#what: Al Jazeera America

[zestingbloodorange]

ok.

[decolonize-the-everything]

"Speaking to Al Jazeera, Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, says Israeli officials, both in Netanyahu’s coalition and in the opposition, have been speaking more openly about making Gaza unlivable for Palestinians.

“There have been ongoing statements in recent days … which seem to indicate a particular plan the Israeli government seems to want to implement, which is not only to create unbearable conditions for the population of Gaza, but actually to speak about removing the population,” he said.

“Or as one minister [far-right finance minister] Smotrich said, to encourage them to leave Gaza either to the Sinai Peninsula or to other countries that would welcome them,” Bartov said.

“Or that Israel would rule that area and as this particular minister said, there should be discussions about settling the Gaza Strip,” he said, adding if the current trajectory continues, the world is witnessing an operation of “ethnic cleansing under the mantle of humanitarian action”.

American Muslim leaders carried on a campaign launched earlier this month against President Joe Biden over his handling of the Gaza conflict.

#AbandonBiden campaign was first launched by Muslim leaders from Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Saturday’s plan to actively campaign against Biden in all 50 US states was announced in Chicago, Illinois at the end of a national convention organised by the Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America.

The leaders say they intend to guarantee Biden’s loss in the upcoming 2024 election over his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 21,000 people, mostly children and women.

“The president betrayed us because he violated the value of dignity and life. What’s the point of voting for you when you deny 2.2 million [in Gaza] people water?” said Hassan Abdel Salam, a spokesperson for the campaign.

" Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked the Biden administration for its continued backing, including approval for a new emergency weapons sale, the second this month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a similar decision on December 9 to approve the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106m.

Some Democratic lawmakers have spoken of making a proposed $14.3bn in American military assistance to Israel contingent on concrete steps by Netanyahu’s government to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza.

Netanyahu says Israel needs more time in Gaza.

“As the chief of staff said this week, the war will continue many more months. My policy is clear. We will continue to fight until we have achieved all the objectives of the war, first and foremost the annihilation of Hamas and the release of all the hostages.”

Keep protesting and boycotting and calling your reps and blocking ships and railroads

🕊️🇵🇸🕊️

artist

[probablyasocialecologist]

Degrowth basics

"The word degrowth stands for a family of political-economic approaches that, in the face of today’s accelerating planetary ecological crisis, reject unlimited, exponential economic growth as the definition of human progress."

What is Degrowth? | Caracol DSA

Why degrowth is the only responsible way forward | OpenDemocracy

Degrowth and MMT: A thought experiment

We Need A Fair Way To End Infinite Growth | Current Affairs

Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance | Common Dreams

Can degrowth save us and the planet? | Nottingham Trent

Defending limits is not Malthusian | Undisciplined Environments

Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth? | New Yorker

The Urgent Case for Shrinking the Economy | The New Republic

Giving Up on Economic Growth Could Make Us Cooler and Happier | The New Republic

A guide to degrowth: The movement prioritizing wellbeing in a bid to avoid climate cataclysm | CNBC

What is ‘degrowth’ and how can it fight climate change? | Popular Science

Enough for Everyone | Yes! Magazine

Toward a Post-Capitalist Future: On the Growth of “Degrowth” | Lit Hub

All we are saying is give degrowth a chance | The RSA

A pathway out of environmental collapse | newsroom

On Technology and Degrowth | Monthly Review

What is degrowth (and more importantly, what is it not)? | META

Green growth

"There is no empirical evidence that absolute decoupling from resource use can be achieved on a global scale against a background of continued economic growth."

Is Green Growth Possible? | Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis

The Myth of America’s Green Growth | Foreign Policy

The decoupling delusion: rethinking growth and sustainability | The Conversation

Is green growth happening? | Uneven Earth

Green Growth | Uneven Earth

The Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth | Scientific American

Degrowth is not austerity – it is actually just the opposite | Al Jazeera

A response to Paul Krugman: Growth is not as green as you might think | Timothée Parrique

Deceitful Decoupling: Misconceptions of a Persistent Myth | Alevgul H. Sorman

Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to growing the economy forever | The Conversation

Degrowth and the left

"In the middle of an ecological emergency, should we be producing sport utility vehicles and mansions? Should we be diverting energy to support the obscene consumption and accumulation of the ruling class?"

The Left should embrace degrowth | New Internationalist

Ecosocialism is the Horizon, Degrowth is the Way | The Trouble

Degrowth: Socialism without Growth | Brave New Europe

Toward an Ecosocialist Degrowth: From the Materially Inevitable to the Socially Desirable | Monthly Review

For an Ecosocialist Degrowth | Monthly Review

Degrowth and Revolutionary Organizing | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

The necessity of ecosocialist degrowth | Rupture

Degrowth is Anti-Capitalist | Protean Mag

Degrowth Communism | PPPR (Part one | Part two | Part three)

Economic Planning and Degrowth: How Socialism Survives the 21st Century | New Socialist

Degrowth and the South

"Southern countries should be free to organize their resources and labor around meeting human needs rather than around servicing Northern growth."

Who is afraid of degrowth? A Global South economic perspective | IBON Foundation

The anti-colonial politics of degrowth | Jason Hickel

Unlearning: From Degrowth to Decolonization | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth requires the Global South to default on its foreign debts | Resilience

Journals/Reports

Degrowth: a theory of radical abundance | Jason Hickel

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification | Jason Hickel

Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario | Global Environmental Change

Urgent need for post-growth climate mitigation scenarios | Nature Energy

Degrowth and critical agrarian studies | Julien-François Gerber

Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth as a sole strategy for sustainability | European Environmental Bureau

Incrementum ad Absurdum: Global Growth, Inequality and Poverty Eradication in a Carbon-Constrained World | David Woodward

Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help | Nature

A New Political Economy for a Healthy Planet | Jason Hickel

Planning beyond growth. The case for economic democracy within limits

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions | Cleaner Production Letters

Is green growth happening? An empirical analysis of achieved versus Paris-compliant CO2–GDP decoupling in high-income countries | The Lancet

Books

Exploring Degrowth: A Critical Guide | Pluto Press

A People's Green New Deal | Max Ajl

Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World | Jason Hickel

Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job | Verso Books

The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism | Verso Books

The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism | Verso Books

Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism | Kohei Saito

Degrowth & Strategy: how to bring about social-ecological transformation

27 Essays and Thoughts on Degrowth | Giorgos Kallis

Videos

Yes To Limits To Growth! | The Other School

How Degrowth Can Save the World | Andrewism

How We End Consumerism | Our Changing Climate

Demystifying Degrowth | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth is not Austerity | John the Duncan

Degrowth and Ecosocialism | Planet: Critical

Degrowth in 7 minutes: Fighting for climate by living better | Think That Through

The Future is Degrowth (w/ Aaron Vansintjan) || SRSLY WRONG

"Degrowth means power to the working class!"with Jason Hickel | GND Media

Others

degrowth.info

Degrowth Journal

Doughnut Economics

[spot-the-antisemitism]

sorry about this, HAPPY BORFDAYYYYY THOUGH!!!

I found a WEIRD one (the one time I go on twitter to check out some sources on information I find this smh)

the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Np8T-BwcvTSNxZ6Eab1CJxF7WC2WEUK/view?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabG_u57NdIBixWovQfntxHeHtQ941W-kK3ybTLfOlJGrYT0U3sJdsAAVkc_aem_CMA7wfvIa6CXhV3lCx_56A

like, HUH

oh hey look they support the hamas! (WHY *face in hands*)

[START TRANSCRIPT: THE SELF-IMMOLATION OF AARON BUSHNELL “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal” – Aaron Bushnell, 2024. On the 25th of February 2024, 25 year old Aaron Bushnell, wearing US military fatigues, walked towards the israeli embassy in so-called washington. On a Twitch livestream, before dousing himself in flammable liquid, he says into the camera, “I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonisers—it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.” In the flames, Bushnell shouts, “FREE PALESTINE FREE PALESTINE FREE PALESTINE” until collapsing. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) named Bushnell’s death as ‘the highest sacrifice and medal, and the most important, poignant message directed to the american administration.’ Hamas stated that Bushnell ‘will remain immortal in the memory of our Palestinian people and the free people of the world, and a symbol of the spirit of global solidarity with our people and with our cause.’ The response from the Palestinian resistance and ordinary Palestinians alike is one of martyrdom, of the highest act of international solidarity. In stark contrast, Belen Fernandez explores the response from Western media in her Al Jazeera article, Suicide Vs Genocide: Rest in Power Aaron Bushnell. She writes of the New York Times headline, ‘Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside israeli Embassy in Washington, Police Say’ and at the bottom of the article, ‘if you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988.’ She writes that this “implies that Bushnell was simply the victim of a ‘mental-health crisis’ rather than someone making a most cogent and defiant political point in response to an extremely mentally disturbing political reality (…) as per the official narrative, if you think it’s crazy for the US or its israeli partner in crime to commit genocide, you’re the crazy one.” Western apathy and hyper individuality cannot fathom solidarity, it especially cannot fathom international solidarity and so this solidarity is dismissed as individual pathology. Somewhere in the distance outside, american-made bombs rain down on Palestine, but in america life goes on. END TRANSCRIPT:]

(adding a transcript this time for just ease, the text was pretty damned small.)

what? guys, idk who the hell TEVA is like. the stuff before this was increasingly unhinged.

(btw I'm gonna archive this for the future, it is so unhinged it deserves to used later as a analysis on leftist antisemitism my goodness. it hits every freaking target for it.)

anyway here's the bilophy and glossary and I think it says all I need.

YES, THE QOUTE THE MOTHERFUCKING HAMAS!!!

AND YES! THEY ALSO DENY WHAT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 7 AND A BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS!!!!

this thing is something, I only skimmed through it bc idk who TEVA is. and it was mostly about them lol.

weird conspiracy theory shit?? and like they quote the hamas man like oh my god.

-pop

Oy vey Pop they're trying to blame ALL ableism on the Jew

Wow the "Bushnell really showed Isn'treal uwu what a martyr" teenagers got their hands on a fucking zine. "we didn't capitalize countries as an act of ReSiStAnCe" no you're being edgy and rebelling for antisemitism's sake

Yes tell WHAT is the metropole of Israel? WHERE is the metropole Hamasniks?! where is it?!

this is fucking gross and I think they should be boycotted and all copies of their zine destroyed for terrorism, really because it uses mental health language to ENCOURAGE SUICIDE BOMBINGS.

Also these racist fucks used the POC only phrase for black, brown and idigneous victims of state and police violence for a white man who commited suicide. This is peak cultural appopritation.

I wonder who funds this and if you follow the money will you end up with extremists or either quatar or Iran

[phoenixyfriend]

Okay, following up on that news I saw earlier. I first was alerted to it by the BBC Global News Podcast and Al Jazeera News Updates. For easier reference and more detail, however, I will be referring to this article from AP News for details, which itself references this article that cites the Washington Post.

Things of note:

This seems to have been caused by the recent incident where over 115 Palestinians were killed, and over 750 injured, by the IDF during a reported stampede by starving civilians trying to get to aid trucks.

The air drops will begin "in the coming days," and will start with MREs (military rations).

There will be multiple rounds, according to John Kirby.

The process will be done in conjunction with Jordan, which shares the longest of Israel's borders, the Eastern. (That part isn't in the article but I don't know how many people actually know where Jordan is.)

The US admits that it doesn't... know what it's doing? And is basically going to learn on the job. Not super promising but better than nothing. Most of the concern seems to be that the extreme crowding will increase the risk of injury; I assume dropping large pallets of supplies is easier when there's a lot of empty space, and smaller, less dangerous packages mean dropping less at a time since more space is needed in the planes for the parachutes.

Planes airdropping supplies is in itself MUCH LESS efficient than truck deliveries for this reason.

They're also hoping to set up a "maritime corridor" but there's no real word on how that's going to be achieved other than the ceasefire talks.

The U.S. has been pushing Israel to speed the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to open a third crossing into the territory, but Friday’s violence showed the challenges no matter the circumstances. “The loss of life is heartbreaking,” Biden said Friday as he announced his decision to order airdrops. “People are so desperate.”

Additionally, the second article has more details on the concerns that kept airdrops from being implemented earlier:

“Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough,” Biden said. “Now, it’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line and children’s lives are on the line. We won’t stand by until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several.” The White House, State Department and Pentagon had been weighing the merits of U.S. military airdrops of assistance for several months, but had held off due to concerns that the method is inefficient, has no way of ensuring the aid gets to civilians in need and cannot make up for overland aid deliveries. [...] “It’s not the kind of thing you want to do in a heartbeat. you want to think it through carefully,” Kirby said. He added, “There’s few military operations that are more complicated than humanitarian assistance airdrops”

The second article also discusses how domestic conflicts, namely Speaker Johnson's refusal to address foreign crises until "taking care of America's needs" (paraphrase), have been delaying much of what could have been done before now.

[eretzyisrael]

ny Nils A. Haug

[I]t clearly looks as if the Biden administration just wants to please its terrorist-sponsoring adversaries, Iran and Qatar, by allowing their prized client, Hamas, to win the war.

Regrettably, Iran does not seem to be guided by the same humanitarian, ethical, or "natural law principles" embraced by Israel and the West.

A jihadist in Iran's premier militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)... probably sees the job of the IRGC as driving the US out of the Middle East so that Iran can continue to "Export the Revolution" without interference.

It is with good reason that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complains that the US is withholding, or "slow-walking," military supplies. In Ukraine, for instance, badly needed arms are always "being delivered" but somehow never manage to arrive until long after they might actually have helped.

Although Israel's leaders are well aware of the immense danger presented by Iran, the US and other Western allies evidently cannot be relied upon to prevent Iran from completing its nuclear weapons program. The US appears to like talking, and talking about talking, diplomacy backed up by talking, verbal "understandings" so long as they have no teeth, then paying what looks like bribe money for adversaries not to "make waves," presumably at least not before the America's upcoming November election.

The Biden administration, it seems, would rather deal with threatening situations via... worthless promises from Iran, Russia, China, the Taliban, the Palestinians or whoever else will offer appeasements.

The critical point is that Israel is fighting to safeguard not just its own nation, but the West and the Free World as well. The battle at the moment seems between preserving freedom or having it extinguished by the forces of barbarism, autocracies and theocrats, but most of all by the passivity of the West.... Silky, stealth aggressors include Qatar -- the consigliere of all Islamic terror groups -- which uses money and its media network Al-Jazeera, not military aggression, as its means of persuasion.

Sadly, the Biden administration appears to view Israel not as a sovereign nation but a US satrapy. It is hardly a secret that the US has been trying to oust Israel's elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and replace him presumably with a subordinate. That US puppet would supposedly be delighted to have a terrorist Palestinian state next door administered by the terrorist godfather, Qatar, and be delighted to see Iran have as many nuclear weapons as it likes.

If Obama ostensibly conceived of this arrangement [the 2015 "nuclear deal"] to "balance the influence" of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, the plan has failed colossally. Saudi Arabia, for all its faults, has not tried to enlarge its territory....

At present, both the Biden administration in the US and opposition in Israel to its current government seem to be trying to muscle Netanyahu out. US Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who happens to be Jewish, declared in mid-March that Netanyahu had "lost his way" and called for "new elections" -- not in the Senator's own country, the US, but in that of a sovereign ally, Israel. Would he have called for "new elections" in England, Germany, Italy or France? Biden, unsurprisingly, quickly "embraced Schumer's speech."

Many, including some who might be looking longingly at Netanyahu's job, have advocated that "Hamas cannot be defeated." Meanwhile, Netanyahu has been doing exactly that.

The US and others have tried to claim that before defeating an adversary, one must know what will happen after the fighting stops, and that destroying Hamas's military capability will just create another whole generation of Gazans who hate Israelis and Jews. Before defeating Hitler, however, no one had suggested that it was important to know what would happen "after the fighting stopped"; the same holds true for Imperial Japan....at present, both Germany and Japan are solid allies of the US and the West. There are probably still Nazis in Germany, but they no longer have the "means, capability or opportunity" to disrupt Europe.

The US appears to be doing the bidding of its terrorist-supporting collaborators, Iran and Qatar, and their supporters -- potential voters in America's heartland -- and those who want Hamas to survive to "attack, time and again, until Israel is annihilated."

All that is required is to make sure that Israel has the ammunition and weapons it needs to fight on our behalf, to make sure they are delivered immediately, and then get out of the way.

[jewish-sideblog]

Wild that this post has 11,000 likes when it’s spreading such blatant fucking disinformation.

“Sabra” is word Israelis use to refer to an Israeli Jew. The "longer statement" attempts to refute the idea that Sabra was named after the Hebrew term by saying that the massacre happened in the 1980s, and the character didn't exist until the 1990s. Clearly, this person didn't do the world's most minimal amount of research. Let's get into it real quick--

Sabra's first full appearance was in Incredible Hulk #256, published in February 1981. She had a named cameo from the same run six issues earlier, in February 1980. So she was a planned and named character in development at least as early as 1979. The Sabra and Shatila massacre began on 16 September 1982, two years after Sabra made her debut in the comics.

Given her name and original design, Marvel's Sabra is likely influenced by the character named "Sabraman" by Uri Fink, an Israeli comic book creator. Sabraman's origins date back to 1978-- four full years before the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

This is a nitpicky point, but why are you following a Jewish discourse blog if not for nitpicky points? The Israeli Defence Forces were involved in the Sabra and Shatila massacres. There's no question about that. They authorized it, provided funds for it, and offered logistical support for it. But they did not carry it out. A Lebanese Christian Nationalist militia carried it out. Why lie about that? Israeli forces supported the murder of civilians! They lit up the sky for days so that the massacre could continue into the night! Why do you need to lie and say they were holding the guns? Is what they did not bad enough for you? This is what I mean when I say that you guys would rather resort to conspiracy theories and misinformation than actually accurately criticize Israel for once.

So where did I get all these facts? Did I have to do some deep dive into comics of the 1970s and 80s? Pull up niche and obscure military journals about the Lebanese Civil War? Nope! I got all that information by... looking at Wikipedia pages. I did double-check Incredible Hulk #250 to ensure that she was already named Sabra in 1980. She was. I also looked around for any articles that backed up the claim that fetuses were cut out of women's wombs during the Sabra and Shatila massacre and... I didn't find any. Al Jazeera doesn't even mention it. If you can find a reputable source for that, please send it to me! Until then, I'm gonna rule this as flat-out blood libel.

You may be asking yourself, why didn't Marvel change Sabra's name in 1982 when the tragedy occurred? Aren't they at least responsible for that? And personally, I think you'd be right. But Marvel didn't budge on Black Panther (named July 1966) when the Black Panther Party (named October 1966) was founded. It doesn't seem like they were interested in making character changes due to political pressures back then. Whether that's a good thing or not is a different story.

And finally, no, this post is not anything close to an endorsement of the new Captain America movie. I'd been planning on boycotting the movie named after an antisemitic conspiracy theory, from the company that butchers any Jewish representation they don't completely ignore, since before y'all found out about Sabra's existence. I just honestly thought the antisemitic nonsense about this character would be coming from the right, not the left.

Edit: Fixed formatting mistakes. Tumblr does not fucking like Hebrew text.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday denounced the Israeli military's total decimation of Gaza's universities during floor remarks on protests that have broken out on American college campuses over the past several weeks.

"There are no protests on the college campuses in Gaza," said Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "You know why? Because every one of the 12 universities in Gaza has been bombed and destroyed."

Sanders' remarks came during a floor debate over a Republican resolution ostensibly aimed at condemning antisemitism on college campuses. GOP lawmakers and President Joe Biden have repeatedly smeared campus protests against Israel's assault on Gaza as antisemitic and ignored the prominent role Jewish students have played in the nationwide demonstrations.

After Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) attempted to pass the GOP antisemitism resolution via unanimous consent, Sanders—who is Jewish—rose to block the measure, criticizing it as insufficient and proposing an alternative that condemns antisemitism as well as all other "forms of bigotry in this country, whether on college campuses or elsewhere, including Islamophobia, homophobia, racism, and the growing attacks against the Asian American community."

Sanders' proposed resolution also expresses support for "the right of students and all Americans to peacefully protest," whereas Scott's measure attacks recent campus protests as "hotbed[s] of blatantly antisemitic rhetoric and action."

"The fact of the matter is that 67% of Americans, according to recent polls, support the United States calling for a cease-fire, and 60% oppose sending more weapons to Israel," Sanders said. "And that's what the protesters are talking about: They are asking why it is we are complicit in the humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza."

According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the Gaza Strip's schools have been damaged or reduced to ruins by Israeli forces since October, including all of the enclave's universities.

Last month, a group of U.N. experts said that "it may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as 'scholasticide.'"

"The persistent, callous attacks on educational infrastructure in Gaza have a devastating long-term impact on the fundamental rights of people to learn and freely express themselves, depriving yet another generation of Palestinians of their future," the experts added. "Students with international scholarships are being prevented from attending university abroad."

American campus protests against Israel's assault on Gaza have offered some measure of hope to Palestinian students whose lives have been thrown into chaos by the U.S.-backed war.

Hala Sharaf, a second-year medical student who moved to Cairo to resume her studies amid Israel's assault, told Al Jazeera that the U.S. student campus demonstrations "have made us feel so hopeful for rejecting what America and Israel are doing to us."

"The student protests in America make me feel like I'm not alone," said Sharaf. "My message to them is to keep the focus on Gaza. Don't forget about Gaza."

[meckamecha]

Hey, your recent posts are spreading misinfo and propaganda.

And about Sisi, he said he will not take the Palestinians because he expects they will attempt terrorism (refer to Arab Spring and Black September for examples) and Israel's response in Egypt would be 'justified' as he stated.

The hospital was bombed accidentally by Islamic Jihad, there is photo and video evidence (also from Al Jazeera which is very pro pal) and an American investigation also concluded that.

This conflict is so so nuanced with a ton of background and history and I honestly urge you to learn more and fact check everything as both sides spew a crazy amount of false info.

The IDF and Israeli government are committing genocide and should not be listened to any more than the Nazis should have been listened to about the conditions of Jews in Germany.

I refuse to entertain discussion about what Hamas has or hasn't done because it is immaterial to what must be done now. Any wrongdoing by Hamas can be addressed after the Likud butchers have been removed from power and the seige of Gaza has ended.

Death to Israel, death to America, death to colonialism in all it's forms

[chimaeraonwards]

what the fuck

Source: Al Jazeera

is this what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness looks like? is this democracy?

shame on the united states of america

[originalleftist]

Note: While the government of Israel (as far as I can determine from various sources) did disguise personnel as aid workers as part of the operation to rescue hostages, I have found zero confirmation for claims that they used the Gaza aid pier, and the Pentagon denies this. Now, I don't expect anyone to take the Pentagon's word at face value, but even Al Jazeera, hardly the most US, Biden, or Israel-friendly outlet, reports that it wasn't. So barring further evidence to the contrary, this claim is a conspiracy theory-no, let's call it what it is, a lie-likely crafted for the purpose of encouraging "protest votes" against Biden to help re-elect Trump, and to brand the US a party to the war (and thus, in the minds of the propagandists and their supporters, a legitimate target for terrorist attacks).

I also suspect that part of the goal is actually to discredit any aid, as decreasing aid will cause more dead Palestinian civilians, maximizing the number of "martyrs" for the cause, which will further damage Israel and the US.

This is not to excuse the blockade or bombardment of civilians- I do believe that the Likud government has gone beyond what can be justified by defence.

But I also 100% believe that some of the more extreme "pro-Palestinian" protesters, and certainly Hamas, would actually rather more Palestinian children starve so that they can use it to incite further hatred against Israel, America, and Jews. Hamas knew full-well when they attacked on October 7th that there would be a massive military response that would mostly kill Gazan civilians. Of course the knew. And they knew that it would inspire more hatred of Israel, more sympathy for them. Their military leader just said outright that civilian deaths could help them. THIS IS THEIR PLAN.

They aren't "pro-Palestinian"- they're anti-Israel (and anti-semitic). They act like the two things are one and the same, but hurting Israel doesn't actually require helping Palestinians. And given a choice between the two, Hamas and its apologists will always choose the former. If they could drown Israel in a river of Palestinian blood, the would. They're trying to.

They don't give a shit about actual Palestinian lives, just having martyrs to justify making more martyrs.

[raamitsu]

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart if you could wish positive energy…

It's hard to find words that describe exactly what I'm feeling right now. The state I live in, Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, is suffering from floods, thousands of people losing everything, their families, homes, EVERYTHING, some people only have the clothes left with them. Many animals, houses, cars and people being swept away by the current, people are stranded, this is the biggest natural disaster that has ever happened in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The state capital: Porto Alegre, is practically under water, the Guaíba river has overflowed at a record level (about five meters) and there are cities where the water reaches the roofs of houses, in Canoas apparently there are reports of bodies floating, the Feliz city had 75% of its territory devastated by the rains, roads are blocked or collapsed.

The rains remained in my city throughout the week, except for yesterday on Sunday and according to the weather forecast today on Monday, however, the rest of the week has rain forecast, and if the rains return, everything starts again. I just hope that during Sunday the authorities were able to rescue as many people and animals as possible and that these people are now in a safe shelter.

In my city where my house is located, it is out of risk and I am so grateful for that, but places where friends, colleagues and relatives live are at great risk. There are colleagues and friends of my brothers with whom contact has been lost because they live in affected areas and no one knows what could have happened.

Brazil (my country) mobilized completely to help with the rescues and also to donate money and supplies such as food, clothes and blankets to the flood victims.

Therefore, I ask those who cannot help directly, to please send positive energies to us, for the recovery of these cities and these people and our planet. Please hope for the well-being of these people. May this tragedy end soon and may it not cause any more victims along the way. May we all be safe soon. My English is far from being decent so there are probably a lot of grammar errors. =)

There are news report in English for those who want to know more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/world/americas/brazil-rain-floods.html

At least 75 killed, more than 100 others missing in Brazil floods | Climate Crisis News | Al Jazeera

!!! Share if you can, people, please.

I’m so sorry for the tragedy that you’ve been going through, my friend 🙏🏼 I may not be able to help as much as you needed, but I hope with me signal boosting your statement, you will regain strength and love from everyone who come across this post - and I do pray that you will receive more aids as soon as possible!

There are many things happening - from Palestine to Brazil - in fact, boosting and amplifying their voices are very crucial to them so please continue this act of support endlessly until they’re free and back to normal again.

To everyone who follows me, if you are able to donate anything, please let my friend here know. If you can spread this everywhere to your friends, it’ll be very appreciated 🫶🏼

[madamtrashbat]

It's that time again for political posts in America and I have some thoughts. Ignore if you want.

Sometimes I really feel like people get so caught up in fucking white knight political ideology that the ensuing inaction causing the creeping rise of fascism or conservative assholery is seen as an inevitable instead of as a direct result of internet leftists sitting with their thumb up their asses because there's no ideologically pure candidate they can throw their weight behind. When the flood comes they'll be so smug as they drown because they saw this coming, especially because the person who was trying to stem the flood was using outdated tools so obviously this was inevitable.

Complacency and plans for BIG GRAND SWEEPING GESTURES that will rework the system in one fell swoop are always going to fail, and beyond that it's always going to cause more harm. Always. Your leftist utopia isn't going to suddenly appear one day if you post enough hot takes, things aren't going to change if you decide you don't like that someone has a differing opinion on high-speed rail systems than you and therefore they're basically a fascist and cannot be supported. Black and white doesn't exist in politics.

Elections are not just the president. It does suck that we get a choice of only two, and it's a bummer that the Democrat option is Joe Biden! I don't agree with everything he does, and I am certainly not in agreement with a good deal of what he does, but that does not change the fact that I'm going to vote for him, because the alternative is unfathomable, and quite frankly, there is a good list of what he's done that I approve of.

"Voting doesn't matter!" Respectfully you are stupid. Elections are not just for president. Do you know what senate seats are up for grabs this term? What's on your local ballots? Do any amount of cursory research and then join the conversation. People wouldn't try to keep you from voting if it didn't matter.

"Biden is too old!" Yes, I'd love a younger candidate, too, but what is sitting this election out going to do to fix it? Are you just going to hope a younger candidate appears out of nowhere? Or are you going to do the work to support candidates you do like?

"Biden is a centrist!" I cannot overstate how behind we are politically that Biden is literally the most left-leaning president we've ever had and it's only by participating in politics that we can keep pushing it even further. Democrats are historically more open to changing their minds than Republicans; I watched Obama move from not supporting marriage equality to signing it into fucking law in real time. How much work are you doing to help push our politics left beyond just angrily posting about how shit it all is?

"Two-party system sucks!" Big agree! How will not participating in it change it? Are there any smaller candidates, like reps, who agree with you? Can you support them to get us closer to a multi-party system?

"Palestine matters!" Could not agree more! Absolutely agree with you that the atrocities in Palestine need to end. Biden has a shaky stance on this at best, with a weird position of still supporting Israel as an ally and also condemning what they're doing, but he is not the first president to have a weird, fucked-up foreign policy and he's likely not going to be the last. But how well do you think Palestine will fare under Trump? Al Jazeera reported that Biden at least views that Palestine should be self-governed and supports a two-state solution, meanwhile, Trump unequivocally supports Benjamin Netanyahu, and said through his nepotism mouthpiece Jared Kushner that Palestine doesn't deserve statehood. What hope would Palestine have under another term of Trump?

"Trump and Biden (or) Democrats and Republicans are all the same anyway" if you actually believe this, and I mean truly believe this, then public education was absolutely and thoroughly wasted on you and I want you to personally repay the taxes that paid for it. Four years of Trump saw the overturn of Roe v. Wade by cramming unqualified conservative stooges into the Supreme Court, the reduction of the assistance provided by food stamps, the mishandling of a global pandemic that killed many thousands in the US alone, the US stepping away from climate action, and actual problems of exposing state secrets. Less than four of Biden have seen the enactment of the massive infrastructure bill, approval of an OTC birth control pill, a reworking of redlining laws that expands protections for home loan borrowers, cracking down on predatory overdraft fees from banks, incentivizing farmers to reduce carbon emissions, and enacting stronger punishments for companies that interfere with union votes and enacting more union protections. I'd say those are pretty big fuckin differences.

---

Look.

I get it. This shit seems rough because we're going through it and we're tired. But refusing to be involved is a little like deciding to protest your quarterback being an asshole by standing still on the football field. Because the thing about that is that the other team's quarterback is ALSO an asshole, a huge fucking asshole, and even though he's not on the field right now, his line is still coming for you, and they're going to tackle you, despite you claiming you're not playing anymore. You're on the field whether like it or not. You might as well fight until you can convince your team to find a new quarterback.

You can't give in to despair. Anyone claiming Biden and Trump are the same are lying to you. A better future is possible, but only if you keep pushing. Stack the house and the senate with people that have the best policies and uplift them. Get involved in your community. Change starts at the smallest level, and it is enacted by you.

Remember how many states the Republicans lost that it took them gerrymandering to get back. We can do it.

But you can't think of it in black and white. You have to keep marching towards the horizon. Do not stop, ever. Keep pushing, and drag the people you can forward.

[bumblesimagines]

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart if you could wish positive energy…

It's hard to find words that describe exactly what I'm feeling right now. The state I live in, Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, is suffering from floods, thousands of people losing everything, their families, homes, EVERYTHING, some people only have the clothes left with them. Many animals, houses, cars and people being swept away by the current, people are stranded, this is the biggest natural disaster that has ever happened in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The state capital: Porto Alegre, is practically under water, the Guaíba river has overflowed at a record level (about five meters) and there are cities where the water reaches the roofs of houses, in Canoas apparently there are reports of bodies floating, the Feliz city had 75% of its territory devastated by the rains, roads are blocked or collapsed.

The rains remained in my city throughout the week, except for yesterday on Sunday and according to the weather forecast today on Monday, however, the rest of the week has rain forecast, and if the rains return, everything starts again. I just hope that during Sunday the authorities were able to rescue as many people and animals as possible and that these people are now in a safe shelter.

In my city where my house is located, it is out of risk and I am so grateful for that, but places where friends, colleagues and relatives live are at great risk. There are colleagues and friends of my brothers with whom contact has been lost because they live in affected areas and no one knows what could have happened.

Brazil (my country) mobilized completely to help with the rescues and also to donate money and supplies such as food, clothes and blankets to the flood victims.

Therefore, I ask those who cannot help directly, to please send positive energies to us, for the recovery of these cities and these people and our planet. Please hope for the well-being of these people. May this tragedy end soon and may it not cause any more victims along the way. May we all be safe soon. My English is far from being decent so there are probably a lot of grammar errors. =)

There are news report in English for those who want to know more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/world/americas/brazil-rain-floods.html

At least 75 killed, more than 100 others missing in Brazil floods | Climate Crisis News | Al Jazeera

!!! Share if you can, people, please.

[kp777]

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

May 8, 2024

"There are no protests on the college campuses in Gaza," said the Vermont senator. "You know why? Because every one of the 12 universities in Gaza has been bombed and destroyed."

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday denounced the Israeli military's total decimation of Gaza's universities during floor remarks on protests that have broken out on American college campuses over the past several weeks.

"There are no protests on the college campuses in Gaza," said Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "You know why? Because every one of the 12 universities in Gaza has been bombed and destroyed."

Sanders' remarks came during a floor debate over a Republican resolution ostensibly aimed at condemning antisemitism on college campuses. GOP lawmakers and President Joe Biden have repeatedly smeared campus protests against Israel's assault on Gaza as antisemitic and ignored the prominent role Jewish students have played in the nationwide demonstrations.

After Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) attempted to pass the GOP antisemitism resolution via unanimous consent, Sanders—who is Jewish—rose to block the measure, criticizing it as insufficient and proposing an alternative that condemns antisemitism as well as all other "forms of bigotry in this country, whether on college campuses or elsewhere, including Islamophobia, homophobia, racism, and the growing attacks against the Asian American community."

Sanders' proposed resolution also expresses support for "the right of students and all Americans to peacefully protest," whereas Scott's measure attacks recent campus protests as "hotbed[s] of blatantly antisemitic rhetoric and action."

"The fact of the matter is that 67% of Americans, according to recent polls, support the United States calling for a cease-fire, and 60% oppose sending more weapons to Israel," Sanders said. "And that's what the protesters are talking about: They are asking why it is we are complicit in the humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza."

Watch Sanders' remarks:

According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the Gaza Strip's schools have been damaged or reduced to ruins by Israeli forces since October, including all of the enclave's universities.

Last month, a group of U.N. experts said that "it may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as 'scholasticide.'"

"The persistent, callous attacks on educational infrastructure in Gaza have a devastating long-term impact on the fundamental rights of people to learn and freely express themselves, depriving yet another generation of Palestinians of their future," the experts added. "Students with international scholarships are being prevented from attending university abroad."

American campus protests against Israel's assault on Gaza have offered some measure of hope to Palestinian students whose lives have been thrown into chaos by the U.S.-backed war.

Hala Sharaf, a second-year medical student who moved to Cairo to resume her studies amid Israel's assault, told Al Jazeera that the U.S. student campus demonstrations "have made us feel so hopeful for rejecting what America and Israel are doing to us."

"The student protests in America make me feel like I'm not alone," said Sharaf. "My message to them is to keep the focus on Gaza. Don't forget about Gaza."

[eretzyisrael]

by Phyllis Chesler

The Jewish Museum in NYC refused to have me lecture there or even do a book signing. They told the employee who’d floated this idea: “No. The book is too Jewish.” He was distraught and came to see me. Gently, I told him that what they meant was that the book was not “politically correct.”

About a month later, what I said at a grassroots feminist conference held at Barnard caused a near-riot. I was lecturing on a completely different subject for a group of African-American women who loved every word I said—until an agent provocateur asked me about “the humiliation at the checkpoints.” I told her that I opposed apartheid and that Islamic countries are the largest practitioners of both gender and religious apartheid, as well as practitioners of slavery.”

The place went wild and I had to be escorted out for my safety.

I lost most of my left-wing feminist colleagues. Those who did not choose to ostracize me, insisted on fighting with me. They, too, did not believe that anti-Zionism had anything to do with antisemitism; that as good Jews or as good people, they believed in supporting the victim, not the victimizer, and Israel was always viewed as the “occupying victimizer of innocent civilians in Gaza and on the West Bank.”

To this day, those feminists who remain Marxists, (and who still talk to me), continue to tell me that I “just don’t understand, that Israel is in the wrong, that the Palestinians are innocent, that Hamas/ISIS are freedom fighters.” Some of them proudly join “Queers for Palestine” demonstrations. The sight of Jewish blood has excited them so much that they wish for more. They read Ha-aretz, The Nation, and Al-Jazeera. Their minds have been deformed by disinformation and lethal propaganda.

Early on, at a conference at New Paltz, I had to endure an Israeli psychiatrist, one Ruchama Marton, (a woman), who believed that Israel was like a battering husband and his wife was a Palestinian. Oh, how she was cheered.

For years, I needed police protection on campuses when I spoke.

-

Jews are now engaged in an existential war for our survival, both in Israel and around the globe, including in the West. Soon, America will have to face the possibility and probability that World War 3 is upon us; that continuing to appease Iran will only lead to more danger; that Iran is behind Hamas and Hezbollah, that the Hama barbarians trained for their massacre in Iran; and that Americans have already been killed, captured, or fired upon.

Where do you stand?