#like I would like to have ukrainian to arabic

[neristudy]

Having ADHD includes thinking “oh, I should definitely concentrate more on German because I have an exam so soon” and then coming back from grocery shopping thinking.

“hmm. You know what would be cool? Start learning arabic...”

[queer-scots-geordie-dyke]

I'm struggling to understand why the war in Gaza is a 'genocide' when the government of Gaza together with civilians invaded and attacked Israel and have stated that they want to wipe Israel off the map. About 45,000 Gazans have been killed since Hamas's October 7th 2023 attack.

But the war in Ukraine in which Russia invaded and attacked Ukraine, and in which more than a million people have since been killed.. is 'just a war'. More people have been killed in Ukraine than in Gaza. So why is what Russia doing not a 'genocide'? Why is nobody parading in the streets calling for Russia to be wiped off the map? Where else do Ukrainians live besides Ukraine? Russia is trying to make Ukraine not exist, the identity of Ukrainian not exist, the Ukrainian language not exist. Russia has used a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile against Ukraine. No country has EVER done that.

But what Israel is doing is somehow worse? Because they are defending themselves and their land against the people who want to evict and/or exterminate them? Israel who send aid to civilians in Gaza? Israel who send evacuation warnings to civilians in Gaza before they drop bombs? Israel whose people (Jews) originated in the land (Israel) thousands of years before Islam even existed? Thousands of years before Arabs invaded and conquered it? Thousands of years before the word 'Palestine' was even invented (by the Romans!)

WHY? Besides ignorance of history and a generalised hatred of Jews, why? Why is the war in Gaza a "genocide" and the war in Ukraine not?

I see people who want to exterminate a group of people and take their land for themselves. Russia wants to delete Ukraine and Ukrainians and Hamas wants to delete Israel and Israelis. Ukrainians and Israelis are trying to stop that from happening.

Russia already has more land than any other country on earth. From Europe all the way to the far east of China. 'Palestinians' (Arabs) already have Jordan and Egypt and Lebanon and Syria and Saudi Arabia most of the rest of the Middle East and North Africa. Their language and religion dominates.

What I see is too former empires, the Russian Empire/Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire/Muslim caliphate conquerers, who cannot accept that they will not be allowed to conquer the world any more. That minorities fight back and have support. That this is not the 19th century anymore.

And they have managed to twist and abuse the language of social justice to manipulate people into thinking they are the righteous ones when they are in fact the violent aggressors and the hateful fundamentalists.

Hamas and its supporters are the Westboro Baptist Church of Islam. They are sick, hateful, religious fundamentalists who wish death on anyone and everyone who is not like them.

There would be peace if Russia left Ukraine alone. There would be peace if Arabs who hate Israel simply moved 50 miles to Jordan or Egypt or went back to Arabia where their language and religion and culture came from. Their language would be safe, their religion would be safe, their culture would be dominant and entirely their own. If Israel or Ukraine were to give up fighting (defending themselves) their cultures and languages and history would all be destroyed. They would be homeless, stateless. Many if not most would be imprisoned or murdered.

It's antisemitism, that's really what it all boils down to. It's completely disingenuous of anyone to see the absolute double standards the only Jewish state in the world is held to and deny that, IMHO.

[mariacallous]

Over the past decade, China has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its international media network. The Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, and the China Daily web portal produce material in multiple languages and use multiple social-media accounts to amplify it. This huge investment produces plenty of positive coverage of China and benign depictions of the authoritarian world more broadly. Nevertheless, Beijing is also aware that news marked “made in China” doesn’t have anything like the influence that local people, using local media, would have if they were uttering the same messages.

That, in the regime’s thinking, is the ultimate form of propaganda: Get the natives to say it for you. Train them, persuade them, pay them—it doesn’t matter; whatever their motives, they’ll be more convincing. Chinese leaders call this tactic “borrowing boats to reach the sea.”

When a handful of employees at RT, the Russian state television network formerly known as Russia Today, allegedly offered to provide lucrative payments to the talking heads of Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based far-right influencer team, borrowing boats to reach the sea was exactly what they had in mind. According to a federal indictment released last week, RT employees spent nearly $10 million over the course of a year—money “laundered through a network of foreign shell entities,” including companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, and Hungary—with the aim of supporting Tenet Media’s work and shaping the messages in its videos.

The indictment makes clear that the influencers—propagandists, in fact—must have had a pretty good idea where the money was coming from. They were told that their benefactor was “Eduard Grigoriann,” a vaguely Euro-Armenian “investor.” They tried to Google him and found nothing; they asked for information and were shown a résumé that included a photograph of a man gazing through the window of a private jet. Sometimes, the messages from Grigoriann’s team were time-stamped in a way that indicated they were written in Moscow. Sometimes the alleged employees of Grigoriann’s alleged company misspelled Grigoriann’s name. Unsurprisingly, in their private conversations, the Tenet Media team occasionally referred to its mysterious backers as “the Russians.”

But the real question is not whether the talking heads of Tenet Media—the founders, Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan, who were the main interlocutors with the Russians, but also Tim Pool, Lauren Southern, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson—had guessed the true identity of their “investor.” Nor does it matter whether they knew who was really paying them to make videos that backed up absurd pro-Moscow narratives (that a terrorist attack at a Moscow shopping mall, loudly claimed by the Islamic State, was really carried out by Ukrainians, for example). More important is whether the audience knew, and I think we can safely say that it did not. And now that Tenet Media fans do know who funds their favorite influencers, it’s entirely possible that they won’t care.

This is because the messages formed part of a larger stream of authoritarian ideas that are now ubiquitous on the far right, and that make coherent sense as a package. They denounce U.S. institutions as broken, irreparable: If Donald Trump doesn’t win, it’s because the election is rigged. They imply American society is degenerate: White people are discriminated against in America. They suggest immigrants are part of a coordinated invasion, designed to destroy what remains of the culture: Illegal immigrants are eating household pets, a trope featured during this week’s presidential debate. For the Russians, the amplification of this narrative matters more than specific arguments about Ukraine. As the indictment delicately explains, many of the Russian-sponsored videos produced by Tenet Media were more relevant to American politics than to the Ukraine war: “While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions.”

But these themes are also consistent with the Trump campaign’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions. People who have come to distrust the basic institutions of American democracy, who feel aggrieved and rejected, who believe that immigrants are invaders who have been deliberately sent to replace them—these are not people who will necessarily be bothered that their favorite YouTubers, according to prosecutors, were being sponsored by a violent, lawless foreign dictator who repeatedly threatens the U.S. and its allies with nuclear armageddon. On the contrary, many of them now despise their own country so much that they might be pleased to hear there are foreigners who, like the ex-president, want to burn it all down. If you truly hate modern America—its diversity, its immense energy, its raucous debate—then you won’t mind hearing it denounced by other people who hate it and wish it ill. On X earlier this year, Chen referred to the U.S. as a “tyranny,” for example, a phrase that could easily have been produced by one of the Russian propagandists who regularly decry the U.S. on the evening news.

These pundits and their audience are not manipulated by Russian, Chinese, and other autocrats who sometimes fill their social-media feeds. The relationship goes the other way around; Russian, Chinese, and other influence operations are designed to spread the views of Americans who actively and enthusiastically support the autocratic narrative. You may have laughed at Trump’s rant on Tuesday night: “The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating—they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.” But that language is meant to reach an audience already primed to believe that Kamala Harris, as Trump himself said, is “destroying this country. And if she becomes president, this country doesn’t have a chance of success. Not only success. We’ll end up being Venezuela on steroids.”

Plenty of other people are trying to reach that audience too. Indeed, the Grigoriann scheme was not the only one revealed in the past few days. In a separate case that has received less attention, the FBI last week filed an affidavit in a Pennsylvania courthouse supporting the seizure of 32 internet domains. The document describes another team of Russian operatives who have engaged in typosquatting—setting up fake news websites whose URLs resemble real ones. The affidavit mentions, for example, washingtonpost.pm, washingtonpost.ltd, fox-news.in, fox-news.top, and forward.pw, but we know there are others. This same propaganda group, known to European investigators as Doppelganger, has also set up similar sites in multiple European languages. Typosquatters do not necessarily seek to drive people to the fake sites. Instead, the fake URLs they provide make posts on Facebook, X, and other social media appear credible. When someone is quickly scrolling, they might not check whether a sensational headline purporting to be from The Washington Post is in fact linked to washingtonpost.pm, the fake site, as opposed to washingtonpost.com, the real one.

But this deception, too, would not work without people who are prepared to believe it. Just as the Grigoriann scam assumed the existence of pundits and viewers who don’t really care who is paying for the videos that make them angry, typosquatting—like all information laundering—assumes the existence of a credulous audience that is already willing to accept outrageous headlines and not ask too many questions. Again, although Russian teams seek to cultivate, influence, and amplify this audience—especially in Pennsylvania, apparently, because in Moscow, they know which swing states matter too—the Russians didn’t create it. Rather, it was created by Trump and the pundits who support him, and merely amplified by foreigners who want our democracy to fail.

These influencers and audiences are cynical, even nihilistic. They have deep distrust in American institutions, especially those connected to elections. We talk a lot about how authoritarianism might arrive in America someday, but in this sense, it’s already here: The United States has a very large population of people who look for, absorb, and believe anti-American messages wherever they are found, whether on the real Fox News or the fake fox-news.in. Trump was speaking directly to them on Tuesday. What happens next is up to other Americans, the ones who don’t believe that their country is cratering into chaos and don’t want a leader who will burn it all down. In the meantime, there are plenty of boats available to borrow for Russians who want to reach the sea.

[gemsofgreece]

can you tell me more about greeks from eastern europe and MeNa ? I cant find anything on them

Anon, when you were asking this, I assume you did not expect it would start an Odyssey for me. The ask was literally a "tell me more about the Greeks of three continents" and I... complied. It took me 20 days but I kinda wrote a book here. It was not easy. I used the English Wikipedia for sources. You can look there for more information.

I should note I did not include the Cypriot Greeks in this because I assumed you did not mean Greeks who have their own sovereign state. So, ultimately this is about Greek minorities. The topic of a minority - any minority - is always sensitive. As a result, some information here might be unpleasant. The purpose of the post is not to provoke or cause any controversy. It is only the truth of Greek people living outside Greece and Cyprus.

This post is only about the Greeks specifically from the areas Anon asked about.

Chapters:

Egyptian Greeks

Sudanese, Tunisian and Libyan Greeks

Greeks of Albania

Ukrainian Greeks

Greeks of Russia and other Caucasus Greeks (including those of Georgia and Armenia)

Greeks of Romania and Moldova

Greeks of Bulgaria

Greeks in the Republic of North Macedonia

Greek presence in Hungary, Czechia, Poland and Serbia

Greeks of Syria and Lebanon

Greeks of Israel and Palestine

Greeks of Turkey

North Africa

Egyptian Greeks (Egyptiótes / Alexandriní)

One of the historically most prolific Greek minorities. While mercenaries and other small groups of Greeks had settled in Egypt centuries earlier, they really established themselves there during Alexander's conquests in the Hellenistic period. Ever since, they have been mostly concentrated around Alexandria, the city Alexander had built and named after himself, and later also Cairo, so they always formed an urban social class. Alexandria was a Greek hub for the longest time, throughout the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Byzantine Empire and even the Ottoman times. Their numbers however had reached their lowest in the 18th century but a new surge of Greeks migrated to Egypt in the meantime, because by 1920 they were 200,000 and by 1940 they were 300,000. Greeks of Egypt were rich, owning banks, tobacco industries, cotton fields and many more businesses. They published several Greek newspapers and had their own theatres and cinemas. The Egyptian Greeks produced many artists, some of whom are amongst the most important Greek poets. Egyptian Greeks volunteered and participated in all wars Greece has been in. There were also many benefactors of the Greek state amongst them like Antonis Benakis for example, who founded the Benaki museums in Greece. In fact, a large number of Modern Greek artists and celebrities were or are descended from Egyptian Greeks. Greeks started leaving Egypt at the times of the coup d'etat of 1952 and the rise of the Pan-Arab nationalism. Nowadays, their number has fallen at around 7,000 while others changed their nationality to Egyptian. However, they are still centered around Alexandria and their churches and schools are still functioning. In Alexandria, apart from the Patriarchate, there is a Patriarchal theology school that opened recently after 480 years being closed. During the last decades, Greco-Egyptian relations have improved again a lot and this affects positively the Greek diaspora there.

A few notable Greeks of Egypt; note the poet Constantine Cavafy (upper row, right) and the nobellist poet George Seferis (lower row, middle).

Greek school play in Cairo for the Greek independence, 2017 - 2018.

Sudanese, Tunisian and Libyan Greeks

Greeks of North Africa are overwhelmingly concentrated in Egypt. However, there are tiny Greek communities in Libya, Sudan, South Sudan and Tunisia and they have a long history. Libyan Greeks are about 1,500 and are mostly descended from Crete. Greeks have been interacting with Nubians and the Sudanese over the course of millenias. In the Ottoman times, many Greeks arrived there, especially Greek Arvanites, as Ottoman mercenaries. After that they grew to around 7,000 people. Although always very few, they became quite influential to the Sudanese society, making industries, famous products, newspapers and running successful businesses. Around certain parts in Sudan one can still see old Greek advertisements and abandoned Greek named shops. Due to the unrest in Sudan and the rise of the Sharia Law, most Greeks abandoned the country. They are now only about 200 in North and South Sudan and yet they are still the largest European community of the country (so I read). In Tunisia the Greeks are fewer than 100 although in the 19th century they were more than 8,000 and most were sponge divers descended from the Dodecanese islands.

Sudanese Greek families of Khartoum, 1898.

Eastern Europe and Caucasus

Greeks of Albania (Northern Epirotes)

The Greek minority of Albania is the currently largest Greek minority in Eastern Europe and it is officially recognized by the Albanian state as the Greek National Minority of Albania. It is concentrated in the southern part of the country, particularly in the districts of Sarandë (Áyii Saránda), Gjirokaster (Argirókastro) and Vlorë (Avlóna) . There are hugely conflicting estimations of the Greek minority's numbers between the Albanian and the Greek state census. Western estimations place them around 200,000 though. There are also concerns of human right violations, with allegations that the police and secret services target the Greek minority. Greek communities have been targeted by development projects and had their homes demolished. Due to their proximity to Greece, the Greeks of Albania essentially speak Standard Modern Greek and are mostly indistinguishable from the Epirotes of Greece. A lot of them migrate to Greece at this point.

Greeks from Dropull, Albania in folk attires.

Ukrainian Greeks

The 2001 Ukrainian census counted 91,548 ethnic Greeks in Ukraine. They reside mostly in Donetsk and particularly in Mariupol city, which is why the most common dialect there is called Mariupolitan Greek. Greeks have been settling to Ukrainian territories since antiquity but most Ukrainian Greeks are descended from Pontic and Caucasus Greeks . However, some are also Urums, Tatar-speaking Greek Orthodox people of Crimea. They are very well intergrated to the Ukrainian state.

Greeks of Ukraine

Greeks of Russia and other Caucasus Greeks (including those of Georgia and Armenia)

Greeks have been settling to Caucasus and the southwestern regions of Russia since antiquity. The history of the Greeks in Russia has had ups and downs, sometimes enjoying privileges or tolerance and sometimes suffering suppression along all other ethnic minorities. This was the case both in Tsarist and Soviet Russia. More than half a million Greeks lived in the Russian Empire pre-Russian Revolution. Notable Greeks have been born or have lived in Russia, a prime example being the Heptanesian-born Ioannis Kapodistrias serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Russian Empire. Lenin supported the Greek community, only for Stalin to blow things up by deporting large numbers of Greeks to Kazakhstan. In general, Greeks mostly left Russia during Soviet times but things weren't always as bad as in Stalin's times. Most Greeks of Russia speak Pontic Greek, however in the operating Greek schools now they are learning Standard Demotic Greek. In 2010, the Russian census recorded 85,640 Greeks but in the 2021 census the number was 53,972...

Like said above, while Greeks inhabited Caucasus since the 7th century BC, most Caucasus Greeks nowadays originate from Pontos and East Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, and were emigrating to Russian, Georgian and Armenian highlands usually due to the Ottoman conquests and the very tense relations with the Turks. A bright exception occured in 1763 when 800 Greek households were moved to modern-day Armenia by King Heraclius II of Georgia in order to develop silver and lead mining. Their descendants still live in Marneuli district in modern-day Georgia. Greeks of Georgia, both Pontians and Urums, largely maintained their ethnic identity. Most started emigrating to Greece in the 20th century and especially during the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia. Some who tried to return for vacations to their properties in Georgia found state efforts to uproot the remnants of the minority by favouring ethnic Georgians, reporting violence, looting and occupation of Greek houses. In 2005 the Council of Greeks in Georgia has appealed to the World Council of Hellenes, SAE, registering their fear caused by the increasing instances of previously rare ethnic violence against them. The matter was also discussed in the parliament of Greece. In any case, in 2002 there were still 15,166 Greeks living in Georgia but it is a dramatic decrease from 1989's 100,324. Georgian Greeks traditionally viewed Greece as the "Promised Land", dreaming to move there at some point. However, when they actually started doing that in the 90s, they experienced a cultural shock they did not expect. A few of them initially had some trouble to integrate into the society. This was perhaps the reason Georgian Greeks unfortunately even face some level of prejuidice within Greece, where they are sometimes called Russo-Pontians (Ρωσοπόντιοι). These issues are fading now though.

Despite the excellent relations of Greeks and Armenians, few Greeks reside in Armenia. According to an Armenian scientific research in 2002, around 6,000 Greeks lived in the country, however in the Armenian census of 2011 there were only 900 registered. The reasons for the decrease in their numbers is emigration to Greece and the West for financial reasons.

Caucasus Greeks from Batumi, Georgia, early 20th century.

Greeks of Romania and Moldova

Greeks are a very small but historic minority of Romania and Moldova. Again, first settling in the 7th century BC, they maintained a presence there throughout the Middle Ages, due to the Orthodox influence of the Byzantine Empire. So much so that even during the Ottoman times, Greeks were still considered the most significant promoters and representatives of the Orthodox faith, enjoying thus a big status in these regions, enforced by the Ottomans who did not trust Romanian rulers. Many Greek Phanariotes (elite Greeks of Constantinople) rose to nobility and royalty and became Voivodes (princes) of Wallachia and Moldavia. In the early 19th century, the Greek princes and nobles of the Danubian principalities became directly involved in the preparation of the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. In Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, the oldest surving building of the city once housed the Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends), the secret organisation that prepared the Greek Revolution. Its appointed leader Alexander Ypsilantis was the Greek Voivode of Wallachia. After the Greek Independence and ever since, Greeks gradually lost this status of nobility and were integrated into Romanian society. A lot of notable Greeks are Romanian Greeks. Nowadays, the emigration routes have shifted a lot and Romania has a Greek minority of about 14,000. In Moldova, the ethnic Greeks are no more than 3,000-4,000.

Portrait of Ioannis Georgios Karatzas (Ioan Caradja), Prince of Hungaro-Wallachia, with his granddaughter Eleni Argyropoulou, crayons and chalk on paper, 1821.

Greeks of Bulgaria / Sarakatsani

Historically there were Greeks settled in the region of Bulgaria since the 7th century BC, given also its proximity to Greece. Due to the Macedonian Struggle and the two Balkan Wars it's very hard to find safe estimations of how many Greeks truly lived there. In any case, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey underwent critical population exchanges with each other and most Greeks of Bulgaria sooner or later moved to Greece. The Bulgarian census of 2011 reported 3,935 Greeks (this making them the fourth largest ethnic minority in the country), whereas the Greek government estimated them at 25,000 - 28,500. The reason for this gap is that the Bulgarian government does not recognize the Sarakatsani as ethnic Greeks, instead pushing for Vlach, Slavic or Thracian origin theories, which are making the preservation of the community's ethnic identity harder and harder. This is why in February 2023 the head committee of the Sarakatsani Associations of Bulgaria and the head committee of the Sarakatsani Associations (Greece) visited the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hellenic Parliament to ask from the Greek State to push the matter of granting Greek nationality to the Sarakatsani of Bulgaria.

The Sarakatsani are a nomadic group which originates from the mountains of Greece and speak a northern Greek dialect with several archaic elements.

Sarakatsani girls of Bulgaria

Greeks in the Republic of North Macedonia

Nowadays, the Greeks of the neighbouring country are 294. They originate mostly from Greek refugees from the Civil War. I don't actually doubt that number because a) it is a small country and b) I don't think many Greeks would live there or be registered as Greeks now given the tensions between the two countries. However, the Greek presence in the region can be traced since 2,000 BC but of course everything is denied prior to the refugees of the 40s - 50s. Until about 1690, the Greek Christian population was the majority according to Ottoman demographics. Since then the rise of Slavic nationalism caused trouble to the Greek community, which gradually started to shrink. The two hotspots of Greek presence were Gevgelija (Yévyeli) and Bitola or Monastir (Monastiri). In 1878, 10,000 Greek signatures were gathered in Skopje against the Treaty of San Stefano, which was empowering Bulgarian and minimizing Greek claims. When the area passed under the control of Serbia in 1913, one fourth of the Bitola population was Greeks. There were also villages with only Greek population. In the census of 1941, German Axis forces counted 100,000 Greeks out of an overall population of 800,000 in the entire region. The census of 1951 counts 158,000 Greeks, most of Vlach descent, but the rise in number is indeed due to the influx of Greek refugees of the Civil War. Surprisingly, during the 1991 census after the establishment of the republic, the opposition party revealed that about 12 - 18% of the population claimed Greek ethnic consciousness. Now they are 294 according to the census.

Greek demonstration in Bitola, 1905.

Greek school in Gevgelija, 1900. It was one of the four Greek schools operating in the city.

The first organisation for the pro-Greek side of the Macedonian Struggle in Gevgelija, 1904.

Greek presence in Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Serbia

In Hungary, Poland and Czechia the Greek minorities are very small, counting about 3,500 - 4,000 people in each. Greeks settled in these places since the Middle Ages but most Greeks there originate from migrations during the Greek Civil War. In Hungary the Greek minority is one of the 13 officially recognized minorities of the country. The Greek-founded village Beloiannisz (named after Beloyannis) traditionally has a Greek mayor, even though the Greek population of the village is not the majority anymore..

Despite the excellent relations, few Greeks live in Serbia. About 690 Greeks are registered but there are another 4,500 people of Greek ancestry. The small Greek minority is officially recognized by the Serbian government.

Near East

Greeks of Syria and Lebanon (Antiochean and Levantine Greeks)

Greek presence in Syria and Lebanon had been strong since ancient times, even before Alexander the Great's conquests, but it was reinforced constantly throughout the Hellenistic, the Roman and the Byzantine periods. The first massive blow to the Greek population there was the Arab conquest in the 7th century. The second blow was the vindictive measures Ottoman Turks took against Greeks of the Near Eastern lands of the empire as a warning to not aid the Greeks of Greece in the Independence War. Nowadays, 4,500 Christian Greeks live in Syria. However, following the Greco-Turkish War in 1897–98, in which the Ottoman Empire lost Crete to the Kingdom of Greece, Sultan Abdul Hamid II resettled in Syria and Lebanon significant numbers of Greek Muslims originally from Ottoman Crete. Nowadays, there are 7,000 and 8,000 Greek-speaking Muslims of Cretan origin in Lebanon and in Al-Hamidiyah, Syria respectively. Many of them still speak Greek as their first language. By 1988, many Greek Muslims from both Lebanon and Syria had reported being subject to discrimination by the Greek embassy because of their religious affiliation. The community members would be regarded with indifference and even hostility and would be denied visas and opportunities to improve their Greek through trips to Greece. Scary, but true. Due to the Syrian Civil War, many Muslim Syrian Greeks moved to Cyprus or back to Crete. Many Greeks left Lebanon due to the Israel invasion in 2006.

Greek kids of Damascus celebrating the Ohi (No) National Day.

Lebanon Greeks in a traditional dance.

Greeks of Israel and Palestine

There is a theory popular with the scholars that the Philistines, ancient people of Palestine, originate from Aegean Greek populations who migrated there in the Iron Age. What's certain is that later, after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the consequent conquests of the Romans the regions were and remained for a long time significantly hellenized. Ashkelon, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Gaza were in fact the most hellenized areas. During the Byzantine period, the populations there reached their peak and a considerable part of them were Greeks. The Greek presence was reduced significantly with the Arab conquest of the 7th century. Nowadays, the Greek community there is small. There are about 1,500 - 2,500 non-Jewish Greeks. There are however also 1,000 - 6,000 Greek Jews (Romaniote and Sephardic) who originate from Greece Jews who moved to the modern State of Israel after its establishment. Greek expatriates comprise most of the leadership of the Eastern Greek Orthodox Church in Israel and the Palestinian Territories and of course the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in an arrangement that predates the modern State of Israel.

Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Greeks of Turkey (Anatolian, Pontic, Constantinopolitan and Cappadocian Greeks)

It's hard to summarize the story here. Greeks settled in Asia Minor in the 13th century BC. While Asia Minor was a hub of ancient peoples and cultures, most of them faded due to infighting with each other. In these circumstances, the Greek colonies prospered and the Greek influence spread thoroughly throughout the land. In the archaic period already western Anatolia was structured in Greek city-states, not different from what was happening in the Greek mainland. Many of the most famous ancient Greeks were from Anatolia. While the Greek presence there was never threatened, the Greek influence was antagonized by that of the Persian Empire, with the Greek city-states often being under its control. Alexander the Great's wars with the Persian Empire and the establishment of the Diadochi Kingdoms in the 4th - 1st century BC simply reinforced the Greek presence there for centuries to come. From that point onwards the population of the region was predominantly Greek. This was not changed by the Romans who allowed the Greek language and the Greek culture to remain the principal one in the whole east half of the empire. In 330 AD the emperor Constantine the Great founded the city of Constantinople on the older site of the Greek city Byzantion. This city soon became the largest and wealthiest in the world in the Middle Ages and it was the most significant hotspot of the medieval Greek culture and language. The region of Asia Minor was the most prosperous region of the Byzantine Empire for most of its history. Many Byzantine Emperors were of Anatolian / Cappadocian Greek descent. However, in the end of the 11th century the Byzantine Empire lost these lands to a new coming force from the east, the Seljuq Turks. Some of these losses were reversed but it was ultimately the beginning of the end. The sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 and the formation of Latin states throughout Greece dismantled the empire completely and while it made valiant efforts to resurrect itself, it did not manage to fortify itself against the next threat. By the middle of the 15th century, the new coming force of the Ottoman Turks had conquered Asia Minor, Constantinople and the Greek mainland.

Asia Minor Greeks remained subjects of the Ottoman Empire for the centuries to come. Due to the policy of religious tolerance, the Anatolian Greeks managed to keep their faith and their identity effectively preserved. In spite of that, the Ottoman society favoured Muslims significantly and many Greeks converted to Islam and progressively lost their identity.

Cappadocian Greeks (Karamanlides)

During the 16th century the region of Cappadocia became largely Turkified in culture and language through a gradual process of acculturation, as a result many Greeks of Anatolia had accepted the Turkish vernacular and some of whom later became known as Karamanlides. Although the Karamanlides abandoned Greek when they learned Turkish, they remained Greek Orthodox Christians and continued to write using the Greek alphabet. Cappadocian Greeks would migrate to Constantinople and other large cities to do business. By the 19th century, many were wealthy, educated and westernized and several reclaimed their native tongue. In the early 20th century, Greek settlements were still both numerous and widespread throughout most of today’s Turkey. The Cappadocian Greeks of the 19th and 20th centuries were renowned for the richness of their folktales and preservation of their ancient Greek tongue. The underground cities of Cappadocia continued to be used as refuges from the Turkish Muslim rulers as late as the 20th century. By the beginning of the First World War, the Greeks of Anatolia were besieged by the Young Turks. Cappadocian Greek deaths alone totaled 397,000. In 1924, after living in Cappadocia for thousands of years the remaining Cappadocian Greeks were expelled to Greece as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey defined by the Treaty of Lausanne. The descendants of the Cappadocian Greeks who had converted to Islam were not included in the population exchange and remained in Cappadocia, some still speaking the Cappadocian Greek language. Following the population exchange there was still a substantial community of Cappadocian Greeks living in Turkey, in Constantinople, the majority of whom also migrated to Greece following the Anti-Greek Istanbul Pogrom riots of 1955. Today the descendants of the Cappadocian Greeks can be found throughout Greece, as well as in countries around the world. The modern region of Cappadocia is famous with tourists and has more than 700 Greek Orthodox churches and over thirty rock-carved chapels, many with preserved painted icons, Greek writing and frescos, some from the pre-iconoclastic period that date back as far as the 6th century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Notable Cappadocian Greeks.

Pontic Greeks

Pontic or Pontian Greeks are the ethnic Greeks indigenous to the region of Pontus (pontos, Greek for "sea"), the northern coastal area of Turkey in the Black Sea. They speak the Pontic Greek dialect, which they also call Romeika, like Greek was often called in the Byzantine times. This dialect retains many archaic elements. Large communities (around 25% of the population) of Christian Pontic Greeks remained throughout the Pontus area until the 1920s, preserving their own distinct customs and dialect of Greek. Between 1913 and 1923, the Ottoman leadership attempted to expel or kill its native Christian population of Anatolia, including the Pontic Greeks. Different scholars have made different estimates for the death toll; most estimates range from 300,000 to 360,000 Pontic Greeks killed. Many were executed, others were subject to massacres; many Pontic men were forced to work in labor camps until they died; still others were deported to the interior on death marches. Rape, primarily of Pontic women and girls, was prominent. In 1923 those still remaining in Turkey were exiled to Greece as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey defined by the Treaty of Lausanne. Nowadays, there are about 5,000 Greeks remaining in their lands of Pontus. However, some Greek sources exploring the possibility of crypto-Christianity in Turkey speak of estimations around 345,000. In any case, most of their descendants now live in Greece, nearing half a million. The total Pontic Greek population across the globe (including the diaspora) is estimated as two to two and a half million people. Pontians are amongst the proudest Greeks and preserve their culture and customs carefully. The sense of Greek ethnic identity of the Pontians remaining in Turkey however is severely endangered.

Pontic Greek students in Trebizond, 1902 - 1903.

Greeks of Constantinople and the rest of the Anatolian Greeks

A class of moneyed ethnically Greek merchants called Phanariotes emerged in the latter half of the 16th century and went on to exercise great influence in the administration in the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains in the 18th century. For all their cosmopolitanism and often western education, the Phanariotes were aware of their Hellenism. In the early 19th century, two out of the three major centers of Greek learning were in Anatolia; Smyrna (Izmir) and Aivali (Ayvalik). The outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in March 1821 was met by mass executions, pogrom-style attacks, the destruction of churches, and looting of Greek properties throughout the Empire. The most severe atrocities occurred in Constantinople, in what became known as the Constantinople Massacre of 1821. By the late 19th and early 20th century, the Greek element was found predominantly in Constantinople and Smyrna, along the Black Sea coast (the Pontic Greeks) and the Aegean coast, the Gallipoli peninsula and a few cities and numerous villages in the central Anatolian interior (the Cappadocian Greeks). The Greeks of Constantinople constituted the largest Greek urban population in the Eastern Mediterranean.The Greek population amounted to 1,777,146 (16.42% of population during 1910). In the first half of 1914, the Ottoman authorities expelled more than 100,000 Ottoman Greeks to Greece. During World War I and its aftermath (1914–1923), the government of the Ottoman Empire and subsequently the Turkish National Movement, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, instigated a violent campaign against the Greek population of the Empire. The campaign included massacres, forced deportations involving death marches, and summary expulsions. According to various sources, several hundreds of thousand Ottoman Greeks died during this period. After the Greco-Turkish War, a population exchange between the two countries was agreed. Due to the Greeks' strong emotional attachment to their first capital as well as the importance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Greek and worldwide Orthodoxy, the Greek population of Constantinople was specifically exempted and allowed to stay in place. In 1923, the Ministry of Public Works asked from private companies to fire non-Muslim workers. In 1934, many minorities including the Greeks were forced to adopt last names of a more Turkish rendition. In 1936, Turkish became the teaching language in Greek schools. In 6–7 September 1955 an anti-Greek pogrom was orchestrated in Istanbul by the Turkish military. The pogrom greatly accelerated emigration of ethnic Greeks from Turkey, and the Istanbul region in particular. The Greek population of Turkey declined from 119,822 persons in 1927, to about 7,000 by 1978. In 1964 the Turkish government took actions against the Greek minority that resulted in massive expulsions and Greeks were banned from participating in 30 professions. Greek-owned shops were forcefully shut down. More Greeks were deported. In the late 60s, the Turkish authorities built open prisons for Turkish convicts in Turkey's islands Imbros and Tenedos, which however were Greek populated, forcing many of the Greeks living there to also leave. On 15 August 2010, a ritual was held for the Assumption of Mary at the Sumela Monastery, built in 386 AD, after an 88 years old ban. This annual ritual continues, although it often sparks debate in Turkey for “keeping foreign traditions alive on the day Trabzon was captured by the Turks.” Get it? The "foreign" traditions were the ones taking place there since 386 AD.

To summarize, before World War I, there were still an estimated 1.8 million Greeks living in the Ottoman Empire with Constantinople being the most populous Greek center in the the Mediterranean. The 2008 figures released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry places the current number of Turkish citizens of Greek descent at the 3,000–4,000 mark. As of 2023, according to The Economist, "Turkey's Greek community is being revived"... whatever that means.

Graduates and Teacher of the Evangelical School of Izmir (Smyrna), 1878. (Not to be confused with the Evangelical dogma.)

[lepartidelamort]

Welp. Syria is Done.

It's unfortunate.

They keep saying “lightning fast offensive,” and there really is no other way to describe it. “Cheetah fast offensive” doesn’t cover it. You could maybe say “warp portal offensive,” but no one in the media would say that. I would say it.

Apparently, “no one saw it coming.”

I don’t really have any desire to go into the details here, but the media has always portrayed all of these various groups as representing different interests. That is probably true of the individuals involved in these groups, who are believers in whatever their cause is, whether they are Islamic extremists, Kurdish ethnic liberationists, or Turkish shills. I’m sure the members of these groups would disagree on several things. However, they all have the same core objective, which is overthrowing the Assad government. They work together remarkably well, presumably because they all know their money is coming from America, and they know the Americans want them cooperating. (I’m sure they imagine that when Assad is gone, they will build whichever sort of utopia they envision, just like Ukrainians planned to build an Aryan Reich.)

This started on November 28, and now it looks like it’s going to be totally over by Monday. At least, that’s according to basically every report. I’m not in Damascus and I’m not personally witnessing terrorists marching on the city, but that is what everyone is saying.

As I’m typing, the dust is already settling, and it is pretty undeniable that it’s over.

Syrian Girl, who is the biggest Syrian account on Twitter and an Assad-supporter, has posted a surrender note.

The war began in 2011 and lasted into 2017, then it was more or less over, then all of a sudden, like a flash of lightning or perhaps a warp portal, these people are marching on Damascus and Assad has allegedly fled to Russia. The Russians and Iranians have both pulled out most of their forces, and video shows Syrian soldiers fleeing to Iraq. That all appears to be confirmed by Al-Jazeera, which has the most journalists on the ground and although it is not a pro-Assad outlet, it tends to be pretty straightforward about events on the ground, at least in situations where people will know in a day or two whether they were accurate.

Why Did It Happen Now?

It happened for the obvious reasons. Hezbollah and Iran, which had supported Assad, were stretched thin by Israel, Russia stretched thin by the Ukraine, Israel had been bombing heavily in Syria and elsewhere to support the terrorists, the US had unlimited money to pour into the terrorist armies, Turkey has various ambitions and strategic goals.

Everything obvious is responsible.

There also appears to have been major backstabbing by the Syrian Arab Army commanders. There was some kind of stand-down. The Syrians are now blaming Iran, which in itself is sort of lmao, all things considered. (They’re not saying Iran did it on purpose, but they’re saying Iran was a bad ally and was irresponsibly buying off army commanders in a way that didn’t work.)

What Does It Mean?

Well, it’s very good for Israel and it’s very bad for Iran. This breaks the “Shia Belt,” putting an Israeli-backed Sunni terrorist regime in the middle of that belt. It’s also not great for Russia, as aside from the fact that Russia was not able to defend Syria, Russia will lose their Mediterranean base there.

Oh, and it’s pretty bad for Palestine.

All in all, it’s a pretty big blow to those in opposition to the Jewish-American world domination scheme, and it partially isolates Iran, as Israel is setting the stage for an American operation to destroy Iran.

There is likely to be ongoing fighting in the country indefinitely, but it will not be useful to Russia or Iran or any of the others at any time in the foreseeable future. Assad had the authority to rule the country, and no one else really does. So you’ll have this al-Qaeda type force in Damascus and various groups fighting against them, but there isn’t going to be another stable government in the future.

Oh, and this new Syria will be a staging base for international terrorism, which the US government can blame on whoever they want to go to war with. Just like the government/media somehow managed to blame Saddam for 9/11, they will say “there are still many Iranians operating in Syria and they clearly planned this attack.”

It’s all unfortunate.

At least for most.

Fortunate for some.

Andrew Anglin for the DailyStormer

[mylight-png]

For the sweet summer children of the world:

1) Israel isn't committing genocide. You know how I know that? Because the west bank and all neighboring countries with palestinian populations aren't getting carpet bombed. The only place getting bombed is the place with an active terrorist organization

2) "From the River to the Sea" actually IS a call to genocide and/or mass deportation of Jews and Arabs living in Israel

3) Israel isn't a colonial state. Stop projecting your guilt over your colonial history onto Israelis. Thank you.

4) Gaza shares a border with Israel and Egypt. Seems to me that if you're blockaded by not one but both of your neighbors, that means that you're the bad neighbor

5) Speaking of neighbors, if you really want to help the civilians trapped in Gaza - it would be more prudent to put pressure on Egypt to finally open the border and evacuate all civilians from an active war zone. Make Egypt actually help instead of sending tanks to the border to shoot refugees trying to escape and saying that they would rather have Gaza razed to the ground rather than accept fleeing innocents.

6) Actually, put pressure on the entire Arab world to accept refugees, Turkey included. When Ukrainians needed help, Europe opened its doors no problem, so why are the civilians in Gaza still packed like sardines in a tiny strip of land where any bomb is bound to have casualties. Evacuate them so IDF can do its job unhampered

Yes. (Dude, you're right, idk what to add.)

[ministerpeacefulpoetwordwitch]

Peace Is Breaking Out All Over The World

This is the most unbelievable story ever to happen - not happened yet though, in the progress.

Hamas sent a video to Trump of an American/Israeli citizen, an IDF soldier being held captive pleading to Trump to stop the war. Trump I hear has been moved and has communicated to Bibi, to end this thing now and has sent Senator Lindsey Graham to broker a cease fire deal to release the hostages. If you don't know, Lindsey is the biggest war hawk you ever knew on this planet, yet, here he is advocating for peace - the most unbelievable thing ever known to mankind, and this morning (afternoon) when I awake I hear that IDF troops are leaving Gaza. The deal being brokered would put Arabs in charge of Gaza and get Israel out of there. I understand that the Arabs have Triage units, food, water and tents in the ready to take care of the Palestinians in Gaza. I can't wait to turn on the TV and see nurses hugging Palestinian children, drying their tears and telling them it's going to be okay, it's over now.

Now in Ukraine Putin has a missile with Zelensky's name on it. Zelensky now wants peace. Putin can keep what ever part of Ukraine they have already taken. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are refusing to fight.

You might have heard that in Syria world war 3 has started - WRONG. North Korea, Iran and Russia have stepped up, that's coming to an end quick.

Astrologers have said that on the 1st of December everything changes - looks like they got that right. Peace is breaking out all over the world. Not holding my breath, we don't have peace yet, but so far, it's looking good and December 1st looks like it will be a day that will go down in history.

2025 is still going to be kinda rough - there will be high prices and food shortages caused by all this violence - but we'll get through it, just have to tighten our belts. In 2026 we will begin to see great things.

[hero-israel]

People said "if you support Ukrainians defending themselves but not Palestinians you're just racist!" but there's actually a compelling argument for why Hamas is more like Russia than Ukraine. Not for any moral reason mind you (though they are bad). But I see Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Hamas' pogrom (and China's impending invasion of Taiwan) as the same thing:

The last gasp of a once relevant regime trying to cause maximum harm and chaos before everyone stops thinking about them. If Russia couldn't assert its control over the Black Sea and prevent Nato/the Eu from expanding right up to its backyard it would no longer be a credible world power. If China doesn't hurry up and invade Taiwan shifting demographics and Xi Jinping's age might doom any future attempt. If Hamas didn't do something big and flashy, and provoke an overwhelming response so they could play the victim, more and more Arab states would normalize with Israel and the question of Gaza would be hashed out with trade deals instead of bombs, meaning Hamas' reason for holding onto power would become weaker.

That is an excellent analysis! Russia is a politically and demographically senescent petrostate, Hamas still trying to cloak itself in revolutionary language that has only brought failure for a century. Each of them are re-attempting old strategies from the mid-1900s and neither of them have the manpower to actually make it work.

Plus I never saw Ukrainians shoot thousands of missiles into Russia, hijack Russian airplanes, kidnap and murder Russian children, castrate Russian Olympic athletes, send suicide bombers into Russian old age homes on major holidays to wipe out 3 generations of families, send axe murderers into Russian churches to kill old men praying, etc. See, there's actually not a single damned thing in common except BANG BANG KABOOM, which admittedly can be very confusing for children

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Today is the 80th day of the war. It's been 80 days since Israelis all learned that we're not safe from Palestinian terrorists even in our own homes. It's been 80 days since most Jews worldwide have come under attack, of one type or another, following the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. It's been 80 days since over 100 Israeli hostages have slept in their own beds. It's been 80 days of having to explain that we didn't start or want this war. It's been 80 days of looking at our loved ones, and knowing that on Oct 7, it could have been them. It's been 80 days of knowing that we'll have to keep losing Israelis, and mourning our people, if we want to rid the world (Israelis and Palestinians alike) of the threat of Hamas.

And indeed, two more Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, while no less than 14 fuenrals for young soldiers, most of them around 19 or 20 years old, were held all across the country. One of the funerals had to be held low key, with almost no attendance, because the kibbutz this young soldier, Gal Hershko, belongs to is in the north, and the community members are evacuated, due to Hezbollah rockets being fired at the area. It would be too risky for them to be at that cemetery. The eulogies for Gal were held at a gym, close to where the evacuated members of the community are staying.

Israel is letting into Gaza 80,000 vaccines for children, to help with the health situation there.

The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya has experienced a serious issue with its computers system since yesterday, it's possibly another cyber attack, like the unsuccessful one on the Ziv Hospital (the one that's now known to have been carried out jointly by Hezbollah and Iran). The GMC has had to shut down its computers, and has initiated a special protocol that exists for such situations, saying no medical service has so far been stopped. Let's hope that this is resolved quickly, and doesn't end up costing any human life.

Ukrainian-born Israeli gymnast, Olympic gold medalist and world champion Artem Dolgopyat has decided to auction the world championship gold medal that he won on Oct 7, and donate the money to the Israelis from the communities which were massacred on that day. Winning this medal was his stated dream after taking gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But when asked about this, he replied, ""What is the status of a world champion worth if my country hurts? The state of Israel comes first for me."

This is CCTV footage, showing a fragment of a rocket that hit an Israeli supermarket, after it was successfully intercepted by Iron Dome (for all the people who think Israel should just be okay with rockets being fired at it, because we have this defense system):

What I also find interesting is that this was shared by al-Arabiya, a Saudi news channel. One of the theories about the timing of Hamas' massacre, is that it was meant to provoke an Israeli reaction so fierce, that the Arab world would have to take a stand against Israel, and the possibility of peace talks between the Israelis and Saudis would come to an end. If that was the intention, al-Arabiya posting footage that explains to the Arab world, the Israeli POV, is an indication that maybe those peace talks still have a chance.

This is 30 years old Israel Chana.

On the morning of Oct 7, he was coming back from celebrating his 30th birthday with his family, friends, ad the girlfriend he told his mom he wanted to propose to. After the rocket attacks started, the terrorists got to his neighborhood. Israel worked as a security guard. He grabbed his pistol, 15 bullets, and went out to fight the terrorists. He saved his neighborhood, but was killed himself.

May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[iswearbyalltheflowers]

Woah that's so interesting.

I have so many questions because I really do love your account and how you think. You are very wise!

Why do you think anti Zionist Jews fail so terribly at creating a better alternative to Zionism? Would you say part of the reason is because they tend to be completely assimilated therefore lacking any sort of Jewishness and depth of knowledge about Judaism? Do you think the Left requires that Leftist Jews do not have a Jewish identity?

2. Has there been any interesting approaches to anti Zionism that has caught your eye? Do you know of any Zionists who wrote critiques of Zionism in a "I want this to be better and improve" type of way? You mentioned Bundism and how it failed while Zionism is still here. Why do you think Zionism survived? Are there any leftist/progressive/communist Zionist pieces you can recommend in general?

3. This is off topic but do you know any books articles etc that talk extensively about the theft of Jewishness especially through the two major world religions Christianity and Islam?

4. What makes Zionism so different from the Black Power Movements and Pan Arabism? People are fine with the latter but obsessively hate Zionism. Why? I mean, yes antisemitism but why is Jewish pride such a threat to people especially communists and the like? Why do the most intelligent POC and queers etc hate Zionism while supporting Islamism and Muslim extremist groups? Why are we such a threat to other marginalized groups?

1) I do think assimilation as well as lack of knowledge as to how assimilation is both infeasible and anti-jewish as a solution to jewish oppression leads many anti-zionist jews to erroneously believe assimilation is a viable alternative to Zionism, yes. When I said anti-zionist jews currently have no real remaining credible alternative to zionism though I meant that even anti-zionists who aren't assimilationists don't really have an answer to it and this isn't through any unique failing of theirs so much as there simply aren't good alternatives to nationalism generally at this point in time. Anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism largely mean nationalism in practice. When Russia launches a war to conquer Ukraine, the only meaningful way to protect Ukrainians from that oppression is to support the continued existence of their sovereignty.

I don't think it's remotely leftist to require that jews sacrifice their jewish identity. When I criticize leftists for essentially requiring this of us, this is a criticism I am making from the left, of the left, as a leftist jew.

2) I'm primarily interested in anti-zionism as an iteration of antisemitism, namely identifying the reasons why it's politically useful across various contexts, because the functions it serves are relevant to being able to understand and combat it. These for instance.

As for the second question really that's every zionist's critique of zionism. Sometimes they're even right.

As for zionism's survival, prior to Israel's establishment jews being a tiny, fractured people meant our political movements were largely impotent in the face of any opposition from non jews. Then as now, non jews hostile to us are far more numerous, far more electorally and politically significant, and far better resourced than we can ever be, let alone the non jews indifferent to us. Being unable to simply impose ourselves, anything we sought to accomplish politically required sufficient non-jewish buy-in. Zionism was the only political solution of ours that due to its being possible to align with their own interests could garner meaningful support from even antisemitic non jews. A good book on this subject.

As for leftist zionist recommendations, there's no more comprehensive treatment I know of than Albert Memmi's trilogy on the subject:

Portrait of a Jew

The Liberation of the Jew

Jews and Arabs

For something shorter here's a collection prepared in the wake of 10/7:

Additional piece I feel should be included on account of I think the failure to recognize the dynamic described is the source of a lot of confusion:

And I am not an ideological leftist so for socialist perspectives I will defer to others I know:

3) Check out Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition and Islamic Imperialism: A History.

4) Pretty much all of that originates in the 1960's and derives from the soviet anti-zionist campaign in conjunction with the ascending political power of postcolonial states in Asia and Africa. The chief concern of the African states was anti-colonialism, epitomized by the fight against apartheid, and the arab states seized on the opportunity to broker an alliance: in exchange for the support of the arab states on fighting apartheid, African diplomats would accede to arab demands that Israel be treated like a western colonial power in UN human rights matters.

[evilwickedme]

I've been thinking a lot about the war in Russia & Ukraine.

The way millions of people have been living in hell, and all I've done is reblog a couple of infographics about it, and kept on with my life. I was posting about thirsting after Jason Todd and my thoughts on Spideypool like everything was fine, because for me it was. I don't know if any Ukrainians follow me, but God, that must have been so alienating. I know, because it's how I feel now.

That's a failure in empathy on my part. I just wasn't thinking about it. But I've been trying to operate as usual while my entire reality is crashing around me, and it's not possible. I thought maybe fandom was exactly the distraction I needed, but having friends not even check up on me while they keep talking about marvel cartoons has been extremely sobering.

Nothing feels real. I can't avoid social media, because my head is a really dark place right now, and it's the best way I know to disengage (I can't concentrate on reading or watching stuff, either). But I feel extremely guilty disengaging. In between posts about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'm seeing people calling for my and my friends' and family's death, or for the deaths of my Arab friends and neighbors.

All this to say. I'm feeling very alone right now, and there's not really much I can do to change that.

A woman I know is crowdfunding to supply an empty building that has been volunteered to house 54 displaced families with mattresses and fridges. The actual crowdfunding platform is private, so I can't just volunteer the link, but any money donated to my ko-fi over the next 48 hours will be sent to this project. I myself will be donating as much as I can of my own money either way, but if anyone feels like they have the spare funds, there are 54 families that would greatly appreciate it.

[gryficowa]

I love seeing American liberals, from pinkwashing and masturbation to Harris, talk mostly about LGBT+, black people and nothing else, but no words about Arabs/Muslims, no words about people with disabilities, no words about border victims…

There's shit in Poland, but at least many LGBT+ people don't want to sacrifice the lives of GAZA CIVILIANS FOR THE EMPTY PROMISES OF POLITICIANS

The very thought of considering my rights to be more important than the lives of my children would disgust me

Yes, I hate my country, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm fucking disgusted with blue MAGA

I survived in a country where President Andrzej Duda started a campaign against LGBT+ people during the election campaign, I live in a country where in 2020 there were pro-life vans spreading queerphobic propaganda

Well, sorry American LGBT+ people, but you don't know shit about hell, you are privileged and instead of using your privilege to fight for the victims of genocide, you are ready to vote for a person who supports a country committing genocide

Pinkwashing/homonationalism is not your friend, stop fucking defending it

No matter how pissed I am at my country (Especially since they took in Ukrainians to wash their hands of attacking people on the Polish-Belarusian border, the fact that it was enough to lull people into sleep and their reactions to the inhumane treatment of innocent civilians deceived by Luakshenko is fucking disgusting)

But as a person who has seen shit in my country, I have the right to be even more angry that people accept genocide as long as they support LGBT+ people, American LGBT+ people are too privileged if they support it…

American LGBT+ people have forgotten what the struggle of LGBT+ people was like, how many of them died in concentration camps, you don't know your history if you support pinkwashing and are willing to vote for a person who uses homonationalism…

The truth is that your comfort and empty rights are more important than people's lives, and that is not fucking normal

[wizardfrog69]

sorry for reqiesting when you have alot of requests !!

but can i request hcs for jouno, ranpo, chuuya and kunikisa with a gn! autistoc s/o thats really "childish" (collects & sleeps wirh plushies, likes shows like bluey & mlp, is easily scared) and tends to act like cat + meow at them alot?

SORRY IF THIS SEEMS LIKE AN AUTISM STEREOTYPE, I MYSELF AM AUTISTIC AND IM LIKE THIS WHOOPS.

Thanks for requesting and dw about requesting when I have a lot of requests :)

'•.¸♡ childish and autistic s/o ♡¸.•'

Autistic!childish!gn!reader

Fluff

Masterlist

Enjoy!

Feat. Jōno, Ranpo, Chuuya and Kunikida

Saigiku Jōno

He isn't too fond of your childish nature, even though he can find it cute at times, he mainly isn't a fan.

He finds it odd whenever you meow at him, he's just confused about why you are meowing at him.

He also does know the difference between a cat's meow and your meow.

Ranpo Edogawa

As someone who is childish himself it's really fun to spend time with him.

He always enjoys sitting with a mountain of plushies around him while watching something made for children.

He also likes scaring you, he will try and not do it so often but he just can't help himself! He loves the cute screams you make when he scares you.

Also if you are looking for a cute show to watch then you can watch Molang, it is beyond adorable.

Also if you meow at him he will meow back.

One time Fukuzawa heard meowing coming from the ada office thing and he thought it was a cat, only to be disappointed that there weren't any cats.

Chuuya Nakahara

He isn't childish himself but he finds your behaviour really cute.

He isn't someone who enjoys children's shows (even though he watches them with you, mainly for your company and slightly for his enjoyment) he does make up for it with plushies of a show you like or are hyper-fixated on or one that is your special interest.

He does feel like he has to protect you if you get scared easily, he doesn't want you to be constantly scared.

Whenever you meow at him he's just confused and askes why you are meowing at him.

Doppo Kunikida

A combination which would never mix somehow is working?

Despite Kunikida's strict nature and ideal attitude, he still enjoys having a significant other who has a more child like persona.

He doesn't enjoy children's shows (or any really, claiming they are idiotic and so on) but he likes seeing you happy so he may sit by you while doing some work as you enjoy a show you are watching.

He doesn't want to spoil you too much but that cute and excited smile you hold is something which his heart seeks frequently, not being able to pull himself away from the thoughts of granting you something tailored to your liking.

He may find your meows a bit on the queer (as in odd/unique not as in the lgbtq+ one) side but he doesn't object to them in the slightest, especially if that is the way you communicate your affections.

༺♥︎༻ ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ *ೃ༄ *ੈ ★ ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ *ೃ༄ *ੈ ༺♥︎༻

Idk why I started writing like that for Kunikida, oh well.

Okay so this is the random list of languages that has no purpose and isn't significant in any way.

Latin, Old Church Slavonic, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Irish, swahili, Czech, Ukrainian, Russian.

Yeah.

Have a wonderful day/night and drunk something nice like ice water :)

-Love, Az

[starlightbooklove]

I love Tumblr.

I just saw the replies to a post i made asking for the full story if what happened and is still happening in Palestine, and i have learned so much.

Here's the story in case you have the same doubts that I had:

The dispute dates back to the Mandate of Palestine as the area was under British occupation due to the Ottoman Empire’s defeat and dissolution after WW1 (the Ottomans had control of the Levant such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Lebanon went to France for awhile). Many Jewish Europeans wanted to settle in the homeland of their ancestors due to hostility in Europe and the lack of a country for Jewish people, but the constant settlement within the country (especially after WW2).

Led to hostility from the Arabic Palestinian population, and the war between Israel and other Arabic countries led to the expulsion of much of the Arabic population and the Exodus of many Jews from Egypt, Yemen, Iraq etc. The conflict continued for decades with Hamas attacking Israel recently and Israel responding with a constant bombardment of the area. This has led to many civilians dying, but Israel’s excuse is that Hamas uses guerrilla warfare.

Meaning that Israel believes Hamas hiding among the civilians will automatically lead to civilian casualties and that their war on Hamas is still justified. This is also why the civilian death toll in Ukraine vs Russia is comparably smaller, as the Ukrainian army tends to avoid civilian populated areas.

Chiming in to say the previous account is accurate and to add the context that a lot of Hamas' actions have been exaggerated or in some cases completely fabricated recently. This is NOT to say they are innocent or blameless, but to just warn you about being careful about claims of their actions and treatment of prisoners because there's a lot of disinformation as of late pertaining to it.

And Two other kind blogs recommended books:

"Decolonizing Palestine" as well as "The Hundred Year War on Palestine" are excellent books if you are able to access them!

I would like to add to these comments that Norman Finkelstein (an extremely well-known Jewish-American political historian) has spent most of his life writing about Israel, and his work on the subject is highly recommended.

Hope this helps someone to clarify confusions or get information, thank you thank you thank you to the accounts that responded ❤️❤️❤️ @thenablade @intricatecakes @gojiti @estro-boi ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[council-of-beetroot]

I think the universal language thing doesn't suck as much as people think.

Why this is beneficial?

It Doesn't Place Any Language as the Default

On the global sphere languages like English or French are the de facto lingua Franca. This would put people like Feliks or Yong Soo at a disadvantage. Having a default language that isn't one spoken by a nation as their main language makes it so no one has a clear advantage linguistically

Ease of Communication

Okay imagine all of the nations of Africa meet for a meeting. Thousands of languages are spoken in Africa it's an incredibly linguistically diverse continent. Now how should everyone communicate with one another? Should they emphasize a language like Swahili, English, French, or Arabic? This is what they do IRL in the African Union. But as language is an intrinsic part of identity I don't feel all the nations on a continent would really enjoy that.

Now commonly sited drawbacks and how to get past them

Q: What about forcing language on someone as a symbol of power?

A: Alright, I write mainly Eastern Europe and Russification was and is still a thing. Now does a default language mean Ivan can enforce his language on others? No, he can simply choose not to use it as a form of communication. Add the default nation language to Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and more after the failed January Uprising. The people of the country don't speak the default nation language. So use this as rationale for Ivan to adhere to Russian being a lingua Franca among the nations of the Soviet Union just as it was back then.

Really i see it like how it was with my friend group in highschool. We all spoke English. Yet I had a friend from Indonesia, Japan, The Czech Republic, and multiple friends from Germany. Sometimes the friends from Germany would spend lunch speaking to one another in German the rest of us not speaking a word of it, just chatted with ourselves entertained.

Q: What about my OTP?

A: your OTP can still learn one another's language. They are learning each other's culture that way and that's important. My best friend's family will speak to me in Spanish because they know I have learned it even though they also speak English as well.

Q: why bother learning a language then?

A: Simple, perhaps the default nation language is quite rudimentary and it can only function to get the basics across. The characters can still be motivated or forced to learn a another language.

Q: what about the people?

As stated before the nation default is only used by nation reps. Take this map of the languages of Interwar Poland. Feliks, if he wants to understand all of his people has probably had to learn some of these languages over the years. To this day Lithuania has Polish speaking minorities so he can use Polish with them. If Feliks is in Sejny or Puńsk for whatever reason or in Hajnówka he can use Lithuanian or Belarusian with those people.

Overall, I don't really care how you go about it this is just my opinion you do you and have fun! 💗

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Weird how supporting Ukraine in Russia's war of aggression is an NPC move and not really worth supporting (with many right-wingers actually supporting Russia) but supporting Israel is totally based and the only right thing to do.

Thank you anon, I've been waiting for some idiot to try and compare these two things. So let's list some of the ways the two situations are different.

Ukraine is not our ally. Israel is.

Ukraine provoked Russia by trying to join NATO, which was specifically forbidden by an agreement NATO had with Russia. Israel did nothing to provoke Hamas other than refuse to be genocided by religious fanatics.

Ukranian independence means nothing for the United States. Our situation is exactly the same no matter who wins that war. Israel is the only democracy in the middle east. It's the only country that has nukes in the middle east. Its existence draws the attention of terrorist states that would otherwise turn their violence back towards us. Its existence gives the various Islamic factions, many of which hate each other almost as much as they hate Jews or America, something to focus on instead of having the fundamentalists immediately go to war with the arab nations that are slowly westernizing. I can't overstate how much a stable, westernized middle east would benefit the US, and Israel's existence is important for that goal.

Russia is a legit government that declared war on another legit government. Hamas is a terrorist organization pretending to be a government that raided Israel, kidnapped and raped hundreds of people, murdered civilians, slaughtered babies, and stole children.

Russia has nukes. Hamas doesn't. If Putin is backed into a corner there's a decent chance he'll use those nukes. If Russia loses the war and that leads to Putin being ousted and a fight for power in Russia, those nukes could be stolen or sold to foreign powers that want to destroy the US and the west. If Russia collapses, then the chances of those nukes going outside of Russia increases drastically.

Those are just a few ways the two situations are different, and why any comparison between the two is stupid and ignorant. Now, if you want to know my personal thoughts, since I know people like you love to pretend that all right wingers have the exact same opinions on everything and demand we prostrate ourselves and self-flagellate over things we've never said, I'll readily admit that I have a deep sympathy for the historic, and modern, plight of the Jews that I don't have for Ukrainians. I'm much more emotionally invested in Israel than I am in Ukraine. But I do hope Ukraine wins. I think every country and every culture should be free to govern itself. I don't support Putin, I don't support Russia, and I think it's hilarious that what used to be the second most powerful military in the world is having so much trouble conquering a tiny country they should have, on paper at least, steamrolled in a few weeks.

But I also don't support the US getting involved in foreign conflicts unless there's something tangible to be gained for us, either economically, strategically, or diplomatically. We get nothing for our investment in Ukraine. We get a lot for our investment in Israel.