#who recognize that a) israel is not at fault here

[jewelleria]

to be clear, people have absolutely not forgotten context is a thing—in fact, they remembered it exists so hard they ended up using it wrong. (see the entire shitshow that was the ivy league congressional hearings, during which former president magill of upenn refused to say that calling for the genocide of jewish students was against the university’s code of conduct because, to her, it was a “context-dependent decision.”)

the very basis of pro-hamas and october 7th defending rhetoric—poorly “disguised” as advocating for palestinian rights—is that “the october 7th attacks didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

it all depends on the context, they insist, because pointing out the past struggles of palestinians somehow reframes barbaric, animalistic acts of terrorism “freedom fighting.” it all depends on the context, because a jew (read: most jews) being a zionist is apparently enough “context” to chant for their death.

so, in short, context is absolutely essential, but it’s being used wrong. it’s constantly weaponized to excuse antisemitism when in reality it’s the true context that they’re ignoring.

(disclaimer: i’m going to be discussing the american laws and constitution specifically.)

i also believe that disagreeing with someone’s political opinion is never an excuse to “take away their rights.” meaning, a person should be able to believe & say whatever they want without being legally prosecuted, convicted of a crime, and yes, without being verbally abused. that includes hate speech; the entire point of permitting free speech is that while we are granted the right to express ourselves however we want, the assumption and expectation is that we will do so without causing others emotional distress and without making them fear for their safety.

same goes for free will. in judaism, we don’t believe that god is responsible for/in control of the actions taken by the people he created, for the simple reason that he created them with the ability to choose. the holocaust was not divine punishment, it was a crime committed by humans. in giving us free will, god made it clear that he believed in us to make the right choices. whether that belief was justified is a different matter.

so yes, hate speech is legally protected in america, but is has to be. outlawing hate speech also outlaws every other type of speech, including all forms of self-expression, except the type the lawmakers decide is allowed. so yes, hate speech is legal—but just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. hate speech absolutely must be legal. the issue that needs to be addressed is not the laws allowing people to speak this way. it’s the fact that people think it’s morally acceptable to speak this way in the first place, regardless of whether the law permits it or not.

however, going so far as to apply the same logic to people’s actions is where the line must be drawn. that sentiment contributes to the mob mentality attitude of “someone’s actions does not suddenly take away their rights.” when someone takes an action that is illegal (such as physically attacking jewish students), their ability to act freely is, simply put, taken away (they get arrested and prosecuted for assault).

let me rephrase that. when someone IN THE WESTERN WORLD takes an action that is illegal, they are penalized by no longer being able to take those actions. murderers go to prison. rapists go to prison. kidnappers go to prison. in the western world, in democratic society, terrorists are prosecuted.

but in the middle east (excluding israel), society is the opposite of democratic. governments are authoritarian dictatorships (example: iran) built on colonialist and genocidal values with the goal of conquering land. conquests, which by definition use ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, forced conversions, and oppression to actually do the conquering, are an ideal. organizations like hamas, the houthis, hezbollah, ISIS, al-qaeda, the taliban, and the bazillion other terrorist regimes in the region are existentially dependent on islamic fundamentalist imperialism. that, if you didn’t know, is not islam—it’s the belief that islamic sharia law should be implemented via the conquest and reform of the world into a unified and entirely muslim country, or a caliphate.

in other words, colonization. in other other words, freedom of absolutely nothing.

in a world like that, you are allowed to do whatever you want, but you’re only allowed to do it if the government says it’s okay. in a world like that, islam is not just a religion, it’s the only religion. in a world like that, women have no education and are owned by their husbands. in a world like that, being queer isn’t just forbidden, it’s a crime almost always punished by the death penalty. in a world like that, there is no “woman, life, freedom.” there is no autonomy or free will, there is no self-expression, and the government makes sure that there’s no escape, either. (unless, of course, you do the bidding of said murderous authoritarian dictatorship “government.”)

that’s what it means when we say that openly queer, trans, jewish, and all-non muslims would inevitably end up murdered if they stepped foot in gaza. it’s never okay to wish that upon someone, but simply saying that if the average self-proclaimed “pro palestinian” were to hypothetically find themselves

that’s what it means to say freedom of belief is always allowed without specifying that it’s actually only allowed in the western world. and by pointing that out, i’m not saying that i think that’s how it should be, because i don’t. i’m saying that’s how it is. i’m saying that in an ideal world, no one should be able to follow a belief system that leads to and advocates for violence and oppression. ever.

context matters. in the real context of what’s happening, israel is the only democracy in the middle east. it’s surrounded by countries that are all built on a desire to bring about its destruction. in israel, women are political leaders, pride month is celebrated, half the population are vegan hippies (lmao), anti-war protests happen every five minutes, and churches, synagogues, and mosques stand next to each other. and it’s all allowed.

yeah, the israeli government as it is now is the most right-wing it has ever been. but that does not mean it shouldn’t exist. slogans and chants like “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are literally just a death wish to israel, and to democracy in the middle east as a whole.

hate speech needs to be allowed, because hate speech is free speech. but so is love speech, and peace speech, and life speech. you cannot have one without the other. you can’t have good without the bad, and accepting the good means accepting the bad, too. it’s a package deal kinda thing. democracy comes with its limits and downfalls, but it needs to have flaws in order to be a democracy. that’s what “for the people” means. a democracy that tries to be perfect is just a dictatorship.

I feel like people forget context is a thing which is important.

I have been seeing posts saying that zionists don't get to celebrate pesach/passover because zionists bad. These posts are mainly from goy.

Firstly, pesach is literally about jews returning to our homeland after being freed from slavery in Egypt to give the briefest history on the holiday. Whilst it's not a holiday about zionism as zionism is about having a modern day state and it's celebrating our return historically, it still is ignorant as fuck.

Secondly and more importantly; goy, you do realize that you are going "jews i dont like have lost the right to participate in their religion in my eyes".

Like you do realize that someone's political opinions or even their actions do not suddenly remove their religious rights.

You are literally going "I don't like your political view so you deserve less rights"

Pesach is a holiday which all jews have the right to observe.

And that's all jews. Zionist jews, antizionist jews and non zionist jews. All jews are equally valid in their jewness and can celebrate whatever Jewish holidays they want to.

[ramshacklefey]

It's amazing to me just how good the Mormon church has been at hiding just how bad they really are from public view. Even the shit that gets spread around is the relatively harmless bullshit. They had a crazy prophet with magic glasses. They believe in god-mandated polygyny. They think everyone who is good enough will get their very own planet after the world ends. They wear magic underpants. Mormon men are all paladins.

Here's one of the ones you hear less often:

See, like many other Christian sects, the Mormons really do believe that the existence of Christ obviates the existence of Judaism. Judaism was just a placeholder until the "real" church could be established by Jesus.

And the Mormons in particular believe, dead ass, that the entire inheritance of Israel has been given to them, because the Jews failed to recognize the Messiah when he was on Earth. They really do. They have this whole system where people are given a "divine revelation" about which of the Tribes of Israel they're a member of (don't worry, they decided that most people belong to the two tribes that are willing to "adopt" people. Only the most specialest boys and girls are members of the original ten).

Let's sum up so far. The Mormons believe that they are the people of Israel, chosen and protected by God. If Jews want to get back in on that party, they can always repent and convert to Mormonism, the one true church to which God gave all the rights and blessings that were originally bestowed on Abraham's house.

But it doesn't stop there!

The Mormons also believe, in all seriousness, that all Indigenous peoples of the Americas are descended from a small group of Jewish people who left just before the fall of Jerusalem (~600 bc iirc). Their entire weird-ass extra bible is a chronicle of those people's history in [unspecific part of America]. At the very beginning of the book, two brothers in the original family turn away from god, so they and all their descendants are cursed with dark skin, so that the good Nephites (who remain "white and delightsome") will always be able to tell themselves apart from the wicked Lamanites.

So, you've got supposedly Jewish people running around the Americas. And the "good" ones are white, and the "bad" ones are brown. Then, ofc, Jesus comes to visit them (I guess supposedly that's part of what he was doing during his dirt nap? Or possibly after he left again, it's not clear), and they all convert to Christianity, which they think is clearly the natural evolution of Judaism. Well, at the end of the book, all of them become wicked, in a kind of weird pseudo-apocalyptic series of events. They are all cursed with dark skin, until such time as they repent for their ancestors sins and return to the gospel.

But of course, Mormons being the good and kind people they are, they want everyone to receive the blessings of God and be brought into the houses of Israel etc etc. And it isn't the fault of those poor little Indigenous children that their distant ancestors turned away from God and became wicked.

So what's the natural answer? Well, Mormons are real big on missionary work, as we all know. But apparently that wasn't enough in this case.

Because the Mormon church has been one of the big players in abducting as many Indigenous children as possible, in order to indoctrinate them into being good Mormons, so that they can turn white again and be blessed. My mother remembers hearing talks about this in the 70s and 80s. The church literally had a "Lamanite Adoption Program," where families in the church were encouraged to get as many Indigenous children as possible away from their families and not let them be reunited until they were fully assimilated and ready to go back and proselytize about how wonderful the church is.

The church leadership literally talked about how wonderful it was to see these children becoming whiter. Actually whiter. Like, saying that when they finally saw them with their families again, it was beautiful how much paler they were.

I'm pretty sure this program has been officially ended, but it doesn't take a genius to speculate about who might be behind the curtains on the movement in the western US to gut the ICWA....

So yeah. Next time someone tries to tell you that the Mormons are just harmless weirdos, please remember that they're an antisemitic cult that advocates for the forced assimilation of Indigenous children to help them escape the cursed brown skin of their ancestors.

[matan4il]

have you ever been able to have any Palestinian friends? I'm not asking this as a gotcha question at all, but sincerely (I know anons on here can be scary), I was wondering about it because an Israeli I follow on Instagram was asked about this a few days ago in his stories, and he said he was never able to have friends in Gaza, but he did have friends in the West Bank, and they've almost all cut him off completely following 10/7, and some really hurt him by showing support for the massacre. he said he's still got his Arab Israeli and Palestinian friends who are Israeli citizens, that they may disagree sometimes but haven't to a breaking point because they live in the nation together and want peace and are supportive of each other through differences, but those friendships in the West Bank are sadly over. he also said that he's had friends he's known for years from places all over the world who dropped him after the terror attack just because he's Israeli and Jewish, which I think is all too familiar for ALL of us because I don't know a single Jew who hasn't lost multiple friends, online and off, through all this and through no fault of their own, just existing as Jews. it makes me so sad. but knowing he was cut off because of support of the massacre from Palestinians was depressing to hear, you think people are your friends and then find out they approve your people's rape and slaughter? and until they stop deeply hating Jews to that point, how can there be peace? he seems like such a good person and centers humanity and does want peace, as I know most Israelis do, but one side can't achieve that alone.

sorry this is long. *hugs*

Hi Nonnie,

thank you for the ask, and I hope you're doing good! *hugs*

I have had Palestinian friends. True, not from Gaza. Israel left it in 2005, and there has been an internationally recognized border between us since. Ironically, I think the only Israelis who could have given you a different answer up until Oct 7 were the southern communities that Hamas attacked and massacred. They lived right on the border, most were left wing Israelis, many volunteered to help Palestinians in one capacity or another (such as driving them to get medical care inside Israel), or chose to employ Palestinians (despite how some might have warned them that it's a security risk), and that illusion of friendship was shattered when it became clear that it was exactly those Gazans who provided the intel on southern Israeli communities, that was needed to plan and carry out the massacre. Not every single Gazan, of course. But enough that this is a true betrayal in the worst sense of the word.

In my case, some of the Palestinians I've befriended over the years have been uni friends or colleagues, but the closest and longest lasting friendships have been with gay Palestinians who I share a community with. They can't be safely openly gay anywhere under Palestinian rule, so they would come to Israeli gay community centers, and were received warmly there. I also was in one fandom, where someone heard I'm from Jerusalem, and said they know another Israeli from Jerusalem. Turned out, it was a Palestinian girl from East Jerusalem, and while I'm no longer that active in said fandom, I'm still in touch with that girl.

I feel very lucky to say that I haven't lost these friendships since Oct 7. Ironic, because I've "lost" friendships (if that's what they ever were) with so many hypocritical foreigners who don't live this conflict, and aren't affected by it, beyond their need to show everyone they're "on the right side," but I haven't lost the people who are actually a part of it. It's almost like foreigners have no idea about the actual complicated reality of this conflict, nor a desire to learn about it, just a need to reduce it to "good" and "bad," taking whichever side social media tells them is the former. My Palestinian friends know me, they know how I treat other human beings (spoiler alert: as human beings!) and they also know my opinions, and that I see myself as being both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. I guess they agree with me that my opinions are in favor of both groups, or I'm sure that they would have cut ties with me already.

There is one exception, though it predates Hamas' massacre. I've mentioned in my pride post that I've volunteered for the gay community in my city, at the Jerusalem Open House. In fact, there was a certain year where I won an award for being the organization's stand out volunteer. I mention this, because I have always seen myself as being there for everyone, and I feel like that award was an acknowledgement of that.

The very first Palestinian queer organization ever actually started out as "the Palestinian project" of the JOH, an attempt to create a safe space for, support and help queer Palestinians. One member of the group became very dominant and after a few years, she decided they should be an independent organization. The JOH gave its blessing, and agree to rent out one of its offices to her, and provide the physical space for the organization's activities (since obviously, they couldn't be openly held in Ramallah or Bethlehem, under the rule of the Palestinian Authority). I met her there, and we became friends. Not the closest, but def more than just acquaintances. I was very proud of her work for her community, and often told others about it.

One day, I was sitting in the JOH main space, talking to people about the problem of honor killings. It's widespread within Arab society (one researcher believes about 20,000 women are murdered for this around the world every year), and that includes Palestinians. I was specifically asked about it, and was answering the question out of a deep concern for Palestinian lives, mainly women and queers (including my own friends), threatened or murdered for the perception that they "violated" their family's honor. For the record, such a violation can be simply a guy kissing another one, a woman being raped, a biological male coming out and living as a trans woman, a mother getting a divorce and dating a new man, or a daughter defying her father's wishes and pursuing higher education. I have seen Palestinians (and Israeli Arabs) murdered for all of these reasons, and I HATE it and think more needs to be done to prevent such crimes. I also have queer Palestinian friends, who have tried to seek refuge in western countries because of a threat to their lives within their own society, sometimes from their own families. They were denied, and had to go deep into the closet. It's a miserable existence, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

She walked by while I was talking. IDK what exactly she heard, but she then went to the CEO of the JOH and complained that I was being racist. For caring about the lives of Palestinians. For comparison, I linked above to an Amnesty International piece about honor killings. Are they being racist for bringing up this problem, and speaking up for Arab women everywhere, too? The CEO called me in for a talk, was convinced that I wasn't being racist, and that was that. But it left me shook up. That was the first time I realized that this woman prioritized Palestinian society's appearance, over the actual well being of fellow Palestinian women and queers. I never talked to her again after that, nor did she ever speak to me.

I also started seeing her and her organization becoming openly anti-Israel, even when it harmed the community she was supposed to serve. In Sep 2021, there was even an article published about it, calling out the hypocrisy of attacking Israel, while this country's existence is what even enables that organization to operate, since they can't do so under Palestinian rule. And my friends who were seeking sanctuary from the threats to their lives from within their own society? They never got legal help in that pursuit from her organization, only from Israeli ones. I think that's a tragedy.

The last time her organization filed the needed reports to be officially recognized as an NGO in Israel was 2020. They obviously continued to be active after that, and still are (at least on social media, where they echo the anti-Israel narrative since the war started), but IDK if they're even doing anything real for queer Palestinians anymore, or whether she still heads it. Whenever I think about it, I'm just sad for all the people she should have helped, but who turned out to be less important to her than a nationalistic, antisemitic (that's what it is when she demands self determination for her people, but denies that right to Jews, as she does by supporting the BDS movement) and self-destructive (to her own community) struggle.

And yes, on a personal level, I felt betrayed by her, though I've also felt like her betrayal of her own people was way worse.

I think at the end of the day, for many Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, the question is what are they more attached to, that nationalistic, antisemitic struggle, or they (and their people's) well being. If you look at Mosab Hassan Youssef, I think what says it all, is that the son of a Hamas co-founder could end up on the side of Israel, initially not because of anything Israel did, but because he saw Palestinians in prison being tortured and killed by Hamas, and he gave a damn about his own people.

BTW, out of curiosity, who is the Israeli you're following, who got you wondering about this? And I really hope my reply was in some way helpful. Take good care! xoxox

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

[perrysoup]

Idk why Tumblr thinks I want to see posts from December by Zionists talking about how innocent Israel is and how it's all Hamas' fault

And I can't help but wonder, what the fuck have I posted or shared that makes it think I believe them? Edit:

Blocked someone on here who replied that Hamas kills its own citizens when:

1) Not a state, what citizens 2) Israel is bombing the areas they told civilians to go 3) Israel has killed it's own people who were fleeing civilians holding white flags because…they thought they were Palestinian citizens 4) Legit just say you don't keep up with anything other that Israeli claims

Listen, I get it, accepting you have been fed lies by your nation is hard. You think I was born disgusted with America? Fuck you think I made it to 10 grade not loving the shit out of my perfect country? You think I didn't get sick satisfaction from my government killing civilians because I was so deep in the "us v them" propaganda that I didn't care? I knew it was bad and treated it like I would a joke.

THAT'S WHERE I AM COMING FROM

You are not a bad person because your country is Your country doesn't have to be you As long as you act in defiance, even in the smallest way, they don't represent you. But if you are okay with what they are doing, or are horrified but won't speak up, it DOES represent you. You can see my blog, repeatedly I talk about how I could do nothing and be golden. White Male Southern Adult I won the genetic lottery. But it's not just about me. It's not just about you. It's about them. All of them. Helping all of them. Loving all of them. And that includes you.

But you can't put others pain to the side because the alternative makes you feel better. You help them when they hurt. You mend them and nurture them. What the US has done, and is doing, is awful. And I genuinely believe that the US should not exist as an entity. I say this, again, as someone who has the world as my oyster as far as current laws and actions go. It's time you recognize Israel did too.

Criticizing your country when it does bad things is not bad. Not criticizing them when they do bad things is.

We can all be free and happy, but not without admitting our failings and working to get better, together.

[timetobeaghost]

Ok, y'all who are defending Noah need to take a step back and realize what's actually going on with the Middle East. I fully agree that Noah doesn't deserve to be dog piled, and I fully agree that Jewish people are being thrown under the bus by liberals. However, Israel is not innocent in this war. The government is destroying Palestinian citizens in the name of religion and revenge, and Jews who support the government are very much buying into propaganda. I'm not saying the Palestinian gov isn't guilty of the same thing, but you need to recognize that both governments are at fault for this.

There is no comparison between the governments. One being a government, that can be criticized and will be voted out, but now has to fight a war it hasn't started for the safety of its citizens and whole country. One being a terrorist organization who started a war by torturing and raping innocent civilians to death, a war they intended to win BY the death and suffering of their own people, they should protect. Hoping this would lead to the death and destruction of all of Israel. One that steals food and supplies from their now badly suffering people with gun violence and that is shooting out rockets from hospitals and schools. In conclusion deeply evil terrorists, who absolutely need to be destroyed. And thank God, however you wanna call him or her, the Israeli government will do it now.

The Israeli government does not need to factor religion into their actions whatsoever, except by acknowledging that their enemies are Islamists, but if they had another motivation it wouldn't change a thing. Many of the citizens Israel has to protect and tries to free from their captors are Muslims. It does not matter for Isreal, who has which religion. It's just a fight against evil, that was forced upon them.

Revenge is an emotionally understandable goal and I myself am full of rage against the rapists and torturers, but Israel does not need revenge whatsoever as a motivation. Bombs keep flying at Israel, now also out from humanitarian zones, Israel announced to be safe for civilians. The hostages remain captive. Israel could not and must not stop until Hamas is destroyed.

Here is a picture of Aisha (17) and Bilal (18), muslim citizens of Israel, who were freed from captivity. They were freed on the last days of the deal, after Hamas already committed a terror act with deaths in Jerusalem. Israel kept the ceasefire on their end to free people like Aisha and Bilal. Their older brother and father remain in captivity. Their father has almost no chance at survival, because he needs prescription meds, though. Their community keeps praying for their hostages and their slaughtered loved ones.

This is a fight of humanity versus Evil.

Thanks for the ask anon, and for sounding reasonable and not hateful!

[ipegchangbin]

to make it clear, i am in support of palestine.

despite my activity on here, i think it’s very dystopian that a lot of people like us can go about our daily lives while people on the other end of the world face endangerment every second. not only are they blocked from basic resources such as food, shelter, electricity, and water, but these are being actively taken away from them within milliseconds. bombs fall from the sky down to their land while the controlling governments of another nation acts as if they’re the victim.

it has been said before that being anti zionist (against the occupation of palestine) is not related to antisemitism (being against jews). i am not antisemitist and i do not support antisemitism nor zionism. the israel government turning the propaganda to display themselves as victims while the leaders of their nation continue to reduce the gaza strip to rubble is telling of a larger issue at play. there are innocent civilians in either country but the fault clearly lies within the hands of the oppressors. you don’t have to be muslim nor jewish nor any of the sort to know that on a human level, no lives deserve to be lost. i don’t condemn terrorism, but that should not be an excuse either to colonize a country for its land.

this is a conflict that has been going on for years — the lone concept of zionism dates back to the 19th century, even — and it’s high time for us to put an end to this. if you can, phone in your representatives. educate yourselves: i will be reblogging credible references. for those who can’t donate to humanitarian aid, it is best to spread awareness and pressure our governments to take immediate action.

here is a link where one free click a day generates financial aid to the palestine movement via ad revenue: https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/

another source for real time updates on palestine is this account on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eye.on.palestine/

here is a youtube channel documenting the human rights violations occurring in palestine: https://www.youtube.com/@btselem

this is their official website: https://www.btselem.org

free palestine until palestine is free. 🇵🇸

[roco2808]

“If we say nothing about Israel’s brazen slaughter of Palestinians, even as it is livestreamed into the most private recesses of our personal lives, we are complicit in it.”

If we say nothing about Israel’s brazen slaughter of Palestinians, even as it is livestreamed into the most private recesses of our personal lives, we are complicit in it. Something in our moral selves will be altered forever. Are we going to simply stand by and watch while homes, hospitals, refugee camps, schools, universities, archives are bombed, a million people displaced, and dead children pulled out from under the rubble? The borders of Gaza are sealed. People have nowhere to go. They have no shelter, no food, no water. The United Nations says more than half the population is starving. And still they are being bombed relentlessly. Are we going to once again watch a whole people being dehumanised to the point where their annihilation does not matter?

The project of dehumanising Palestinians did not begin with Benyamin Netanyahu and his crew—it began decades ago.

In 2002, on the first anniversary of September 11 2001, I delivered a lecture called “Come September” in the United States in which I spoke about other anniversaries of September 11—the 1973 CIA-backed coup against President Salvador Allende in Chile on that auspicious date, and then the speech on September 11, 1990, of George W. Bush, Sr., then US President, to a joint session of Congress, announcing his government’s decision to go to war against Iraq. And then I spoke about Palestine. I will read this section out and you will see that if I hadn’t told you it was written 21 years ago, you’d think it was about today.

September 11th has a tragic resonance in the Middle East, too. On the 11th of September 1922, ignoring Arab outrage, the British government proclaimed a mandate in Palestine, a follow-up to the 1917 Balfour Declaration which imperial Britain issued, with its army massed outside the gates of Gaza. The Balfour Declaration promised European Zionists a national home for Jewish people. (At the time, the Empire on which the Sun Never Set was free to snatch and bequeath national homelands like a school bully distributes marbles.)

How carelessly imperial power vivisected ancient civilisations. Palestine and Kashmir are imperial Britain’s festering, blood-drenched gifts to the modern world. Both are fault lines in the raging international conflicts of today.

In 1937, Winston Churchill said of the Palestinians, I quote, “I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.” That set the trend for the Israeli State’s attitude towards the Palestinians.

In 1969, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said, “Palestinians do not exist.”

Her successor, Prime Minister Levi Eschol said, “What are Palestinians? When I came here (to Palestine), there were 250,000 non-Jews, mainly Arabs and Bedouins. It was a desert, more than underdeveloped. Nothing.” Prime Minister Menachem Begin called Palestinians “two-legged beasts”.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir called them “grasshoppers” who could be crushed. This is the language of Heads of State, not the words of ordinary people.

Thus began that terrible myth about the Land without a People for a People without a Land.

In 1947, the U.N. formally partitioned Palestine and allotted 55 per cent of Palestine’s land to the Zionists. Within a year, they had captured 76 per cent. On the 14th of May 1948 the State of Israel was declared. Minutes after the declaration, the United States recognized Israel. The West Bank was annexed by Jordan. The Gaza Strip came under Egyptian military control, and Palestine formally ceased to exist except in the minds and hearts of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people who became refugees.

In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Over the decades there have been uprisings, wars, intifadas. Tens of thousands have lost their lives. Accords and treaties have been signed. Cease-fires declared and violated. But the bloodshed doesn’t end.

Palestine still remains illegally occupied. Its people live in inhuman conditions, in virtual Bantustans, where they are subjected to collective punishments, 24-hour curfews, where they are humiliated and brutalized on a daily basis. They never know when their homes will be demolished, when their children will be shot, when their precious trees will be cut, when their roads will be closed, when they will be allowed to walk down to the market to buy food and medicine. And when they will not. They live with no semblance of dignity. With not much hope in sight. They have no control over their lands, their security, their movement, their communication, their water supply. So when accords are signed, and words like “autonomy” and even “statehood” bandied about, it’s always worth asking: What sort of autonomy? What sort of State? What sort of rights will its citizens have? Young Palestinians who cannot control their anger turn themselves into human bombs and haunt Israel’s streets and public places, blowing themselves up, killing ordinary people, injecting terror into daily life, and eventually hardening both societies’ suspicion and mutual hatred of each other. Each bombing invites merciless reprisal and even more hardship on Palestinian people. But then suicide bombing is an act of individual despair, not a revolutionary tactic.

Although Palestinian attacks strike terror into Israeli citizens, they provide the perfect cover for the Israeli government’s daily incursions into Palestinian territory, the perfect excuse for old-fashioned, nineteenth-century colonialism, dressed up as a new-fashioned, 21st century “war”. Israel’s staunchest political and military ally is and always has been the US.

The US government has blocked, along with Israel, almost every UN resolution that sought a peaceful, equitable solution to the conflict. It has supported almost every war that Israel has fought. When Israel attacks Palestine, it is American missiles that smash through Palestinian homes. And every year Israel receives several billion dollars from the United States—taxpayers’ money.

Today every bomb that is dropped by Israel on the civilian population, every tank, and every bullet has the United States’ name on it. None of this would happen if the US wasn’t backing it wholeheartedly. All of us saw what happened at the meeting of the UN Security Council on December 8 when 13 member states voted for a ceasefire and the US voted against it. The disturbing video of the US Deputy Ambassador, a Black American, raising his hand to veto the resolution is burned into our brains. Some bitter commentators on the social media have called it Intersectional Imperialism.

Reading through the bureaucratese, what the US seemed to be saying is: Finish the Job. But Do it Kindly.

What lessons should we draw from this tragic conflict? Is it really impossible for Jewish people who suffered so cruelly themselves—more cruelly perhaps than any other people in history—to understand the vulnerability and the yearning of those whom they have displaced?

Does extreme suffering always kindle cruelty? What hope does this leave the human race with? What will happen to the Palestinian people in the event of a victory? When a nation without a state eventually proclaims a state, what kind of state will it be? What horrors will be perpetrated under its flag? Is it a separate state that we should be fighting for or, the rights to a life of liberty and dignity for everyone regardless of their ethnicity or religion?

Palestine was once a secular bulwark in the Middle East. But now the weak, undemocratic, by all accounts corrupt but avowedly nonsectarian PLO, is losing ground to Hamas, which espouses an overtly sectarian ideology and fights in the name of Islam. To quote from their manifesto: “we will be its soldiers and the firewood of its fire, which will burn the enemies”. The world is called upon to condemn suicide bombers. But can we ignore the long road they have journeyed on before they have arrived at this destination?

September 11, 1922 to September 11, 2002—80 years is a long time to have been waging war. Is there some advice the world can give the people of Palestine? Should they just take Golda Meir’s suggestion and make a real effort not to exist?”

The idea of the erasure, the annihilation, of Palestinians is being clearly articulated by Israeli political and military officials.

A US lawyer who has brought a case against the Biden administration for its “failure to prevent genocide”—which is a crime, too—spoke of how rare it is for genocidal intent to be so clearly and publicly articulated. Once they have achieved that goal, perhaps the plan is to have museums showcasing Palestinian culture and handicrafts, restaurants serving ethnic Palestinian food, maybe a Sound and Light show of how lively Old Gaza used to be—in the new Gaza Harbour at the head of the Ben Gurion canal project, which is supposedly being planned to rival the Suez Canal. Allegedly contracts for offshore drilling are already being signed.

Twenty-one years ago, when I delivered “Come September” in New Mexico, there was a kind of omertà in the US around Palestine. Those who spoke about it paid a huge price for doing so. Today the young are on the streets, led from the front by Jews as well as Palestinians, raging about what their government, the US government, is doing. Universities, including the most elite campuses, are on the boil. Capitalism is moving fast to shut them down. Donors are threatening to withhold funds, thereby deciding what American students may or may not say, and how they may or may not think. A shot to the heart of the foundational principles of a so-called liberal education.

Gone is any pretense of post-colonialism, multiculturalism, international law, the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gone is any pretence of Free Speech or public morality. A “war” that lawyers and scholars of international law say meets all the legal criterion of a genocide is taking place in which the perpetrators have cast themselves as victims, the colonisers who run an apartheid state have cast themselves as the oppressed. In the US, to question this is to be charged with anti-Semitism, even if those questioning it are Jewish themselves.

It’s mind-bending. Even Israel—where dissident Israeli citizens like Gideon Levy are the most knowledgeable and incisive critics of Israeli actions—does not police speech in the way the US does (although that is rapidly changing, too). In the US, to speak of Intifada—uprising, resistance—in this case against genocide, against your own erasure—is considered to be a call for the genocide of Jews.

The only moral thing Palestinian civilians can do apparently is to die. The only legal thing the rest of us can do is to watch them die. And be silent. If not, we risk our scholarships, grants, lecture fees and livelihoods.”

Arundhati Roy

[emerald-oceans]

People like you are why antizionist Jews like myself are feeling so isolated. We don’t feel safe in our own community because our opposition to Israel is met with pushback, but when we try to be in pro Palestine spaces y’all trip over yourselves to be as antisemitic as possible. October 7th was not resistance. It was a series of crimes against humanity. There have been many acts of Palestinian resistance, that was not one of them. And the way y’all have been salivating over violence against Jews is disturbing. You’ll believe any random callout post calling a Jew a zionist, even if they’re literally an antizionist involved in irl pro Palestinian work, but refuse to believe if a Jew tells you you’re being antisemitic. Genuinely, I am telling you now, setting aside my frustration, please rethink why you are so comfortable believing that random Jews you’ve never interacted with are zionists simply because they blocked you or because they think the crimes carried out on October 7th were wrong. You are careening down a dangerous pipeline and I hope for your sake you can get yourself out before it’s too late

Who is salivating over violence against Jews? What violence against them is even happening that isn’t Israel’s own doing? They’ve allowed their own people to be harmed by slaughtering Palestinians. Blame Israel’s actions. They are the one at fault.

You and the people being called out here (spacelazarwolf, vaspider, starlightomatic, etc.) are not antizionist. You ARE zionists. There are lots of Jewish people who recognize Israel is in the wrong here. Y’all aren’t one of them.

[eddieydewr]

I think what people forget, ignore or probably in the case of most younger fans, just don’t know, is that a two state solution has been offered multiple times in the past. One time so much as to give the Palestinians like 90 percent of what they wanted or more, and every single time they refused. At a certain point we have to be more critical of the Palestinians as well for having the option of peace multiple times and rejecting it every single time it was offered. And I don’t think we can or should ignore the fact that they elected Hamas, who stated in their founding charter they want all jews everywhere dead. To me this shows a fundamental incapability for these two groups of people to ever live peacefully in the same region until that ideology ends. because while the Israeli govt and military has a laundry list of problems they should be called out on, and the regime needs to go, and crimes they have committed need to be brought to justice, you also can’t make peace with a government/people whose ideology wants you dead full stop. Until that changes, there is no solution because what can be done? This is why this conflict has raged for so long with no solution and is considered insanely complicated, and why the simple bad guys vs good guys binary that gen z has ascribed to the situation doesn’t work.

Jews have indigenous claims to the land and even if they didn’t, realistically millions of jews are not going to up and leave because 1) where would they even go? where would we put them? whose land would we have to take so that they could have somewhere to go and what would be the fallout and other potential problems caused from that? the logistics of that are a nightmare and many jews live in Israel because other places of the world did not want jews or it was unsafe for them there (we also need to recognize most of the arab countries had lots of jews in their countries but have expelled all or almost all of them over the years so Israel was the best place for them to go) and the whole they are just white europeans and have other passports and can just up and leave to their other homes is not applicable to most of fhe people there and insulting to isrealis who have a long lineage in the middle east 2) as we have only been shown even more this year, the world is not a safe place for jews, the quickness in which so called liberal minded western people devolved into nazi like rhetoric is alarming, and they definitely deserve a place to protect themselves …. so yea this has no solution until hamas is gone and the palestinian people decide for themselves and through who they elect to lead them, that peace is more important than hating jews cause at this point that’s the only thing stopping a 2 state solution which can be the only solution to this. Cause israel is not going to be dissolved and the jews and palestinians can not live together in one state in harmony as the history of the middle east has shown us

(And I sure hope all the people who want Israel to be dissolved because they are “white colonizers” are willing to give up their home and land if they live in north america and give it back to the. native americans , if not then they need to shut up, stop grandstanding and think of actual solutions )

This post might sound like I am laying the issues all on Palestines feet and that I am some Israel bootlicker, I am not, both sides are at fault here, and both sides need to be active in trying to make peace and stop killing, however it can’t be ignored that at least Isreal has tried many times to give them what they want and end this but they always refuse and instead elected terrorists. And then they attacked and slaughtered hundreds… Like I support their right to want to have their own land but I do not support their actions so far and inability to accept any compromises and i can’t with the “noble savage” cliched trope that the internet has given to Hamas.

omg i don’t think i have much to add because you are right lol and i agree re. palestinians having their own land. young people also don’t realise that even the jews who never left were treated like second class citizens during the ottoman empire and the british mandate. when it fell into the UN’s hands, the arabs and palestinians didn’t even want 99% of the land because they hated the idea of living next door to jews. and now, 70 plus years later, one of the hamas leaders the other day reiterated that he doesn’t want a two state solution and wants the jewish ppl gone. so… the conflict isn’t going to be solved overnight, no matter how hard american college students scream for a ceasefire and boycotting businesses/brands that aren’t necessarily explicitly linked to israel.

lol btw, yesterday i saw an irish guy on twitter who is very radical and his bio said ‘refugees always welcome’. a lovely sentiment but i know he wouldn’t extend his welcome to israelis if they were to be displaced. 🤪

[xclowniex]

So Israel can openly bomb a school that is a KNOWN. SHELTER. FOR. REFUGEES. and yet you won’t call their behavior “genocidal” simply because the proper channels won’t call it that (even tho there’s plenty of evidence proving that what they’re doing is the text book definition of genocide)

You say all the time to everyone else “listen to Israelis” but you tip toe around the Palestinians putting their lives on the line to expose what Israel is doing

Israel only bombs areas where hamas uses it as either a base or to carry out military operations. It a war crime by hamas to use civilian areas for those purposes. It still sucks and is a tragedy that those areas and buildings are getting destroyed, do not get me wrong, however the fault in the eyes of international law lies with Hamas not Israel.

If that is your logic for it being a genocide, then by your logic, it would be Hamas which is at fault for a genocide.

Again, I am going to trust those with relevent degrees and experiences relevent to calling it a genocide as your average person does not have all the information to call it one.

Your average person does not have all the information regarding military operations from both sides as well as how to properly interpret international law. I am literally simply just recognizing where I lack expertise and leaving it up to the experts, and I reccomend others do the same. Its not good to act like an expert in something you are not an expert in. It actually leads to spreading misinformation.

I would also like to say, how am I tip toeing? I have literally made multiple posts in support of Mosab Hasan Yousef who is a Palestinian who had to seek political assylum in the US so he would not get killed.

What do you expect me to do? Dedicate my whole blog? Do you not want me to talk about antisemitism and xenophobia? Because the thing is, my blog is mainly talking about those two things. Telling people to listen to and talk to Israelis is relevent to those two things. People 100% should be listening to Palestinians too. You are literally pulling a bean soup theory here. Aka don't ask an account who posts about bean soup recipies to post non bean soup recipies and instead find someone else who posts non bean soup recipies.

If you want to read a blog which is mainly about Palestinians, do find a blog which posts mainly about Palestinians. I am not going to give in to your idea of "anyone who talks mainly about antisemitism and Israelis must hate palestinians" as that is stupid. To use another analogy, just because I post mainly about pancakes does not mean i hate waffles.

[magxit]

Hi, Israeli jew here and I saw you interact with asks about the war. I want to share the experience from our side, cause most of the media focus on the Palestinian side. I'm not here to justify everything Israel does. I say both sides are at fault. You see, the problem is both sides governments and the civilians on both sides are the ones getting hurt. Hamas is controlling the Gaza strip and he threatens the Palestinians to vote for them. The Hamas is a terror organization that the U.S and Europe recognizes as a terror organization like Al Quieda and ISIS. the Hamas military fired more than 4,000 rockets to Israel in the past 4 days. Killed 900+ civilians, kidnapped 130 civilians back to Gaza and is using the Palestinians as human shields so in that way there will be more Palestinians casualties. On the Israeli side, we use a lot of military power against Gaza. No doubt about it. Just so you know the number of Palestinians casualties numbers are including the terrorists who fight Israel, not just civilians. On the Israeli side of the 900+ dead 128 are Israeli soldiers. The rest are innocent civilians.

My point is it's way more complicated than black or white. both sides are at fault. I hate our government bc it's far right wing government. There's a lot of militarism in Israel bc of the conflict. Both sides (the leaders) don't want to back down and reach an agreement. Every side claim they the right to be here. From my point of view, as someone who was born and raised here. I don't see an end to this conflict. Most citizens, on both sides want peace and quiet. It's our leaders through decades who want to keep it the way it is and they incite their crowd to vote for them with claims of "it's our right to be here" it's stupid and childish in my opinion. It's a tough reality to live in where, I specifically hate my government and their policies.

Thank you. I hope you stay safe.

[matan4il]

Just wanted to send some love your way 🩵 Im a left-ish diaspora Jew who had, up until really recently, taken the stance that the conflict between Israel and Palestine was too complex for me to fully understand. I appreciate blogs like yours because they have genuinely helped me understand and see through the narratives that both sides are equally at fault, or that Israel is some colonialist war machine bent on gobbling up all available territory at the expense of everyone else’s lives.

It’s kind of frightening for me to have a stance at all, when the people around me were all silent on October 7th but have no issue hanging Palestinian flags outside their homes and filling their social media with slogans that they claim are simply “anti Zionist” but are absolutely anti-Semitic.

I don’t know how to explain to them that YES my heart bleeds for every average human in Gaza who genuinely does want to just exist, but that doesn’t meant that I think the onus for peace lays exclusively on Israel’s shoulders, and I don’t support disbanding Israel as a country. I worry a lot about being too one-sided or simplifying things too much; I still feel very much like I’m sitting in a middle position, due to those concerns. And it’s scary that it still wouldn’t be enough for people — FRIENDS, even — around me.

Sorry for the ramble. Thank you for your informative posts. Speaking as someone who finds a lot of joy in fandom stuff, I really hope the tides turn so that kind of thing can occupy more space in your mind than worrying does 🩵

Awww, Nonnie! I am hugging you SO MUCH!

My heart aches, because you're absolutely right. It doesn't matter how much we'll denounce racism, they will still call us racist. It doesn't matter how often we state that we want life and dignity for both Jews AND Palestinians, they'll still accuse us of supporting genocide. It doesn't matter if we'll criticize the government, they'll still claim we're brainwashed to silence our voices.

So if it's not about our actual beliefs and positions, what's it about?

It's about the fact that we're Jews. And we're told that we can only be "good" Jews if we throw our fellow Jewish people under the bus, even though for every other minority, solidarity is encouraged and celebrated. We're only "good" Jews if we give up our native rights by adhering to a narrative that paints us as colonizers of our own ancestral land, even as native rights are upheld as vital for every other indigenous group. We're only "good" Jews by doubting the multiple testimonies of rape and baby beheadings, even though every victim is supposed to be heard and believed. We're only "good" Jews if we agree to give up the right to self defense, which means we give up the right to live safely, to live peacefully... really, if we give up the right to live, period. All while telling us this is due to the value of all human life. They're literally gaslighting us with "All Lives Matter," and it's the same crowd who could recognize the issue with that slogan, when it was used to silence black people demanding that very same right.

We do not have to go along with this modern "witch test," where they try us by dunking us into water, and the only way to be "innocent" is to die drowning, so if we didn't, then we're witches, and we die still, because they burn us at the stake. I refuse to collaborate with the erasure of Jewish identity, history and rights, which leaves all Jews stripped of protection, vulnerable to abuse, and I will keep speaking, even if they call me every dirty name they can think of for recognizing the Jewish right to live, and to live in our historic homeland, especially as we have always been willing to live here side by side with others. Whatever they say about me, at least I won't be a tokenized Jew, that they can use to bully other Jews into silence.

We absolutely can be pro-Israeli AND pro-Palestinian, rather than turning anti-Israeli to "prove" we're good, pro-Palestinian Jews.

I'm sorry, IDK if I'm actually helping here! Just know that you're not alone in feeling this way. Actually, the fantastic Mayim Bialik also talked about this recently, so I'll give you her eloquent words:

(this is just a part of the vid, you can find the whole thing here)

Thank YOU for the kind words! And may we all get back to just being able to enjoy fandom as the fun, escapist hobby it should be. Sending you lots of hugs and love! xoxox

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

[vinceleemiller]

Insecure Leaders and Leadership Deception | 1 Samuel 13:1-4

Are your insecurities leading to deception?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are in 1 Samuel 13. I've titled this chapter "Partial Obedience Is Complete Disobedience."

Chapter 13 jumps forward in time about two years after Saul's inauguration. Saul and Jonathan, his son, who is probably in his 20s, are going to divide forces and see if they can deal with these garrisons of Philistine soldiers encamped around the region of Israel. They encamped around the region mostly to intimidate the Israelites. Here is how the first four verses read:

Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. — 1 Samuel 13:1-4

The author captures two interesting details here.

First, we notice that Jonathan is the one who finally deals with that garrison of Philistine soldiers mentioned back in 1 Samuel 10:5. If you recall when Saul was making his trip back after being anointed by Samuel as the first king, he was told he would meet a garrison of Philistine soldiers and also some prophesying prophets. This is that same garrison. Clearly, Saul has left this issue unaddressed, which means that two years later, his son has to deal with it.

Second, it is revealing that Saul declares his son's victory, takes credit for it, and never corrects the misunderstanding that it was Jonathan's victory and not his own. If you work in a large business with a deep hierarchy, this is about every day of your business existence. Insecure leaders in the hierarchy above you blame you if you fail and take credit from you if you succeed.

This situation is an early indication of the type of man and leader we know Saul will be. Insecure leaders who are untested and have questionable character will do deceptive things. Over time, these small deceptions will become more pronounced until they are finally exposed and called out.

If you want to avoid these issues in your life and leadership, you must assess your fears, confess your insecurities, address your character faults, and ensure that you are putting your faith and trust in God, who is your salvation in every situation. Don't do what Saul does here, which only tips his life and leadership in the wrong direction.

#LeadershipLessons, #FaithInAction, #OvercomingInsecurity

Ask This:

In what areas of your life might you be practicing partial obedience, and how can you fully align your actions with God’s commands?

How do you handle situations where others take credit for your work or blame you for their failures, and what steps can you take to maintain integrity and trust in those moments?

Do This:

Assess your fears, confess your insecurities, and address your character faults.

Pray This:

Lord, help me to recognize and address any areas of partial obedience in my life, guiding me to fully align my actions with Your will. Strengthen my integrity and trust in You, especially when facing challenges or unfair treatment. Amen.

Play This:

Trust In God.

Check out this episode!

[rxshl]

WPS II

After the Cold War, the U.S. switched from containment to encirclement, and not of Communism but of its rivals, namely Russia and China.

The Philippines and the U.S. were aware of China and Vietnam fighting over parts of the WPS back in the late 1980s, of Chinese incursions in the Kalayaan area during the mid-1990s, of Malaysia building up in the late 1990s, and so on, but did not act.

When Duterte became President, he thought that he could negotiate with China and thus receive alarmed reaction from the U.S. It didn't happen because the President that time was Trump, and Trump wanted the opposite: decrease military exposure and make those who need help pay.

Later, Duterte switched to the U.S. because he realized that Biden would become President, and Biden is like every U.S. President before him except for Trump: support the military industrial complex to "save" poor countries like the Philippines against tyranny. Duterte agreed to renew the VFA but demanded $16 billion for the last decade. Why? Because that's what U.S. allies like Pakistan received from the U.S.

Marcos, Jr., continued what Duterte did, but it didn't work because the U.S. was also forced to provide aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel to deal with rising conflict in Asia plus an ongoing one in Eastern Europe. Also, the U.S. knows that the Philippines has no one else to turn to--not even itself because of politicking and a weak economy--so it gave only $500 million. Taiwan, which is even richer than the Philippines, got $8 billion.

The Philippines has no one to turn to because it's a poor version of the U.S. and tied to other countries. For example, it's heavily dependent on exporting laborers to other countries and receiving remittances, and it's main source of that is the U.S. Its main investors are Britain, the Netherlands, and Singapore. Its main donor is Japan. Its main trading partners include the U.S. and China.

Finally, the U.S. has also been manipulating other countries, including those claiming parts of the West Philippine Sea. For example, it sells arms to Vietnam, which has the most installations in the WPS. One of the military allies of Vietnam is Russia. The country that mainly bullies Vietnam is China, but China is also its partner in oil exploration and other deals. And the country that bullied Vietnam in the past, leading to two million dead, is the U.S. Here's the punchline: the U.S. has the second-highest approval rating in the region in Vietnam, which is a Communist country.

Another example: Taiwan claims most of the West Philippine Sea (in fact, the "dash" claim by China actually came from the Koumintang). The main ally and arms supplier of Taiwan is the U.S., which is supposed to be an ally of the Philippines. But Taiwan has both the U.S. and China as major trading partners, and the U.S. won't recognize Taiwanese independence because it doesn't want to anger China, which is also a major trading partner.

Allies like the U.S. are dependent even on countries like China for munitions needed for ammo, and even on countries like Russia for things like uranium.

Anyway, this is something to think about everytime we try to attack China over the U.S., or the other way around, or argue that the Philippines should be independent, or that Duterte is at fault, or Marcos, Jr., or Noynoy, and so on. Chances are, even what we mean by negotiating and coming up with an "independent" foreign policy will be hard to explain if the U.S., China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and others know everything I just pointed out above.

[disco-cola]

someone i knew from former political circles messaged me today about my story which was a meme about how you can’t be sane when you (still) support Israel. He’s like „do you even know what you’re saying with this“ I’m like „that I don’t support Israel as stated?“ he’s like Israel has a right to exist!!! I’m like okay it didn’t say anywhere here that it doesn’t have the right to exist however there’s several countries in the world that because of the way it was founded and handled since still don’t recognize it as a state and also there’s religious Jews that don’t even recognize it because they say it’s against the tora. Like it’s a fact not everybody in the world recognizes it and it’s not an official state everywhere. I said I don’t support racism apartheid genocide and the fascist 2-class-system that Israel has which deprives Palestinians of rights and even their pure freedom. They are denying peoples existence and land. And while I said i am not speaking out against the states right to exist (bc I also live in a country that recognizes it as a state officially whereas it does not recognize Palestine at all) there is definitely room for criticizing and I do not believe the way Israel is existing and acting right now is the right way. He said it’s Jewish peoples land and they have to be safe - ummm it’s not „their“ land. There was a land there before and they took it and he said yes but it’s not their fault it’s Great Britain’s fault bc they made promises to both sides they couldn’t keep. Israel’s right to exist shouldn’t be based around the argument „they have to have a place where they are safe“ bc they should be safe anywhere in the world, it doesn’t justify the existence of what is now a military apartheid state that puts the rights of Jewish people *above* anyone else’s. I am very disappointed that people I used to know who claimed to be so politically correct and were always promoting „never again“ so loudly are actually on the wrong side of this. Saying „the way Israel was formed wasn’t that good“ is the understatement of the century. Never again should mean never again for anyone. Zionism is a dangerous nationalist ideology which doesn’t go hand in hand with judaism itself i don’t understand why so many people don’t get it. They really be saying well yeah I don’t think it’s good what they are doing in Gaza right now but they still have a right to exist because otherwise Jewish people have no land and aren’t safe and that’s why I still support Israel. He legit said that’s why he supports Israel in the end anyway. Make it make sense.

[jraker4]

@deaf-zuko Well, where to start. 'Genocide'? Eh, when a population is being subjected to genocide by a polity that has overwhelming military superiority over it, it doesn't tend to actually grow in size over generations. Which isn't to say that Israel's conduct of its wars and its administration of Palestinians is above reproach-far from it. But it's for whatever reason *really important* that the term 'genocide' get used here. 'Gleefully'. OK, well shit I didn't realize Biden had a Palestinian tied to railroad tracks while he swirled his black cape and twirled his black mustache. Also, of course it's partly about Trump, because that's the way elections work. 'Roe was overturned under Biden'. I already had an inkling you weren't a serious person, and then you said this. Yeah, that was Biden's fault, he runs the US Supreme Court. I'm sure I read that somewhere. He's also certainly not working continually to bolster reproductive rights wherever he can as one of his chief policies.

'No one codified Roe'. I hear this a lot from people stomping their feet about the power and ethics of not voting. It's always strangely light on details.

'I'm tired of liberals refusing to court the left'. Well, actually, it took a few paragraphs but you got to something reasonable. I'm pretty tired of that too. I guess the solution is to participate LESS, and it'll work out somehow.

'They're all capitalists at the end of the day'. Because, I guess, fuck any shades of gray or degrees of bad. One candidate, one party is a capitalist who nevertheless recognizes and supports unions; the other leads a party that would like to see them stone-cold dead nationwide and is also a capitalist. They're both the same, though, right? 'I already have to live with myself'. Well, a nugget of emotional truth-telling here. That's what it's really about, isn't it? What you can tell yourself. Well, shit, talk about priorities.

Went on a Twitter rant. ID in Alt text.