#samera

[edwordsmyth]

"It seems to me that we now have critical tools to track and condemn the destabilization of the juridico-political category of the civilian, a destabilization that has enabled the killing of innocent, blameless subjects, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, or Yemen, to mention only a few recent examples. But perhaps we need to think more about the making of the figure of the civilian and the notion of civilian normalcy, the territorial and discursive conditions that go into cultivating civilian lives, and their unequal distribution. I propose that the settler-colonial conquest and territorialization of the land are not merely the context of the current events but forces that produce and stabilize specific categories, including that of the civilian. There is power involved in the making and unmaking of the civilian, not only in her being the target of violence. In Palestine, this power is an exercise of settler-colonial territorialization as it has been intertwined with the ongoing removal, killing, and enclosure of Palestinians.

Once the Zionist state was able to mark its borders, to fortify them with settlements and armed settlers, once it was able to territorialize itself by depopulating Palestinian villages and cities, destroying them, preventing the return of Palestinian refugees, and conscripting Jews from all the over world to populate the new settlements, once it did everything that was becoming illegitimate elsewhere in the decolonizing world, then it could begin to both materialize the figure of the civilian and the notion of civilized normalcy and weaponize them as conditions on the ground to be defended. In the civilian’s name and for its protection, atrocities could be carried out.

Key to this notion of civilian normalcy is its institutional-territorial condition of possibility: a strong state form with continuous territory and fortified borders. Israel has it. It acquired this state form by force from the Palestinians. This state form has institutions: a professional standing military, a police force, an interior ministry, a registry of citizens, and a defense ministry. These are but select institutions that produce and reproduce the distinction between civilian and combatant, even as national military service is mandatory for all Jewish, Israeli citizens, with only some exceptions. The condition of possibility for these institutions is the exclusion of the Palestinians — in terms of entry to the country, residency rights, family unification, access to land, and so on — their suppression, removal, policing, and enclosure. These institutions have fostered an Israeli civil society, civil posture, civil plurality—and civilian normalcy. The settler, the precise figure through which proceeded both the territorialization of the Zionist state of Israel and the dispossession and removal of Palestinians, has also morphed into a civilian.

The occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 was central to the making of Israeli civilian normalcy. The “occupied territories” have always been the terrain for unleashing Israeli military power, thereby preventing the violence of the occupation from intruding into normalized Israeli civilian life. There, behind the green line, Israel has conducted the “conflict.” The more settler-military violence there is in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the more civilian normalcy there is in Israel, and the more the notion of civilian normalcy can be weaponized to justify more violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But the purifying and normalizing operations of the green line did not always go unchallenged. Palestinians have always understood that the condition of possibility for this civilian normalcy, inside the green line, was the destruction of Palestinian existence on the land and the ban on their return to the land. Hence, there have always been breaches of the enclosure and operations to undo the frontier: what Palestinians call “return.”

Meanwhile, a Palestinian claim for civilian status or civilian normalcy has met many challenges. Palestinian society was destroyed in 1948. The territories occupied in 1967 have been purposefully fragmented, disconnected, and separated by settlements. There is no state form, standing military, depth of territory, or civilian posture. Instead, there are many refugee camps, dispossessed families, and subjects-in-struggle. Everything that could cultivate civilian normalcy is already targeted by the Israeli Occupation, from homes and schools to NGOs, cultural centers, and universities. When compared to the other side of the green line, life in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the containers of Israel’s violence against Palestinians, cannot manifest civilian normalcy.

But there is more. The civilian ethos, as a matter of liberal sensibility, requires innocence, political passivity, lack of movement, and fixity. In the eyes of the liberal, civilized West, the civilian must be pacified, passive, and blameless and must reject rebellion. The Palestinians, as refugees, as politically engaged resistant subjects, as subjects who look in the direction of the land from which they were expelled and aspire to move in its direction, and as persons who wish not to settle in an enclosure, do not pass the test of this ethos. Their just refusal of confinement, steadfast rejection of enclosure, and non-despairing hope to return to the land from which they were expelled violates this liberal ethos. Their dreams and aspirations render them, in the eyes of those who value civilian normalcy despite its heavy toll on others, obliterable. Therefore, no emotion can be allowed to arise in the face of their extermination. Quite to the contrary. In the name of civilian normalcy, the a-civilian must be obliterated."

[milkydraws8]

michael 'mick' rory: heatwave

lenora snart, captain cold

e̴o̶b̴a̶r̸d̸ ̶t̶h̴a̸w̷n̶e̶ ̶t̴h̵e̴ ̸r̵e̴v̴e̶r̷s̷e̶ ̵f̸l̸a̴s̸h̸

samera scudder; mirror mistress

[queensaule]

(Having a conversation about who's the sluttiest jedi)

Partner: Elzar Mann.

Me: Yeah, he has canonically had sex with at least two different people.

Partner: Three.

Me: Oh you're counting Stellan?

Partner: You don't call someone a polestar for nothing!

[apollodreams]

THEY KISSED??!?!

[aowski]

“this international colonial discourse affects something much more far-reaching than the legal imaginary allows. It condemns the very being of Palestinians, their very existence. This order of discourse, which the West (understood not as a set of states or a place but rather as a moral project that continues to violently universalize itself) has already authored about other colonized and enslaved peoples, figures Palestinians as inherently blameworthy. This order of discourse fashions them as the enemy of all, an enemy who must be crushed instead of negotiated with politically.” —Samera Esmeir, https://www.madamasr.com/en/2023/10/14/opinion/politics/to-say-and-think-a-life-beyond-what-settler-colonialism-has-made/

[official-saul-goodman]

Hello

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to you today to ask for your help in sharing my story and my struggles, as I have faced many hardships and need your generous support through Your contribution and sharing of my story will have a significant impact on my life and help me get through these difficult times.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your understanding and generosity.🙏🌹🙏

Thank you so much Samera for sending me this ask. I will reblog your post and add your fundraiser here as well.

Everyone please donate and share.

[mcytblrconfessions]

I was writing a physics thing and half way through I paused and thought "rest in peace samera mousa (سميرة موسى), ctubbo of snowchester would've loved you." before realizing there is something deeply wrong with me

[awfulpunk]

ahmed was injured recently and had to get stitches in his arm.

his little brother's plastic toy car keeps falling apart because it's been broken for months, and today ahmed ran out of tape to keep fixing it

children in gaza aren't able to be children under the occupation and especially not under constant threat of genocide.

the last donation to ahmed was 8 days ago. please consider donating even $1/£1 to help ahmed and his family get food and supplies

[milkydraws8]

grodd, thawne, mirror mistress

[chernobog13]

The complete rogues gallery of Devil Beasts (maju) that Thunder Mask battled against in his short-lived 1972 television series.

Unfortunately, only eight of the original twenty-six episodes (#1, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 19 and 26) featuring these maju have survived to this day (for various reasons, which I've posted about previously). The episodes are available subbed in English on Youtube, but the picture quality is poor as they appear to be transfers from videotape(s) made while the show was broadcast (probably in Hawai'i, hence the English subtitles).

Row One: Concorne, Tirema, Parajudon, Lydon, Samera

Row Two: Hakaider (no, NOT that guy), Boale, Benburn, Drilling, Dorodoron

Row Three: Zaribazaan, Megatron (definitely NOT that guy), Gaebou, Dagon H, Girigorin

Row Four: Derebingu, Battera, Thinnerman, Gatabilan, Genshiron

Row Five: Missiaira, Gastang, Raidogon, Tetsujin 13, Tokagerus

Row Six: Devil Dekanda, Great Devil Bem King, Shooting Star Iron Mask

The last three maju - Vibron, Greeder and Bambos - I believe were planned for the show but the costumes were never constructed.

[clonehub]

Stellan and literally everyone else on Valo looking for the children of two dignitaries and Elzar waking up late as fuck the morning after trying to put his pants on and LOSING HIS MIND FJSBDKSNSMSNSMSN Flipping between panicking about being late and thinking about how many rounds him and samera did last night oooooh stellans gonna see him and give him one deadly eyebrow lift

WAIT SAMERA DIDNT WAKE HIM UP THAYS SO FHSKDBKSNSK

[bitegore]

Check it out - Haymarket Books has a free collection of essays about Gaza. Description from the site:

In the final months of 2023, as this ebook is published, Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly made their intentions to do so extremely clear; talking of collective punishment, mass murder, and ethnic cleansing in newspapers, at press conferences, and on television. All the while, European and American states have continued to support Israel, to claim its murderous campaign is justified self-defense, and to send weapons, troops, war boats, and spy planes. While Western governments have supported the unjustifiable, or spoken inane words of condemnation while failing to take any concrete action, millions around the world have poured into the streets to denounce their complicity, to demand a ceasefire and a free Palestine. From the River to the Sea collects personal testimonies from within Gaza and the West Bank, along with essays and interviews that collectively provide crucial histories and analyses to help us understand how we got to the nightmarish present. They place Israel’s genocidal campaign within the longer history of settler colonialism in Palestine, and Hamas within the longer histories of Palestinian resistance and the so-called “peace process.” They explore the complex history of Palestine’s relationship to Jordan, Egypt, and the broader Middle East, the eruption of unprecedented anti-Zionist Jewish protest in the US, the alarming escalation in state repression of Palestine solidarity in Britain and Europe, and more. Taken together, the essays comprising this collection provide important grounding for the urgent discussions taking place across the Palestine solidarity movement. With contributions from: Reda Abu Assi, Asmaa Abu Mezied, Tawfiq Abu Shomer, Khalil Abu Yahia, Dunia Aburahma, Spencer Ackerman, Hil Aked, Yousef Al-Akkad, Jamie Allinson, Hammam Alloh, Riya Al’Sanah, Soheir Asaad, Tareq Baconi, Rana Barakat, Omar Barghouti, Sara Besaiso, Ashley Bohrer, Haim Bresheeth-Zabner, Nihal El Aasar, Mohammed El-Kurd, Sai Englert, Noura Erakat, Samera Esmeir, Rebecca Ruth Gould, Toufic Haddad, Adam Hanieh, Khaled Hroub, Rashid Khalidi, Noah Kulwin, Saree Makdisi, Ghassan Najjar, Samar Saeed, Reema Saleh, Alberto Toscano, and Eyal Weizman, alongside a number of Palestinian writers published pseudonymously. Published in collaboration with Verso Books Cover design: Tom Greenwood

[samerahabib]

Samera Habib - A Renowned Family Law Attorney

With a career dedicated to advocating for fathers, Samera Habib has created a strong reputation as an aggressive litigator. Her practice extends to criminal defense and family law, including international custody disputes. Honored as one of the American Family Institute of Family Law Attorneys' 10 Best, she's a legal force to be reckoned with.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hi ❤️

Could u plz repost the post about my fundraising campaign to evacuate my family. You can get it on my tumblr .

Can you reblog my post and I will be thankful for you 🙏❤️🌹

Of course--wishing peace and safety for your family. Here's also a direct link to the post with details.

Samera's fundraiser is vetted multiple places, including here.

Here is a direct link to their campaign:

As of June 26th, they are at only kr41,447 / kr450,000. That's about the equivalent of 4,000 / 43,000 USD.

Donate if you can, and if you can't, share so it can find those able.

[drsonnet]

From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine

Edited by Sai Englert, Michal Schatz and Rosie Warren

In the final months of 2023, as this ebook is published, Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly made their intentions to do so extremely clear; talking of collective punishment, mass murder, and ethnic cleansing in newspapers, at press conferences and on television. All the while, European and American states have continued to support Israel, to claim its murderous campaign is justified self-defence, and to send weapons, troops, war boats and spy planes in support. While Western governments have supported the unjustifiable, or spoken inane words of condemnation while failing to take any concrete action, millions around the world have poured into the streets to denounce their complicity, to demand a ceasefire and a free Palestine. From the River to the Sea collects personal testimonies from within Gaza and the West Bank, along with essays and interviews that collectively provide crucial histories and analyses to help us understand how we got to the nightmarish present. They place Israel’s genocidal campaign within the longer history of settler colonialism in Palestine, and Hamas within the longer histories of Palestinian resistance and the so-called ‘peace process’. They explore the complex history of Palestine’s relationship to Jordan, Egypt, and the broader Middle East, the eruption of unprecedented anti-Zionist Jewish protest in the US, the alarming escalation in state repression of Palestine solidarity in Britain and Europe, and more. Taken together, the essays comprising this collection provide important grounding for the urgent discussions taking place across the Palestine solidarity movement.

With contributions from: Dr. Reda Abu Assi, Asmaa Abu Mezied, Tawfiq Abu Shomer, Khalil Abu Yahia, Dunia Aburahma, Spencer Ackerman, Hil Aked, Dr. Yousef Al-Akkad, Jamie Allinson, Dr. Hammam Alloh, Riya Al’Sanah, Soheir Asaad, Tareq Baconi, Rana Barakat, Omar Barghouti, Sara Besaiso, Ashley Bohrer, Haim Bresheeth-Žabner, Nihal El Aasar, Mohammed El-Kurd, Sai Englert, Noura Erakat, Samera Esmeir, Rebecca Ruth Gould, Toufic Haddad, Adam Hanieh, Khaled Hroub, Rashid Khalidi, Noah Kulwin, Saree Makdisi, Ghassan Najjar, Samar Saeed, Reema Saleh, Alberto Toscano and Eyal Weizman, alongside a number of Palestinian writers published pseudonymously. Published in collaboration with Haymarket Books. Cover design: Tom Greenwood.

[obsessioncollector]

there's a really fascinating chapter by samera esmeir in nakba: palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory about a prominent controversy among israeli historians in the late 1990s and early 2000s. theodore katz, a master's student, wrote an initially very well-received thesis about a 1948 massacre in the palestinian village of tantura by israeli soldiers. an israeli newspaper covered the thesis and katz's research, and veterans of the brigade who committed the massacre were angry and sued katz for libel. katz ended up settling out of court after two days of testimony and signed a statement saying no killings happened after the village surrendered (which is what his thesis had argued did happen), but soon regretted this statement.

what's particularly notable to me is that katz was/is no radical--he consistently characterizes the massacre as an exceptional incident and is firmly a zionist, certainly not against the nakba as a whole. much of his defense rests on the argument that regardless of what really happened, he did not intend to spread falsehoods. so the fact that his work was (and continues to be--there was a new documentary in 2022!) so controversial is all the more damning of his society, considering that he's not actually challenging the fundamental myths of israeli society--he sees israel's founding as essentially good w/ a few regrettable but ultimately very atypical acts of unjustified violence.

also notable is that both ilan pappé and benny morris, perhaps the two most famous israeli historians, supported katz. pappé supports bds and one-state solution for both palestinians and israelis, but morris is firmly a zionist and belives the nakba was fully justified. again, striking that even morris found katz's work to have truth and merit to it.

if you want to read the article, it can be found in this book, and then it's chapter 9, "memories of conquest: witnessing death in tantura." the katz controversy itself is fascinating and telling imo, but esmeir's article also does a great job of challenging the fundamental conceptions about history that both katz and his detractors relied on.