chronic-and-stressed - Tumblr blog

[chronic-and-stressed]

Education & Ways to help

education

decolonizepalestine.com - if you haven't picked a side, Palestine 101, myths about Palestine, rainbow washing, FAQs, reading list

aljazeera.com/tag/gaza - news outlet

nbc news - live or semi-live updates

theindependent.co.uk/topic/gaza - live or semi-live updates

the BBC - *non american* news outlet

how to help

pcrt.net - Palestine children relief fund, donate what you can

arab.org - tap a button and money gets sent to Palestines

support Palestinian small businesses - currently assembling a list

[chronic-and-stressed]

Stats

5.4 million people living in Palestine in 2023.

The median age in Palestine is 19.6.

47.3% of Palestine is under 18.

Israel has killed over 12k people in Gaza (the second largest city in Palestine) since October 7.

Regardless of what side you think is "right", there is no justification for the deaths of so many people when Israel has received at least 3 billion dollars in 2023 and is requesting an additional 14k, all from America. The Israeli forces could easily afford to train and equip a special forces team to go in and handle only Hamas with minimal casualties if that was what they were after.

How we can help-

Boycott (Do not purchase, support, or use) Bolded ones are the most commonly used

HP (printers etc)

Siemens (Chevron gas)

AXA (insurance)

Puma (sports brand)

SodaStream (carbonated water machine)

Ahava (minerals)

Sabra (hummus)

Starbucks** (coffee)

Dominos (pizza)

Pizza Hut (pizza)

Papa Johns (pizza)

McDonalds (fast food)

Burger King (fast food)

Wix (website builder)

Carrefore (wholesale)

Re/Max (real estate)

CAT (construction)

Elbit Systems (international defense systems)

Hyundai (cars)

Volvo (cars)

CAF (real estate)

Barclays (bank- move your money to a different one, or even better a credit union)

TKH Security (home security)

HIK Vision (AI)

Pressure (write letters, send emails, make calls)

YOUR GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES (any government official who is not in support of a ceasefire. the president, your governor, mayor, house reps, senate, congress, etc)

White House Phone Number- 202-456-1414

Amazon (retailer)

AirBnb (rent a house)

Booking.com (travel reservations)

Expedia (travel reservations)

Disney (media- also being boycotted)

Google (search engine- also being boycotted)

It's so overwhelming what's going on, but let's all collectively do all we can.

sources- Worldometer, CNN, Axois, The BNC, The BDS

**Not officially recommended by the BDS but has been happening and making an impact

[chronic-and-stressed]

Failing and Figuring it Out So, I figured I'd start with something very vulnerable for my first post. I failed my first class. And It was one of my first college classes. Honestly, it's not a good start. For some context, I couldn't get into the textbook program until halfway through the year, which caused me to get behind in coursework, and everything snowballed from there. I have never failed a class, which is hitting me very hard. If I was in my dream school, I don't think it would matter quite so much, but right now, I'm going to a community college and was hoping to transfer for Fall of next year, and now I don't know if I'll be able to, which has been devastating. Since I was relatively young, like six or seven, my biggest dream was to go out of state for university after high school. My plan was to graduate with good grades and test scores, and scholarships and have my admission squared away. That didn't happen for reasons I'll delve into later. I graduated high school a semester late, not having taken any tests with decent-ish grades and getting into my local community college at the last minute (literally a week before classes started). Needless to say, this was a massive knock to both my ego and my mental health as a whole, and now that I've failed a class, my GPA is in the toilet. I wanted to dive into why this truly bothered me so much, why I actually dreamt of going away to college, and why one grade was crushing me so much. Growing up, my parents did a pretty good job raising me; that is, they did the best they could with what they had. When I was younger, and to some extent even now, I felt as though I could not express my opinions, thoughts, or desires if they contradicted my parents, and in my mind, college in a different state = freedom to be myself. Now, that is not to say I do or have ever planned to cut off my parents. Still, it feels as though it will be easier to succeed and become the person I want to be when I am not worried about being lectured about being "spiritually immature," or just "immature," or "too sensitive." This setback in my education has felt like a setback in personal growth and has been much more of a personal attack than an academic issue.

Anyways that's enough talking for now, i hope someone got something out of this ramble.