#anyways i wanted to share these because it's important to remember what Palestine was and le cúnamh Dé what it will be again someday

[earraigh]

Pictures of Palestine before the Nakba.

I'm thinking about how before the sounds of death filled the air, there must have been so much laughter. I hope there will be again. To paraphrase Bobby Sands, may their revenge be the laughter of Palestinian children on Palestinian land.

[xerith-42]

There is no normal to return to.

I'm going to return to normal, or as normal as I usually am on this blog. But that won't stop me from talking about this. I have quite a few reblogs and posts queued up to give some important thoughts I had while I was away in regards to... my usual content. But I also still have plenty of posts about Palestine and the ongoing situation, and I'll be doing everything I can to stagger updates on the funny haha block man stuff, and the actually serious stuff.

If there's another strike called for, I will likely participate in it. Maybe this means my content will be inconsistent and kinda... bursty I guess? But I'll take the hit to my usual stuff and just spend more time on it if I have to. I had fun over the winter break, but life is picking back up anyways. I'm not really returning to normal, I'm shifting to a new normal. And talking about this conflict and the ongoing situation will become part of this new normal for as long as it has to.

I was honored to see the kind of reach my words could have, and I appreciated the amount of people who engaged with my content for possibly the first and last time. Depends on if I have more wildly intense thesis' about the situation to share (I probably will). There's always a part of me that wants to resist "getting too political" but then I remember I'm a dyed hair multi pronouned genderfuck with revolutionary ideas like "people should just get to live their lives however they want without the threat of violence, oppression, or actual genocide." Just some crazy wokeist ideology that totally doesn't bleed out from my creative works at all.

Because my experiences with fiction and the real world don't influence each other at all. Not even a little.

I've had quite a few social media accounts become pretty politicized or even start that way unintentionally, mostly because I started social media accounts centered around art. And all art is political. All art is personal. All art is influenced by politics and by people. That's how art always has and always will exist. So I really shouldn't be surprised this would happen when I got onto Tumblr.

I don't mean to suddenly bear my soul and go on some vague esoteric rant about my state of existence in a system of systems designed to harm me placed onto one of many infinite planets capable of creating life in our ever expansive universe, but that's just how I am. That's just how humans are. My spaces are always going to become political because I as a person am politicized. Our world is politicized. We are politicized from the moment of our inception. From the moment that someone becomes aware of our life the decisions made about it are endlessly wrapped up in the collective of politics even if we are but one measly part of that greater or worse collective.

Even something as seemingly unimportant as Minecraft Roleplays are deeply personal and political pieces of art and unique life shaping experiences. Never let someone tell you that you're being "too political" because in our endlessly politicized world, that's like telling someone that they're being "too human". It's not annoying to care. It's not too political to care.

TLDR: Art is political, everything is political, and even if you plan on "returning to normal", know that you should instead adjust what you define as "normal" to include pertinent issues and be ready to adapt to it. People want you to believe that disruptions won't work, but money and numbers talk. Disruptions to core systems of the western society work. Never underestimate that. Maybe you couldn't do a lot for this one, but keep your eyes out for the next one. Set aside a few bucks to donate. Read some of the reports about the ongoing conflict from ethical sources unafraid to speak to the real atrocities. Even little things can add up.

[vergess]

Anonymous asked: If vergess is willing to answer I’ve been wondering what Zionism even is I keep hearing conflicting definitions

The reason you're hearing conflicting definitions is, there's two definitions you'll hear in general conversation.

Okay, so like 150 years ago (late 1800s), a guy was like, "Ahem, ahem. While we're inventing nationalism all over europe, I notice that Jews are constantly left out of national identities. What if, since y'all shitheads refure to acknowledge our humanity and shared history in Europe and elsewhere in the world, considering us to be middle eastern immigrants regardless of how long we've lived among you as your neighbors. So!! What if we made a Jewish National State where Jews could live peacefully as a politically influential block, ideally in the Jewish homeland to which we are indigenous, ie, Palestine."

From this, came two very different conclusions.

Most Jews will define Zionism as the Jewish right to self-determination in the Jewish homeland. Which is a fancy way of saying, "there's exactly one place on earth y'all will let Jews live, so let us fucking LIVE there instead of being executed en masse by the Christian European Bootheel."

Of course, one should always remember that while some pre existing tensions were capitalized upon, this remains a case of two indigenous groups (Jews, Palestinians) pitted against each other by colonial powers looking to expel one and hope we would both exterminate each other after other methods of eliminating us had failed.

Anyway.

Most gentiles will define zionism as Jewish Nationalism, and they'll say it in the same tone they say nationalist socialism out of fucking spite, because the concept of an indigenous group repatriating to their homeland is somehow indistinguishable from colonizers destroying indigenous populations.

The problem, of course, is that the Israeli Government uses colonizer techniques like "the enemy is both weak and strong" and "kill all their children" etc, and they use them against other indigenous groups, which very, very much makes it look like the second, shittier definition is "the real one."

However, it's important to remember that just because the Israeli government is doing a genocide or six, that doesn't mean the people in Israel, be they of middle eastern or global descent, are to blame.

Zionism is about the right of the people to self determine.

It is misused by propagandistic elements in the Israeli government to justify huge levels of violence, in a way directly copied from the US's use of racial propaganda.

Which means it's especially effective at confusing and muddying American conversations.

So, to put it another way:

If you want to remain ideologically consistent, and you hate "zionism" you must also hate all other nationalist movements, including and especially, nationalist movements focused on re-empowering and re-homing indigenous peoples.

Just because Israel's government is genocidal does not make all Jews who believe in the right to one day return home safely are also evil.

I hope that clarified things! If not, I am turning anon back on for a few days so you can ask followup questions directly.

[walks-the-ages]

It's january, which means it's seed-buying time for many gardeners! So, here is your reminder: Do not buy anything from Baker Creek / Rareseeds. com ; they are racist, anti-vaxxers; they steal varieties from Native communities, are friends with Clive Bundy, wanted to invite Robert F Kennedy Jr to one of their seed expos. They've fundraised for the homophobic and misogynistic Salvation Army

They have adopted young children from asian countries to use as free advertising for their "~exotic Asian seed varieties~" by having them pose with all of the (stolen + renamed) Asian varieties as young children-- might have to check the Wayback Machine to see this in action, or look at physical seed packets for this, as they've cut back on it after coming underfire for such a gross practice.

Anyways, would you like to know who you SHOULD support this year when purchasing seeds?

Experimental Farm Network, who has been nothing but vocally supportive of Palestinians and calling for everyone to do what they can to end the genocide Israel is committing.

[ID: A facebook post by Experimental Farm Network, which shows a hand holding three young, fuzzy Yakteen gourds, which are oblong, light green fruits with a visible fuzz on the outside, with dried blossoms visible on the ends. The post reads: "These are 'Palestine Yakteen' gourds at almost the perfect size for harvest. I normally would've waited to pick them about twice as large, when they're still tender and delicious. But the first big frost (a couple months ago) had killed the plant, so these were officially done. The plant was a volunteer in my backyard. I didn't even know it was there until about September, and in November I was enjoying these first — and last — fruit (with garlic, parsley, salt, and Palestinian olive oil). It was, no doubt, the most bittersweet meal of my life. Today is the 100th day of unimaginable violence against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa is arguing in the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide. Hundreds of Gazans are still dying every day, from bombings, yes, but now also from hunger, thirst, disease, and exposure. From the comfort of our heated homes, with our drinkable running water, working toilets, and well-stocked pantries, in communities with functioning clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies available to us should we need them, it's impossible to really understand what life is like in Gaza right now. It may seem incongruous — or even trite — to post a picture of some pretty vegetables in this context, but the Yakteen can serve as an important reminder of the humanity and beauty of Palestinian people and their ancient culture. They are not nameless, faceless nobodies. They tend gardens, smell flowers, celebrate with family and friends over steaming dishes of lovingly prepared food. They love deeply. They sing and dance and laugh. They are just like you or me. Please do not only remember them today. Take action to help them. Or resolve to take action. Or reach out and ask someone how you can take action. Do something. Please. Because you can. end ID]

This is just one of many posts they have shared on their social medias since the genocide began, and they have been partnered with Palestine Heirloom Seed Library to help raise funds; each packet of seeds from their Palestine collection has 50% of the proceeds going towards funding the Seed Library, and they

If you have friends or family who order from Baker Creek, please let them know exactly who they are supporting -- and reassure them that dozens of other seed companies with much better ethics are out there, offering those exact same "rare" varieties! Seedsavers.org is another great heirloom alternative, with the bonus that they regularly work on seed Rematriation- returning Native heirloom varieties to the indiginous communities who created them

[duskmite]

so a little under a month ago i volunteered at a food bank run by a communist organisation and decided to go along to the meeting afterwards because i thought hey! i'm a socialist who has been to socialist meetings and wants to be more politically active and become better versed in leftist theory so why not?

anyway it was an off the wall experience and i wanted to share it so people can tell me if other communist meetings are like this:

before i start, let me first say that one guy from the organisation called me every single day for five days to confirm i was coming. i understand maybe a second call the day prior to double-check i could still make it but christ. every day? i've already said i'll be there, my guy.

anyway! onto the actual meeting. the first red flag, albeit not a huge one, was that all the chairs faced a desk at the front so we could sit and listen to the speaker. i'm used to a more casual, open setting where everyone faces each other (eg. around a table), but i thought it might be because the room was pretty narrow.

while we waited for the meeting to start, i took the chance to look around the room which i'd only gotten a quick glance at before getting started with the work earlier. on the walls were several framed pictures of marx, lenin, and trotsky. i don't have a massive problem with that as, lenin aside (though obviously i recognise his importance), i admire those men and lowkey would have clement attlee as my pinup girl, but the level of idolatry was a bit unsettling.

the speaker, a young guy from new york, read a long prepared speech covering current affairs worldwide and the communist perspective on said events. i disagreed with some of what he said, but it was mostly informative and interesting.

the first thing that made me consider leaving was something i'll admit was extremely petty: during his speech, johnny new york said the phrase "here in the united states". for context, we were in london.

the speech ended and the floor was opened up for questions and discussion. it was vastly ideological with no talk of action plans for how to make things better. now, i've got no issues with debate! i love debate! but an organisation that puts a heavy emphasis on being anti-war just talking about israel-palestine and russia-ukraine felt strange. in my previously experienced socialist meetings, a lot of the time would be taken up with coming up with ideas, talking about collaborations with other organisations, and letting us know the schedule for actual planned events and demonstrations we could help with. those happened in a town. london is a CITY. there's loads more going on, so many more people we can collaborate with, so why aren't we doing anything? the food bank was great and i get that it takes up a lot of time, but why are you advertising yourself as a fighting force against war if all you're doing is talking about it?

among the ideological comments came a voice from the back of the room, a woman who appeared to be in her late 20s or early 30s. this was where things got truly wild. she expressed admiration for stalin. yes, that stalin. i can't remember where she said she was from (romania maybe?), but it was definitely a former soviet state as she talked about all the good stalin had done for her country while it was under his control. everyone in the room was - and this isn't a phrase i really use anymore - shook. nobody knew what to say or how to react to a bona fide and vehement stalinist. it was at this point my general discomfort turned to a desire to flee.

not long after miss stalin lover had finished her tirade, a young lad i'd been working on a team with at the food bank left. he was nice enough, but strangely out of place being as posh as he was. picture an oxbridge boy who got lost and ended up at king's college studying the bizarre combination of philosophy and maths. though he said he just needed to go home, he'd had some of the same reservations i'd had so i suspect that might also be what tipped him over the edge.

emboldened by his exit, i also left. the serial caller guy hurried after me while another member hurried after oxbridge, asking what we thought of everything before we left. i relayed some of my discomfort and he made sure i knew that he and the organisation disagreed with stalin girl. after some light pressuring, i agreed to come back and help at the food bank sometime, letting him know i'd soon be going back to my hometown for the holidays and would be gone for about a month.

that's where things ended that day, but homeboy called me again about a week ago to follow up. i reminded him that i'm not in london right now and he said he'd call when i was back. i'm feeling uncomfortable with telling him i've decided i won't be coming to help again. i think i'll say something along the lines of i'm planning on volunteering somewhere closer to my flat because i can't afford to take a bus and a tube there and back every week. that's true, but not the whole story.

something else that might be interesting for those who have never been to any kind of leftist meeting: people call you comrade in complete seriousness. i wasn't shocked by this as it was the same in the socialist meetings i went to, but it does still feel weird.

[tom--22--felton]

1) Today I was asked if I was proud to be American. I don't know if their question was meant to be rude, disrespectful, or masking shade. I refused to answer them, because of how they asked. I would never flat out ask if they are proud of where they are from as if they have a choice. And reading a few of these responses as of late, doesn't help. I didn’t want to make this political, but I felt it necessary to share this. Because it’s been on my mind a lot. (Cont....)

2/4 I was born in Germany, and I live in America. I am proud of where I am from and I am proud of where I am living now. I am grateful for the opportunities I have. Not sure why people lately have to be so negative about other countries. Whatever it is happening in Russia, Ukraine, Palestine and Israel are a few examples of situations that people have no control over, and many cannot just leave. No matter what they deserve support. And you do too.

3/4 I have friends in Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel that aren't happy with their own situations or the people that are ruling their countries making poor decisions that affect the world. Remember, no country is perfect, but every country is beautiful and has many things to offer, and that shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked. We need to show more support, empathy and less toxicity, negativity, and judgements.

4/4 To the Anons sharing hate, whether that is to Tom or Roxanne or hating America, the things you post really can trigger someone going through rough times. Think before you speak and be more respectful. How would you feel if the world hated you? Why follow someone you don’t like? It’s a waste of time. Anyways, I know things are tough for you over there for you in Russia, Val, and I just want to let you know you are beautiful inside and out. I hope you are having an amazing day today.

=============

Thank you for saying this. I think it's really important because sometimes people don't even think their words can hurt someone.

As for my day... Actually it's one hell of a Monday :)) When i came to work in the morning, there were about 10 fire brigades there trying to put out a fire. Evrything is fine now, there are no victims, but it was an interesting experience, to say the least :)

Wish you all a good day/evening :)

[p3rry-pi3]

Pin pooooost!

Updated: 9/17/2024 :3

I cannot believe I didn’t bother making a proper one sooner

Anyways, info under the cut cause this thing is long as heck, and I didn’t mean to make it that way.

Uh. I shall give a gold star to whoever reads the whole thing, but DO NOT SKIP the DNI part.

I also want to clarify that I have a section with Palestine content, I know people aren’t willing to always look under the cut to actually look for that kind of stuff (I’m saying this as, most people not generally, but sometimes I do the same thing, as shitty as our attention spans are, I think it’s still important that you check these posts out and reblog them. I have been DEATHLY terrified to reblog and post on this account but that shouldn’t stop anyone from at least reblogging this stuff seeing as this stuff is 1000x more important.)

I’ve copy linked posts where you can find: journalists to support and follow, how you can help Palestine donations or not, what you can do to prevent the voting for more weapons in Israel <- this could be outdated!!, and what to boycott.

Do not, and I mean DO NOT skip that part. I can’t control your actions but YOU can control YOUR OWN. I trust you to reblog, like, and share the posts I link.

Let me know if I should make this a separate post for you to reblog, but I hope this makes it GLARINGLY CLEAR on where I stand.

TW; teeth as header in the start and end :]

🪐🥞🪐🥞🪐🥞🪐🥞🪐🥞🪐

Main info

Hey! I’m Perry! Short for Peregrine :)!

I’m a minor (above 10+, I wanna keep this a 13+ space cause of the cussing and my interests in horror art and other scary games. You kind of have to be 13+ to be on here anyway.)

I’m pretty spiritual

I’m a 4w5 intp. Idk what this says about me to others but uhhhh yeah.

I study the Paranormal and psychology

I like making headcanons and theories :]

I genuinely enjoy character analyses and overall enjoy video essays on media like indie horror and video games

I love hardcore horror and gore arts of all sorts. So beware of some of that. Ofc I’ll put warnings, just lemme know if I missed something. I also cuss a lot on here! So beware of that :)!

It’s come to my attention people have been posting real life gore of stuff like hyenas and actual victims so…That’s not the gore I meant. Fictional gore; FICTIONAL!

I’m new to the tagging system even now, so figuring stuff out is hard, but I’m equipped with enough knowledge on it and will put warnings in tags and captions since I recently learned you can block tags. Which helps loads.

Please be patient with me!^^

I’m trans, transmasc, and genderfluid. My pronouns are he/they.

I’m also working on getting a career or two in film :)!

💫🧇💫🧇💫🧇💫🧇💫🧇💫

Extra info

My favorite colors are purple, red, black, white, and neon pink.

I’m multifandom

Reblogs are much more appreciated but I’m grateful for likes.

I like mixed media.

Pls use tone tags :]

Please reblog artwork! Shitposts are fine for just likes. Text posts to.

I usually stick to canon ships because certain fandoms make it weird, but I haven’t seen anything in the main fandom I’m in, so I like to ship some.

I’m a multishipper. (Again, this applies to certain fandoms.)

I’m generally inactive here and there, but I like posting most of my fanart here when I can or remember I also post stuff on here.

I cuss on here so beware of that ig

I am half Samoan :]!!

I speak fluent English but I am learning some German.

I have social anxiety and anxiety so posts can sometimes be slower than usual since I’m almost always on my own toes. And because I have anxiety, if I’m being awkward, it’s nothing you did or said, I’m just like that in general.

I have horrible memory so if I post twice on the same day or hour it’s prolly because I forgot about it.

I reference lots of lemon demon and jack stauber.

I blame the jack stauber fanbase for my lemon demon obsession.

I’m the oldest of two brothers so you might hear about them here and there but rarely so.

I’m kind of an idiot, so please be patient if I ask you a third time to repeat what you said.

I have ADHD took a lot out of me to confirm I do. So posts may come later or at the same time due to this.

Biiiggggg undertale and fnaf nerd.

I’m an over analyzer who loves theories. Did you know I’m also an overthinker? (<- sarcasm.)

I don’t dream. I have nightmares instead. That’s where I get most of my OCs.

None of my stuff has age ratings unless it’s like tough topics to touch on or something horrifying.

I ramble lots and ramble even more in tags, so there’ll be lots of tags of just me rambling

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

Free Palestine! 🇵🇸🍉

DO NOT SKIP THIS PART!!!!!!!!!

It’s a genocide not a war!!! Z//onists FUCK OFF!!!!!!

I tried to make little watermelon emoji borders so they wouldn’t be confusing, but idk lmk if the borders help section it

I will also continuously update it if needed, and I take constructive criticism if I need to change anything, and no, ‘the only criticism I have is the fact you support Palestine’, or something, isn’t valid criticism. I’ll block you, and it’s not even a funny thing to joke about.

Links I have so far (I wanna remind ppl that if you don’t like seeing your link here just lmk and I’ll take it down, I’m just tryna share the word and I’ll soon make a post on its own abt this cause I think it’d be really important to make a separate post on this)

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Miscellaneous.

(This one is sort of just based off someone else answering an ask but I wanted to copy link this one anyways since by the looks of it, they have a lot of pro-Palestine posts)

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How YOU can help Palestine.

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Palestinian journalists.

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No more weapons for isntreal, ceasefire now.

This could be outdated or time sensitive.

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What to boycott.

🎮🎬🎮🎬🎮🎬🎮🎬🎮🎬🎮

Places you should go

My unvale

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/ratt3nkonig__?igsh=NzA1NGpxYjZ1bGF2&utm_source=qr

Yapping account that won’t let me link for some reason

🎪💌🎪💌🎪💌🎪💌🎪💌🎪

Pfp creds:

https://pin.it/1Jt3pb5eS on Pinterest :3

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Tags I think u should check out on here!^^ /nf

Some doodles :) (doodles that are 9 times out of ten fandom related)

Bugsnax ramblings (I ramble about headcanons, theories, characters, in game stuff, etc.)

Mind rambles (theories, it’s a new tag I’m working on updating soon.)

Rambling about shit (shits and giggles at 3 AM)

Bugsnax shitpost (mother load of idiocy from yours truly)

Some doodles (not aware this existed prolly isn’t even from this blog, not used as much. At least I don’t think I dunno.)

🎸💤🎸💤🎸💤🎸💤🎸💤🎸

Hyperfixations

Bugsnax

Lemon demon

Jack stauber

Mother Mother

Indie horror art

Analog horror

Spiderverse ITSV & ATSV

Franbow

Sallyface

Undertale

Undertale AUs

DHMIS

Mr. Plant (from Ashur Gharavi)

CoD MW2, Cold War Black ops (18+ content CoD blogs DNI)

Venom (Mostly the movies, but I also enjoy the comics.)

TF2/Team Fortress 2

Death Note (anime) (pray for me…)

Attack on Titan (anime) (I’m revisiting my anime phase, clearly…)

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DNI!!!

LGBTphobes

Furry haters/anti-furrys

Proshippers/comshippers.

Ableists

MAP (not the art collab meaning, but the other meaning)

Anti-antis

Racists

Z00ph1les

Zi0nists

Anti-microlabels (it is extremely important to me that you understand this is something that’s part of me to a spiritual level. I will fight you.)

In terms of the fandoms Death Note and CoD, I’d like it if you’re not a 18+ CoD blog. I am a minor and since 18+ is unwelcoming to minors - pls do not interact. Mello x Near shippers are thin ice but it’s not like you can’t interact. They just make me uncomfortable when shipped together cause I view them as brothers more than anything and I see them as L’s little honorary brothers (or his kids as canon was originally gonna be) too. So any Meronia shippers are not unwelcomed but I am hesitant to accept any interaction from them. Matt and Mello shippers are fine. Same with Matt and Near.

If you’re anything of the above, please get off my page/blog.

I don’t have much of a DNI, just be respectful and mindful.

Might expand if needed.

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Did you read it?

Did you read the whole thing or at least the “DNI” parts?

Here’s a gold star, as promised: ⭐️

Alright. Go nuts. Be respectful.

[endcant]

Making My Own Post™️ because im not indigenous, and because the post that spurred this on was about Palestine as well, so i don’t want to derail it. that said, it does have me very emotional because i grew up in the central valley of california, and i do my best to pay attention to the land i’m on and the people who know it best. i think that anybody who really cares about the land that america encompasses and learning about what it was like before it was devastated by the arrival of white people would be able to understand my frustration.

i love the valley now, even in its dry and wounded state, because it is where i grew up, but it is obvious that the land was far, far healthier when it was in the care of the indigenous people of the area. that is because the ecosystem was maintained by and for those people.

i’m not indigenous, so i don’t presume to have any better knowledge than what was shared in the other post (which you really should check out before reading on), but what @omusa-inola and @dojense shared was the same as what i learned in my own personal research. the valley used to be home to black oak forests, which were maintained by the indigenous people that live there. black oaks are huge trees which provide essential shade from the intense central valley sun. black oaks also build a root network that nourishes other plants that the indigenous people of the area (including the miwoks, but also other tribes) relied on prior to the destruction of the oaks.

there is a very small black oak grove near where i used to live (that is now being threatened by kudzu, sadly) and standing underneath the cathedral-like shelter of a black oak’s sprawling branches and seeing what grows in their shadow really contextualizes the struggle of the valley. it’s obvious if you open your eyes and look. things grow easily under the black oaks. they don’t elsewhere. meanwhile, white people struggle to grow non-native crops under the direct sun, in huge monocultural fields, by dousing them with water daily. white people act like the valley is dry and barren by nature now, but it doesn’t have to be. it wasn’t before.

if you read that other post, you might be finding it clear that genocidal action and ecological disaster absolutely go hand in hand. both play into each other. california is just one example of that. the healthy, abundant ecosystem that worked for the valley, that was maintained by and for the indigenous people, was destroyed. the oaklands were chopped down, taking the livelihood of the indigenous people with them— all in order to make way for the white way of life. even now, surviving native plant and wildlife continues to die off every day as farms till to prepare for another season of stripping the soil of water and nutrients for profit, and even as farms are torn up and replaced by houses and apartments for the ever-increasing number of those who want to strike it rich in the golden state. public schools in CA continue to refuse to teach the truth about the indigenous people of the region, denying their importance and existence. sacred & historic sites are torn up because they’re worth so much more to capitalism if they’re replaced by a shitty apartment building or whatever.

the disturbed land of the valley is not only home to crops and densely-packed little houses, but it is also home to viciously invasive and highly flammable grasses that literally didnt exist in california before white people brought them over in bags of grain and crop seeds. the native plants that do manage to sprout up between the strawberries and almond trees are destroyed by tilling, but the tilling literally perpetuates the life cycle of these invasive grasses which choke out other life, suck the nutrients and water out of the soil, and then die on top of it in a dry, flammable heap. those invasive grasses also dominate the yellow, barren cow pastures between the orchards, and the black-burnt shoulders of the highways.

it’s confusing and mind-numbing to try to understand how California keeps making ecologically devastating decisions while maintaining the reputation of a Good, Liberal State. at least it was that way for me, until one of my visits to the black oak grove during that period of my life where i was struggling to grow my own food to eat. i saw how easily life springs up under the shadows of the trees even in the heat of a valley summer, and remembered that white people tore all of those life-giving trees down to plant rows of crops to sell off and to build labyrinths of identical houses. the answer is that the state of california is just another part of the capitalist colonial government that exists to perpetuate itself and kill everything and everyone that stands in its way, even until there is no california to rule over, burnt to the ground and then swallowed by the pacific.

no one has cared for the land better than the indigenous people who colonizers set out to erase. dont forget the damage that is done, because colonizer governments with no attachment to the land will never fix the ecological disasters they benefit from, even if that government is california, which brands itself as the most climate-conscious and progressive state. i encourage other americans to research the land you live on to learn what it was and who took care of it before it became built cookie-cutter houses, lawns, and factory farms. listen to the voices of indigenous people around you. it will be frustrating and saddening to learn what has been destroyed, but we have to learn.

anyway. #landback

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

paradoxnpits replied to your post “I saw some people suggest that Harry should donate whatever he makes...”

I am curious about what happened with Lorde. I haven't heard about anything with her.

So I realised that the story of Lorde’s cancellation of a gig in Tel Aviv demonstrates quite a lot of the points I was making and is worth going into.

In December 2017, Lorde announced a tour that included a gig in Tel Aviv.  For about fifteen years, Palestinian civil society groups have been calling for Boycotts, Disinvestments and Sanctions of Israel in support of their campaign against the occupation, the discrimination against Palestinians in Israel and for the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.  The call for BDS is based on the South African anti-apartheid campaign and calling for a cultural boycott of Israel is an explicit part of the campaign.

Supporters of BDS called on Lorde to cancel the gig.  Two young New Zealand women activists Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab wrote an open letter calling for her to cancel.  As you can see they wrote as activists and as New Zealanders, they did not write as fans.  Lorde tweeted the open letter and said she had lots to think about and then cancelled the gig. 

There were consequences for the women involved.  An Israeli teenager sued them in Israeli court and got awarded thousands of dollars. The order cannot, be enforced in NZ, but Nadia Abu-Shanab, who is Palestinian and has family in Palestine will never be able to go back (she would probably have struggled to return anyway, given her activism - but in addition if she did the Israeli court could enforce this judgement against).

The first point is that the women spoke as activists - they both have a long history of activism on this issue and speak from authority because of that history. In addition, their action wasn’t minor.  It’ll have life long repercussions, particularly on Nadia Abu Shanab.  Changing a celebrity’s mind and getting them to cancel a gig is a substantial undertaking.

The other point is the cultural context they were writing in - and in which the whole discussion was taking place in.  The international boycott of South Africa is incredibly important to left-wing and liberal NZers, because the question of sporting contacts with South Africa was an intensely important political issue for thirty years - including pitched battles on the streets and mass resistance.  Protesters managed to stop the first game that would have been broadcast live, and Nelson Mandela said that when he heard that this had happened from jail, it was like the sun coming out.

When arguing for the cultural boycott of Israel Nadia Abu-Shanab and Justine Sachs were able to pull on a very strong cultural narrative that emphasised the importance of following interational boycotts.  And here’s the key thing: Lorde’s family, friends and family friends included a lot of people (particularly of the older generation) who participated in the anti-apartheid movement (this is obvious enough to be fact in NZ).  I remember at the time thinking: “she’s going to have to cancel, because otherwise she’s going to spend all Christmas hearing from older people how they personally ended apartheid”.

What I want to emphasise and why I’m telling this story - is that Lorde wasn’t persuaded by an abstract moral argument.  She was persuaded by a political argument that started from a shared cultural narrative that those making it could be fairly sure she supported.  And I think there’s every reason to believe that people she actually knew and actually had relationships with were key to her decision. 

Cancelling a gig is a serious political action by a celebrity - and the reason I tell this story is to give a sense of what it involves.  In terms of standing based on existing activism and also huge costs to those concered, but also that the campaign was only successful because of shared cultural narratives and the relationships Lorde had.

[scottstiles]

clarz

replied to your post

“hi divvy! i know you are MAD right now, so don't answer this until you...”

thanks so much for answering this! tbh i love the fact that you're religious and that you clearly love it so much. i went to a very catholic college, so that kind of thoughtful and deep connection with religion and tradition is important to me, and i love seeing it in other people. it's an important part of who you are! and part of the reason i asked is because you mentioned disliking the performance thing in your initial post, and i really connect with that. when i was growing up, the church i went to was pretty plain and traditional (despite very liberal politics and interpretations of scripture.) most of the other people i knew who went to church were evangelical and/or southern baptist, and i always disliked that their churches had like, full rock bands at services, and poppy contemporary melodies to "hymns." i understand that they're trying to make church fun, but it always made me suspicious and felt disingenuous.                  i don't think religious services should be a chore, certainly, but i also don't think that they should be "fun" in that way. that's not the purpose of religion. i don't think religion should become more like entertainment or performance, because it's supposed to be a space that's completely different from the rest of the world. it makes it feel less holy to me. so i definitely relate to how you feel there. also, how did you end up feeling about the service in the moment? (and i'd love to hear about the ma'apilim sometime)                                            

SORRY I DIDN’T ANSWER THESE BEFORE CUZ I REALLY WANTED TO BUT PROCRASTINATION IS MY MIDDLE NAME (jk it’s tzviya but try saying that ten times fast. or just one time. slow.)

HERE WE GO:

1- i love finding other people who feel close to their religion, no matter what it is. i remember in teacher’s college i just naturally gravitated to the only catholic girls in my classes i guess simply because i enjoyed talking to them? we weren’t there learning to teach religion, but i’m always fascinated by what other people feel about it. i’ve found myself thinking on more than one occasion that i feel more comfortable with people who have that side to themselves, like me, rather than people who don’t interact/think about/believe in any of that kinda stuff. (im being purposefully vague because it’s a huge generalization, but nonetheless true-ish for me, i often find myself sharing much more common ground with palestinian muslims, for example, than a french canadian montrealer). i guess especially because religion is not something i consider a defining trait of mine, and im just in constant evolution with respect to that. judaism is so much more than just a belief in god or a practice of the rituals and commandments.

2- how fascinating to find someone in my age bracket who feels the same way about music in prayer. my problem has always been that i LOVE music, and its so personal and emotional that i DO see it fitting seamlessly with prayer but... it’s the setting that has always bothered me. it just never felt right for me in a synagogue. like you said, it’s just a different space. i don’t know about church and ‘making it fun’ but i definitely can imagine plenty of religions use music to draw in otherwise disinterested people who find prayer “boring” or pointless. music is awesome! i just wish people could feel the music in their soul as a separate entity from external music, like from an instrument. idk i guess i just really love singing XD and i wish it wasn’t always a performance or a competition of voices, because i think prayer should be personal. even if it’s between a community, its still voices connecting to each other. i’m reminded of Hannah’s prayer, in the book of Samuel (the prophet- his mother), she’s at the temple on one of the annual pilgrimages with her family and she’s depressed because she doesn’t have any children and her husband’s other wife just keeps popping out babies left and right. so she goes to be alone somewhere in the temple, and she’s weeping and praying to god for a child. Eli, the high priest, comes in and sees her shaking and moving her lips real fast so he goes, “hey, you shouldn’t be drinking in here” and she’s like “im not drunk, i’m praying”. so that’s the first place we read about a person actually praying, and not out loud. this was like a huge revelation to the priest cuz clearly he’d never seen that before, and now the tradition has become to pray like hannah. (as an aside, if u ever see the propaganda videos made by the nazis, they use footage of synagogues to show how loony tunes those jews are with their muttering and their rocking back and forth). cuz like, prayer is supposed to be out loud? ahaha anyway i forgot where i was going with this but... oh ya, okay, so prayer didn’t really exist (as we know it, in judaism- and therefore christianity/islam/western monotheism) until that point- it was all about the sacrifices. and the temple ritual was replete with music and instruments like the shofar, timbrels, lutes, blabla other ancient instruments. but since then, we’ve been meant to use our voices alone. so says tradition, i guess.

3- so i did go to services on yom kippur (kol nidre) but not at my shul. i went with my sister to the chabad house near my parents, and it was....not great. but it was compounded by a lot of factors- i got a wicked cold the day or two before, so my nose was running a marathon and i was coughing like a 90yr old with emphysema. i got my period that morning so i was on an extra steep emotional rollercoaster that i just somehow could barely control. so we sat on the other side of the mechitzah (the separation barrier between men and women), the rabbi/cantor stood at the head in the middle so we could all see, and we all prayed out loud, no hush on the women’s side or anything (pretty typical from what i remember of camp/school prayer services). but of course the tunes were not quite what i’m used to, and there was a bit of annoying stuff that just irks me as a perfectionist (like they use a lot of yiddish pronunciation of the hebrew words, injecting a bunch of oy oy oys and ahoyhoyhoys in random places, in fact i leaned over to my sister at one point and was like ‘did ned flanders write this nigun (tune)?’), but altogether i guess it was better than watching an orchestra perform the prayer? idk it was pretty bad, on an emotional level, but not in hindsight. im very good at ruining things for myself through sheer stubbornness. i must have embarrassed my sister just by existing next to her, poor girl, she really wanted me to like it. i’m glad it’s over, and hopefully by next year ill be back in nyc or some other city so i wont have to worry about it.

4- MA’APILIM!!!!! okay so this was my absolute favoritest thing as a kid and i can’t wait to describe it to you. one night in camp, every summer, the counselors and cits would wake us up at like 3am by barging into our cabins chanting (screaming, really) “MA’APILIM, MA’APILIM BEH-MASSAD, BEH-MASSAD. MATCHIL HALAYLA MATCHIL HALAYLA BEH-MASSAD, BEH-MASSAD.” which translates to : “ma’apilim at massad (the name of my camp) starts tonight.” i’m singing it in my head as i type XD. so they’d be screaming and we’d be tumbling bleary eyed out of bed to grab our socks and sweatshirts and run over to the flagpole (keep in mind i was 8 when i first experienced this, and we’ve had kids as young as 6 at camp). once we had all gathered in line with our bunkmates, the counselors and cits put on a little “skit”.

basically they acted like they were nazis and jews, and did a little skit of some basic bad holocaust stuff (don’t ask me to remember the exact details we’re talkin at least 20 years since i last did this) to scare the pants off of us. kids would always cry already at this point from the shouting. we’d all kinda follow into this “play” (sorry idk what else to call it), and marched over to the gym where we watched a fake hanging on the stage. they literally. hanged someone. in front of us. a fake noose, of course, duh, i remember my counselor showing it to me, but traumatizing to say the least (i still remember the name of the counselor they “hanged”- not sure this ever happened more than once but ill never forget it).

then we’d all hustle down to the waterfront, again “playing” the role of holocaust victims/survivors after these little “skits” had sort of put us in the headspace, and we play along, imagining we’d just experienced these things and were now running from it. it was terrifying and exhilarating as a small child, and an even more unbelievably emotional thrill ride as i got older and became pseudo-obsessed with holocaust lit and facts in general in my life (it never did go away but everything changes with age). ANYWAYS so down at the waterfront we got a speech from another counselor playing a member of the haganah (the main jewish defense force in palestine leading up to independence, which ben gurion later turned into the IDF). sidebar for a little history: in the 40s the yishuv (jewish agency) and the haganah began a mission called aliyah bet, “the second immigration,” an illegal smuggling operation to bring refugees from the holocaust into palestine under the noses of the british, since almost all countries in the world had barred their doors to jewish immigration from europe (a high level member of the canadian government is famously recorded as having answered, when asked how many jews they should let in, that “none is too many”). volunteer seamen from the US and canada and other countries crossed the ocean on cargo ships hastily refurbished to fit hundreds of people, picking up thousands of refugees in europe to smuggle them onto the beaches of haifa and tel aviv. paul newman has a lovely half nekid scene of this in the movie Exodus when he jumps off the ship in the middle of the night and swims up onto the beach- one of my fave movies ever and pretty much the story of aliyah bet (albeit with tremendous hollywood embellishment and only mild accuracy). these refugees who became illegal immigrants (caught or not) were known as “ma’apilim”- the root of the word is to “climb” or to “rise up”, and is found in the bible referring to the israelites who were still eager to enter the land even after the negative report of the spies.

okay so basically this was the idea. we were “playing” these illegal immigrants who had just escaped the holocaust, and were now facing another threat in the form of the british who were doing their best to keep them out of palestine. k so we’re down at the waterfront. all the kids get divided into small groups of about 10 or so, with one or two counselors at the helm to be our “haganah operatives” and guides to the end. what end, you say? so the camp is spread out into 2 areas, the main camp where the younger kids cabins were, and the dining hall and the gym and the waterfront, etc. then there’s a road in the middle of the camp, and beyond it a hill leading up to the senior cabins and some sports fields at the top. the goal was for each group to make it through camp to the top of the hill without getting caught by the “british,” played by the cits who were roaming around camp.

idk if i have to describe camp further for people who don’t know the concept, but basically we’re all in the middle of the damn woods with nothing around us for miles except the lake and the camps on the other side of it or down the road. ill never forget my first ma’apilim (tbh most of my description is from then, which is why its so fuzzy cuz these memories are 20+ years old), i was so lucky to get the tripper as our group leader (the tripper is the “nature dude” in camp, the survivalist ;). he immediately led us underneath the gym (which of course was just insane to my small mind... UNDER the gym??) to plan our route and give us instructions. we organized a roll call and signals, we practiced walking in a single file line silently and dropping to the ground on his signal. we smeared dirt on our faces for camo in the woods. it was *mason voice* intense. k so then as you can guess, we snuck our way up the hill through the woods. sometimes we’d encounter other groups, once in awhile i remember getting caught by a cit, and they’d take all or some of us to the “jail” on the basketball court” where we’d have to wait for a jailbreak (idk how that worked but it did, i remember it happening but not in any detail). a famous prison break that DID happen was at acre prison in 1947 when the irgun (another paramilitary jewish group) blew up the prison and broke out 28 of their members and 214 arab prisoners. if im not mistaken they briefly refer to it in exodus by recreating a prison break. exciting times. ANYWAYS fuck im such a tangential bitch sorry XD, by the end of the night we’d all make it to the top- “jerusalem”- and we’d have hot chocolate and say morning prayers as the sun rose over the hill. 

i feel like my description is a little lacking, but hopefully u get the basic picture. ma’apilim wasn;t even the heaviest part of camp- that was tisha b’av- the fast day when we commemorate the destruction of the temple and every other traumatic destructive event the jewish people have gone thru. that night they’d prepare the camp with candles in sand filled paper bags lining all the paths. after dinner we’d walk with our bunks on the path and watch little skits in different parts of camp- scenes from these moments in jewish history, like the holocaust, pogroms in europe, the spanish inquisition, terror attacks in israel, etc. after walking the path we’d all convene back at the waterfront, where they’d set out a small reconstructed “temple” on a makeshift raft in the lake, and a banner on the beach that said “yizkor”- remember. then they’d light both on fire and we’d sit and watch them burn while singing appropriately somber songs like eli eli, by hannah senesz. after that we’d go back to the gym and lie on the floor in small groups huddled around candles. we’d listen as some people chanted the book of eicha (lamentations), and would slowly fall asleep (depending on our age, of course). anyone that was still up after that was over got to stay in the gym if they wanted to watch exodus- a 4 hour movie. the next day we’d fast all day (only those who wanted- 13 y/o +) and treated it basically like shabbat- no regular activities.

MAN did i get some wild shit imprinted on me from camp!! but i don’t regret one second. i only wish other people could have the experience i did, but i dont even know if they still do that there. they probably do, but this old lady has no excuses to step foot in a summer camp anymore :(

as a completely coincidental aside and not at all as a self promo, idk if u knew this but i’ve been working on a documentary for over a year now and this whole thing is a major part of the plot. i interviewed a lady who was a passenger on the exodus, and about 4 or 5 people who were volunteers from montreal/new york/new jersey/toronto that picked up and smuggled the refugees. the stories are incredible. i just hope the rest of the world will get to hear it from their mouths one day. all we need is 100k to finish the film XD