#motaz instagram stories

[the-lady-maddy]

[muncedes]

december 1st and less than an hour after the “pause” ended israel immediately started bombing gaza again. let it be known that there was no real pause as when this took place israel kidnapped and murdered children, men, and women, all along the west bank.

as we start the holiday season do not forget about palestine. don’t allow yourself to forget about what’s taking place. as you’re with your loved ones imagine losing them as frequently the people in gaza are. when you’re cold think of the millions of displaced palestinians who are experiencing the cold temperatures with no homes and no belongings.

PLEASE do not let all of the holiday content and celebrations to take away from the genocide taking place. they deserve to live they deserve our voices to be loud when they’re too tired to scream and cry. its free palestine today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives.

[fiapple]

[ID: A screenshot of Motaz Azaiza’s instagram story, featuring a post from the users globalstrike1 & Hind Khoudary. It reads:

Global strike

Monday 18-12-23

Do not stay at home go strike in your workplace or main squares

We call unions and syndicates to strike as well

Withdraw amount of your money from bank

Do not fill with gasoline

Do not use credit or debit card

Europe, CANADA, US people stand with Gaza

id ended.]

ANOTHER GLOBAL STRIKE HAS BEEN CALLED FOR BY PALESTINIANS ON THE GROUND!

MONDAY, THE 18TH OF DECEMBER, 2023- BE PREPARED FOLKS!

[intersectionalpraxis]

For context: an Instagram story video of Motaz re-surfaced recently (that's who it is - it's his username), and people are rightfully criticizing him. I hope he takes accountability for this.

The video is translated in this post above. I wanted to share the infographs this X/Twitter user made here because they are important, educational, and informative:

[wutheringheightsfilm]

very very worried about palestinian journalists still... apparently the video motaz posted of the bombing on his instagram story isn't actually his, it was a repost, and he posted to twitter an hour ago, but no one has news about bisan or plestia… i'm very worried about bisan because the last thing she posted was that the isra*li infantry was 1-2 km away from her

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I blocked my Zionist

“”friend”” after she gave condolences for my dog?

Content warnings: pet death, Zionism, genocide mentions

Hi. I’ll try to keep this brief and cohesive. So for some background, I (24F) gave this “friend” from middle school, let’s call her E (24F). We were best friends, but she moved away about halfway through our time in high school. She was from Israel, and not being as informed as I am now, I never thought that much of it. When she moved away, we stayed mutuals on social media, but didn’t chat much. She’d hit me up sometimes, usually after months would go by, and we’d chat a bit, but it would normally end with her disappearing again, and we both just went on with our lives.

Between 2021-2023, I ended up losing a lot of people. Falling outs, rifts, drama etc. Needless to say I don’t have many friends rn. So when she hit me up again at the beginning of 2023 and then later that summer (more consistency then usual), I was excited to reconnect with her. Then, Israel began it’s current violence and genocide in Gaza. Since the beginning of the violence, I took the time to learn more (and am still learning) about the injustices inflicted on the Palestinians by Israel for the past 75 years, and have kept up with Palestinian journalists like Motaz and Bisan on the current aggression that’s been taking place for the past 100 DAYS.

Now remember when I said E was Israeli? Yeaaa, and I brutally reminded of that. She was eating up and regurgitating the lies from Israel on her Instagram stories, blaming Hamas for everything etc. Meanwhile the rest of my feed was of horrific on the ground footage of innocent Palestinians being slaughtered simply for being Palestinian and for living on their land. I believe in the cause for a Free Palestine and an end to the Israeli occupation, and I resolved that a Zionist is not who I want to be friends with, and that I would unfollow E and cut contact.

But this is where I fucked up and am an AH - I stalled. I just restricted her and kept telling myself “I’ll get to it.” I’ll admit the nostalgia of our bond we used to have got the better of me, and I was taking my time cutting the contact cuz I was upset that I have to cut my losses with a connection AGAIN. So I stalled. And kept stalling.

Now this past weekend, my dog passed away. I posted a memorial post to my Instagram, and saw E commented her condolences. Which was nice, but I feel icky taking the sympathy from a Zionist, from someone who does not have sympathy for the lives of the innocent Palestinian men, women, and children being lost in Gaza. And most likely never will.

Since she’s restricted, I don’t think her comment is public. And I don’t want to accept it. Accepting it and responding would call all my support for the Palestinian cause into question. Hell, the fact that I stalled unfollowing her so long calls it into question already, I know that. But I also can’t ignore her forever.

So now comes the time to do what I should of done months ago. I have to unfollow her and block her. But a part of me still feels bad doing after she had sweet things to say about my late pet. I KNOW I’m already the AH for not unfollowing her already, but my query is, WIBTA to do so now after she offered her condolences, and to block her on top of that?

What are these acronyms?

[theravenkin]

hey followers and mutuals:

just a reminder that you can help suffering palestinians from afar. it feels hopeless, but there's always something we can do.

you can donate. i've been donating to the palestinian children's relief fund; there's also a chapter on campus at my university. there are other organizations you can donate with, too: unicef and launchgood are good ones too i think. it doesn't have to be a hundred dollars at a time; give whatever you can afford. just remember why you're giving in the first place.

you can boycott. boycott starbucks, boycott mcdonald's, boycott nestle products, coke products, unilever products...there are so many fucking companies with their hands in israel's pockets (and vice versa) right now. even better, the boycotts are working. starbuck's stocks have dropped like crazy in the past couple of weeks; the world is feeling our collective effects. boycotts work if we stick to them. go to bdsmovement.net to learn about more companies you can boycott or pressure.

you can call your representatives. call and email your representatives every single day. you can call the white house. you can tell them that you are a registered voter and that you will not be voting for any candidate who does not demand a ceasefire. tell them that you will refuse to support any elected official who accepts bribes from AIPAC (such as democrats Brian Higgins, Gregory Meeks, Joseph Morelle, and Ritchie Torres of NY and Pete Aguilar, Ami Bera, and Julia Brownley of Cali). flood those motherfuckers with messages. it does more than you think.

you can share. get on social media and find those palestinian journalists and civilians who are sharing in real time scenes from Gaza. it's gruesome and it is horrifying, but people (especially those so removed from it) need to see it to understand. western media can only spread so much propaganda; when you've seen those dying children, people crying and searching through rubble for their families, something is bound to change. go to instagram and follow motaz (@motaz_azaiza), bisan (@wizard_bisan1), plestia (@byplestia), the heroes on the ground in gaza, risking their lives. they start each new post with "i'm still alive", often worrying that they may not be for long. palestinians are begging the rest of the world to listen and to tell their story in case they don't make it. they just want to be remembered. that's the very least we can do.

you can have conversations. talk to your friends, your family. post on social media. address it directly. it will be uncomfortable. you dont have to be aggressive about it; just try to appeal to people's humanity, present them with the facts, and if you must, show them the gruesome footage from gaza or the badly veiled propaganda from israeli officials. do anything you can to get them to care. tell them how they can help. get people talking about it, even just thinking about it.

you can educate yourself. i've learned more about the history of israel and palestine in the last few days than i ever had before. and let me tell you: learning the objective facts of history makes it 200% easier to know who to support.

you can support your muslim, jewish, and arab friends. they all need it right now. check in on them and see how they're doing. let them know that you're trying to do something; even though it feels small, it will mean something to them, i promise. let them know you're there and you support them.

please please share and do whatever you can to help those suffering without food, water, electricity, or medical care right now. don't be afraid of the issue because it's "sensitive" or "controversial". it's uncomfortable to face, but it should be more uncomfortable to allow thousands to die while we do nothing.

free palestine. 🇵🇸

[lamuliz]

Hi, I'm an artist like you, but not yet.

I don't know what sources to trust. I want to know the names of those lost in Gaza. Do you know any reliable sites or news anchors that are spreading the truth and not misinformation about the severity of this genocide.

My city is convinced that this war isn't "that bad" but I don't believe them, most of the local news either never talks about it EVER or states that it "isn't that bad" once again! Maybe a sob story about a poor american person held hostage but never the people who's familes are being torn.

Thank you for reading this and any advice you have about spreading true awarness, I love your MCYT videos, they always make my day :)

During the first weeks of the aggression, Gaza's health ministry -upon being called "untrustworthy" by the U.S president Biden- released this list of the names of more than 6,000 souls killed by Israel

After this list was published, Israel raided the Al-Shifa hospital. Their following attacks on the remaining hospitals in Gaza has greatly damaged the health system. The current death toll is 25,000+ people, with more presumed dead under the rubble.

For someone that's just starting to learn about the Palestinian issue, (mainly about the ongoing aggression) I'd recommend journalists in Gaza. I will list a few instagram accounts:

CW: All of these accounts include sensitive content

Eye on Palestine

Motaz Azaiza

Hind Khoudary

Yosef Basam

Plestia

Martyrs of Gaza on twitter talks about those who have been killed in the current aggression, along with short stories and parts from their lives.

To learn about the historical context of everything, i strongly recommend you visit this website

The Middle East's suffering has unfortunately been normalized in an effort to stop the world from speaking up against injustice. But it seems like the Palestinian resilience is waking people up now. It's good to see people being eager to learn about all of it. Let's make activism a part of our lives so this stops being an uncomfortable conversation and starts being a learning experience and inspiration for us to change the world for the better.

[tacit-semantics]

Masterpost Asks Received, 9/2/24

Hello everyone! this is a compilation of the asks received in my inbox today, for ease of circulation. Please note that this post was made throughout the day, so there might be some discrepancy between amounts raised and amounts shown here. IMPORTANT: some of these are vetted, and some of them are not, though I do believe them all to be legitimate; that said i do not and cannot vet campaigns. This is simply an aggregate of asks I have received, and I highly recommend viewing each individual account for updates, further information, and- above all else- the stories of each person involved. Again the info here is reflective of SEPTEMBER 2, 2024. Please help if you can!

@bara-belal | $6,277 raised of $50,000

@mohammedayyads-blog | €1,335 raised of €35,000 

@noorabd1992 | $13,115 raised of $45,000 

@springbutterfly37 | $1,230 raised of $45,000

@kareeem-sd | €1,931 raised of €50,000

@lets-help-osama | €1,859 raised of €15,000 

@noor12stt | €305 raised of €70,000 

@areej1982 | €90 raised of €8,000

@savepalestineinfamily19 | €6,612 raised of €50,000 | Instagram

@shady0598767755123 | €500 raised of €50,000

@maysaayahya85 | €10 raised of €35,000

@majedgaza1 | $2,340 raised of $70,000

@faten-lolo12 | $16,097 raised of $50,000

@shah599 | €3,970 raised of €20,000

@ibrahimhuss | $44,120 raised of $100,000

@anasalshrafa | €1,088 raised of €50,000

@ahmadallouh32 | €1,069 raised of €50,000

@wafaaresh6 | $8,401 raised of $50,000

@khalilahmad220 | €35 raised of €50,000

@huda-gaza and @motaz-gaza | $305 raised of $10,000

@zakariafamily | €50 raised of €20,000

@aymanbsil and @osama-family12 | €1,874 raised of €15,000

@ahlam-hilles | €151 raised of €30,000

@helpmohammed2024 | $2,702 raised of $50,000

@ahmed79ss and @burningnightgiver| $11,570 CAD raised of $50,000

@lina-gaza | €37,482 raised of €45,000

@abdallahblog0 | $321 raised of $30,000

@ahmedmatatsblog | €545 raised of €64,000

@basharbfamily | €143 raised of €50,000

@monashamali90 | £14,029 raised of £30,000

@emanfamily81 | €5,126 raised of €38,000

@abed-rashad13 | $6,252 raised of $50,000

@amalgheelan | $877 raised of $5,000

@palestinianhadeel | €6,049 raised of €20,000

[tammysneurosis]

from Motaz instagram story (14 minutes ago)

[the-lady-maddy]

Motaz azaiza instagram story

[meinthefartsmella]

Hello friends, I know seeing so many stories of people trying to raise money right now can be overwhelming. But please consider you are seeing all of these from the comfort of your own home. The least you can do is spare even five dollars or just repost. I don't know how tumblr really works but I'm stepping outside my comfort zone today because this is so much bigger than you or me.

My friend Motaz is a medical student in Gaza. He has been offered a scholarship at Mataram University. The starting payment is $150, and he only has 3 hours to make that payment. Please do what you can, if you see this post.

https://gofund.me/bacc8d39

Also follow Motaz on instagram @its_motaz1 for more info and to share the rest of his posts! I believe in the goodness of humanity to come in clutch at this moment.

Thank you,

I will now add some random tags to perhaps gain more traction.

[browngirlmiscellaneous]

If you’re not already following Motaz Azaiza on instagram, please do so right now. He is a photojournalist, covering the destruction occurring in Gaza everyday. His stories uncover the realities of Palestinians, one that is not covered by any major news agency. He is doing an incredible service and should not go unnoticed. Please follow him.

[chaiaurchaandni]

today, i watch a child on motaz azaiza's instagram stories collecting a human being's fleshy and bloody remains from the road after an israeli bombing and putting them in a plastic bag. the worst part is the kid wasnt even crying or upset, he just looked numb, as if he had done this before. then i log onto tumblr to see people still trying to suggest that it's antisemitic to oppose this, condemn it, or even talk about it. i dont know what to do

[lololollywrites]

Let's debunk Zionist arguments.

There are some things I'm getting really tired of hearing from Zionists. Not only are they just blatantly wrong, but - even if they were right - their actions would STILL be against international and humanitarian law.

Let's break it down, shall we? (This is incredibly long, but so so important. Please hear me out). Source links are in bold and underlined.

Here are some classic Zionist arguments:

Hamas will never settle for peace nor a two-state solution - all they want is violence. (This is what U.S. reps just argued as they voted against a ceasefire. Again.)

Setting aside the fact that October 7 wasn't the beginning of the conflict as well as the fact that Israeli officials publicly proclaim not to want a two-state solution and instead wish to take over all Palestinian land (I'll get to October 7 soon, because there is SO MUCH there), shoddy rockets built from discarded missiles that had already been fired upon them, rocks being thrown, and car bombs (in the 90s) aren't exactly a match for a military backed by the USA. We're also going to (temporarily) set aside the fact that Palestinians welcomed Jewish refugees post-WWII. I'll get there.

Let's pretend that they're right. Hamas - instead of being a few thousand or so young, traumatized men mostly in their late teens and early 20s who have never known a life outside of Israeli persecution - are vicious killing machines. Let's say that preposterous lie is true. Guess what? COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT IS STILL A WAR CRIME. Bombing civilians, almost half of whom are children, hoping that Hamas will surrender is a war crime. Cutting off food and water and electricity and internet is a WAR CRIME. AND THIS IS THE DEFENSE THEY USE OUT IN THE OPEN. IN FRONT OF THE UN.

You. Can't. Do. That. (But I guess they can, can't they?)

Also? A two-state solution only works if the other side is acknowledged as an independent state, and the West refuses to acknowledge as much (though the overwhelming majority of other countries do). You cannot claim to want a two-state solution if you do not acknowledge two states. Let's start there.

2. Israel has a right to defense.

Generally, I'd agree with this on principle alone. But... guess what? According to international law, an occupying power has NO right to defense from their own occupied territory. Why? They're meant to be its leader. To ensure human rights (not that it's possible under occupation, but whatever). Also? IT'S NOT A WAR IF THE OTHER SIDE IS NOT A COUNTRY. IF THERE IS NO MILITARY TO FIGHT AGAINST. At that point, it becomes a massacre. So no, Israel actually has no right to defense. (Killing in the West Bank and Lebanon is also a bit contrary to that surface-level lie - Hamas aren't there).

Even if they did have a right to defense, the word "disproportionate" comes to mind. We're at at least 17k dead and 46k wounded in TWO MONTHS. An average of 200 children have been killed every day for the past month. Civilians make up at least 61% of deaths from airstrikes, which is a higher proportion than all world conflicts in the 20th century. A minimum of 1000 children are missing limbs (I linked just one story, as those tend to pull more at the heartstrings than statistics, but also check out Bisan on TikTok and Motaz Azaiza on Tiktok - both on Instagram as well- for news from the literal ground in Gaza. They are just two of many; Hind, Saleh, and Plestia are also so important to follow... they come up when searching). Thousands more are orphaned. Premature babies were found decomposing in hospital beds during the temporary ceasefire because armed IOF soldiers forced doctors and nurses to leave but promised they'd send the babies elsewhere for care. They didn't.

And what do they have to show for it? Failure and death. The loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. Worldwide hatred - how does that benefit Israeli citizens? How does it help the Jewish cause? Where is the evidence that Hamas has been stopped? Evidence that hasn't been fabricated, I mean. We've all seen the fake "list" - the calendar on the wall. The small pile of guns that changed in number from one video to the next (and why the hell would Hamas leave behind weapons they could use to defend themselves?) The arrested, stripped-naked men and boys as young as 15 blindfolded, brought to their knees at gunpoint. Claims they were members of Hamas were quickly disproven by those on social media who could identify doctors and journalists and shopkeepers. Another lie. And another war crime. I've seen claims that 13 members of Hamas have been killed. 13, hm? Sure, sure. That's completely proportionate.

Worse than that, against a **belligerent** and illegal occupying force who has violated territorial agreements by violently occupying land granted to Palestine, imposing sanctions, killing civilians, arresting civilians (including minors and the elderly, who are often beaten and raped in captivity) without charge or trial, etc. - AN APARTHEID STATE WHEREIN PALESTINIANS ARE LITERALLY TRIED BY A DIFFERENT COURT AND MUST ADHERE TO DIFFERENT LAWS than Israelis and have no freedom of movement - Palestine actually has a legal right to RESIST. Imagine that. Why do people never say "Palestine has a right to defend itself"? Why is it just Israel?

Israel is so afraid of Palestinians appearing human that they forbade families welcoming back their freed children and family members (falsely incarcerated by the IOF) from showing emotion - THIS WAS DURING THE HOSTAGE EXCHANGE. October 7 didn't happen in a vacuum. Israel has long held thousands of hostages of their own. Children's bones are broken as they're beaten in jail. They're sexually assaulted. Denied food. Never presented with charges nor granted trial. How easily the demands of Hamas for them to be released were swept under the rug. How blatantly the crimes were covered up by saying "Palestinian teenagers 18 years old and younger" were returned in contrast to the Israeli "children" that were also released. They were afraid to use the word children in reference to Palestinian captives.

3. Nothing ends until all of the Israeli hostages are freed.

I am not undermining the fact that the Israeli hostages were traumatized and terrified (though videos of recent hostage releases wherein they're hugging and shaking hands and smiling as they say goodbye to Hamas - and one girl was even allowed to keep her dog - say that at least some of them escaped such anguish)... Because sure. Yes. It's not okay. But they were fed. Medications were administered. Connections were forged as their plight was explained.

And guess what? I've seen interviews with more than one released hostage who said that their biggest fear was Israeli forces. Who witnessed IOF soldiers raiding where they were held and shooting and killing their own hostages. Who were just as vulnerable to the bombings as any Palestinian. AT LEAST 60 OF ISRAEL'S OWN HOSTAGES HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE IOF. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR HOSTAGES. Israel was so terrified by these testimonies that they have edited the interview footage and cut interviews short. The hostages are a convenient excuse for genocide. It's why it took so long for them to agree to any exchange at all; what would be their reason for indiscriminately killing Gazans?

IF YOU STILL DON'T SEE IT: If Hamas were hiding in Israel, do you think Israel would bomb their own hospitals? Carpet bomb their civilians? They should, after all, after spouting the necessity of their actions for so long - what would the difference be? Ah. Yes. They only see one set of civilians as human. They've said as much. Openly.

When you're trying to capture an armed militia, you send specialized teams. Reconnaissance. You do not just try to destroy everything in sight (and destroying places where hostages may be held goes extremely contrary to their claim of caring about said hostages).

If you don't agree with the following statement, then you should not support Israel: "The school shooters might still be inside. Let's bomb the whole school to make sure we get them. The kids and teachers are collateral damage."

4. Supporting Palestine is anti-Semitic.

There's so much wrong with this. 13% of citizens across Palestinian territories (Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem) are Jewish. Orthodox Jews have held and attended multiple protests. Jewish Voices for Peace occupied Grand Central Station to call for a ceasefire. Thousands, perhaps millions, of members of the Jewish diaspora have shouted "NOT IN MY NAME" to the rooftops. Through the streets. "Never again," they say, "means never again for ANYONE." Are you calling thousands of rabbis at protests anti-Semitic? Bold of you. I dare you to say so to their faces.

Do you know what puts Israeli lives - Jewish lives - in legitimate danger? Creating enemies of neighboring Middle Eastern countries and starting an international war. Weak Hamas rockets could NEVER lead to a genocide of Israelis. Lebanese missiles, however (because right - Israel has also been bombing Lebanon, despite it being solidly free of Hamas) - have a lot more ability to cause damange. Good thing that Israelis have freedom of movement - over 370k of them have already fled, many of whom to awaiting homes back where they came from in Western countries.

Zionism was not founded with Jewish rights in mind. Balfour was wildly anti-Semitic. Many Christian Zionists supported the creation of an Israeli state so the Jewish people could just... go away. Somewhere else. The largest motivator of an Israeli state was a Western presence in Middle Eastern oil fields; Argentina was considered prior to Palestine, so the "ancient claim" is nothing more than a farce. They would have settled anywhere that made financial sense. Zionism itself is a profoundly anti-Semitic concept, goes against the Torah/divine will (there should be no ethnostate, it states), and does nothing more than CREATE MORE ANTI-SEMITISM.

Israel has perverted the very real issue of global anti-Semitism and generational trauma post-WWII to make Jewish people worldwide feel unsafe (doing so recruits citizens, after all). They've claimed birthright to the land - appealed to spirituality - and claimed that those who deny this hate them and want them dead (forgetting that the land is ancestral and significant for Muslims and Christians as well). They made their citizens feel attacked and persecuted so they could massacre Palestinians with impunity and call them barbaric terrorists and extremists. Many Israelis are brainwashed. Terrified of Arabs. That suits the Israeli government. They call everyone who hates the notion of the Israeli state around the world anti-Semitic. In the process, of course, they create actual anti-Semites who fail to distinguish between a beautiful religion and a settler-colonial, white supremacist political ideology. Conflating the two terms is an injustice to Jewish people.

Doing so is also horrifically disrespectful to Holocaust victims and survivors. Plenty of them have protested Zionism, in fact. Using perhaps the worst atrocity in modern human history to justify very similar dehumanizing, indiscriminately violent practices against another chosen "other" of human beings is so twisted and evil that it makes me sick.

Additionally, Netanyahu is far from popular in Israel. There were protests of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS just prior to October 7. Are they anti-Semitic for not supporting his rule and judicial takeover?

5. Israel is the only safe place for Jews.

Really? It doesn't seem very safe. Requiring youth to join the IOF - having a continuously armed and trained militia - doesn't reek of peace and prosperity. Imprisoning Israeli teenagers who refuse to partake in the atrocities (and subjecting them to potential abuses in prison) does not seem very safe. Building walls around Israeli territories guarded by soldiers and cameras doesn't seem safe. Was the music festival safe? No. And we'll get to how that's even more insidious than it seems. This "war" isn't safe. Won't it just create more resistance? More members of Hamas? More enemies of Israel? Doing so feeds into their victimhood.

People often laugh at wealthy white western Jews who make TikTok videos from their homes far away from the conflict who claim to feel unsafe now due to Hamas and the resulting world response against Israel. But it's not funny; this is all part of the plan. Propaganda is MEANT to make all supporters, especially Jewish people, feel unsafe. It's also actively leading to a lack of safety as it riles up and inflames those against Israel. All the easier to justify their cause.

(ALSO, this doesn't need stated, but it's Palestinians and pro-Palestinians who are unsafe. Palestinians who are being killed even in the West - even children - for wearing keffiyeh and speaking Arabic. Those who speak against Israel who are losing their jobs). It's Jewish people who are being protected by the West, but not out of respect for their religion. It's about money. Oil. The paying off of politicians.)

6. Palestine never existed. Israel is a land without a people for a people without a land.

This is perhaps the dumbest argument of them all, because it just doesn't matter. Zionists are wrong - completely - but even if they were right... PEOPLE. STILL. LIVE. THERE. If you care more about legal technicalities (the intricacies of which are decided upon by Western powers) than you do about the notion of literally kicking entire families out of their generational homes and giving the house keys to a newly-minted Israeli from Southern California, then something is broken within you.

Palestine was on the maps. There were Palestinian passports. Sports teams. Early Zionists acknowledged the existence of Palestine in their very rhetoric. Don't believe me? Look it up. Click on my links so far. I'm tired of citing every source for easily verifiable facts. For once, challenge yourself to obtain your information from somewhere other than the news. Millions of people live in Palestine and have for thousands of years. THE WEST DOES NOT GET TO DECIDE THE LEGITIMACY OF EVERY STATE AND COUNTRY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Who the hell are they to do so? Who put any legal weight into the Balfour Declaration or to the UN's proposed land distribution for the two-state proposal? Why do these foreign white men get to carve apart land they've never stepped foot upon? Nationalism is fairly new as well; empires reined for centuries. Italian peasants in 1850 may have had no idea they were in Italy. Empires rose and fell and borders changed so often that they'd be altered within someone's own lifetime; look at the Eastern Bloc. No one says that Ukranians don't have a right to freedom from Russia despite Russia's historical claim over the land as the Soviet Union.

I have just one question for you, if you're reading this and still a Zionist: Do you believe European settlers had a blanket right to land in the New World (pre-United States) because the Native American tribes did not receive nationhood approval by some Western governing body? Because there was no unifying flag or established Native country? Do you believe that American colonists had no right to fight for independence against Great Britain despite the lack of parliamentary representation, exorbitant taxes, and continued occupation that limited their sovereignty? They weren't a country yet, after all. Just a colony.

I'll bet you ANYTHING you argued the opposite in your American history classes. That you saw the barbarism against and genocide of Native Americans for what it was. That you teared up yourself upon learning about the Trail of Tears - the ethnic cleansing of 60k+ people who were forced out of their homes and land and into reservations despite being promised safety just prior. Who died on the long and arduous journeys on foot. I'll bet you that you understood the Native American attacks on colonists and violent enslaved people's rebellions against their white masters, even if you also understood the horror of the resulting violence... that you could see reason behind the uprisings. Do you condemn Nat Turner? Do you condemn colonists inciting a war against their occupying power in order to form the United States?

Hypocrisy. Western Zionists are hypocrites. Acts of uprising acts are only righteous in their minds if a) they are done by white people or b) are far enough back in history that it suits their current narrative and allows them to seem like a champion for justice. Nelson Mandela was also called a terrorist for protesting against apartheid. Do you see him as wrong, or have you checked out a book on him from the library to read to your children? Don't hurt yourself doing those mental gymnastics.

Bombing Gaza with thousands of tons of bombs - including incredibly damaging bunker-buster bombs - at a rate more than the carpet bombing of Germany in WWII and with more bombs dropped during in six days than any one month of the U.S. fighting ISIS - is akin to building a wall around Native American reservations in the US and Canada and deciding to just... drop bombs on them. When they can't escape. Who in their right minds would justify that?

GAZA IS AN OPEN-AIR PRISON, but even worse because they've committed no crimes. Gaza is a CONCENTRATION CAMP.

7. This is war. Civilians die in war. This is called collateral damage.

Let's briefly forget the facts mentioned above that 1) this isn't war, as wars require an opposing military, and 2) collective punishment is a war crime. Do civilians die in war? Yes. They do. But more men, women, and children were killed in the first month than in any other conflict ANNUALLY since 2019. As the New York Times reports, almost 1 in every 150 Palestinian children has been killed; this is the equivalent to half a million American children.

Read THIS ALJAZEERA ARTICLE and look at the pictures. Tell me this is justified with a straight face. Look a member of the Palestinian diaspora in their eyes as you tell them so. Stand before someone who has lost their entire family. Look AlJazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh in the eyes as you say that the killing of his wife, daughter, son, and grandson were justified, and that him learning about it on-air (REPORTED BY CNN, if your loyalty lies with Western media) is just "what happens during war". Look at the faces of children crying and missing limbs on hospital beds and tell yourself it was for the greater good. Of patients who were unable to flee Al Shifa hospital for the South on cots outside of the building, languishing with their injuries and unable to move. Of orphans, shaking and in shock, desperately searching for their dead parents. Of kids covered in dust and blood and pulled from the rubble. Or children whose intestines are spilling out of their bodies as doctors without supplies seek to save their lives. These things are all on video, by the way. Don't believe me? Look it up.

This is not the normal consequence of war (though we shouldn't normalize civilian deaths at all in any conflict, this goes far beyond the expected harsh reality). Wars should allow civilians to flee. Permit humanitarian aid (at more than just trickling rates for either). All Israel has to do, it seems, is say "We're not targeting civilians" while clearly targeting civilians. "There's safe space in the South" while bombing the South and evacuation routes to get there. All they have to do is say "Muwasi is a no-fire zone! It's safe!" despite it being a "narrow patch of barren coastline" with no buildings, water, facilities, etc. that is much too small to house thousands, let alone millions.

Since the end of the temporary ceasefire, deaths have increased by 40%. Due to bombardment, yes, but also due to starvation and disease.

But still, Israel can say (at least upon the first bombing of Al Shifa) "We're not targeting hospitals - that was Hamas!" (despite having bombed hospitals for decades and video clearly disproving their claims; another shows sound bites cut together to try and reveal a plot - those clains have since been removed from Israel's official X account). "Gazans have rights!" despite bombing them every few years or so and calling it "mowing the grass". "Journalists are safe!" despite literally mowing down American journalist Rachel Corrie, who was protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes, with a bulldozer and annually celebrating her death by eating pancakes. Their propaganda campaign is failing globally, but upheld by Western governments.

They have also stolen dead Gazan bodies from various places, including Al-Shifa, raising concerns that these bodies were falsely claimed to be Israeli corpses for propaganda videos as well as that they might be being used to harvest organs.

7. Why haven't Hamas and Palestinians tried peaceful protest?

They have. Look it up. Hundreds have been shot and killed doing so. I have nothing else to say about it. TAKE MEASURES TO ELIMINATE YOUR OWN IGNORANCE PLEASE. We are TIRED of explaining things to you. Do I condone killing and hostage taking? No. Do I condemn Hamas for their desperation? Also no. No more than I would condemn the rebellion of enslaved peoples in colonial America. THIS IS A RESULT OF OPPRESSION. HAMAS IS A SYMPTOM, NOT A DISEASE.

Additionally...

8. October 7 was an unjustifiable atrocity. 40 babies were beheaded! Gazans elected Hamas, so they deserve to die.

First of all, no. Hamas did not behead any Israeli babies. Biden and the western media had to walk back those claims when Israel refused to provide evidence or verify these claims. Do you really think there were just... 40 babies at a music festival? The only babies who have been beheaded (by bombs) are Gazan. I saw a photo of a father holding a headless child up in front of a crowd, and that was far from the only incident. Israeli propagandists tore apart a photo of another father carring a dead infant with the claim it was just a doll, not a dead baby. They had to retract the article when it was proven that the baby was, in fact, real. And deceased.

Was October 7 horrific? Yes. Did innocent people die? Also yes. My heart hurts for Israeli people too; for families who lost loved ones. Whose grief was utilized to support a genocide. But here's another HUGE guess what: Israel has admitted to killing MANY of their own in the "chaos" of the event from Apache helicopters. Egypt has claimed that Israel knew about the planned Hamas attack days before the festival, and the festival was even extended a day later than planned. So the attack could happen? How were armed members of Hamas able to overcome the most secure border in the world and take so many hostages? How did Israel fail to prevent this (and, in fact, add to the death toll - initially blamed on Hamas?) Listen, there's no solid evidence that Israel planned everything as a neat justification for their assault on Gaza, but it's the simplest explanation, isn't it?

It's important ot note that ISRAEL CREATED AND PROPPED UP HAMAS as a convenient enemy. Every fascist group needs an enemy, after all.

FURTHER: Though Israel has denied this, there are reports of suspicious trading on the Israeli stock exchange in the days leading up to October 7. *Note that this is still unconfirmed, but:

"The preliminary research, which hasn’t been peer reviewed, found in the days before the Hamas attacks that bets against the value of the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) “far exceeded” the short selling activity that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2014 Israel-Gaza war or even the 2008 financial crisis.

“Our findings suggest that traders informed about the coming attacks profited from these tragic events,” the authors wrote." (CNN).

Did Gazans elect Hamas? Sure, in 2006. With no measure of foresight, of course, and despite them being controversial even then (though, remember, they were supported by Israel - don't you think the election was already set into motion?) MOST GAZANS WERE NOT YET BORN AT THIS TIME OR WERE CHILDREN. Even if they had been, have we ever justified killing civilians based upon who they elected into office? America has had its fair share of corrupt politicians who commit overseas atrocities. Do we deserve to be carpet bombed? That's the justification of the 9/11 attacks; that there are no innocent civilians. That's also called TERRORISM.

9. Jewish people have a birthright and claim to the land.

First of all, nothing has ever stopped any Jewish people from moving to Palestine. They were initially welcomed after WWII, too, as there were already (and are still) Jewish Palestinians. (Christians, too - this is not a religious war. Churches have also been bombed). Though really, Zionist settlers should have considered (and I'm sure they did) that being granted unfamiliar land after surviving an atrocity at the hands of their own governments rather than being encouraged to go home should have warned them that no small measure of anti-Semitism was behind the Zionist project.

Shockingly enough, however, religious claims and historic occupation (3,000 years ago, a civilization known as Israel - comprised by an ethnically different population than most modern-day Israelis, of course - lasted a brief 150 years) ARE NOT LEGALLY BINDING. Were the lands open for immigrants? Open to those who wanted to visit religiously significant land? YES. Were they fair game to be taken and colonized? NO. Did the UN have any power to designate the land? NO.

This would be like saying Muslim people as a diaspora have a claim to Spain due to their long historical stronghold over the Iberian Peninsula. It would be like Italians trying to take back the modern countries formerly a part of the Roman Empire. It would be like Catholics creating an ethnostate in Germany and massacring Protestants due to their historical control of the land. IT WOULD BE RIDICULOUS.

Look up the 1948 Nakba. Tell me that it doesn't make you think of the Trail of Tears. That forcing people out of their homes is okay because of some ancient claim or suggestion from white politicians that "Hey, you can move there as part of your divine right." I thought the notion of divine right ended with the rise of democracy and resistance to tyrannical historical monarchs such as "Sun King Louis XVI." That Manifest Destiny was just something we learned about in World History.

Nope.

Could you live in a Palestinian home still decorated and furnished with familial artifacts, knowing that the former family was forced to leave and forbidden from returning? No? Then don't support Israel.

10. Palestinians are barbaric! They'd kill you for being gay.

This is another silly argument due to its complete irrelevance. If you find yourself struggling to justify genocide and coming up with these sorts of answers - answers that imply that ALL PALESTINIANS are the same - check yourself and where that notion might be coming from. Stereotyping is bad, isn't it? Should we bomb the American South for being homophobic, as much as we may hate that fact? Um. No.

This perspective is fuelled by Israel's long-standing pinkwashing campaign against Palestine, which both ignores the presence of LGTBQ+ Palestinians but also claims Israel to be a safe, modern haven in comparison to barbarism. (AND ONE MORE REMINDER: NOTHING JUSTIFIES GENOCIDE).

Have you been to Gaza? Have you spoken to someone who has? Have you watched Anthony Bourdain's episode of No Reservations that highlights the humanity and kindness of Gazans? Have you watched the countless videos of Westerners, including women, who claimed they felt safer in Gaza than back home?

Could it be dangerous? Of course. Any place can be for women. Are there extremist Muslims? Of course. Would you want the Westboro Baptist Church to represent all of Chirstianity, however? Avoid sweeping generalizations whose only goal is to make you see millions of people (complex individuals with rich lives) as inhuman. As worth killing. See it for what it is.

Who tortures their prisoners? Israel. Who kills journalists, doctors, and bombs UNRWA schools? Israel. Who forces teenagers to join the military and jails them for protesting? Israel. Who routinely shoots civilians to keep them living in fear? Israel. Who sets up chairs on a hilltop so they can watch bombings with popcorn and snacks? Israel. Who calls for the extermination of all Palestinians? Israel. Have you ever seen a Palestinian person call for the extinction and massacre of all Jews? No? Yep. Think about that.

OVERALL: THE SIDE WITH THE PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN IS IN THE WRONG. THE SIDE LOSING THE CULTURE WAR DESPITE POURING MILLIONS INTO THEIR PUBLIC IMAGE IS IN THE WRONG. THE SIDE FREQUENTLY CAUGHT IN LIES SO EMBARRASSING THAT THEY ARE MEMED AND RIDICULED ON THE INTERNET IS IN THE WRONG. THE SIDE WHO ACCEPTS BILLIONS YEARLY FROM THE UNITED STATES THAT GOES TOWARD WEAPONS AND FREE HEALTHCARE FOR ISRAELIS (That Americans without this pay for with their own tax money) IS IN THE WRONG.

If you don't see this now, I can't help you. In ten years or so, however - when Israel's atrocities have finally been recognized and its leaders have been prosecuted for war crimes - have fun hiding evidence that you were on the wrong side of history. It's inevitable.

Free Palestine.

[emostudent]

on the gentleness of men and the strength of youth.

we are looking, for probably the first time in history, at a genocide being shared, in real time, whilst it's still happening, on social media.

we are seeing instagram stories, reels, tiktoks being shared by people living in this hell, we are seeing truth, unfiltered. no one can deny the bodies under the rubble, the destroyed buildings, the wounds, the terrified and tired eyes of doctors and nurses, the scream of kids, the tears of mothers, the gentleness of men.

we have been taught, for decades, by media outlets, tv shows, movies, than men, muslim men, specifically palestinian muslim men, are terrorists, violent and vicious, barely human.

and yet, all i see in those videos, is humanity.

i see fathers cry for their children, tears floating freely and unabashed, because why would you feel shame in crying for your own dead child? i see husbands doubling over the bodies of their wives, sons crying out for their mothers, brothers for their sisters.

i see men covering women before extracting them from the rubble, i can hear the screams of joy when they find someone alive (a kid! a kid survived! oh, imagine the joy, the hope, that even amidst death and destruction sometimes a baby, one lucky baby, something so delicate, can survive, and now that baby is one of the few left, and they have to do everything in their power to save them, even if it means running, with sandals, on top of debris, broken glass, metal wires, so that you can get that kid to a hospital), i can see how they dig out friends, family, neighbours out of collapsed buildings with their bare hands, i can see that the are starving themselves so that kids and elderly people and women can eat, i see them adopting orphaned kids, distracting them from the horrors that surround them, making them laugh, inventing games for them so that they can preserve some shred of innocence, of childhood.

i see men being so incredibly gentle with everyone, holding their children, whether dead or alive, cuddling them to their chest, brushing their debris filled hair, wiping away their tears.

i see men that keep fighting for others even if they are the last surviving member of their family, i see them when they keep reporting these horrors, i see them when they keep operating people (on floors, with no anesthetic or antibiotic, or clean water).

i see young men, teenagers, looking up to their fathers and older brothers, i see them helping them, copying what they do, because if my dad is helping people so must i, don't i?

i see and hear the voices of young people telling us, in english so that the world can understand, to do something, i hear the voices of motaz, plestia, bisan, calling us out for our indifference, asking us for help, condemning those who keep bombing them, condemning those who still dare to say all of this is their fault, when their only fault is to be born.

i see them, i see how they keep fighting, even if they must be so tired, so hopeless, so angry, so hungry because they have to show the world what is really happening, otherwise the world will brush them out, forget about them, the same way it did for 75 years.

and we cannot afford to forget.

but we already did.

to us, on the outside, they are already dead, they are already a side note in a history book, we are already talking about how we are going to remember all these heroes, whilst forgetting that they didn't have a choice.

they are heroes because we keep forgetting. we said never again, but here we are.