#if you hate Palestinians do not touch this post

[theleafwarden]

Glad I took a Twitter break before the news about Gaza today. It's about to get even more worse. Bibi is gonna have the IDF completely eradicate Gaza now and I don't think I can handle reading anymore. Especially since we're a month out from Rosh Hashanah and October 7th 😮‍💨. Now I have to deal with the pro Israel sermon or whatever Rabbi is gonna say during Shabbat service 😓

[amyisraelchaiforever]

If you don’t mind, would you explain what exactly it means to be a Zionist, or what Zionism is?

Also, looking at posts here and on news sites I see such pradoxical views, one saying to not support Palestine is to support genocide and the other saying to not support Israel is to be antisemitic. I wonder, and I am going around asking people on different sides of the war, do you believe it is possible to support both the lives of Palestinian people and the lives of Jewish people?

Feel free to ignore this ask or to point out any ignorance on my part. I hope you have some peace in your day/night.

Of course! Thank you for being so kind with your questions! 💙 Sorry that it's a bit "all over the place." There's a LOT to cover, and I'll leave a bunch of links to learn about more details.

To start of, Zionism is (by the google-search definition):

a movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. It was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzl, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.

So basically, being a zionist is supporting zionism or the creation & protection of Israel.

Most Jews are Zionists (sources say between 85-95%) of Jews. Something I want to clarify:

Being a zionist, or supporting Israel, does not mean that we support all decisions of Israeli government, especially not Netanyahu. In fact, most Israelis and Jews don't actually like Netanyahu (which I'll be calling Bibi for short). This doesn't mean we don't want Israel to cease to exist. There's multiple sides to even one side in the main argument.

Now I'm going to tackle your harder points:

Also, looking at posts here and on news sites I see such pradoxical views, one saying to not support Palestine is to support genocide and the other saying to not support Israel is to be antisemitic. I wonder, and I am going around asking people on different sides of the war, do you believe it is possible to support both the lives of Palestinian people and the lives of Jewish people?

First of all, I don't support the "Free Palestine" movement for multiple reasons, but get this straight: It's not because I hate the people, it's because the leaders of it are people I don't agree with.

I definitely don't want you to think I think all people in Gaza/'Palestinians' should die. I do NOT think that. But first of all, let me talk about the whole issue of "not supporting Palestine is to support genocide".

It's not genocide, simple as that.

here's the definition of genocide:

the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

In my opinion, you should replace "killing" with "murdering", but you get the gist.

Israel attacking the Gaza Strip right now is not in order to kill the civilians there, it's to retrieve the hostages (hostages, not prisoners of war) and end HAMAS (a globally-recognized terrorist organization. I'll link some pictures of their website at the end), so they can't launch another deathly attack on Israel or Jews as a whole (not to mention HAMAS's other problems with LGBTQ+ and such).

Therefore, not genocide. I do not want the people in Gaza dead, but I do not support Palestine as they want it- Israel gone and a new country. Does that mean I support genocide? That's your own decision to make.

Something I want to briefly touch upon is historical inaccuracy & numbers before we move on to "not supporting Israel is antisemitic".

Like I said, HAMAS is a terrorist organization. Here's a few examples of a website used to show their propaganda & agendas.

This is even from a while back (1-2 weeks)! It's messed up, especially if you take time to read the Stages.

Also, I do not believe that all Palestinians and Palestine-supporters support Hamas, like not every Israeli and Jew support every decision of the Israeli Government. But still, people idolize HAMAS and that is a problem.

People say, "end the 75 (or 76) year occupation!!!!11!!!!!1!!!!" I won't get into history, but the Gaza Strip was ruled by Egypt until 1967 (then it was captured by Israel during a war) and Israel completely left it 2005-6. Can't be 75 or 76 years if you haven't been there for so long.

That was just something I wanted to mention. Now, lets move onto "not supporting Israel is antisemitic."

This changes from person to person, I'll admit. A goy (or non-jewish person) can't decide what is or isn't antisemitic, and a jew cannot really do the same to another jew. Saying that Israel shouldn't exist? Yes, it's antisemitic. Israel (Judea, Eretz Yisrael, etc) is the Jews' land, birthright- we are the indigenous people (whoo boy, I could go on a whole other rant here if you want me to.)

Mostly, I'd say it isn't antisemitic. Some people might disagree. I found a good guide on critizing Israel here - it'll be linked in the end if you want to check it out.

IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION: yes, it is possible! i value both israeli and Jews AND palestinians lives (this is not when they tell me to kms, of course)

sorry it took me so long to answer this :')

Here are some of the links I recommend:

@freegazafromhamas Quick information, easy to digest (and a very kind person); probably most in support of a palestinian state

@fuck-hamas-go-israel has been running this blog for over 10 years, I believe. Important picture & video evidence and information.

@elder-millennial-of-zion Again, important information.

@shretl this user is especially good for information! They're very educated & I've learned a lot. Honestly, just looking through their posts is educational...

I've also preblogged many things in general on my blog!

other pictures:

Online Sources: (this section is taken from @shretl's post) * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".

What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud

History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/

What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB

The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/

Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots

Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk

Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period

Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4

If something is wrong, please correct me!

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

I tried so hard not to be parasocial about it but this letter thing is fucking me up, man. I've written a few overly flattering letters to evil government officials before myself. but how did someone convince all these reasonable-seeming people (strangers that I do not know) to publicly sign this centrist-ass letter? I understand they probably got Taika Waititi and Jack Black with the everyone can share, peace and love on the planet earth wording, but Jordan Peele? what. how did that happen. it makes no sense to me.

Ok I'm gonna front load my position on the Israel-Palestine conflict before I answer this ask so that no one can accuse me of shit I didn't say. If you want to see what I have to say on the letter itself, scroll to the big font. I'm as anti-zionist as they come I don't think that governments should even exist at all, I consider Israel to be an illegitimate state the same way I consider the country I live in (USA) to be an illegitimate state. I think that if we're going to have countries at all, which we shouldn't, that country should be Palestine and individual Jewish people certainly should be welcome to move there for whatever reason they want, including religious, but that the people who already lived there shouldn't be displaced because of it. And if they wanted me to support Israel on the basis of Jewish people needing somewhere to go after the Holocaust, they should have put Israel in Europe in 1945 instead of in the Arabian Peninsula in 1918. I tend to think the hard core zionists who aren't Jewish are trying to deport diaspora Jewish people somewhere based on the way I have heard other goyim speak about Israel. I am sympathetic to Jewish people who believe this has nuance but ultimately I cannot condone the displacement of Palestinians. That position might lose me followers but really I don't care.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way

(This first paragraph is for everyone who's out of the loop and has only seen the Tumblr posts about this issue, Anon does seem to know what I'm about to say) I do also think this whole thing with the letter is being blown out of proportion a little bit? That's not to say it's a good letter, it does contain language which blames Hamas for the conflict which is the western propaganda line so that countries like the United States and Britain don't have to admit that they caused and are funding this whole operation because they hate brown people. However celebrities are rubes who fall for government propaganda all the fucking time. What the letter itself actually calls for is Biden to facilitate the release of Israeli hostages. I consider this letter to be the vaguely Zionist equivalent of that time all those celebrities got on zoom and sang imagine because COVID was happening. I certainly doubt that the man who produced Get Out and Us supports the genocide and I also question whether the man who directed Reservation Dogs does either. Most likely they were asked "will you sign a letter calling for the release of Israeli hostages?" And they said "well releasing hostages sounds nice."

(this paragraph is for anon) Despite the fact that I think "these 70 celebrities condone Palestinian genocide" is incredibly reductive I would encourage you to see these people as human beings, and more specifically idiot millionaires who are out of touch. I believe that Taika Waititi understands the Maori struggle and generally tries to be a nice liberal but ultimately he is a man who grew up in the 80s with a lot of money who has an interest in keeping that money. His gaff transphobia tweets (which I didn't think were that bad considering he made it in 2013 and wasn't even talking about trans women, but they were still transphobic) and his pearl clutching during the BLM riots made this abundantly clear (both of these incidents are Taika Twitter originals that people have sent me trying to get me to hate him and I saw both of them and was like "that's what I thought you'd say old man"), and the fact that he married Rita "blackfish" Ora. I'm way less plugged in to what Jordan Peele is doing because I've never had an anon send me his call out post but I'm going to assume that the same thing is true of him: he understands the struggle of black people in the United States, despite this moment of basedness I probably politically disagree with him on many many counts. As for Jack Black he donates to autism speaks so he's coming for me and the Palestinians. Although that said so does Gaga and I'm still very much a fan of her.

I've basically had to come to terms with the fact that no celeb that I like the work of agrees with me about politics because all of them are rich and I am a communist. That's not going to stop me from liking their work, it's not going to stop me from bothering some of them at cons when I get the chance. Because again they're just guys. And most guys are idiots. I am an idiot about a lot of things. We don't expect Taika Waititi or Jordan Peele to know about every conflict in the world we expect them to make entertaining and perhaps insightful movies. I am not here because I think Taika agrees with me on all things. I am here because I want to watch a rom com about gay men who murder people, one of whom is just like me for real.

Anyway do your research

[wildharesandboundteeth]

FREE No Effort Palestine Activism

(!!!Zionists hate this easy and simple trick!!!)

What you need

A device with a social media app (like YouTube)

A channel that uses ad revenue to fund Palastine donations and efforts such as Artistic Antics LLC on YouTube

Time

(Optional) A playlist of such videos

All you need to do for this is just to put on the video, mute it, and leave it in the background.

That's it.

You can literally help survive a genocide families while napping or taking a massive dump.

You might have to shake your cursor or tap the screen once in a while (or click the "Yes I'm still watching" button for platforms like YouTube) but that's literally it. (Though there may be extensions to remove that I'm not sure.)

Can be used for stuff like Ukraine, Yemen and other fundraising efforts as well!

Additional stuff you can do for good spoon days 👇👇

Additional ways to increase ad revenue for the video:

Liking

Commenting (you can literally just post quotes the bee movie script or talk about how your day was. Doesn't matter)

Sharing (most valued by algorithm)

For sharing, you can just click 'copy link' without actually sharing the video. You can also copy link on top of sharing the video with other friends or to those group chats that only contain you that you actually use as a grocery list or a place where you save cool videos.

Remember, viewer retention for YouTube is key. Not sure about other social platforms, though since I don't use them oops!

Ideas on what to do in the mean time:

Fixing phone a addiction (something I do). Do this while challenging yourself to not look at your phone for x number of minutes/hours. I've found that helping the Palestinian families while doing this actually motivates to keep to my goals!

Touching grass/going for a walk (I like setting up challenging myself by making myself walk for x amount of videos helps build up stamina/determination.)

Doing your homework on a separate device (stops from being tempted by doom scrolling 💀)

Using the videos as a timer/goal for exercises ("I'll stop planking after x number of videos finish" "I'll see how many crunches within the span of this video")

For laptop only users, doing something else on another tab. Don't mute the video using that speaker toggle thingy like a boomer. Just the tab itself. Mute the tab itself (left click the tab it's on and click "Mute Tab".)

Godtier Additional Help:

If you're able to, you can also set up your own YouTube channel, adopt a varified family or use funds to donate to reputable charities like Unicef. From your videos, others will be able to use your videos to generate ad revenue.

This post was entirely inspired by Artistic Antics LLC and not really my idea, so kudos to them. They're literally the best, please please please check their soap making YouTube Channel and their soap store out!

Rambing:

Now, as someone who regularly has really bad seasons when caused by various disabilities, circumstances and other mental health issues, keeping up activism can be a really challenging thing. Even thinking about the absolute codswallop going on in Palastine can be extremely risky on my worse days.

Outside of mental health and disabilty stuff, keeping up consistent and regular activism can easily lead to burn out.

Remember this: suffering is not moral. Even if whatever we may be experiencing may be a drop compared to what Palastinians may be experiencing but staying in suffering or 'muscling through' burnout is not the answer. In fact, it can actually make things worse. Using tools like this can help you to persevere so please use them.

Ignoring your own wounds won't make others' wounds disappear. Neglecting them will, in fact, get in the way of helping.

Please share with the class if you have more ideas or other easy activism ideas!

Photo of eepy cat made by Dương Nhân

[drill-teeth]

Dear fellow white LGBT folks.

Hi. I am also white and LGBT. And if you spread a hateful message about Palestinians being homophobic and somehow deserving of the violence they're suffering because of it, I want you to shut the fuck up. If being out of touch and holding a bias based on hate is punishable by death, then I think "advocating a genocide" is a crime that should get y'all annihilated.

Condemnation of that behavior aside, my outrage at other white LGBT folks for their bigotry doesn't actually do anything for Palestinians in need.

Calling and emailing my representatives does.

Sending money when I can to reputable organizations that provide aid when I can does.

My participation in the boycotts does.

My sharing resources on my blogs and staying informed and reading the stories of Palestinians does.

And I highly recommend others do these things as well. Do not lose hope.

If you see a resource or story or piece of news you want to be shared around more, attach it to this post. Or send posts to me in DMs to reblog here and on my more popular art blog to share around. We must keep up hope and care about the lives of people in crisis suffering from a genocide.

[pettytiredandjewish]

Not once have I ever seen you disprove any meaningful claim someone has brought up against you 💀💀💀

Y’all you must be high or something. I like how every time I defend Israeli citizens (because they are not their f-ing government- they are also victims of this war. Not just Palestinians. They are also victims too, just not the only ones) or call out any antisemitism that I see via anonymous ask ( I get a lot- some I even delete) I get hate messages.

It’s kinda funny that anons love to troll through jewish blogs and send them hate. Especially ones that defend Israel/ or both Israel and Palestine/ or just antisemitism. Funny I was gonna make a post about this since it’s something that I’ve noticed while scrolling through tumblr. If someone defends Israel (or even just the citizens-cuz remember folks they aren’t their government), of defends both Palestine and Israel- pro Palestine people, some anti Zionist people and full raging nazies (aka the fools cuz that’s what y’all are. Fools.) really loves to send hateful comments and messages to those blogs.

It’s really messed up when these fools also comments and messages blogs who’s post have nothing to do with I/P conflict. A Jew could just be sharing something good that is happening in their life or something and they automatically get attacked by fools. And don’t get me started on the pro Palestine protests. Y’all think it’s really ok to swarm around synagogues, hospitals, campus buildings and spew hate to those who literally have nothing to do with the i/p conflict. Congratulations fools you have now reached a level of stupidity that i have never seen before- and I’ve seen a lot of stupidity before.

Y’all must be bored or have so much time on your hands. So let me explain this to you all (again) on your level so that you and others hopefully understand. Hope y’all have your listening ears on and ready. And remember boys/girls/and non binary folks think before you speak. If you have any questions or comments-write them down and make sure that it isn’t something stupid. And yes I’m treating all of y’all fools like little kids (only little kids are more behaved then y’all, which is sad and funny). Let’s begin!

-Israel is not an apartheid state (Israel and Palestine have their own forms of government and own set of rules. Palestine has been under hamas control since the early 2000s. Hamas is the reason why Palestine citizens are living and dealing with shity situations. Also during this war, Israel has been giving Palestine citizens a heads up/warning on when they go on the attack and that they need to either evacuate the area or get to a safe area. One of the many reasons why so many have sadly lost their lives is because Hamas. Hamas have been telling their citizens to ignore the warnings, or directs them to “safety areas” that are under attack. Hamas doesn’t care about Palestine or their citizens. Nor do they care for Israel or Jews. I’ll touch on this more in a bit.) nor are they colonizers (you can’t be a colonizer if you have ties/connections/history to the land. Which they did before getting forcibly kicked out.) Remember the British had control of that region after the Ottoman Empire. There was no Palestine official state. That whole area was considered a British mandated state until the state of Israel and Palestine was formed. Also take note that any formation of a state or country is gonna be really messy and controversial. It’s part of history.

-did you know that Israel is the only jewish nation. Out of all the bloody countries- only one is a Jewish nation. A lot of Jews left their home countries for Israel because they were not wanted by their home country. It was either stay and be killed or leave to start a new life in a country that will open their arms for their jewish siblings. Europe kicked out a lot of their jewish citizens. A lot of Middle Eastern countries did the same too. A lot of lives were lost during this horrible time period. Those who didn’t go to Israel went to the United States hoping that they would be accepted with open arms. That did not happen. A lot of jewish families had to hide their identity and change their last names (because getting a job/home/etc was very difficult if you didn’t have an American sounding name). My great grandparents left Germany a little before ww1 due to the rise of antisemitism. When they got to the states they had to hide the fact that they were Jewish for their own safety. It’s been kept hush ever since. Which is really messed up. No one should have to hide their Jewishness but yet here we are…

- like I’ve mentioned before Hamas doesn’t care about its own people. If they did care about Palestine then they wouldn’t be withholding food/water/other essentials that was delivered for the people during the war. Nor would they be using their people as human shields. It’s really messed up. If y’all really cared about Palestine and their citizens why aren’t you guys disgusted by what Hamas is doing to its own people??? Hamas are willing sending their citizens to places where they know will get targeted and killed but yet you all are blaming Israel who has been sending warnings to Palestine citizens. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Not a freedom fighter group. They care for no one but themselves. Like any extremist group- they want control and power over the people. They don’t care if lives are lost.

I (and others) are allowed to defend Israeli citizens. They have done nothing to deserve what’s been happening to them. It’s really f-ed up if you think that they deserve to be kidnapped, r****, tortured and killed. Hamas is still holding 100s of hostages and are torturing them like it’s a sick game. Why do y’all think Israel is still fighting Hamas? They are trying to bring home the hostages and to bring down Hamas. Are people not allowed to care about the hostages? Are they not allowed to mourn the loss of their loved ones that were killed on and after 10/7? Are we not allowed to raise awareness about people spreading misinformation and Hamas propaganda? Or talk about the rise of antisemitism? Like what the hell!? We get called heartless or monsters if we care for Israel too. Let me make this clear- I mourn the lives that were lost on both sides ( except for Hamas. Those bastards can burn for all I care.)

y’all think we all should only mourn and care for Palestine. But guess what? I care for both! But I’m a heartless bitch for showing more care for Israeli citizens and wanting to provide a safe place and lend an ear to those who lost loved ones during this horrible situation. I’m a monster for calling out antisemitism and calling out people who are spreading misinformation and Hamas propaganda. Well guess what? I don’t care. You can call me what you want but I know what I am. I have a heart and I care for those where we’re killed during this war (and other wars too) May all of their memories be a blessing (except for Hamas). I also care enough to tell people to stop spreading misinformation and Hamas propaganda because it’s causing more harm than good. But g-d forbid if I do that. Y’all fools start throwing a hissy fit.

If y’all don’t like what I said- so be it. I don’t care anymore. I’m not your “good Jew”. I will continue to call out this shit and provide a safe space for those who needs it. That doesn’t make me a heartless bitch or monster. If you think otherwise then you should check yourself.

Am Yisrael Chai! ✡️

[fandomfluffandfuck]

Y'all need to stop putting celebrities on a pedestal and stop the fandomization of politics.

I feel like you are not taking the real possibility that a potential fascist dictator is going to be elected in the fall serious and this is all just a game to you.

It's very obvious that Chris knows the "Pro-Palestine" movement is an utter clusterfuck and he won't touch it with a 10-ft-pole. No one who actually cares about Palestinians and their future would.

That you're more worried about some actor not speaking publicly about that than not electing a dictator who would without a doubt not only wipe out Gaza but the West Bank as well, is everything that's wrong with the movement.

If you think what's happening now is bad, you don't realize that if Netanyahu gets his best buddy Trump as the head of the most powerful state in the world, there will be no Palestine, there won't be any Palestinian people left after the war is over.

Please get serious.

I will open this by saying I don't know totally what you mean by the fandomization of politics. I can guess--as in people stanning particular celebrities and everything they do to the point of them doing no wrong or not being wrongful ever and taking what they say, political or otherwise, as absolute truth forgetting that it's not something more flippant and fictional like fandom disputes over characters doing "right" or "wrong" OR where previous stans find an imperfection that tears that celebrity down from the pedestal they placed them on and makes them hate the person and suddenly it's stans vs no-longer-stans and nothing is productive or enjoyable anymore, it's a strange war-esque divide over what the celebrity said or didn't and what they should--but I'm unfamiliar with that exact wording as a defined thing, if there is a specific definition.

And while yes, some people forget there's more to politics than shallow social media activism--posting to say you posted without further action, so clearly you stand on the right side of history, right?, doing it all for social points--I wouldn't regard everyone that way. I can't speak for anyone else on here, Tumblr is a lot of chronically online people, and some of those people definitely should touch grass, but I am serious.

Politics, in some regard, with who you vote for and how you strategize who has greater potential to win versus whom you align more with, is a game that unfortunately has to be played and paid careful attention to like chess. Sometimes, there are people who want to play that aren't interested in it, really, it just looks cool, so they mime moves, ignoring the rules. They're just there in it for something other than the forward momentum, and it's tough to see when so much is at stake. But they're gonna be there, and maybe you can coax them into more, maybe not. Maybe that coaxing is a serious heart to heart conversation with someone they know, or maybe it's a celebrity they like speaking out 🤷🏻‍♂️ I can't say. There are parts of the movement that are that unserious, social media deep game, and there are parts that are a serious, attentive game--I've seen both sides. Yeah, it's an awful, very real choke point that needs special attention, like you said, though. I agree, too, that placing people on pedestals does nothing good. People are people. People aren't perfect, and pretending they are is just a distraction. I'm of the opinion that fandom is and has always been political, though. Not for everyone, of course, but fandom as a whole is shaped by politics. Fandom is an escape, but it's not an escape in a vacuum. It isn't separate from anything. People come to the escape while carrying baggage from outside.

And with that being said, I don't think a ton of people are forgetting that something awful and real is happening. I think they're just a little miffed that someone with social capital isn't doing something with it. I know I'm a little miffed, but it doesn't get in the way of me being serious and carefully considering how politics affect reality. I am capable of both flippant, ficticious discussion, and serious, attentive discussion.

P.S. this was fairly rambling on my part, and I think the discussion is reaching its end as a discussion with most asks I am getting now being yell-y, so will probably not be touching on more of this. Thanks

[trainwrecksys]

The absolute terror of the situation right now is unavoidable. Even if you don’t want to think about it, surely your mind can’t not be consumed every now and then by the thought that we are witnessing exactly how the holocaust was allowed to happen in front of our eyes and the overwhelming majority don’t realise.

Many people who hated jewish people for many reasons they’d been conditioned to believe turned a blind eye to their genocide by the nazis because they were taught to think they were not human, and those who thought it was “complicated” or taboo turned a blind eye and remained ignorant. We are experiencing the exact same thing with Palestinians. Israel has told us they’re all human shields or evil Hamas members and the overwhelming majority is believing it! Stepping back from it, you realise how ludicrous that is! So many people who I thought were sensible and non gullible are falling for it, like my uncle who is so obsessed with doing the right thing, yet obliviously consumes their propaganda and spreads it around, even as Israeli officials BLATANTLY say what they mean to do to our faces, just as Hitler did.

Thinking back, it was so easy to realise that the millions of Jewish men, women and *children* they targeted were just innocent people who were being demonised and killed en masse for being who they were- having certain facial features, coming from certain places, subscribing to a certain religion. But now, I see post after post and comment after comment from people I thought were like me who think Israel are in the right. It feels suffocating, confusing and terrifying seeing their gullibility and malleability, when for me it was so easy to realise what was happening.

At the core of it, it’s convenience that manipulates the masses. It’s the convenience of consuming from brands that need to be boycotted (eg McDonald’s, Starbucks, Disney, which offer fast food, fast easy coffee and movies at the touch of your finger) and the convenience of consuming the propaganda that is so hard to avoid and question for a lot of people. The ease of not talking about it, vs the comparative difficulty of speaking up, using your voice. Shouting is harder than not speaking at all, after all.

What many people, even supporters of Palestine, need to realise (and myself- I’m still a human in capitalist society too) is that to overcome oppression and capitalist hell, and the horrific society we are snowballing ourselves further and further into, we must sacrifice convenience. Over history, we’ve made things easier and easier for us to do- robots, cars, social media, google- these all help us. But that comes with the hefty price, unfortunately, of the world we’ve made.

This isn’t everything I want to say and it couldn’t really be articulated in the right way, but . I just needed to write shit down

[maidoffate]

Why did you reblog a post that paints Isreal being a colonist apathies state as a falsity, ignores everything Isreal has done to the Palestine people for decades before Hamas existed, blames other Arab nations for not allowing Palestinians to be deported into their borders rather than Isreal’s genocidal campaign against them, and claims people should actually be protesting those Arab states rather than Israel’s ongoing mass slaughter?

Do you genuinely believe Israel is not responsible for every action they have taken since the occupation began? Do you only care about Palestinian lives so far as displacement and cultural genocide is acceptable, but not a blood one? Are you Islamophobic and/or racist to Arabs?

Or, is it what I hope, an inability to recognise genocide denial? That a malicious actor intent on taking agency away from Israel as a way to excuse their actions took advantage of your Jewishness to emotionally manipulate you. That in a time of intense emotions for all of us, racial biases got into your head and you engaged in this material accidentally.

You don’t have to answer this, I’d quite frankly rather you didn’t because I don’t think anything of value would come from it, but if you actually read this, please just look inwards as to why someone can cloth “Israel doing a bloody genocide against the Palestinian people is not the problem, other countries not letting Israel displace the people in an act of cultural genocide is” and you accept that argument as a valid one.

Salam Alaikum. Unless your response is still pro genocide, in which case, obviously, fuck you.

I actually am going to respond to this because I have a lot to say and I think you're going to find out me and you actually think more closely on the core issues than you think. I've been avoiding posting anything myself because I don't want to deal with the headache and potential harassment, but whatever.

First of all, if you read my tags to that post, you should realize I am not at all absolving Israel from blame. The occupation lies in their hands. They created Hamas, directly and indirectly. I am not denying any of the atrocities this state has done—even before the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. I have hated the state for as long as I've been politically active and have only grown more disgusted and disillusioned the more I researched about the subject. Chances are I know more about the conflict and its current state affairs than you considering I had to be pretty well versed on both sides of the spectrum and their current day aftermath to pass my Regime and Politics course (which didn't really whitewash anything and was incredibly critical of the state as it is).

I don't really agree with all the post in its entirety (particularly putting apartheid and colonialist in quotes, because like, regardless of OP's intention, those are objectively happening and there's no whitewashing it), but I wanted to platform the core conceit of it, which is that Hamas is bad for Palestinians. I haven't seen any other post really outline some of the reasons why in a way I could tell people. That post isn't really all-encompassing, either, but it's the best one I saw even if it does have its problems.

I outlined my stance in what I thought was clear in the tags, and avoided making a proper addition to the post because, frankly speaking, I'm not exactly "Tumblr famous", so I don't really consider any impact on whatever posts I platform. Only like 10 people ever show up in my reblogs, and most of them have (justifiably) not touched the small amount of Israeli-Palestine stuff I've posted with a ten foot pole.

I am not at all blind to the genocide happening in Gaza and the frankly disgusting living conditions and routine terrorism and abuse Palestinians receive from illegal settlers and the IDF in the West Bank. I read Gideon Levy's work. In what world is it acceptable for a "democratic country" to have a city (East Jerusalem) where only 5% of the citizens have citizenship? It's deplorable.

But I'm going to be clear: I have been to two funerals this week. A childhood friend of mine is in critical condition in the hospital. I've seen pictures, videos and heard what must have been dozens of stories from people who've survived the attacks that happened on October 7th and understand the sheer depth of the atrocities that went down.

So excuse me if I don't have the patience when I log into Tumblr and see that the overwhelming consensus is that "there is no resistance without violent retribution" and "those settler colonialists deserved it" and a bunch of people stand in solidarity with a literal fundamentalist terrorist dictatorship that has burned houses and people alive and massacred children. As if that's at all comparable to violently fighting back against soldiers and actual occupying powers.

I've seen several people compare Hamas to the ANC and like... just the sheer confidence of what people say without actually knowing any of the history and facts of the situation continues to amaze me.

Now, I'm not going to pretend as if there hasn't been a vocal rallying pro-Israel voice from western media, world leaders and other liberal celebrities (which I refuse to platform, for the record. I was offered a job in helping to translate summaries of the events to Japanese and refused because I'm not interested in spreading Israel's narrative.)

My only interest, really, is just trying to make people understand that they are not "standing in solidarity with brave warriors of oppression". They are supporting terrorists. Actual terrorists. Not just freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela, but a group that is actively trying to eradicate every Jewish person from this land, and doesn't care about any of the damage it deals to its own community or the non-Jewish people hurt in the crossfire. The Bedouin people have arguably suffered the most from Hamas' missile strikes, considering they live in poorly funded villages that don't even have proper protections and bomb shelters.

On a fundamental level, I am pro-Palestine (in the sense that I recognize they are the occupied victims of genocide, and deserve human rights, the right to self determination, and a state to call their own, whether it be with a two-state solution or one secular democratic state for all living in the Israel region), but I cannot begin to tell you the actual amount of vile antisemetic (not anti-zionist, not just critiques of Israel, I'm talking actually antisemetic) shit I've seen on this website due to this whole mess, not to mention people undermining every single Jewish plea post because it doesn't mention every facet and atrocity done right now.

It feels like no one can talk about the sheer density of actual antisemetic rhetoric without receiving "erm actually muslims have it way worse so stay in your lane". It's not a competition. Oppression is oppression. (And for the record, I'm talking about just the general communities right now, not just those living in Israel and Palestine -- obviously the people in Gaza are having it worse right now with the lack of water, food, electricity, and no proper safe place to reside in. They need help the most. Donate to the PCRF.)

Not every post needs to be fully comprehensive. Ignoring something in my post doesn't mean I don't care about it. It's just that I'm focusing on something else right now, because I don't believe people I've heard it. Not every Israeli needs to clarify "by the way I don't support the apartheid and colonization" to get people overseas to understand what is happening here.

Regardless, with my rationale out of the way, I will say I apologize for making you feel unsafe with that reblog -- again, only 10 people show up in my notes and I don't mean to make anyone feel concerned for what I think of them with whatever I post. I've went ahead and put my tags on that post into an actual addition so that anyone who sees that post can platform a better version of it that doesn't undermine the horrors going on here. Again, I really didn't want to post anything myself because I don't want to deal with the stress of it all, but fuck it, the block button is free.

[infiniteglitterfall]

I can see why you would assume that everything I posted must be "from Western media/the same people who support Israel." It was the opposite of what everybody says Palestinians think, so... why even check?

The survey I linked to and screenshot is by "Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), a pioneering research, consulting and development firm based in Palestine."

Mo Ghaoui is a Palestinian who emigrated from Lebanon to the U.S. in 2018. He's very actively in touch with activists and just regular people on the ground.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib grew up in Gaza, but moved to the U.S. when he was ten. He gets a definite grade curve for having been out of Gaza so long. But he also has something like 20 family members in Gaza who have died in wars with Israel, and family still living there today that he's actively in touch with.

I have no idea who Alon Diamant is; Mo Ghaoui retweeted the video he'd posted of the Gazan demanding Hamas surrender, which tracks with tweets I've seen from him, from many others, and messages on Telegram, about the months of protests in Gaza this year.

A lot of them hate Israel as much as, I assume, you do.

They just hate Hamas even more.

The Newsweek essay I linked to and quoted was by Hamas Howidy, who grew up in Gaza and co-organized the 2019 and 2023 "We Want To Live" protests in Gaza against Hamas. Which he talks about in detail in another essay his excerpt links to.

He emigrated to Greece in August of 2023, after being imprisoned and tortured by Hamas again, for protesting it again.

Then after October 7, he got so much shit from supposedly pro-Palestinian people that he left Greece entirely and immigrated to Germany instead.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hamza Howidy (@hamzahowidyy)

I don't need to go ask someone in Palestine what people think of Hamas. I follow people in Palestine on Twitter.

I noticed that the pro-Palestinian movement wasn't talking about any activists in Gaza, and I went looking for peace and human rights activists in Gaza.

I look up how to say Hamas or Sinwar in Arabic, and frequently search things like that in Twitter. And then hit the translate button on people's posts. Hit their hashtags. Look at their bios to see where they are. I see what English-speaking people in and from Palestine retweet, and go follow those folks too.

It's not hard.

I read Arabic media sometimes, too. But I also look at who owns it. When I see the Qatari monarchy or the dictatorship of Iran feeding people Hamas propaganda, it gives me a pretty good baseline for whether to believe other media outlets - and Western activists - who repeat it.

Hamas is part of the Nazi-funded Muslim Brotherhood, to the point that a lot of Palestinians just call Hamas "the Brotherhood" when they're shit-talking it, so maybe this take is relevant:

If Yahya Sinwar's death is confirmed in the next few hours, the first thing you have to understand and know is that this is Israel's biggest lie coming to the light

Hamas isn't hiding in hospitals

Hamas isn't using Palestinian as shields.

Hamas's leader died on the front lines in Rafah, fighting as any other man in the resistance.

A 62-year-old man, wearing a vest and carrying a riffle, with only two soldiers by his side. A leader of resistance against occupation.

May you rest in Paradise, Sinwar.

[bearplants]

hii

i won't give out a name to use for me (not sorry!) just refer to me via my username (or "bear" or "plant/s")

i use it/its pronouns ONLY.

i am aromantic

i am gay

i am agender

i am a man ("men dni" blogs... go elsewhere maybe)

i block radical feminists when i see them. this includes if you are a TERF (trans-exclusionary radfem), a TIRF (trans-inclusive radfem), or a TRF (transradfem). if it looks like a radfem, if it quacks like a radfem... its a radfem

i also block people who are openly, blatantly, and/or consciously antisemetic and hateful, as well as people who are openly racist, classist, misogynistic, and more. If you don't know why I have you blocked (why do you care?) then it's probably something you said that rubbed me the wrong way, so to speak.

some of my interests include: plants, sonic the hedgehog (dunno if i'll post/reblog much about it though), vocaloid (dunno if i'll post/reblog much about this either), kink, and sex (i am autistic about sex and kink. every day i crave the touch of another and i read how-to articles decently often) (i dont reblog or post much about it :) )

i try to be nice and kind, but i also know that i can come off as strange or even mean. sorry in advance!!

before you follow below the cut (i rambled a little bit, sorry!!!):

i support palestinians and am against the state of israel and it's horrific actions towards the palestinian people (it's genocide. if you dont think it's genocide then leave, please. or if you feel that the state of israel-- how it is now-- has a "right to exist" please leave. it seems to me that israel's existence currently necessitates settler-colonialism of at least some degree, which I am NOT okay with.

all of this being said, I don't doubt at all that Jewish folks are native/indigenous to that area and I won't try to argue otherwise. I just don't think establishing a whole other country over top of a pre-existing country already full of culture and people doesn't really need to happen. ultimately I have very little actual stakes in the situation so my perspective is lacking nuance and... well, perspective, but it does seem to me that Israel as a concept is currently being used to justify a genocide and force people away from their homes. Block me if you have a problem with this, I won't mind :) )

i cannot donate any money to any crowdfunding things right now, so please don't ask me to do so. I am saving money to move out of Texas ASAP and for transitioning stuff (HRT, name changes... stuff like that). It will take a good chunk of change to make it happen, but I believe in myself

i do believe in* transandrophobia/transmisandry and the like

i also believe in* transmisogyny and support transfem folks

i believe in* exorsexism, even if i have much to unlearn wrt that as a not-non-binary trans person

i support all good-faith identities

i believe in* intersexism and support intersex folks as best i can

i am against TME/TMA language

i support "proshipping" (even if i don't participate in shipping discourse) and am against censorship

that's all from me. thanks for reading this far!! i appreciate it. have a nice day ~~

*i am not sure how else to explain that i believe that trans and/or genderqueer and/or intersex people experience discrimination on the basis of our genders (cuz, you know, that's a huge part of what being trans and/or genderqueer and/or intersex is for most of us) and that i dont see any issue with using terms like transmisogyny or transandrophobia or exorsexism or intersexism to discuss them

i feel like saying i "believe in" these concepts is clunky and silly but again, i'm not sure how else to get the idea across. sorry

[firespirited]

Tumblr's culture on blocking is a little weird to me still. Blocking is a forever ban on interaction so I don't use it for just anyone.

There are a few posters on this website that are kinda aggro and tend to annoy me, they just get the content mute warning so I can see it if it's a post a mutual agreed with. Because yeah some people have good original idea posts but also reply to everyone like a once beaten cornered dog. Trauma makes us all defensive.

There are a bunch of kinks like forcefem or aesthetics like nymphette or thinspo that are a little squicky: that's content mute not block. You never know, they might also like dolls and film reviews.

So the actual blocklist is half rednames, half people who use the doll tag for ddlg cnc/hypno because that crosses beyond personal squick and into what's currently known as consensual non consent but isn't being practiced with the careful scripting and boundaries of BDSM (let alone any concern about tagging it so us non consenters to cnc can mute it).

A final 1% of right wingers who hate anyone not like them - you really wonder what they're doing on tumblr aside from getting angry at everything they see!

-------

I used to have a fairly strict policy about blocking antisemitism but had to drop that last November in favour of content muting all Palestinian genocide content. (aswell as moving any actions offline and getting news from objective news sites - sadly the guardian is still fencesitting).

After getting into an argument about antisemitism a few years ago, I kept a grudge... With myself. And have spent the time since educating myself on the subtler forms and regional variations. As you can guess, it's been a trip since October, really tough seeing nasty habits form in people I respected. Some of them don't know how to be normal about muslims either so that's going to be interesting if they ever do venture into a real life protest.

------

Anti-pro-ship stuff gets content muted because it seems like a lot of intense drama. My belief for art is Lolita can't be banned for tweens, i'd only read a small amount (while bored at someone's house visiting with my parents), and while it was horrifying, it helped me identify that I was in danger from an adult later. My parents had given me the full biology lessons and never broached consent beyond 'people can't touch or see your privates unless you say yes' and not adults you trust getting a little too affectionate.

I don't mind pros, antis or anti-antis engaging with my blog so no reason to block. Unless they do callouts based on really tenuous guilt by association that's just gossip mongering and bullying tbh.

-------

So I think I'm blocked by at least 3 dollblr folks and part of me wonders if I've accidentally said something racist or otherwise bigoted or maybe thoughtless. Maybe they just don't like my dollblr posts, they aren't exactly polished and used to mix doll stuff with tv and personal stuff. Wish blocks came with a reason.

You folks would let me know if I've messed up right?

[p3rson27]

You retards keep calling Israel an ethnostate despite the fact that literally 21% of the population is Arab. Druze, Bedouins, Christians, and various other nationalities all live there as well, and everyone has equal rights under the law. The person who started calling Israel an ethnostate was Richard Spencer btw so good job getting your lie of a talking point from a literal Neo-Nazi 👍 Then again, you shitstains are all Nazis so I guess it's understandable.

I know this doesn't deserve an answer but I have to laugh for so many reasons.

Arguing the minutiae of the definition of ethnostate when ethnostate and ethnocracy have been used interchangeably to describe Israel by many historians since approximately the 90s. Problem is tumblr isn't the place for fully historically accurate semantics of language. Also, I'm not going to background check every historian who's ever opened their mouth in the past 30 years. Sorry!

I'm a silly little shitpost blog. I make silly little shitposts. Sure, sometimes I get political, but if you're not having a good time, you can just leave. I've never made an original post in support of Palestine, just reblogs, but I do my due diligence with stuff like this.

Specifically I get paid to do my due diligence. I work as a community organizer in my hometown, advocating for the common people, spreading accessible education on justice and equity and working to create an ethically minded community across my town, then to my state, then to my nation, and then to the world. The situation in Palestine is something we talk about and learn about constantly, so I can say with confidence that you are worried about all the wrong things, and the atrocities being done disproportionately to innocent civilians should be the thing that makes you mad. Not some random guy who touched a post you disagree with.

It's my job to deal with this kind of thing. Every single day. As much as being angwy on tumblr can do for you, action is different than advocacy and awareness. If you really wanted to make a difference, try harder.

Lastly, and the reason this is so funny to me, I'm literally fucking jewish bestie. I'm a black, goth, genderqueer jew. Nazis hate me for existing. When my uncle survived a concentration camp, he was part of a collective of people who said "Never again. Not for anyone" and we take that shit seriously. Not for anyone. You can't throw the word nazi around just because someone hurt your feelings.

There is no hope for people like you. People who see the public and blatant bullshit Israel is doing and think that it's the Palestinians who are in the wrong. Listen to this Jew, and the voices of countless others. Nothing that the Palestinian people have done or could do will ever make what that have suffered justifiable.

Reread that sentence again. No more yelling about semantics. No more crying about definitions. This is where we are. There is no discussion until you agree with this one point. The rest of the conversation must be built up from there, otherwise you are not on the side of justice and equity.

[lifedemandsanswer]

Why Gaza and it’s people did not receive their health aid, because bastard Hamas don’t allowed.

I re-shared and posted this because I felt injustice about how Palestinian is so stupid and ignorant, maybe not all but there are handful only see from their pov. They have so much hatred and un-forgiveness but wouldn’t even open their blinded eyes to see that it’s Hamas whom did this to them.

Yet in social media they can bombard every celebrity post and everywhere to silence what Hamas did.

Or rather sweep everything under the rugged.

And some people even use it for their own advantage.

It sucks big time.

I mean the world right now.

And they will laugh at how you are crying over. I really didn’t like the Muslim as well.. it’s sad but many are trying to psycho the world with how pitiful they really are but they didn’t search their heart or reflect about their mistakes.

Wicked-ness and lies exist. They are just using it for their advantage. Even playing politics to get through.

To be honest I won’t even consider being Muslim. Their rules and regulations only tells me one thing, they want it so much but they don’t even like their own culture or religion that much but crave and desire for Christian stuff and imitation over the years.

I pity their gullible people whom only see things from one angle or rather their own perspective and be too overly stubborn. Something to do with narrow minded-ness and having no revelation about what Jesus can really do.

Hmm I guess jealously and envy speaks louder.

I’ve been a believer of Jesus and work with my hands and feet, never did I ever scam anyone but to be honest Jesus exist.

Time and time again Jesus showed up sending Angel assistance.

I can’t began to say anything that this world doesn’t know about.

But vision and dreams cannot be imitated.

I would rather hate the world and be in touch with Jesus than be in the world and find myself worried and staying negative and believe in lies.

Because of how everything started in history.

But revenge, thirsty for power and control have made me hate China(though I am a Chinese) and Iran, Turkey, Muslim even more than countless time. They should probably stop being so wicked and narrow minded.

[syaamethyst213]

ID: A series of posts by Amanda Gelender (@agelender) set over a faded background of flowers.

Post transcript: Israel is a false country like the US. Both are built on mass graves of "savage natives" who needed to be exterminated to make way for the democracy & modernity of colonizers. I do not recognize their legitimacy. Jewish *people* have the right to exist, settler-colonies do not.

Zionists are like, "We have tried so many times to be nice to those people we imprisoned under siege after stealing their houses, but they are just innately savage terrorists who hate Jews"

This Palestinian genocide has ripped the mask off of a deep divide in the Jewish community that many of us have witnessed for a long time:

The split between Jewish folks who align with whiteness/empire, and those of us who align with oppressed people of the global majority.

Israeli Zionists: "You can't possibly know what we're facing, you don't live in Israel!!"

Correct, I did not take Israel up on its many offers to bribe me to move to Israel & live as the beneficiary of apartheid on stolen Palestinian land. I still don't want genocide in my name.

When Zionists say: "well, what do you even want Israel to do?!?"

My answer is always the same:

Land back. Let's start there.

This answer infuriates them because colonizers never want to relinquish land, power, and resources. Unfathomable to them.

Jewish institutions that aren't tuned in to what's really happening in this genocide are completely out of touch with reality, morality & the future of Judaism. The next generation of Jews sees through Israeli propaganda & there is no going back. We won't take Zionism laying down. /end ID

[awakeningthevioletswithin]

I am sorry because I know so many of you follow for the pretty and peace, especially since my rent crisis was temporarily appeased, and I keep talking about and posting pictures from Ukraine. Here's the thing I have a platform with 27k followers. I also am a granddaughter of Holocaust surviors.

War crimes, famine, genocide are grotesque enough but I see something terrifying specifically about Ukraine... On the world stage there is no one denying China is committing genocide against Uyghurs except China, but when it comes to Ukraine I see Americans, Western Europeans, and Australians regurgitating iron bubble level propaganda I feel such rage I have trouble being nice in my life.

I'm concerned because no other malignant leader is successfully skewing the narrative to denial and then weird what aboutism lies. I see things that boggle my mind, someone did a "Bowling Green" on Israel. I was a sent a link to a meme by one of "those" Facebook people (someone your mom did knitting with in stroke rehab) that claimed no one was talking about an Israeli attack on the west Bank that killed thousands just the day before but no one was talking about it because the media is racist. So I scoured the news and it didn't happen. In fact I read an article that 2021 had been a shameful record with 300 Palestinians killed. Which makes the claim of 1000s dead and it could go unrelated laughable.

And this makes me angry. This is propaganda. People say bullshit and then say do your research, knowing most will not and many who will use phrases that they used which will link them down a rabbit hole and instead of looking at source or starting with snopes or fact check they see that story exists on the internet so it must be true.

I sad how few people have even a working knowledge about propaganda, how it works, what it does, that goals aren't just about convincing you of their side but to confuse the issue, to convince you that you have no stake in this fight, that it's a quagmire, that actually the really bad thing is to interfere with another country's sovereignty, that all bad things are equal, that because one country violates international law in one way all violations are acceptable. Genuinely sociopathic takes on the world and human dignity.

Hitler was successful at manipulating a narrative. He did it so well people have told me my family are fakes and their faded crude tattoos I've seen and touched lies. People don't seem to get that if we aren't angry enough Putin will continue to hurt people until they do get angry enough.

It makes me hate my fellow humans that there are children who need help and people want to engage in polite discourse that gives equal validity to both parties.