#look at the genocide being enacted in Palestine

[sassmill]

“If a lot of men get killed at one go, does it make the killing of one man less of a crime? I don’t know, Andy, I don’t know. I’m only twenty and they say today the world is ours, but Pa was twenty once and felt the world was his, and long, long ago Mad was twenty too, laughing at applauding audiences, smiling from picture postcards, and when I am as old as she is nothing will have changed…”

Daphne du Maurier, Rule Britannia (1972)

[ellevandersneed]

i dont disagree with your thoughts at all re:voting but what do you suggest folks like us do? voting for third party feels just as useless and pointless as not voting at all

think beyond voting. join a student protest. join local political organizations that align with your beliefs and try to enact local change. find out if people in your town or city are organizing rallies for Palestine and work to put Palestine into the minds of as many US Americans as possible. If your area doesn't have any Palestine protests, start one yourself. read more political theory. if you are a communist or a socialist or anything like that, there is a lot of free literature online if you know where to look. the US has a problem with its Political Left. it's horribly disorganized and only really comes together when there's a Bernie Sanders type to rally behind. you need to find likeminded people near you and you need to become a spokesperson for human rights in whatever way you can. the buck cannot keep being passed to someone else until that someone else is a person causing genocide. If you talk to 100 people and try to convince them to become more politically active, and only 5 of them do, then you have multiplied yourself 5 times. That is how you build something.

[cazort]

Why I'm Enthusiastic About Kamala Harris

I've seen so much negative talk about Trump and we all agree with that, but I want to highlight what I like most about Kamala Harris and why I'm actively enthusiastic and excited about voting for her:

She is pro-abortion rights and pro- comprehensive sex ed

She would appoint good Supreme Court Justices.

She respects people with a diverse range of political views and would include some voices from both progressive and conservative perspectives in her administration.

She is unambiguously pro-LGBTQ rights, including not just on gay rights but also trans rights.

She would represent continuity with the Biden administration, an administration that I think has done a good job on most issues.

On the issue of Palestine/Israel/Gaza (where I am most critical of Biden), I think Harris is a significant improvement over Biden, and also offers the better path of the only two viable candidates, towards ending the genocide. She has spoken out against the civilian deaths and she has snubbed Netanyahu which is a huge plus in my book.

She has shown a willingness to change her views, such as how she moved from being opposed to decriminalizing sex work in 2008, to being supportive of it in 2019, and being initially skeptical of marijuana legalization in 2010, but coming to support it in 2015. I like a candidate who can change their views, but more importantly, she is changing in a direction I like.

She would be good on the economy; she opposes tariffs, and would continue the Biden administration policies which have led to economic prosperity.

She has a solid and fairly diverse track record of experience, working as attorney general for the largest state, then senator for that state, then VP.

She has worked to combat over-incarceration and cruel treatment of people in prison, doing things like reducing mandatory minimum sentences and working to reduce recidivism, opposing solitary confinement, ending private prisons, and ending cash bail. She has also pledged to use the president's clemency powers to release a lot of people who have been imprisoned unjustly or given unfairly harsh sentences.

She has a concrete plan to enact immigration reform that would adequately fund the processing of asylum applications and fix the backlog of immigrants at the border. And the plan has broad bipartisan support.

On top of this she also has already done some things to address the root causes of migration in Latin America, particularly people fleeing Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador

She is pro-net-neutrality.

She supports universal healthcare, but also has concrete recommendations for how to improve the current status quo.

She is pro-science, including on issues like climate change, COVID, vaccinations, and health and nutrition. Her mom was a scientist!

She is pro-Ukraine, wanting to keep Russia out of Ukraine and ensure Ukraine wins their war of defense and maintains their independence.

She is across-the-board better on women's issues, not just reproductive rights but also sexual violence and domestic violence, workplace equality and the pay gap, and women's issues in Latin America (which is related to the immigration pressure I mentioned above.)

She generally takes stances on foreign policy I agree with, being skeptical of leaders (Putin, Orban, Netanyahu) I want us to be skeptical of, and working with and looking up to the ones I want us to work with and look up to (Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron). She already has a working relationship with many of these leaders too, and has a reputation of being both personable and tough, just what I'd want.

She's smart, well-educated, and surrounded with smart, well-educated, and wise people. Her campaign is stable and well-run, and I trust her to put together a team of competent advisors and run this country competently, probably even more so than Biden has done, and Biden has done a pretty decent job, exceeding my expectations even.

Harris also has an impressive list of endorsements. I can't possibly be comprehensive here, but it includes people as diverse as the most progressive Democrat Lawmakers (Bernie Sanders and AOC), some of the most conservative former GOP legislators (Jeff Flake, Liz Cheney), and over 100 former GOP staffers including a disturbing number of insiders from the Trump administration. This is telling! You don't see this sort of whistleblowing and defection from within the Biden administration.

The fact that Harris has racked up endorsements from people spanning the whole political spectrum from solid-right to solid-left and everything in between, impresses me. This is the sign of someone who is going to be good at getting people to work together, someone who will listen to a wide range of viewpoints and develop better policy and take better courses of action as a result. It's what I always want in a president.

In some elections I have been frustrated that I'm voting for a "lesser of two evils" but this time around I actually feel actively enthusiastic about Harris. I am excited to vote tomorrow and excited to finally be done with this election, and I am cautiously optimistic that it is going to turn out really well.

I encourage everyone to vote and make sure to make sure everyone close to you is also voting!

[mrsgojosatoru]

I am once again so humbly asking people to stop telling Palestinians and Palestinians in diaspora that "Trump will be worse." We're under no illusion that Trump wouldn't enact the same policies as Biden. We know of Trump's ties to Bibi. We know he would prefer Trump in office.

But there is no worse than genocide, so if you could stop telling people Trump would be worse than what is already happening -- an unimpeded flow of weapons and money to exterminate as many Palestinians as Israel would like.

I cannot take it seriously.

I get it. You're scared of a second Trump presidency. But Palestinians are already being subject to genocide, so there is no worse for them.

You're better off arguing for whatever slightly centrist policies you think Biden will uphold, which I can't possibly imagine what you think it is. He booted a ton of people off of medicaid, he's approved a ton of off-shore drilling, under his leadership the CDC whittled covid isolation to nothing, and he has revoked asylum for immigrants. But you know I'm sure you can come up with something. Supreme court maybe. Encourage people to be single issue voters.

But you shouldn't tell people Palestine will be worse off under Trump. Because I do wonder what that would look like for you. At best it says you worry about West Bank annexation (though the West Bank has also been under increased attack recently), and at worst it means you haven't been paying attention to what's happening to Palestine.

Anyways Israel fired 355 bullets into the car of Hind Rajab, that little girl who begged rescue services to come get her out of the car of her murdered family members before dark because she was frightened of the dark.

And Biden not only doesn't give a single solitary shit about that little girl dying frightened, or that Israel bombed the rescue medics (after giving the permission to come get her), he paid for the bullets that did it.

So again, I ask you, what pray tell, is worse?

[ganondoodle]

i did a mini rant about it on twitter, but i want, and need, to say this here as well

it is sickening to see all media everywhere parrot israeli propaganda and lies while actively ignoring what they are doing to palestine, but especially so seeing it all being done just as much in germany, it feels even more personal bc shouldnt WE be the ones MOST critical of anyone enacting genocide?? a lesson to take from our awful, shitty, horrific history isnt we cannot criticize jewish people ever at all but that genocide is BAD

its seems like they are afraid of being called antisemitic by some people who dont know shit about whats going on so much so that theyd rather support a full blown genocide of 2 MILLION people, and it just

it scares me

i feel like a stranger in my own home, im avoiding news on radio and TV bc it feels like they are trying to brainwash me to cheer for the oppressors; we were responsible for a 5+ million genocide and now the media and politicians want us to support one of 2 million more??? what the fuck???

"well there are some evil people in this country we have been colonizing for years, guess we are gonna have to wall the entire region off so noone can leave and kill every single human life there, sorry, we had no other choice, dont look at us openly bragging about pulverizing a hospital filled to the brim with people seeking shelter from our 6000 mega bombs we dropped within a few days on this region, then calling palestinians 'children of darkness' and us the 'children of light', delete those posts, then change who we want to blame it on every few minutes bc people are starting to see through our lies, but dont you see? the bad people could have been anywhere, we had to, that hospital wasnt the first and wont be the last tho, so sad uwu"

how insane do you have to be to hear that and go "ah yes, that is very logical and justified and totally not obvious lies, heres a billion of currency and a metric fuckton of weapons to kill them all more efficiently, have fun and good luck"

?????????

if you think supporting palestine and wanting isreal to stop bombing them means you automatically support hamas you have no fucking idea what you are talking about actually and you need to educate yourself right about now, urgently

if you think the acts of one terror organisation represent an entire country and thus everyone living in it deserves to die for it, what the fuck is wrong with you there definitely are some horrible fascist, violent cults in the US, there absolutely are some in germany as well, do they represent the entire population of either countries and thus every single thing alive within its borders needs to die horrificly???

why did i have to sit in school trying not to cry my eyes out looking at fotos of piles of tortured, dead people, visit whats left over from concentration camps with all its looming feeling of doom, not even being able to stomach going into the building itself bc it made me want to vomit just being there and learn about every sickening detail of our awful history when im now here seeing and hearing it all over again, but this time im supposed to cheer for the oppressors?

i am appalled of so many countries being so complicit in supporting yet another genocide, but i am especially ashamed of my own. again.

free palestine.

[fairuzfan]

“Temple denialism” as a concept, is made up anon and lacks any coherent internal logic. Why do you think the mosque was built there specifically? Randomly? Do you think the muslims who built it, muslims who acknowledge in their holiest book that their religion is a continuation of Judaism and Christianity, were simply unaware of its religious value? That they picked a spot by random? Absolutely 0 Palestinians meaningfully deny that the temple once stood there. What Palestinians deny and refute is the idea that because an ancient structure once stood there prior to al Aqsa, that it is justification enough for the demolition of their cultural heritage and the erosion of their rights that always follows, which is exactly what every Israeli politician who is rhetorically fixated on the Temple Mount explicitly intends to do.

‘Temple denialism’ is a buzzword intended to illicit the familiar emotional reaction one gets when they encounter atrocity denialism by using disingenuous framing to make them appear comparable. Just because you can google it and get results does not make it any less made up. ‘Temple denialism’ as a framework for discussing Palestinian resistance to cultural genocide is a product of the fact that the demolition of al-Aqsa is a cornerstone goal of right-wing Israeli politics and intends to smear Palestinians as bigots for resisting this. It does not describe a real phenomenon that exists.

As I was looking into denialism I realized they only cite like 2 Palestinians, Arafat and the current Palestinian president that no one likes.

Now I'm not sure islamically why they chose that site.... I can't speak to it. Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended up to heaven to speak to God from there actually, which is why it's the third holiest site in Islam. I believe that's the reason AlAqsa was built there... but I don't want to say for certain.

But yes you're completely right, it's intended to erode Palestinian nationhood and also militarize the rest of Palestine. For us, AlAqsa is the last symbol of nationhood and you can't deny that if Israelis were allowed in there, it would become a highly militarized zone.

People always bring up the ummayad dynasty as a way to deligitimize Palestinian ties — as if the concept of Palestine started then but that's completely ahistorical. Palestine was a thing BEFORE Islam and arabization even. Palestine has been a concept for millenia (if you read Palestine: a 4000 year history, this discusses this more) and its the intent to enact the final stages of settler colonialism by denying the concept of Palestine through the settlement of AlAqsa. I think it's a shallow analysis to say "what does the ibrahimi mosque have to do with anything" but Ibrahimi mosque is also one of the most important mosques in Islam and now Muslims are barely allowed there. Many believe it's the template for what they want to do in AlAqsa.

There's more but like, it does feel like saying "Well Muslims built AlAqsa on Temple Mount. It's their fault we want to demolish it." But then ignore the fact that most Islamic and Christian places of worship are essentially confiscated from Palestinians and their existence as Palestinians is criminalized even in their own homes, as theyre under threat of being arrested in the middle of the night. And there's not the same level of outrage for basic apartheid laws. In my opinion, you should be more concerned with that than the one place Israelis are not allowed.

[certifiedlibraryposts]

re the palestinian bird thing: different anon here, idk what they meant but it’s worth noting that, in addition to political fuckery, that the campaign to remove the word “palestine” from the bird's name might have partially been an attempt to correct a bit of historical revisionism. the only reason that region of the world is commonly known as palestine today in the first place is because the roman empire renamed the area to “syria palaestina” after the roman-jewish wars. they had previously allowed the province to be called judea/judaea, as in jews and the jewish kingdoms that existed there before being conquered. and it wasn't until much later that the arabs now known as palestinians came to be. (disclaimer: I don't speak hebrew and can't be bothered to track down hebrew articles from a decade ago to translate by hand to fact check how much this played into the bird thing but it is a reasonable possibility and an understandable one, as jewish heritage has been so often destroyed and erased. regardless, the palestinian response to make the bird a symbol is equally understandable.) relatedly, be careful about the phrase “from the river to the sea”, because while it's sometimes about palestinian liberation, it's also often used as a dogwhistle that means “kill all jews in the levant”; and the dogwhistle version has become increasingly common as of late. look into the organization called standing together for antisemitism-free activism and jewish/palestinian solidarity.

I see what you mean, the history you mentioned seems to check out and it's unquestionably been a tumultuous part of the world that's been given a lot of different names over time. However I don't really feel comfortable in agreeing it was combating revisionism because it happened during what I understand to be a violent occupation. Without a source or truly knowing the intentions it's just kind of speculation.

"From the river to the sea" was used in that post in the context of Palestinian freedom and peace. Related to that point, I also received another ask concerned with my use of the word "zionist" as it has historically described a very wide range of ideas, and has also been used as an antisemitic dogwhistle. That was not my intent, it's the word I was most familiar with to get across my point that I don't support violence against or the erasure of Palestinian culture. Those using violence and calls for peace to excuse antisemitism are despicable. One can and should be an ally of both Palestinians and Jewish people.

I looked up Standing Together, I can certainly get behind their message of peace and cooperation, and people in Israel who are working to end the genocide deserve so much respect and admiration. It seems like reception to the movement has been mostly positive, but I feel it'd be irresponsible not to mention that the PACBI wing of the BDS movement has taken issue with it in the past week. I don't feel qualified to take a definitive stance either way, especially as I also can't read Hebrew or Arabic to get more direct contex. I encourage anyone interested to learn more and come to your own conclusions.

My overall point is that I do not support the genocide the Israeli miltary is enacting on the Palestinian people. I want to share more posts about Palestinian culture, art, and joy in a time where there is effort being made to erase it.

Finally, while I do my best to make sure what goes on this blog is accurate, I just wanna make it clear that I'm neither an expert at research, nor am I able to be a definitive resource for this topic (or frankly most things).

[rotzaprachim]

let’s talk genocide denial!!! I’ve been seeing a Lot of it and it’s very infuriating on all fronts, especially when we are facing situations with multiple genocides at play! For ref, I am not indigenous to turtle island, I am a Tagalog Jew! 1) people refusing to recognize the nakba and the state of Israel’s long-form treatment of Palestine as a form of genocide because “there are more of them now!!!” Genocide is not solely a matter of “numbers” of people alive but also the purposeful destruction of peoples and cultures, as has been enacted against Palestine. 2) this is a complex one but…. Importation of discourses of originalism and indigeneity to middle eastern and Eastern European cultural contexts where they don’t belong. While pretty straightforward on turtle island, the constant flow of people into and out of these regions has meant many groups of people have lived in the same places for hundreds or thousands of years. The claim of “certain” groups of people as being invaders or recent “imports” has been a central aspect of the justification of deportation and genocide across EE and SWANA regions. This includes Jews across Eastern Europe (middle eastern invaders!!!) Palestinians in Palestine (Arab or greek invaders!!!) Armenians everywhere (Christian invaders!!!!) Greeks in Turkey and Egypt, Bosnians in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Turkish invaders!!!) and so forth. Don’t adopt these discourses. 3) point blank labeling of antisemitism as something *fake* the Jews control. *antisemitism*

4) refusal to reckon with the extent of the Shoah and intergenerational traumas and realities of the Shoah (like other genocides.) a genocide affects not only the survivors but their descendants. I’m seeing a lot of people acting like Zionism is a particularly evil ideology the Jews cooked up and then brainwashed other Jews into believing and then everyone chose to move to Israel instead of continue living in their nice cosy Yiddish bund homeland, and that removes the goysiche agency from the story. The Shoah outright obliterated the Jewish homelands and cultural areas Jews had been living in across Europe, and any genuine antizionism or diasporism NEEDS TO LOOK that history right in the face rather than sweeping it under the rug. It NEEDS to reckon with why so many Jews came to believe that they could no longer live outside of their own state because the goyishe world told them with blood that they could no longer live outside of their own state. It also needs to deal with the fact mass numbers of Jews were pretty unceremoniously dumped from DP camps to the state of Israel after the war was over. Genocides affect the survivors for generations, including where they live. 4) refusal to recognize antisemitism in the Arab world or the contexts which forced middle eastern Jews from their homelands and into the state of Israel. Oh it must be /their fault./ see above, no effective antizionism without reckoning with these histories.

5) tankies. There’s just been a mass platforming of tankies recently and many of them engage in genocide apologism or outright denial, especially of the holodomor. Others whitewash the policies of forced cultural assimilation or land dislocation undertaken by the USSR as “necessary anti-conservative revolutionary action against reactionaries.” I don’t care what their *good stances* are, we should not platform outright genocide deniers even if they can *justify* mass killings by means of political ideologies. These ideas include the idea that any discussion of governmental violence or genocide by a non U.S.-aligned state is a western psyop invented by the U.S., and they include not only historic genocides (although as discussed, genocides are not solely “historic” in the sense they continue to affect survivors and their children for generations) but current and ongoing violence against Uighur, Kurdish, Ukrainian, and Tibetan people.

5) anti indigenous racism in turtle island. Also a complex one as I don’t want to engage in whataboutism, but a lotttt of the jokes about *just send the Israelis to New Jersey/New York/Florida* ignore the fact that New Jersey, New York, and Florida are also settler colonies and indigenous homelands. A lot of the discussion of IL by white settlers has revealed the extent that they do not view themselves as white settlers, nor do they really understand native peoples and First Nations continue to exist. “I’d let Native American Hamas kill me and it would be awesome!!!!” Well there is no Native American Hamas, but there might be a tribe in your area that needs money for new kindergarten chairs or support for landback, so you shouldn’t treat them as a vaguely existent hypothetical.

6) reimposition of the colonial notion of one land for one ethnic group with one language and only one language that can be applied to place names. Even if this is in a *decolonial* sense for one area it’s still very dangerous logic to play with, especially with the ethnic diversity of much of the world. The idea of inherent primacy of one ethnic group over another in the post colonial era has been at the root of many mass killings.

7) labeling a language as “evil” or “untrustworthy”

8) I shouldn’t have to tell you why the idea that “there are no civilians” is very bad in literally any case

[animebw]

I've been struggling to figure out how to write this post for the past couple weeks. Part of me thinks I shouldn't bother writing it at all. Not like my words will accomplish much in the grand scheme of things. But if I don't say anything, these thoughts will just keep gnawing at my mind like caged animals. And as the chaos in Palestine shows no signs of slowing, I need to get this out before it's too late for my words to do anything but cast regretful looks back at a moment I was too cowardly to add my voice to.

So.

Most of you don't know this, but I'm Jewish. Not incredibly so; my dad's side of the family is full of active temple-goers and worshippers, but I've mostly just tagged along for holidays and bar mitzvahs. It's a part of myself I used not to think that much about, just one aspect of my life among many. But in recent years as right-wing anti-semitism has ramped up, I've begun appreciating my Jewish connections more and more. Judaism may not be a religion I follow, but it's been an integral part of my culture and community over the years. It's the connections I share with my extended family who I usually only see a couple times a year on Passover and Hannukah but nevertheless tie us together unshakably. Being Jewish is an indelible part of me, and I've always wanted to make a more active effort in connecting with and exploring that part of my heritage. There was even a time back in college where I was tentatively planning a birthright trip to Israel to connect with my ancestral roots or whatever. Classic post-graduation travel abroad stuff.

It feels really weird to think back on that now.

I've never read much of the Torah, I admit. Not like I could, since I never learned Hebrew. But everything I've picked up about Judaism over the years has overwhelmingly painted it as a call for compassion, kindness, and community. Yes, the world can be cruel, it says, which is why we must add light to the darkness wherever we can. Celebrate the freedoms we've won. Cherish the bonds we've forged. Weep even for those who've wronged us as they suffered in turn from God's judgement. Judaism, to me, has always been about how absolutely essential it is to choose love over bitterness and hatred. It is our responsibility to cultivate a kinder, better world, so those who come after us need not suffer the same ills as us. It's been a comfort in many rocky periods of my life.

And it is with that perspective that I say unequivocally: what Israel's government is doing to Palestine is indefensible. Bombing hospitals, dropping chemical weapons, denying critical aid to innocent civilians trapped in the barrage, even bombing safe routes they themselves told Palestinians to take. Displacing people from their homes, their lives, their dignity with no regard for their basic humanity. Speaking with increasingly dangerous rhetoric with a desire to wipe the entire population off the face of the map. Never mind the decades upon decades of abuse that Palestine has already suffered under Israeli occupation, second-class apartheid citizens in their own homeland. There is no excuse on the face of the planet that can justify this cruelty and carnage.

Yes, Hamas are bloodthirsty terrorists themselves, and there can be no peace until they are brought to justice. But Israel's actions in response to the October 7 attacks have long crossed the boundaries of justified retaliation. What Bibi Netanyahu and his far-right government are enacting upon Gaza is exactly the same breed of genocide that has been enacted upon Jews across the world throughout history. From our subjugation in Egypt through the Holocaust, we know all too well how it feels to face this evil, see it rip through our communities as it seeks to tear apart the fabric of our very personhood. So to see the craven extremists in Israel's government invoke those horrors in an attempt to justify subjecting another downtrodden, oppressed people to the same fate... I don't think I can properly describe how angry it makes me.

Netenyahu and his government do not speak for all Jews. Hell, according to recent polls, they don't even speak for most Israelis anymore. They do not get to claim Judaism for their own murderous purposes. They do not get to use my voice as justification for their war crimes. They betray the soul of this culture with every hospital they blow to bits and every scrap of aid they deny the suffering children next door. And I refuse to be silent in face of their propaganda. I refuse to let this culture, which has been nothing but a source of kindness and community to me, to be weaponized to excuse the same monstrosities we celebrate rising above every year. I refuse to accept their definition of Judaism as long as I have breath to speak against it.

Palestine deserves freedom. Palestine deserves self-autonomy. Palestine deserves the same kindness that Judaism preaches to all downtrodden people of the world. And Israel must stop this senseless slaughter before their history of surviving the world's horrors ends with them becoming the horror in someone else's scripture. Find and destroy Hamas without punishing the people of Gaza- over half of whom weren't even born when Hamas came to power- for their crimes. Work toward a two-state solution where Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, can live side by side in solidarity of the trials they've both overcome. Remember compassion in a world that venerates blind hatred. Remember the kindness we claim rises above all attempts to squash it down. Remember that the heart of Judaism is supporting those who struggle through darkness, helping them find their way out into the light.

Remember who we claim to be.

And refuse to let us be defined by death.

#FreePalestine

[smile-files]

i think the main issue in arguing with zionists is that, well, they believe in zionism! if israel did deserve to exist, then the genocide and injustice in palestine could be argued for (not like it should be, but it certainly could) -- and zionists believe israel deserves to exist.

i, unfortunately, have a large amount of experience interacting (personally) with zionism and zionists. most of those i've talked to feel for the palestinians, and the violence they are facing, but they fail to realize (or they staunchly deny) the very, very active part israel and the IDF have had in that -- and how it's representative of what the nation has always done.

at the same time, they focus more on israeli hostages than palestinian ones -- and i know, of course, that these zionist jews i've interacted with are either israeli or have loved ones in israel, and so have a very personal stake in the safety of israeli hostages (which may very well be friends or family members), but i find it strange how much emphasis they put on hamas' cruelty in taking hostages while the IDF is doing the same thing (in essence; the exact details of who's doing it worse are important to note, but not relevant right now, because folks should realize that their side is being at least as cruel as the enemy's).

recently i was drawn into an argument with an israeli zionist (who, unfortunately, is very close to the action and tragedy by being israeli), and she was incredibly offended by my anti-zionism and my opposition to israel's abject cruelty to palestinian citizens, as it seemed (to her) like i was bypassing the cruelty hamas has enacted on israeli citizens -- which is very telling. i've noticed that we as jews have the tendency, whatever the situation may be, of focusing more on our pain than the pain of others, even if we are the ones hurting them. that person has every reason to be scared and hurt, and i'd be lying if i said her response wasn't at least somewhat sympathetic, but her pain in this horrible, violent conflict does not invalidate the pain on the other side. jews, throughout this recent crisis, have consistently not talked in depth about the constant losses in palestine -- am i suddenly being callous by focusing on those losses, and not our own? (YOUR PAIN AND THEIRS AREN'T MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE, YOU DOLT! sorry...)

because it all comes down to believing in israel! my mom has always told me about how beautiful it is there, about her time living on a kibbutz... and sure, it might be nice. i can't argue with that. but why is it that our nationalism for israel is so strong, so virulent? i have not seen patriots as loyal for any other country. and when you criticize israel, israelis feel like you're criticizing their entire existence -- and many non-israeli jews do, as well. because zionism has been built so deep into the modern religion! it's made to be a necessary piece! belief in it is the default!

and, from the inside looking in, i can't be surprised that many jews take anti-zionism as being antisemitic -- because, to them, israel and zionism stand as the pinnacle of safety and support for the jewish people. it is impossible to argue with them about anything above that base layer, as the base layer itself serves as a foundation: so long as a jew thinks that israel is right, deserved, and necessary, no proof will sway them into hating israel. it's just impossible, and that's very frustrating.

for me in particular, i find it very frustrating, as this single idea has turned so many people i know to support a genocidal entity. they believe in and support israel, so they stand with it now -- even if they condemn its current actions, they neglect how those actions are just an extension of its inherent existence -- whether they think israel's doing the right thing or wrong thing right now, they don't really care at the end of the day, because israel, to them, is necessary in keeping the jewish people alive. they stand with it, thinking that jews can only stand at all if they do.

but a genocidal crutch is no crutch at all: it only breaks us more. zionist jews make me so mad, and the worst part is that i could never express that to them in a way they'll understand.

[kaizey]

The yankees seeing irish reaction and sentiment to the ongoing genocide in Palestine really warranting a fucking history lesson, yet again, to dispel their ignorance because they think that we either jumped onto the bandwagon for clout or think "irish problems have nothing to do with Palestine???"

A primer, for ye fucks

Since apparentl a tonne dont bother looking into the depths of the Sykes-Picot agreement and Balfour Decleration and how the enactment of these two things was done literally during the irish war of Independance and architechetured by the same people constantly trying to shoot and beat us into not existing as a people anymore.

How many of ye would have known that Ronald Storrs literally described the intent for the creation of a Zionist state as a "little loyal jewish Ulster" as a ethnonationalist loyalist outpost in the middle east for Britain to use as a source of support and force to leech resources out of the local populus. They literally modelled their plans of the plantation of Ulster where they effectively tried to exterminate irish people in the North and was the foundation for 500 years of nonstop coloniser oppression

Or worse. How following the war of Independance, the brits sent the literal Black and Tans, Churchills own personal pet project designed to let pscopathic lunativs roam Ireland freely with the only mission being to beat, burn, murder and terrorist civilians. Not the IRA. Civilians. They were enlisted right out of the RIC and Auxs and transferred right into Palestine to do the exact same thing to native palestinian communities

This solidarity between us isnt some new shit. We were the brits fucking petri dish to experiment and run all their initial colonial methods on that they then suplanted into the middle east and were then inherited by the planter state bombing civilians and treating palestinians like cattle now

So if I hear another american say some stupid shit about how theres no paralleles between us or reason for us to feel such a deep empathy for whats happening, Im going to punch a hole in a brick wall

[boreal-sea]

I find your post about policy disingenuous. 1) because making it seem like; "it's just about Palestine" is incredibly racist in ways I don't have the spoons to explain right now. But 2), your list leaves out the very real and very racist policy actions that Biden has taken against prisoners and immigrants. Under Biden the situation in prisons and at the border has gotten considerably worse than under Trump. He literally has more children in cages than Trump ever did. But apparently children in cages are only bad when Cheeto Man does it.

I'm not the one making it "just about Palestine", the people screaming "Genocide Joe!" are the ones making it just about Palestine. I'm trying to get people to look at literally any other issue besides Palestine - that's the entire reason I made that chart, to PROVE there's so much more at stake than "just Palestine". Stop blaming single-issue voters on ME when you're actually angry at THEM.

I am in fact currently going through the entire list because a different Anon claimed Biden is not "for" any of the things on the list. It is going to take a long time. But I will tackle your specific concerns.

Biden and immigration

It is frankly unfair to compare the number of people at the border under Biden to Trump's era, because their immigration policies are very different.

Yes, immigration at the border gone up since Biden took office. Most of the encounters at the borders have been with asylum seekers. And yes, technically there are more children "in cages" that there was when Trump was in office... because Trump wasn't letting children into the country at all. Biden is not turning them away, unlike Trump, who cited "COVID concerns" as his reason for turning starving and dehydrated children away from the border. In Trump's case, this was actually just straight up racism, because he hates Mexicans. He also hates Muslims, and enacted many immigration and travel bans against people from majority-Muslim nations. So yeah, of course there were less people being processed through immigration centers: Trump was turning them all away.

Your comparison, therefore, is extremely disingenuous. I don't think kids in custody is good, but I also think it's slightly better than kids dying of thirst in the desert or being forced to return to unsafe places.

Source: Politifact Fact-Check

Biden and prison reform

As for Biden's actions towards prisoners: Biden has been big on criminal justice reform his entire term. Here is a list of some things (among many more) he has done for criminal justice reform:

A majority of the people he nominated to appoint to courts around the country were people of color and/or women, in an effort to increase diversity in the criminal justice system.

He placed a moratorium on the death penalty.

He ordered the Department of Justice to not renew contracts with private (for-profit) prisons for federal prisoners.

He has pardoned and commuted many federal sentences for non-violent drug-related crimes (he has no control over non-federal convictions).

He provided grants to encourage the hiring of people with prior convictions.

He enacted a program to ensure prisoners leaving prison were given proper temporary IDs, which the were not in the past.

He pardoned federal offenses for the simple possession and use of marijuana.

He expanded Pell grants for prisoners to be able to obtain degrees during and after they leave prison

Added more options for prisoners with loans to consolidate and get onto repayment plans as low as $0 a month.

He enacted the First Step act, which facilitates prisoner reentry to society, rehabilitation, and reduces prisoner numbers in federal prison, including the release of over 30,000 prisoners.

He reduced the checking of criminal records in hiring processes for federal positions, enabling more people to be hired to those positions.

Added 19 new recidivism-reduction programs (programs to reduce the chances someone will end up back in jail).

This is not an exhaustive list. He has done EVEN MORE for criminal justice reform than this. You can just google this stuff, it's not hard to find.

Sources:

WhiteHouse.Gov

NBC News

Times.Com

[heystephen]

hold on i’m about to come in your inbox with “HER SISTER WAS A WITCH, BRO” energy

the issue is you CANNOT equate standing against the genocide of palestinians to being a nazi. and the narrative of standing against genocide = antisemitism is so very backwards i have to wonder what fuckin timeline we’re in.

israel 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 killing 👏🏻 and 👏🏻 bombing 👏🏻 palestinians 👏🏻

if this were about hamas i’m gonna say something i never thought i would have to say

ISRAEL IS BEHAVING LIKE AMERICA DID AFTER 9/11 BUT EVEN WORSE

you’re gonna tell me that i’m wrong???

fact: the average age in palestine is 18

fact: 13 THOUSAND lives and counting have been lost

fact: in “fighting hamas” israel is BOMBING HOSPITALS

this isn’t a fight against antisemitism or terrorist attacks from hamas

this is a cleansing

this is same shit, different font as what hitler did

fear-mongering against palestinians is at an all-time high. how do you think hitler got so much support in what he did? he wasn’t seen as evil by his supporters. he was very, very charismatic and very good at painting the people he was committing atrocities against as evil.

and that’s precisely what israel is doing. they’re now leaving four hour windows for people to evacuate, finally. why?

because they want to cleanse palestine of palestinians fully so they can take control of it.

THIS IS LITERALLY A CLEANSING, THIS IS LITERALLY GENOCIDE.

what about the people who cannot afford to up and move? what about the people with terminally ill family who will die when they leave hospital care? what about the disabled, the children? what about the COUNTLESS orphans they’ve already created with nobody to look after them?

israel is making this allowance and people think it’s kind. it’s not kind. it’s fucking brutal. it’s the most inhumane example of forcibly enacted darwinism.

being against that doesn’t make someone a nazi. it makes them human.

^^^

[pomoapple]

Self harm has always been used as a form of protest by anti fascists. So it's really wild that people are saying that Aaron Bushnell "went too far" or that his death was "pointless".

Self immolation as we know it has been around since the 1960s and, besides being brutal by design, it was used as opposed to other means of self harm BECAUSE it was so extreme. It wasn't enough that you were willing to die for your cause, it was the fact that the offenses committed by the opposition were so great that you simply could not live to see another minute of it so you decided to add your name to the list of people that that regime killed.

Other forms of self harm activism like hunger strikes, refusing medicine and aid, self stabbing, disembowelment, cutting, hanging, poisoning, drowning, self inflicted gunshot, and suicide by cop all have similar messages with varying political and public results. Suicide by cop is often looked at very lowly because imperialism has trained society to believe that law enforcement is an institution of good and cops killing civilians is an action forced on them. Whereas hunger strikes are often looked at with sympath because imperialism has positioned food as a creature comfort and a luxury and to willingly starve is something that everyone has experienced at least once in their life. But self immolation exists in a very unique realm of pain and finality. No one can imagine themselves on fire. No one can find a system to godhead. There's nothing but the horrible feeling of the flames being so quick but the death being so painfully slow.

And again, self harm protests always wield different results depending on the method used, the cause, the justification, the proximity to the injustice, the identity of the activist, and the resulting health/death status. But the message is easier to decipher. "I do not agree with the actions of the oppressor and I want everyone on the political spectrum to know that my goal is to die for that belief". Going "too far" is the point of political suicide, not an unfortunate side effect. Being "pointless" simply doesn't exist because the death/harm IS the point, and by being it has already proven itself to be worthwhile to the committer.

Personally speaking am I ok with Aaron lighting himself on fire? No. I wish that he hadn't have done it at all and I truly wish he were alive today. But he WANTED us to not be ok with his death. He knew that even though he would be villainized, made fun of, have his death celebrated, and have the believers of zionism feel vindicated in their genocide because only "monsters" who support Palestine would enact such violence. But he had his reasons, and us not agreeing with his reason comes from the same place that his suicide came from. Not agreeing with genocide so much that he felt compelled to not live in a world that funds ethnic cleansing.

Articles to look into regarding suicide protests

[useless-catalanfacts]

Pls pls pls share any info you have about marches and solidarity in Catalunya/Barcelona for our brothers in Palestine. I don’t see anything. A genocide is happening as we speak, that has been going on for 70 years of struggle for freedom. They are civilians, with the majority under 18, not Hamas. They have no water, no electricity, no hospitals. They’re told to run for their lives like animals but the borders are closed!!!! Isreal bombed Lebanon and Egypt to stop them from even opening their doors. This isn’t a war. They are being buried alive, families are staying home in the hope of dying together. Imagine going to the funeral of a friend and coming back home to your kids under rubble, the faces and garden burned by white phosphorus. The media relying countless debunked lies. Nothing said of the illegal settlement, kidnapping, sexual abuse, UN crimes against humanity, nothing is done. The US and Europe are rolling out laws to stop even showing the Palestinian flag, can’t write on insta or twitter. Few jewish ppl are speaking up against the violences but are immediately shut down. Anyone expressing support is automatically a terrorist. Sounds familiar? Sounds fascist? Have we forgotten that the colonizer’s gov has always been religious far-right since it’s creation. They desperately want to us to believe they are defending themselves in a 2 sided war. It’s not 2 sided when one side is being obliterated with and the other side can take a commercial light to their second house in New York. It’s not 2 sided when one side is waiting for death and the other side can go around the corner to a McDonald to cry about how horrible it is that the other McDonald is closed. Nothing makes sense. I feel sick. My heart cries, their struggle is our struggle, of all the oppressed minorities fighting for their right to freedom, their right to speak their language and live on their lands

Hi. Hm I think if you haven't seen anything, you haven't been looking much, nor watching the news. There have already been rallies to show support to Palestine in Barcelona.

Last Monday in Plaça Sant Jaume, Barcelona:

Photos shared by Crida LGBTI.

On Wednesday, hundreds protested in front of the EU delegation in Barcelona:

Photo from Europa Press.

Today (Saturday) again, more than 700 hundred people have marched in the center of Barcelona:

Photo from ACN.

The movement in solidarity with Palestine has been very strong in the Catalan Countries for decades. You can keep up by following the Palestinian and solidarity organisations in our country, I'll copy-paste the links from a post I made some months ago:

Organitzacions de solidaritat dels Països Catalans amb Palestina:

Prou complicitat amb Israel: web, Instagram, Twitter.

BDS Catalunya: web, Twitter.

BDS País Valencià: Instagram, Twitter.

Comunitat Palestina a Catalunya: web, Twitter, Instagram.

I a nivell internacional:

Jewish Voices for Peace: web, Instagram.

BDS National Committee: web, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

(That being said, of course Israel is the only one who can stop the violence because they're the ones who are occupying Palestine and enacting violence on Palestinians every single day since the creation of the state of Israel, but there are parts of your ask that don't seem very tactful where right now there is also Israeli people dying. That doesn't change the fact that this was fabricated by their state, but I don't think it does anyone any favour to pretend like they're not having a bad time as well. It just seems like an odd way of phrasing this.)

[minustwofingers]

imagine if she announced the album and then said … and it won’t be released until there’s a ceasefire. the influence she has over so many ppl like come on! But she doesn’t care! And ppl are like oh you shouldn’t hold celebrities accountable like what?? They’re somehow exempt from being decent human beings? but the have influence and wealth to enact action! And they don’t.

right!!! like people can say all they want about how she might get blacklisted or whatever but like. so what. there are normal everyday people who don’t own mansions and private jets and live lavish lifestyles that are putting their lives on the line to speak out about and help palestine, but she’s too money hungry to do that. genuinely so unimpressed with her and her fans that are willing to look past this

« well she’s a celebrity, she’s not supposed to have a political platform » what about taking a stance on genocide is inherently political ?? in a future where palestine is finally free and the full extent of the atrocities the israelis inflicted on their people comes to light, i hope we’ll look upon people like taylor who chose to remain silent with the same disgust as those who remained neutral towards germany in ww2