#we are colonised by our own people in our own land

[muslimintp-1999-girl]

FUCK THE ESTABLISHMENT, FUCK THE MILITARY, I want to see their golf courses and DHA plots and cantonments (that they amassed and built on stolen land from the people and esp farmers) burn down to the ground.

[scottishcommune]

Below the cut is a template email to send to Edinburgh Pride regarding sponsorship from Aegon, who have investments linked to the genocide in Palestine. Please feel free to use this text or edit it and make it your own and send it to contact@prideedinburgh.co.uk

Dear Edinburgh Pride,

As a queer person living in Edinburgh, I was deeply saddened to learn that the march partner for Edinburgh Pride 2024 is Aegon.

In December 2023 the ‘Don’t Buy Into Occupation Coalition’ published a report that showed Aegon have US$564million invested via shares and bonds in companies operating in illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Source: https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023_DBIO-III-Report_11-December-2023.pdf

We are watching a live-streamed genocide every day - over 36,000 people in Palestine have been murdered by Israeli forces, including at least 15,000 children. The brutality of these atrocities are unthinkable, with evidence of torture and targeting of hospitals, ambulances and refugee camps.

We all have a responsibility to do what we can to end this genocide. As queer people, we are part of a rich history of resisting oppression and dehumanisation - of both ourselves and those we stand in solidarity with. Pride started as a protest against homophobia, transphobia and police violence. It is an important moment to come together as a community to celebrate queer joy and resilience.

But how can we celebrate using profits stained with the blood of our siblings in Palestine?

Aegon has $564million invested in companies that have been listed by the UN as “raising human rights concerns” for their operations in illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories, In 1948, 750,000 Palestinian people were displaced from their homes and lands and since then, Israeli settlements have been used to spread this process of colonisation.

In addition to this figure, Aegon also has major investments in Eaton Corp Plc., who supply parts for helicopters and fighter jets to the Israeli military and have recently been the target of major protests at their factory in Dorset. They also invest in Amazon, who support the Israeli military with surveillance technology used against Palestians.

Israel has long used ‘pinkwashing’ as a tactic to justify the brutal repression of Palestinians, using queer people to legitimise this horrific violence. We refuse to allow this to be done in our name.

The tide is turning on companies like Aegon that profit from investments in the companies complicit in genocide. Recently, both Hay and Edinburgh Book Festival have dropped Baillie Gifford as a sponsor after over 800 authors called on them to divest from companies involved in Israel and the fossil fuel industry.

I ask that Edinburgh Pride:

Calls on Aegon to commit to divest from companies involved in supplying technology to Israel and operating in illegal settlements.

Drop Aegon as a sponsor until they are able to show evidence of divestment.

Publicly call for a ceasefire and a free Palestine.

There is no pride in genocide.

I look forward to hearing your response.

XX

Sources:

Investments in companies operating in illegal settlements https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023_DBIO-III-Report_11-December-2023.pdf

Investments in Eaton https://extranet.secure.aegon.co.uk/static/sxhub/pdf/client-pen-distribution.pdf

Investments in Amazon https://www.aegon.co.uk/content/dam/auk/assets/publication/fund-factsheet/standard_bkj9zs0.pdf

Israel’s pinkwashing: https://bdsmovement.net/pinkwashing

War on Gaza statistics: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker

Edinburgh book festival ends Baillie Gifford sponsorship: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm553zrr3e4o

[uranodioningin]

This was way too long for replies so I'm commenting. Apologies for the avalanche of text. Also, apologies to my followers who will have no idea what I'm talking about or why.

Quebec is super racist, and those of us who live here are tired of tax money being thrown towards racist policies and shitty treatment of immigrants, forcing them to learn French under the least supportive circumstances.

It would be fantastic if some of that money could go towards expanding language learning, not just in terms of the classes available to people, but also low-stakes ways to practice speaking & listening; namely, TV/movies and fan spaces. As opposed to, you know, work. Where there are financial consequences if you don't learn fast enough. Streaming Quebecois French shows (yes Quebecois French, watching Parisian French does nothing to help you understand your Quebecois coworkers or clients) is an excellent way to offer that sort of learning & practice, and funding for such shows is a good thing.

It would also be fantastic for Quebec to put more support in indigenous language revival, as mentioned in the replies. I will just point out here that Netflix and Disney aren't exactly bastions of indigenous language revival, and asking them to offer Quebec-French media in Quebec itself is in no way taking away space for indigenous voices. Quebec's goal with this bill seems to be to stem the tide of Anglo-colonial media pushing down any and all diverse voices in online streaming. I don’t think that’s the best priority to have, and indigenous language revival should receive far more attention, but it’s not in and of itself a racist project to make streaming platforms offer media in the languages & on the topics relevant to the local consumers.

There is, certainly, a link between modern francophonie and white supremacy. If this bill is implemented fully (with that nonsense about temporary international workers needing to learn French, and [as mentioned in the replies] with less & less structural support and just plain time for that learning to happen) there will be negative shock-waves, most strongly felt by the linguistically disenfranchised (which is basically to say non-white anglophone & allophone immigrants). On this I agree with OP's view, that this bill is framed as "preserving" the French language when in fact over 50% of the funding is going towards making immigration harder for POC in a way that will in no way increase the ratio of francophones in the province. The streaming stuff is a good start, but it's tacked on as an afterthought, with the bulk of the bill going to good ol' QC racism.

I try not to be pessimistic, though. I hope it’s possible to build a future francophonie, built on values of diversity and acceptance and decolonisation. I am under no illusions that it will be easy to shape this future franco culture so that it includes none of the long history of oppression of French colonisation, but I believe it's possible, and more importantly, that it's important to try. To pretend that making a better future that includes all currently extant cultures of a region isn’t possible...to put it politely, it's a little grim.

And frankly, Quebecois-French TV and movies are a damn good tool for creating a new francophonie without the racism--IF the shows/films are made with anti-colonial values, with messages of acceptance and celebration of all Quebec's cultures, with an exploration of what makes Quebec be Quebec that extends beyond on parle français icitte tbk.

To end, I’m not saying “if Francos don’t oppress Native voices, someone else will, so we might as well be the ones to do it.” I’m not saying “Let's give all disenfranchised people equal support whether or not they face equal hurdles.” I’m not saying “French in Quebec is dying and we must save it.” I’m not saying “Quebec is better when it's French.”

I’m saying “There are anglophones and allophones in Quebec who want to learn French, but who lack the structural support to achieve that, and artistic efforts to support these people are a good thing.” I’m saying “Artistic efforts to encourage language learning can and should be implemented alongside academic efforts, and neither effort is being made with sufficient emphasis right now.” I’m saying “Asking Netflix/Disney/etc. to offer Quebecois media is a way of increasing artistic support for French learners (and positively shaping franco culture) without trodding down any other linguistic/cultural revival efforts.” I’m saying “French culture is a lot more than just being able to work in French, but currently there is little to no space in modern Quebec for francophone culture made by Quebecois artists for a Quebecois audience. Quebeckers seeking a cultural handhold find only the labour market.”

I’m saying “Quebec has a future and we want to actively shape it instead of being subsumed by the USA's cultural trajectory.”

I don't trust the current government, or any of the other parties contending for the next gov't, to shape Quebec into something non-racist. But if the revolutionary spirit of Quebec, its working-class history, its multicultural history, is stamped out by American reactionary politics, then the Quebec of 30 or 50 or 100 years from now is going to be so much worse.

Quebecers could soon see more homegrown content on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

The provincial government announced that it plans to introduce a new bill within the next year to force online streaming giants to add more made-in-Quebec media on their platforms. It was one of nine measures unveiled on Sunday under the province's plan to spend $603 million over five years(opens in a new tab) to protect the French language in Quebec.

Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe did not provide specifics of what would be inside the bill. [...]

The new funding will be aimed at nine priorities outlined by the government to boost the status of French. More than half of the money — $320 million — will be earmarked for ensuring temporary international workers speak and learn French. After immigration, culture is poised to get the second-largest chunk of the funding, at $187.3 million. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid

[akajustmerry]

Just out of curiosity - I read your post about how the “Australian” government abducted aboriginal children and assimilated them as part of the genocide against the native people, and it has me wondering, what is the land of Australia actually called? Since Australia is the name given by settlers, what do the aboriginal people actually call their home?

this is very easily googleable and I really encourage you to do your own research but I'm feeling generous. there is no one name for the land because Aboriginal peoples had (and still very much do have) our own nations that make up this land.

There are over 300 Indigenous nations on this continent. Each with its own language, laws, and cultural protocol. Some nations close in proximity share certain cultural protocols and language. Certain regions have names like "Koori" is most of the region also known as NSW and "Murri" is similar to the region known as Queensland. My people are Koori.

What is widely known as the Australian continent is large. First Nations peoples from Palawa, for example, rarely if ever interacted with Noongar peoples until after colonisation. Because of the size (only slightly smaller than the US) and differences in language, it's unlikely Aboriginal peoples had an agreed-upon name for the entire land. But it's also worth noting that if we did have a name for it, that name has probably been lost due to violent colonial efforts to strip us of our language and history. You'll hear people say "so-called Australia" as a way to acknowledge all this.

[komsomolka]

To sit in the comfort and safety of the West and condemn acts of armed resistance that the Palestinians choose to carry out – always at great risk to their lives – is a deeply chauvinistic position. It must be stated plainly: it is not the place of those who choose to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians from afar to then try and dictate how they should wage the anti-colonial struggle that, as Frantz Fanon believed, is necessary to maintain their humanity and dignity, and ultimately to achieve their liberation. Those who are not under brutal military occupation or refugees from ethnic cleansing have no right to judge the manner in which those who are choose to confront their colonisers. Indeed, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause is ultimately meaningless if that support dissipates the moment that the Palestinians resist their oppression with anything more than rocks and can no longer be portrayed as courageous, photogenic, but ultimately powerless, victims. [...]

As a result, large swathes of the Western left express solidarity with the Palestinian cause in a generalised, abstract way, overstating the importance of their own role, and simultaneously rejecting the very groups who are currently fighting – and dying – for it. All too often, those who have refused to surrender and steadfastly resisted at great cost, are condemned by people who, in the same breath, declare solidarity with the cause. Similarly, it is common for these same people to either ignore or demonise those external forces that materially aid the Palestinian resistance more than any others – most notably Iran. If this assistance is acknowledged, which is rare, the Palestinian groups that accept it are typically infantilised as mere ‘dupes’ or ‘pawns’, for allowing themselves to be used cynically by the self-serving acts of others – a sentiment that directly contradicts Palestinian leaders’ own statements.

A specific criticism of Hamas that is frequently deployed in this context is the ‘indiscriminate’ nature of its missile launches from Gaza, actions which both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International regularly label ‘war crimes’. As observed by Perugini and Gordon, the false equivalence that this designation relies upon ‘essentially says that using homemade missiles – there isn’t much else available to people living under permanent siege – is a war crime. In other words, Palestinian armed groups are criminalised for their technological inferiority’. After the latest round of fighting in May 2021, al-Sinwar stated clearly that, unlike Israel, ‘which possesses a complete arsenal of weaponry, state-of-the-art equipment and aircraft’ and ‘bombs our children and women, on purpose’, if Hamas possessed ‘the capabilities to launch precision missiles that targeted military targets, we wouldn’t have used the rockets that we did. We are forced to defend our people with what we have, and this is what we have’.

This failure to support legitimate armed struggle is a part of a wider problem with the framing used by many supporters of the Palestinian cause in the West, that obscures its fundamental nature and how it must be resolved. Palestine is not simply a human rights issue, or even just a question of apartheid, but rather an anti-colonial fight for national liberation being waged by an indigenous resistance against the forces of an imperialist-backed settler colony. Decolonisation is a word now frequently used in the West in an abstract sense or in relation to curricula, institutions and public art, but rarely anymore in connection to what actually matters most: land. And that is the very crux of the issue: the land of Palestine must be decolonised, its Zionist colonisers deposed, their racist structures and barriers – both physical and political – dismantled, and all Palestinian refugees given the right of return.

[spacerockfloater]

“The Targaryens/ Valyrians are not white supremacists and can’t be compared to European Colonisers!”

Oh? My bad then. I must have them confused with some other white folks who thought their appearance made them superior, brought whole continents to heel, exploited the lands of others for their own greed, destroyed whole civilizations and enslaved vulnerable people who unfortunately lacked the advanced weapons of mass destruction they possessed.

“Well, the Andals and the First Men were also colonisers, so they deserved it!”

No way! Are you actually telling me that every race has a history of violence because human nature itself is corrupt and we’re no better than animals fighting for their place on this earth? That’s so crazy and original. By the way, are you saying that people deserved to get colonised and enslaved because they were fighting other people in order to survive? Are you suggesting these “savages” should have been contained by the righteous white folks who came there to better their lives? Not to mention that the Andals and the First Men came to Westeros 12,000 and 6,000 years ago respectively, while the Targaryens attacked Westeros barely 130 years ago (literally just 3 - 4 generations) from the Dance of the Dragons? So are you comparing the morality of the people who migrated here, who were so primitive that barely even possessed weapons of steel, with that of the most advanced civilization ever built in the ASOIAF universe? That’s so interesting! It’s almost as if the Andals and the First Men didn’t know any better until it was too late and were trying to find a land that could accommodate their millions of people, so they were essentially fighting for survival, whereas the Targaryens who came from a race that had evolved philosophically, politically, academically and technologically wise, possessed enough wealth and land to sustain their little family, yet still chose to go to war against the land that nurtured them out of pure greed! Hmmm. Do you also believe that the Greeks had it coming when they were enslaved by the Ottomans and should just let go of the past because it’s been so long since they regained their freedom (barely 200 years ago btw, after 4 centuries of slavery), because their Ancient Ancestral Tribes migrated to Greece and conquered the land 3,500 years ago, a little after the age of bronze? No? Then you might see why that kind thinking is flawed.

Stop defending these inbred bastards with your full chest. We get it. They look badass. We all have a fave war criminal but all of the Targs need to be put to the sword, along with their fucking lizards. Purposely denying the parallels between the Targaryens/ Valyrians and the Colonisers/ Conquerors of our world screams white saviour complex.

[the-ind1gen0us-jude4n]

@elenajones23 first of all, who are you, a non Jew to lecture me about what my religion does or doesn’t allow? Who are you to tell me, as someone who doesn't practice the same religion, that I can or cannot do things?

The Torah isn’t a simple set of guidelines and commands, it’s far more complex than that. It has different interpritations, so saying the torah doesn't allow it is blatantly false. The name "Zion" (Promised land) is mentioned 154 times.

“It isn’t your land and it never was your land” bullshit.

We absolutely do have a land, if we don't, then why do we have holy sights in Jerusalem? Why are names like "Jaffa" and "Haifa" Hebrew?

The land of Israel is where my ancestors came from, it is where they lived, it is where they had a connection to, and it is where they suffered under the romans and were exiled.

We were never welcomed in Europe, we were never welcomed in the rest of the middle east.

These are ancient scrolls called the "Dead sea scrolls" which are a set of ancient Jewish writings dating from the 3rd century BCE.

This is all of what remains of our ancient temple, this is what it once was:

The first temple is Solomon's temple, the second one is Herod's temple, which was destroyed in 70CE by the romans. centuries later, the Muslim caliphates built the Al Aqsa mosque which was built on top of our temple mount. Today, the west wall is all we have left of this historic holy place.

The name "Palestine" was given to the land of Israel by roman colonisers who exiled most of us from the land of Israel, took many of us slaves, and scattered everyone else through western Europe (Some moved further east).

Now about the Nazis = Zionist argument. The Nazis originally made a deal with German Zionist Jews (The Haavara agreement) to bring about a mass migration from Germany to Israel, it should be mentioned that this was because Hitler and the Nazis wanted a Jew-Free Europe, not because the Nazis supported Zionism.

This deal was criticized by both Nazis and Zionists. Zionist criticised it because it made a deal with the devil, and the Nazis criticised it because it went against their philosophy.

The Nazis were extremely antizionist, the belief that they were Zionists is soviet cold war propaganda to demonise the state of Israel and the broader Jewish community. They believed that Jews were biologically incapable of running their own state and were too inferior. Hitler had a "Palestinian" friend (Amin al-Husseini) who campaigned in Berlin, fought for a Palestinian state, and even CONTRIBUTED TO THE HOLOCAUST. They also lead a boycott of Jewish businesses in "Palestine".

So, you're wrong. So very very wrong. You can try to lecture me about the history of my own people and religion all you want, but you're wrong.

Please, kindly fuck off and read a history book. Please attend a Synagogue service and learn more about our religion before you come spewing false bullshit about it.

[matan4il]

Hello. Can I ask why everybody is calling Israel a "colonial" state? Because it annoys me very much when I see that for three main reasons:

1. My country was a former member of the British colonial rule. Do you know what happens when a country gets colonised? Every bit of the wealth generated went to the Crown, every political decision had to be approved by the Crown, laborers were exploited as much as possible, my people were directly under the orders from a British Monarch who actively hated them. The economy was in shambles after we got independence. As far as I know, since the state of Israel was created, it does not answer to any foreign country (the UN is not a country). How is this a European 'colony'?

2. Most(All?) people who immigrated to Israel were refugees. If Jewish people living in Europe did not have any ties to the land of Israel and were completely 100% European, why were most of them killed horrifically during the Holocaust for not being the right race? Why does nobody talk about the expulsion of Jews from the surrounding Arab countries? Where should these people go?

3. People also seem to forget that governments can be stupid. Just because they are the ruling party does not mean they're capable of making sound decisions for their people. Even a non-colonial government makes bad decisions. If you can separate Trump from the rest of the US, why can't you do the same for Israel?

I do not want to reduce the suffering of the Palestinian civilians. However using the wrong terminology is not the way to help these people. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm really tired of this 'colonizer' takes.

(I hope I made my point clear as English is not my first language?)

Hi, lovely Nonnie!

Please, your English is great! I would have never guessed you're not a native speaker. :D

And you are absolutely right about every single point. Also, my heart goes out to you! I'm so sorry that your people have also suffered due to colonialism. I'm sending you BIG hugs!

Colonialism is what destroyed my people. After our homeland was repeatedly colonized, the Roman colonizers went even further than previous regimes, and expelled most of our ancestors from this land (a small Jewish minority wasn't, and that's why there has been a documented continuous Jewish presence in Israel for over 3,000 years). The expelled Jews became a spread out minority in other countries. With such small numbers in each country, it was easy to vilify us, we were vulnerable to every attack, with hardly anyone defending us, and no real option to defend ourselves. The Holocaust happening to us is directly linked to this way that we were forced to exist for almost 2,000 years in the diaspora.

Meanwhile, our land continued to be repeatedly colonized by different regimes. Each one did exactly as you said, exploited our country for their own benefit. The Ottomans, as just one example, cut off so many trees to build the Hejaz railway (which connected today's Syria to today's Saudi Arabia for the purpose of Muslim pilgrimage to the Saudi mosques), that the Land of Israel went through a desertification process. When Jews started returning in substantial numbers (because in small ones, there were always individual Jews who tried returning to our ancestral land), we did exactly what native populations try to do, restore the land, through continued research and development, to its pre-colonized state.

That's on top of the fact that, as you mentioned, we don't answer to or serve any European (or western) country. Colonies serve a metropole, but there is none for Israel. It's just our country. It's just the place where we live, even when it's incredibly difficult, because it's our ancestral homeland, which we've returned to, after our ancestors prayed for that for almost 2,000 years.

You're also spot on about the fact, that Jews were always discriminated against and persecuted in every country in the diaspora (with a few exceptions in South East Asia, the most important one being India). We were treated that way precisely because there was a historic recollection that we are foreigners. That we were south west Asians, living as a minority in countries that never truly wanted us, like Norway, or Spain, or Morocco. That's why it was so easy to kill us in the Holocaust. That's why it was so easy to expel us from Arab countries. Because we were never truly accepted by the locals.

But even after expulsions and surviving the Holocaust, there are so many places in the world Jews could have turned to! Places where there would be less resistance to us forming a country. Yet, the overwhelming majority of Jews rejected such suggestions. If they hadn't, then we would have truly been colonizers. But that's not what we yearned for. We always dreamed of returning to our homeland, so eventually it became evident to everyone that there's only one real option for a Jewish state, and that is in the Jewish ancestral land.

The reason why people claim that Jews are colonizers of their own land (some deny all historic ties Jews have to Israel, despite every piece of evidence to the contrary, while others acknowledge the Jewish history of Israel and the continued Jewish presence there, but claim that it's been so long ago, it doesn't count anymore. I've never seen any other native group being told that there's a time limit on their native rights. Have you?) is because it allows a narrative that once again vilifies Jews.

When the worst thing Jews could have been was of an evil religion, they described us as evil in religious terms (accusing us of having killed Jesus, and accusing us of using the blood of non-Jewish kids to bake a special kind of bread meant for religious purpose). When the worst thing Jews could have been was of an evil race, they described us as evil in racial terms (describing us as being sub-human, and accusing us of wanting to take over the world, to destroy it for the rest of the human race). Now that de-colonization is such a powerful (rightfully so) narrative, the worst thing Jews can be is evil colonizers... So guess what we're suddenly described as? Evil colonizers, who plot, steal, abuse and genocide another population (when in reality we consented to coexist with it 76 years ago).

I hope that sort of answers it? Basically, it's the newest form of the same age old antisemitism. Find the worst thing Jews can currently be, and depict them as that.

Thank you for seeing past the vilification! It means a lot. I'm sending you lots of love! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[the-casbah-way]

forgive the brief jesus chris superstar rant but. there is a very important difference between the pharisees being villains and the pharisees being antagonists. they're technically antagonists because they're actively working against the interests of our protagonist, but i don't believe they should ever be played as villains. they're not evil or bad or wrong. they're terrified just like literally everyone else in the show is, and their actions are completely justified. to me that's the entire point of the musical. it's not about christianity; it's about the impact the roman empire's brutal and violent imperialism had on everyone on all levels. including jesus and judas, but also including the pharisees, and even herod and pilate. when a powerful coloniser forces their presence on innocent people they are the only winners. everyone else suffers, even the puppet kings and high priests who look like they're reaping some sort of benefit from it all. that's roman propaganda. the romans kept native rulers like herod and caiaphas in power to maintain the illusion of provincial autonomy, and keep populations appeased and therefore under control. everyone in the show is acting out of fear of the romans. the one roman character we do see (pilate) is acting out of fear of his own emperor. it makes no sense to cast the pharisees as two dimensional Bad Guys, especially when the same productions that do that usually offer a sympathetic portrayal of pilate. it would be so easy to stage and direct a production in a way that makes it obvious that the pharisees are doing what they're doing because they truly have no choice, and not because they're pure evil and want to kill jesus for the sake of it. it's not only an antisemitic trope but also undermines a really important theme of the musical. if you can see the humanity in the violent roman governor installed forcefully on conquered land then you can afford some humanity for the pharisees too. they are victims of pilate and victims of rome just like everyone else

[bfpnola]

The Iron Wall by Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1923), Zionist leader and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization.

context: i am sharing this so that we can take note to a pioneering zionist calling the ideology a form of colonization by name. this should not a be point of contention when the father of political zionism, theodore herzl, has done the same as well. see below:

ID: “The Iron Wall

Original in Russian, Razsviet, 4.11.1923

Colonisation of Palestine

Agreement with Arabs Impossible at present

Zionism Must Go Forward

It is an excellent rule to begin an article with the most important point. But this time, I find it necessary to begin with an introduction, and, moreover, with a personal introduction.

I am reputed to be an enemy of the Arabs, who wants to have them ejected from Palestine, and so forth. It is not true.

Emotionally, my attitude to the Arabs is the same as to all other nations - polite indifference. Politically, my attitude is determined by two principles. First of all, I consider it utterly impossible to eject the Arabs from Palestine. There will always be two nations in Palestine - which is good enough for me, provided the Jews become the majority. And secondly, I belong to the group that once drew up the Helsingfors Programme, the programme of national rights for all nationalities living in the same State. In drawing up that programme, we had in mind not only the Jews. but all nations everywhere, and its basis is equality of rights.

I am prepared to take an oath binding ourselves and our descendants that we shall never do anything contrary to the principle of equal rights, and that we shall never try to eject anyone. This seems to me a fairly peaceful credo.

But it is quite another question whether it is always possible to realise a peaceful aim by peaceful means. For the answer to this question does not depend on our attitude to the Arabs; but entirely on the attitude of the Arabs to us and to Zionism.” End ID

ID: “Now, after this introduction, we may proceed to the subject.

Voluntary Agreement Not Possible.

There can be no voluntary agreement between ourselves and the Palestine Arabs. Not now, nor in the prospective future. I say this with such conviction, not because I want to hurt the moderate Zionists. I do not believe that they will be hurt.

Except for those who were born blind, they realised long ago that it is utterly impossible to obtain the voluntary consent of the Palestine Arabs for converting

"Palestine" from an Arab country into a country with a Jewish majority.

My readers have a general idea of the history of colonisation in other countries.

I suggest that they consider all the precedents with which they are acquainted, and see whether there is one solitary instance of any colonisation being carried on with the consent of the native population. There is no such precedent.

The native populations, civilised or uncivilised, have always stubbornly resisted the colonists, irrespective of whether they were civilised or savage.

And it made no difference whatever whether the colonists behaved decently or not.

The companions of Cortez and Pizzaro or (as some people will remind us) our own ancestors under Joshua Ben Nun, behaved like brigands; but the Pilgrim Fathers, the first real pioneers of North America, were people of the highest morality, who did not want to do harm to anyone, least of all to the Red Indians, and they honestly believed that there was room enough in the prairies both for the Paleface and the Redskin. Yet the native population fought with the same ferocity against the good colonists as against the bad.

Every native population, civilised or not, regards its lands as its national home, of which it is the sole master, and it wants to retain that mastery always; it will refuse to admit not only new masters but, even new partners or collaborators.” End ID.

ID: “Arabs Not Fools

This is equally true of the Arabs. Our Peace-mongers are trying to persuade us that the Arabs are either fools, whom we can deceive by masking our real aims, or that they are corrupt and can be bribed to abandon to us their claim to priority in Palestine, in return for cultural and economic advantages. I repudiate this conception of the Palestinian Arabs. Culturally they are five hundred years behind us, they have neither our endurance nor our determination; but they are just as good psychologists as we are, and their minds have been sharpened like ours by centuries of fine-spun logomachy. We may tell them whatever we like about the innocence of our aims, watering them down and sweetening them with honeyed words to make them palatable, but they know what we want, as well as we know what they do not want.

They feel at least the same instinctive jealous love of Palestine, as the old Aztecs felt for ancient Mexico, and their Sioux for their rolling Prairies.

To imagine, as our Arabophiles do, that they will voluntarily consent to the realisation of Zionism. In return for the moral and material conveniences which the Jewish colonist brings with him, is a childish notion, which has at bottom a kind of contempt for the Arab people; it means that they despise the Arab race, which they regard as a corrupt mob that can be bought and sold, and are willing to give up their fatherland for a good railway system.

All Natives Resist Colonists

There is no justification for such a belief. It may be that some individual Arabs take bribes. But that does not mean that the Arab people of Palestine as a whole will sell that fervent patriotism that they guard so jealously, and which even the Papuans will never sell. Every native population in the world resists colonists as long as it has the slightest hope of being able to rid itself of the danger of being colonised.” End ID.

ID: “That is what the Arabs in Palestine are doing, and what they will persist in doing as long as there remains a solitary spark of hope that they will be able to prevent the transformation of "Palestine" into the "Land of Israel."

Arab Comprehension

Some of us have induced ourselves to believe that all the trouble is due to misunderstanding - the Arabs have not understood us, and that is the only reason why they resist us if we can only make it clear to them how moderate our intentions really are, they will immediately extend to us their hand in friendship.

This belief is utterly unfounded and it has been exploded again and again. I shall recall only one instance of many. A few years ago, when the late Mr. Sokolow was on one of his periodic visits to Palestine, he addressed a meeting on this very question of the "misunderstanding." He demonstrated lucidly and convincingly that the Arabs are terribly mistaken if they think that we have any desire to deprive them of their possessions or to drive them our of the country, or that we want to oppress them. We do not even ask for a Jewish Government to hold the Mandate of the League of Nations.

One of the Arab papers, "El Carmel," replied at the time, in an editorial article, the purport of which was this:

The Zionists are making a fuss about nothing. There is no misunderstanding.

All that Mr. Sokolow says about the Zionist intentions is true, but the Arabs know that without him. Of course, the Zionists cannot now be thinking of driving the Arabs out of the country, or oppressing them, not do they contemplate a Jewish Government. Quite obviously, they are now concerned with one thing only- that the Arabs should not hinder their immigration. The Zionists assure us that even immigration will be regulated strictly according to the economic needs of Palestine. The Arabs have never doubted that: it is a truism, for otherwise there can be no immigration.” End ID.

ID: “No "Misunderstanding"

This Arab editor was actually willing to agree that Palestine has a very large potential absorptive capacity, meaning that there is room for a great many Jews in the country without displacing a single Arab. There is only one thing the Zionists want, and it is that one thing that the Arabs do not want, for that is the way by which the Jews would gradually become the majority, and then a Jewish Government would follow automatically, and the future of the Arab minority would depend on the goodwill of the Jews; and a minority status is not a good thing, as the Jews themselves are never tired of pointing out. So there is no "misunderstanding".

The Zionists want only one thing, Jewish immigration; and this Jewish immigration is what the Arabs do not want.

This statement of the position by the Arab editor is so logical, so obvious, so indisputable, that everyone ought to know it by heart, and it should be made the basis of all our future discussions on the Arab question. It does not matter at all which phraseology we employ in explaining our colonising aims, Herzl's or Sir Herbert Samuel's.

Colonisation carries its own explanation, the only possible explanation, unalterable and as clear as daylight to every ordinary Jew and every ordinary Arab.

Colonisation can have only one aim, and Palestine Arabs cannot accept this aim. It lies in the very nature of things, and in this particular regard nature cannot be changed.

The Iron Wall

We cannot offer any adequate compensation to the Palestinian Arabs in return for Palestine. And therefore, there is no likelihood of any voluntary agreement being reached. So that all those who regard such an agreement as a condition sine qua non for Zionism may as well say "non" and withdraw from Zionism.” End ID.

ID: “Zionist colonisation must either stop, or else proceed regardless of the native population. Which means that it can proceed and develop only under the protection of a power that is independent of the native population - behind an iron wall, which the native population cannot breach.

That is our Arab policy; not what we should be, but what it actually is, whether we admit it or not. What need, otherwise, of the Balfour Declaration? Or of the Mandate? Their value to us is that outside Power has undertaken to create in the country such conditions of administration and security that if the native population should desire to hinder our work, they will find it impossible.

And we are all of us, without any exception, demanding day after day that this outside Power, should carry out this task vigorously and with determination.

In this matter there is no difference between our "militarists" and our

"vegetarians". Except that the first prefer that the iron wall should consist of Jewish soldiers, and the others are content that they should be British.

We all demand that there should be an iron wall. Yet we keep spoiling our own case, by talking about agreement" which means telling the Mandatory Government that the important thing is not the iron wall, but discussions. Empty rhetoric of this kind is dangerous. And that is why it is not only a pleasure but a duty to discredit it and to demonstrate that it is both fantastic and dishonest.

Zionism Moral and Just

Two brief remarks:

In the first place, if anyone objects that this point of view is immoral, I answer: It is not true: either Zionism is moral and just ,or it is immoral and unjust.

But that is a question that we should have settled before we became Zionists.

Actually we have settled that question, and in the affirmative.” End ID.

ID: “We hold that Zionism is moral and just. And since it is moral and just, justice must be done, no matter whether Joseph or Simon or Ivan or Achmet agree with it or not.

There is no other morality.

Eventual Agreement

In the second place, this does not mean that there cannot be any agreement with the Palestine Arabs. What is impossible is a voluntary agreement. As long as the Arabs feel that there is the least hope of getting rid of us, they will refuse to give up this hope in return for either kind words or for bread and butter, because they are not a rabble, but a living people. And when a living people yields in matters of such a vital character it is only when there is no longer any hope of getting rid of us, because they can make no breach in the iron wall. Not till then will they drop their extremist leaders whose watchword is "Never!" And the leadership will pass to the moderate groups, who will approach us with a proposal that we should both agree to mutual concessions. Then we may expect them to discuss honestly practical questions, such as a guarantee against Arab displacement, or equal rights for Arab citizen, or Arab national integrity.

And when that happens, I am convinced that we Jews will be found ready to give them satisfactory guarantees, so that both peoples can live together in peace, like good neighbours.

But the only way to obtain such an agreement, is the iron wall, which is to say a strong power in Palestine that is not amenable to any Arab pressure. In other words, the only way to reach an agreement in the future is to abandon all idea of seeking an agreement at present.” End ID.

[ptseti]

LEAVE EUROPE? ONCE EUROPE GETS OUT OF AFRICA!’

Racists in Europe will often mask their hatred as patriotism, telling Black and Brown people to ‘leave’ and ‘go back’ to their ‘own countries.’ The level of ignorance is galling. It was Europeans that came and pillaged our ancestral lands. It’s our wealth they built their more ‘advanced’ societies on - something that continues to this day through neo-colonial exploitation.

Adding to the irony is the fact that Europe controls two African territories on the Northern Coast: Ceuta and Melilla. This control, which dates back to Spanish colonisation, symbolises the ongoing neo-colonial presence of Europe in Africa. It highlights the contradictory nature of European immigration laws and policies: on the one hand, European countries fortify their borders against African migrants, while on the other, they maintain sovereign territories on African soil, revealing a shameless double standard. At the same time, neo-colonial policies towards African nations continue to create terrible living standards that force Africans to look for livelihoods outside of Africa, while her plundered resources feed the Global North.

In this video, a brother expresses sentiments shared by many Africans living in Europe and in the diaspora: until Europe (and the rest of the Western world) leave Africa and provide restitution, Africans will not leave Europe. Africans are rightfully entitled to be in Europe and enjoy the fruits of their blood, sweat and tears. The video is particularly timely, given the recent racial violence we have seen erupt in the UK lately.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the video author’s name and can’t link to his account. If you can enlighten us, please do in the comments - where your reactions to what he has to say are also most welcome!

[claraameliapond]

For Australia, 26th January is invasion day, and that's literally it.

Today is a horrifically sad day in Australian history. Invasion day.

That's literally all it is.

Please please please do not join in the chorus of racism wishing anyone a "Happy Australia day" on the 26th of January

We can, have and are moving forward together as a country,

But we cannot truly do so if a celebration of our country and identity is held on the literal anniversary of the brutal and long-standing invasion, massacre and occupation of Australian aboriginals, the first peoples of Australia.

This invasion and subsequent violent Colonisation was full of many horrors that lasted well into the late twentieth century, and the long-standing repercussions of which have lasted to this day.

The stolen generations , in which generations - multiple generations of young aboriginal children were literally stolen by white colonists from their families, sent to missions, (detention boarding "schools ") , in which they were converted to Christianity and prepared for menial jobs, punished if they ever spoke their own languages, and subsequently put into the service of white families, with the intention to be bred out, never to see their families again. Never to be educated about their home, their families, their land, their culture, their languages, their history; they are the oldest continuing culture on earth. The last of these missions were in effect until 1969. By 1969, all states had repealed the legislation that allowed the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy and guise of "protection".

The indigenous health, longevity and poverty gaps still exist. Access to medicine, medical care, healthcare, a western education, all things we deem human rights by law, are not accessible to many rural communities still. They are provided, but in western ways, on western terms, with a gap of understanding how best to implement those services for an entirely different culture , that we do not have a thorough understanding of - that was what the referendum was about: , how best to implement the funds that are already designated to provide those services, because it's not currently working or usable by those communities. Our aboriginal communities are still not treated equally, nor do they have the same access we all enjoy to things like healthcare services, medicines and western education.

It is horrific and insensitive to therefore celebrate that day as our country's day of identity, because it's literally celebrating the first day and all subsequent days of the invasion, the massacres, the stolen generations, the subjugation and mistreatment, the inequalities that still persist today. It celebrates that day, that act committed on that day, of invasion , violent brutal massacres of Aboriginal people, as a positive, 'good' thing. As something that defines Australia's identity and should define an identity to be proud of.

That's nothing to be proud of.

Our true history is barely taught in our school curriculum, in both primary and secondary school. Not even acknowledged.

It needs to be.

We cannot properly move forward as a country until that truth is understood by every Australian, with compulsory education.

January 26th is Not 'Australia day'. It's Invasion day. It's a sorrowful day of mourning.

Please do not wish anyone a "happy Australia day " today.

It's not happy and it's not Australia day.

Australia day should be at the end of Reconciliation week that is held from the 23rd May to 3rd June.

A sentiment that is about all of us coming together as a shared identity within many identities, accepting and valuing each other as equal, a day that actually acknowledges Australian aboriginal peoples as the first Australians - because they are.

This is literally about acknowledging fact - that is the truth of Australian history. Aboriginal cultures should be celebrated and embraced, learnt from, not ignored, treated as invisible and especially not desecrated by holding celebrations of national identity on anniversaries of their violent destruction.

Australian aboriginal peoples, cultures and histories, should be held up as Australia's proud identity of origins, because it literally is Australia's origins.

That's a huge, foundational integral part of our shared identity that must be celebrated and acknowledged.

Inclusivity, not offensive exclusivity. Australia day used to be on 30th July, also 28th July, among others. Australia Day on the 26th January only officially became a public holiday for all states and territories 24 years ago, in 1994. It's been changed a lot before. It can certainly be changed so it can be a nonoffensive , happy celebration of our shared Australian national identity for everyone, that respectfully acknowledges and includes the full truth of our whole shared history, not just the convenient parts.

There is literally no reason it can't be changed, and every reason to change it.

#Always Was Always Will Be

[akajustmerry]

Hello! I've just found your podcast and listened into some older episodes. They helped me on my journey of understanding my sexuality, and formulate why some stories appear more sincere than others. Thank you two! In one episode that Aboriginal people are "like black people in Australia" (I hope I quote this correctly). If It's no hassle, I would be curious in understanding the social circumstnaces you are descrbing. Happily waiting for a new episode, and thank you very much for the fun and informative work!

hello there, thank you so much for listening to gayv club! I'm chuffed that you love the podcast (psst follow @gayvclubpodcast) 🥰

So, to answer your question, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Indigenous people to what the world calls "Australia". And we are Black people. We are Black people and were racialised as Black Indigenous people when British and European people colonised the land over 200 years ago. Aboriginal people were called Black throughout Australias white colonial history and so we also call ourselves Black.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in this country have been subjected to anti-Black violence and genocidal policies that include but aren't limited to slavery, deaths in custody, segregation, and apartheid. Not to mention forced child removal and assimilation policies intended to "breed the Black out" of our culture.

But we're still here! Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the oldest continuously practising culture in the world. Recent archaeological discoveries show Aboriginal people were baking bread even before the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. As a community, we've had our own Black power movements, music movements, and art movements too.

I'm generalising a lot because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are very diverse. We've got over 400 languages and nations, each with its own cultural rules. While many of us have lost our language and culture because of colonisation, there are many who haven't and many working to restore and preserve it.

One thing I will make very clear is that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples refer to ourselves as Black (sometimes without the C) regardless of what we look like. There are many Aboriginal people, like myself, who are pale skinned and still call ourselves Black and are accepted as such. This is because we do NOT adhere to blood quantum that colonisers try to put on us. Our connection to Blackness is about our connection to family and community, it is not *only* about how we look.

Hope this helps you understand a bit. I for one am very proud to be Blak. I'm very proud to be Aboriginal. If you want to learn more about Aboriginal culture and history, here's some resources:

[greetings-inferiors]

Okay so I saw a post about loving when fantasy points out that humans are weird because it's something that I absolutely love about xenoblade 1 and hate about xenoblade 2 okay here we go

So in Xenoblade 1, there aren't such things as humans (okay technically there are but not in the world you play the game in). What the closest analogue to humans are are the homs. They have their own fantasy race name, and the different races are treated like differ not races in a DND sense, as if they were different species. And they do really cool things with it! Nopons have distinct vocal tics and habits from the rest of the races, but that's completely societal - it's actually a defence mechanism that evolved once the Nopon came into contact with the other intelligent races to come across as cuter and not be hunted! Nopon that are raised in Homs or High entia society speak the way everyone else does (not to say that the Homs and High entia speak the same, they still have a lot of differences!). It really helps the worldbuilding. It makes the world feel ALIVE. There are tons of quests Including adopted Nopon or immigrants and it's all really well done. There's a really interesting quest where there's a high entia that keeps a nopon as a pet, even though he's a fully sentient and unwilling person. And the high entia in your party doesn't see the problem until talking with the Nopon in question, because you have to unlearn these things. All of the races feel so unique and realistic and special and specific, even your boring run of the mill Homs (which I do have the least to speak about but trust me it does stick out)

But then Xenoblade 2 has a... Different approach. Mind you I love xenoblade 2 to death, this is probably my biggest problem with it, and even then it's not really a bad thing since it works for the themes I just don't like it in a worldbuilding sense.

So with xenoblade 2, 4 here are three categories of intelligent life (maybe? It gets greyer when you talk about stuff like tirkin but moving on): human, blade, and titan. And even then titans are just a later stage of blade.

The problem I have with this is it means that there's a "default". Each race is a different kind of human, gormotti and Nopon (I'm 99% sure they count since humanity's used as a blanket term) and urayans etc., but there's a default human. People from leftheria or mor ardain are just human. But then people from gormott are gormotti, but also human. But then Nopon aren't from a single "place", since the trade guilds are artificial civilisations, not built on continental titans, but can be found in most places, a lot more frequently than any of the other races (except default humans obviously). Idk it just feels so murky and muddy. They never draw attention to it, it's a lot closer to race in our world than in dnd (except for Nopon, which once again are a weird exception I think?). I just wish they used Homs for the default humans and still used Humanity as a blanket term instead of just not giving base humans a name. It also focuses a lot less on the races as a whole, in part because the themes aren't as dependant on multiple races coming together as much as it is two types of organism working together, so it doesn't bother discussing race dynamics to focus on the much more pressing driver/blade dynamic, but it was such a cool and special part of the original that I feel is sorely missing. They started to do some cool things with the gormotti as they're clearly the most marginalised, being refugees that the indol spit on and having the base humans from mor ardain trying to colonise their land, but it's just not brought up for more than like two cutscenes each and maybe a handful of side quests. And it makes the world feel a lot less living and realistic to me. It's still incredibly living and realistic it's a xenoblade game monolith soft are certified architects when it comes to creating worlds and civilisations, it's just even though each town and city may even be bigger and more intricate than xenoblade 1's, they feel so much smaller and more video gamey. Torigoth almost felt like a Pokémon town to me whereas colony 9 (which is probably just as large if not smaller in terms of actual people and things there) felt so interconnected and sprawling with the lives of the people who lived there. Idk.

It's just that I think xenoblade 1 is the best game I've ever seen do this and xenoblade 2's is just... Okay at it. And it's always annoyed me since I read "humanity" on the box.

And I get that it is set in our actual world whereas xenoblade 1 is set in a different world but shut up every "human" is descended from rocks they bear no actual relation to actual real life humans like klaus asides from the name. The urayan titan is just as "human" as Rex is.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Why do you reckon you want to be a hero so bad? You'll stand up for any cause be it the Palestinians refusing to move on or a frog you found out of water. You're not gonna change the world, you're insignificant and you will always be

I dunno why do I stand up for causes like this?

Could it be because my family originally comes from a part of the world that has its own parallels to Palestine?

Or is it just that I'm simply human and seeing other humans suffer on such a mass scale as the world's powers turn a blind eye, horrifies me.

Maybe it's both.

Maybe it's more.

I know that I can't change the world.

I am one person, one voice in a sea of millions.

But you're wrong when you say I'm insignificant.

Because I amplify the voices of others, I spread news and do my best to bring light and hope to these causes.

From those far my knowledgable, from those who have that reach and power.

And if I can spread that to one person, and they can pass that on or join in the boycotts or just inform them of something they didn't know about.

Than that's all that matters.

We live in a society that thrives on ignorance, on the prioritisation of comfort and imperialism which uphold white supremacists.

And lead to the suffering of others like the Palestinians, like the Sudanese, like the Congolese.

It's important to recognise that, to challenge it so we aren't complacent.

If I can do something, even if it doesn't have a big impact its better than nothing.

We might not be able to do much but we will know the truth that the world tries so desperately to hide from us.

Which stops us from falling for their lies.

It was said a man protested the Vietnam war by standing in solidarity outside the white house with a candle.

A journalist came up to him and said "Sir, do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone every night with a candle?"

The man replied "I don't do this to change the country. I do this so the country won't change me."

It's people like you who make others sharing their voices feel insignificant.

If my voice didn't matter you wouldn't care to try to silence me.

If our voices didn't matter the world wouldn't be trying to censor and silence Pro Palestine content.

I'm no hero.

But you most certainly are a villian.

Free Palestine from the river to the sea.

Free Congo.

Free Sudan.

Free Tigray.

Free Haiti.

Free Hawaii.

That all indigenous folk have their land returned.

That all colonial colonies are made independent.

And free every person who has ever suffered from the lasting effects, both directly and indirectly from colonisation and imperialism.

I hope you all find peace during your lifetimes.

I stand with you, holding my candle.

[kiunlo]

posting on main since i don't care but my mutuals and followers who don't know shit about flight rising might be very confused 💀💀💀

anyways with the new flight rising lore update/revamp, i am very happy and excited about it! but i've seen a lot of complaints from others going like "but my lore!" because their personal lore for their dragon clan goes full in on the colonisation of the beastclans lands/massacring of the beastclans and just overall being dicks on purpose (which was the original canon lore for beastclans and their relationship with dragons).

like i get that the canon has changed making your lair's lore no longer canon compliant, but you have to understand that pretty much every indigenous person who played this game and cared about giving their dragons lore (ME) had to ignore canon. a lot of us ignored canon because playing on the side of colonisers (dragons) was severely uncomfortable given...you know...real life colonisation destroying our cultures, families, languages etc.

the fact that the devs decided "hey actually the playerbase has a point about all of this fucked up colonialism shit in our lore lets fix our mistakes" is like. a fucking win for all of us indigenous people around the world who play this game. we no longer have to pretend the beastclans lore doesn't exist or ignore it because it reminded us too much of the real life things that happened to our own communities. we can play the game and give lore to our own dragon's without having to ignore the canon lore for our own comfort if we decide we want our dragons to interact with the beastclans in positive ways.

if it bothers and annoys you so much to have your own clan's lore not being canon compliant...now you know how it felt for so many indigenous people for most of the decade who played this game. except we had a very good real life reason to be bothered and annoyed by it.