#just posting this because yeah i have Seen the palestinian scammers posts from people and i think they are very bad faith

[renaissancefailmarriage]

just so we're all clear i do check the fundraisers i reblog to make sure they're legitimate. many of them have the verification in the post itself, ie, "verified by [xyz user]" but i do look just in case.

[queenwille]

heyy uhhh where are there so many posts about palestians asking for help finding clean water and getting out of palestine and showing pictures of their bombed homes and the corpses of children, but all the israeli "help me" posts are just like. Black eyes. And bruises.

And how the palestian posts are all new and constant and every single day, but all of the TOTALLY CORRECT REAL JEWS can talk about is that one time they got hit by a bomb. The one time, the one date. Oct 7. You know, that one time? That one time after 75 years? One? As in singular enough that it's the only "massacre" date of israelis that I can find?

But meanwhile, Palestinians are posting about new massacres every week? New dead children, new names to a list of tens of thousands.

can you help explain that? I'm confused

of course i can, here to help as always.

the photos you are speaking of are the photos of our hostages. sounds like you specifically mean these:

or maybe the one of Hersh missing one arm, idk.

all of these were taken back in october 2023. all of them and are the last pictures their families have of them. why? we ask the same actually.

the main difference between the pictures/posts you see online of palestinians and these is pretty simple. the palestinian aren’t held captive, they have their phones and are free to post as they wish (tho do watch out, as most of those gofundmes are scammers that have nothing to do with the issue even). those girls aren’t free, that’s literally all we have of them.

there are horrible pictures of people hurt from missiles and such inside of israel (there were two from magdal shamash) that find their way to the web, but it’s mostly illegal in israel and more importantly, considered very unethical, to publish graphic photos from horror scenes. even more so if it’s possible to identify the person hurt. i’m not sure how and when it was established, but i do know somewhere in the back of my mind that it was an issue back in the 2nd intifada, i think, where horrifying photographs where broadcasted on live television very quickly. beside being very traumatic and seen by children and such, families identified their loved ones that way and it was very problematic. nowadays it obviously can be seen on social media sometimes, but even so, it’s considered unethical unless approved by the family and censorship laws (and then it’s published legally on national TV as well), so people widely avoid that.for example, an IDF soldier was actually sent to a military trail a few weeks ago for sending his friends a video from a truck with the bodies of 5 rescued hostages. he was proud of the rescue and meant no harm, but as the israeli population is very small, its considered very unethical and illegal to so.

lastly, october 7th wasn’t one isolated attack, yeah? many many, TOO MANY, people, including civilians were killed since and before that. this is a very bloody conflict. we mention october 7th as a day when all hell broke loose. the brutality, the horror, the acts that were preformed there were unspeakable. those were no acts of resistance or war, those were pure acts against humanity. why do we mention them so much? cause we’re still there, even if the world doesn’t care anymore, even if no one believes it, even if the world doesn’t think it was that bad. we’re there, with so many people not back in their homes, missiles still fired daily, people knifed on the streets, so many people still in duty and not back to their lives and most importantly… with 115 men, women, a child that had his 5th birthday yesterday and a 1.5 year old baby still held captive. it’s not even the fact that we can’t, because even with the ones we know for sure that are gone, it’s considered mandatory in judaism to respect the dead and do whatever it takes to bring him or her to a proper jewish burial back at home, but it’s also the fact that we won’t. no man or woman are left behind. the hamas (and others btw, keep hiding our people behind human shields and y’all keep hyping them up, so it’s a never ending cycle). it might sound like a dumb cliche to y’all, but with being such a small community, all of those hostages are our family members as well.

[naranjapetrificada]

I'm also a queer black adult. There's a difference between spending money for sources of comfort vs needlessly spending stuff to flex status in very childish ways. We definitely see that as we boycott all these companies. Would the latest iPhone be nice? I guess, but it ain't that impressive to support Congo's genocide. Is that Stanley cup cool? Honestly not really, and it definitely ain't worth supporting another genocide for. Even ofmd, it really wasn't that important for queer media or even black queer media, which a lot of Black shows were also canceled at the same time. No one talks about how important black rep is here though. Despite this, however, you are not seeing black people gather funds for a billboard for a show unless we talking about blm. Because that's more important than getting a show back on the air as a flex. So we as adults can recognize the bizarre message we see when people are out here begging for help, and dismissed as scammers. But the moment a donation post for a billboard gets put up to get a show back to production, it meets its up almost instantaneously. As an adult I literally study these kinds of phenomenons in our capitalist society. I'm not sending this message to come at you because you are not the only one who does this, and I certainly am forced to partake in capitalism. But I do want to share that these are the "adult" conversations people are going to have and question. For as many "we can support both ofmd and Palenstine" I read here, I see the same bloggers attacking Palestinians and Black people for rightfully being upset that they certainly do not "do both" with the same amount of passion

Thing is? I don't disagree with almost anything you said, and the frustration is real. The disparities are real. I've been on the other side of that and needed support and seen whose fundraisers met their goals quicker than mine did. All of that is real and under ideal circumstances, yeah, the billboard people could have handled all this better.

I think the differences in where I come at all this from is that:

I watched the live feed of the billboard for a minute, and people put all kinds of less-than-important shit on it. So when I see people talking about how wrong the billboard is I just remember the like, graduation-announcement-level other stuff that was on it for the same price. I'm not saying the idea still didn't rub me wrong but I am saying that put it into perspective for me at least.

This show has changed lives, which may sound silly, but that's art sometimes. There are people whose lives are better and bigger and more authentic than ever before because of this weird mix of kindness and space to be queer that isn't like anything I've ever seen before. I understand that not everyone had such an impactful experience with it but I've found that incredibly moving and valuable and worth the fight for a 3rd season.

More than anything else, I value the efforts to get the show renewed because it feels like a watershed moment in the TV and streaming industries, and things will only get worse from here. I'm aware of all the Black shows that got canceled before OFMD did but a lot of the time people only care when something comes for their shows, and now we've got a a bunch of agitated white gays (who to be clear to everyone except the asker, are NOT the show's sole audience so please stop talking about it that way) who we can and should be pushing to include Rap Sh!t and Love Life etc. when talking about all this. Because it does represent a trend that's coming for everybody, it just started with going after POC and queers first. FWIW I actually did make a post the other day aimed at OFMD people to try to get them talking about the Black shows that were canceled first. (I deleted the original post because my notifications were killing me but reblogs of it should still be floating around out there)

I'm not out here trying to say that people's perfectly understandable frustrations are invalid, it just has felt inconsistent the way a lot of (almost entirely white) self-styled leftists have been coming after OFMD as if it's uniquely horrible.

When BIPOC object to the disparities Asker pointed out, I lift that up and value it. There are things I might say in other forms of this conversation that I would have with other BIPOC away from prying eyes that might surprise you. But right now there's too much noise in this conversation from people who don't actually give a fuck about any of their talking points, they just see an opportunity to dunk on a cringe fandom or they're operating with incomplete/incorrect information about things or in the least surprising/most transparent move of all, they're projecting a bunch of inaccurate shit onto Taika and using it to criticize him in as pattern that's familiar and obvious to every POC watching it happen. That's not what I think you're doing or anything Asker, but it's important context for the conversation we could/should be having and something that keeps getting left out of the conversation.

[weemietime]

Don't you get it, they HAVE to send 25 asks per day - - from accounts that all look the same, that are all formatted the same way, with the same verbiage in each ask, with the exact same stories - - to Zionist Jews on Tumblr.com, lmao.

It's obvious these are bots. I have not seen a single one of these accounts ever post a single sentence that is a direct response to anything a person has said to them. Ever. No replies, no posts other than their formatted links, no bio, no Tumblr friends, no mutuals of any kind, and they'll end with "yeah I was vetted by Sharknado666" lmao.

GoFundMe doesn't even operate in Gaza, so already your money isn't going where they claim its going. And when you start your campaign on one lie, the rest unravel. But it doesn't matter to these people. They genuinely post shit like this. I've had people say the most absolutely unhinged nonsense because I call these scam bots out.

For one thing, "boohoo you got inconvenienced by someone needs help because genocide or whatever!!!" like, homie, I did not get inconvenienced by shit, because I understand basic internet safety and how to identify overtly non-human users. But you're sure as shit that I am not going to signal boost it so that someone, like you 😉😄 will fall for it.

Widespread scamming like this isn't a fucking oopsie, it causes real harm. By now, having realized they can con you suckers out of your money, there most likely are real people being forced to send these. Just like real life people are forced to make scam calls. Scam call centers are a huge industry and most of the people involved are being exploited themselves.

The more you guys fall for this bullshit, the more of a market it creates and the more likely real people will be exploited to make it more believable. Chances are these people have nothing to do with Palestinians, they are capitalizing on the fact that performative white people feel guilty which is why they send pictures of dead kids into your fucking ask box.

"If you don't signal boost their AI generated image of a kid with no head you're a vile person!!!" Okeydokey. They also very clearly have this "vetting" process baked in. The people doing the vetting are scamming you. Either they're a real person working with organized crime or they themselves are also scripted/AI.

It is fundamentally fucking idiotic that you've tied your "activism" (reblogging blood libel all day isn't activism but whatever) to what is literally no more advanced than a Nigerian Prince scam. It just proves that to you, it's all about hating Jews and you kind of realize that you have to pretend it's not! It's still vaguely uncouth.

You're just waiting for when it isn't. So you wind up virtue signaling to where people genuinely say shit like "I can't believe you could dare to call the dude lying to you a scammer!!!" and frankly I would wish that you all fall for it and send all your money to Russia and Iran and Qatar, but that's the point, idiots! This doesn't just target a single person.

There is not virtue in getting scammed. There is not virtue in being a mark. You are not displaying your virtuous nature by giving money to someone who is lying to you via emotional appeals so that you will open your heart and bank account to that poor downtrodden Nigerian prince. All you are doing is showing fellow zealots that you are also utterly devoted to The Cause, and showing other ill-intenders that they too can get you to cough up money with the right words.

You are not obligated to #GetScammed4Palestine. Getting scammed is not activism. You are not bettering anyone's lives except for the ill-intending agents who want your money to do something secret and untoward.

You wanna help Palestinians? Donate to real, honest, accredited aid organizations and charities. Ones that did not have employees taking part in the atrocities on October 7th. If you're in the USA, campaign for Kamala Harris as a means of harm reduction toward Palestine. Giving your money to some random person who is in one of the twenty countries that GoFundMe operates in (NOT someone in Palestine!!!) does nothing but cost you money and GUARANTEE that your money does not reach Palestinians in need.

We have our issues with the phrase "virtue signaling," as it's often a condescending right-wing buzzword, but that's what this whole Gaza-scam Zeitgeist honestly is-- taking action first and foremost in furtherance of upholding our standing as a good activist. You feel obligated to circulate, to give to, false crowdfunding operations that empirically, evidently, cannot be for the cause you are supposedly contributing to. You feel that you will be ostracized by your peers if you question these fundraising asks you're getting in your inbox. You'll be a bad activist if you don't do everything you can to help Palestinians-- yes, including possibly sharing a few scams! Sharing just a few scams is a small price to pay for circulating what surely are mostly honest accounts of real need, right? After all, you really think someone would do that? Just go on GoFundMe and tell lies? It's never ever happened on Tumblr before.

Do not give your money to randoms on the internet. You do not know who they are. The people who supposedly "verify" these fundraisers are also random people you do not know. You know that the site they are using to crowdfund does not service people in Palestine. The only evidence you do have around this whole thing is evidence that these GoFundMe's are lying to get your money. Believe the evidence and stop giving in to (what seems to you as well-intended) peer pressure from your activist friends.

If anyone takes issue with you wanting to know where your money is going, then they are showing that they want you to be taken advantage of. They want you to listen blindly! Sight-unseen! Listen to your self-preservation instincts, take notice of the red flags in front of you, and prioritize your own well-being. Drop manipulative people from your life.

Your principles are being used against you for no benefit to Palestinians, and you are in a cult. You have to start taking care of yourselves and stop endlessly sacrificing yourselves for no real value in the name of a cause that you are not benefiting.

[automaticdata]

While I am supportive of the people in Palestine, I'm pretty sure some bad actors are using the situation to scam people.

I have never reblogged one of those "help me and my family escape" posts, nor have I donated any money to any of them (because I am 1) not in a good financial situation at all right now, and 2) a pretty suspicious person who doesn't trust posts like that easily) and like. I don't think I have posted anything that would make someone look at my blog and go, "oh, they're someone I can ask for help getting out of Palestine." Even from a practical standpoint, my blog is not a good one for signal-boosts, I don't have that many followers.

And yet I've gotten two asks of people claiming to be Palestinians trying to escape. And I just. You know how I said I'm suspicious of these posts anyway? This is making me even more suspicious, because I seriously doubt the people in Gaza have time to go and find a blog with fifteen followers who has never reblogged people asking for help before or donated to any go-fund-me campaigns for Palestine. The people in Gaza are in a shit situation, and in order to do an ask for me, they would basically have to be going through every single tumblr out there and asking for money. That takes either 1) a shitton of time, which I don't think the people in Gaza have because, y'know, genocide, or 2) being a bot used to try and scam people.

So yeah, just an FYI. Make sure the people you reblog and donate to are legit. I've seen that some are getting vetted (neither ask I got claimed to be vetted iirc, ftr), and that's good. Double check that the person asking for help is a real person, because I'm almost a hundred percent sure it's reached the point where scammers are using a freaking genocide as a tool to con people out of money.

If I'm getting these asks, and I'm right about them being scams, that means scammers are literally trying to siphon resources from Palestinians in need. Every dollar that these scammers get is a dollar that should have gone to a real Palestinian. Every reblog of these scammers dilutes the attention real Palestinians should be getting. Every person who falls for this scam only to realize it's a scam is a person who will be less likely to donate to real Palestinians in need in the future, for fear of it being a scam again.

[thanakite]

I desperately want to do the little I can for Palestinians (reblog their donation posts and information on what is happening) because it is very little (I have no money or influence of any kind) and therefore the least I can do, but lord do the bots drain my energy. Literally any time I reblog a donation or just information about what is happening in Palestine I get at least 4 asks about reblogging donations from people who don't follow me (or like immediately sent a message after following me) and ticks all the general boxes for being a scam or bot or whatever, so I then have to go through block and report it

Honestly, I'm not big on conspiracies but it's almost as if this is being done to limit help to Palestine and discourage people from doing what they can to support

Like yes, at least some of it is likely just asshole scammers latching onto whatever they can to try and get money out of people, but this is so many asks every single time that it feels much more targeted and malicious than normal

Like in general I get maybe a couple of scam asks a month or every couple of months (not including these Palestinian ones) that are generally always the same couple of ones just under a new username or whatever, but these ones are like fairly varied (I've definitely had at least some repeats but there's so many of them that I do lose track on if I've seen this particular one before or not) and are just like a constant bombardment

Unfortunately, I also don't know of a good way to crack down on this or prevent it or whatever without potentially interfering with legitimate posts and such which I decidedly don't want but yeah, it's really starting to feel like this is at least somewhat purposeful to burn out people who reblog these things