fought back against them to protect ourselves and our allies.

Similarly, Israel began attacking Gaza because of Hamas' actions on October 7th, when they attacked Israel and specifically set out to kidnap, murder, rape, and mutilate Jews and Israelis, therefore declaring war on Israel. Israel is fighting back to protect its people and save those who were kidnapped by Hamas.

(*Also note that Hamas is a certified terrorist group that is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, not a group of "freedom fighters" as some like to claim)

(**Note again that, to the best of my knowledge, Japan did not actively steal aid from its civilians and basically use them as human shields by using hospitals as military bases, but Hamas has done both of these things---therefore contributing to the Palestinian death toll)

Now, I want all of you to think very hard about this:

Have you ever, at any point in time, said that America was committing genocide against Japan by fighting against them in WW2? Have you ever argued that it was genocide to set off the atomic bombs? Have you ever said that America should essentially be wiped off the face of the Earth or that all Americans should "go back to where they came from"- (no matter if they were born there or are indigenous to the land or have lived there for years and made a home there) -or otherwise all be killed because of what happened with Japan or any of the other wars we've started/participated in?

Have you ever referred to America as "shitmerica" or Americans as "shitmericans" in general or as a response to someone saying that Americans should be treated with basic fucking decency, since we have no control over what our government does/has done? Have you ever stated that because Americans don't control what our government does, we're guilty for whatever terrible things our government does simply because we were born here? Because we live here?

Because, if you have, I haven't heard one damn word about it---and it certainly doesn't compare to the sheer vitriol y'all have towards Jews and Israelis.

And your comparison of Israelis "not doing anything" to oppose their government to owning slaves is very telling---it shows me that you haven't done any research and that you don't have basic critical thinking skills, but neither of these things surprises me.

Firstly, an actual comparison would be something along the lines of- "people who disagree with the laws condoning slavery, but don't own slaves, can't stop everyone else from owning slaves" -since the point is that, no matter your personal views on things, you can't just snap your fingers and make everyone do what you want---it takes time and work to bring about change.

Saying that Israelis are to blame for their government's actions and should therefore be punished is like saying that all Americans in states that have outlawed abortion are to blame for that and should therefore be punished. I mean, do you seriously not see how that sounds?

Secondly, you say that Israelis "aren't doing anything" when there have been protests by Israelis against Netanyahu for not accepting a truce deal---not to mention that there are Israeli and Jewish led groups literally dedicated to helping Palestinians affected by the war. So sure, "not doing anything" my ass.

----------

Now, I want to be clear, the amount of civilians dying in Gaza is a fucking tragedy. This war has taken a toll on civilians from both sides and their pain and grief is immeasurable.

I'm not going to downplay the fact that any civilians dying at all is too many and it's terrible and tragic and I cannot imagine what their families are going through. These people have died and it's an awful thing.

But it is one thing to feel empathy for those people and their families and an entirely different thing to use them as an excuse to treat Jews and Israelis as sub-human, and to use a word coined by a Jew, to describe a Jewish tragedy, against Jews simply because...idk, you don't know how to feel empathy for people unless what they're going through is The Worst Thing Ever™️ and you have an even harder time actually unlearning bigotry instead of just rebranding it and shooting it at whoever you disagree with/people you view as "undeserving" of humanity.

Ever since October 7th it's been made clear many times that none of y'all actually care about Palestine, nor do you actually have any morals or values of your own. Your notions of morality are based solely upon what's popular and what you can get away with without being criticized by your peers.

----------

It's popular to say that Nazis aren't welcome anywhere and that it's always a great day to punch a Nazi? Well, then you'll punch a Nazi any day.

It's popular to equate Jews, the people Nazis literally tried to wipe off the face of the Earth, to Nazis and people no longer really care if Nazis feel at home in their "activist" groups, so long as they agree with them? Well, then you don't really care either and any Jew that disagrees with you is now "just as bad" as those that murdered millions of their people.

It's popular to say that only those who are oppressed get to define their oppression, and that those who are outside of those oppressed peoples don't get to define what that specific bigotry looks like, and that it's bigoted to claim that you understand the oppression more than those actually affected by it? Then that's what you say, that's what you believe.

It's popular to say things like "Jews are saying that everything is antisemitic nowadays" and to claim that Jews are just being dramatic or "weaponizing their oppression," as well as to claim that you know antisemitism better than Jews and that therefore you can't be antisemitic? Well, now that's what you believe.

It's popular to say that using slurs makes you a bigot and that only those the slurs are used towards can reclaim them? Sure, you think, why not.

It's popular to use the KKK certified slur "z*o" towards Jews? Sure, you think, why not.

It's popular to "believe all women" because "I'd rather believe a liar than a rapist"-

-but then it's popular to say that the Israelis and Jews raped and mutilated by Hamas are making it up or exaggerating.

It's popular to support indigenous people who are living on their homeland or, at the very least, trying to and indigeony doesn't have a time limit-

-but then it's popular to say that Jews are all "white colonists" who are evil for living in Israel, and suddenly indigeony has a time limit and they have no right to live in their homeland because they were repeatedly colonized and forced off of it in the past.

...

Like I said, y'all's morality is fluid, and it makes you angry to see anyone calling you out on this fluid morality---hell, it makes you angry to just see someone whose morality isn't fluid, who isn't willing to stoop to your level just because it'll win them Good Person Points™️ on social media.

You don't care about actual people.

You don't care about the effects of your actions and words.

You don't care about doing your research.

You don't care about fighting bigotry,

You don't care about actually being a good person.

The only thing y'all care about is your social status and what you can gain by following the crowd, even if it's immoral or bigoted or just plain mean. You don't care.

So do me a favor and get the fuck off my blog, and keep your ignorant hateful mouths shut.

It’s hilarious that in leftist circles it’s a totally valid talking point to say that people shouldn’t wish death upon and/or villainize (southerners/americans/etc) because they don’t control what their government(s) do and often disagree with what’s going on…

…but when you say- “hey guys, maybe you shouldn’t be bigoted and hateful towards Israelis and/or Jews for the actions of the Israeli government, they have no control over what’s going on and probably disagree with it” -suddenly you’re a terrible person who supports baby murder and genocide, and you should off yourself because that totally helps Palestine and definitely doesn’t make y’all “pro-Palestine activists” seem fucking insane.

Pro Tip: If your morals change based on what’s popular/what you can get away with, you’re not actually a good person—you’re a bigot in a rainbow T-shirt

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: How a Mark Twain Travel Book Turned Palestine into a Desert

Sacred to the Memory of Adam The American Publisher vol. 3 (1872) (all images are illustrations in the public domain)

Years ago — a lifetime ago, it seems — I lived in Israel.  For three years I called the city of Ashkelon home. I was an archaeologist, and while I lived there I occasionally served as a tour guide to the site of ancient Ashkelon, now a national park within the modern city. Once I led a group of women from Hadassah, who had come to Israel in solidarity during one of the Gaza wars . (The group had their own Israeli guide with them, and he had brought them to Ashkelon.) As we toured the site, I mentioned something about the Early Islamic period, and one of the women in the group asked if there had actually been Muslims living there. Before I could tell her that we were standing on what had for centuries been farmland of the Arab village of Jura — a village depopulated in 1948 and subsequently bulldozed — the Israeli guide jumped in: “1066 … I mean, 1866.”

Actually it was 1867.

And, in a scene worthy of The Innocents Abroad, he proceeded to tell of the emptiness and ruin and disappointment that met Mark Twain when he traveled to the Holy Land that year.

The Pilgrim’s Vision

1867 was a milestone year in Western interactions with Palestine. It marked the beginning of Charles Warren’s groundbreaking excavations in Jerusalem for the Palestine Exploration Fund. And that summer, Twain set sail on the Quaker City, as a relatively unknown journalist for the Daily Alta California, reporting on the first American pleasure cruise to the Mediterranean. The culmination of the journey, for him and his fellow travelers, was the Holy Land; they traveled through Palestine 150 years ago this month.

In retrospect at least, Twain was one of the most famous visitors to Palestine in the 19th century, and his book The Innocents Abroad the most famous 19th-century account of it. The book is known above all for its description of the desolation of the landscape and the ugliness of its people. Most of the country is “a silent, mournful expanse,” dotted with “nasty” villages of “miserable huts” and “the usual assemblage of squalid humanity” — disfigured wretches “fringed with filthy rags” and “infested with vermin,” naked and “sore-eyed” children “in all stages of mutilation and decay.” But Twain directs his barbs at everything and everyone: pilgrims, other travel writers, even himself. He continually mocks his Jerusalem guide for making unbelievable claims and never admitting error. After describing the spot on the Temple Mount (al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf) where, Twain says, David and Goliath “used to sit and judge the people,” he notes: “A pilgrim informs me that it was not David and Goliath, but David and Saul. I stick to my own statement — the guide told me, and he ought to know.”

In this vision of Palestine, art has little place. Paintings in churches are only mentioned in passing. Their decoration is sometimes praised (the altar of the Greek Chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is “gorgeous with gilding and pictures”), but more often condemned for its flamboyance. Twain, the Protestant, seems to be constantly searching for synonyms for its showiness, attacking the Holy Sepulchre alone for its “trumpery gewgaws,” “tawdry ornamentation,” “flashy ornamentation, in execrable taste,” “the gaudy trappings of the Greek Church” that “offend the eye.” The Dome of the Rock is similarly “showy,” but also suffers the problem of all mosques (and beautiful women, and mountains, and Niagara Falls): that its beauty is only noticeable “after considerable acquaintance.” When Twain stops to dwell on architecture, it is usually to illustrate a point about decline, about the difference between the weight of the past that the land bears and its current state: a “dilapidated” Crusader church here, “dusky arches” and “dingy piers and columns” there.

Gray lizards, those heirs of ruin, of sepulchres and desolation, glided in and out among the rocks or lay still and sunned themselves.… where the pomp of life has been, and silence and death brood in its high places, there this reptile makes his home, and mocks at human vanity.

House of Ancient Pomp

But art shows its influence on Twain’s narrative in other ways. It is clear that for him — and presumably for much of his audience — ideas of biblical and historical events in Palestine were shaped fundamentally by paintings and prints and other representations circulating widely at the time: old master paintings of St. Veronica, “fanciful pictures of Belshazzar’s feast,” steel engravings of women at a well. At the traditional site of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Twain is unable to “imagine the angel appearing, with shadowy wings and lustrous countenance, and note the glory that streamed downward upon the Virgin’s head while the message from the Throne of God fell upon her ears.” What he describes is not the biblical account, but a Renaissance or Baroque painting of it. In the end, Twain seems to find these images superior to the reality in front of him: “Oriental scenes look best in steel engravings.”

In his own time, Twain was famous for describing Palestine as it really was. “Any one who wants to understand without going there exactly how it looks now,” one critic wrote, “had better read The Innocents Abroad.” This idea that Twain described Palestine “exactly how it looks now” originated, it turns out, with Twain himself. The Innocents Abroad “has a purpose, which is, to suggest to the reader how he would be likely to see Europe and the East if he looked at them with his own eyes,” [Twain’s emphasis] he says in the preface to the book. He adds: “I think I have seen with impartial eyes, and I am sure I have written at least honestly, whether wisely or not.” Yet the book is anything but unstudied travelogue or spontaneous reportage. It is based on notebooks he kept during his travels and a series of his letters published in the Daily Alta California while on the trip as their travel correspondent. And what we see in comparing the letters and notebooks to the final product is an account worked over at length, thoroughly revised, details changed.

In one of his notebooks he observed that prophecies of the desolation of cities were meaningless, since all cities decline sooner or later: “It seems to me that the prophets fooled away their time when they prophesied the destruction of the cities — old Time would have fixed that easily enough.” But The Innocents Abroad is full of references to the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the desolation of landscapes and cities:

Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies … Jericho the accursed, lies a moldering ruin, to-day, even as Joshua’s miracle left it more than three thousand year ago; Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the Savior’s presence.… Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village.

Twain’s notebook argues against the supposed contrast between the barren Mount of Curses (Mt. Ebal) and the blossoming Mount of Blessings (Mt. Gerizim) by noting both were in cultivation; in the book, he argues against it by suggesting both were barren. The Innocents Abroad describes how “the boys still refuse to recognize the Arab names or try to pronounce them.” Of Ain

The Grave of Adam

Mellahah Twain says, “The boys call it Baldwinsville” — or was it “Williamsburgh, Canaan,” as in the byline of the original Daily Alta letter? Often the picture we get comparing Twain’s notebooks and letters and book is of someone slowly developing his comic material.

Even within The Innocents Abroad there are inconsistencies. Sometimes, when it serves his purposes, Twain describes a fertile landscape. In the case of the supposedly barren Mounts of Blessing and Curses, he points (in a little known passage) to the surrounding productive lands of Nablus to make a contrast. Sometimes Twain does criticize the prophecies of the fall of cities in his book. (Oddly, these passages aren’t widely quoted.) Sometimes he suggests the land was just as backward and empty in biblical times as in his day. (These passages aren’t famous, either.)

Twain was above all a humorist, and The Innocents Abroad abounds with irony and satire. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and throughout Jerusalem, what he focuses on is not describing art or architecture but telling tales. He tells of how he wept at the tomb of his ancestor, the biblical Adam – mourning that they were never able to meet (a celebrated passage at the time.) Or tells how he saw the house of the Wandering Jew (who has broken his wanderings to come back to it once every 50 years, for the last 1800). Or tells what he did with the legendary sword of the Crusader Godfrey of Bouillon:

I tried it on a Moslem, and clove him in twain like a doughnut. The spirit of Grimes was upon me, and if I had had a graveyard I would have destroyed all the infidels in Jerusalem. I wiped the blood off the old sword and handed it back to the priest — I did not want the fresh gore to obliterate those sacred spots that crimsoned its brightness one day six hundred years ago …”

The Wandering Jew

Then, after spending more than 600 pages savaging all comers and making vicious comments about the inhabitants of the lands he visited, Twain concludes, “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” It is a wonder that anyone could read this book and take Twain to be a reliable (and unironic) narrator on Palestine in the 19th century.

Charge on Bedouins

And yet, Twain played a major role in popularizing the image of desolate, empty Palestine. The Innocents Abroad is still widely quoted for this image today: both Alan Dershowitz and Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, have cited it, decidedly unironically. I remember once trying to convince a senior Jewish studies scholar that Twain exaggerated the desolation and emptiness of 19th-century Palestine. But Twain was certainly not alone in presenting this image. By the time he arrived in Palestine, many other visitors had made it a staple of 19th-century travel writing. Far from not seeing through the eyes of others, Twain’s desolate Palestine is one of the least original aspects of The Innocents Abroad.

How reliable are these images of desolation, exactly? For 19th-century travelers, Palestine was “like the inkblots in a Rorschach test,” in the words of historian Jonathan Sarna. As Twain himself observed, each Christian (whether Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian) came to Palestine looking for — and finding — the Holy Land of their own denomination:

Honest as these men’s intentions may have been, they were full of partialities and prejudices, they entered the country with their verdicts already prepared, and they could no more write dispassionately and impartially about it than they could about their own wives and children.

(Wise words, except that in The Innocents Abroad Twain does not apply them to himself.) Reports of desolation must be viewed critically, as many Christians came to see “desolation” everywhere in order to find fulfillment of biblical prophecy. One author describes in detail the “terrestrial paradise” of the Sea of Galilee and its surrounding hills, then sums it up by calling it a “scene of desolation and misery.” (Twain himself criticizes this ending as “startling.”) A Church of Scotland mission falsely reported that the southern coastal plain was little cultivated but a pastoral landscape full of flocks and herds, thus matching the prophecy of Zephaniah 2:6: “And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.”

David Roberts, “Ramla” lithograph by Louis Haghe; from The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia vol. 2 (1843)

For many, desolation was not the primary image at all. Scottish artist David Roberts found “a richly cultivated country” in the area around Jaffa: “The ground is carpeted with flowers — the plain is studded with small villages and groups of palm-trees, and, independent of its interesting associations, the country is the loveliest I ever beheld.” A young Cyrus Adler, years before he became a leading figure in the American Jewish community, wrote of similar feelings in a letter to his mother:

I had one general impression of the great beauty of the country and little wonder that the Israelites fought so hard for it. The succession of hills and valleys and green fields. The ruins. The tremendous rocks. The piles of stone which have been collecting since ancient times all impressed me with the idea that this little country is one of the prettiest on earth.

So many factors influenced how people saw Palestine: where they were coming from, what parts of the country they saw, what travelers’ accounts they had already read, what religious tradition they were part of. Roberts visited the country in March, Adler in April — at the end of the rainy season, when (today as two centuries ago) the ground really is carpeted with flowers, and vivid greens surround you. Twain visited in September, when there has usually been no rain for months, and everything is brown and dry and dead. (Again, Twain highlighted this problem, but suggested that, even in springtime, there would only be patches of beauty within a sea of desolation.)

But desolate, empty Palestine won out. In historical scholarship, decline from a great and glorious past has come to be seen as one of the defining issues in the history of the region; only in the last 15 years or so have specialists in the history and archaeology of the region even begun to rethink this. Meanwhile, art historians and literary critics — who specialize in studying the nature of representation and reality — have led the way in recognizing that desolate Palestine has always been an imaginary construct.

The Innocents Abroad is, in the end, an elaborate, sustained joke: at the expense of the peoples and places of the Mediterranean, of Twain’s fellow travelers, of Twain himself. That it still helps people to take this desolate image of Palestine seriously, 150 years later, is perhaps Twain’s biggest, cruelest joke of all.

The post How a Mark Twain Travel Book Turned Palestine into a Desert appeared first on Hyperallergic.

from Hyperallergic http://ift.tt/2wGEAw2 via IFTTT

[fairuzfan]

Actually I'm going to unblock you and explain why exactly this is a meaningless action through a very quick analysis.

My opinions are informed by years worth of Palestinian organizing and resistance history. Since Oslo, Palestinians have consistently been given empty promises and empty platitudes and constantly told that "if you just come to the negotiating table, you'll get all the rights you want." Not only, historically, has that been a lie but the WORST event in Palestinian history since the Nakba has occurred. I am not exaggerating when in all the 75 years, in the Naksa, the landgrabs, the occupation, even the complete isolation of Gaza — most Palestinians would agree with me and say this is an unimaginable consequence for Palestinians.

This is years after "peace talks" and "negotiating." So from this, a reasonable person would conclude that they have no intention of helping Palestinians and actually intend to inflict as much harm on them as physically possible. You might think this is an overreaction, but the first thing in October that us in the Palestinian American diaspora said was that we were completely disillusioned. I'll never forget the talk I had with a longtime Palestinian organizer where she shared my sentiments of believing if we just had enough people come to our cause, things would change, but finding out none of that mattered. Years and years and years worth of activism meant nothing in the span of a couple days where people openly called for the complete destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people.

You bring up desegregation and the civil rights movement of America. I'm honestly really confused with why you would. Because with the civil rights movement and sit ins, Black people had very specific demands. What are the demands of walking inside the DNC? To speak at a conference? Who cares about speaking at a conference. It might have "allowed" them to "discuss systematic change..." but with who exactly? Most of our demands hinge on one thing: the immediate arms embargo on Israel. Dems have made it clear that is not on the table unless you force them to comply with some sort of leveraging.

If they DID speak at the conference, they would have provided their fullthroated, unconditional support of Kamala, which the vast majority of Palestinians in the US would never do. They aren't even leveraging their vote. They just say "I'm going to vote for Kamala and hopefully she'll help Palestinians pretty please?" Where is the leveraging in ANY of that.

And again, I can tell you don't know the severity of the on the ground situation in Palestine because you'd know that this "listening" Kamala is doing is pointless. She hasn't said anything about the wiping out of Palestinians like Trump has but she's DONE it. She participated in it. I literally could not care LESS about her words because her actions tell me everything I need to know. The past few months she's been, at best, silent about Palestine. And I don't really understand why you would assume she would do anything else based on that track record. I genuinely don't get why anyone has faith in her when she's done, at best, absolutely nothing. So like where is your hope she's going to do something even coming from. I don't care about what she says. She's done nothing.

I was willing to give the people "discussing change" the benefit of the doubt for months but to see that their conclusion of receiving change is... actually speaking at the right-wing national convention — sorry the dnc, as most people know it — rings the same tune as years of hollow promises and victim blaming.

If you want an actual answer to "what else are they supposed to do," I would suggest checking out Palestinian Youth Movment, Within Our Lifetime, and other Palestinian orgs focused on dissent and making our voices heard. I'm not being "nihilistic" when I say none of this is useful. I'm questioning why people are still falling for the democratic nonsense we've been experiencing for the past 20 years. I don't understand why you would go to bat for people who have done everything but say the words "I hate Palestinians and want them dead."

[misshorrorotaku]

You know being anti-american doesn't make you right, right? XD the IDF IS a defense force, and it is a fact that America has done a LOT of good and prevented many conflicts (shit, without America, Russia and China would rule most of the globe). You hating America and deciding Israel is a group of white colonists does not make that untrue.

No they haven't, and feel free to prove the "landmines blowing up schools" claim. Anything but Palestinian sources will at least make your claim somewhat possible at least.

"simply criticizing the actions of a nation." Recording yourselves with hand grenades during the October 7th massacre and posing with the leader of Hamas is not "simply criticizing the actions of a Nation." And again, as I said, Israel has not deliberately targeted any journalists.

HA! that's HILARIOUS given you trust Hamas and Hamas-controlled sources. You can't claim to distrust government's and then turn around and trust every source controlled by a government that would butcher them all if they didn't say what they wanted them to say.

"Hamas doesn't target Palestinian Jews." Palestine is 98% Arab, most Palestinian Jews were purged long ago ya fucking clown. XD that or they came from Israel. And there being "white" Jews does not make the people of Israel white, something you only want to be true so you can paint this as "white colonizers vs poor helpless natives." The claim literally only exists to delegitimize Jewish nativity to the region and YOU FUCKING KNOW IT.

"Egypt's next on the chopping block." PUH-LEASE, pull your head from your ass. You are full of shit and spreading blatant lies. You claiming they're "an extension of America's evil" makes that DOUBLY clear. You have literally nothing of value to say about this conflict given your very clear stupidity and bias.

First, where did I equate Judaism and Zionism?

Second, Zionism is, point blank period, the belief in Jewish self-determination. That is the definition of Zionism. And as Jewish people have been telling idiots like you, very few Jews are not Zionists.

Third, "nationalist colonialist movement"? Really? Then why does Gaza and the West Bank still exist? Why they did give these territories back? Y'all bitch and moan that Israel has such an advanced military and has been trying to wipe them out for 75 years, why do these two territories exist and are not simply more of Israel's territory if they want it so damn bad? And for that matter, why don't control large chunks of every surrounding Arab country, who waged several wars that they lost against Israel? Why didn't Israel take it all for themselves if they wanted it all?