#I AM PRO PALESTINE

[marsconer]

hi hm friendly reminder that the average jewish person outside of israel has the same amount of guilt and responsibility for the genocide as you or me ( assuming you’re not jewish ) and until said otherwise by them you shouldn’t assume they support israel’s atrocities. and we should be able to hold space for fact that jewish people are historically persecuted AND that Israel is weaponizing that history to deflect criticism and accusations while conducting a massacre.

[sissytobitch10seconds]

If you have to include guilt tripping and manipulation in every single one of your posts about a political movement, you're not an activist. If you can't just earnestly post information about something you feel emotional about then you aren't trying to take care for the people it's affecting (whether that's you or others), you care about the way that people perceive you on the internet.

People might not reblog things for a myriad of reasons and non of that make them "just as bad" as people trying to kill others. Sometimes it's for mental health (and no, you don't have to feel guilty for metaphorically putting on your own oxygen mask first), sometimes it's because they don't trust a lot of random screenshots of twitter threads because of the rise of AI and clickbait, and sometimes it's because they're taking other actions to help people.

You're not morally wrong for not forcing yourself to read about war crimes. You're not morally wrong for giving up every comfort in your life to donate money that may never get to the right place. You're not morally wrong for doubting every sensationalized piece of information that crosses your dash.

Crisis fatigue is real. The world is scary and bad. Protect yourself and use what energy you feel you realistically can to help people. It's not your responsibility as a tiny person struggling to live their own life to save millions.

[never-forget-viva-la-pluto]

For the people in my asks

Yes the last of us 2 is still my favorite game and the article being shared is from a perspective of someone being hypercritical of the zionist message(rightfully) while completely ignoring that the game is actually NOT a zionist message.

My main arguments against this article:

-Dina being proud of her Jewish heritage happens long before the game even introduces the serephites and wfl, thus there is no narrative tie-in to Dina being Jewish and the conflict among the two factions. Free palestine is not an anti jew thing, its an anti-israel apartheid state thing. And by extension, acknowledging that anti Semitic genocides did happen and still do, is not anti palistine, like the article author implies the game is suggesting.

-"at the end of the day Ellie's journey of revenge seems especially cruel, even idiotic, because we are never given a good reason for why she keeps recommitting to it" Yeah, only if you don't know what ptsd is or that she recommits to revenge because she grew up in a world that simply COULD NOT churn out anyone well adjusted.

-this is an article from a jewish-pro palestine woman that argues that this is a bad take from a guy who clearly took his own interpretation as the only interpretation there was. She is the same author as this article that's been on many anti zionism posts going around this website. She asserts that the game itself is not actually pro isreal, but is "a catalyst for more difficult conversions."

-the main point of the article is that the game is bad and zionist bc it treats the conflict as essentially a cycle of hate in us people and that that is a mentality that is learned, not inate. Which is bullshit bc there are many stories that have those exact tropes that aren't zionist at all. And the last of us isn't either.

THAT BEING SAID: NEIL DRUNKMANN IS A ZIONIST BASTARD! Outright he has supported Isreal despite the irony that the game he made was the condemnation of exactly what he is now supporting. This guy in the video puts it best how drunkmann accidentally made a game that went against his own beliefs along with some other good things to say on the topic of celebrities sudden support of isreal:

The last of us 2 is still my favorite game and i stand by that. HOWEVER, I will likely NOT be watching the second season of the show bc the game was so phenomenally good, by accident, it seems. I have no doubts that the show will be more pro isreal as drunkmann doubles down on his pro genocide stance, and that is kind of the opposition of the game's point.

If you like the last of us 1 and 2, then support Palistine!(or if you hate the game, there is a fucking genocide happening and this all feels very small in comparison to the war crimes being committed. Do something more productive than hang out in my inboxes or tell me to off myself):

[palipunk]

‘Blocking traffic/public disruptions aren’t going to help your cause’ if that is so, why have there been larger and more numerous pro Palestine protests than ever before? Why is public knowledge on Palestinian oppression more prevalent now? Why do a majority of countries in the world call for a ceasefire? Why do a majority of the countries in the world call for Palestine’s recognition? And why is it that people who complain about disruptions not helping our cause have never supported us in the first place? I wonder.

[xclowniex]

Something which I've seen as a trend with pro Palestine activism, is things which are not Palestine specific are being treated as if they are.

For example, this Instagram post below was made

The thing is, the Palestinian flag specifically is not banned. The rule in its entirety is that non participating countries cannot have their flag present at the event. The rule is also an old rule which still is in place.

Yes, the Palestinian flag cannot be present, but also the Aotearoa/New Zealand flags, the US flag, Tunisia flag, etc, can also not be present.

This is not a rule which is specifically in place for Palestine.

And it's all part of a wider trend of rules/things which apply to multiple countries are being seen as targeting Palestine specifically.

It is also disinformation, fear mongering and even at times antisemitism when people act like (((zionists))) are controlling the world.

This is why it's important, as with anything you see on social media, to do your own research. Find the facts and ignore things which are intentionally maliciously misworded.

[handlewithcare-delicate]

Ok so based on the most recent info...we can all agree that all Joost did was stick up a middle finger at a someone who was filming him without his permission, right? We can all agree that it was extremely manipulative to imply what he did was way worse by describing it as "threatening a female member of staff" and just letting it just hang in the air, effectively making it sound as if he had (sexually) assaulted a woman, right?

[david-goldrock]

[bringherhome7]

Misidentifying us Israeli Jews as "Arab Jews" is an ongoing imperial & colonial means to erase the cultural identity & historical heritage of the last surviving Middle Eastern community of Jews.

Jews were the pillars of societies across the Middle-East way before Arab/Muslim imperialism had its fabulously bloody run. About 99% of their daily cultural life is based on appropriating our Jewish historical legacy, heritage, and culture.

But we're not your fucking dhimmis anymore. Neither is our legacy, heritage, and generations of ancestors oppressed by Islamic colonization. They deserve acknowledgment and respect. ALL of the indigenous people who were eradicated by Arab imperialism across the Middle East deserve acknowledge and respect.

So, "Arab Jews," you say..? I'll give you this much: It's not us for people to label as "Arab-Jews." But, if anything, it's for them to be labeled as "Jewish-Arabs."

[silly-little-zio]

perhaps they banned Palestinian flags and not Israel flags is because israel is a country competing in Eurovision and Palestine isn’t.

Israeli flags show support for a competitor. Palestinian flags show protest and disdain only. why should that be allowed at a song contest?

[fuck-hamas-go-israel]

Ethnic cleansing? Genocide? Apartheid?

Throwing around these buzzwords to describe the Israel-Hamas war because you’ve seen them on social media doesn’t make you right, and it doesn’t make you an activist.

It makes you ignorant, intellectually dishonest, and lazy for parroting biased talking points with no concept about what these terms actually mean.

What is apartheid?

Well, it was first used to describe the political system in South Africa and today’s Namibia whereby racism was institutionalised. This manner of governance meant that clear racial segregation would occur, in a manner that benefited the white race and would actively oppress those who had darker skin.

This meant that there were white-only spaces, white people would get prioritised when it came to education and jobs, and relationships/marriages between white peoples and coloured people were illegal.

Is Israel objectively an apartheid state? There are no laws that actively favour one group over the other. There is a sizeable population of Israeli Arabs that can thrive in the same way as the Israeli Jews can. There are laws against discrimination on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Palestinians from Gaza are allowed to work in Israel through a work permit system. There are about 150,000 Palestinians working in Israel, most of which live in Israel and some come from Gaza/the West Bank. They aren’t denied rights institutionally.

Is it harder to get a job or education in Israel if you’re a Palestinian from Gaza? Sure, because of different governments. It’s like how it’s a lot easier for you to find a job in your own country (in terms of paperwork and bureaucracy) than overseas. But you’re not denied the right to apply.

Of course, if you have a history of violence, a criminal record, or your family has ties to terrorists, then it’ll be a lot harder to get an approved work permit. But that’s not apartheid. That’s common sense, and a regulation practiced by all countries that minimally desire to protect their own population from danger.

Ethnic cleansing and genocide

These two concepts can go hand-in-hand. Ethnic cleansing refers to the mass expulsion or killing of a group of people based on their ethnicity. Similarly, genocide is the purposeful killing of a group of people solely with the intention of annihilating them.

Famous examples? The Holocaust, of course, where the Nazi regime believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and decided to declare genocide on the Jews, Romanis, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, people with “Asian features”, and many many other groups. Anyone who they didn’t think was “pure”.

Their aim was to ensure that the Aryan race propagated without having “impure” blood affecting the bloodlines. They even started a eugenics programme called Lebensborn to ensure that more pure Aryan babies were born.

More recent examples? The Rwandan genocide where the Hutus attempted to wipe out the Tutsis on the basis of ethnicity. They mandated that Tutsis mention their ethnicity on state-issued ID cards in order for the Hutus in power to be able to identify them and then kill them.

Or the Yazidi genocide which happened so recently, in which ISIL killed, raped, and sent thousands of Yazidis into conversion camps on the basis of their ethnicity. They also took Yazidi women as sex slaves and raped and tortured them.

Or the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State in Myanmar, and how there was a mass killing and expulsion of them from the country, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh to take refuge, crating the world’s largest refugee camp.

Or how ISIS killed thousands of people from Christian groups in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya because of their faith, leading the US, EU, and UK to label this as religious genocide and condemned their actions.

Has Israel been practicing ethnic cleansing and genocide on Palestinians all these years?

Well, the birth rate of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and in Israel has been steadily increasing all these years.

So, no. No ethnic cleansing, no genocide. They are free to have as many children as they desire.

The UN Genocide Convention

The United Nations has 5 actions that constitute genocide.

1. Killing members of a target group

Israel is targeting Hamas officials with the aim of wiping out the terrorist group and ensuring that such a deadly attack on Israeli soil doesn’t happen again. I suppose you could call it genocide against Hamas, but they’re killing Hamas because they’re terrorists, not because they’re Palestinian. Shouldn’t everyone believe in genocide against terrorists?

But look at Black Saturday. Look at Hamas’ rhetoric. They repeatedly call for the annihilation of Israel and genocide of Jews. When will the media start believing what they say, word for word, instead of trying to spin it into “hmm maybe they want to kill all the Jews because they’re freedom fighters!”

War has collateral damage. Of course the innocent civilians don’t deserve to suffer just because of the actions of their government, but there have been warnings given to the Palestinian civilians prior to Israel striking the areas. There are consequences of attacking a country first, and then having that country attack you back.

2. Causing people of the group serious bodily or mental harm

The UN refers to sexual violence as the prime example of non-fatal harm.

Sexual violence has occurred. Hamas have kidnapped and raped women and even paraded the bodies of half-naked women around. But I f Israel had done the same, it’ll be the first thing appearing on everyone’s BBC push notifications (without even being confirmed as true).

3. Imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group

Many people refer to the blockade that Israel imposed around the Gaza Strip as an example of this.

This blockade was imposed by both Israel and Egypt in 2005. Its aim was to prevent smuggling of weapons into Gaza, and isolate the reign of Hamas to the region. This was to ensure the safety of Israel and Egypt.

Did this blockade pose serious challenges to the Gazan civilians? Of course. But that’s a consequence of having a terrorist government. If you have a terrorist group running your country, don’t be surprised if neighbouring countries are extra careful about who or what they allow in or out of the borders.

Many authorities from other Arab nations have also expressed approval of Egypt’s border restrictions, and even encouraged Egypt to flood the terror tunnels that Hamas has dug under the city. As a side note, other Arab nations have not historically been very kind or welcoming to Palestinians. Syria has killed over 4000 Palestinians, and many Arab countries are now refusing any refuge for Palestinians. But no one cares about that because it doesn’t make Israel look bad. All they do now is use the images of dead Palestinians under the hands of Syria and reuse them to propagate fake news.

The blockade has been labelled as a human rights violation because of collective punishment. Many humanitarian organisations believe that the blockade has caused the Palestinian civilians disproportionate harm.

Contrary to popular belief, Israel isn’t disallowing humanitarian aid from coming through the borders. Fuel, food, hygiene products, clothes, and shoes have been coming through the borders regularly for years. The Gaza Strip also has electricity and internet access and water.

Do all these items reach the Palestinian civilians? Well, there has been evidence that Hamas has been intercepting a lot of the supplies sent by humanitarian groups. This is not surprising since the UNRWA tweeted that Hamas has stole fuel from hospitals in Gaza in order to launch more rockets at Israel (but quickly deleted it after realising that it goes against their agenda to paint Hamas in a bad light.) In addition, the returned hostages have mentioned that there are many aid supplies hidden in the terror tunnels by Hamas. Instead of giving them to the civilians, they are hoarding it for themselves.

There has also been video evidence that some people are reselling these aid items in stores at exorbitant prices in order to turn profits. This has been well-documented for the last 10 years.

Is blockading the region to mitigate terrorism a disproportionate response? Well, it’s like asking if heightened security and stricter border control at airports is a disproportionate response after 9/11. Is being cautious and worrying about the security of your country an irrational reaction to the constant threat of terrorism?

4. Preventing births

Gaza’s population growth rate per annum is about 1.99%, which is the 39th highest in the world! Their population is allowed to propagate freely.

Israel isn’t preventing births of Palestinian babies.

5. Forcibly transferring children out of the group

No, Israel hasn’t been taking Palestinian children and forcing them to convert/keeping young Palestinian girls as sex slaves. Like I said, if this was truly happening, all the news outlets would be so quick to publish the story before verifying it.

Can we trust the UN Genocide standards?

The UN is known for corruption and have been exploiting the Palestinian people by selling them the humanitarian supplies instead of distributing them for free, which they should because these supplies literally are donations.

The UN also has differing standards of what they would label as genocide. For example, they refuse to call what China is doing to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide, even though the situation does fit many of their own criteria.

Hence, to all of you out there overusing these terms without knowing what they mean, make up your own mind about things. No one can force you to believe anything and no one can force you to change your mind.

But at the very least, do your due diligence and educate yourself before spouting tired buzzwords. Repeating misinformation doesn’t help anyone and can be very harmful.

[pettytiredandjewish]

So uh… to the “pro-Palestine” crowd

- harassing random jews on the streets (and online) isn’t going to help Palestinians

- swarming and blockading college campus buildings (and hospitals) and chanting genocidal slogans at jews isn’t going to help Palestinians

- defacing synagogues and jewish owned stores isn’t going to help Palestinians

- displaying antisemitic signs and waving nazi flags isn’t going to help Palestinians

- chanting for intifada isn’t going to help Palestinians (Hamas would love that though)

- spreading Hamas propaganda isn’t going to help Palestinians

This doesn’t help Palestinians- but it sure does help Hamas who’s goal is to wipe out Israel and all jews. Also Hamas could care less for Palestinians- why do you think they are being used as human shields???

Doing all of these things makes you antisemitic (some of y’all were probably already antisemitic, and is using the I/P conflict to go fully unmasked). You doing this is causing harm to so many people. And to be honest- doing this shit shows that you actually don’t care for Palestine. In fact you are using this conflict to go fully unmask and be raging antisemitic little asshats.

Instead of doing something that could help those who are affected by this war, you are harassing jews, defacing synagogues, and calling for intifadas. Why is that? (I know the answer- but humor me). Why is this acceptable? How does harassing and harming jews help Palestine? And how does supporting Hamas (a terrorist organization) help Palestine?

Also I may get hate for this but I don’t care: anti Zionism is antisemitism. The term anti Zionist was created during the soviet era by one of the soviet leaders. The Soviet Union hated jews and wanted to stamp them all out. One of the ways that they “succeeded” was “persuading” jews that their culture and religion was dirty. That they- the jews should be ashamed of their “Jewishness”. And that was how anti Zionism came to be.

I said what I said. If you don’t like it then maybe you have some thinking to do.

Also as another fucking reminder:

Stop fucking spreading vile antisemitic shit (and stop harassing Israel citizens) !!! This includes:

- blood libels

- organs harvesting

- holocaust denial

- “hitler was right”

- “gas the jews”

- lizard people

- “jews are rats”

- “jews are rich”

- “jews control the media”

- “jews are landlords”

- the majority of conspiracy theories

- Zionist occupied government

- Zionism is racism

- stop fucking reading protocols of the elders of Zion

- “from the river to the sea…” is a genocidal chant.

- stop calling Israel a “terrorist” state and stop saying that all Israelis are terrorist (people are not their fucking government)

(Just to list a few)

I said what I said and if you don’t like it- the doors over there.

Am yisrael chai! ✡️

[floralcavern]

“They wrongfully silenced us and took away our free speech on these campuses!”

You literally stabbed someone in the eye!

[casavanse]

It's been six months.

The streets are covered in yellow ribbon. In every corner you can see a poster. A face.

Bring them home, they scream. Get our loved ones home.

Their calls go up to the sky, their cries echoing on empty streets. Wishing that someone, maybe, will hear it. That someone will be able to help.

They do the best they can, but it's not enough. Never enough.

Their prayers go unanswered.

There's not a single person in Israel who doesn't know someone that was kidnapped - or died - at least on some level.

Around two years ago, a kid graduated my highschool and joined the army. Six months ago he was kidnapped to Gaza.

I didn't know him then. I do now.

He's been there for six months. They've all been there for six bloody months. Six months, in which we don't even know if they are still alive. Six months, in which we don't know if they get food, water, medicine.

THERE ARE STILL 132 HOSTAGES IN GAZA.

We will not stop until they are all out.

Bring them home. Now.

[palipunk]

Maybe this is just me but I am really surprised that 2023 was the first time a lot of people heard about Palestine because 2021 was when settlers tried expelling Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah - this then escalated to the IOF attacking Palestinians in Al Aqsa and throughout the country (almost 300 Palestinians in Gaza were killed and thousands were injured) - there were massive protests all over the world in response. 2021 really laid the foundations for everything that is happening now but it surprises me how little people actually mention the uprising then or were even aware it was happening.

[scorpion-flower]

Greece's singer preteded to fall asleep.

Netherlands' singer covered himself with his coutry's flag.

Ireland's singer wrote "Ceasefire now" in old irish.

Latvia's singer said that every country deserves to be free.

I know it's not much, but I still love those subtle hints of diss agaist Israel 😂