#Philip I the Arab

[lilyseverina]

Reconstructions of Philip the Arab depict him wearing pink in reconstructions.

(Reconstructions aren't mine. Sources that I found will be linked here)

[fairuzfan]

During an appearance at Vassar College in early February, controversial New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner was asked about the ongoing evictions of Palestinian families from homes in East Jerusalem which Israel occupied in 1967. Israeli courts have ruled that Jewish settlers could take over some Palestinian homes on the grounds that Jews held title to the properties before Israel was established in 1948.

Bronner was concerned, but not only about Palestinians being made homeless in Israel’s relentless drive to Judaize their city; he was also worried about properties in his West Jerusalem neighborhood, including the building he lives in, partially owned by The New York Times, that was the home of Palestinians made refugees in 1948. Facts about The New York Times’ acquisition of this property are revealed for the first time in this article.

“One of the things that is most worrying not just the Left but a lot of people in Israel about this decision is if the courts in Israel are going to start recognizing property ownership from before the State [of Israel was founded],” Bronner said according to a transcript made by independent reporter Philip Weiss who maintains the blog Mondoweiss.net.

Bronner added, “I think the Palestinians are going to have a fairly big case. I for example live in West Jerusalem. My entire neighborhood was Palestinian before 1948.”

The New York Times-owned property Bronner occupies in the prestigious Qatamon neighborhood, was once the home of Hasan Karmi, a distinguished BBC Arabic Service broadcaster and scholar (1905-2007). Karmi was forced to flee with his family in 1948 as Zionist militias occupied western Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods. His was one of an estimated 10,000 Palestinian homes in West Jerusalem that Jews took over that year.

The New York Times bought the property in 1984 in a transaction overseen by columnist Thomas Friedman who was then just beginning his four-year term as Jerusalem bureau chief.

Hasan Karmi’s daughter, Ghada, a physician and well-known author who lives in the United Kingdom, discovered that The New York Times was in – or rather on top of – her childhood home in 2005, when she was working temporarily in Ramallah. One day Karmi received a call from Steven Erlanger, then The New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, who had just read her 2002 memoir In Search of Fatima.

Karmi recalled in a 15 May 2008 interview on Democracy Now! that Erlanger told her, “I have read your marvelous memoir, and, do you know, I think I’m living above your old house … From the description in your book it must be the same place” (“Conversation with Palestinian Writer and Doctor Ghada Karmi”).

At Erlanger’s invitation, Karmi visited, but did not find the elegant one-story stone house her family had moved into in 1938, that was typical of the homes middle- and upper-class Arabs began to build in Jerusalem suburbs like Qatamon, Talbiya, Baqa, Romema or Lifta toward the end of the 19th century. The original house was still there, but at some point after 1948 two upper stories had been built.

Erlanger, responding to questions posed by The Electronic Intifada via email, described the residence as “built over the Karmi family house – on its air rights, if you like. The [New York Times] is not in [the Karmi] house.” Erlanger described the building as having an “unbroken” facade but that it consisted of “two residences, two ownerships, two heating systems,” and a separate entrance for the upper levels reached via an external staircase on the side.

Questions The Electronic Intifada sent to Thomas Friedman about the purchase of the property were answered by David E. McCraw, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for the newspaper, who wrote that the original Karmi house itself “was never owned even partly by The Times. The Times purchased in the 1980s a portion of the building that had been constructed above it in the late 1970s.” The purchase was made from “a Canadian family that had bought them from the original builders of the apartment.”

McCraw acknowledged in a follow-up conversation that as a general principle of property law, the “air rights” of a property – the right to build on top of it or use (and access) the space above it – belong to the owner of the ground.

Exiled from Qatamon

Ghada Karmi standing by the front door of her childhood home in Jerusalem’s Qatamon neighborhood in 2005. (Steven Erlanger)

Hasan Karmi hailed originally from Tulkarem, in what is now the northern West Bank. In 1938, he moved his family to Jerusalem to take up a job in the education department of the British-run Palestine Mandate government. Ghada – born around November 1939 (the exact date is unknown because her birth certificate along with all the family’s records, photographs, furniture, personal possessions and an extensive library were lost with the house) – has vivid memories of a happy childhood in what was a well-to-do mixed neighborhood of Arab Christians and Muslims, foreigners and a few Jewish families. The neighbors with whom her parents socialized and with whose children the young Ghada and her siblings played included the Tubbeh, Jouzeh, Wahbeh and Khayyat families. There was also a Jewish family called Kramer, whose father belonged to the Haganah, the Zionist militia that became the Israeli army after May 1948.

Karmi describes the house at length in her memoir – but she told The Electronic Intifada her fondest memories were of the tree-filled garden where she spent much time playing with her brother and sister and the family dog Rex. The lemon and olive trees she remembers are still there, Erlanger noted to The Electronic Intifada.

In the mid-1940s, the lively Qatamon social life gave way to terror as the dark clouds of what would come to be known as the Nakba approached. Violence broke out all over Jerusalem after the UN’s devastating recommendation to partition Palestine without giving its people any say in the matter. Spontaneous riots by Arabs were followed by organized violence from Zionist groups and mutual retaliatory attacks that claimed lives from both communities. This climate provided the pretext for the Haganah’s premeditated campaign to seize Jerusalem.

Poorly armed and disorganized Arab irregulars, who had nevertheless succeeded in disrupting Zionist supply convoys to Jerusalem, proved no match for highly-trained and well-armed Zionist militias which, on the orders of David Ben-Gurion, began a well-planned campaign to conquer the western parts of the city. The occupation of western Jerusalem and some 40 villages in its vicinity was executed as part of the Haganah’s “Plan Dalet.” These events are well documented in books including Benny Morris’ The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949 (1987), Walid Khalidi’s (ed.) All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 (1992), Salim Tamari’s (ed.) Jerusalem 1948: The Arab Neighborhoods and their Fate in the War (1999) and Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006).

Zionist militias used frequent bombings of Arab civilians to terrorize residents into fleeing. These attacks were amplified by posters and warnings broadcast over loudspeakers that those choosing to remain behind would share the fate of those killed in atrocities.

Karmi wrote that one night in November 1947, their neighbor Kramer came to see her father and said, “I have come to tell you at some risk to myself to take your family and leave Jerusalem as soon as possible …. Please believe me, it is not safe here.” Many Qatamon families left after the Zionist bombing of the nearby Semiramis Hotel, which killed 26 civilians including the Spanish consul-general, on the night of 4-5 January 1948.

The Karmis however held on, and Ghada records in her memoir her mother steadfastly saying, “The Jews are not going to drive me out of my house … Others may go if they like, but we’re not giving in.”

Toward the end of April, bombardment by Zionist militias against virtually undefended Arab areas became so heavy, and the terror generated by the Deir Yassin massacre earlier that month so intense, that the Karmis relented and departed by taxi for Damascus, via Amman, with nothing but a few clothes. Their intention was to bring the children to safety at their maternal grandparents’ house while the adults would return home to Jerusalem. A few days after reaching Damascus the elder Karmis tried to return to Jerusalem but were unable to do so. So began the family’s exile that continues to this day.

As Arabs left their homes, Jews were moved in by the Haganah. “While the cleansing of Qatamon went on,” Itzhak Levy, the head of Haganah intelligence in Jerusalem recalled, “pillage and robbery began. Soldiers and citizens took part in it. They broke into the houses and took from them furniture, clothing, electric equipment and food” (quoted in Pappe, p.99). Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli scholar and former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, wrote in his book Sacred Landscape of personally witnessing the “looting of Arab homes in Qatamon” as a boy. Palestinians also lost art work, financial instruments and – like the Karmis – irreplaceable family records, as the fabric of a society and a way of life were destroyed.

Jerusalem return denied

The Karmis’ story is a variation of what happened to tens of thousands of Jerusalem-area Palestinians during the Nakba, in which approximately 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes all over the country and never allowed to return. (In my book One Country I describe the departure under similar circumstances of my mother’s family from Lifta-Romema.)

As of 1997, there were 84,000 living West Jerusalem refugees (23,000 born before 1948), according to Tamari. Half lived in the West Bank, many just miles from their original homes, but thousands of others were spread across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

Arab property is well-documented through administrative and UN records, but tracing the fate of an individual house or proving title is extremely difficult if not impossible for Palestinians scattered, exiled and forbidden from returning home. Some, who have foreign passports that allowed them to make brief visits, have attempted to locate their family properties. In recent years a small Israeli group called Zochrot (Remembering) has even joined in – taking some displaced Palestinians back to their original villages and homes, whose traces Israel often made deliberate efforts to conceal or destroy. But such activities are not welcomed by most Israeli Jews still in denial about their state’s genesis.

Ghada Karmi recalls an earlier attempt to revisit her family home in 1998. The residents were unwelcoming and would not give her the phone number of the landlord, though a plaque outside bore the name “Ben-Porat.”

The owner of the original, lower-level house at the time The New York Times bought the upper levels was Yoram Ben-Porat, an economics professor who became president of the Hebrew University and was killed with his wife and young son in a road accident in October 1992. According to Erlanger, the house remained with heirs from the Ben-Porat family who rented it out until it was sold in 2005 to an Israeli couple who did some remodeling. It is unknown when the Ben-Porats acquired the house or if they were the ones who had the upper levels built.

During Karmi’s 2005 visit, Erlanger invited her to see his part of the house and introduced her to the Israeli tenants in the lower level who gave her free access while Erlanger took photographs. For Karmi, revisiting the house was disconcerting. She described to The Electronic Intifada its occupants as “Ashkenazi Jewish Israelis, liberals, nice people who wanted to be nice.” She felt like asking them, “how can you live here knowing this is an Arab house, knowing this was once owned by Arabs, what goes through your mind?” But, she explained, “in the way people have of not wanting to upset people who appear to be nice, I didn’t say anything.”

The New York Times

In the early years after their original residents left, many of the former Arab neighborhoods were run down. But in the 1970s, wealthier Israeli Jews began to gentrify them and acquiring an old Arab house became a status symbol. Today, Israeli real estate agencies list even small apartments in Qatamon for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, and house prices can run into the millions. In Jerusalem, such homes have become popular especially with wealthy American Jews, according to Pappe. The New York Times did not disclose what it paid for the Qatamon property.

It was a curious decision for The New York Times to have purchased part of what must obviously have been property with – at the very least – a political, moral and legal cloud over its title. Asked whether The New York Times or Friedman had made any effort to learn the history of the property, the newspaper responded, “Neither The Times nor Mr. Friedman knew who owned the original ground floor prior to 1948.”

As Friedman prepared to make the move to Jerusalem from Beirut where he was covering the Lebanon war in the early 1980s, The Times hired an Israeli real estate agent to help him locate a home. According to McCraw, Friedman’s wife Ann went ahead to Jerusalem and looked at properties “and she, working with the agent, made the selection for The Times.” During the process Friedman visited Jerusalem and looked at properties as well, a fact he mentions in his book From Beirut to Jerusalem. By the time the property was selected, Friedman had moved permanently to Jerusalem and oversaw the closing.

The choice of the Qatamon property – over several modern apartments that the real estate agent also showed – makes The New York Times a protagonist and interested party in one of the most difficult aspects of the Palestine conflict: the property and refugee rights of Palestinians that Israel has adamantly denied. It also raises interesting questions about what such choices have on news coverage – with which the newspaper itself has had to grapple.

In 2002, an Electronic Intifada article partly attributed the pervasive underreporting of Israeli violence against Palestinians to “a structural geographic bias” – the fact that “most US news organizations who have reporters on the ground base them in Tel Aviv or west Jerusalem, very far from the places where Palestinians are being killed and bombarded on a daily basis” ( Michael Brown and Ali Abunimah, “Killings of dozens once again called ‘period of calm’ by US media, 20 September 2002).

In 2005, The New York Times’ then Public Editor Daniel Okrent echoed this criticism, writing:

“The Times, like virtually every American news organization, maintains its bureau in West Jerusalem. Its reporters and their families shop in the same markets, walk the same streets and sit in the same cafes that have long been at risk of terrorist attack. Some advocates of the Palestinian cause call this ‘structural geographic bias.’” (“The Hottest Button: How The Times Covers Israel and Palestine,” 24 April 2005).

Okrent recommended that in order to broaden the view of the newspaper’s reporters, it should locate a correspondent in Ramallah or Gaza – where she or he would share the daily experiences, concerns and risks of Palestinians. This advice went unheeded, just as Executive Editor Bill Keller recently publicly rejected the advice of the current public editor that current Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner should be reassigned because of the conflict of interest created by Bronner’s son’s voluntary enlistment in the Israeli army.

Thus, in a sense, Bronner’s structural and personal identification with Israel has become complete: when the younger Bronner joins army attacks in Gaza, fires tear gas canisters or live bullets at nonviolent demonstrators trying to save their land from confiscation in West Bank villages, or conducts night arrest raids in Ramallah or Nablus – as he may well be ordered to do – his father will root for him, worry about him, perhaps hope that his enemies will fall in place of his son, as any Israeli parent would. And on weekends, the elder Bronner will await his soldier-son’s homecoming to a property whose true heirs live every day, like millions of Palestinians, with the unacknowledged trauma, and enduring injustice of dispossession and exile.

[local-crying-boy]

ℂ 𝕆 𝔻 𝕞 𝕖 𝕟 𝕙 𝕖 𝕒 𝕕 𝕔 𝕒 𝕟 𝕟 𝕠 𝕟 𝕤

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

How they are like in a relationship pt2

Characters included: Alex Keller, Philip Graves, Nikolai, Hadir Karim

A/n: I don’t know a lot about other CoD characters that I have not written this headcannon for, so I apologise for my lack of knowledge and that the others are missing <3

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Alex Keller

Our little American is the sweetest man here.

He’s one respectful, kind and loving man (not like the others aren’t) but he’s the type who just knows what’s going on with you by a simple look

He calls you names like ‘baby’ ‘sweetheart’

He’s got a list of jokes he wants to tell you, and has told you the CIA one a few times in hopes that it does soon become funny

Loves it when you tell him stupid jokes as well

Phillip Graves

Pet names like ‘sweetheart’ ‘honey’ ‘doll’ ‘baby’. Stupid little ones you expect southern Americans to use (for obvious reasons)

He doesn’t like leaving for missions when you and him got together, he wanted to be with you and give you all the love you deserve

So, since he can’t always be there, he would drown you in gifts and affection the minute he got home.

He usually tries to show this all the time, but you know that sometimes he just simply comes back completely and utterly mentally and physically exhausted.

He can’t say much about what he does, but he can still somewhat confine in you (as much as he insists he’s okay)

Nikolai

King of forehead kisses. You cannot tell me otherwise.

He’s talk asf (well, he’s taller than me and I’m short asf), so he can just tower over you and plant soft kisses over your head.

He’s older too, so he’s screaming major respect and being a decent man that you might not find in younger lads (for example the boys my age -.-)

He was also reluctant at first to be with you, his age was one thing as the age gap between you and him was a little too large for his liking.

However, you heavily grew on this man and he couldn’t help but FINALLY admit his feelings.

RUSSIAN NICKNAMES

Most of the time you don’t know what he’s called you, but, hey-ho, at least it’s something.

Has, at least once, insulted you in Russian without you knowing and covered it up as a pet name (you never heard him call you it more than once)

Hadir Karim

Hadir knows how it feels to loose those who are close to him, he’s practically lost his entire family due to the war going on in Urzikstan.

When he first met you, he wasn’t planning on falling in love with you, let alone date you.

However, one things leads to another and the two of you ended up getting together (yipeee)

His worst fear is losing you, after everyone he’s lost, he doesn’t want to lose another.

If you’re a solider, he’s mostly watching out for you when you’re fighting, waiting for the moment that he might have to jump in and make sure you don’t die.

It’s an extreme, of course, he knows you are completely capable of taking care of yourself, but caution didn’t kill the cat, curiosity did, and he’s happy to admit he’s not curious to see if you could survive the worse of the worst.

Speaks little sentences to you in Arabic, he doesn’t care if you understand or not (he hopes that, one day, you’ll be able to catch onto certain phrases and words)

Masterlist

[doodling-doodle]

Hey

: )

Do the most angty angst you can muster

Oh Kings

is this a threat or a challenge to make you cry?

Well, ask and you shall receive.

(WARNINGS: Severe injury, coma, medical inaccuracies, amnesia, graphic death/murder, disassociation, breakdowns, mental health struggles)

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

"Price! Come on, stay with me!" Kyle yelled as his eyes rolled back, his grip going lax.

"We need medivac, now!"

They had to wait almost thirty minutes for the evac, and both Kyle and Soap were covered in blood. The medics struggled to get Price stable while they flew back to base. It felt a lot longer. It was all just a blur now.

Soap was changing out of the blood soaked clothes, but Kyle was sitting in the hospital room with Price, hoping he would wake up from surgery. He was shot in the lung, lower abdomen, and shoulder.

The doctors said that it didn't look good.

He just felt... numb right now. Completely numb. Alex was on his way from a mission with Graves, who was probably freaking out right now.

He waited there for three hours, and Ghost, Soap, Laswell, Alex, Farah, and Graves all got there.

Graves was laying next to Price, curling up and holding onto him as if John would hold him back.

Laswell was on the other side of the bed, holding his hand while sobbing quietly.

Ghost was standing behind soap, who was just looking at him blankly.

Farah was sitting next to Alex, whispering something in Arabic while crying.

Alex was holding onto Kyle, tearing up while Kyle just leaned on him, still covered in blood, blankly staring into the distance.

No one spoke. They were just waiting for him to wake up...

Which he did.

"Johnny?!" Graves yelled when he felt him shift, sitting up, "Bear?!"

John held onto his arm, looking around the room, smiling at all of them, and Laswell let Kyle go in front of her to speak to him while Graves cuddled into John, resting his head on his chest.

"Dad...?" Kyle asked quietly, holding his arm.

John smiled up at him, but he shakily pointed to his clothes on the floor, to his jacket.

Kyle picked it up, "What is it?" He asked, looking back at John.

He tried to reach out to him, but...

His hand dropped, eyes rolled back, and the heartbeat monitor flatlined.

Phil, who was still laying on John's chest, head against his heart, screamed, and Ghost quickly pulled him away from John's body, and they all left the room as the nurses ran in.

Alex pulled Kyle to the waiting area, sitting him down while he clutched the jacket in his arms, face blank, while they heard Phil screaming and crying about how he needed to be with John, how he needed to go back, telling Ghost to let go of him.

They just sat there, and Kyle eventually started going through the jacket pockets, finding envelopes, all with names: Simon, Johnny, Kate, Philip, Alex, Farah, and Kyle.

He put the others down, and he opened his, seeing in big letters, "Do not open unless Johnathon Price is missing, dead, or dying."

He shakily opened it, still just feeling numb about it.

"Kyle Garrick,

I am so proud of you. More than you know. Ever since Piccadilly, I knew you were special. But that you needed someone to help you. And I hope that I've done that.

The day you called me 'dad' was one of the best days of my life. And I guarantee that Pops is the same, and the same for Mum. But I love you like my son. You will always be my son.

You brought so much light into my life. A bubbly, bright light of joy was brought into my life.

I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry that this happened. I know that it will not be easy. But know that I will always be here. Even if I'm dead, I will always be here for you.

You're the captain now. I know you are so young, but I trust you to keep the team going, and make it work.

Just stop Makarov for me. Stop him and Sheperd for me. And make sure that they will never come back.

I love you.

-Dad"

He felt a tear roll down his face, onto the letter, and Alex held his hand while he put his own letter away.

"You should know that he threatened me if I didn't take care of you." Alex said, which made him chuckle slightly, but he just looked at the ground, and he picked up the jacket again, feeling his dog tags in his pocket.

He heard someone walk up to them, and then the others, along with Phil's sobbing, and his arms around him.

"What's going on?" Farah asked.

"We stabilized him. however, we had to place him in a coma. We don't know when he'll wake up."

He couldn't hear it anymore. he tuned everything out, and the next thing he knew, he was back in front of John, Phil back cuddling with him...

He was going to get his revenge. He would make Price proud. He would do it. He may not be a proper captain, but he was now.

He looked at the dog tags in his hand, and he slipped the Tags off the chain, and took his own chain to slip them on, along with several other tags of dead friends.

He was getting revenge. Dad wanted him to get revenge.

He would do it by himself.

That night, he went out to the helipads, with only a suppressed shotgun, pistol, and knifes. The chopper had even more. It was Nikolai's, after all.

He was dressed in full black. Jeans, shirt, hat, gloves, mask and tac gear. He wouldn't likely be easy to see.

He got in the chopper, and sat in the pilots seat, sighing slightly. It was Nikolai's stealth bird. He knew how to fly it, but he was worried that he'd be caught.

But he doubted it.

He quickly got set up and got off the ground, flying to where the Konni base was. Where his Dad was shot.

It took a few hours, but he saw it. He saw very few lights on.

He didn't know how long it would take. But everyone there would die. And he would find Makarov.

He landed on a helipad by the water, and he walked the rest of the way to the base, where he could get in through the secret bunker door and kill off most of the people in it.

He snuck in, immediately seeing two guards at the door and shooting them both in the chest, where Dad was shot.

He stood as they fell, trying to reach for their radios as their lungs filled with blood quickly.

"Fuck off." He said quietly, finishing them off by slitting their throats.

He slowly moved out of the room, moving down the hall, going through another door to a security room. Perfect.

He pulled out the shotgun, closing the door before shooting all three people, making sure all of them were dead with a shot to the head.

He checked the cameras, seeing at least twenty in the halls and another security room across this level of the base.

"Alright, then." He said, picking up one of the rifles from a dead guard, and putting a suppressor on it.

He quickly turned off all the camera's before leaving the room, setting it on fire before closing the door.

He found someone alone in the hall, and he stabbed him in the back, where Price was shot from the front, then slitting his throat.

"Fuck you." He whispered as he moved on, going to a bigger area, where there were five. It hurt, but he had to make this one quick.

He took out the rifle, and quickly shot them all in the head, moving on and stepping over the bodies.

There were three more people in the next room, and he slit one's throat, and shot the other two in the head.

"Lights out."

He got to the security room, seeing for more people, and shot them all in the head before going to check the cameras. More on the other side of the hall.

He turned the camera's off, and he went over to shoot them all in the head.

"Never fuck with me." He said, going to the next level of the base.

There were three people in that room, and he shot all three in the neck with his pistol before stabbing them all in the chest.

"Sleep."

He moved to the next room, seeing another five people. He took his rifle, shooting all of them before they noticed him. He shot them all in the head again to make sure.

"Fuck. You."

There were ten in the briefing room. And he took a stun grenade from a dead body to toss it in the room to clear it out without anyone shooting back.

"Go to hell." He took all the intel in that room. "All of you."

He went to what looked like a common room, and he killed all ten in the room while they weren't even armed. They didn't have time to scream. He shot all of them in the head before leaving.

"Don't wake up."

He found the security room, and killed the one person in there before checking the cameras. One more. One more floor that was the least protected.

"Perfect."

He went to the upper level, and he killed the four that were in the first room. In the stomach, then the lungs, then the head.

"None of you deserve to live."

He moved on, seeing empty halls as he dragged blood through them. He felt most of the drops on his face drying, his mask and gloves soaking through to his skin.

There were three more in the briefing room there, and he took his shotgun to kill them all. Gone in seconds.

"Almost."

He went to the last security room, and killed two and kept the last alive. He tied him up, shooting him in the knee.

"Where's Makarov?" He asked calmly.

"Ah, back for revenge, eh? What happened to your little capt-"

He shot him again, hearing him scream. His face was blank.

"Where. Is. Makarov?"

"Why should I-"

Another shot to the other leg.

"Where. Is. Makarov?"

"You-"

Another shot.

"Tell. Me. Where. Makarov. Is."

"It- He's in his base in Moscow."

"Thank you." He took out a piece of paper and a pen, "Location. Now."

He wrote down the coordinates, which Kyle took and looked over before putting it in his pocket.

He slit his throat before walking out.

It was the dead of night when he got there...

It was sunset now.

it felt like no time had passed. But he had been there to kill everyone for at least thirteen hours.

But there were more.

And he was done.

He just went through the catwalks and balconies, and he just killed all of them. Blood. Nothing but blood and bodies were around.

He had stabbed so many of them, he didn't know if some was his blood or not.

He saw a Chopper in the distance.

But he stayed on the mission. He killed the rest, and he heard yelling in the distance.

Everyone looked the same. Faceless.

And he found another.

"Kyle, Stop!"

He barely turned at the voice, and he felt someone taking his guns from him, and he wrestled with them for it back.

"You all can just GO TO HELL-!"

"Kyle, it's me!"

He opened his eyes, and he saw the face of a terrified Alex taking his gun and holding his face.

He felt him wipe the blood away, holding him against his chest, rocking him gently.

"Kyle, its me... it's Alex, okay? I'm here, honey... I'm here."

He felt the numbness slightly melt into confusion, fully feeling the blood caked on his face and clothes.

"How did you find me?" He asked quietly, now registering another emotion for the first time in almost 48 hours. Sadness. Up until then, all he had been feeling was panic, anger, confusion, and complete numbess.

"You have a tracker in your radio." Laswell said as she walked up, "we pinpointed it."

He was still pressed against Alex's chest, eyes filling with tears.

"You scared us all, brother." Farah said as she walked up, "why did you do this?"

"Dad wanted me to stop Makarov."

"Kyle-"

"I have his location. I'll put together a briefing and we'll all go this time but I am killing Makarov alone."

"You can't make that call." Laswell said.

"I am the captain now. Dad made me the captain. I am in charge. Whether you like it or not. I am making sure we stop them..."

He didn't know how he kept his voice from wavering, still being rocked back and forth by Alex.

Laswell sighed, looking away and shaking her head, "Fine." She said, "Get back to the heli, Nik is taking the other one back."

Alex held onto him as they walked to the chopper, seeing that he was fully numb, eyes glazed over, and face blank.

He gently rocked Kyle as they flew back to base, hoping to keep him calm, to get him out of his daze.

Once they got back, Phil jumped towards Kyle holding him tight.

"You scared me to death! Kyle, why would you do this?!"

"Dad wanted me to get revenge..."

"You should've gotten someone to go with you, you could've died! I can't lose you and John, Kyle...! I can't..."

he didn't respond. The next thing he knew, he was back in his and Alex's room, and Alex was getting the blood off of him.

He didn't know what to do now. It finally clicked that he was probably going to lose his dad. He might lose his Pops with it, and his mother...

It was Makarov's fault.

It was his fault...

It wasn't him, he didn't pull the trigger...

But what if he got there faster? What if he took the bullet instead?

Maybe that would've been a better outcome...

"It's been a long time, Kyle." Alex said, kneeling in front of him, unlacing his boots and gently pulling them off, "have you eaten? Or slept?"

He shook his head.

Alex nodded, getting him changed into something more comfortable, and kissing his forehead, "I'm going to go to the mess, get you something to eat. Then your going to get some sleep, okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay." Alex kissed him again, walking out to quickly go to the mess hall.

He wanted Dad.

He finally felt tears welling up, along with sobs, and he just broke down.

Everything had been boiling up for the past 30-something hours, and it all just came out at once...

He wailed. He wailed so hard and couldn't stop, holding his face in his hands.

Alex ran back in shortly after, and held his head against his shoulder, rocking him gently while he waited for Kyle to calm down.

"Let it all out. It's okay, darling." Alex whispered, also tearing up.

"Why?! This isn't fucking fair! It shouldn't have been him!" He wailed, clawing at Alex's back.

He calmed down after fifteen minutes, now just sobbing in Alex's shirt.

"He's strong, baby." Alex said, tears in his eyes, "He'll pull through."

He nodded, pulling back slightly and looking down while Alex grabbed the food and laid them down. The tears never stopped, but he calmed down a little, Alex gently bringing the food to his mouth, letting him eat at his own pace.

"Alright, sit up for a minute." Alex said, and Kyle nodded, sitting up as Alex grabbed the tea, giving it to him and letting him drink it slowly.

Kyle gave the empty mug back, and Alex set it on the side table before laying them down.

"Sleep, darling." Alex whispered, "We'll figure out what to do later."

One week later...

They had tracked down Makarov. Got to the safehouse. He wasn't alone this time.

It was a blur. He didn't remember much of this night. He would probably never remember it.

But he would remember seeing Makarov on the glass roof. He, Ghost, and Alex were up there, about to kill him and make it hurt.

And then there was... something. An explosion, probably.

He was knocked to the ground, looking around and trying to find the others.

He heard footsteps, and he looked up to see an injured Makarov, holding his side and holding out a pistol.

It only registered what was happening two seconds later, hearing him say something.

"Goodbye, Sergeant Garrick."

He heard Alex scream.

"NO!!"

He heard the gun go off, and Ghost trying to wrestle the gun out of Makarov's hands.

No.

This was his time. His turn.

He was killing him.

he quickly stood, punching Makarov and tackling him to the ground.

He grabbed... something. He didn't know what it really was at first, but his mind was on auto-pilot. It was cable.

He wrapped it around Makarov's neck, seeing him struggle but not able to fight too hard.

"Kyle, what are you doing?!" He heard Ghost yell.

He slammed Makarov against the glass. It cracked.

He did it again. It cracked more.

He did it again. It shattered.

They both fell through the roof, Kyle falling on a catwalk, groaning as he sat up.

He watched as Makarov swung from the cable, trying to reach his neck and untie himself.

He stopped moving.

He heard Alex over comms, yelling about how they were coming down.

He just...

He wasn't satisfied. Makarov didn't actually die by his hands. He died because of a cable.

It wasn't enough.

He stood, shooting the cable until it snapped, seeing him fall to the ground, and he went down to him, drawing his knife.

He just started gutting Makarov. He gutted him like a dead fucking fish, stabbed him in the throat, stabbed him in the head, gouged his eyes out, nearly snapped his spine, nearly snapped his leg off, and an arm.

He was breathing heavily. He looked at what he had done...

And he smiled.

He fucking smiled.

"This is what you deserve." He whispered, kneeling back down over his body.

He looked back over his work, and he took the dog tags that hung around his neck.

"This is my reward for my suffering. The end for you."

He stood, seeing a jug of gasoline, and he took it, dumping all of it on Makarov.

"Gori v adu, kusok der'ma." He said before throwing his lighter on Makarov's dead body.

He watched as it went up in flames, smiling softly.

"Kyle!"

He turned at Alex's voice, seeing them run up.

And then he felt all the emotions come back. Panic, sadness, fear...

Alex wrapped him up in his arms, quickly walking away and whispering to him, hearing Ghost say something into his radio, Laswell on the other side.

Next thing he knew, he was on a chopper, still holding the dog tags.

He must've passed out, because then he was in his and Alex's room, Alex taking his blood-soaked gear off, and taking the dog tags.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Alex said softly, pulling him off the bed.

He pulled him into a warm bath, and he saw blood immediately fill the water, Alex gently washing his hair off, saying something to him, though he didn't hear it.

"Kyle?"

He blinked, glancing over at Alex, who was washing his arm off.

"What happened?"

He looked down, eyes filling with tears, finally, as he spoke.

"I... I didn't like how he died..." He said, "I decided he needed to suffer more. I gutted him. Took the tags..."

Alex nodded, gently washing his face off, "he was already dead though, right?"

He nodded.

"Did you set him on fire?"

He nodded again.

"Was there anyone else there that you killed?"

He shook his head.

"Just Makarov?"

He nodded.

"Why did you take the Dog Tags?"

He looked down, feeling Alex start to dry him off.

"My trophy."

Alex nodded, draining the water and pulling him out to dry him off easier, "Then hang it. I'll get a frame."

He smiled softly, taking the robe Alex offered him, "I was just going to hang it with a knife."

"That works." Alex said, smiling softly and pulling him up, "Let's get you dressed and in bed."

"Can we see Dad first?"

Alex sighed quietly, but nodded, "Alright." He said, pulling Kyle with him gently to get him dressed.

They went to Price's hospital room, seeing Phil still asleep on the bed, clutching John's left hand, his engagement ring.

John had proposed a few months ago. They were happily planning their wedding, Phil had wanted it in July, by a beach...

Now this.

"Pops?"

He turned to look, and he smiled softly, gesturing for Kyle to come closer, and he did, Phil sitting up to hold him.

"Kyle... Bud, your strong, you know that, right?"

He nodded.

"You'll get through this." Phil said, "He'll wake up. Don't worry."

But he would. And He could hear the barely hidden fear in his voice.

"What about you, Alex?" Phil asked, looking up at him, "How are you holding up?"

"About as well as everyone else." He replied, sitting on the bed, holding Kyle's hand, seeing his own engagement ring. They wanted to get married on Christmas. John was supposed to walk Kyle down the aisle...

"I think it will work out." Phil said, "He'll wake up soon. We can get Shepherd. And it'll all be okay."

Kyle hoped so.

Three months later...

They had tracked down Shepherd. They could kill him easily.

John was still asleep. He had been transferred to a nearby care center, giving him better around-the-clock care, but they could still easily see him. Which Phil and Laswell did every day.

But none of them were doing much better. In fact, most of them had gotten worse.

Kyle lost that bubbly, bright light. Now, it was a dull shine at most, wearing darker clothes, following Ghost's method of not wanting to be seen, and wearing masks to cover the lower half of his face. They had barely seen his face since Price was placed in a coma. Alex and Phil saw it the most.

Kyle had officially been promoted to Lieutenant, allowing him to officially make decisions for the 141.

He had been allowed to use Price's office, which he didn't change at all, other than adding a heater and Makarov's dog tags.

Alex had been promoted with him, Soap and Ghost declined the promotions, because Ghost didn't want to risk Kyle being knocked back behind him.

And now they could get Shepherd. Graves sent in a few Shadows to get Shepherd in a transport, would knock him out, and then bring him to the base.

They were already on the way back with him after slipping his drink.

Phil was going to help him interrogate and kill him.

Kyle smiled as he saw the chopper land, the Shadows dragging Shepherd out to an interrogation.

"You ready?" Phil asked.

"Of course." He responded, going up next to Shepherd.

He woke him up, slamming his head on the table.

It was a blur from there, but, apparently, Phil got everything they needed out of Shepherd. Where he was, safehouse locations, intel...

Now they could kill him. And he wasn't making the mistake he did with Makarov.

"Step out, Commander." He said. He didn't want Shepherd to make Phil feel even more vulnerable by calling him "pops"

"Lieutenant, no-"

"You don't want to see what I am about to do."

Phil sighed, nodding and walking out. But he decided to watch through the window.

He took out his knife, stabbing Shepherd in the ribs, hearing a scream that turned to a wheeze when he stabbed higher, his lungs filling with his own blood.

He then stabbed his stomach, watching the blood pool on the floor. he stabbed him in the neck.

He watched as he writhed in pain. He watched as the blood stopped flowing out.

He was dead.

Kyle wiped the blood off his knife, walked out and saw Phil and a Shadow.

"Burn the body."

"Yes, sir." The Shadow replied, walking in the room to drag the body away in a bag.

He walked out, going to his room to wash all the blood off of himself. Alex was helping Laswell finalize mission reports, but, he knew that, if he was there, he'd be helping and telling him that he did the right thing.

He was either always crying or showing no emotion. Alex was begging him to talk to a therapist, or at least him. At this point, he was considering it.

He just... didn't know what to do. His dad was dying. He felt lost...

He sighed as he got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. He texted Alex before leaving.

"I'm going to see Dad. Can you come once your done with Mum?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

He walked to the care center, went to Price's room, sat next to him, and took off his mask.

"Shepherd's gone, Dad." He said, "You can wake up now. Makarov and Shepherd are gone. I'm Lieutenant now... Please? Wake up?... Pops is still wearing his ring. I still want you to walk me down the aisle... Please?"

He just sat there.

Phil walked in after a while. He immediately laid on John's chest, snuggling close to him, wrapping his arm around himself.

Alex walked in after that, holding onto Kyle as he sat down, "Any progress?" He asked, and Phil shook his head.

"Shepherd's dead." Kyle mumbled.

"Good." Alex replied, nodding, "Now what?"

"We wait for what's next." Phil said.

One year later...

Things had been... okay... kind of.

Most of them had started therapy, Kyle and Phil were on Anti-depressants, heavier then Soap and Alex were taking.

Laswell had been on leave for a while.

Kyle and Alex were close to being promoted to Captians. It was surreal to them.

John was still asleep.

Phil was lost, he was still wearing his ring and he was still slowly planning the wedding for the day John woke up.

Kyle had asked Alex to postpone the wedding, which he agreed to. They still wanted John to walk him down the aisle. They would want for the day.

Soap was still struggling with himself, he watched as John was downed and could do nothing, he watched as he passed out and was with Ghost as he dragged Phil out of that hospital room, he had to help hold him down as he screamed at them To let him go back to John.

Ghost was... he would never admit it, but he was struggling so much. He would sometimes lay on John and sob. He would be in his office, crying while he held Soap. He was suffering just as much...

Missions had been slow. They hadn't had much trouble with Makarov anymore. Now that he was killed- and so brutally, for that matter- they were not hearing a single thing anymore.

Kyle had been in charge of whatever they were doing. He has only done something like this a few times before, and not as long. But Phil said he was doing amazing.

He was hoping John would wake up soon, though.

He had gotten him a Christmas gift last year. He left it in his room at the center to unwrap when he woke up. But he didn't.

He left a birthday present for him. He took the time to date it that time, and dated the Christmas present.

He left a Father's Day gift. He dated that one too.

It was already Christmas again.

At the end of the day, They all went to his room with gifts, spending a good few hours with him, all of them leaving the gifts, though Phil spent the night, smiling at John's heartbeat.

"The kids miss you, bear..." he whispered, "You need to wake up... Kyle really needs you... But he is doing great. But I don't think he wants to be a Captain yet..."

He curled up under the blankets, feeling John's warmth on his body.

"I love you, bear. I can't wait to get married to you."

Six months later...

They had found Valeria.

Kyle had been promoted to captain, and Alex was with him throughout it all. Was promoted with him.

and now, they were keeping Valeria in a cell before putting her in jail for her charges.

"Well, I guess a few years changes a lot of things, eh?" She asked once she heard Kyle's new rank.

"It's not relevant." He replied as he sat down.

"I've already given you my intel, pleaded guilty, and signed away all my rights." She said, leaning forward, "It's not like your here for any more intel. I gave you everything I have. So why not chat about it?"

"You first. Why did you plead guilty and sign everything away?"

She shrugged, leaning back, "I have nothing to lose. No family left. I have no one to love. So, why should I fight? You have my cartel in your hands, Alejandro and Rodolfo are probably making arrests as we speak. I have nothing."

He nodded, pretty shocked at the reasoning.

"So why are you captain now?"

He went numb. It was the first time he was numb in quite some time. He started to get better... but now he was talking about it.

"Captain Price is in a coma. He has been for nearly two years. I was promoted to his rank." Was all he said.

"Oh... That... holy shit..."

"You can stew over that in prison." He said, standing, "You're leaving tomorrow. You know your sentence."

He left, seeing her fidget with her handcuffs and looking down.

He wondered if she really cared. About anything.

He wondered if she noticed how his voice was deeper. How he dressed. She couldn't have missed the mask...

But he didn't care much about her, so why the fuck should he care?

He just went back to his room to sleep.

He woke up screaming from another nightmare, Alex holding onto him and whispering to him that it was okay.

It was not. It never would be.

He had therapy that day. It helped a little. His meds helped a little more. Family helped a little more.

Good. he didn't feel numb.

Alex decided they should go out that night for dinner. A fancy restaurant, one of Kyle's favorite.

It made him feel happy for the first time in a while.

Six months later...

It had been two years since John went into a coma.

Every time that any specific date that involved John came around, the base was quiet. Somber.

All of them had barely been on leave. Both Kyle and Phil had spent a week each in a mental hospital. Kyle had a breakdown after a particularly hard day, and a visiting Major yelling at him for some stupid mistake. He said that it was his fault that John was in a coma.

Phil was with John, laying on him as he flatlined again. He ended up having a breakdown of his own from that.

Kyle screamed and cried in his room, throwing things around and breaking a few picture frames. He gave Alex a few bruises and cuts in the blind rage. Medics came to sedate Kyle and treat Alex's wounds. After an emergency therapy appointment and a Psych eval, Kyle was placed on psychiatric leave for a week in a mental hospital, barely managing to pass the follow-up and allowed back in the field.

Phil was fighting with a few nurses, then with Ghost to stop him from going back in the room.

John was revived. Still asleep.

Phil was crying and yelling, and he passed out. He was moved to the med bay on base before the mental hospital.

He spent the week there and was put on desk duty, not allowed to see John for two weeks. It helped and hurt. Because he was very dependent on seeing John to function.

Kyle was picked up by Alex, and he was crying nonstop, trying to apologize but the words were hard to form. Alex still had plasters and stitches. He just held onto Kyle while he sobbed, still saying "I'm sorry" over and over.

Alex was, admittedly, a little angry when it happened. more at the circumstances than Kyle, but, it was the reaction more than anything. He was scared. He had cleaned the room and replaced the picture frames, making sure Kyle came home to a clean room. He just sobbed more at that. It really made him realize what he did. But they talked about it, very calmly, and Alex promised that he'd help him find better ways to cope.

Ghost picked Phil up from the hospital, not really reacting when he apologized at least twenty times. He had already written an apology to the care center, which is when he found out we wouldn't be able to see John for a while. But Ghost just dropped him off at the base before driving off. He texted him so many times, begging for a response. Ghost only responded with a few things, but he did say that he didn't blame him. He was stuck doing a bunch of paperwork, though Kyle, Alex, and Laswell came to see him came to see him the most. Soap and Ghost came by some.

They both were doing a little better now. Kyle had been finding ways to calm down. Phil had been trying to not be as reliant on seeing John.

Kyle went to a rage room every once in a while. Alex often went with him, and every time, they'd actually start giggling together and make a game out of hitting targets.

But John was still asleep. And nothing was okay yet. Not truly okay, anyway.

But at least it was better.

Even just a little.

One year later...

Phil sighed as he laid on John's chest, stroking his cheek softly.

It had officially been three years since John fell into a coma. None of them truly felt okay.

Kyle had been taking so many pictures of missions, the team, and everything that had been going on... for when he woke up.

He and Alex were still Captain's and working on mission briefings. They were helping Ale and Rodolfo with dealing with the leftovers of Las Almas Cartels.

Ghost and Soap were there, about to come back.

Laswell had been helping Kyle and Alex through all the planning.

"Bear... Could you wake up? Please?" He whispered, shifting to lay on him more how he used to, and putting John's hand on his head...

He felt his hand grip his hair.

His eyes shot open, "John?!" He yelled, shifting to sit up and gently touching John's face.

His eyes fluttered open with a groan, and he said in a raspy voice, "Cr-Cricket?"

"Bear... Bear, it's me... Don't worry about talking right now... I'm getting the nurse." He jumped up, running out to the hall.

He texted Kyle, Laswell, and Ghost as he ran back in the room.

...

Kyle sighed as he finished up the stack of paperwork. Alex gently touched his shoulder as he stacked them back up, "Well, we got it done. What now?"

"I don't know..." Kyle said, hearing his phone go off, and he picked it up-

"He's awake."

Was the text from Phil.

"Kyle?" Alex asked, looking at the text and also freezing.

They both sat there for at least three minutes before Kyle stood, getting his stack of photos, and Alex went with him out of the room.

They ran to the care center, and Kyle sighed as he got to the door to the room.

"You go ahead, Kyle." Alex said, smiling, "I'll come in after you."

Kyle nodded, taking his mask off and knocking on the door.

"Come in." Phil said, and he slowly opened the door.

"Hey..." He said softly, smiling when he saw his dad sitting up in bed for the first time in three years, nurses around the bed while Phil laid on him.

John looked a little confused, choking out, "Who are you?"

No.

No.

This wasn't happening.

This was a joke.

"It... It's me, Dad..." He said, "It's Kyle..."

"I never had kids."

Phil looked up at him, seeing the look in his eyes.

He watched as two years of progress in therapy was undone in seconds.

Kyle looked down, "I apologize, sir." He said quietly, gently placing the stack of pictures on the bed.

He looked back up at him, straightening up, glancing at Phil, who looked so worried.

"Goodbye."

A simple word he said a lot.

But it would be the last time he said it to him.

He walked out, softly closing the door, seeing Alex looking confused.

"Dad doesn't remember me."

Alex was shocked, but nodded softly, taking his hand, "Let's go." He said, "Let's talk about what to do."

They silently walked back to the base, and Alex sat Kyle down, getting him tea and snacks, holding him gently.

"So. What do we do?" Kyle asked.

Alex sighed, kneeling in front of him to hold his hands.

"As much as this hurts to say... It's the best idea, for your sake... to leave."

It didn't shock him. He knew as soon as he heard his Dad ask who he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay. This was the end.

The end of Captain Gaz Garrick of the 141. The end of Captain Alex Keller of the 141.

They had to leave.

He called his Pops from his room, Alex holding onto him.

"Kyle, are you okay?" He asked, clearly very worried.

"I'm fine... Alex and I are packing, we're going to transfer."

There was a long pause...

"Okay. But, please... Don't let us lose you completely."

"You won't. I'll still be in touch."

"Good... I'll help with the paperwork, we promote Ghost and let you go."

"Thank you."

They got their room packed in two days. The paperwork was done for Ghost to be in charge. He was now Captain Reily, and Soap was Lieutenant Mactavish.

They were at the helipad, Kyle wearing his mask as they said their goodbyes. Phil was sobbing in Ghost's arms as they left. He hoped he'd see his boy again soon...

Once they got to their new base, they were allowed to make their own new team. Thankfully, an old friend of Kyle's was also there, and they got her on their Task Force... Unofficially, for now, until they could actually make the Task Force.

They had to fill out paperwork for new dog tags and officially transferred to a new team. Names and callsigns.

Alexander "Alex" Keller.

Kyle "Specter" Garrick.

He couldn't be... "Gaz" anymore. He lost that long ago. Now, it would just remind him of what he couldn't have.

They decided to stop postponing the wedding. Kyle decided, really, and Alex agreed.

"It's not like Dad could walk me down the aisle now anyway. Pops can if he wants to. I just want us to get married now..."

Phil was happy to do it.

They finally were able to get married on Christmas that year. The 141 came... Price wasn't there. Kyle almost didn't care.

They were so happy... Kyle was genuinely smiling for the first time in a while. It was so perfect. Beautiful.

Kyle had to sign new paperwork now that his last name changed...

Kyle "Specter" Keller.

It felt much better. It further detached him from Price.

He would always call him Dad, he would always love him. But he would never want to see him again. Not willingly.

He felt like he lost three years of his life. He did everything for him... It wasn't John's fault. He knew it wasn't. But it still hurt. So much.

But this was life now. It wasn't what they wanted, but it was what they got stuck with.

The years went by rather quickly. The more Kyle blocked out the feelings about Price, the more he seemingly got better. But he wasn't. Therapy was fine, sometimes it helped.

He wanted to detach himself from him. But he wanted him in his life. He put up all the pictures he had of them together in his and Alex's house. He put a few in his office...

Alex was trying to help, but he was struggling just as much. he didn't want to leave the 141, but he knew it was the only thing they could do at that point.

Farah would still come to visit from Urzikstan. She'd try and help them, get them in town, out on a walk, or to a restaurant... Anything to get their minds off of work and Price... He remembered her. Not everything about her, but he remembered her.

They didn't hear much after they left. Not that they wanted to know, Price probably wasn't making great progress. Phil said that he was getting a few memories back. Not about them.

And by that time, it had been two years.

It had been five years since he lost his Dad.

And he doubted that he was going to get him back.

Ever.

[wendelsae]

the thing about Dune is that it is absolutely not a story about a poor innocent slave morality colonized people rising up again colonial oppressors (and having their moralizing revolution hijacked by one of the colonizers).

Paul & Jessica use & manipulate the Fremen into serving their will- of course! no less do they use & manipulate Paul into serving their will!

Paul comes from a culture where warfare is the War of Assassins, of paranoid nobles and their spies & mercenaries delicately & precisely target each other, sparing the enserfed masses whose labor is a prize to preserve.

the Fremen are a culture which prides itself above all on freedom, where any man can challenge a leader, where there is no concept of the civilian, where women & little children resist an attack to the death, where the only way to extract economic value from your enemy is to drink the very water from his corpse.

which culture do you think brought the warfare of the sixty-one billion body count? did Paul Atreides do this, or did Muad'Dib?

did Paul create this? did Paul corrupt them from some fanciful Eden? did Paul create the holidays of intoxication, of reliving their ancestors' trauma, of screaming "never to forgive, never to forget!"?

this people already existed. they were already positioned. all they needed was a key to the rest of the galaxy. Paul gave them this. he would have given them it just as well through his martyrdom. if he hadn't given them it, Feyd-Rautha was already on his way to do it himself, to give himself the throne and them the rape of the universe. Paul or Feyd, both would have to make themselves into what the Fremen desired of the Lisan al-Gaib. I think you know which would have been more merciful. what's your alternative? the Fremen would have moved sooner or later. have the Sardaukar massacre the sietches?

-you cannot unleash this people on the universe!

-you will remember the gentle ways of the Sardaukar!

who are the oppressed & colonized on Arrakis? not the Fremen, the distinctively free people of the highlands & deep desert whom the Harkonnens never even tried to suppress! the oppressed on Arrakis are the people of the cities of Arrakeen & Carthag, the prize of economic extraction that the Atreides & Harkonnen are quarreling over. held in contempt by both the Chevaliers of the Imperium and the Fremen, whose pitiful revolt at the Battle of Arrakeen yields only contempt from Muad'Dib amd no tears from the Fremen.

the Fremen as much act to free the people of Arrakis as Philip & Alexander did to free Greece.

the Fremen are the Kassites, the Gutians, the Achæmenids, the Macedonians, the Parthians, the Arabs, the Türks, the Mongols, the Qizilbashi, the Sardaukar themselves as well- the rapists of the perpetual imperial core who impose their dynasty until the next barbarian race moves into the right circumstances to seize their place.

the historical vision of Dune is one where all manmade religion and pretense of noble causes are subservient to the will of sexual, racial evolutionary forces and the conditions of environment & economy. your Great Man, your Great Morals that were produced by these very forces you're trying to restrain are only along for the ride. who can turn away the Angel of Death? what Shai-Hulud has decreed must be.

but this is Lovecraftish in its horror and alienation from civilized, moral pretense. you want a way out. you all want to find a way to bring peace, where no one has to get hurt. now you all pretend Paul is righteous, now you all say he's the wicked one and imagine the Fremen would be gentle with him dead. twenty thousand years from now your descendant will be sitting in that office with Liet Kynes, thinking with you, trying to find the way out.

[sophia-zofia]

LEAKED NYT GAZA MEMO TELLS JOURNALISTS TO AVOID WORDS “GENOCIDE,” “ETHNIC CLEANSING,” AND “OCCUPIED TERRITORY” Amid the internal battle over the New York Times’s coverage of Israel’s war, top editors handed down a set of directives.

THE NEW YORK TIMES instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land, according to a copy of an internal memo obtained by The Intercept. The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of Gaza historically settled by displaced Palestinians expelled from other parts of Palestine during previous Israeli–Arab wars. The areas are recognized by the United Nations as refugee camps and house hundreds of thousands of registered refugees.

The memo — written by Times standards editor Susan Wessling, international editor Philip Pan, and their deputies — “offers guidance about some terms and other issues we have grappled with since the start of the conflict in October.” While the document is presented as an outline for maintaining objective journalistic principles in reporting on the Gaza war, several Times staffers told The Intercept that some of its contents show evidence of the paper’s deference to Israeli narratives. “I think it’s the kind of thing that looks professional and logical if you have no knowledge of the historical context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” said a Times newsroom source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, of the Gaza memo. “But if you do know, it will be clear how apologetic it is to Israel.” First distributed to Times journalists in November, the guidance — which collected and expanded on past style directives about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict — has been regularly updated over the ensuing months. It presents an internal window into the thinking of Times international editors as they have faced upheaval within the newsroom surrounding the paper’s Gaza war coverage. “Issuing guidance like this to ensure accuracy, consistency and nuance in how we cover the news is standard practice,” said Charlie Stadtlander, a Times spokesperson. “Across all our reporting, including complex events like this, we take care to ensure our language choices are sensitive, current and clear to our audiences.” Issues over style guidance have been among a bevy of internal rifts at the Times over its Gaza coverage. In January, The Intercept reported on disputes in the Times newsroom over issues with an investigative story on systematic sexual violence on October 7. The leak gave rise to a highly unusual internal probe. The company faced harsh criticism for allegedly targeting Times workers of Middle East and North African descent, which Times brass denied. On Monday, executive editor Joe Kahn told staff that the leak investigation had been concluded unsuccessfully. WhatsApp Debates Almost immediately after the October 7 attacks and the launch of Israel’s scorched-earth war against Gaza, tensions began to boil within the newsroom over the Times coverage. Some staffers said they believed the paper was going out of its way to defer to Israel’s narrative on the events and was not applying even standards in its coverage. Arguments began fomenting on internal Slack and other chat groups. The debates between reporters on the Jerusalem bureau-led WhatsApp group, which at one point included 90 reporters and editors, became so intense that Pan, the international editor, interceded. “We need to do a better job communicating with each other as we report the news, so our discussions are more productive and our disagreements less distracting,” Pan wrote in a November 28 WhatsApp message viewed by The Intercept and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. “At its best, this channel has been a quick, transparent and productive space to collaborate on a complex, fast-moving story. At its worst, it’s a tense forum where the questions and comments can feel accusatory and personal.” Pan bluntly stated: “Do not use this channel for raising concerns about coverage.” Among the topics of debate in the Jerusalem bureau WhatsApp group and exchanges on Slack, reviewed by The Intercept and verified with multiple newsroom sources, were Israeli attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital, statistics on Palestinian civilian deaths, the allegations of genocidal conduct by Israel, and President Joe Biden’s pattern of promoting unverified allegations from the Israeli government as fact. (Pan did not respond to a request for comment.)

Many of the same debates were addressed in the Times’s Gaza-specific style guidance and have been the subject of intense public scrutiny. “It’s not unusual for news companies to set style guidelines,” said another Times newsroom source, who also asked for anonymity. “But there are unique standards applied to violence perpetrated by Israel. Readers have noticed and I understand their frustration.” The Times memo outlines guidance on a range of phrases and terms. “The nature of the conflict has led to inflammatory language and incendiary accusations on all sides. We should be very cautious about using such language, even in quotations. Our goal is to provide clear, accurate information, and heated language can often obscure rather than clarify the fact,” the memo says. “Words like ‘slaughter,’ ‘massacre’ and ‘carnage’ often convey more emotion than information. Think hard before using them in our own voice,” according to the memo. “Can we articulate why we are applying those words to one particular situation and not another? As always, we should focus on clarity and precision — describe what happened rather than using a label.” Despite the memo’s framing as an effort to not employ incendiary language to describe killings “on all sides,” in the Times reporting on the Gaza war, such language has been used repeatedly to describe attacks against Israelis by Palestinians and almost never in the case of Israel’s large-scale killing of Palestinians. In January, The Intercept published an analysis of New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times coverage of the war from October 7 through November 24 — a period mostly before the new Times guidance was issued. The Intercept analysis showed that the major newspapers reserved terms like “slaughter,” “massacre,” and “horrific” almost exclusively for Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, rather than for Palestinian civilians killed in Israeli attacks. The analysis found that, as of November 24, the New York Times had described Israeli deaths as a “massacre” on 53 occasions and those of Palestinians just once. The ratio for the use of “slaughter” was 22 to 1, even as the documented number of Palestinians killed climbed to around 15,000. The latest Palestinian death toll estimate stands at more than 33,000, including at least 15,000 children — likely undercounts due to Gaza’s collapsed health infrastructure and missing persons, many of whom are believed to have died in the rubble left by Israel’s attacks over the past six months. Touchy Debates The Times memo touches on some of the most highly charged — and disputed — language around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The guidance spells out, for instance, usage of the word “terrorist,” which The Intercept previously reported was at the center of a spirited newsroom debate. “It is accurate to use ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in describing the attacks of Oct. 7, which included the deliberate targeting of civilians in killings and kidnappings,” according to the leaked Times memo. “We should not shy away from that description of the events or the attackers, particularly when we provide context and explanation.” The guidance also instructs journalists to “Avoid ‘fighters’ when referring to the Oct. 7 attack; the term suggests a conventional war rather than a deliberate attack on civilians. And be cautious in using ‘militants,’ which is interpreted in different ways and may be confusing to readers.” In the memo, the editors tell Times journalists: “We do not need to assign a single label or to refer to the Oct. 7 assault as a ‘terrorist attack’ in every reference; the word is best used when specifically describing attacks on civilians. We should exercise restraint and can vary the language with other accurate terms and descriptions: an attack, an assault, an incursion, the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, etc. Similarly, in addition to ‘terrorists,’ we can vary the terms used to describe the Hamas members who carried out the assault: attackers, assailants, gunmen.”

The Times does not characterize Israel’s repeated attacks on Palestinian civilians as “terrorism,” even when civilians have been targeted. This is also true of Israel’s assaults on protected civilian sites, including hospitals. In a section with the headline “‘Genocide’ and Other Incendiary Language,” the guidance says, “‘Genocide’ has a specific definition in international law. In our own voice, we should generally use it only in the context of those legal parameters. We should also set a high bar for allowing others to use it as an accusation, whether in quotations or not, unless they are making a substantive argument based on the legal definition.” Regarding “ethnic cleansing,” the document calls it “another historically charged term,” instructing reporters: “If someone is making such an accusation, we should press for specifics or supply proper context.” Bucking International Norms In the cases of describing “occupied territory” and the status of refugees in Gaza, the Times style guidelines run counter to norms established by the United Nations and international humanitarian law. On the term “Palestine” — a widely used name for both the territory and the U.N.-recognized state — the Times memo contains blunt instructions: “Do not use in datelines, routine text or headlines, except in very rare cases such as when the United Nations General Assembly elevated Palestine to a nonmember observer state, or references to historic Palestine.” The Times guidance resembles that of the Associated Press Stylebook. The memo directs journalists not to use the phrase “refugee camps” to describe long-standing refugee settlements in Gaza. “While termed refugee camps, the refugee centers in Gaza are developed and densely populated neighborhoods dating to the 1948 war. Refer to them as neighborhoods, or areas, and if further context is necessary, explain how they have historically been called refugee camps.” The United Nations recognizes eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. As of last year, before the war started, the areas were home to more than 600,000 registered refugees. Many are descendants of those who fled to Gaza after being forcibly expelled from their homes in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, which marked the founding of the Jewish state and mass dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The Israeli government has long been hostile to the historical fact that Palestinians maintain refugee status, because it signifies that they were displaced from lands they have a right to return to. Since October 7, Israel has repeatedly bombed refugee camps in Gaza, including Jabaliya, Al Shati, Al Maghazi, and Nuseirat. The memo’s instructions on the use of “occupied territories” says, “When possible, avoid the term and be specific (e.g. Gaza, the West Bank, etc.) as each has a slightly different status.” The United Nations, along with much of the world, considers Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem to be occupied Palestinian territories, seized by Israel in the 1967 Arab–Israeli war. The admonition against the use of the term “occupied territories,” said a Times staffer, obscures the reality of the conflict, feeding into the U.S. and Israeli insistence that the conflict began on October 7. “You are basically taking the occupation out of the coverage, which is the actual core of the conflict,” said the newsroom source. “It’s like, ‘Oh let’s not say occupation because it might make it look like we’re justifying a terrorist attack.’”

[beardedmrbean]

abt israel palestine situation : Those are good answers, but the main reason why no arab state does anything to help palestinians is because the point of palestinians is to die for them. If palestinians are able to leave palestine then there's no one left but hamas, and they can't use them as human shields and work their propaganda anymore. They said it themselves, palestine is a "nation of martyrs".

That is also true.

It's said over and over again every time this starts up, nobody cares about palestine or palestenians as anything other than a cause to bring up to try and make Israel look bad.

Even amnesty international gets in on it.

Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel and others during Israel’s military offensive against Gaza in July and August 2014, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

‘Strangling Necks’: Abduction, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict highlights a series of abuses, such as the extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians and the arrest and torture of dozens of others, including members and supporters of Hamas’s political rivals, Fatah.

“It is absolutely appalling that, while Israeli forces were inflicting massive death and destruction upon the people in Gaza, Hamas forces took the opportunity to ruthlessly settle scores, carrying out a series of unlawful killings and other grave abuses,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

You have to wonder how bad it had to be and how obvious it was that it was hamass doing it for this report to have been made, pretty bad I imagine.

“In the chaos of the conflict, the de facto Hamas administration granted its security forces free rein to carry out horrific abuses including against people in its custody. These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza Strip.”

Many of these unlawful killings were publicly billed as attacks against people assisting Israel during the July and August 2014 conflict as part of an operation, codenamed “Strangling Necks”, to target “collaborators”. However, in reality, at least 16 of those executed had been in Hamas custody since before the conflict broke out. Many had been awaiting the outcome of their trials when they were taken away from prison and summarily executed.

Hamas forces also abducted, tortured or attacked members and supporters of Fatah, their main rival political organization within Gaza, including former members of the Palestinian Authority security forces. Not a single person has been held accountable for the crimes committed by Hamas forces against Palestinians during the 2014 conflict, indicating that these crimes were either ordered or condoned by the authorities.

“Instead of upholding justice, the Hamas authorities and leadership have continuously encouraged and facilitated these appalling crimes against powerless individuals. Their failure to even condemn the unlawful killings, abduction and torture of perceived suspects leaves them effectively with blood on their hands,” said Philip Luther.

Atta Najjar, a former police officer under the Palestinian Authority who has a mental disability, was serving a 15-year prison term imposed by a military court after he was arrested in 2009 and subsequently convicted of “collaborating” with Israel. On 22 August 2014, he was taken out from the prison and executed. 

“There were marks of torture and bullet shots on his body. His arms and legs were broken… his body was as if you’d put it in a bag and smashed it… His body was riddled with about 30 bullets. He had slaughter marks around his neck, marks of knives… And from behind the head – there was no brain. Empty… It was difficult for us to carry him… He was heavy, like when you put meat in a bag; no bones. His bones were smashed. They broke him in the prison,” said his brother, who retrieved the body from al-Shifa hospital morgue on 22 August 2014.

Eight detainees were still on trial charged with “collaboration” with Israel at the time of their executions. Six others had been awaiting the outcome of appeals against death sentences from a military court in Gaza on the same charges. Two others had been convicted and were serving prison terms when they were executed. Many had been sentenced after trials before courts whose proceedings are grossly unfair. A number had said they had been tortured in order to extract “confessions”.

Ibrahim Dabour, an insurance company employee and father of two children, was held at Katiba Prison in Gaza City standing trial before a military court on a charge of “communicating with hostile sides” when he was taken out and extrajudicially executed by firing squad on 22 August 2014.

“We were told about the execution by people around us at 1pm. There was no official notification. He was executed at 9:30am on Friday. My brother received a text message at 10:31pm that night saying ‘The judgement against Ibrahim Dabour has been carried out according to the Shari’a as per the ruling of the Revolutionary Court’,” his brother told Amnesty International. 

“Even if he had been sentenced to death, there would have been an appeals process and other alternatives. What they have done is nothing to do with justice, it’s just criminal. These are the actions of militias,” he said.

In one of the most shocking incidents six men were publicly executed by Hamas forces outside al-Omari mosque on 22 August in front of hundreds of spectators including children. Hamas announced the men were suspected “collaborators” who had been sentenced death in “revolutionary courts”. The hooded men were dragged along the floor to kneel by a wall facing the crowd, then each man was shot in the head individually before being sprayed with bullets fired from an AK-47.

“The Hamas leadership repeatedly calls for rights and justice for Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere. But they do not always act in a manner that reflects respect for rights, justice and the rule of law. By failing to halt such grave violations, the Hamas authorities are dragging the name of justice through the mud and condoning these appalling crimes,” said Philip Luther.

As well as carrying out unlawful killings, others abducted by Hamas were subjected to torture, including severe beatings with truncheons, gun butts, hoses and wire or held in stress positions. Some were interrogated and tortured or otherwise ill-treated in a disused outpatient’s clinic within the grounds of Gaza City’s main al-Shifa hospital. At least three people arrested during the conflict accused of “collaboration” died in custody.

“Hamas forces have displayed a disregard for the most fundamental rules of international humanitarian law. Torture and cruel treatment of detainees in an armed conflict is a war crime. Extrajudicial executions are also war crimes. The de facto administration in Gaza must send a message to all law enforcement forces to treat prisoners humanely at all times. All allegations of extrajudicial execution and torture must be impartially and independently investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice in fair trials,” said Philip Luther.

Amnesty International is calling on the Palestinian authorities, including the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza, to co-operate with independent and impartial international investigative mechanisms, judicial or non-judicial, including the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2014. They should seek to ensure that the cases documented in this report, among others, are investigated impartially and independently and that, wherever there is sufficient admissible evidence, suspected perpetrators are brought to justice in proceedings that fully respect international fair trial standards and without recourse to the death penalty.

_______________________________________________

Crazy innit?

This is just 10 years ago and I bet 99.9% of people know nothing about all of this.

Kinda makes you wonder if they're taking advantage of the current situation do do the same thing, except this time AA and the UN are laying all of the blame on Israel because even this level of finger wagging at hamass will get the angry mob outside the general assembly.

I doesn't make me wonder, I'm fairly sure hamass took advantage of the situation to purge parts of their 'enemies' list, after all doing it this way is far easier than having to do a show trial with a accusation of homosexuality and insulting the prophet and worst of all saying Gal Gadot is kinda hot before taking them out in the street and shooting them dead.

hamass likely learned from this and aren't being so public about it, that and it's a bit more chaotic than it was in 2014.

The "600" killed in the exaggerated hospital blast at the start probably included a number of political dissidents.

[lea-labryssal]

List of countries that deserve no representation in the UN or to be recognised as subjects of international law, on the basis that they refuse to have a real name:

1. "South Africa" (that's a geographical expression)

2. "Georgia" (just call yourself Sakartvelo, idiot)

3. "The United States" and its contemptible colony "The United Kingdom" (self-explanatory)

4. "Congo" (most of the Congo Basin is located in the DRC, which is already called Congo, so it's easy to choose who should change its name).

5. "Central African Republic" (these are just adjectives that can apply to like, 10 different countries).

6. "East Timor" (it's a coward's move to name your country after part of an island. Ireland doesn't call itself South Ireland).

7. "Guinea" its "Bissau" and especially its "Equatorial" variants (those countries are completing some 60 years of independence and still use fake colonial names. It's like living in your parent's basement in your mid-30s)

8. "Iceland" ('hee hoo, Iceland is green and Greenland is icy' hasn't been funny or insightful for years)

9. "Ivory Coast" (Côte d'Ivoire isn't any less of a fake stupid name)

10. "Kiribati" (I feel ati if when you detide to utie the Latin Alphabet for your language you are respontible for not uting it in tiuch a way that the S tiound is repretiented by "ti")

11. "Israel" (self-explanatory)

12. "The Netherlands" (also a geographical expression but one that is evocative of the name for an evil region of a poorly constructed fantasy worldbuilding project).

13. "New Zealand" (Old Zealand had the decency to create its own real name).

14. "Niger" (the only part that deserves the name are the regions of Niamey, Tillabéri and Dosso, all the rest has nothing to do with it, plus Nigeria has more of the river - including the delta - and already took name).

15. "North Macedonia" (tell the Greeks to go to court if they're so upset about your name. Everyone knows copyright laws aren't respected in Eastern Europe anyway)

16. "Philippines" (Philip hasn't been your - foreign - head of state for over 400 years it's time to get over it)

17. "Sierra Leone" (we know you don't speak Italian. Stop it).

18. "South Sudan" (see, South Africa)

19. "United Arab Emirates" (come on now)

[charlesoberonn]

List of Roman Emperors and how many future emperors were born during their reign

"?" is for emperors whose birthdate is unclear, they'd be listed under every possible option

Emperors with no known birthdate won't be counted towards any reign

A lot of the reigns overlap (especially after the Empire is divided between east and west) so some emperors are born during the reign of several previous emperors

Republican Era: 2. Augustus, Tiberius

Agustus (40 years): 5. Caligula, Claudius, Galba, Vitellius, Vespasian

Tiberius (22 years): 2. Otho, Nerva

Caligula (4 years): 2. Nero, Titus

Claudius (14 years): 2. Domitian, Trajan

Nero (14 years): 0.

Galba (7 months): 0.

Otho (3 months): 0.

Vitellius (8 months): 0.

Vespasian (10 years): 1. Hadrian

Titus (2 years): 0.

Domitian (15 years): 1. Antoninus Pius

Nerva (1 year): 0.

Trajan (20 years): 0.

Hadrian (21 years): 4. Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax, Didius Julianus

Antoninus Pius (23 years): 2. Septimius Severus, Gordian I

Marcus Aurelius (19 years): 3-4. Commodus, Macrinus, Maximunus Thrax?, Pupienus

Lucius Verus (8 years): 2. Commodus, Macrinus

Commodus (13 years): 4-6. Caracalla, Geta, Maximinus Thrax?, Gordian II, Balbinus, Decius?

Pertinax (3 months): 0.

Didius Julianus (2 months): 0.

Septimius Severus (18 years): 6-8. Elagabalus, Severus Alexander, Philip the Arab, Decius?, Trebonianus Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian, Tacitus?

Caracalla (6 years): 2. Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian

Geta (1 year): 0.

Macrinus (1 year): 0-1. Gallienus?

Elagabalus (4 years): 0-1. Gallienus?

Severus Alexander (13 years): 2-3. Gordian III, Probus, Carus?

Maximinus Thrax (3 years): 0.

Gordian I (1 month): 0.

Gordian II (1 month): 0.

Pupienus (3 months): 0.

Balbinus (3 months): 0.

Gordian III (5 years): 1. Diocletian

Philip the Arab (6 years): 0.

Decius (2 years): 0-3. Carinus?, Maximian?, Constantius I?

Trebonian Gallus (2 years): 0.

Aemilianus (2 months): 0.

Valerian (7 years): 2. Numerian, Galerius

Gallienus (15 years): 1. Licinius

Claudius Gothicus (2 years): 0.

Aurelian (5 years): 2. Maximinus II, Constantine I

Tacitus (7 months): 0.

Florianus (3 months): 0.

Probus (6 years): 0.

Carus (10 months): 0-1. Maxentius?

Carinus (2 years): 0-1. Maxentius?

Numerian (1 year): 0-1. Maxentius?

Diocletian (20 years): 0.

Maximian (21 years): 0.

Galerius (6 years): 0.

Constantius I (1 year): 0.

Severus II (8 months): 0.

Maxentius (6 years): 0.

Licinius (15 years): 4. Constantine II, Constans I, Constantius II, Valentinian I

Maximinus II (3 years): 0.

Constantine I (31 years): 7. Constantine II, Constans I, Constantius II, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, Valens

Constantine II (3 years): 0.

Constans I (12 years): 1. Theodosius I

Constantius II (24 years): 2. Gratian, Theodosius I

Julian (2 years): 0.

Jovian (8 months): 0.

Valentinian I (12 years): 1. Valentinian II

Valens (14 years): 2. Valentinian II, Arcadius

Gratian (8 years): 1. Arcadius

Valentinian II (4 years): 0.

Theodosius I (16 year): 2. Honorius, Marcian

Arcadius (13 years): 2. Theodosius II, Leo I

Honorius (29 years): 2. Theodosius II, Leo I

Theodosius II (42 years): 3-4. Valentinian III, Zeno, Anastasius I, Justin?

Constantius III (7 months): 0.

Valentinian III (29 years): 1-2. Zeno?, Anastasius I

Marcian (6 years): 0-1. Justin I?

Petronius Maximus (2 months): 0.

Avitus (1 year): 0.

Majorian (4 years): 0.

Leo I (17 years): 1. Leo II

Libius Severus (4 years): 0-1. Romulus Augustulus?

Anthemius (5 years): 1. Leo II

Olybrius (7 months): 0.

Glycerius (1 year): 0.

Leo II (10 months): 0.

Julius Nepos (6 years): 0.

Zeno (16 years): 1. Justinian I 

Basiliscus (2 years): 0.

Romulus Augustulus (10 months): 0.

Anastasius I (27 years): 0.

Justin I (9 years): 0.

Justinian I (39 years): 3. Tiberius II, Maurice, Phocas

Justin II (13 years): 1. Heraclius

Tiberius II (4 years): 0.

Maurice (20 years): 0.

Phocas (8 years): 0.

Heraclius (30 years): 3. Constantine III, Heraclonas, Constans II

Constantine III (3 months): 0.

Heraclonas (9 months): 0.

Constans II (27 years): 1. Constatine IV

Constantine IV (17 years): 1-2. Justinian II, Leo III?

Justinian II (16 years, non-consecutive): 0-1. Leo III?

Leontius (3 years): 0.

Tiberius III (7 years): 0.

Philippicus (2 years): 0.

Anastasius II (2 years): 0.

Theodosius III (2 years): 0.

Leo III (24 years): 1. Constantine V

Constantine V (34 years): 6-7. Leo IV, Constantine VI, Irene, Nikephoros I, Michael I, Leo V?, Michael II

Leo IV (5 years): 0-1. Leo V?

Constantine VI (17 years): 0-1. Staurakios?

Irene (5 years): 0-1. Staurakios?

Nikephoros I (9 years): 0-1. Basil I?

Staurakios (2 months): 0-1. Basil I?

Michael I (2 years): 0-2. Theophilos?, Basil I?

Leo V (7 years): 0-1. Theophilos?

Michael II (9 years): 0.

Theophilos (12 years): 1-2. Michael II, Basil I?

Michael III (26 years): 1. Leo VI

Basil I (19 years): 2. Alexander, Romanos I

Leo VI (26 years): 1-2. Constantine VII, Nikephoros II?

Alexander (1 year): 0-1. Nikephoros II?

Constantine VII (46 years): 3. Romanos II, John I, Basil II

Romanos I (24 years): 2. Romanos II, John I

Romanos II (3 years): 1. Constantine VIII

Nikephoros II (6 years): 1. Romanos III

John I (6 years): 0.

Basil II (50 years): 9. Michael IV, Michael V, Zeo, Theodora, Constantine IX, Michael VI, Isaac I, Constantine X, Nikephoros III

Constantine VIII (3 years): 0.

Romanos III (5 years): 1. Romanos IV

Michael IV (8 years): 0.

Michael V (4 months): 0.

Zoe (2 months): 0.

Theodora (2 years): 0.

Constantine IX (13 years): 1. Michael VII

Michael VI (1 year): 0-1. Alexios I?

Isaac I (2 years): 0-1. Alexios I?

Constantine X (7 years): 0.

Romanos IV (4 years): 0.

Michael VII (6 years): 0.

Nikephoros III (8 years): 0.

Alexios I (37 years): 1-2. John II, Andronikos I?

John II (25 years): 4-5. Manuel I, Andronikos I?, Isaac II, Alexios III, Alexios V

Manuel I (37 years): 2. Alexios II, Theodore I,

Alexios II (3 years): 1. Alexios IV

Andronikos I (2 years): 0.

Isaac II (10 years): 1. John III

Alexios III (8 years): 0.

Alexios IV (6 months): 0.

Alexios V (2 months): 0.

Theodore I (16 years): 0-1. Theodore II?

John III (33 years): 2-3. Theodore II?, John IV, Michael VIII

Theodore II (4 years): 0.

John IV (3 years): 0.

Michael VIII (24 years): 2. Andronikos II, Michael IX

Andronikos II (45 years): 2. Andronikos III, John VI

Michael IX (26 years): 1. Andronikos III

Andronikos III (13 years): 1. John V

John V (50 years): 3. Andronikos IV, John VII, Manuel II

John VI (8 years): 2. Andronikos IV, Manuel II

Andronikos IV (3 years): 0.

John VII (5 years): 0.

Manuel II (34 years): 2. John VIII, Constantine XI

John VIII (23 years): 0.

Constantine XI (4 years): 0.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

august 29_september 11

THE BEHEADING OF THE PROPHET FORERUNNER OF THE LORD , JOHN THE BAPTIST

The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of Christ.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great, the Romans divided the territory of Palestine into four parts, and put a governor in charge of each part. Herod Antipas received Galilee from the emperor Augustus).

The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and then instead cohabiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19-20). On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a thousand chief citizens. Salome, the daughter of Herod, danced before the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl, he swore to give her whatever she would ask, up to half his kingdom.

The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked that she be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He also feared the people, who loved the holy Forerunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of Saint John and to give it to Salome.

According to Tradition, the mouth of the dead preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: “Herod, you should not have the wife of your brother Philip.” Salome took the platter with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the Venerable Head is celebrated February 24). The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia, there where the wicked deed had been done.

After the murder of Saint John the Baptist, Herod continued to govern for a certain time. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent Jesus Christ to him, Whom he mocked (Luke 23:7-12).

The judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the water, but her head was trapped above the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck.

Her corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John the Baptist. The Arab king Aretas, in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter, made war against Herod. The defeated Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. In some Orthodox cultures pious people will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is round in shape on this day.

Today the Church makes remembrance of Orthodox soldiers killed on the field of battle, as established in 1769 at the time of Russia’s war with the Turks and the Poles.

Acts 13:25-32

25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, 'Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.' 26 Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. 28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. 29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. 32 And we declare to you glad tidings-that promise which was made to the fathers.

Mark 6:14-30

14 Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets." 16 But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!" 17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. 18 Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21 Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. 22 And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you." 23 He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom." 24 So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!" 25 Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb. 30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

[xtruss]

Leaked New (Jew) York Times, The Hub of Yellow Journalism, Gaza Memo Tells Journalists To Avoid Words “Genocide,” “Ethnic Cleansing,” And “Occupied Territoty”

Amid the Internal Battle over the New York Times’s Coverage of Terrorist, Fascist, Apartheid, Illegal Occupier and War Criminal Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell’s War, Top Editors Handed Down a Set of Directives.

— Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim | April 15 2024 | The Intercept

Pro-Palestine protesters flood the lobby of the New York Times offices and block the security entrances during a demonstration against the newspaper’s coverage of Israel's war on Gaza on March 14, 2024, in New York City. Photo: Michael Nigro/Sipa via AP Images

The New York Times OR The Jew York Times instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land, according to a copy of an internal memo obtained by The Intercept.

The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of Gaza historically settled by displaced Palestinians expelled from other parts of Palestine during previous Israeli–Arab wars. The areas are recognized by the United Nations as refugee camps and house hundreds of thousands of registered refugees.

The memo — written by Times standards editor Susan Wessling, international editor Philip Pan, and their deputies — “offers guidance about some terms and other issues we have grappled with since the start of the conflict in October.”

While the document is presented as an outline for maintaining objective journalistic principles in reporting on the Gaza war, several Times staffers told The Intercept that some of its contents show evidence of the paper’s deference to Israeli narratives.

“It’s the kind of thing that looks professional and logical if you have no knowledge of the historical context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

“I think it’s the kind of thing that looks professional and logical if you have no knowledge of the historical context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” said a Times newsroom source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, of the Gaza memo. “But if you do know, it will be clear how apologetic it is to Israel.”

First distributed to Times journalists in November, the guidance — which collected and expanded on past style directives about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict — has been regularly updated over the ensuing months. It presents an internal window into the thinking of Times international editors as they have faced upheaval within the newsroom surrounding the paper’s Gaza war coverage.

“Issuing guidance like this to ensure accuracy, consistency and nuance in how we cover the news is standard practice,” said Charlie Stadtlander, a Times spokesperson. “Across all our reporting, including complex events like this, we take care to ensure our language choices are sensitive, current and clear to our audiences.”

Issues over style guidance have been among a bevy of internal rifts at the Times over its Gaza coverage. In January, The Intercept reported on disputes in the Times newsroom over issues with an investigative story on systematic sexual violence on October 7. The leak gave rise to a highly unusual internal probe. The company faced harsh criticism for allegedly targeting Times workers of Middle East and North African descent, which Times brass denied. On Monday, executive editor Joe Kahn told staff that the leak investigation had been concluded unsuccessfully.

WhatsApp Debates

Almost immediately after the October 7 attacks and the launch of Israel’s scorched-earth war against Gaza, tensions began to boil within the newsroom over the Times coverage. Some staffers said they believed the paper was going out of its way to defer to Israel’s narrative on the events and was not applying even standards in its coverage. Arguments began fomenting on internal Slack and other chat groups.

The debates between reporters on the Jerusalem bureau-led WhatsApp group, which at one point included 90 reporters and editors, became so intense that Pan, the international editor, interceded.

“We need to do a better job communicating with each other as we report the news, so our discussions are more productive and our disagreements less distracting,” Pan wrote in a November 28 WhatsApp message viewed by The Intercept and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. “At its best, this channel has been a quick, transparent and productive space to collaborate on a complex, fast-moving story. At its worst, it’s a tense forum where the questions and comments can feel accusatory and personal.”

Pan bluntly stated: “Do not use this channel for raising concerns about coverage.”

Among the topics of debate in the Jerusalem bureau WhatsApp group and exchanges on Slack, reviewed by The Intercept and verified with multiple newsroom sources, were Israeli attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital, statistics on Palestinian civilian deaths, the allegations of genocidal conduct by Israel, and President Joe Biden’s pattern of promoting unverified allegations from the Israeli government as fact. (Pan did not respond to a request for comment.)

“It’s not unusual for news companies to set style guidelines. But there are unique standards applied to violence perpetrated by Israel.”

Many of the same debates were addressed in the Times’s Gaza-specific style guidance and have been the subject of intense public scrutiny.

“It’s not unusual for news companies to set style guidelines,” said another Times newsroom source, who also asked for anonymity. “But there are unique standards applied to violence perpetrated by Israel. Readers have noticed and I understand their frustration.”

“Words Like ‘Slaughter’”

The Times memo outlines guidance on a range of phrases and terms. “The nature of the conflict has led to inflammatory language and incendiary accusations on all sides. We should be very cautious about using such language, even in quotations. Our goal is to provide clear, accurate information, and heated language can often obscure rather than clarify the fact,” the memo says.

“Words like ‘slaughter,’ ‘massacre’ and ‘carnage’ often convey more emotion than information. Think hard before using them in our own voice,” according to the memo. “Can we articulate why we are applying those words to one particular situation and not another? As always, we should focus on clarity and precision — describe what happened rather than using a label.”

Despite the memo’s framing as an effort to not employ incendiary language to describe killings “on all sides,” in the Times reporting on the Gaza war, such language has been used repeatedly to describe attacks against Israelis by Palestinians and almost never in the case of Israel’s large-scale killing of Palestinians.

In January, The Intercept published an analysis of New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times coverage of the war from October 7 through November 24 — a period mostly before the new Times guidance was issued. The Intercept analysis showed that the major newspapers reserved terms like “slaughter,” “massacre,” and “horrific” almost exclusively for Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, rather than for Palestinian civilians killed in Israeli attacks.

The analysis found that, as of November 24, the New York Times had described Israeli deaths as a “massacre” on 53 occasions and those of Palestinians just once. The ratio for the use of “slaughter” was 22 to 1, even as the documented number of Palestinians killed climbed to around 15,000.

The latest Palestinian death toll estimate stands at more than 33,000, including at least 15,000 children — likely undercounts due to Gaza’s collapsed health infrastructure and missing persons, many of whom are believed to have died in the rubble left by Israel’s attacks over the past six months.

Touchy Debates

The Times memo touches on some of the most highly charged — and disputed — language around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The guidance spells out, for instance, usage of the word “terrorist,” which The Intercept previously reported was at the center of a spirited newsroom debate.

“It is accurate to use ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in describing the attacks of Oct. 7, which included the deliberate targeting of civilians in killings and kidnappings,” according to the leaked Times memo. “We should not shy away from that description of the events or the attackers, particularly when we provide context and explanation.”

The guidance also instructs journalists to “Avoid ‘fighters’ when referring to the Oct. 7 attack; the term suggests a conventional war rather than a deliberate attack on civilians. And be cautious in using ‘militants,’ which is interpreted in different ways and may be confusing to readers.”

In the memo, the editors tell Times journalists: “We do not need to assign a single label or to refer to the Oct. 7 assault as a ‘terrorist attack’ in every reference; the word is best used when specifically describing attacks on civilians. We should exercise restraint and can vary the language with other accurate terms and descriptions: an attack, an assault, an incursion, the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, etc. Similarly, in addition to ‘terrorists,’ we can vary the terms used to describe the Hamas members who carried out the assault: attackers, assailants, gunmen.”

The Times does not characterize Israel’s repeated attacks on Palestinian civilians as “terrorism,” even when civilians have been targeted. This is also true of Israel’s assaults on protected civilian sites, including hospitals.

In a section with the headline “‘Genocide’ and Other Incendiary Language,” the guidance says, “‘Genocide’ has a specific definition in international law. In our own voice, we should generally use it only in the context of those legal parameters. We should also set a high bar for allowing others to use it as an accusation, whether in quotations or not, unless they are making a substantive argument based on the legal definition.”

Regarding “ethnic cleansing,” the document calls it “another historically charged term,” instructing reporters: “If someone is making such an accusation, we should press for specifics or supply proper context.”

Bucking International Norms

In the cases of describing “occupied territory” and the status of refugees in Gaza, the Times style guidelines run counter to norms established by the United Nations and international humanitarian law.

On the term “Palestine” — a widely used name for both the territory and the U.N.-recognized state — the Times memo contains blunt instructions: “Do not use in datelines, routine text or headlines, except in very rare cases such as when the United Nations General Assembly elevated Palestine to a nonmember observer state, or references to historic Palestine.” The Times guidance resembles that of the Associated Press Stylebook.

The memo directs journalists not to use the phrase “refugee camps” to describe long-standing refugee settlements in Gaza. “While termed refugee camps, the refugee centers in Gaza are developed and densely populated neighborhoods dating to the 1948 war. Refer to them as neighborhoods, or areas, and if further context is necessary, explain how they have historically been called refugee camps.”

The United Nations recognizes eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. As of last year, before the war started, the areas were home to more than 600,000 registered refugees. Many are descendants of those who fled to Gaza after being forcibly expelled from their homes in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, which marked the founding of the Jewish state and mass dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

The Israeli government has long been hostile to the historical fact that Palestinians maintain refugee status, because it signifies that they were displaced from lands they have a right to return to.

“It’s like, ‘Oh let’s not say occupation because it might make it look like we’re justifying a terrorist attack.’”

Since October 7, Israel has repeatedly bombed refugee camps in Gaza, including Jabaliya, Al Shati, Al Maghazi, and Nuseirat.

The memo’s instructions on the use of “occupied territories” says, “When possible, avoid the term and be specific (e.g. Gaza, the West Bank, etc.) as each has a slightly different status.” The United Nations, along with much of the world, considers Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem to be occupied Palestinian territories, seized by Israel in the 1967 Arab–Israeli war.

The admonition against the use of the term “occupied territories,” said a Times staffer, obscures the reality of the conflict, feeding into the U.S. and Israeli insistence that the conflict began on October 7.

“You are basically taking the occupation out of the coverage, which is the actual core of the conflict,” said the newsroom source. “It’s like, ‘Oh let’s not say occupation because it might make it look like we’re justifying a terrorist attack.’”

[pichuan]

When Arabs Became Palestinians

by Jerold S. Auerbach

Without a history of their own, Palestinians plundered Jewish history to define themselves

May 19, 2022 at 8:45 am | Topics: palestinians, Nakba

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(JNS) With the recent eruption of Palestinian violence on the Temple Mount, followed by the murder of three Israelis from the town of Elad, it is worth reflecting on the history of a people, until recently non-existent, who seem determined to define themselves by killing Jews.

Modern conceptions of “Palestine” date from the mid-19th century when British artist David Roberts followed the trail of the ancient Israelites from Egypt to their “Holy Land.” His lithographs provided stunning vistas of Hebron, Jerusalem, Jericho, Nablus and other ancient Jewish sites. As yet, there were no “Palestinian” locations to include.

Not long afterward, Scottish writer Alexander Keith, identifying the Land of Israel as the “Holy Land,” described Jews as “a people without a country; even as their own land … is a country without a people.” British Lord Shaftesbury cited “the ancient and rightful lords of the soil, the Jews!” Palestinians were not mentioned.

On the eve of World War I, Chaim Weizmann, who decades later would become the first president of Israel, said: “There is a country which is called Palestine, a country without a people, and, on the other hand, there exists the Jewish people, and it has no country.” What else was necessary, he wondered, “than to fit the gem into the ring, to unite this people with this country?”

Although Arabs in small numbers had lived in Palestine for centuries with prosperous elite families concentrated in Jerusalem, there were no signs of an Arab national identity before World War I. Ironically, budding signs of Jewish nationalism—identified as Zionism—were its primary stimulus. But it took time. Shortly before the State of Israel was born, Arab historian Philip Hitti stated: “There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not.” Without Palestine, there could not be Palestinians.

Not until Israel defeated and humiliated Arab countries in the Six-Day War (June 1967), ending Jordanian control over West Bank Arabs, did a distinctive Palestinian identity begin to emerge. Why was it, wondered author Walid Shoebat of Bethlehem, “that on June 4, 1967, I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian.” Even PLO military commander Zuhair Muhsin acknowledged: “There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation.” The vision of a Palestinian state, he recognized, was merely “a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel.”

Without a history of their own, Palestinians plundered Jewish history to define themselves. The ancient Canaanites were identified as the original “Palestinians.” So, too, were Jebusites, the biblical inhabitants of Jerusalem. Based on these fanciful claims an imaginary “Palestinian” history of 5,000 years was implanted in the Land of Israel.

Palestinians’ identity theft has taken strange turns. They have absurdly equated the nakba(“disaster” or “catastrophe”) of 1948 when Arabs launched—and lost—a war of Jewish extermination with the Holocaust. Indeed, Holocaust denial was the core of the doctoral dissertation of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. He preposterously claimed that Zionist leaders were “fundamental partners” of the Nazis, jointly responsible for the slaughter of 6 million Jews.

Palestinians have relied upon the model of the Israeli Law of Return to claim that millions of “refugees”—fewer than 30,000 of whom are still alive—should be permitted to return to the land they abandoned in 1947-48 during the Arab war to annihilate Jews. Teenage Arab girls have been taught to equate their plight with that of Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

So it is that a people without a national history until well into the 20th century have attempted to persuade a gullible world audience that Palestinians are the rightful inheritors of Jewish history and land. Ironically, even the holy Koran (which makes frequent mention of Jews but does not mention Palestinians) was interpreted by Muslims more than a millennium ago to affirm that the Land of Israel was given by God to “the children of Israel” as a perpetual covenant. Murdering Jews was not mentioned. But as scholar and novelist Dara Horn aptly titles her new book, People Love Dead Jews.

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: agriculture of grief: prayers for my father’s dementia by Mejdulene Bernard Shomali

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Mejdulene Bernard Shomali is a #queer #Palestinian #poet and associate professor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Williams College. Her first book Between Banat: Queer #Arab Critique and Transnational Arab Archives is available from Duke University Press.

PRAISE FOR agriculture of grief: prayers for my father’s dementia by Mejdulene Bernard Shomali

What if mourning requires patient cultivation more than a bustle in the house and sweeping up the heart? In her elegant debut chapbook, agriculture of grief: prayers for my father’s dementia, Mejdulene Bernard Shomali sings a mourner’s music as she tills the page of her father’s double-death—first from dementia, and then from old age. As she writes, “dementia is a trial run with dying…/he could be a stranger/lost & disoriented from travel//i cannot follow him there.” Yet through these poems, Shomali brings her father home, brings him as much as anyone can be back into this life—or into another life, the life in language. “i want nothing from this earth or its false gods,” she writes, “i want nothing but my father home.” Melding Arabic with Catholic prayers and keen memories of her baba, Shomali’s deft poetry bears the fruit of such grief.

–Philip Metres, author of Fugitive/Refuge

Mejdulene Bernard Shomali‘s poems are instructional, not in the sense that they mean to educate—though they do—but in that they command attention, which they accomplish by being acutely attentive themselves: to language, to the subtleties of pain and joy, to the discoveries that arise out of loss and longing. The poems here truly act as prayers. They entreat us to listen, to feel, and to share in our most vulnerable realities. It is so easy for poems of grief to be narrow and self-absorbed. These are anything but—they are capacious, and despite the griefs that gave rise to them, they are full of life.

–Hayan Charara, author of These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems #queer #Palestinian #Arab

[endlessly-cursed]

history of magic lessons: the first wizarding school

The wizards in Spain had always existed, but they were often prosecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. That is, until the Arab Invasion. They were more lenient on them and gave them treaties and rights, as long as they respected the Islamic Regime and their laws, and they did.

Hence, four of the brightest spanish wizards of the time built up what would be a long-time school that accepted people born with magic from the Spanish empire: El Punto Mágico, Escuela para Jóvenes con Habilidades Extraordinarias or, The Magic Spot, A School for Young People with Extraordinary Abilities. During the years of Isabella I, they had to be a clandestine school, taking in children for the nine months of the year: from the 15th of September to the 10th of June, only making exceptions for war and marriage.

Their founders were four exceptional wizards: Soledad Delgado, the most erudite female wizard of all Spain, specialized in history, defence against the dark arts and charms. Her younger sister, Sancha, was a lover of animals and all creatures, and possesed elemental magic: she could manipulate air. Every animal, no matter how domestic or dangerous, obeyed her every command, and was a fearsome woman, especially by Charles V. Their father, Pedro, was a skilled warrior who had served many kings, and was specialized in the dark arts and could manipulate fire. His wife, Juana, was his best ally and accomplice, and a very wealthy woman. Thanks to her fortune, they could fund the empire. The moment Philip III reigned and the mighty Spanish Empire started to decay, El Punto Mágico gained popularity and more people applied with very to no fear to the school, and was a haven to those accused of witchcraft by the king.

In 1856, Queen Isabella II of Spain conceded them a secret treaty to teach under her laws as long as they remained loyal to her. When she was exiled by The Glorious Rebellion, they allied themselves with the Provisionally Government, Amadeo I, then the First Republic that lasted 11 months and finally Alfonso XII.

During the Civil War, it also affected its students and anarchy reigned over the school. Classmates were arrested, beaten, snitched on and even killed on the hallways. The moment the war was over, Francis Franco ordered the school to close or he'd bombard it. They had no option but obey.

It was when Felipe VI came to the throne, that he allowed the descendants to re-open the school if they could get at least 10k students from Hispanic origin. The goal was made, and to this day, though a minor school, it thrives in Spain. Every year, over 500 new students join this historic school.

Irene Escolar as Soledad Delgado

María Valverde as Sancha Delgado

Ginés García Millán as Pedro Delgado

Clara Sanchis as Juana Pérez

Idea by @gaygryffindorgal

[house-of-emirates]

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.19 (before 1950)

96 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed. 634 – Siege of Damascus: The Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire. 1356 – Battle of Poitiers: An English army under the command of Edward the Black Prince defeats a French army and captures King John II. 1410 – End of the Siege of Marienburg: The State of the Teutonic Order repulses the joint Polish—Lithuanian forces. 1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga. 1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget. 1796 – George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public. 1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen. 1846 – Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.[6] 1852 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers the asteroid Massalia from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte. 1862 – American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price. 1863 – American Civil War: The first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, the bloodiest two-day battle of the conflict, and the only significant Confederate victory in the war's Western Theater. 1864 – American Civil War: Union troops under Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by Jubal Early. With over 50,000 troops engaged, it was the largest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley. 1868 – La Gloriosa begins in Spain. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering. 1893 – In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote. 1916 – World War I: During the East African Campaign, colonial forces of the Belgian Congo (Force Publique) under the command of Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora after heavy fighting. 1939 – World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged. 1940 – World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins. It will become the longest individual battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought. 1944 – World War II: The Moscow Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed, which officially ended the Continuation War.[ 1946 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.