#scream about islamophobia

[eralea]

Infinite Craft and AI Ethics

There's been a big quarrel on twitter about Infinite Craft being AI generated slop, and a lot of people are arguing that it doesn't plagiarise or steal jobs so it "doesn't count as AI generated slop".

But the issue in this particular case isn't copyrighted data, it's biased data.

Maybe it's because most of the players are on the younger side, so they don't remember the debates about unethical AI regurgitating harmful outputs, caused by training data containing unfortunate biases.

So here's some AI slop

I know a stupid browser game is the least of Palestine's issues right now. If they're not being killed by bombs and invading settlers, they're dying from starvation and food poisoning. The zionists have killed entire families, over 15000 babies and children, and the current death toll is almost certainly undercounted. We won't know the full damage of the Second Nakba for months, if not years from now.

So in the grand scheme of things, an AI slop game that says "Palestine + Child = Terrorist" is just a minor thing, a little accident caused by an algorithm parroting the racist narratives told by government propaganda worldwide. It's not the developer's fault that the data contains this bias.

But I can't shrug it off, can I?

There are people with 🇵🇸🍉🔻 in their names and profiles saying the game is "just harmless fun". I can't stand it. This isn't harmless. This is the racism the zionists use to justify their genocidal mania. This is the bigotry that causes most people to react to the genocide with apathy or even glee. This is the islamophobia that is so ingrained in our media, in our whole society, that our AI systems will casually reflect it back at us and most people wouldn't bat an eye.

And I thought the game was fun, too. I don't like generative AI, but I thought this word association algorithm seemed like a perfectly fine use of regular AI. Then I tried to make "Free Palestine" and kept finding "terrorists" instead.

It was a harsh reminder that these generative systems are not random or neutral. And I knew it, I had read Timnit Gebru's writings on racial and anti-black bias in AI, I have a collection of ridiculous whitewashed AI pics, I knew that AI had a racism problem but I just wanted to play the silly word game.

I think a game like this can still be done, but it needs human involvement to prevent "Ooops! Accidental Zionist Propaganda: The Game". The lone dev can't pre-emptively block all the possible abuse cases. He doesn't post about politics so I have no idea if he cares about AI ethics (or genocide) enough to fix it, and he probably won't see my complaints anyway.

And it's not even really about the game. It's about AI inheriting and reinforcing the worst parts of society. The AI model the game is built on (LLaMA) associates Palestinians with terrorism. Will other technologies built on this model return the same output? Are there other nasty biases in the data that we haven't found yet, biases that will be perpetuated every time someone develops anything using this model?

[activemagnesiumcream3000]

tryna figure out what makes us intrinsically human since it isn't love, fear, empathy, intelligence, capacity for learning etc, and have come to the conclusion that actually maybe there is nothing special about us and that is ok. and really it is that or 9/11 jokes so .

[heritageposts]

twitter link to the video (in it, you can hear these fascists loudly screaming "are they white?" and "they're white, they're white! they're english!" before letting the cars pass).

remember how the american and british press stirred up an absolute panic about the non-violent, pro-palestine campus protests? how they endlessly slandered the students as antisemitic extremists, creating justification for the violent police crackdown that would soon follow?

compare that now to how they're covering (or not covering) the fascist pogroms in the UK, where, for the past few days, violent white supremacists mobs have been terrorizing muslims, migrants and other non-white communities, forming mobs to intimidate and violently attack anyone they perceive as non-white and non-British.

the hotel shown in the video above is now the second hotel housing asylum seekers that these fascist mobs have attempted to set fire to, and yet, the harshest words the majority of the UK press is willing to use to describe them, are "far-right rioters, "anti-immigration protesters" or, if you're the BBC, just "protesters."

here's from skynews (UK), with the almost comical framing of "anti-fascists (left)" vs. "people protesting"

again, if you compare that to the headlines they were running during the campus protests...

this goes beyond some racist "bias" in their reporting: you can draw a direct link here between the UK media's coverage of palestine, and the fascist mobs willing to burn asylum seekers alive.

obviously there are other factors at play, but the genocide denial, the portrayal of arabs and muslims as terrorists and antisemites (which again, gets projected onto britain's migrant population and asylum seekers as a whole), the overall dehumanization and othering of the palestinian people — all of this has been feeding into, and stoking up, the racism and islamophobia that's now boiling over, and erupting into nakedly fascist violence.

[lemedstudent2021]

tells you everything you need to know about everything ever

keep talking about Palestine

[crystalsandbubbletea]

"You're gonna forget about Palestine and Ukraine eventually."

I'm not gonna forget the mass slaughters Russia did in Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the children who died in Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the doctors that were slaughtered in Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the journalists who died trying to document the Palestinian genocide.

I'm not gonna forget the war crimes committed on Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget how people died trying to get aid in Palestine.

I'm not gonna forget the genocides.

I'm not gonna forget the people who refuse to acknowledge the genocides.

I'm not gonna forget the photos and videos.

I'm not gonna forget the Palestinian mother who wouldn't wash her hands because it was all she had left of her children.

I'm not gonna forget my Ukrainian mutuals who died, and how it left me shattered.

I'm not gonna forget my Palestinian friend who died because of Zionists and Islamophobia, and how it left me with Prolonged Grief Condition.

I'm not gonna forget the families that were torn apart.

I'm not gonna forget the children who were orphaned.

I'm not gonna forget the screams and cries.

I'm not gonna forget the friends who died.

I'm not gonna forget how America continues to support the Palestinian genocide.

I'm not gonna forget how certain people refuse to acknowledge Russia's genocide on Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the footage of the horrors Russia is doing to Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the footage of the horrors Israel is doing to Palestine.

You can claim that I will forget, but images of genocide are burned into a person's brain for the rest of their life. I will always remember.

[germiyahu]

There's such an intricate interplay between antisemitism and islamophobia from the slacktivist left. For every reason they can think of to delegitimize the Jewish People's connection to Eretz Yisrael, it's propped up by some Noble Savage presumptions about Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims.

Since Jews in America are seen as a model minority, seen as having accessed whiteness and privilege, and "antisemitism" is at worst having to explain what Hanukah is to clueless Christians, the Left is confused as to exactly why Jews care about Jerusalem and the Land of Israel so much. Shouldn't they be above such petty and barbaric and outdated concerns such as a dusty old book from 2,000 years ago?

They should be more enlightened than that. They're all rich suburban secular Democrats. They're the leftist religion, according to bloggers on this very platform. There is no room for Judaism to be a religion, there's no acknowledgment of ancient customs, rituals, and the deep mysticism that's still alive and well in the Jewish community. There's no attempt to understand Jewish history and culture and why a group of people you think shares your vaguely atheistic vaguely liberal (and not in the Tankie sense) vaguely smug detached Western worldview... is more complex and unique than that.

Jews should be happy living in Diaspora because clearly the problem of antisemitism is fixed now, and never really was a problem in America. There must be something sinister behind a desire to reestablish a country by and for Jews. There must be something colonial, oppressive, European and White about it. Because why else would they do it? They have it good here. And no we won't acknowledge where Israelis primarily descend from because that requires us to do research and have a shred of nuance and integrity when it comes to Jews. No thanks!

A lot of the modern left is nonconsensually dragging Jews kicking and screaming from their own unique demographic toward the banal Norm. To themselves. But not totally. See they think they relate to Jews and vice versa, but not enough that when they think Jews should "know better," or haven't "learned their lesson," from the Holocaust, it engenders a deep seeded disgust and mistrust and rage that's not felt for actually privileged mainstream dominant society.

Conversely, the slacktivist Left sees Arabs as savages. Silly desert people who eat sand and worship a big black cube and cover every inch of their bodies for some reason. How quaint! When the Palestinian/Arab/Muslim cause explains that Jerusalem is important to them, the White Western Leftist nods sagely and says "Your culture is so valid queen," because they don't care. They just accept that Muslim society would be willing to fight over an ancient city proscribed as holy in dusty old tomes. Because that fits the narrative already surrounding Muslims.

They're seen as backwards, but the Left, reacting to their conservative parents and the Bush era, see "Muslims are backwards," and says not "No actually they're modern groups of people with practical geopolitical goals," but instead "Yeah and that makes them better than us!" Especially with this new crop of baby Leftists who think Islamo-Fascist "Feudalism" or whatever the best term would be, is aspirational or at least harmless... because it's not capitalism :)

So Muslims are infantilized and condescended to because the Western Leftist is still just as racist as their parents, but they feel guilty about their parents without considering their contribution to White Supremacy and the Post Bush surveillance state. And all the while Jews are reprimanded and held to an impossible standard because the Western Leftist, again, rejects their conservative parents' philosemitism, and decides that Jews Must be Punished when they step off the pedestal that Suffering the Shoah placed them on.

Jews should be above nationalism, Jews should know that demurely suffering pogroms and ethnic cleansing and genocide and general inequity and humiliation will earn them their divine reward in the end. Muslims should not be above nationalism, because they're not capable of being above it, and can't we throw them a bone, after all Obama was the worst president in history because of the Drone War and let's not mention George W Bush at all :0

Hot take, but I believe this is an essential underpinning of where the average disaffected White millennial/zoomer Leftist's head is at with regard to Israel and Palestine. They won't acknowledge it of course, but I can generally see through things like this.

[creepykuroneko]

Real talk everyone needs to learn: it is possible for someone to be both a victim and an abuser even simultaneously.

You can be victim of childhood sexual abuse and still grow up to be a horrible person who abuses your own family. The cycle of violence is real people.

White women are victims of misogyny but they can also be perpetrators of racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, anti-semitism, islamophobia, classicism, sexism and abusive towards their families. Think about all those white women who claim to be feminists and looking out for other women but then still turn around and call the police on a black woman they saw in their neighborhood or a disabled homeless woman who was loitering outside a building. The term Karen exists for a reason and it is not about a woman who gets mad because her waiter brought her a tea instead of a coffee. It is a white woman who specifically targets black people and calls the police on them. There is a reason why white women have been fighting against social media to change the definition of calling a white woman a Karen. Saying the term was sexist didn't work (because misogynist don't believe in sexism) so now they try to claim that being a Karen is a superpower meant to stand up for the marginalized and get results.

Women of color are victims of both racism and sexism yet can still be guilty of racism, colorism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, anti-semitism, islamophobia, classicism, sexism and abusive towards their families. Colorism is a really big problem amongst all the various poc groups. unfortunately WOC still hold up the same racist cast standards. Whether it's turning to skin lightening products, straightening one's own hair to fit with eurocentric standards, getting plastic surgery, or repeating the mantra lighter than a brown paper bag, a lot of WOC buy into the idea of what is the right way to look and what is not. Before any of you reactionist are quick to scream, " but if they don't conform to eurocentric standards they are not going to be treated like human beings!" Conforming to the status quo literally does not cause racist to stop being racist. Keep in mind that these women don't just view themselves in a negative light but everyone else who looks like them as well. What do you think women who use skin lightening products do to their children? Especially their darker skin daughters? What do you think happens when these women pray that their child will be fair skin but then are mad to see that they ended up with a brown or black child? Talk to any black, hair stylist, pediatrician, or dermatologist and they will tell you that many parents are so quick to hide their child's natural curly hair while they are still toddlers. that they want their child to have straight hair by age 3. What do you think that does to a child's mental state and self-esteem?

A white physically disabled person will face discrimination for being disabled but still perpetuate racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, anti-semitism, islamophobia, classicism, sexism and abusive towards their families. There are some physically disabled people who rely on social safety nets whether it be food stamps, disability, Social Security etc etc and yet they believe that these programs should be more strict on who is allowed to receive benefits. Even though they themselves have complained about having to prove to their case worker that they are still disabled. They honestly believe that other people in need are fakers who just do not want to work. Because many families cannot afford to have a private nurse come over to assist their disabled relative, oftentimes people will care for their disabled relative despite having no medical training or knowledge. Well this is not the case for everyone, sometimes the family member they are taking care of is abusive towards them. They don't want them to leave the house, have friends, significant others, or even just a little bit of time to do something for themselves. They do abuse their caretaker, throwing things at them, calling them names, tearing down their self-esteem, and threatening to tell their caseworker that their caretaker is abusing them if their caretaker does anything they don't like. Yes this does happen in the real world.

The neurodivergent community is extremely guilty of ableism, especially towards other neurodivergent people. People will complain about how they have every right to exist in public and stem however they want, but then turn around wish that other neurodivergent people disappear. They call other disabled people normal or neurotypical for doing something that they personally do not like. The action in question is something that literally other neurodivergent people do. Think about how many posts you've seen on Tumblr where an autistic person complains about being triggered ( often times they don't even use the term trigger correctly) because their "neurotypical" coworker keeps talking very loudly and fast. Do you know who else talks very loudly and fast sometimes? Other autistic people and people with ADHD. The neurodivergent community seriously needs to stop diagnosing everyone around them as normal. Oftentimes when people try to hold neurodivergent people accountable, the neurodivergent person in question will try to completely manipulate the situation and say things like "my brain doesn't work. I don't understand did I do something bad?", " I can't be held accountable because I'm mentally disabled", or " ableism! How dare you treat me like this!". I had a former coworker who had a form of down syndrome. She would wait until management was not around and then scream in the faces of our other co-workers (often fellow neurodivergent people themselves) and literally call them stupid. When management would ask her about her behavior, she would immediately begin to cry on the spot and say she didn't know she was doing something bad. When he would leave the room she would stop crying and bragged to me about how she knew what she did. Please note she was a disabled white woman calling other disabled mostly black women stupid. For other cases of neurodivergent people being horrible people just look at Chris Chan or Jupiter the hybrid. Apart from believing that they are the only disabled person in the room, racism is also extremely common amongst neurodivergent people. White autistics also love to call the police on disabled brown and black people. If an Asian or black person announces that they are autistic, they are often met with skepticism by white neurodivergent people. I really do not have time to get into it but look up the racist history between who gets diagnosed with ADHD and who gets diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). This very much plays a role in how neurodivergent people determine who is a "valid" neurodivergent person and who is not. Remember folks just because someone is neurodivergent that does not mean they are not upholding racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, anti-semitism, islamophobia, classicism, sexism and are abusive.

Trans people can face discrimination for being trans but then they themselves are also guilty of being transphobic. Just take a look at the trans men's rights activist movement (TMRA), the tramsmed community, and the huge rise of anti-feminist trans people. Please note I am not talking about trans people who are anti-terfs and serfs, but trans people who are anti-feminism in general. For some reason the TMRA movement also believes that every single trans woman is a terf? I refuse to go down that rabbit hole to see their "logic". Unfortunately for the trans community large chunks of the community still hold on to their same Conservative Christian values they were brought up with and it's very telling when you see people talk about who is a valid trans person and who is not. There are also trans people who are homophobic. They believe homosexuality is a sin. Take a look at trans influencers who make fun of gay people, especially those who do drag, and talk about how they find drag offensive despite the fact that the trans community has a long history with the drag community. Don't believe me? Take a look at trans influencer Nikki Secondino's anti drag comments on her platform before she was arrested for murdering her dad. As with the other groups the trans Community is still guilty of homophobia, ableism, anti-semitism, islamophobia, classicism, sexism and abusive towards their families.

Gay and lesbian people are victims of homophobia but also dish out the same bigotry. There is a huge problem of acephobia, biphobia, transphobia, and discrimination towards intersex people within the G & L community. Think about all the posts you've seen that come from gay people who say that they are gay but they're normal about it unlike the more stereotypical gay people out there. They are looking to conform to their conservative values. They want the approval of the society they were brought up in even though that Society does not like them. They want the benefits of being white, christian, middle-class, and they don't want queer people "messing it up for them". They want to prove to conservatives that they are still conservative just like them they just happened to be gay or lesbian is all. Not a surprise they are really horrible to their fellow gays, queers of color, and trans people. Some people like to joke about the man who has the public life with the wife and kids but then in private is a closet homosexual who goes to the hotel with a sex worker. The thing is though that is a reality that still goes on today. It's not uncommon for them to beat or even kill their lover. Think about all the gold star lesbians and gold star gay people out there and pay attention to the terminology they use. How proud they are to have never had sex with someone of the opposite gender or someone with X genitalia. Well some people may know and accept early on their sexuality that is not the case for everyone and that is not a bad thing. This type of ideology is extremely sexist, biphobic, transphobic, and homophobic. Clinging to these out of date views will not help the lgbtqia+ community in the long run. Another thing that the community does not like to acknowledge AT ALL is the domestic violence that happens amongst queer couples. Look up the tragic case of Lyndsey Vaux, a queer woman who was murdered by her lesbian girlfriend if you need proof that queer people can also be abusive domestic partners. Ask any asian, brown, or black member of the LGBT community their experiences and they will tell you they would rather hang out with cishet asian, brown, and black people than with a white group of the lgbt+ people. Because they are more likely to be accepted by straight members of their same race then they are to be accepted by the white queer community. I know I didn't touch on it but the gay and lesbian Community are also guilty of racism, ableism, sexism, classism and more than capable of abusing those they love.

Poor people tend to really hate other poor people especially in america. I loosely mentioned it above about how disabled people want social safety nets to be harder for other people to obtain despite the fact that they also need them. It's not just disabled people who are guilty of this though. I've met a lot of people who are on food stamps but at the same time think that food stamps should not exist because it "encourages the lazy bums to leech off the system". When you try to point out the fact that they are also receiving food stamps they try to justify it. They think of themselves as a good person who didn't intend to end up in this type of situation but clearly they are the only exception, everyone else just doesn't want to work. Look at the people who are anti-free lunch programs, anti-affirmative action, anti-affordable healthcare, and anti Universal basic income, anti homeless shelters, anti-free birth control, Pro Redline laws, Pro business, pro profits over people, the entire libertarian movement. Many of these people are in fact poor and working class themselves. They just cannot admit that. Hell even amongst homeless people there is judgment and discourse. Some homeless people really do believe they are better than other homeless people because " my situation is different from theirs". The YouTube channel invisible people is a heartbreaking Channel where the interviewer pays homeless people to interview them and share their stories. The guy who runs the channel used to be homeless himself. His goal is to humanize and try to help homeless people. Every once in awhile one of the people he interviews will be in complete denial about themselves and their situation. Bigotry is a problem with poor people just like every other group.

This post is not meant to divide the different marginalized groups but rather acknowledge the problems that already exist. If you consider yourself left leaning in the slightest but this post made you mad, it probably means you have some issues you need to work on. The reality is we live in a very bigoted society. It does not matter if you're a disabled, queer, non-binary, stunning creature, you still have to check yourself for any bias you learned growing up. White people in the lgbt+ community get mad when issues like racism are brought up and accuse queers of color of trying to divide the community. In reality it is the racism that divides the community not the acknowledgment of.

This is where I'm going to end this for now. I know there's a lot I didn't touch on but let's be honest this post is already too long. If any of my fellow marginalized people want to share their experiences about bigotry and discrimination within their own communities please do so.

[spacelazarwolf]

im losing my mind. people keep crawling onto your "being gay and religious is fine actually" post and screaming about christianity. what is wrong with these people

✨ antisemitism and islamophobia ✨

[olderthannetfic]

Last year, I nearly died from bleeding duodenal ulcers. This has been better for my fandom experience than anything else I have ever experienced in my entire life. Antisemites, Islamophobia, accusations of racefaking (you know, because being Pashtun gives me such clout), people getting mad at me for writing a hijabi character who likes fashion, people losing their minds over my writing an aroace sex-repulsed character, the comments trying to imply that one line or another is proof of racist intent via bad faith readings, the death threats, the rape threats, the suicide bait-

none of it compares to nearly dying.

I have never taken such joy in saying, repeatedly, as a copy-pasted comment, "It's wonderful that you think your opinion matters. It's not true, but I love that you have such unmerited self-importance and self-esteem." again and again until people stop commenting. No I'm not going to block them, I like seeing them get angrier and angrier. I like watching them scream themselves red like toddlers in a supermarket with exactly that little power to effect me. I write more now because holy shit, they are no one and they mean nothing. They're some bumblefucks from wherever the fuck and I'm the author. This is my house, if they don't like the furniture and wallpaper, there's the door.

These people think they have power over me. Motherfuckers, death didn't have power over me. I had a hemoglobin of 4.9 upon admission to the hospital, a resting heartrate of 184, and a temperature of 100F. I threw up blood and convulsed and spasmed until I went unconscious, my heart had to be shocked back into beating, and I still got all my final papers done from the hospital bed on time. I didn't even need an extension. I got one done that night.

Nobody stops me from writing. Death herself couldn't make me, and these internet edgelords are people who censor de*th on reflex.

My message to you all is to adopt the policy that people have to prove to you that you should care about their opinion before you do so. "I don't like-" shut up Braxtleigh and Axlyr, I don't write for white sheltered culturally Christian suburban teens. I write for me.

Do things for you. Value yourself and devalue them. It does wonders for making fandom enjoyable.

--

[fluidstatick]

Dear Left-of-Center American,

So you're not in a swing state, you hate the electoral system we've got, and you want to cast a protest vote, or abstain entirely.

Consider this:

If you vote blue, you suck the joy out of the other guy voting red.

Walk with me --

Biden's terrible, you said, repeatedly, last week. He's always been terrible. And I don't disagree with you. He's done a lot of bad things. There's blood on his hands. That's true of every president America has ever had. (Yes, Carter too. Don't get distracted. Stay with me, here.)

Now that Biden's dropped out, you still don't want to vote. Harris has done a lot of shady things. You point to Haiti, California's prisons, her voting record on various and sundry policies that you like or don't like. But I'm looking you in the eyes. I'm holding out my hands. I'm asking you, gently, to step away from the receipts and look at the basic arithmetic of the two party system.

Yknow that person? The one that looks at you funny, like you're either pitiable or disgusting -- Yeah, that one. Maybe you can think of a few. The terven evangelical lady who won't stop sending you anons about gender essentialism and hellfire. The old man you keep running into on the city bus, who loudly scoffs to the guy two seats over "these damn liberals have no shame anymore." The college jock with the massive lifted pickup truck covered in maga stickers. The grey suited board member on c-span who stares dead-eyed at nothing while one of your comrades tries to explain to him why he should care about other people. You know the ones.

Those people vote. They love voting. If they go to church, their clergy encourages them to make godly decisions at the polls. It's a sacred privilege, but it's also fun for them. They love their superhero candidate. They're voting for International Prom King. They're simping over their man so hard it's their entire personality from May to the following January and beyond.

Those people that don't like you started planning for the 2024 election the moment they understood they couldn't scream and curse Joe out of the white house. This is every competitive sport on earth combined for them. They vote because they love the idea of helping their guy score the ultimate super mega touchdown of all time. These people gameify their elections. They're giddy about watching results pour in.

When I was very small, I listened to my lifelong democrat parents criticize Bush Sr. They didn't think I understood what they were talking about, but I knew the man was powerful and was making decisions that made things more difficult for people. I watched Bill Clinton make life easier for my parents, and Americans like them, for eight solid years. (Yes, I learned about bombs and lobbyists and oil subsidies, too. Don't get distracted.) I watched Gore lose the 2000 election, slowly and painfully over the course of weeks. I learned about gerrymandering and voter suppression and swing states and delegates.

And then. When I was in my late teens, too naive to know better, I dated a staunch conservative. The first presidential election I was old enough to participate in was 2004. I was living with the aforementioned conservative. When our voter's pamphlets arrived in the mail in mid October he handed mine to me and said, grimly, "You're gonna vote for Kerry, aren't you?"

I said "of course I am."

He tossed his voter's pamphlet in the trash and said "See, you liberals annoy me. What's the point of me doing my civic duty as an American id you're just going to cancel it out by voting for a socialist?"

(Kerry was not a socialist.)

Bush won a second term in 2004. It wasn't nearly as close as Bush/Gore, because Americans were still deeply paranoid about terrorism, preoccupied with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Kerry ran on economics. Bush ran on Islamophobia. But I pissed off my conservative boyfriend, his parents, and half of his friends. We broke up not long after that.

And my point is: If you can't convince yourself to show up at the polls in support of the Democratic nominee, and you can't imagine your deeply red state flupping blue, or your historically blue state drifting purple: Imagine looking your most obnoxious bigoted neighbor in the eye and telling them "I voted for the one you don't like. If you think about it, it's like you didn't vote at all."

Is that how voting works? Of course not. Will it piss em off? Yeah, probably.

Vote to spite an asshole with a punchable face, if you want. Just fuckin' vote.

[caramel-ribbons]

It kinda hit me that North America, my country, tried to recreate the narrative they perpetuated throughout the Iraq War: that Middle Eastern people are meant to suffer. We don’t want it to happen, but it’s kinda inevitable isn’t it? They don’t have the resources. They don’t have the education. We need to save them from the wars we start and the devastation we profit from. They need us.

It worked during the Iraq War because, even though many Americans were against it, Bush successfully managed to insinuate that they were exceptions. He ensured your discomfort with the war wasn’t as simple as you disagreeing with the killing of innocent people, but instead a disapproval of your country. You didn’t respect America. You didn’t care about it. Suddenly, you also disrespected America’s principles. You hated justice. You hated freedom. You didn’t want to help the people of Iraq because if you really wanted to, you’d oppose terrorism, and you’d support this war.

I wasn’t alive in 2003, but from the way it’s been described, and from the music I’ve listened to and the recollections I’ve heard, the Iraq war didn’t represent the people of America. It wasn’t supposed to. Instead, it represented the values of America. It represented the things American politicians, corporations, and their supporters are willing to sacrifice and excuse for the sake of money, reputation, and power.

But it falls apart when you have to witness the tolls war has on people. When you have to hear their stories. When you have to learn their names. When you have to see emaciated bodies. When you have to see families screaming and crying; mourning on camera. When you have to see corpses belonging to the same people you’d seen smiling and laughing and dancing not even days ago.

And the narrative completely shatters after you experience the dissonance between Gaza and Israel. When you see Zionists dancing near the homes they destroyed. When you see them partying a few miles away from the remains of churches, universities, and homes. When you see them in uniforms, hear about their white phosphorus and their bombs, and read about all of the human rights they get to violate whilst still getting a seat at the table where they can decide how many more homes they can destroy and people they can kill.

They then try to tell you that disagreement with this war makes you a bigot. Makes you prejudiced. If you’re against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and if you’ve been against the ongoing apartheid, then you’re anti-Semitic. Think about the Holocaust. Think about the influx of hate crimes happening to Jewish people in your country. And you do think about them. You’ve been thinking about them. That’s why it doesn’t work.

Because you know what anti-Semitism looks like. You also know what Islamophobia looks like. You also know what genocide looks like. It doesn’t have to be defined for you anymore. You’re seeing examples of it every day. You can never forget what it means. And so the narrative fails because you understand that no one should experience this. Even if they’re “supposed to” but were they? You thought you were crazy or naive, but no. It doesn’t have to be this way. It never should’ve been, and they were wrong for trying to convince you that it should. They were cruel. They were callous. They were evil.

So now, it doesn’t matter how many celebrities stay silent. It doesn’t matter how many politicians try to demonize you, and it doesn’t matter how many labels they try to assign you for opposing this war. Because you know it isn’t a war. It never has been. It’s a genocide, and contrary to their attempts to say otherwise, you should be against it. Because before you’re an American or a Palestinian or Jewish, you’re human, and if you still have any shred of humanity left, you can’t support this.

[violottie]

we know why this is continuing. why everyone has such a problem with stopping this genocide. its because Palestinians aren't white. because best believe if they we're, this wouldn't have gone past day 1

caption under reel. from Dr Kiran Rahim, 06/Mar/2024:

We watched a man self immolate

We watched hundreds of children burn to death

We watched their charred skin

We watched their flesh burned to bone

We watched and we screamed because the silence from the masses was deafening

When a building burned, the white world lost its mind, a stark reminder of where we stand in Europe today in terms of race and class

Hiding behind statements such as 'apolitical' or 'its complicated' the world continues to tell the global majority that the lives of brown, black and arab children matter less. Racism is rife, islamophobia is rife and the last 5months have shown just how complicit society is in upholding it

We have tory politicians making rampant Islamophobic statements while others cant even bring themselves to say the word and our previous home secretary shouts about extremists and islamists being in charge, whatever that means

Our PM calls out 'extremism' in global advocacy but refuses to address the rampant islamophobia and anti muslim hate within his own party

A recent poll of 521 Conservative members by Opinium found that 58% say Islam poses a threat to this country

Its so deeply ingrained that you probably know many islamophobes that sit amongst you but hide behind the farce of ' Western' civility

The last 5 months have been a reminder for so many of us that if our immediate world was set on fire, and our children burned, so many in our society would stay silent

[jewish-sideblog]

Of course you talk mostly about Jew hatred, you’re a Jew! Just like there are many Muslim blogs here that talk mostly just about Islamophobia, or Arab blogs that talk mostly about anti-Arab racism— and all three of those things are completely fine! Of course an oppressed minority would want to talk about how hate against them has been skyrocketing, especially since nobody else is talking about it. People are so stupid, it makes me want to scream whenever I see shit like this

One again I will remind people that this is a Jewish Sideblog on tumblr, and it is not a levantine history textbook or a national news network. If you don’t want to see what I post, don’t follow me. If you want to see posts about non-Jewish issues, there are a fuckton of other blogs on this hellsite that will suit your needs. And if you want 24/7 coverage of Gazan corpses, you can watch international news… but I would strongly encourage you to go find a therapist instead. You won’t find that here.

[hindulivesmatter]

To the anon who sent me an ask calling me a fascist, here is your answer. I'm not posting your ask because I'd prefer for people to not read thinly veiled propaganda like the book you recommended.

Here is what you said to me:

"now that jewish folks are calling y’all out yall are going full mask off huh? It never was about arab imperialism or colonialism or whatever y’all like to weaponize, you are entrenched in a deeply disturbing us vs them mentality. hindutva like all other fascist movements, is an ever enclosing circle and you will not be spared."

What Us vs. Them mentality? I am not anti-Muslim. The fact that Islamic imperialism still affects us today is true. The fact that Hinduphobia runs rampant is also true. Am I negating Islamophobia? No.

But people like you like to find new reasons to scream Islamophobia whenever we decide to speak up.

We speak about colonialism and how our temples were destroyed. Islamophobia.

We seek to reclaim the land of our lost temples, specifically one that was destroyed at the birthplace of our God. Islamophobia

We show you facts with a comprehensive explanation of people facing Hinduphobia and dying. Islamophobia.

God forbid we discuss a line from the Quran actively stating that it wants us dead. Islamophobia.

We try to address the concerning number of love jihad and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Islamophobia.

And you call us the fascists. For this. Just if we talk about the pain our ancestors went through, and mourn our past. Go harass someone else. Fuck you.

[nappingpaperclip]

if it’s about the hostages and not about racism and Islamophobia why are people getting mad at me and flipping me off for standing with a Palestinian flag…

If it’s about the hostages why are there bots saying shit like this on every post about ceasefire?

Read the first one again. Murdering civilians to atone for something they had nothing to do with.

y’all realize the only way for the hostages to eat and be safe and return home is if there’s humanitarian aid let in and an immediate and permanent ceasefire right?

y’all care about the Palestinian hostages too right?

if it’s about the hostages why are people blocking aid trucks that would bring food and water for the hostages….

Literally thousands of Israelis have and will again gather in Jerusalem to demand Netanyahu to step down for his participation in genocide, thousands of Jews and the family members of Holocaust survivors are gathering in the US and infiltrating events to demand a ceasefire from Biden, and y’all want me to believe y’all are looking out for them and the hostages by making excuses and spreading hasbara propaganda and counter protesting vigils and screaming flipping me off and shouting “fuck you!” “No ceasefire!” at me when y’all see me with Palestinian flags or speaking out against the murder of civilians?

literally just open your eyes. look around you. there are no excuses

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Damo

Published: Nov 15, 2024

This month is #IslamophobiaAwarenessMonth. The ostensible goal of this initiative is to “deconstruct and challenge stereotypes about Islam and Muslims”. A noble aim you might think, as apparently do the organisations, institutions & individuals signalling their support.

However, Islamophobia Awareness Month was co-founded by the Islamist group MEND - an organisation closely tied to the terrorist support group CAGE and created with the purpose of “battering the Israel lobby” according to its founder Sufyan Ismail. 

MEND’s idea of challenging stereotypes appears to consist of attacking liberal Muslims & partnering with Salafist hate preachers such as Haitham al Haddad & Shakeel Begg.

Haddad supports death for apostasy. Begg was found by a judge to have “encouraged religious violence.”

One of MEND’s former directors, the now CAGE-employed Azad Ali, is also no stranger to court cases. This unrepentant Hamas supporter launched a libel suit against the Daily Mail for describing him as a hardline extremist who supports the killing of UK troops in Iraq. He lost.

MEND’s founder has pushed the scare-mongering assertion that British society hates Muslims, and has falsely and irresponsibly claimed that UK law does not consider threatening or committing violence against Muslims to be a crime.

Yet for a group who launched an anti-Islamophobia initiative, MEND are not keen on the infinitely more moderate group Tell Mama who exist for the same purpose. MEND have described them as being headed by a “pro-Zionist” & criticised their liberal position on homosexuality.

MEND were also less than enthused with the appointment of liberal Muslim Sara Kahn to lead the counter extremism commission, with one of their officials referring to her as “an Oreo” – a racist reference to those who are deemed brown on the outside but white underneath.

In 2018 head of counter-terrorism policing, Sir Mark Rowley, aptly criticised MEND’s undermining of efforts to tackle hate crime - referencing their absurd and divisive claim that Britain was "approaching the conditions that preceded the Holocaust".

It should be clear that partnering with extremists groups like MEND and their cohorts, or otherwise legitimising them, does nothing to challenge actual bigotry, and that anyone interested in actually making a difference in this area should be giving MEND a very wide berth.

==

In other words, "Islamophobia Awareness Month" is completely bogus, a propaganda tactic by Islamists to try to culturally embed the idea that any resistance to the demands of Islam constitutes racism and bigotry; namely, the imaginary crime of "Islamophobia."

The last time I posted about the fact "Islamophobia" doesn't exist, a number of people lost their minds, calling me the usual, predictable, tedious epithets.

So, before anyone screams at me like a blue-hair banshee, know that I will block and remove all traces of your reply or reblog unless you meet the following challenge: describe a real, legitimate, justified criticism of Islam in a way that does NOT and CANNOT constitute "Islamophobia."

That is my threshold. These kinds of people like to pretend that they're not trying to censor all criticism of Islam, they're just trying to protect people, by acting as if I just don't know enough (when I demonstrably know more than they do) and that it's the way I'm criticising it. So, demonstrate how it's done. If you cannot meet this straightforward challenge - and I'm pretty sure you can't, and you know you can't - then don't bother wasting my time or your own, because nobody needs to listen do you and you've already proven my point.

"Islam is not a race… Islam is simply a set of beliefs, and it is not ‘Islamophobic’ to say Islam is incompatible with liberal democracy." -- Ayaan Hirsi Ali