#wounding 260 others

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes of chaos and destruction following the bombing of the Israeli occupation forces across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, resulting in dozens of civilians killed, and scores of others wounded, including women and children. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

WAR OF EXTERMINATION DAY 260: HEALTHCARE WORKERS CONTINUE TO BE TARGETED BY OCCUPATION ARMY, NEW MASSACRES KILL DOZENS AS MASS SLAUGHTER INTENSIFIES ONCE AGAIN

On 260th day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 3 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 101 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 169 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands, of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

Speaking with the local Palestinian media, the Director General of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Munir Al-Bursh, said that the Israeli occupation continues to be intent on murdering healthcare personnel and still targets Gaza's healthcare system.

The Director General also called for an international investigation and asked that the international community intervene to protect medical personnel in the Palestinian enclave.

Further, Al-Bursh called for the investigation to be conducted, including an autopsy on the bodies of those killed by the Israeli occupation, and for the release of all detained medical personnel from the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Zionist occupation army continues mass murdering Palestinian civilians, even as the occupation army admits it is unlikely Hamas will be defeated in the way the occupation's politicians believe the resistance group can be.

A recent statement by occupation army spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, noted that “saying that we will destroy Hamas and make it disappear is just a speck of dust in the eyes of the Israelis,” adding that “Hamas is an idea, and whoever thinks that we can make it disappear is mistaken.”

At the same time, the Israeli occupation's leadership continues pushing for war with Lebanon, while the head of Israeli energy company Noga recently warned that "the country is not ready for a real war" with Hezbollah.

Netanyahu, for his part, refuses to acknowledge the realities on the ground, insisting this week that the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated and the hostages freed, adding angrily that "This is my position, and whoever opposes that, let him oppose it publicly."

Meanwhile, Palestinian civilians in Gaza continue to be mass slaughtered as the genocide continues unabated.

In just the latest example, the Zionist occupation army committed two new massacres overnight in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City, as well as in the Al-Shati (Beach) Camp, west of the city, resulting in the deaths of more than 42 Palestinian civilians.

Speaking of the massacres at a press conference on Saturday, director of the government media office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, confirmed the slaughter, telling Al-Jazeera News “24 Palestinians were martyred as a result of the targeting of 7 homes in the Beach Camp, and 18 Palestinians were martyred as a result of the Israeli bombing in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood.”

According to local sources, the Israeli occupation forces bombed 3 residential buildings in the vicinity of the Sousi Mosque in the Al-Shati Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City, killing several civilians and wounding a number of others.

In a previous assault, on Friday, occupation fighter jets bombed two residential apartments in the central areas of Gaza City, killing at least 5 Palestinians and wounding several others.

According to the Palestinian media, local civil defense crews managed to recover the bodies of 5 Palestinians and a number of wounded after Zionist warplanes bombed two residential apartments belonging to the Mushtaha and Abu Al-Atta families, behind the Deir al-Latin School in the Old City area of central Gaza City.

Israeli fighter jets also bombed a residential house belonging to the Salah family in the Al-Shati Camp, killing upwards of 10 civilians and wounding at least 17 others.

The wounded were immediately transferred to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, while the occupation's artillery shelling continued hammering the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.

In another bombing, the Israeli occupation forces targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, while several others were wounded as a result of an occupation air raid near Wadi Gaza in central Gaza.

South of Gaza, Israeli aircraft bombed the Khirbet al-Adas area, north of Rafah, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others.

The genocide continued with the Zionist army's artillery shelling, which targeted the tents of displaced Palestinian families in the Al-Mawasi area, northwest of Rafah, an area the occupation army previously told civilians would be a "safe" zone, killing upwards of 25 civilians, and wounding a number of others.

According to reporters with the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli aircraft broke the sound barrier in two locations, after which, local residents and displaced civilians gathered and were immediately targeted by an Israeli missile, resulting in the massacre of 25 civilians and wounding many others.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also reported that its personnel were dealing with large numbers of casualties after the Israeli occupation forces bombed the tents of displaced families.

The Zionist army also bombed a house belonging to the Al-Sharif family, east of Al-Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, murdering a number of Palestinians, and wounding others, including children, who were transported to Al-Awda Hospital, where an infant girl who was wounded in the strike was said to be in critical condition.

Similarly, the Israeli occupation forces stationed tanks and troops along the so-called Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli-built infrastructure dividing the Gaza Strip into its northern and southern constituent halves, firing shells towards the Al-Zaytoun, Tal al-Hawa, Sheikh Ajlin, and Al-Sabra neighborhoods, resulting in a number of casualties, including women and children, who were also taken to Al-Awda Hospital, while simultaneously, Occupation Apache helicopters fired on civilian homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

The slaughter continued with the occupation bombing of a home in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood that resulted in the deaths of two young men who were quickly taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

Another civilian was killed, and others wounded, when Zionist artillery shelling targeted the power station north of the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the infinitely rising death toll now exceeds 37'551 Palestinians killed, including upwards of 10'000 women and over 15'000 children, while another 85'911 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

June 22nd, 2024.

#source1

#source2

#source3

#source4

#source5

#source6

#source7

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[chaosandmarigolds]

pięć 🚑

Of EMS AU Thingy!

summary: Simon Riley finds himself utterly and completely in love with the newest medic on base, the only issue is that he has the social skills of a toddler.

“Mary I promise, I’m not incompetent-“

“never said you were!!” She counteracts, rummaging through the kit, stating she had a blood pressure cuff in there, “Just…you’re a baby.”

You frown, “I’ve been a paramedic for five years, hardly-“

“Gunshot wound to the upper anterior leg, what do you do?” The question was lifeless, as if she had been planning this for a long while. She leaned on the counter as she watched the color drain from your face for a moment, of course she knew that you were capable, yet she also knew you were a dear in a headlights, “Knife to the lumbar spine, what do you do? Solider is 35 year old male, 260 pounds of pure muscle plus gear and you do not have a lift assist.”

“I-“

“oh you’re also in an active warzone so you falter you get shot, stitch.”

you gulp, you had been in New York as a paramedic for years, you had seen some horrible things but…you were also aware you were walking into murky waters, “Mary, I-“

She frowned to your words and turns back to her bag, “The team as a EMS refresher at 0700, tourniquets, packing, and anything else they have in their itty bitty first aid kit. I’ll be on a plane, you take care of it.”

with a huff you run your hands down your face as you move to grab your kit, the large backpack fit easily weighing upward to fifty pounds. You end up standing in your spot for a long moment, trying to figure out what to say next. However, you no longer cared on if Mary thought you stupid or not, you cared much more on the refresher course.

“Who…do we have a dummy?”

She scoffs, “No. You’re the patient, layer up.”

…oh.

—

Kyle Garrick was arguably one of the nicer (looking) personalities on base, he seemed genuine in his actions- or so you thought, as did he. If not a bit overbearing, thought he did not mean to, so when he saw you walking down the corridor with arms full, he offered to take some, simply because he wanted to be kind-nothing else.

“How are ya finding it?”

You let out a breathy laugh as you wait for the door to open, “Do you want an honest answer or one that makes me seem better?”

he feigns thoughtfulness and hums, “I’d say…honest.”

“Overwhelmed. But hey!” You were mainly rambling to the poor man, and when you get to the gym you drop the obscure items onto the table, where he followed- to where you were speaking face to face, “It could be a lot worse right?”

Kyle shrugs to your words, a smile on his features and he pats your shoulder, “You seem capable. The trainee fore you slept through an OP so..you’re doing good.”

great, you’re better than someone who slept through a mission that seemed like the lowest form of compliment but you would take it. “Awesome, well thank you, um…where is the Captain, Lieutenant and sergeant?”

“Well you’re looking at a Sergeant.”

a smile tugged at your lips and you look down, “I mean MacTavish, though I do suppose I have one accounted for.”

Kyle then motioned to the other side of the gym, which you hadn’t bothered to turn on the full lights as of yet, “LT is over there.”

that was one of the oddest sentences you had heard, so you frown and move to turn on the light, and sure enough you find the lieutenant casually sitting in the darkness, a book neatly folded on his lap. To the sight you furrow your eyebrows, “Should I ask, Lieutenant?”

He shook his head, standing up as he spoke, “No, probably not. Scare ya lil’ medic heart.” (He got there ten minutes before you and the lights were motion activated)

You laughed to that, not a real one though, more of petrified squeak, “Okay! Anyway! Where’s MacTa-“ just as you were speaking the door buzzed open and the very people you were speaking about came in, looking somewhat exhausted and barely awaken begrudgingly they grab the fold out chairs from the closet and sit down, and you would admit it was somewhat funny to see Johnny so…quiet. As you turn just double check everything was neat you didn’t see the slight fight, more like nudges between Johnny the Lieutenant, until he was tire of it and pulled the chair back and replaced it with his own. So when you turned around you saw a straight line of chairs, but for Johnny, who was now behind the Lieutenant, who was now directly in front of you.

You’ve been patient before, during paramedic school you wanted to be the patient. it was fun, now however you had a genuine worry if their tourniquet would just snap your leg off.

This will be fun.

(all I got! Comments and all that jazz mean so much to me, toodles!)

[probablyasocialecologist]

Captivity is a constitutive part of Palestinian life under occupation. Prior to Hamas’s attack on October 7th, Israel incarcerated more than 5,200 Palestinians—most of them residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem—across two dozen prisons and detention centers. Some West Bank residents are incarcerated due to a still-operant military order issued following the 1967 War that effectively criminalized civic activities (e.g. gatherings of more than ten people without a permit, distributing political materials, displaying flags) as “incitement and hostile propaganda actions.” There are currently hundreds of such military orders, which criminalize anything that might be construed as resistance to the occupation. This surfeit of activities made illegal for Palestinians authorizes mass imprisonment: According to a recent estimate by the United Nations, one million Palestinians have at one time been incarcerated by Israel, “including tens of thousands of children.” One in five Palestinians, and two in five Palestinian men, have been arrested at some point in their lives, and, as of 2021, more than 100 Palestinian children faced up to 20 years in prison for throwing stones.

Not all who are arrested face charges. Israel often and increasingly makes use of “administrative detention,” a relic of the British Mandate era, which allows for indefinite incarceration without a charge or trial, ostensibly for the purpose of gathering evidence. It was a hallmark of apartheid South Africa and has been used to repress opposition in Egypt, England, India, the United States, and elsewhere, especially in the context of anti-immigration and “counter-terrorism” programs. “Since March 2002, not a single month has gone by without Israel holding at least 100 Palestinians in administrative detention,” the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem notes; often the number is much higher. Prior to October 7th, more than 20% of Palestinian prisoners were administrative detainees; 233 of the 300 Palestinians on Israel’s release list negotiated last week were administrative detainees, Al Jazeera noted. According to the Palestinian prisoner organization Addameer, imprisoned Palestinians report being beaten, threatened, strip searched, and denied healthcare and contact with their families. Palestinians currently incarcerated, as well as those freed in recent days, report that conditions have worsened since October 7th. Meanwhile, even as this prisoner release proceeds, Israel continues to ramp up arrests: As of Tuesday, 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the ceasefire exchange, but during the same period, it arrested Palestinians at nearly the same rate. Today, more than 7,000 Palestinians are incarcerated in Israeli prisons.

Nowhere is Israel’s carceral regime clearer than in Gaza, the 140-square-mile area often described as an “open-air prison.” Gaza’s residents, now an estimated 2.2 million people—80% of whom are refugees or descendents of refugees forced to flee in the mass expulsions surrounding the founding of the State of Israel that Palestinians call the Nakba—have been hemmed in by a land, air, and sea blockade since 2006. As with Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons, who for years have waged hunger strikes, protested, and written about the horrors of incarceration, Gazans have struggled mightily against their confinement. In 2018–19, they held weekly nonviolent protests at the border under the name Great March of Return. Israel responded with brutal violence, killing 260 people and wounding 20,000 others, many of whom were permanently disabled. A week into Israel’s current assault on Gaza, Ahmed Abu Artema, one of the co-founders of the Great March of Return, wrote an impassioned plea in The Nation, calling for the world to “help us tear down the wall, end our imprisonment, and fulfill our dreams of liberation.” On October 24th, an Israeli airstrike severely wounded Artema and killed five members of his family, including his 13-year-old son.

It is precisely in such contexts of radical asymmetry that we find the history of hostage-taking: In the last half-century, under-resourced combatants from Palestine to Brazil to the United States and beyond have used hostages to gain political leverage. Militants, whose own lives are not valued by the powers they face, capture those whose lives they assume are deemed more valuable. This strategy often succeeds in shifting the terms of the conversation—asserting the previously dismissed hostage-takers as political actors whose demands must be negotiated. But the same dynamic that leads militants to take hostages is why the tactic so often fails: The prison state fundamentally devalues life, and ultimately may sacrifice hostages to preserve its rule. Israeli officials have said as much. “We have to be cruel now and not think too much about the hostages,” finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a cabinet meeting as Israel launched its war.

[happybunny999]

Yandere plantonic Batfam x Reckless Ymir Fritz and her S/O

( Ymir and s/o get accidentally teleported to Gotham after leaving from their world and after running into some thugs they transformed into their titan forms witch caught the attention of the batfam) ( Ymir’s s/o very close with Ymir and will stay by her side through everything and goes along with everything Ymir does) ( they are 10-12 close to Damian Wayne age when they get teleported to Gotham)I’m gonna change it a little by making Ymir and s/o are from the modern world version of Aot with regular clothes but still with there titans power

Honestly the whole batfam and all of Gotham would be terrified and concerned for Ymir and s/o

Bruce Wayne :

Bruce after hearing a loud boom and seeing yellow and pink lighting from the sky goes to investigate and is shock at what he sees. Two 260 tall human like creatures that has female features but one has no facial skin on it’s face with protruding ribs with blonde hair, and the other has the same female features but does have a face and also protruding ribs close to her chest and seems more calmer unlike the first one. With long pink hair and pink and galaxy cosmic eyes.

Afterwards they killed a group of thugs and smoke starts to come from their body’s and soon after the two figures were gone but not before he caught sight of one of them the blonde come out of the back of the creature and Bruce is surprised to see that it was a little girl around the age of 10-12 with another girl with pink hair and looked adorable and fragile but could not see their faces due to the smoke and that they had vanished soon after.

Soon after he try’s to find out who those two girls were and ask his sons to try to find them and report if they find them especially the pink haired girl

When he finds the two on top of a building about to jump off with the blonde girl holding the pink hair girl hand to get her to follow her to the edge

Bruce is quick to react and stops the two by by grabbing the pink hair girl and gently pulling them back away from the ledge and soon started to question them on who they were and after he learn that their names are Ymir and s/o he tells them to come live with him and his sons for their safety

He keeps a close eye on them and tries to stop Ymir from doing dangerous stuff and keeps the two out of trouble (mostly Ymir ) and try’s to talk to them about their past and how they got their powers and would try to look up their powers to come up with some kind of block or subpressure to put on them to control their “godlike power” is what they call it

Dick Grayson :

Dick would tell you and Ymir jokes and is always near the two of you and keeps a close eye on you and would always hug s/o to stop her from doing whatever Ymir is doing

He didn’t know why you always do whatever Ymir does even when you know it’s either stupid or just downright dangerous but every time he questions you. You always say that ‘we share a connection’ which confused him even more

He try’s to keep s/o with him at all times and comes to stop you and Ymir from doing dangerous things

would quickly reprimand Ymir for her recklessness and endangering you during another one of her carelessness

And if s/o get badly injured but still could regenerate her wounds he would get upset at Ymir and scold her for getting you hurt 

Jason Todd :

Would be amazed by their power but would not like Ymir’s recklessness and her putting s/o in constant danger despite their immense ability and fast healing

Know how to handle Ymir’s recklessness the most since he been down the same road just like her and tries to keep the two of you from Dangerous things just like dick

If he sees you and Ymir doing something reckless and dumb he takes control from the both of you and scold you both for endangering peoples lives

Would always keep an eye on s/o because you just follow Ymir on everything she says and does no matter if it’s wrong or right 

Tim Drake :

Would immediately gain as much information as possible about Ymir and s/o and see if they have any weaknesses and what is their abilities

Always keeping in eye on s/o since you have more of the power then Ymir and that you just follow her around everywhere

Worries so much about s/o and the fact she just does what ever Ymir does and without question anything she does even if it’s dangerous

Your abilities and immense titan size amazes him and finds it cool and interesting and that you could create living creatures and gain command over said creatures 

Damian Wayne :

Would NOT tolerate Ymir’s recklessness and would find ways to stop her from doing something dangerous and stupid while keeping s/o close to him at all times for their safety despite s/o’s power and healing abilities

He also tries to stay close to s/o and stop her from going along with Ymir’s behavior and plans that could get you hurt and will get incredibly upset when he sees a bruise or cut on your body that has not healed yet because of Ymir

That’s all I have for now but will continue in the future

[talonabraxas]

Quetzalcoatl 🐉 Talon Abraxas

Creation Myths

Quetzalcoatl-Ehécatl and his crafty brother Tezcatlipoca were in the business of creation. In some incredible escapades, they created the earth, sea and night sky and were regents of the first two ‘suns’, or world eras of the existing five. When the brothers separated the sky from the earth, they even turned into the trees that held the two apart, earnings the names of Quetzalhuéxotl and Tezcacahuitl.

Quetzalcoatl’s life-giving ability gave rise to many of the things around us. On a lone voyage, he went to find the bones of the dead in the underworld, known as Mictlan. After many trials and tribulations he was able to escape Mictlan and carry the bones to Tamoanchan, home of the gods. He ground the bones and mixed them with his blood, creating the first humans of the 5th (and current) sun.

In another act as creator, Quetzalcoatl threw his semen at a rock and from it grew a bat that approached the fertility goddess Xochiquetzal (Quetzal Flower), biting her between the legs. From her wound burst beautiful flowers that the bat took to the lord of the underworld, Mictlantecuhtli, who bathed them in the water of his subterranean rivers and perfumed the blossoms.

Many other creation myths revolve around Quetzalcoatl, some including the creation of the maguey plant, and the discovery of corn

Quetzalcoatl was often represented as the life-giving wind, with a beak or mask protruding from his face. With this appendage he was able to sweep the roads clean before the arrival of the rain gods (pic 5). Under the guise of wind, he was called Quetzalcoatl-Ehécatl and was considered a great cultural hero. This image from the sixteenth century Codex Borbonicus (pic 8, right) shows his conical hat made from the fur of an Ocelot. A recurring feature in Quetzalcoatl-Ehécatl’s iconography is a conch chest ornament. Called ehecacózcatl (wind jewel), the shell has been interpreted as an association with the womb and the generation of life. The conch shell is symbolic of the ancestral bones from which Quetzalcoatl created humankind as we know it.

Quetzalcoatl-Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the Morning Star

The legend of Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl goes on to tell us that after a long pilgrimage towards the east, our hero found himself so thoroughly defeated by his brother Tezcatlipoca that he threw himself on a burning pyre in an act of self-sacrifice. From the smoking remains rose the morning star, Venus, who is represented by Quetzalcoatl in his guise of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. He accompanies the sun across the sky during the day. This image from the Codex Borgia (pic 9) shows Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli displaying the quincunx: five circles associated with Venus. His hair is red and his body painted with red and white stripes. He is featured on the left in the upper and lower panels of the page. On the right hand side is Quetzalcoatl-Ehécatl.

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli served as patron deity of astrological knowledge and was of profound importance in religious books in the Central Highlands and Oaxaca. Used for divination, these documents were called Tonalamame (sing. Tonalamatl), and displayed the portents of the 260 day lunar calendar known as the Tonalpoualli (Counting of the Days). Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was considered patron of this calendar (Yólotl González-Torres,1991).

Xolotl, the Evening Star

Tlahuizcalpentecuhtli could only guard the sun as it crossed the daytime sky. However, Quetzalcoatl had another invocation that would help Venus through the underworld as the Evening Star: Xolotl, the dog (pic 10). Considered by some to be Quetzalcoatl’s double, assistant or twin, Xolotl aided Quetzalcoatl when he descended to the Mictlan to recover the bones of humankind. In Náhuatl, the word Xolotl was often associated with the concept of twins and physical deformity, so statues of the deity often portray a dog with twin heads, or ragged ears and running sores.

Interests: Saving the world (or making it), preserving life, cultivating knowledge and recognising beauty.

Day Sign: Wind

Trecena (13 day week): 1 Jaguar. According to sixteenth century friar Bernadino de Sahagún and his native informants, he also presided over 1 Reed. This last period was considered to bring bad luck because it was represented by Quetzalcoatl in his forceful guise of Wind. The trecena was marked by the Aztec nobility who made offerings in Calmecacs, learning institutions for noble children. Children born during 1 Reed were thought to be ill-fortuned, and the calendar foretold that all they gained in life would be “taken by the wind” (Sahagún, book III, chapter VIII). To save children born during the worst phase of 1 Reed, the Aztecs held childrens’ naming ceremonies on or after the 7th day of the week (7 Rain) as the following days were more auspicious.

Powers: As we know from stories of old, Quetzalcoatl’s physical powers and intelligence knew no bounds. But what were his monster-killing, sky-lifting and star-forming capacities in the face of his sneaky brother Tezcatlipoca? Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were brothers in divine myths, where they worked together as creators, and against each other in acts of destruction. In the Legend of the Suns, their battles saw them topple each other as regents of individual worlds. As humans, Tezcatlipoca’s trickery thwarted the priest Quetzalcoatl (myth of Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl). The cosmic battle between the two brothers has been interpreted as a dualistic opposition between creative and destructive forces (Taube, 1993, p82).

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

The Israel Electricity Company worker who was mortally wounded yesterday, passed away from his wounds. He's the second civilian that Hezbollah has killed on Israel's northern border since the start of the war.

The IDF releases critical footage constantly, this is one example. This shows an aborted attack once civilians, including kids, are detected:

Sometimes, it's so frustrating doing these daily update posts, because I don't have all of the material that I wanna share. Yesterday, Israeli TV shared footage of Hamas attacking regular Gazans as an aid truck comes in. Then they took all of the food for themselves. I'm frustrated, because I can't find it anywhere online, but I'll keep looking and share it in a future update if I find it.

I mentioned that Israel has been fighting on five fronts, but that's not including the constant need to protect Israeli civilians and institutions from cyber attacks. If you count that one... six fronts.

Some of the survivors from the music festival, where Hamas murdered over 260 young people, had to be involuntarily committed to stop them from hurting themselves.

In Australia, a man was attacked just cycling down the street for displaying an Israeli flag on his bicycles.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jewish Lives Matter (@jewishlivesmatter)

This is Guy Admoni.

He was 25 years old, and visiting his disabled mother in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Oct 7. For three days, he was define as missing. Then he and his mom were found together in her bomb shelter, murdered. They were still hugging each other. It turns out, Guy was an officer in a very sensitive role in the Israeli intelligence forces. His dad Doron was interviewed today, and he said that when he heard his son was missing, he prayed that Guy was killed, not kidnapped. Doron was sure that if Hamas would have gotten their hands on his son, they would have tortured him. Had Guy not broken, he would have suffered a lot and for long. Had he broken, it would have put so many more lives in danger.

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

[thecreaturecodex]

Spawn of Rovagug, Xotani

Image © Paizo Publishing

{Sponsored by @tar-baphon​. Although I imagine that @monstersdownthepath​ will be happy to see it too, since they had to sort of average the 3.5 and PF2e statistics of Xotani. PF1e skipped it completely, maybe because it appeared in literally the last D&D 3.5 adventure Paizo published. I did run Legacy of Fire, and loved it. Personally, I made a few tweaks. Even if Jhavhul had succeeded, his consciousness was just going to be overwritten by Xotani; you don’t compromise with a Spawn of Rovagug. The sponsor asked me to adjust its CR up by 1, which was really only a matter of deciding how many HD to give it. Besides that, and the lava bombs borrowed from PF2e, this is a pretty straightforward conversion.]

Spawn of Rovagug, Xotani CR 21 CE Magical Beast This creature is a living magma flow, a cross between a wingless dragon and a centipede. It is the size of a building, jagged obsidian plates rising from its back and sides, and gouts of flames shooting from cracks in its surface and drool from its maw. It has eight empty eye sockets, but still seems able to see just fine. 

Xotani the Firebleeder is the weakest of the Spawn of Rovagug, but this still makes it one of the most deadly creatures in Garund. When Xotani is awake, it avoids the sun. It finds sunlight blindingly bright and surprisingly painful, and so remains underground by day, creating a network of tunnels from its own burrowing and from the lava that it spews and leaks. By night, it emerges, setting everything ablaze in its path. It has no desires or intentions other than pure destruction, although it will consume the ashes of what it destroys as a mockery of natural predation. It does take extra damage from the touch of cold, but cold damage enrages Xotani more than dissuades it.

Xotani is an unstoppable force in combat, moving like a lava flow over anything that stands in its path. Its very touch sets combustible objects ablaze, and weapons turned against it melt into slag. Xotani’s main strategies are either breathing a torrent of fire over clustered enemies, or grabbing and swallowing a single powerful foe. Wounds that open in Xotani’s flesh spew magma reflexively, and Xotani can fire lava bombs from its back. Xotani is barely sapient, but knows enough to avoid using its breath weapon against foes that are immune to fire: these it just eats after softening them up with claws and teeth.

The Firebleeder was “slain” by a powerful order of mages millennia ago, and is currently slumbering beneath Pale Mountain in Katapesh, where the color of the rock is said to come from the crushed bones of those who died in battle.  However, Xotani came very close to being awakened in the recent past. The lovesick Jhavhul, an efreet general, attempted to possess Xotani in order to have a form worthy of the object of his obsession, Ymeri the Queen of the Inferno. Without the twisted wishcraft used by Jhavhul, Xotani will not awaken for centuries. But it does now stir in his slumber, and droughts, wildfires and heat waves are more common around the Obari Ocean because of it. And plenty of other doomsday cults, misguided fire worshipers or simply bad actors may be able to wake Xotani yet. 

Xotani the Firebleeder       CR 21 XP 409,600 CE Colossal magical beast (fire, spawn of Rovagug) Init +8; Senses blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +26 Aura frightful presence (300 ft., Will DC 27) Defense AC 38, touch 6, flat-footed 34 (-8 size, +4 Dex, +32 natural) hp 403 (26d10+260); regeneration 30 Fort +25, Ref +21, Will +20 DR 15/epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, bleed, disease, electricity, energy drain, fire, mind-influencing effects, paralysis, permanent wounds, petrifaction, poison, polymorph; SR  32 Defensive Abilities heat, hibernation, supreme regeneration; Weaknesses cold, sunlight blindness Offense Speed 60 feet, burrow 40 ft., climb 60 ft. Melee bite +32 (4d8+14 plus grab and 5d6 fire), 2 claws +32 (2d8+14 plus 5d6 fire) Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft. Special Abilities breath weapon (70 ft. cone, 1d4 rounds, 16d10 fire, Ref DC 33), firebleed, lava bomb, swallow whole (AC 26, 40 hp, 2d8+21 plus 20d6 fire), trample (2d8+21 plus 5d6 fire, Ref DC 37) Statistics Str 38, Dex 19, Con 30, Int 3, Wis 17, Cha 18 Base Atk +26; CMB +48 (+52 grapple, +68 overrun); CMD 62 (cannot be tripped) Feats Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Vital Strike Skills Climb +27, Perception +26, Survival +23; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception, +8 Survival Languages Aklo (cannot speak) SQ unstoppable force Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization unique Treasure incidental Special Abilities Blindsight (Ex) Xotani’s blindsight is based on hearing. If it is deafened, Xotani cannot use its blindsight. Firebleed (Ex) As an immediate action upon taking at least 10 points of slashing or piercing damage, Xotani can spew lava from its wound in a 30 foot cone. All creatures in the area must succeed a DC 33 Reflex save or take 10d6 points of fire damage. Creatures that fail the save are coated in cooling sticky lava, being entangled and taking 5d6 points of fire damage for the next 1d3 rounds or until they spend a full round action to scrape the lava off. The save DC is Constitution based. Heat (Ex) All of Xotani’s attacks deal an additional 5d6 points of fire damage, and any creature touching or striking it with a unarmed strike or natural weapon take that damage. A manufactured weapon that strikes Xotani is incinerated and destroyed; a magical weapon may attempt a DC 33 Fortitude save in order to survive. The save DC is Constitution based. Hibernation (Ex) Spawn of Rovagug can sleep for years, decades, or even centuries and do not need to eat or breathe during these periods of dormancy, though they breathe normally and eat ravenously and almost constantly once they’ve been awakened. If a spawn of Rovagug is forced into an environment where it cannot breathe and would suffocate, it goes into hibernation until conditions are right for it to reawaken. Lava Bomb (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, Xotani can create lava bombs as a standard action. Treat this as a supernatural version of the meteor swarm spell (ranged touch +22, Reflex DC 27) with a range of 400 feet. The save DC is Charisma based. Sunlight Blindness (Ex) Xotani’s light blindness is only activated by true sunlight. Supreme Regeneration (Ex) All spawn of Rovagug possess regeneration, and no form of attack can suppress this regeneration; they regenerate even if disintegrated or slain by a death effect. If a spawn of Rovagug fails a save against an effect that would kill it instantly, it rises from death 3 rounds later with 1 hit point if no further damage is dealt to its remains. It can be banished or otherwise transported as a means to save a region, but a method to kill Spawn of Rovagug has yet to be discovered. Unstoppable Force (Ex) A spawn of Rovagug can always charge, even if its movement is impeded or its path is blocked by another creature. It receives a +20 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to overrun and Strength checks to break or destroy objects, and can make one such check as a free action as part of a charge. In addition, the natural weapons of a spawn of Rovagug ignore all forms of damage reduction and hardness.

[bitbybitwrites]

Hello hello! 8+2+38 for the drabble game?

18. celebrity!au + 2. enemies to lovers + 38. "I think I would rather eat expired spam."

****

OMG - what a combination! OK - sooooo not exactly a drabble ( kind of a double drabble - ish? sort of.

I suck a brevity. But here are 260 words for you, @rockitmans . Thanks for playing!

****

“Admit it.”

“No.”

Kurt gasped as he was shoved up against the greenroom wall.  He and Blaine were scheduled to be called to set for their segment at any minute.

And they both knew Jimmy Fallon was not a patient man.

“Admit it.  My cookbook deal was better than yours.” Blaine murmured as his lips grazed that sensitive area just behind Kurt’s left ear. 

Kurt tried to stifle a moan as he felt teeth graze his skin.  Somehow, Blaine’s was all over him, and as much as Kurt despised the other well-known chef, he didn’t want it to stop.  It felt like his skin was on fire.

“Never,” Kurt gasped as he felt Blaine hard against his thigh.

“And my restaurant opening far surpassed yours with numbers in its first week.” Blaine punctuated that last statement with a roll of his hips.

“You’re delusional.”  Kurt bit his lips as he fought hard not to cry out as his traitor hips began to thrust against Blaine of their own accord.

“I’m right.  I’m always right, sweetheart.  So just admit it.” Blaine pulled back to look at Kurt, his eyes dark with want and an insufferable smirk plastered on his face.  Kurt both wanted to slap and kiss it senselessly off at the same time.  “Admit it,” Blaine told him as his hands wound around Kurt's body to squeeze his ass.

“I think I would rather eat expired spam.” Kurt growled between gritted teeth.

“You wound me and all my Filipino and Hawaiian relatives.” The insufferable smirk turned quickly into a playful pout.

 And fuck it, Kurt wanted to kiss that off Blaine’s face as well.

*****

OK - in case there are folks who weren't sure - so what we had above was Kurt and Blaine - two rival celebrity chefs, finally letting all their animosity out in the greenroom of The Tonight Show ( US talk show ).

And now I think it would be fun writing more of this - 😂

Also Spam is big in Hawaii and big with Filipinos

So in this AU, Blaine is Filipino/Hawaiian

( History fact, many Filipinos were brought over to Hawaii as workers.)

If anyone else wants to play - AU+Trope+Prompt Game.

[usafphantom2]

The SR 71 retired early due to a few jealous and unfair attitudes. Despite the retrofitting of digital systems and communications links aboard the SR-71s, which allowed them to deliver imagery in near “real-time,” the US Air Force itself recommended the retirement. The backstory is, It was never about money.

I was listening to the “Blackbird SR-71 question and answers” by Terry Pappas. (I highly recommend that you go to Amazon and buy the book; all the profits go to the Wounded Warrior Project)It is also audible, so it’s really easy to listen to while you’re on your computer or your tablet. One of the questions that really caught my attention was Why did they retire the Blackbird when there was still nothing faster? A. It was reported by Habu’s working at the Pentagon, who personally briefed him that the US Air Force Chief of Staff General Larry Welch hated the Blackbird program. He had a running battle throughout his career with Jerry O’Malley. ( I knew Jerry O’Malley; he was a charming and personable man). O’Malley was a former SR-71 pilot and Wing commander of the SR-71s, who many people felt was in line to be the Air Force Chief of Staff. Jerry and his wife Diane were tragically killed in a plane crash in April 1985. Everyone loved Jerry and Diane. I can’t think of a finer couple in the Air Force than Jerry and Diane O’Malley. His untimely death opened the door for Larry Welch to assume top position at the United States Air Force.

General Welch showed his disdain for the memory of General O’Malley by having O’Malley‘s picture removed and placed at the other end of the Pentagon hallway, presumably so Welsh wouldn’t have to see it daily!! Horrible! Let me ask you, what kind of a man does that? Welch was given a VIP ride in the SR 71. I think that made him even more jealous that the SR-71 was one of the airplanes he was NOT chosen to fly. You might not know that he (Welch) was turned down when he applied for program as a Capt. because he was incompetent as a pilot, and it was documented. He went to the command post and, from there, politicked his way up. I didn’t fly him on that flight, but I doubt he ever touched the flight controls. A respected SR 71 pilot said this.

Ben Rich also talks about Welch in his 1990 book.

“General Larry Welch, the Air Force chief of staff, staged a one-man campaign on Capitol Hill to kill the program entirely,” Ben Rich wrote in his memoirs. “General Welch thought sophisticated spy satellites made the SR-71 a disposable luxury. Welch had headed the Strategic Air Command and was partial to its priorities. He wanted to use SR-71 refurbishment funding to develop the B-2 bomber. Columnist Rowland Evans said, ‘The Blackbird can’t fire a gun and doesn’t carry a bomb, and I don’t want it.’ Then the General went on the Hill and claimed to certain powerful committee chairmen that he could operate a Wing of fifteen to twenty (F-15E) fighter-bombers with what it cost him to fly a single SR-71. That claim was bogus. So were claims by SAC generals that the SR-71 cost $400 million annually to run. The actual cost was about $260 million.” Another lie was that there was something like the SR 71 that they had in the works and it just wasn’t ready yet. We have been waiting for SR 71 replacement for 23 years!

Both Welch and SAC commander General John Chain testified and lied before Congress that the SR-71 should go, and so it did.

As Rich so aptly reflected, “A general would always prefer commanding a large fleet of conventional fighters or bombers that provides high visibility and glory. By contrast, buying into Blackbird would mean deep secrecy, small numbers, and no limelight.

We need more Generals like Jerry O’Malley what a great man he was. I do get emotional about this subject as it was my own father, Butch Sheffield, who campaign with the leader of the Skunk Works, Ben Rich to reinstate the SR -71 after it was retired.

Written by Linda Sheffield Mille

[pawsitivevibe]

She looks like she's judging me. Which uh. Fair enough.

Ahhhh I'm sorry baby. I'm more stressed about hurting her NOW then I was when it happened. The aftershock. Leia on the other hand probably has no idea why we even went to the vet today. She hasn't touched her ear at all. My mom says she's just being Normal Leia. The wound has not been bleeding any more.

Well I learned a $260 lesson about shaving ears today!

[darklinaforever]

I need to talk about it. Literally.

I once had a dream inspired by Saurondriel / Haladriel and I kind of put it aside, but it turns out I dreamed the sequel last night so I need to talk about it and externalize.

Especially because I think it would make a great story / duology to write.

The setting is obviously set in a fantasy universe, with three different peoples.

We have the people of sky. The people of the earth. And the people of the sea.

The 3 peoples have very specific characteristics. As :

People of the sky have usually hair golden or silver. Golden for men. Silver for women. It is said that they are the first People to have been created within the world by the creator, who generously endowed them with the gift of eternity like him, although they can still die from various wounds and varied. Also being the most powerful, almost considered gods by the people of water and earth with whom these individuals from the sky hardly interact. There has been so little interaction between this people and the other two over the years from litteraly the creation of the world, that the only traces of their passages in the terrestrial and marine world have almost become legends / tales for these peoples, although they know their real and tangible existence.

Sea People have their hair generally black, dark brown or light brown (although there is an exception, one of the female mermaids, quite mysterious and considered a witch, surprisingly and strangely has red hair). Their hair obviously turns white as they age. They have fish tails that can transform into human legs only during the full moon. They are not immortal, but can live for centuries and centuries, with very, very slow aging. Their life is in fact so long that in the eyes of earthly people, they are almost immortal.

People of the earth have usually red hair. Then there are variations like auburn, strawberry blonde, and different variations of blonde. Their hair turns white as they age. They are not immortal but live for more than a century. The average mortality of their people is generally between 150 [250] and 160 [260] years. Although obviously there are exceptions, with the oldest having managed to reach almost 200 [300] years old.

In this story, for various reasons that I have forgotten, the people of the sea and the people of the land never really got along.

But one of the main reasons for their great mutual hatred is due to a love story between members of these two respective people, who ironically also happened to be the leaders of these two factions, went wrong and which resulted in consequence of being able to prohibit any union between these 2 universes which are the ocean and the earth.

Except that since then, a woman from the people of the sea and a man from the people of the land have in turn fallen in love and their forbidden union this time gave rise to a child who will be our heroine.

Unfortunately, both parents died due to a tragic chain of events caused by their two factions.

But their baby, our heroine, has obviously survived and became the representation of the hope of new peace between these two peoples who wished to redeem themselves from the past tragedy that they had caused and which had therefore given rise to the death of parents, who each in their community had been loved and important.

I'm not going into details here of who they were as a person and figure in their respective communities because that is not the point.

The heroine is therefore capable of living among the people of the sea and the people of the earth and grows up walking between the two with various figures who take care of her, notably among the people of the earth, the former his father's best friend who will be a very important and ambiguous character.

Despite the peace that both camps seem to aspire to through her, there are still tensions, and some would in fact want her to completely choose a people in their own right, leaving the other behind.

Finally, a stranger will come and wreak havoc on the people of the sea and the earth who happens to be a member of the people of the sky.

He is coded a bit in fallen angel mode / Lucifer type, and he and the heroine will form a strange and close bond mixed with emotional understanding and great attraction.

In my memories, he is first an antagonist who after fight them then makes people believe in a desire for redemption to better want to bind himself to the two people and deceive them in order to dominate them later, which partly works and causes even more disasters destruction and conflict in the romance because of the feelings of betrayal that the heroine will feel from having been fooled since she will have originally pleaded his cause with her peers in order to give him a chance at redemption.

But ultimately, it is in the hope of defeating him that the people of the sea and the land will definitively make peace and a war will take place to fight and hunt him.

During the final battle, while the troops of each side are in the middle of combat, the heroine will try to distract our romantic antagonist in the hope of saving time for her camps and for them to win.

This distraction will consist of making people believe that she accepts the offer he originally made to her to join him / become his Queen, and the two will finally make love.

The distraction works and the man of the sky is defeated but not dead, hidden somewhere sleeping ready to return one day.

The heroine happens to be pregnant with his child and it is with one of her close friends that she decides to raise the baby.

Throughout this first part of the history, we suggest reasons and traumas that would explain the behavior and desires of the man from the people of sky who wanted to conquer the 3 kingdoms to put them under one and the same banner and rule them.

The sequel reveals the darker sides of the sky people, not really explored in the first part, which focused much more on the people of the sea and the land with the people of the sky quite mysterious and which apart from our antagonist had no other members who appeared.

Our heroine lives quite far from the people of the sea and the earth with her friend and her daughter whom they raised together and who the more she grows up, the more she feels the call of a dark and unstable power that she needs to learn to control.

When she learns that her father is the equivalent of the Dark Lord of this world, she will first seek to deny this fact, but will then put it into her head to find him after having been treated to visions of the past showing her passages of the loving relationship between these two parents, giving her hope that some goodness persists in her father and she also hopes that he can help her learn to control her powers that no one else can really do help manage.

It is she who will allow her parents to reunite and finally allow true redemption and understanding in the male character from the people of sky who was originally the antagonist.

The heroine and the man from the sky people, following a combination of circumstances which will put our heroine in danger of death, they will link their lives to each other, making it so that she will not be able to die, as long as he, the more powerful being of the two, will live. But if she dies in any other way, he will follow her too in the death.

Ultimately, the story will tell the definitive union of the three people in order to bring true balance to the world.

Because in the end, the antagonist was not really wrong in what he said about the fact that their world was corrupt and that all people needed to be united instead of divided.

He simply used a bad method with a certain radicalism that had to be changed and tempered, which will be the case later thanks to his daughter and the woman who loves him.

Just like our heroine who had a speech very opposite to her own, also a little too extreme.

While the best thing was for them to unite symbolically (their ideas in particular) to help the world get better.

And their union finds a balance through their children / daughter which is a perfect mixture of their best and bad sides.

I point out that obviously, while the guy is coded in dark mode, our heroine is coded in light mode. In particular, she has a pearl that can shine in the deepest depths of the ocean to guide her in the darkness.

On the other hand, I don't really remember if in the end, they rule together as a family, with their daughter as the ultimate queen of this world. I believe this is the case, but since in dreams nothing is fixed, it also seems to me that I had another chained version where no one governed. But I personally like the idea of ​​them ruling as a family in the end. Together, they represent a little of the history of all peoples with their successes and failures ready to give rise to a new, better future.

Everything I say must seem vague and messy, but that's normal, it literally comes from a dream where everything is not very clear and or obviously I have to rewrite certain details.

And I'm already thinking of things that would give more meaning to these bits of stories that my head has already given me during my sleep.

But really, I can't help but think that if developed, it would make a crazy story.

[scoundrels-in-love]

20 Question Fic Writer Game

Thank you for @needle-noggins for tagging me! Using my limited energy right now to respond, because otherwise I never will, oops.

How many works do you have on AO3? 65. One of them is a collection of prompts with 14 different chapters so, technically, 78 fics total.

What is your AO3 word count? 169,932. Nice. (Almost half of them are written in last 7 months for Trigun.)

What fandoms do you write for? Currently, only Trigun, but there are chances I might drop a fic or two in JJK fandom for Chosoyuki and then disappear. I would also like to finish some WIPs for Braime from GOT, but I don't know if my brain will let me. Never say never, though.

What are your top five fics by kudos? What can I give that is all for you? These arms are all I have (But I hold you like I do love you) (396, Trigun, Mashwood) Everything about you is on the tip of my tongue (312, Trigun, Mashwood, my first finished proper multichapter and explicit monsterfucking) You hold me for a little (Curtains closed to the end of the world) (260, Trigun, Mashwood) If I'm gonna (lose) love someone, (don't) let it be you (258, GOT, Braime) this fucking fic that took me a week instead of day or two to write, ENJOY FUCKERS (or don't, I'm not a cop) (234, Trigun, Mashwood, Explicit monsterfucking) Really fascinating to see how much kudos my Trigun fics used to get when I now often only get 30-50 at best. But, alas. Such is the ups and downs of fandom and I hope it's not reflection of my writing quality vaning as well.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, I do. When I first started using to AO3, a writer I admired had the stance that it inflates the comment number and is 'cheating' when it comes to the statistics, but I realized that, at least for me, comments aren't any parameters I search fics by and also I really wanted to feel community and connect with my readers and writers, so I wholly threw myself in responding later on.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oh, that's a good question. Several WIPs come to mind, but as for actual published ones... I suppose Before you leave, Remember I was with you (You must know you are beloved) could count because it follows canon ending of the Rogue One which means all of the characters die. But it is more of a bittersweet one. In similar vein, If this is communication, I disconnect (I need you, you want me, but I don't know how to connect) I think You taught me the courage of stars before you left (How light carries on endlessly even after death) overall might win, because it ends on open wound of grief, though it is also canonical death.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I don't think there is a singular one that is more happy than others. There are so many shades and nuances of happiness, who am I to judge which one is the most valid, the biggest?

Do you get hate on fics? I once joked in author notes that maybe the fic did contain traces of early polyam if you squint and someone was very upset about it, though in text it was just close mutual friendship and some teasing and only the tagged main couple was openly romantically involved. I've gotten some weird comments overall through the years, but thankfully nothing more hateful than that.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Much to my own horror, yes, I do now. And apparently mostly the monsterfucking kind. I don't know what else might be meant by 'kind'.

Do you write crossovers? No, that's not something that really comes to my mind. I am too engrossed in exploring every nook and cranny of the canon and characters that are my focus at the time.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not fic, as far as I know, but I have had my poetry and RP stories and plots stolen by people I trusted, such as my teacher and close friends at the time.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I've had one podficced!

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? No, but I'd really like to give it a try, I and @bienchanter have a lovely Rancher/Western Mashwood AU we'd like to cowrite, we just can't quite figure how to go about it. I've also had the pleasure of having them write a companion piece to my fic (theirs and mine) and had the joy of writing companion pieces to @needle-noggins and @frappeflamingo stories.

What's your all-time favourite ship? I am a person who cannot pick just one. I'd say some of the most Rainy defining ones have been Han x Leia, Braime and Mashwood.

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? So, so many Braime ones. Especially the ones that are multichapter for fic exchanges. Their recipients deserve better.

What are your writing strengths? Emotions, evocative descriptions.

What are your writing weaknesses? Everything else. Okay, okay, before I get bonked from every direction - I struggle with dialogues and action descriptions and easily get overwhelmed when tackling larger, tightly packed plot.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I think it is perfectly valid and even good for characters that would actually mix the languages naturally. I've definitely thrown in some Brazilian words for my Wolfwood, for this reason.

First fandom you wrote for? The Labyrinth on ff.net in 2008 or about there.

Favourite fic you've ever written? I don't have a singular favorite, there is something that I love, something unique that makes me appreciate it in almost all of my bigger stories, even if it's just a joke that was made in conversations with my friends.

Whew, this was long, but fun. Tagging @bienchanter @it-may-be-dull-but-im-determined @firesign23 @sdwolfpup @chickiefoo and @tardisready as well as anyone else who might just want to. But no pressure to, on anyone.

[ultrajaphunter]

Raw Footage: 669 Unit Rescues Wounded from Gaza.

Since the Beginning of the War, the Unit, Along with Other Units, has Operated in Gaza Under Constant Fire, Rescuing and Treating IDF Soldiers.

So Far, they have Carried Out 150 Ground and Rescue Operations, Evacuating 260 Wounded Soldiers to Hospitals.

[ridenwithbiden]

Hundreds of targets have been hit in Gaza by Israel following the Saturday incursion from Hamas terrorists, the group that controls the Palestinian territory of Gaza. More than 200 targets were struck in Gaza by Israeli forces in just one day, according to authorities.

In Gaza, at least 900 people have died -- among them 260 children and 230 women -- and another 4,500 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.

In Israel, at least 900 people have been killed and 2,600 others injured.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say they are living in fear as Israel retaliates for the actions of the militant terrorist group, with nowhere for them go.

There are no bomb shelters for Palestinians to hide from airstrikes.

An Israeli airstrike hit nearby the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Tuesday for the second time in two days, according to the the interior ministry in Gaza said.

"Gaza is a closed zone. There's nowhere people can evacuate to -- there's no shelters," said Laila El-Haddad, 45, a Palestinian-American living in Maryland whose family is currently in Gaza.

She continued, "The borders are all controlled and shut and the one border bordering Egypt was bombed earlier today. You know, unless they plan to swim out -- but there's a naval blockade -- they really have nowhere to go."

For many, crossing into Israel amid the attacks is not an option.

"Even during normal times, we're not allowed to leave," said Jason Shawa, 55, a Palestinian currently living in Gaza with his wife and two daughters. "Very, very, very few people in Gaza that have permission to leave."

Hundreds of apartments and homes have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip, including refugee camps, leaving more than 123,000 people displaced, according to the United Nations.

More than 73,000 people are sheltering in schools, while hospitals struggle to cope with the numbers of injured.

Shawa lives just miles from the city center where much of the shelling by Israeli forces is occurring. He has taken five other families into his home, which he said is safer than most because his house has a basement to shelter from the airstrikes.

"No one feels safe," said Shawa. "It happens everywhere, anytime. No warnings contrary to what we hear from Israel. My wife and I -- our major concerns are our two daughters ... They're very scared. Very, very scared."

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that all food, fuel, electricity, and other necessities will be blocked from entering the Gaza Strip.

"Every single thing we eat, or drink or consume in terms of medicines, food or drink is strictly controlled by the Israeli military," said Shawa. "We have no control over that. So, as a result of their stringent control of Gaza, life has become literally unbearable. In Gaza, conditions are beyond horrible, and we have shortages in everything."

The land, sea and air blockade placed by Israel and Egypt restricts who and what is allowed in and out of the Gaza Strip under Hamas' rule, according to the United Nations.

The longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing, spurred by centuries-old disputes over land ownership in the region.

El-Haddad's childhood home in the city-center neighborhood of Remal was leveled Monday by Israeli-force bombings.

Much of her family still lives in Gaza and she was communicating with them to get first-hand accounts of the conflict in Gaza’s densely populated city center.

"Gaza is truly a pressure cooker and people are pushed into a corner," said El-Haddad. "No human being will be able to tolerate such conditions."

She continued, "When you understand the conditions that Palestinians are enduring, one might be left to ask not why this has happened, but why something like this has not happened sooner? And that is not to justify -- the loss of human life in any way, shape, or form is tragic. That is the question people should be asking: How can any human tolerate such conditions?"

[soon-palestine]

Sociologists at the University of Manchester in solidarity with the Palestinian people

To Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester, and to the global sociology community,

We write as 24 academic staff in the Department of Sociology at the University of Manchester to call on the University to end its alliances and investments with universities and companies complicit in Israel’s apartheid, settler-colonial occupation, and slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.

As sociologists, we will not stay silent and thus assent by our passivity to these atrocities. This letter is a call on the University of Manchester to act. We are also sharing it with our discipline in the UK and beyond, as a call to build and share solidarity action, starting with the demand that our universities end academic partnerships with, and divest from, complicit universities, institutions, and companies. We follow here the example of other sociologists and colleagues in other disciplines, including Sociologists in Solidarity with Palestine and Sociologists in Solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian People, and the united call from over 30 Palestinian trade unions and professional associations. Sociology is a critical discipline. We have begun to put anti-racism at the heart of our teaching and research. We have begun to develop decolonial curricula. We are rightly proud of this, even as we know there is more work to be done. But these achievements are undermined if we remain silent on anti-Palestinian racism, if we ignore Israeli settler-colonial occupation and apartheid, if we sit back and do nothing as the bombs rain down on a besieged and defenceless population, half of whom are children.

We are all witness to Israel’s ongoing mass killing of Palestinians, assisted and armed by the UK government. Over nine weeks, Israeli airstrikes have killed over 17,700 Palestinians, at least 8,690 of whom are children, and have wounded over 48,000. 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are internally displaced, packed into an increasingly smaller area in the south that is now itself under military assault. 60% of buildings in north Gaza have been severely damaged or destroyed. Hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, have been blown to pieces. Extreme shortages of food and water, the destruction of sanitation facilities, and the collapse of the health-care system are creating a humanitarian catastrophe, ‘not a side effect of the war, but the direct intended result’ of Israel’s policies, according to the Israeli human-rights organisation B’Tselem. In the occupied West Bank in the same period, over 260 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers. Behind these bare facts, the cruelty, suffering, and trauma are unimaginable.

As UN experts warn of ‘a genocide in the making’, Israeli ministers and politicians make their genocidal intent clear. Prime Minister Netanyahu equates Gaza to the Biblical nation of Amalek, about which the prophet Samuel told Saul: ‘Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants’. A Knesset member of the ruling Likud party calls for a ‘new Nakba’, the military and terror campaign that caused the expulsion and flight of 750,000 Palestinians from historic Palestine in 1948: ‘Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48’. As Israel drops tens of thousands of tons of bombs on Gaza, a military spokesperson states that ‘the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy’. We could go on and on with these examples.

The bombardment of Gaza is the latest, horrific phase of 75 years of Israel’s expulsion, occupation, dispossession, brutalisation, humiliation, incarceration without trial including of children, torture, maiming, and killing of Palestinians. This has been meticulously documented by human-rights organisations, including B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, and by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, all of whom identify Israel as committing the crime of apartheid, a claim that has long been made by Palestinians themselves.

Israelis have suffered terrible civilian casualties too. The Hamas attack on 7 October included an assault on the belt of military fortifications, watchtowers, and machine-gun and snipers’ nests that have maintained Israel’s devastating 16-year blockade of Gaza. Such targets are legal under customary international law; the United Nations explicitly stipulates the right of occupied peoples to armed resistance (UN resolution 45/130). But the Hamas attack also included atrocities committed against hundreds of Israeli civilians. Nothing we say here is intended to diminish the horror of those deaths and the pain and anguish of the victims’ families and communities. However, such atrocities will not be ended by creating more of the conditions from which they emerge.

We call on the University of Manchester to do the following.

End the joint research fund with Tel Aviv University. Israeli universities play a key role in planning, implementing, and justifying Israel’s occupation of, and military assault on, Palestinian territories, and Tel Aviv University (TAU) is no exception. Across a range of disciplines from mechanical engineering to philosophy, TAU is heavily and openly involved in research and development in weapons and surveillance technologies, and in military strategy and operational theory. It has described itself thus: ‘In the rough and tumble reality of the Middle East, Tel Aviv University is at the front line of the critical work to maintain Israel’s military and technological edge’, noting that ‘much of that research remains classified’. To give one example, TAU is home to the Institute for National Security Studies which takes credit for developing the ‘Dahiya Doctrine’. This is a military doctrine of disproportionate force, illegal under international law, adopted by the Israeli military. As evident in the bombardment on Gaza, it privileges civilian over and above military targets and advocates, as one of its designers at TAU put it, ‘the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people’.

End the exchange agreement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has a record of involvement in military-security research and hosts the army intelligence training programme Havatzalot. It also surveilles Palestinians living in the surrounding neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem.

End the partnerships of the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (GEIC) with GKN Aerospace and Haydale. GKN Aerospace is owned by Melrose Industry, together being the sixth largest arms company in the UK. GKN Aerospace has over 26 export licenses to Israel, granted as recently as 2020, specifically dealing in ML10 goods (defined by the UK government as ‘“Aircraft”, unmanned airborne vehicles, aero engines and “aircraft” equipment, related “goods” and components, specially designed or modified for military use’).Haydale has been developing graphene for use in strengthening carbon fibre composite structures. It has contacts with Airbus, GKN, and BAE Systems, three major arms companies that all have export licenses and substantial ties with the Israeli defence sector. These contracts are focused on creating lightning resistant planes and drones – a clear military application.

Divest from HSBC, Siemens, and all other companies who invest in Israeli weapons, military technologies, and the means of Israeli apartheid. The University has investments of c£1million in HSBC. Research by War on Want in 2017 found that HSBC invests over £830million in, and provides financial services worth up to £19billion for, companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology. The University has investments of c£1.1million in Siemens. Siemens is complicit in the apartheid domination of Palestinians through its involvement in transport, traffic, and population control in occupied East Jerusalem and the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

These alliances and investments contravene, undermine, and make a mockery of the University’s valued ethical and anti-racist principles. It is obscene and shameful to claim that ‘We at The University of Manchester condemn all racist violence and oppression’ and to assert ‘a role in removing systemic inequities and speaking up for those without a voice’ while supporting an apartheid state which inflicts untold racial cruelty and violence on the Palestinian people. The time is long overdue for the University to end these alliances and investments, just as it ended its associations with apartheid South Africa.

Signed by 24 academic staff in the Department of Sociology, University of Manchester

Contact: uomsocpal@proton.me

**We welcome all staff and PhD students in the UoM Department of Sociology who wish to add their support to this letter.

[readingsquotes]

CAPTIVITY IS A CONSTITUTIVE PART of Palestinian life under occupation. Prior to Hamas’s attack on October 7th, Israel incarcerated more than 5,200 Palestinians—most of them residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem—across two dozen prisons and detention centers. Some West Bank residents are incarcerated due to a still-operant military order issued following the 1967 War that effectively criminalized civic activities (e.g. gatherings of more than ten people without a permit, distributing political materials, displaying flags) as “incitement and hostile propaganda actions.” There are currently hundreds of such military orders, which criminalize anything that might be construed as resistance to the occupation. This surfeit of activities made illegal for Palestinians authorizes mass imprisonment: According to a recent estimate by the United Nations, one million Palestinians have at one time been incarcerated by Israel, “including tens of thousands of children.” One in five Palestinians, and two in five Palestinian men, have been arrested at some point in their lives, and, as of 2021, more than 100 Palestinian children faced up to 20 years in prison for throwing stones. Not all who are arrested face charges. Israel often and increasingly makes use of “administrative detention,” a relic of the British Mandate era, which allows for indefinite incarceration without a charge or trial, ostensibly for the purpose of gathering evidence. It was a hallmark of apartheid South Africa and has been used to repress opposition in Egypt, England, India, the United States, and elsewhere, especially in the context of anti-immigration and “counter-terrorism” programs. “Since March 2002, not a single month has gone by without Israel holding at least 100 Palestinians in administrative detention,” the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem notes; often the number is much higher. Prior to October 7th, more than 20% of Palestinian prisoners were administrative detainees; 233 of the 300 Palestinians on Israel’s release list negotiated last week were administrative detainees, Al Jazeera noted. According to the Palestinian prisoner organization Addameer, imprisoned Palestinians report being beaten, threatened, strip searched, and denied healthcare and contact with their families. Palestinians currently incarcerated, as well as those freed in recent days, report that conditions have worsened since October 7th. Meanwhile, even as this prisoner release proceeds, Israel continues to ramp up arrests: As of Tuesday, 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the ceasefire exchange, but during the same period, it arrested Palestinians at nearly the same rate. Today, more than 7,000 Palestinians are incarcerated in Israeli prisons. Nowhere is Israel’s carceral regime clearer than in Gaza, the 140-square-mile area often described as an “open-air prison.” Gaza’s residents, now an estimated 2.2 million people—80% of whom are refugees or descendents of refugees forced to flee in the mass expulsions surrounding the founding of the State of Israel that Palestinians call the Nakba—have been hemmed in by a land, air, and sea blockade since 2006. As with Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons, who for years have waged hunger strikes, protested, and written about the horrors of incarceration, Gazans have struggled mightily against their confinement. In 2018–19, they held weekly nonviolent protests at the border under the name Great March of Return. Israel responded with brutal violence, killing 260 people and wounding 20,000 others, many of whom were permanently disabled. A week into Israel’s current assault on Gaza, Ahmed Abu Artema, one of the co-founders of the Great March of Return, wrote an impassioned plea in The Nation, calling for the world to “help us tear down the wall, end our imprisonment, and fulfill our dreams of liberation.” On October 24th, an Israeli airstrike severely wounded Artema and killed five members of his family, including his 13-year-old son.

The Abolitionist Logic of “Everyone for Everyone” A call from the families of hostages contains the seed of true safety. Dan Berger December 1, 2023