#*BUT don't stop talking about them! Israel is commiting genocide and the world powers are ALLOWING it

[carronpatrick]

Haven't found this here yet, so I wanted to share it with some links for education.

Found it from-

Twitter post by OmarSShakir

IG Post by visualizing_palestine

Created by-

AAANY (Arab American Association of New York)

Gaza Is Palestine

[daphnasworld]

someone is really posting a real long text about how they were in a pro palestinian demonstration and where fished by nazis only to go on how you have to be careful as anyone is vulnerable towards propaganda and that antisemitism is wrong while at the same time literaly writing:

"They started talking about "Zionist" propaganda in the US, about how it was deeply entrenched in capitalism. Things that, on the surface, seemed reasonable but it set off alarm bells in my head."

Excuse me, but if you are talking about Zionist "propaganda" in connection with capitalism and say that it sounds reasonable, than you are in fact antisemitic. Point blank. It is just picking up the old antisemitic trope of "jews and money" while connecting it with the "jews control the world/media" trope.

You can be left all you want and believe in how good of a person you are and that you are against all hate, but you are proving with your very own words that you are not that pure of a person as you would like to be. You know that antisemitism is bad so you of course claim to be not antisemitic. But your words prove the opposite.

(It's just the same with all the racists who hate to be called racists, but have no probl3m qith acting racist.)

Many leftists are sadly very antisemitic, you just don't realise it. While far right wing people are rather open about their antisemitism the far left is hiding it behind words like capitalism and establishment - which ironically many people in the right have adopted today. So of course you are open to being fished by literal nazis and of course it takes you hours to realise it. Simply because so many of your views agree with each other. You simply believe that it is about israel, while the right know that it is about jews.

Now if you don't want to be antisemitic you really have to think hard about all your views regarding not only jews but also capitalism, the media, "powerful" people in politics and also israel. Because many people use those points to hide their antisemitism. It is possible that those people have teached amd shown you stuff regarding these matters that sounded reasonable. It is okay that you believed them. But check all of that regarding antisemitism. Really analyze them. It can be that if you deny any connection with antisemitism right of the bat or start to feel uncomfortable once you take a closer look while inforning yourself on the many forms of antisemitism, that this reactions/feelings could be an indicator for actual antisemitism.

While you are at it please inform yourself what words like genocide and appartheit mean, how the israeli army takes care of making escape routes safe and hamas doesn't and think about what other state informs the people hours if not days before in various ways where they are going to attack because someone started to shot bombs at them from there, and how you would want and expect the country you live in to react to an attack like on october 7th. If 240 people of your country - even children - would have been abducted. What would you want your country to do? And if you are asking for a ceasefire, who are you asking? Only one side or both? And if you only ask one side, why are you asking the side that got shot at first? Why not ask the side that started shooting rockets? And can it still be called a ceasefire if only one side stops shooting rockets?

And isn't it weird that apparently only Israel is commiting a genocide on the people of gaza, even though they inform them when they are gonna bomb which buildings and are making sure that the escape routes are safe, while hamas doesn''t give a fuck about their own people. How can you claim that hamas doesn't want to and tries to commit a genocide on the jewish people after even admitting it themself and constantly shooting rockets at Israel, and made all those horrible crimes on october 7th and say that they will never stop and even tell every palestinian in the whole world to take a knife and grab a jew?

Hamas doesn't care about their people. What is happening to the people in gaza is horrible. I cry with and for all the innocent people there. But hamas isn't innocent. What is happening right now happens because of hamas. That is why they attacked israel, that is why they took hostages. Because they knew that no country in the world that cared for it's own people could let it slide.

They did it so that Israel would have to defend itself - and that so called leftist would be stupid enough to go on the streets and protect hamas and spread antisemitism.

[donotlookaway]

You know the West has something to win with Israel. They don't want Israel to stop, and they are fighting really hard to keep the narrative on their side. Every interview with the "DO you condemn Hamas?" question, every ban to protestors, to the palestine flag, the little coverage in some parts of the world. They want to keep their images clean to the world. They've done it so many times. It has worked for them before. The truth comes out, but mostly after the facts. It gets some air but is soon buried in another issue that is current, therefore more important to resolve.

This time around? Social media is fighting them for the narrative. Social media is given the chance to everyone in the world to see the truth in real time. Social media show us time and time again the hypocrisy and completely lack of morality of our leaders and organizations.

The only thing that matters to them is power and money.

Human life has never been of importance to them. Not even the life of their own citizens. WE KNOW THAT! They want us poor, they want us sick, they want us tired, and they want us numb. So we can't fight, so we can't raise our voices, so we are so tired of everything that we just go with the current. They give us enough to keep us quiet.

I'm not sure what to do except to call them what they are, genocides, criminals, immoral, to paint our own flags in blood, because they carried it, no matter how hard they try to hide it.

I'm tired of a world that keeps progressing for a few while covering our lands in blood and trying to present an image of righteousness.

I'm tired of the double standards. I'm tired of journalists that paint lies with words over the truth we see in lives taken, the utter betrayal they have committed against every journalist who have died in Gaza. I'm tired of the country that keeps talking to the world about freedom and justice, being once again behind horrible war crimes that they hope they will be able, as usual, to hide under the rug.

I'm tired, I'm so damn tired, but mostly I'm heartbroken that people are being killed in mass and every conscious person in the rest of the world is watching in real time and our only weapon is our voices. I'm also furious! So I guess I will keep screaming until I'm heard.

[forthesakeofthefuture]

When the people of the State of Israel condemn the entirety of Gaza for being "supporters of Hamas",

was that also a ploy to distract the world from the fact that the entirety of the State of Israel are the IDF, or civilians meant to be drafted to the IDF, or settlers meant to replace the people with their own presence to erase the identity of Palestine as per the colonial vision of the Zionist Occupation?

Then, what does that mean if we apply to the Israeli Occupation the same logic that these israelis and their supporters apply to Gaza?

Do they mean we should kill them all? No mercy, including the children? Is that what these israelis are implying?

But that's too sad.

We don't need to fall to the same foul depths as these people to stop the genocide they are committing.

But I can hear their replying voices already : Hamas charter, kill all jews, that's what they want, that's what palestinians want, we need to defend ourselves, we need to kill them all and their children, we will win, death to arabs.

Hey zionists, you've been stalling for time so your soldiers of settlers pretending to be normal civilians and armed terrorists pretending to be a military can kill more indigenous people without drawing direct action from the people in power, by distracting them with endless talks, crocodile tears and offended shrieks.

But don't you think you've only been embarrassing yourselves?

If only repeating Oct 7, Hamas charter and Hamas sources is enough to make people forget the Nakba, the Israeli leaders' genocidal statements and the very existence of Hasbara. Not to mention the 72 Virgins Uncensored.

"Arabs started it," you've then said, in the midst of your lying, deceitful, murderous nature being exposed like open wires of a machine. "Arabs massacred jews first, so it's only logical we massacre them back. The Nakba was a result of what Arabs did first. They've started a war with us and they lost. This is what you get when you mess with God's chosen people."

You have exposed yourselves enough; Everyone now have seen the true face of the people of Israel, the zionists, God's cursed people. The hypocrite supporters of the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi terrorists.

It's only logical that we fight against people as arrogant, as maniacal, as destructive and as two-faced as you. You have about as much right to complain as Israel having any right to defend itself against the country it is occupying - and are you still arguing that Gaza isn't occupied by Israel after what the world has seen? Or that Oct 7 was a terrorist attack, not a resistance attack, and with that logic Israel has a right to be supplied weapons to retaliate? Feel free to keep talking.

And as for those who to this day still fights for a new day for Palestine, who hear the cries and pleas of the terrorized women, the men frustrated with the silence of the world, and the mourning children, there's no more to be said about it;

The West has united to steal Palestine away in 1917, therefore it's only a given that we now need to unite to take it back.

Unite, rise up. As the zionists have said, stop the tears. This isn't the time for apologies anymore - the people of Gaza need something more. Humanity itself needs more to be done.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Hello. I'm conflicted and don't know what to do so I've decided to turn to you, the Byler fandom's school counselor, for advice. Some people who I consider to be my friends said I must no longer ship Byler since both actors are Jewish and one of them is a Zionist so shipping them means supporting genocide.

I googled the word Zionist and learned that even lots of nice and peaceful Jews identify as Zionists so I was confused and asked my mom and she said that my friends were being anti semitic, but when I told them that they said they think my mom supports genocide too and that I mustn't fall for western propaganda and that their opinion isn't anti semitic but realistic.

They even showed me videos of people in Gaza being attacked by the army of Israel and it was horrible. But now I don't know what to do believe anymore. My mom's always been a nice and peaceful woman and I love her and Byler has always been my comfort ship. I'm still not fully convinced that my mom, Noah and Finn are bad people or that the things Noah's said and done automatically make him an evil right winger, but I've seen the videos. Why would the people who post them make all of that up and why would my friends lie to me anyways?

I'm sorry. I know it's a lot, I just wanted to get it off my chest and right now I feel like have no one to talk to irl.

I really didn't want to get too deep into this, but, as a counselor, how can I ignore such a plea.

First off, forget anything anyone has told you about good or evil. Those are social constructs designed to idealize and dehumanize, respectively. Everyone is capable of actions that we would consider to be such things. However, people tend to pigeonhole anyone who is considered "other" into the evil category, while holding up their own group as good. This is not something exclusive to any culture, really. Humans, in general, are tribal. The only thing that's changed over the years is how we've defined our tribes.

Palestinians are not evil. Israelis are not evil. However, both sides have done awful things to the other despite there being numerous people on both sides who simply want peace. This leads to propaganda on both sides where actions are cherry picked in order to demonize the other side in the public mind. Why has Hamas been able to hold power despite people not wanting war? They promise to protect against the "evil" Israelis. Why do right-wing war mongers hold on to power in Israel? They promise to protect against the Hamas terrorists. It's a cycle that leaders on both sides use to prop up their own power at the cost of innocent lives.

Zionism is not, in and of itself, an evil thing. I'm not going to make or endorse any calls for the destruction of Israel, even if I think some major changes need to be made in order to guarantee a peaceful future. However, I do feel like this ardent defense of Israel's existence is often used as an excuse to engage in horrible actions against the Palestinian people. Zionism only becomes a problem when it's used as an excuse to subjugate and persecute Palestinians. Similarly, on the other side, the Palestinians who support groups like Hamas are willing to do anything and everything to destroy Israel. This is not ok, either, as the only difference in the two mentalities is that one side currently has a lot more power than the other.

The only way through this is for the two sides to stop seeing each other as a faceless, less-than-human "other." These are two groups of people who have become so desensitized to acts of hate and systematic extermination that they're willing to commit such things against each other. It doesn't help that their supporters around the world also see anyone who disagrees with them or supports the other side as horrible monsters. I personally see all the recent vitriol and bile being spewed, whether is be against Noah or anyone else, as performative outrage. People want to be seen as taking a side, but it's more for their own sense of self-satisfaction than anything else. It does neither side any good to attack someone who doesn't have any real power in the matter.

I don't personally agree with what Noah has done, even if I understand where he's coming from. He's a man who has recently undergone deep engagement in his cultural and religious identity, making a trip to Israel among that, so it's not hard to see why he'd be defensive of his culture after the Hamas invasion. In such a delicate situation, though, it's not a good idea to lose sense of humanity. I don't think he hates the Palestinian people or their plight, but he just wasn't considering that point of view when defending his own culture.

It's honestly not unlike how many people who support Palestine have ignored the fact that Hamas killed and kidnapped a lot of Israeli civilians in the initial attacks. Yes, the disregard for safety of Palestinian civilians in the Israeli counterattack is deplorable, but invoking one without the other is discounting the humanity of the other side. I don't think Palestinian protestors support the deaths and kidnapping of Israeli civilians (or I hope not, at least), but, like Noah and others on the other side, they aren't considering that aspect of the conflict when arguing for the rights of their own side.

This is why I say that perspective and nuance are important to consider in this situation. Both sides are so hyper-focused on their own, that confirmation bias is easy to fall into. Every atrocity by the "enemy" only proves your point, meanwhile any atrocity by your own is conveniently ignored. This doesn't make the regular people on either side "evil" or "bad." We're human; we fall into bias on the regular. We're also easily manipulated by those who need our support to stay in power. Make no mistake, both the Israeli government and Hamas are engaging in propaganda to influence people.

I don't think you're a bad person. I don't think your mom is a bad person. I don't even think that the people attack Noah or others are bad people (even if I have no desire to read the hate and vitriol). Even the people I've seen who have said things about how Israel shouldn't exist are not bad people. They've all just become so immersed in their own side that they no longer see the other side as thinking, feeling people anymore. That's what needs to change here. It's just not what the leaders on either side want since seeing enemies as people tends to make us not want to hurt them anymore.

tl;dr: Nobody is a bad person for supporting one side or another in this. It's not like either side has clean hands. However, we all need to take a step back to think about why this is happening and to see that the "other side" is made up of human beings, too.

[starlightshadowsworld]

The houthis atacked israel Ships because they are antisemitisc plus they are starving yemenis

They might be for Palestine but they are not the Good guys

Israeli ships are being targeted because they are carrying and supplying weapons to Israel.

Which are being used to kill Palestinians.

But also because attacking the ships will encourage other countries to halt trade with Israel.

This actually was a key step in the eventual dismantle of the South African apartheid.

And lest we forget, Israel is an aphartied state.

Aphartied for those that don't know is a policy that is founded on the idea of separating people based on racial or ethnic criteria.

So, racism and thinking your race is more superior than another. Like thinking Israeli's are superior to Palestinians and Arabs in general.

The at the time, Jamaican Cheif Minister Norman Manley during the South African apartheid said:

"The ban on trade with South Africa is logical and proper. And done in respect of a country which denies its own people all the basic human rights. And denies coloured people all over the world every right to human rights intercourse.

Since we cannot send a coloured athlete to South Africa nor even a cricket team with any pretense of dignity. Why should we send our goods?"

I bring up Jamaica because they were one of the first nations to condemn South African apartheid.

They banned trade and travel with South Africa despite still being a British Colony.

Something that in a lot of ways mirrors how Yemen, is one of the first countries to act in direct resistance to Israel.

So no it's not antisemitic, just a tried and true method used to aid in the dismantle aphartied regimes.

But than Pro Israeli's much like the Israeli government see every form of resistance against them, no matter if it's peaceful or violent, as antisemitic and terrorism.

Israel can tell the world it wants to make Gaza into Auschwitz but than be afraid and mad when Palestinians want to be free from the river to the sea.

As for the second part of your ask... What are you 5?

Newsflash, there are no perfect heroes this isn't a movie or a cartoon.

Turkey stands with Palestine, they're sending a case to the International Criminal Court in regards to Israel's genocide of the Palestinians.

Which is great.

Doesn't negate the whole Armenian Genocide and the shit they're doing to Kurdish people.

Britain's over here talking about a ceasefire when they've still got colonies.

They're funding the civil war in Sudan, the atrocities against the Congolese and many many more.

Not to mention shipping weapons to Israel.

All of this doesn't mean they shouldn't be speaking out against Israel.

In fact I'd argue it's a more of a reason for them to speak up, because they have the power too.

Also on the topic of starving Yemen, let's not pretend that the UN didn't drop Yemen from their world food programme.

Seemingly in response to Yemen standing against Israel.

Which means the UN like Israel are inflicting collective punishment. Which is both a war crime and a violation of international law.

Yemen standing up for Palestine is a brave and amazing thing, because they have nothing and are doing everything.

Of course they have their own issues, but that doesn't suddenly make what they're doing to aid Palestinians have any less of an affect.

"They aren't the good guys"

Be fucking for real, every country has blood on its hands.

Some more so than others. And those continuing to cause bloodshed need to be held accountable.

That doesn't change that Palestine deserves to be free. As does Yemen as does every country and people facing oppression.

Isrsel has been actively committing a genocide for 75 years, they need to be stopped.

That's an indisputable fact.

[beatrice-otter]

Hello, I’ve been following you for a long time, and I seriously enjoy your blog, I really enjoy the types of things you usually post/reblog, but recently it’s been hard for me to understand why you post some of the things you do. I understand trying to be objective, I understand highlighting the very real threat of anti-semitism in this world, but some of your posts seem to be in favour? Of Israel’s actions? Or focusing on the wrong things when people are actively being genocided as we speak, and I guess I just need to know definitively whether you support the state of Israel (a secular ethnostate) so that I can make the informed decision of whether or not to continue following this blog. I understand that this ask may come across as presumptive or entitled, but that’s just a risk I have to take to properly curate my online experience.

Cheers,

A hopeful follower

The fact that you look at the things I reblog and think I might be in favor of Israel's actions is a sign of just how deeply whacked the tumblr discourse is.

There's a tendency on social media to count reblogging things as activism, and to judge virtue by how well one parrots the party line of the issue du jour. I find this annoying, ethically wrong, and counterproductive. It boxes people in to narrow ideas of what is acceptable, preventing creative real-world solutions. It's black and white: there are Good Guys and Bad Guys, and you can easily tell which is which and the Good Guys are perfect and do no wrong and the Bad Guys are evil, and there's never a situation where the leadership on both sides sucks and a lot of people are suffering because of it. (So, for example, if you are on Team Palestine, you can't acknowledge the evil that Hamas did on October 7 and is continuing to do, because if Palestinians aren't the Perfect Victims, then somehow it matters less that Israel is committing genocide. No! Hamas and Israel have both committed evil acts! Neither side's evil is justified!) Social media is all about the performance of justice, but not about achieving actual justice.

As for the specifics of Israel and Palestine, I am concerned with both the current genocide and the high likelihood of a future genocide.

What can I, as an average American, do to lessen or stop the genocide Israel is perpetrating in Palestine?

Consciousness raising. Talking about the issue to inspire people to learn more and act. I don't have to do this on tumblr; there's a ton of posts about it. Instead, I focus this on people I know in real life who aren't terminally online and haven't heard much about it.

Calling my legislators and asking them to use US power to stop the genocide and negotiate a just and lasting peace. And, preferably, doing it regularly to keep the pressure up. This can't be done on tumblr.

Donate to charities working to save lives in Palestine. (While being cautious to avoid the numerous scams that have popped up.) While I can find links to do this on tumblr and reblog them once I've vetted them, again, this is not something that you can see on tumblr.

So that's what I can do about the current genocide, lets turn to "hopefully preventing a future genocide."

But wait, you say, what genocide? The next genocide against Jews. But it can't happen again! you say. Yeah, that's what liberal Goyische Germans said in the 1920s. In the 1920s in Germany, antisemitism was less fashionable than it had been and Jews had spent the last several decades integrating into mainstream German society (having been allowed to do that for the first time ever). But the hatred of Jews hadn't gone away, it had just become unfashionable to speak of. The tides of fashion changed back, antisemitism became popular again, and in a few years the people who had had loads of Jewish friends were cheering on Hitler's death squads.

We're seeing something similar today. Antisemitism has been unfashionable to state openly in the US and Europe, but we never actually did anything to reduce it. And now fashions are changing and masks are coming off and people are using the Israeli government's evil as an excuse to hate all Jews. The longer this goes on unchecked, the greater the likelihood that sometime in the near future someone is going to commit a genocide against Jews and instead of being horrified and rallying as we've done for the Palestinians, we'll watch Jews being raped and murdered and tortured and say "yeah, but they deserved it."

(And just think about this: the genocide in Palestine is not the only genocide in the world happening as we speak. Congo, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, the Uigher Muslims in China ... why aren't we equally concerned about all of them? Why are there hundreds of posts about Palestine for every one post about Congo? There are a lot of reasons, but one of them is antisemitism. It's not the only reason, but it is one of the reasons. I'm not saying "genocide doesn't matter" I'm saying "genocide matters no matter who the victims and perpetrators are, why do we care so much more when some groups do it than others?")

So what can I do to (hopefully) forestall a genocide against Jews in the near future? I can boost Jewish voiced talking about antisemitism and the hate they are receiving and just how awful people are being to Jews right now.

This also, by the way, helps the real people I can interact with on tumblr. There are not many Palestinians on tumblr right now. There are, however, Jews. I am doing what I can to help Palestinians offline because that's where I can be of help to them. The way I can support my Jewish friends and acquaintances as the world is turning into a cesspool of hate is to boost their voices and hopefully bail out the cesspool a little bit.

And as I wrote this, I was wondering what it was in my reblogs and comments that made you think that "lifting up Jewish voices talking about antisemitism" is the same as "supporting Israel's genocide." I'm not sure, but I think it could be some of the posts about zionism and antizionism? If so, let's talk about it. (And note, I'm a Christian, not Jewish, but I've studied history and listened to Jews talk about stuff.)

Let's start with a definition, shall we?

"Zion" is the name of the mountain that Jerusalem is on. Specifically, Zion is the name of the mountain that the Jewish temple, the center of Jewish religious and cultural life going back to before they were Jewish. Back to when they were just the tribes living in the area who eventually started calling themselves Hebrews. Zion has always been important.

The first time that the people we call Jews were colonized and thrown out of their homeland was in 587 BCE when Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and a major share of the population was forced to move elsewhere in the Babylonian Empire while other peoples were settled in Judah. (This was a common tactic at the time; the Assyrians used it as well. If you mix people up so no ethnic group has a majority anywhere and none of them are living on their own lands, it's harder for the conquered people to rebel.) The Babylonians also destroyed the Temple and most of Jerusalem as a way to break Jewish spirit. Jewish literature of the period (Daniel, Ezekiel, other books of the prophets, some of the psalms, some books that didn't make it into the Bible) is filled with a longing for home, which they usually glossed as "Zion."

Eventually the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians and Cyrus of Persia allowed conquered peoples to go home. Many Jews did, but not all. Then the Jewish homeland was conquered by a series of empires (Greek, Roman, Arab, Christian, Turkish). Many of them forced large numbers of Jews out of their homeland. In particular, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple again, killed large numbers of Jews, enslaved even more, and forced large numbers of Jews out of Israel. And let's remember why the Romans persecuted Jews so much. Roman rule was based on assimilation. You can keep your local culture ... as long as you agree that all your gods are really the Roman gods with different names, and as long as you rearrange your society to follow Roman norms, and use Greek and/or Latin as your main language, and your own culture becomes a sprinkling of exotic stuff on top of Good Romanness. Jews by and large refused to do this. They refused to throw out large parts of their religion and culture and replace them with what the Romans thought they should. This then led to persecution by Romans which led to rebellions which the Romans responded to with genocide and mass enslavement and exile.

And where did those Jews go? The ones forced out of their homeland by colonizing empires? To the only places they could, which were largely places that were hostile to them. Since the conquest of Judah in 587 BCE, there have only been short, temporary times and places where it was safe to be Jewish, where your neighbors wouldn't hate and persecute you for it. There have, however, been a lot of places where everyone would treat you horribly (sometimes up to and including genocide) for being Jewish.

So the Jews who have, under threat of genocide, kept their culture and religion despite all the hate, have a lot of trauma about it but also a lot of hope that it doesn't have to be this way. "Next year in Jerusalem/Zion" has been a common Jewish refrain for at least a thousand years, maybe longer. And the vast majority of the people who have said that don't mean "we want to go back to Palestine and kill all the people who have moved there since we were enslaved and forced out of our own homes." Mostly it means "we hope for a time when we will be safe, when we will not be persecuted for being Jewish, when we will have a home again." To the best of my understanding, that's the core of what "Zionism" is to Jews. Now, Jews being people who like to argue and disagree, there are millions of different interpretations of that. And that especially applies to "how do Jews conceive Zionism in relation to the modern State of Israel." For a lot of Jews, Zionism has nothing to do with the modern State of Israel at all. And when it does apply to the modern state of Israel, that doesn't mean they like Israel and approve of its actions. (Often it means "I am relieved that there is at least one place in the world I can go where the majority of people will not want me dead, but I really wish the government there was less awful.")

So when non-Jews demand that Jews denounce "zionism" it's a dogwhistle. The non-Jew may think that they're asking the Jew to take a stand against Israel's genocide against Palestinians, and what they're actually asking is for the Jew to denounce 2,500 years of Jewish culture and hopes for safety and peace.

I guess I just need to know definitively whether you support the state of Israel (a secular ethnostate)

So here's my question to you, before I answer yours. (And I hope you'll read through it to get to my answer.) A lot of people who ask that or similar questions mean "do you support the EXISTENCE of Israel." If that's what you mean, what alternative are you proposing? Because I've never heard one that was any less unjust and cruel than the current state of Israel. Are you proposing turning all governmental control over to Palestinians (thus creating a Palestinian ethnostate instead), and if so, which group would be in charge? How would you prevent the ones (such as Hamas) that actively wish to kill all Jews from doing so? Or are you proposing the dissolution of Israel and the expulsion of the Jews who live there? By the way: most Israeli Jews were either there all along before the State of Israel was created, or came there from other Middle Eastern countries, and are Israelis because they have already been forced out of the countries they've lived in for the last 2,000 years by countries that are either calling for genocide against Jews as we speak, or have done so in living memory. And even if you say "okay, they can stay, it's only the ones who came to Israel from other places who have to leave," the vast majority of Jews who came to Israel from places outside the Middle East migrated because of persecution. They don't have any place to return to that's safe. Where are they going to go? With antisemitism rising DRAMATICALLY around the world right now, where can they possibly go? If you are opposed to the existence of Israel because of the injustice it has done, what's your plan to replace it with a nation that will do less injustice?

Also, I don't believe that there's a time limit on indigeneity. It would be really fucked up to say "the indigenous people of this place can't live here any longer or have a nation here, the people who have moved here since the colonizers took over are the ones who have the right to the land now."

So I support the existence of the state of Israel. I don't think eliminating it would do anything but reverse the polarity on which group was being oppressed. HOWEVER.

I do not support Israel's policies toward Palestinians in the past or present, and I certainly do not support Israel's genocide.

We're back to that "black and white" thinking. Supporting the existence of Israel as a nation does not mean supporting the policies of its government. (As an example. I support the existence of the US. But damn we have some fucked up shit that I do not support and in fact wish to change.)

So, what would I like to see instead of the current system? There are a few options.

One is to follow South Africa's example. Israel is currently an apartheid state, just like South Africa used to be. South Africa did not stop apartheid by wiping out the nation and starting fresh, nor by creating an African ethnostate to replace it, but by ... stopping the apartheid policies, fixing what injustices could be mended or electing more Black people into office, and spending years working on Truth and Reconciliation. And it's not perfect, there are still a lot of problems, but it's better. If Israel did this, it would involve rebuilding all that they've destroyed and giving Palestinians back the homes and property that were stolen from them. (Hopefully it would also involve Netanyahu and his top people being tried, convicted, and imprisoned for their crimes.)

Another option would be a two-state solution, which basically means two ethnostates: Israel, and Palestine. Considering all the problems caused by the Partition of India/Pakistan, and the fact that this does nothing to de-apartheid Israel, I'm not thrilled about this idea; it seems to me like kicking the can down the road instead of building a just and lasting peace. It probably could be done well, but I'm slightly more skeptical about this possibility than the de-apartheiding of Israel.

But in either case, it doesn't really matter what I think they should do, because I'm not from there and the people who live there and are working for peace know much better than I do what the issues are and what the best solutions would be. Our job is to support them, not dictate to them.

[anyataylorjoys]

Mexicans and American Mexicans are still deported to Mexico under Biden lolol. No matter what you try to bring up to deflect Biden being just as much as a peice of shit as Trump, Biden has continued or made worse. The cages are still a thing but have a different name now. ICE is even still around. You can calm it down and step off your high horse. I only said "you can do whatever you want, but dont shame people if they don't feel like voting or if they vote third party". Biden is just as much as a dictator as Trump. Just hear me out without going straight to the "do you just want a dictator??" mindset for a few minutes. Once you stop seeing red vs blue and start realizing it's about rich vs poor, things will make sense for you. Money and white supremacy is the only thing that keeps the interest of our goverment and is why they do what they do. That's why the United States and Israel are committing genocides across the entire world, no matter which party controls our government. Vote all you want to, but it's not going to do shit other then maybe make you feel like you did something. Going out of your house and protesting out in the streets, speaking up, and more direct action is what brings change. While you're out in the streets, look out for people and make sure people are wearing masks so they can't be identified, can't spread the ongoing pandemic, plus it helps with tear gas quite a bit. I'm sorry for ranting at you, but it just annoys me when people think voting will fix everything while we're all dying in the streets, without healthcare, and while our tax dollars are being used to fund more genocides.

"Just hear me out" no because I said listen carefully and you didn't and went straight to attacking me in my inbox and proceeded to spew a bunch of disinformation that I don't have time to unpack like "they stopped counting the death toll under Biden" wrong! And thanks to the trillions in covid relief funds under Biden, this country didn't go under and my family survived. But whatever this is besides the point I'm not here to defend Biden or even to defend democrats as a whole but at least some democrats appear to have a conscience, even if they are a bunch of pussies for not speaking up against this genocide in fear of losing their jobs and shame on them, I don't know how they sleep at night.

I don't like Biden, I don't agree with everything he's done. But to claim he's as much a "dictator" as Trump is delusional rhetoric. Trump was actively inciting an coup and threatening vote counters to throw out opposing votes because he's mentally unstable.

You're talking to someone who thinks democracy in America is already an illusion so yes, my vote is an attempt to feel like I'm not powerless as a citizen of this country lol. Voting doesn't solve everything obviously it cannot be that simplified, however I still believe voting is not entirely useless. Our voices do matter and protesting makes people listen. If our right to information, to speak and to protest is revoked, any power we have to make change in numbers will be lost and therefore, I'm prioritizing protecting those rights. I'll be doing everything I can to keep a dictator from becoming president because that's the ultimate threat we face right now. It's unfortunate that you and many others can't seem to foretell just how much worse things could get under complete GOP control in our current political climate of elevated right-wing radicalism.

Democrat or Republican run country, certain things will not get better right away. We have to take the steps necessary to make and maintain progression. But under Republicans, you can guarantee they will take this country back to 1950 and I won't stand by and put the fate of my future and others' lives in the hands of the American people without my contribution no matter how small of a difference you think it makes. People will say "every vote counts" and we all know that's a lie. However, if thousands of people share your mindset and choose not to vote, that's a dangerous game.

[reddeaddamnation]

War is bad but I can't stand hypocrisy

As someone who lives in close proximity of what's happening in Ukraine, I feel the need to point out several things, in particular the hypocrisy of the USA, EU and the bulgarian government and people.

I stand with Ukraine and so does my government. But many pro russian nationalists here argue that ukrainians burned our flag and forced besarabian bulgarians to change their names to ukrainian ones and that is why we should stand with Russia in this conflict. The absolute hypocrisy that you say that when you forced bulgarian turks to change their names to bulgarian ones or they would be forced out of the country, burned the turkish flag and have been talking shit about a country that has been nothing but friendly to you despite the history. And you have the audacity to cry about the same happening to your people? Sit down and shut the fuck up. And on the other side, where are the nationalists that beat, robbed, killed and tortured innocent syrians, iranians and iraqi people at the borders, while claiming to do what the people want and that Bulgaria does not take ANY refugees? Yes, these people are currently millionaires without facing consequences for their actions and praised by the majority.

This goes for the whole world. Are the white, "relatively" european refugees who "aren't used to war" more important than the others like the media portrayed it? Where were the visa free safe passages and supplies at the borders for middle eastern refugees who had to jump over borders, starve, freeze in the forests and hide from gunshots? Instead they were thrown in jail or in camps where food, water or heat were a dream for many. Where were the sanctions for Israel when they literally stole Palestine from it's own people and commit genocide almost every day? Where were the sanctions for USA when it bombed Iraq because of alleged nuclear weapons when they turned out false? Where are the sanctions for bombing half the middle east for two decades now? I thought that's how you stop a war. Why doesn't the media call white supremacists in Ukraine terrorists and neo nazis when black students and citizens weren't allowed escape routes on trains until the white people were safe? Instead the west propagandists convinced everyone that even muslim women and children with nothing to their name were coming to their country to blow them up and blamed organizations they funded themselves. Your racism is showing. Oh, yeah, why care about them when they aren't "civilized". Why care when the war doesn't threaten your civilized country? Its not in Europe so why care? If you don't care at least don't advocate that you do so you seem more "woke" in words. The only thing the west did to help palestinians was turn it into a trend.

Zelenskyy has been begging for help since 2014 and has been left on seen after being hyped up that everything is under control, whatever happens help will come, promised troops and weapons... until the knife hit the bone, Russia invaded and everyone peaced out including Biden (like in Afghanistan?). NATO, the UN and EU proved yet again incompetent in solving world threatening issues and if anything are better at causing them and leaving with excuses like "This isn't our war, figure it out yourselves." after agitating the aggressor.

Big nations are measuring their fucking cocks, power playing and the people are suffering because of it. Russians are suffering because of their awful dictator and are being hate crimed as if the russian accountant or farmer is invading Ukraine right now when even the troops are deserting their positions because they don't want war. Ukrainians lost their homes and are fleeing their country. The media picks and chooses who is suffering more. And all the average suburban Josh and Emily are doing is joking about being drafted and playing CoD in real life and hating on every russian they come across like they hate crimed and boycotted jewish people who had nothing to do with their war.

Help Ukrainian refugees in any way you can. This is not a post to issue hate against the innocent. I'm issuing hate against the hypocrisy of the world leaders and especially the media and the blatant racism.