ripplesonreflections

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I shudder when people say "I don't know how we got here" as if the past 650+ days of genocide weren't literally televised, during which Israel committed daily atrocities, experimented with all kinds of violent death, reshaped the entire world's perception of what is now deemed acceptable in the form of collective punishment, and destroyed all red lines to see how far they can go with complete impunity, and to see how far they can go before the world erupted in anger and collective action. It didn't. And that's exactly how we got here.

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This rage I feel seeing parents in Gaza plead for formula makes me wonder: are borders really so impermeable?

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Strawberry Greenhouses - Leyla Emektar

"A strawberry-picker walks between colourful greenhouses near Nazilli, Aydın, Turkey."

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I think it’s interesting that the LGBTQ community at large doesn’t really seem to acknowledge that sexual shame is one of the most common and profoundly felt emotions in the community still to this day. I think people confuse an ability to bite back at bigots or knowing on paper that their identity, body, etc is “valid” with true self-acceptance…yet I know huge numbers of people who have serious trouble fucking because they think of themselves as deeply abject and it’s weirdly normalized, or framed as a personal hangup instead of something that can be brought out into the open. No amount of claiming infinitesimal victories over people who get out slightly less than you can really confront shame at its core. I really think it should be something we raise more consciousness about and (ironically) shame people for less.

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I finished reading A Midsummer Night's Dream (finally getting out of that reading slump) and I find it easier to read than Romeo and Juliet, which I haven't finished yet.

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Draft page of “Paradise” written by Toni Morrison

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If aid does not enter to Gaza Strip within the next 48 hours — especially baby formula and flour — then prepare yourselves for the largest mass death crime in history.

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when i say "famine in gaza is being actively buried" i mean the deliberate starvation policy we have been watching in slow motion for twenty-one months that has reached the mass death stage. it should be headline news everywhere because the entire world has been screaming about it for twenty-one months only to be told to watch their language. this should be the only thing you're talking about, because by next week and for the rest of your life we will remember what was being discussed the week that hundreds (if not thousands) of people in gaza starved to death. it is without exaggeration that dire. already a thousand(!!!) people were killed by americans and israelis trying to get food at aid distribution centers, while at least 70 children have died of starvation, 100 people in total.

meanwhile, this is what america's leading newspaper is talking about:

from Child Amputees, Aid Massacres, Mass Starvation—the Israeli War Crimes NYT Covers Less than Mamdani and 'Globalize the Intifada' by adam johnson:

So let us compare coverage of the “globalize the intifada” story with that of stories of actual death and actual human stakes in Gaza—objectively major stories that should, I will assert, generate far more outrage and news coverage than whether a mayoral candidate condemns three words he’s never actually said. For the purposes of comparison we will look at The New York Times, the most influential paper in the country, and one month of its coverage for the following topics. Detailed data can be viewed here.

"Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (June 18 - July 18 2025). The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a US-Israeli joint production that, according to Amnesty International has "weaponized aid” and resulted in almost daily massacres at the aid sites as thousands of deliberately starved Palestinians line up for minimal food rations. Over 800 aid-seekers have been killed since the fake disrubution sites were set up in May 2025. NYT articles this month: 13.

Starvation as weapon of war in Gaza (June 18 - July 18 2025). Gaza is currently the ‘hungriest place on Earth’ with all of its people at risk of famine, according to the UN. This is a deliberate siege tactic being used by Israel. NYT articles this month: 5

Child “amputee(s)” in Gaza (June 18 - July 18 2025). Gaza is home to, by far, the largest number of child amputees on earth, with over 4,700 cases. They require constant medical and psychological care which is impossible given the broader attacks on Gaza’s almost nonexistent health system. According to Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem Israel actively denies treatment to over a 1000 of these amputees. NYT articles this month: 2

Amnesty International's July Report on Israel using "aid" to facilitate genocide (July 3 2025 - Present):The shocking report details how Israel has deliberately gutted and attacked proven aid channels in favor of its limited “aid” program designed to kill, humiliate and facilitate population transfers. NYT articles on report: 0

February 2024 Flour Massacre that killed 120+ (Feb 29 - March 29 2024). In February 2024, over 120 people were killed while seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City. NYT articles one moth after massacre: 7

"Hind Rajab” (January 29 - March 1 2024) A five-year-old Palestinian girl was murdered by the IDF along with six of her family members and two paramedics, who were gunned down on January 29 2024 by Israel forces as they attempted to rescue her. It made international headlines but barely a blip in US media. NYT articles one month after her killing: 2

Total NYT articles: 29

"Mamdani” and "Globalize(d) the intifada" (June 18 - July 18 2025) NYT articles one month after Mamdani was first asked about “globalize the int ifada”: 32

All told, this means that the New York Times ran more articles about Mamdani and the phrase “globalize the intifada” than it did, during their relevant month time periods, about Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site killings, starvation in Gaza, child amputees in Gaza, a July 2025 Amnesty International's Report on Israel using "aid" to facilitate genocide, the February 2024 Flour Massacre, and the January 2024 killing of Hind Rajab combined (32 vs 29).

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hi, anne!

top 5 southeast asian cuisines/dishes you’ve been wanting to try?

and, top 5 books you’ve read by southeast asian authors (non-fiction or fiction)

Top 5 Southeast Asian cuisines I've been waiting to try

A good pho. I'm sorry, I'm just already used to the stronger and more forward spice profiles in Malaysian brothy noodles. Like, pho is so plain to me. The ones I have tried couldn't compete with the complexity and depth of something like bihun sup and bakso but I'm willing to change my mind over this.

Nasi liwet. Never had any opportunity here to taste nasi lemak's rival

Northern Thai food. I don't think I ever had any. Their flavor profile leans more toward Burmese and Laotian cuisine while they're not as spicy as the dishes from Central and South Thailand so it's not something I'd be familiar with. Over here, we are more influenced by Central Thai and Southern Thai cuisines.

Halal Filipino food. Particularly dishes from Sulu and Tausug folk.

Chili crab. It is widely available here but I just couldn't afford them.

Top 5 books by Southeast Asian writers, available in English

Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan

A History of Classical Malay Literature by Liaw Yock Fang

The Complete Poetry and Prose of Chairil Anwar (but to be honest, the translation couldn't capture him very well)

Salleh Ben Joned: Truth, Beauty, Amok and Belonging by Sara Salleh

A Mosque in the Jungle: Classic Ghost Stories by Othman Wok

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1 year ago today (July 19th)

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It’s really weird how Zionists and other “concerned about middle eastern minorities” think tank white people are trying to do Zionism but for the Druze. Zionism makes sense for Jews historically but the Druze?? Why are you trying to make them into some unique ethnoreligious group when they’re just Arabs at the end of the day and identify that way (even ‘Israeli Druze’ identify as Arabs despite being Israeli nationalists) and their religion is not some ancient religion like Judaism but an offshoot of Islam. This isn’t to say Druze don’t have their unique cultural and religious practices because they do but you could really make the same argument about any other Arab subgroup.

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what can we even do now? i mean this seriously, i've been donating every month, i've boosted, i've tried to share the truth, but it just doesn't stop. what can we do? this is madness it's always been madness, it's inhumane, it's demonic. how can we save them?

you keep doing it. i know it's tough because what you're doing is long-term work in a short-term emergency. but it matters regardless. now is not the time to stop anything, it's the time to do as much as you can. i shared this screenshot before, but here it is again:

from the new yorker interview with james elder UNICEF chief. key part of this sentence: there is big international pressure and israel loosens controls

there has to be big international pressure. you are part of this. israel has spent 75 years becoming as resilient as possible to big international pressure. it takes an international outcry to let in a paltry can of baby formula. but without you doing what you've been doing, there won't be the pressure even for that. and i know you feel like you've been as present as possible, but actually i have noticed many people clocking out of thinking about palestine. i used to get 30, 40, 50k notes on posts about palestine. now i get around ten times less even though arguably far less people defend what israel is doing. that's less pressure on israel, and this is easy goals. bring those people back. keep palestine the topic of conversation.

so anything you do now to increase pressure is the most important thing you'll do today. and for everyone else reading this, don't forget to donate to the sameer project.

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my timeline on twitter is full of people from gaza saying they're starving. gaza has been deprived of food slowly and strategically for the past 600 days but it has never been like this. even sameer project have said they have not been able to distribute food for the past 3 days. i'm genuinely really scared. i try to give people actionable things to do like donations (which we should all still do) but there actively is not enough food in gaza at this moment even with extreme inflation and it feels like this news is being deliberately buried by mainstream media. it feels like i'm being forced to watch my friends, their parents, their children, people i know, people i'm talking to, waste away right in front of me

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Hey! do you have some resources on Iran that I can read up to gain more info on their history?

Hi, yes. I've made posts on this several times on my old blogs but i'm gonna write a list again. most of these are on libgen (the books)

Podcasts, documentaries, etc.:

5 part series on Iranian history from 1906 to present day by The Dig (podcast)

End of Empire (1985), chapter 7: Iran (documentary)

Coup 53 (2019) dir. Taghi Amirani, includes cut material from the End of Empire episode (doc/movie)

Books:

I recommend all of Ali Rahnema's books on Iran, no others that I've read have been as in depth. He's my favourite and he's rarely mentioned compared to writers like Ervand Abrahamian.

Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks detailed analysis of the whole event, includes maps of Tehran and chronology

The Rise of Modern Despotism in Iran: The Shah, the Opposition, and the US, 1953–1968

Call to Arms: Iran's Marxist Revolutionaries: Formation and Evolution of the Fada'is, 1964–1976 only about iranian marxist groups, how they came to be, their different political lines and approaches etc.

The Political History of Modern Iran: Revolution, Reaction and Transformation, 1905 to the Present this is a very good one but only if you want something that goes into a LOT of details which is useful for me, because i study history, but not for someone that wants more of an overview.

Speaking of Ervand Abrahamian:

Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin is good. @ghelgheli read this one and also sent me some parts of it. it's a thorough study of Mojahedin-e Khalq (book)

Articles:

The Defender: Waiting for the revolution in Tehran about Haroun Yashayaie. He is a past head of the Tehran Jewish Committee and a communist who was imprisoned pre-79'

some articles about the time when People’s Fedai Guerrillas and PKK trained in Palestine and Lebanon. they're ehhh okayish: Abandoned Legacy: The Left of Iran and Palestinians and The Kurds Who Died for Palestine

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Kkkanadians on this website sometimes forget that they're Amerikkkans too. We need to remind them more often.

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I'm making another post to bring attention to a fundraiser that has been extremely slow in receiving donations, and has very very few donations. As of me writing this post, they have not received a donation in 5 days.

Jamal could also use some help in anybody else willing to adopt his fundraiser: that is, to make posts bringing attention to his fundraiser every so often and remain in contact with him, his blog is @jamal-aldahdouh. He only has a couple people helping him and regularly doing this. If not, I ask that people please give attention to this fundraiser and reblog it whenever you see it, and maybe even tag others in the post.

( VETTING: #647 by Gazavetters)

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hiii my name's aster, im a transfem who recently fled my abusive family who have not yet stopped trying to locate me & i am currently both homeless + without a job in a city ive never been to before. right now im staying with a friend but i have no income yet still need to cover my food costs, other living expenses, & eventually the deposit + rent when i find a place to live. any help is appreciated