I wanted to share something personal because I don't think a lot of you understand the influence of the West and its atrocities on an Arab child's upbringing. English is not my first language; I learnt it initially due to my interest in the language and Western cultures. However, seeing the true face of the West motivated me to continue learning the language to dismantle the false image of Arabs and Muslims which was portrayed by the West. I also talk about how this impacted my standing with the Palestinian cause. Bear with me as this post is long and a little messy, but I need to try and give everyone a clear and full image as much as I can.
I grew up consuming Western media due to my fascination with the English language. However I noticed the lack of Muslim and Arab representation.
When I started seeing representation later on, it was mostly Arabs and Muslims being depicted as 'terrorists' and 'barbarics'.
When a Muslim woman is depicted, she is depicted as 'oppressed' and in need of 'saving'.
I was on social media starting from a very young age. Seeing people online describe my people as 'terrorists' was not only scary, but also confusing. Why am I as an Arab Muslim child -who's living a normal childhood as everyone else- being labelled as a 'terrorist' by the West? Why are people claiming all Arab and Muslim children are trained to use guns by ISIS or/and Hamas? I remember asking my parents as a kid "Is this a real gun with the police officer?" Because I only saw weapons in movies.
I asked questions such as "Why do they think Arabs = Muslims?" The lack of acknowledgment of Christian and Jewish Arabs and non-Arab Muslims confused me.
Why were Muslim women always 'oppressed' in these movies and TV shows I saw? This is not as common as they make it seem. Why are they using the struggle of some Muslim women to demonize an entire religion? Why are they pretending to be saviours when they're actually contributing to further oppression of Muslim women? Why are they weaponizing the awful struggle of some Muslim women against the vast majority of Muslim women? (White feminism is not saving us. It's actually a form of oppression of Muslim women)
Misrepresentation bothered me and made me angry and disappointed. I couldn't finish watching a movie or an episode of a TV show if I saw any mentions of Muslims or/and Arabs, because I knew what would happen next.
When it comes to the Palestinian cause, every Arab grew up watching endless footage of Palestinians being brutally murdered LIVE. Everything and all the footage all of you are surprised to see during this genocide, were a part of our upbringing.
When I was a kid I stumbled upon a newspaper in the house with a headline about a Palestinian father who returned to his house and found all his children shot. And I remember the image very well. The father was holding a prayer mat with people holding him as he broke down on his knees. His dead children were on the floor next to each other. Seeing this image of children my age murdered by the Israeli occupation shocked me. I remember my parents having to hide the newspaper from me because of the impact this image had on me.
I had to start reading into politics at a young age, and I realized that everything that Western media was trying to portray about the West being 'civilized' was a lie. How can you be civilized if you're a murderer or/and contribute to the murder of the innocent?
When I learnt about the history of imperialism, colonialism, slavery,...etc. growing up, I recognized the pattern that colonialists use and I saw that the colonizers of yesterday, are the same as today, except Western media is doing a great job covering for them nowadays, and a lot of people only started noticing that recently.
The West seemed fascinating to me as a child, but after seeing the horrendous false images that're being portrayed of my people in the West, all of my fascination turned into anger and motivation to fight against it.
The real terrorists in the world are not the brown and bearded men, veiled women, or the innocent children. The real terrorists are the ones who set the stage for the murder of innocent people, the exploitation of their resources, using propaganda and painting an image of the innocent that cannot be more false and racist, and the fascists that put on a 'civilized' mask.
I will forever stand with my Palestinian brothers and sisters. I will forever defend my Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters, and I won't give room to any misrepresentation. Enough is enough.
Edit: I wanted to add that growing up, I was scared of telling people about where I'm from, my religion, and what language I speak due to the microaggression and discrimination I was subjected to. Not to mention the amount of times I saw on the news Arabs or/and Muslims getting killed in Western countries (aka hate crimes).
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It is a PRIVILEGE to be able to say that the entire population of a country or region are inherently guilty and deserving of death. It is also exactly the same shit the alt right does.
I've seen people do this to both Palestine and Israel. If you honestly celebrate the murder of Palestinians or Israelis and try to justify it, you are no better than an alt right cult member.
Real people are dying and suffering while you pretend this is a video game.
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I hope this continues to backfire on the Trudeau government in so many ways. He has already publicly addressed this numerously and rightfully so -that he does not condone Islamphobia/any racism and hatred, but look what we have seen, especially these past few months alone -how a vast majority of Canadian politicians support a violent settler state's ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people and have not demanded a ceasefire.
It makes me think of these statements made online -how Muslim and Arab people in western and european countries have been seeing people who look like them -like their children and family members and friends -getting bombed and killed for months on end. What makes you think they will remotely want to vote for genocide apologists, child killers, and those who support IOF terrorism...
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I know the IDF have lost their marbles and gotten crazy arrogant, but I’m starting to wonder how even they can justify this on any level:
Wait, so Hamas are now lurking in cemeteries?
And they are letting IDF soldiers post about this on social media.
South Africa preparing its case right now:
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friendly reminder that the term “islamophobia” was popularized by iranian fundamentalists who intended it to be used as a tool of manipulation. those who flippantly throw around the term as an accusation of racism against muslims forget that there is no such thing as a muslim race—just like there is no such thing as a christian race. christianity and islam are both belief systems, and those belief systems are practiced by people across every ethnicity.
unlike judaism, christianity and islam are religions that rely on proselytism (the practice of converting others) to survive. criticism of christianity, and of its ideas that have the potential to be dangerous to free and democratic societies, is never labeled as racism. the idea that critiquing a system of beliefs is somehow racist or xenophobic is preposterous.
so why is it deemed okay to slap an accusation of “islamophobia” onto anyone who dares question the morality of concepts like jihad (‘holy war’ against non-believers)?
criticizing islam is not criticizing the entire arab race—it’s questioning a system of ideas. it’s asking whether free and open societies can afford to accept and promote religious ideals that allow for violent, oppressive, and imperialist interpretations.
and, in case it wasn’t clear, if you read this post and immediately jump to accuse me of being anti-muslim or islamophobic, you’re part of the problem.
“for muslims,” says sam harris, “muhammad is the greatest person who has ever lived. unfortunately, he did not behave like jesus or buddha—at all. it sort of matters that he tortured people and cut their heads off and took sex slaves, because his example is meant to inspire his followers for all time.”
just some food for thought.
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People on here spreading propaganda that the Iranian government is good...stop.
You are hurting Iranians, Jews, Muslims, Arabs, and more.
The Iranian government does not give a fuck about Palestine. All they are interested in is spreading their power and influence across the Middle East. They even hurled missiles at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which potentially could have destroyed or damaged it if the Iron Dome didn't exist. The only seriously injured victim in Israel was a 7 year old Muslim Bedouin girl. Many Arab countries understand how dangerous the Iranian government is and intercepted some of their missiles.
Iranians have been screaming at the top of their lungs that they don't want war and they are tortured and murdered by their government, but your desire to view the Middle East as a sports match makes you want to root for anyone who is against Israel. The Iranian government literally hosted a Holocaust denial convention in 2006 which included David Duke, one of the former leaders of the KKK. They are not against the Israeli government for the right reasons, but for antisemitic ones. The growing antisemitism in Iran due to their rule drove out thousands of Iranian Jews, many whose only option was to move to Israel.
Please do research before spewing ignorant bullshit that harms everyone. There is no shame in admitting you were misinformed. Peoples' lives are worth more than your bruised ego.
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