artoftangmo

[artoftangmo]

i still think one of tumblr's darkest moments (much worse than anything i've seen before and i have been here since 2011) was when random fandom bloggers started doing confidently accusing people living through a genocide of being scammers. i think there's a lot that has happened on this website but the juxtaposition of running something so trivial as a fandom blog (i have been in fandom for a long time and triviality here is not an insult but an understanding of what makes it light) while doing something so enormously heavy and dark has me reeling

[artoftangmo]

Why doesn’t Israel ever seem to get in trouble for what it does and for breaking international laws?

We hear the phrase “international law” and it might lead us to believe that it’s a single body of laws under which everyone is held accountable equally, and that’s, as you’ve come to realise, is not the case.

But how did that happen?

For starters, we should look at how fragmented this "law" really is; there is no unified or singular legal body internationally. There are multiple legal bodies such as the ICC, ICJ or UNSC, each with its unique power and influence. This fragmentation is exactly why "international law" doesn't really mean anything in particular.

This fact is something that Israel and its accomplices understand and utilise very well. They also understand that, in the words of Israel’s former head of International Law Branch of the IDF, Daniel Reisner, “international law progresses through violations.” So they do understand that their violations are the means of "advancing" what we know as international law, and they do that every day by setting precedent.

This precedent is set by violating the law enough times until it becomes the "norm". This is also what’s called “customary law” which as the name suggests, is a set of laws that are determined by "how things are" according to states and what they determine to be lawful. An example of this is how Israel started a policy of extrajudicial assassinations against the Palestinian resistance, something that was condemned even by US officials as “excessive”. However, Israel continued the practice until just years later, the U.S. started to apply that same policy in its own War on Terror, ultimately taking what once was seen as a horrible breach and cementing it into international law. And that’s how it usually works and this is why Palestinians have been warning everyone that if Israel isn’t stopped, no one will be safe.

Lastly but very importantly, it’s extremely critical to understand that these superpowers have designed international law as a set of laws to control the post-colonial global south, not the other way around. Think of the veto power given to permanent members of the UNSC, and how the US abused that power to stop the genocide in Gaza not once or twice, but five times in the span of 19 months.

[artoftangmo]

Oh my god they killed Hossam Shabat

[artoftangmo]

It's middle eastern Mother's Day today and I'm thinking of all the grieving mothers; the mothers of martyrs, the mothers who have been enduring this genocide, the mothers of the disappeared and imprisoned, the mothers who want to protect their children and fail to, the mothers who want to stop their children's pain and fail to, the mothers whose wish is to prepare a full meal for their children and fail to, of those whose children died hungry.

Amal (@amalashuor) is one resilient mother who has been relentlessly navigating the genocide in Gaza for the past 17 months along with her toddler. She has endured multiple displacements, bombings, and the bitter cold. Read her story and donate to her campaign (vetted #175) if you're able to 🤍

[artoftangmo]

Added the best girl, Reze to the mix

Chainsaw Man Psychedelia: Part 1

[artoftangmo]

Beyond Eternity

[artoftangmo]

If you have voted Harris today,

You have a fundamental moral obligation to donate a sum totaling 10$ to the following 3 fundraisers, all of which belong to people who have lost loved ones and in some cases their entire families due to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' actions.

Hossam Bardaweel -> entire direct family members dead.

Hazem Mohammed Al-Bardaweel -> entire direct family members dead.

Nemr Matar -> infant died.

These are people whose situations you will never understand. Have some basic decency and respect and don't make this about yourself or your guilt or anything about you. Don't even say you donated. This is about the people who will continue to lose everything as long as American empire persists. Any comments will be deleted.

[artoftangmo]

If you've been following the news from Gaza the past 48 hours, you'll know that the situation in northern Gaza has been bleak to say the least.

With intensified Israeli attacks against civilians, particularly in the Jabalya refugee camp, Israel is also focusing a lot of its violence against journalists and hospitals (for obvious, genocidal reasons).

Today, Israel had ordered the only remaining major hospital in Northern Gaza to evacuate staff and patients within the next 24 hours, warning that they will turn it into another Al Shifa hospital scenario, which we all know was turned from hospital to a mass grave.

Also today, Israel had killed journalist Mohamed Tanani and injured cameraman Fadi Alwahidi and correspondent Tamer Lobaid. This is a mere couple of days after Israel had assassinated 19 year old journalist Hasan Hamad who they sent death threats to, warning him against sharing videos of Israeli crimes.

This is all in one day.

Just remember that everything you know about Israel's atrocities in Gaza only got to you through the Palestinian journalists on the ground who are risking their lives in a time period considered to be the deadliest on record for journalists. So amplify their voices and share their reports and stories widely.

[artoftangmo]

i think its pretty bold of the political realists on here who talk about harm reduction and strategic voting and so on to continuously claim "these people who hate kamala aren't GIVING you an alternative! they're not telling you what to do with x and x and x" while they also don't give US an alternative for what happens when kamala wins, continues to facilitate genocide, follows through on her campaign promises of increased surveillance, a more lethal military, and a deadlier border, and so on and so forth

admitting powerlessness outside the voting booth means you concede you have no power over kamala and you've conceded all your negotiating power in the voting booth. we've had exactly one year of seeing that the democrats will not be moved by popular protest, will adopt restrictions on free speech so authoritarian it has prompted a warning from the UN human rights office of the high commissioner (to absolutely zero reaction from either the party or its base) and will embrace dick cheney, brett mcgurk and all the architects of worst war crimes of the bush administration

you guys can talk about realism all you like, but i also think you're vastly underestimating that fascism doesn't just come from conservatives waving a red hat, it can come from neoliberals—i am speaking to you as someone with experience in this exact phenomenon who lives in your future.

there are people who care about this and there are people who don't, but i don't respect the people who pretend to care about it and then lie to you. they're lying when they tell you organizing will be easier under kamala, or that they will 'continue to fight the good fight' once she's elected, because if they were going to do that they would be doing it now, when it's most urgent, and they clearly aren't. they're campaigning for her, as she continues to endorse policies and wars so abhorrent even reagan would cringe. the only people really trying to do both are the democrats of the uncommitted campaign and its ilk, who are being continuously humiliated by this administration even as they desperately beg for any concession they can grasp. it is a questionable approach.

the difference between me and the people telling you to vote blue no matter who isn't that i necessarily care about you voting or not voting, it's that i think the people who tell you to vote are not telling you the truth about what you're voting for. they're telling you you might get some nominal policy protections for queer rights, but they won't question if this is a sufficient payoff for relinquishing the rights and lives of millions of people across the world. under trump you would be relinquishing your own rights, certainly, but i think it is insidious to be voting for 95% of trump's policies and then balk at the remaining 5% because they affect you personally, and have the audacity to claim losing your health insurance is equal to being vaporized by a bunker buster bomb in your own home (especially when MANY of you lost your health insurance under biden already).

i think it's insidious that the people telling you to vote are not telling you that your vote for some nominal policy improvements in your life is at the cost of co-signing some of the worst crimes in modern history. this is the reality of voting for kamala, this is the reality of conceding your power to her. this isn't something to be taken lightly and it's not something that can be brushed aside as strategy.

this is also in the difference between voting for someone and endorsing or campaigning for them, a dichotomy we saw with chappell roan last week, who struggled to articulate this basic principle while other celebrities warmly pinkwashed and purplewashed kamala's despicable platform. if you're voting for kamala in self-preservation, as the lesser evil, as the trolley problem agony as so many of you are claiming to, then you wouldn't exactly be shouting that choice from the rooftops. you would be angry that you're being forced to vote for genocide.

'well, what do i do?' you're going to ask. you can do whatever you feel is right. vote for kamala, don't vote for kamala, vote down the ballot, get militant about your local politics, do whatever you think is right. but when it comes to the presidential election a year ago i felt like pressuring her was the right strategy, and unlike the uncommitted movement i don't believe in bluffing. the pressure didn't work, she fucked her constituents over to continue killing children in the middle east, and she shouldn't win. this is my personal opinion, i have my justifications for it based on my own life experiences. you don't have to agree.

the question is, what do you do when you vote for her and nothing changes? what are you going to do about the genocide? what are you going to do about the regional war in the middle east? what are you going to do about people dying at your border? what solutions do the voting realists have for you now? they have nothing. just vote some more. when it's millions of your own people (when it's your entire country) on the chopping block, you'll start to see how this strategy is fucking useless.

the accelerationists (people who believe trump winning will usher in broader support for antifascist movements, empower the left and force people to confront the structural realities in place that allow fascism to breed) had a weak argument in october 2023.

but now the biden admin and the democrats themselves are the accelerationists. they're the ones ushering in extreme instability and calling that 'the birth of a new middle east' (the same rhetoric that made bush so unpopular obama could run on being the opposite of bush). and unlike the US, for us this isn't happening in slow motion with policies and protests and the erosion of civil rights, it's happening with bombs and mass displacement. MILLIONS of people are already displaced in the middle east as a direct result of biden's policies. we're already living american accelerationism. escalate to de-escalate. so when you call this 'the lesser evil,' you understand why we all think you're stupid motherfuckers voting for evil people and expecting that to lead to a better outcome despite all evidence to the contrary.

[artoftangmo]

please support the Tahsen family’s evacuation!

[artoftangmo]

Displacement Diaries [1]:

🚨Dangerous

Between the Fear of the Unknown and the Pain of Anticipation... This is How We Prepare for Winter

Winter here is unlike anywhere else in the world; it reveals the harsh reality we live every day amid the ongoing brutal war on Gaza.

Our anxiety grows as a family of 11, knowing that our worn-out tent could turn into a nightmare if water seeps in, making our suffering even worse. The children and elderly among us are already suffering from the bitter cold, and illnesses are spreading due to the humidity.

We are in desperate need of your support during these difficult times. Your donations can make a significant difference by providing Shader to improve rain protection, wood to strengthen the tent and ensure its stability, as well as warm clothing and shoes to face the freezing cold. Proper coverings will also help shield everyone from the harsh weather. Your support will have a major impact on improving our lives and giving us hope to face this harsh winter.

Shader: It is what is placed over the tent to protect it from rainwater

Don't let my family face winter alone. Be part of the relief effort that brings hope in a time of need. Every moment of delay in receiving humanitarian aid means additional suffering for us.

Notes:

The campaign is documented by @nabulsi @el-shab-hussein @90-ghost

The prices of Shader and wood in the market have skyrocketed, making them unaffordable for us.

[artoftangmo]

Al Jazeera is saying that the pagers in the Israeli attack were indeed packed with 20g of explosives and were imported into Lebanese territory five months ago, and Axios says that the decision was made by the Israeli state to detonate the pagers a week ago.

[artoftangmo]

🍉 Project Outreach & Community Copies 🍉

To address Palestine's urgent need for donations for evacuation and assistance, our project is opening up a donation drive!

See details below ⏬

Donate $5 or more* to a verified Palestine GoFundMe & submit proof of donation here.

Receive a discount code of $5 off any bundle during preorders!

*Every additional $5 will donate a free community copy for those unable to purchase a bundle!

Full info: https://tinyurl.com/3kpapnvr

[artoftangmo]

I want you to imagine yourself, fifty years from now, sitting with your grandchildren. Imagine them asking you “what did you do during the Gazan Genocide?” What will you say? Will you say “I did nothing?” Will you say “I did what I could?” By donating to this fundraiser, you will be able to say “I saved a man from cancer.” I’m sure many of you have seen the fundraiser for @mohiy-gaza2 . What you might not know is that Mohiy himself is very sick. He told me himself that he recently had an MRI to diagnose a tumor in his pancreas, and now needs surgery to remove his spleen. Dealing with these illnesses is difficult enough for those of us lucky enough to live in peaceful countries; in a warzone Mohiy’s task is nothing short of horrific. I know pancreatic cancer is a difficult disease, but with our help, I believe Mohiy can beat it.

I know there are other fundraisers on your dash. I’m sure your bank accounts are already low from the donations you’ve already made. All I can do is beg you, from the bottom of my heart: help Mohiy and his family. I’ve already donated; please find it in your heart to donate whatever you can. To quote Mohiy himself:

Thank you for reading this. I know Mohiy and his family are grateful for anything you can give.

[artoftangmo]

keep donating. your money won’t “go to waste”

[artoftangmo]

hey reminder that connecting humanity is extremely low on esims rn and desperately needs esim donations and also that there are a lot of cool things you can get in exchange for a donation

[artoftangmo]

a lot of you seem to be desensitized right now but i would like to remind you that we are in the second week of massive destruction in the west bank. the Israeli military are carrying out an occupation operation in Jenin and nearby areas of the West Bank.

we are being severely impacted.

to put things into perspective: 70% of Jenin's streets have been bulldozed, and 80% of the homes in the city have no water. infrastructure, water, sewage, communication, and electricity networks have been damaged

33 Palestinians have been killed since the invasion began, with 19 of those deaths occurring in Jenin. 7 children were murdered, including 16-year-old Lujain Musleh, who was shot INSIDE HER HOME by an Israeli sniper while looking out her window

in Jenin's refugee camp, homes have been occupied and damaged. Israeli occupation forces have deliberately been making holes in the walls of citizens' homes to facilitate their movement for their occupation operation. keep in mind - people cannot even go to work anymore. and there are severe shortages of food, medicine, and essential services. even shops have been destroyed. municipal crews are struggling to provide aid due to ongoing military fire.

the hospitals in Jenin are struggling to function due to water and electricity shortages, and patients are having to be transferred to other cities for care - which is insanely difficult with the operations going on. its back to school season all around the world, but here- schools remain inaccessible.

our city is in a state of paralysis.