#civilians being murdered is a tragedy

[connectingconstellations]

Hi the world sucks and I have to stay off all my other social media because it's flooded with graphic images showing how much it sucks so send me some happy things please

[thedreadvampy]

legitimately insane how to some people, "we should wipe out this ethnic group that we've violently constrained to a ghetto because they're just genetically more violent and dangerous" is a reasonable and justifiable statement but it's Nazi Rhetoric to say something like, "it's bad that Israeli civilians are being killed but acknowledging that as tragic includes acknowledging that the almost daily state-sanctioned murder of civilians by the Israeli government is also tragic and unacceptable"

btw guys speaking of Nazi shit - can we check in, alongside what's been done to Palestinians in the last 75 years, what's the Israeli government's take on the Azerbaijani government's newest round of ethnic cleansing of Armenians? oh are the Israeli government's actions maybe not determined by Jewish identity, but by a commitment to colonial supremacy which puts them on the same page as other violently genocidal states like Azerbaijan, the US, and the UK? god can you Even Imagine?

(framing speaking against Israeli war crimes as inherently antisemitic requires understanding the Israeli state as representing all Jewish people, when it doesn't even represent all Israelis.

framing Israeli war crimes as synonymous with Jewish identity is pretty fucked up if we're being honest. I don't think that controlling water and power and movement for a captive population and shooting children dead for throwing stones is an inherent value of Judaism, any more than I think the torture carried out at Guantanamo Bay is an inherent value of Christianity - in both cases they're atrocities carried out by a far right genocidal government using religious identity as a shield.

Calling statements like "Israel is committing genocide against the people it's displaced" inherently antisemitic is doing more to further the idea that all Jewish people are associated with Israel than saying "the Israeli government is doing war crimes," which is a statement of fact about a country that exists and does war crimes. Is criticism of Israel as a nation often used as cover for antisemitism? Absolutely. Does that mean the Israeli government isn't doing literal war crimes repeatedly, on record, while talking publicly about scrubbing an ethnic group off the map? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well in the last 48 hours they've definitely cut off water and power to almost 600,000 civilians and allegedly used white phosphorus against civilians so in an extremely factual and unambiguous way yeah man those are Literal War Crimes whoever does them.)

[luanna801]

I truly hate "Why aren't you posting about THIS" posts, because the majority of the time I think people genuinely just aren't aware of the issue, and in any case it's impossible to post about every single Bad Thing happening in the world, and we would make ourselves crazy trying. I truly don't think anyone is obligated to post about any particular thing, ever.

With that said, I'm not naive enough to think people are somehow unaware of what's currently a major national news story. And I'm also very, very aware that if nearly 1,000 Jews had been murdered in any other circumstances, I would be seeing posts expressing heartbreak and solidarity and support for the Jewish people. Hell, I'd probably be seeing it if a tenth of that number had been killed.

Provided, of course, the culprit was politically convenient.

But these Jews, you've been told, were ~evil colonialist oppressors~. The murder of these Jews isn't a tragedy, it's a form of progressive activism. It doesn't matter that they were unarmed civilians. It doesn't matter if they were children or the elderly. Their deaths are justified, and to even express any sympathy or condolence is to have your leftist credentials questioned.

I understand. Truly, I do. It's hard to speak up when you might get painted as the villain for doing so. I blame no one, and like I said, no particular person is obligated to say anything. But the collective silence is very, very noticeable, where I know that silence wouldn't be there under different circumstances.

This is why I don’t trust the community on tumblr when they claim to care about Jewish people. They'll happily join in to fight right-wing antisemitism, and I'll happily take that allyship. They'll even call out leftist antisemitism, to a point. But when it's just too controversial, they won't speak up for the mass murder of Jews on a scale that surpasseses literally any other event in recent history.

As Jews we notice that, and it does not make us feel safe. And we'll remember it next time there's a convenient talking point and you tell us all you've got our backs. Forgive me if it will ring a bit hollow.

[transmutationisms]

some ppl on here honestly need a refresher on the us govt's current and historical imperialist bomb apologia. these positions have included, in various combinations and permutations:

-it was a tragedy, but a necessary and gravely chosen one

-it was a few scientists gone rogue, disobeying the noble orders of the us govt

-it was the us govt gone rogue, deviating from the noble aims of the good scientists

-it ended the war

-japan brought it upon their own civilians by being a belligerent and warlike nation

-the scientists felt really bad about it

-the scientists later got unfairly scapegoated for having been leftists (yes this is a real thing people still say about physicists who explicitly deliberately worked for the us govt)

-it was still a scientific achievement, though the knowledge gained was used immorally

-it was a horrible mistake and everyone learned an important lesson

-they underestimated how many japanese would be murdered, disabled, or injured, and wouldn't have dropped bombs if they'd known

-it saved lives 'in the long run'

if you are repeating any of these things in regards to a christopher nolan film based on a revisionist history explicitly aimed to 'redeem' j robert oppenheimer's legacy, then congrats! you are not immune to propaganda!

[notaplaceofhonour]

btw, Aaron Bushnell spent the months leading up to his death posting shit like this:

Hamas apologia, reveling in the deaths on 10/7, claiming “there are no Israeli ‘civilians’” and calling Israeli existence inherently genocidal.

so no, I don’t give a shit if I “disrespect his legacy” or whatever. I fully believe every death is a tragedy, including his—he has my pity for being radicalized in such a self-destructive way—but to extend any further respect than that to an atrocity apologist like him would be to spit on the graves of all those murdered on 10/7.

Bushnell wanted Israelis to be ethnically cleansed. he wanted the mass slaughter of Jews. I think the dissonance & self-hatred he expressed in saying he deserves to be killed as a colonizer himself is a huge part of what led him to kill himself rather than be a living advocate. this is what comes of this ideology: death.

he craved violence, and in the end, he got it. that is a tragedy. I can only be grateful that he didn’t take anyone else with him.

[of-solitude-past-and-present]

Warnings: branding (of reader), as well as typical yandere themes like abduction, mentioned murder, mentioned violence, and threats.

There are also slight spoilers for the main quest (Idk how the quests are organized yet HAKDHD I didn't pay attention. But I'm at the point where I have to get to union lvl 21 to continue the main quest, so no spoilers for those quests).

ALSO HI LADIES here's your yearly fanfic. The drabbles are in chronological order. Its nearly 2.9k words total. Goodbye now.

Scar is a busy man who, by the nature of his work, can't settle down in any one place for too long.

It's what is keeping you sane, honestly. You only have a certain dramatic, scarred, card-wielding bastard on your couch (or, as is becoming more frequent, next to you when you wake up) for a few days every once in a while. His visits are irregular and unpredictable, just like he is. 

That doesn't make it much better, though. He seems to take pride in being a pest. Scar loves attention, and unfortunately, he's not above being annoying to get it. From monologues about the great Lament to asking you about tragedies that seem random, until he openly admits to being the culprit so he can tell the story, there's little he won't do to keep your eyes on him. None of it is anything that would be helpful to the authorities, of course, but there's not much to avoid talking about there. The Fractsidus has always made their ideals quite clear, after all.

One of the first things you do when you find him, relaxing in your living room like he owns it, is threaten to tell the higher-ups about him.

"Alright, then. Go right ahead!" With a seemingly carefree smile, he crosses his legs on your couch, feet on the table and all, and gestures towards the front door.

You narrow your eyes at him and back away, not tearing them away for a second. He snorts and gives you a small, sarcastic little wave and an ingenuine closed-eye smile.

Your back hits the door behind you, so you're forced to turn around to undo the deadbolt. Right as you do, though, a strange, bright red blanket of cards spreads up from beneath your feet, encasing you in a dome. You blink, and you're under a red sky on a desolate, floatibg island. Whirling all around you is a maelstrom of decimated buildings and pillars.

You whirl on your feet, and your eyes land on him, standing only a few feet away from you with one hand on his hip. A muted sense of anxiety thrums uneasily in the back of your mind. Your eyes meet his, one red and the other a dull gray, and you think you finally understand how a deer in headlights feels.

"Are you going to kill me?" Your voice is eerily steady and calm, belying the anxiety and adrenaline rushing through your veins. It sounds alien to your ears.

He outright laughs in your face and leans in close. "What reason would I have to lie?" he asked. "If I did want to kill you, I'd just tell you. There's nothing you could do to stop me." He places a hand on your head and ruffles your hair, undeterred by your instinctual flinch.

"Remember this. With the new Lament growing ever closer, nobody has the resources or time to spare to keep a simple civilian, like you, safe from someone like me." Scar's tone lowers towards the end with a dark promise, and his smile sharpens into a smirk.

He turns on one heel and walks away. With a snap of his fingers, the chaotic scenery melts away to reveal your simple living room once again. "Consider that a warning. Even if you did tell anyone, do you think they could do anything that would help you?" He looks over his shoulder at you, his dim, empty eyes flashing dangerously.

"Think about the price they would have to pay for your own desperation."

Night has long since fallen, but you're still out and about. It's not that you have anything left to do, it's just... when you go home, you're going to have to see Scar again. If you have to listen to another of his monologues, you might actually try to kill him. It's not because you're a little scared of him. Of course not.

(Your eyes still dart around nervously, jumping at any flash of red you see.)

You check your phone for the time, only to find it's just past midnight. Everything is closed, and you're really not sure what to do now. Maybe you should just suck it up and go home. The thought has you slumping your shoulders with a defeated sigh.

A hand clamps down on your mouth, and another strong arm wraps around your waist, pulling you against a firm chest. In a panic, you kick and flail and try your best to scream, but it's all futile. They drag you into the alleyway behind you anyway.

"Relax! It's just me," Scar purred, the hints of a laugh tinging his voice. His breath fans against your ear. "I've just noticed... You've been spending so much time out and about, it's like you’ve forgotten about me. Consider my feelings hurt."

Scar pulls the both of you into one of his all-too-familiar crimson portals. You try to pipe up with some snide comments or annoyed curses, but his hand only presses more firmly against your mouth.

"Ah-ah-ah." He moves his hand into your sight from your waist just to wag a claw-tipped finger at you before he places it back, securing you against him again.

It's only a few seconds before a wall in your bedroom comes into view and the red light of the portal behind you disappears. All of a sudden Scar falls backwards, pulling you helplessly along with him. You make an embarrassing, surprised little squeak on the way down, reflexively clinging to him until you both land on the bed behind you.

He lets out an amused little chuckle and rolls over, putting you both on your sides with his chest pressed against your back. He buries his face in your throat with a sigh and finally frees your mouth so he can hold you close like a plushie.

"I know what you were trying to do," he murmurs into your ear, a threatening undertone to his voice.

Your breath catches in your throat before you can stop it. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just busy."

His lips dance across your skin, and you can feel his smile against your throat. "You don't think I'm gullible, do you?"

Well, dammit. So much for that. You try to look at him to gauge his reaction, but his arms only tighten around you. His face is hidden in your neck anyway, so it's a lost cause.

"I'm... sorry?"

"As long as you don't try it again, dollface."

For a few months, maybe a year (depending on the timing and your temperament) Scar doesn't think he'll need to kidnap you. You're somewhere safe, in a place where he can come find you whenever he pleases. Why bother? Besides, it's nice watching you go about your day.

Unfortunately, he slowly comes around more and more over time, making this outcome inevitable. There are two primary factors. The prophecy is the first; his free time dwindles more and more as it nears its fulfillment, and the idea of having you available at any given moment becomes a more alluring prospect day by day. Alternatively, you're too desperate to get rid of him, and he decides it would be easier to isolate you, away from any "pesky helpers," as he would put it.

Scar tosses the idea around in his mind for a few days before he makes his final decision. He won't even keep it a secret from you, either; he tells you this casually in the spur of the moment, in a bid for your attention. Maybe you seem disinterested, too busy paying attention to something else. Maybe you've realized his "weakness," as you might call it, and tried to give him the silent treatment. Either way, what you do can push him towards a decision a little early. He usually takes great care to reign in his impulses, but with you, he doesn't have to. An ordinary citizen like yourself would have quite a bit of difficulty getting away from him, after all. He finds your helplessness freeing, to a degree.

"I've been thinking lately," Scar trails off, clearly fishing for your response.

"You can do that?" It's out of your mouth before you can think to stop it. You almost regret giving him what he wants, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. At the very least, you can focus on the dishes you're washing instead of sparing him a glance.

He snorts, but otherwise doesn't acknowledge your comment. "I think it's about time we take our relationship to the next level. Don't you?"

Your head snaps in his direction. "The hell does that mean?" you demand. Your face twists in a mixture of confusion and slowly dawning horror, an expression the bastard revels in. His toothy grin widens, and with a flick of his wrist, he produces a card out of thin air to idly spin and flip between his fingers.

"It's been really nice spending time with you here, you know? But unfortunately, duty calls, and I can't always spare the time to come visit." Scar sighs dramatically with an exaggerated frown, resting both arms on the back of your couch. "It's such a shame. I'm sure you miss me, don't you?"

You uneasily turn back to the dishes, putting another on the drying rack and picking up a new one. "Not really. Don't you have any friends to talk to?"

"And there's the other point!" You refuse to look at him, but you can hear his footsteps as he leisurely saunters to the kitchen. You try to focus on scrubbing off a particularly stubborn patch of grease on your pan. "You can be so hard to deal with sometimes! It makes me wonder if all the effort I go through to keep you happy is worth it."

You furrow your brows, a frown tugging at your lips. The moment you move to speak, a red-tipped finger comes from behind to press against your lips in a shushing motion. "Now, now, dear. No need to tell me it isn't true." His face leans into view from over your shoulder with a smile. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be just as excited for this as I am."

"Excited for wh-"

Scar cuts you off without words, making the world spin as he turns you around to face him. Your pan falls with a clatter, and suddenly you're faced away from the window above the sink and looking up into his face, split by an ear-to-ear grin. His pupils are blown wide with excitement, lit up by a manic glint in his usually dull irises.

"You're coming with me. You have three days to write out your will and say goodbye to the people you care about," he spoke, his voice rough at the edges and trembling with suppressed amusement. His hands rest on the edge of the counter on each side of you, caging you in. "Try to run away or tell anyone, and I'll kill them all. Obey, and they can live."

Scar leans in so close that his nose brushes yours, with a stare so intense you would have thought his eyes were glowing. "We have a lot of things we can do with their bodies. Would you like to see what a Tacet Discord born of human flesh looks like?"

You can't tear your eyes away from his intense, bright stare for even a second. With slow, trembling movements, you shake your head.

"Now that's what I wanted to see." Scar leans in, pressing a kiss to your lips, only pulling away after a long moment. "Not so hard, was it? I'm sure you'll be alright, there's no need to be scared!" He brightens up in a flash, any trace of his previous threats gone. He licks his lips as he turns away from you.

"All that being said, I'm sure something similar will happen to your family in the true Lament, so it doesn't matter. But if it makes you happy, I don't mind leaving them be in the meantime." Scar looks up at nothing in particular, summoning another card to toy with idly. His spare hand rests behind his back.

"Isn't it boring how the world is stagnating?" Scar starts up again. "Chaos, as orchestrated by the great Threnodians, can create a form of equality impossible to achieve with our current status quo..." His voice turns fuzzy in your mind as you tune his droning out. Three days? Where is he taking you? What about your life?

You take a shaky breath, bringing a hand up to tug at your hair. Wasn't there anything you could do? All his talk of controlling one's own destiny flashes in your mind, mocking you. Would you ever see your family again?

You only realize that Scar has noticed your breakdown when he places a hand on your shoulder and pulls you close. "Aww, don't cry," he murmurs, wiping away tears you didn't even realize were falling with a thumb. "It's not so bad, I promise." His lips stretch into a facsimile of a comforting smile, and he strokes your hair in an attempt at comfort. He pulls your face into his shoulder, periodically shushing you.

You stay like that for a few minutes, and when he deems you suitably stable, he moves to lean on you with one arm on your shoulder, the other outstretched before the both of you in a grand gesture. "Don't worry, just imagine it. Wouldn't it be lovely, being safe and sound by my side in my new world?"

"Not at all. Are you sure you don't hate me?" You mumble, your voice rough and tired.

He rolls his eyes. "Darling, I could never. Oh well, I'm sure you'll come around." Scar shrugs it off. Suddenly, he snaps his fingers, and his eyes flash, as though he had remembered something important. "Oh, by the way, the rest of today is the first of the three days. Would you like to get a head start?"

Fuck.

One day, Scar returns from one of his excursions with a plan in mind. Without a word, he sits you down in the makeshift infirmary of his Fractsidus hideout of choice for the week. For once, he refuses to answer any of your questions, instead opting to gather a few medical supplies from around the room. When he's satisfied with the collection—bandages, ointment, and a bottle of painkillers—he sets them down on the table next to you.

"Did you get hurt out there or something?" You cross your arms and lean back in the uncomfortable metal chair. "Don't expect me to bandage you up." If that growing smile is anything to go by, he knows you're just trying to cover up your sense of unease, but he doesn't call you out on it.

"You wound me. But to answer your question, not quite."

The hair on the back of your neck stands on end. What could he have planned?

Scar isn't going to let you theorize for too long, it seems. He kneels in front of you, one of his signature ram skull cards held flat against the palm of his hand. He ignores you as you flinch away, tensing up, eyes darting between him and his hand.

"What are you doing?" you hiss. Scar chuckles in lieu of a response. His hand drifts up to the side of your throat, pressing his palm—and the smooth side of the card within it—firmly to the skin of your throat. As if reading your mind, his opposite hand lands on your opposite shoulder, keeping you in place before you can try anything.

With a wink, a sharp-toothed grin, and a faint flash of red from beneath his hand, he sears the card's image into your skin with a flash of white-hot pain. The rest is a blur. All you can remember are your cries as he presses your face into his shoulder, stroking your hair as he shushes you.

Now you sit on the couch, with a cup of (instant, but still) hot chocolate in hand and soft bandages around your throat. Scar crosses one leg over the other and slings an arm around your shoulder, pulling you in close.

"Why?" you ask simply, with not even enough energy left to look at him.

He hums in mock thought, making a show out of considering his words. "Well, there's really not much to it," he shrugs with one of his characteristic smiles. "I was just thinking of something more... permanent, today."

[fuck-hamas-go-israel]

No matter what, don’t lose your humanity.

I see this rhetoric very often, that if you call for the release of the hostages and condemn Hamas terrorism and the atrocities they’ve committed, then you automatically “must support the death of Palestinian civilians”.

Conversely, those who claim to care about the Palestinian civilians don’t seem to call for the release of hostages, never acknowledge the rape, torture, and murder of civilians on Oct 7. In fact, they seem to celebrate death of who they perceive as “Zionist”.

I saw this play out before my eyes on TikTok. A singer named Cat Janice was dying from cancer, and she asked her audience to use her song in their videos as she had willed the proceeds to her young son who is not more than 7 or 8 years old. People labelled her a Zionist because she apparently was following an Israeli account on Instagram.

It was a very tragic story and her family was going through a hard time dealing with the aggressive cancer that was slowly weakening her body.

But as we’ve seen:

They don’t care about people who are suffering from terminal illnesses and will harass them anyway.

In her videos of her giving updates on her situation and pleading with people for empathy for her young son, they flooded her comment section with spam:

Unfortunately, Cat Janice passed away, BDE. But that didn’t stop the harassment. In fact, some celebrated her death and even lauded it as a good thing as there is “one less Zionist” now.

Yes, there are people like this out there. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as they’ve been violent, they’ve been sending death threats, they’ve been chanting for violent “resistance” and “intifada” and the death of Jews and Israelis, as well as their allies. They celebrate violence in the most disgusting and dehumanising way possible.

Just look at the comments in this video of a Jewish creator saying that in Berlin, a Jewish student was attacked:

Meanwhile, we chant “Am Yisrael Chai”. We call for life, we focus on saving all lives, no matter who.

As the leaders of Hamas said in an interview, “The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs.”

Every innocent death is a tragedy, Israeli and Palestinian. Death IS a tragedy. The killing of Hamas terrorists, albeit deserved, is a tragedy because of the terroristic path they chose in life and what horrific crimes they had committed in order to warrant death as a means of justice.

As much as I wish that one day, those people who have spewed those vile, antisemitic, inhuman things will feel guilty for what they have said, I doubt they will. The perceived safety and anonymity of social media coupled with their complete absence of humanity, compassion, and empathy evaporates any drop of guilty conscience they may have. All we can wish is that fair and just consequences for their actions will be meted out to them one day.

But my fellow Jews, my fellow zionists, my fellow allies, please never, NEVER stoop to that level. It goes against everything we are about.

Once we lose our humanity, we’ll become dulled to the suffering of others. That’s not what we want, and it directly goes against the spirit of Judaism and Israel.

Continue to mourn the death of innocents, continue to get angry and weep for tragedy and injustice, continue to celebrate new life and lives saved. Continue to feel like a human being. Don’t be like them.

Don’t. Lose. Your. Humanity.

[matan4il]

Update post:

On Yom Ha'Shoah (Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day), anti-Israel protesters heckled Holocaust survivors during the March of the Living, which is held along the route between two parts of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. Some of the survivors who were at the march had survived Hamas' massacre as well. The protesters wore yellow stars, culturally appropriating the way the Nazis legally marked Jews for extermination. But sure, it's not antisemitism. What can be antisemitic about hijacking the Holocaust and targeting its last survivors? /sarcasm

The other week, a Warsaw synagogue, the only one to have survived the Holocaust, was attacked in the middle of the night with no less than 3 firebombs. I'm sure there is no connection whatsoever between this, and the rise in antisemitism we've seen since Oct 7, which is allowing for the targeting of Holocaust survivors. None.

Hearing the news about the tragic floods in Rio, my heart goes out to innocent Brazilians suffering. But a part of me can't help thinking that if it weren't for Israeli emergency forces being tied up in a war to protect innocent Israeli civilians from murderous, genocidal antisemitic terrorists here, Israel would have likely been among the first to send a rescue delegation to Brazil, to help save as many lives as possible, just like we have done countless times before, for many countries around the globe, including ones we have no official diplomatic relations with. And it just hit me all over again. As one Israeli song states, we are all one living human tissue. We're all connected, sometimes in ways we're completely unaware of. When some of us are intentionally targeted, so many others end up hurt, too. Sometimes we see it, like when we realize there is no way to defeat Hamas without some innocent Gazans and Israelis paying the price, and other times we don't, like with this tragedy in Brazil. But the connection is there.

The following vid was shared by an Israeli Muslim non-Arab Bedouin:

This is 20 years old Evyatar Moshe Chelef.

He was a policeman. On Oct 7, he was at a southern headquarters, and saw and watched all the horror footage and news that was constantly streamed to the control center. On May 6, he reportedly ended his own life, not being able to contain all the atrocities he had witnessed. Primo Levi had survived the Holocaust, but is believed to have eventually taken his own life. His friend Elie Wiesel, a fellow survivor of the same Nazi camp, said about Primo that he was, "...murdered at Auschwitz, 40 years later." I think that fits what Hamas did to Evyatar as well. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[horreurscopes]

So, I could be out-of-bounds here since I think you meant it as dark humor, but what did you mean in the tags of that 'israel-hamas war' post? I suspect you(and op) are criticizing that framing because Israel is obviously demolishing much more than 'Hamas'(and probably doing a terrible job of actually targeting terrorists- they seem content to reduce Gaza to rubble even if the brass of Hamas escapes). I'm guessing that by saying "joining the Israel-Hamas war on the side of Hamas" you mean, if they're going to conflate Palestinians with Hamas unilaterally, then you're saying, whatever the media wants to call Palestinian civilians- you still support them. I am asking anyways though bc, given reports of increasing antisemitic activity in the US and Europe, I am worried about the potential for blurring lines between the cause of Palestinian civilians and the alt-right individuals who are likely masking their antisemitism in the context of being anti-Zionist. Although Israel's government has been the source of Palestinian loss for decades, (it seems to me that) even joking about supporting terrorism is enough to reinforce the persuasion that Israeli/Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs must be mutually-exclusive peoples. I don't think it's fully rational per se(tho I'm not claiming to have all the relevant information myself, and I'm white US American goyim so like- grain of salt-), but I think that existential fear is the incredible hurdle facing Zionist Jews. (Idc too much about the opinions of non-Jewish Zionists bc I don't grant that they are dealing with the same emotional complications at this time, although that doesn't stop me from arguing w my acquaintances abt their callous acceptance of US/Israeli propaganda.) I just think..... isn't it overall harmful to allow anti-semitic rhetoric, even used sarcastically, to enter the genuine humanist cause for Palestinian liberation? Or, have I misunderstood, and you actually are not in opposition to Hamas, or something else I didn't think of?

hi! thank you for approaching the question thoughtfully and with curiosity, i really appreciate it. i was being kind of flippant with that meme, but this is the only ask i'm going to reply to on the matter given that i am neither jewish nor arab, so i'm going to answer in earnest:

hamas is a political resistance movement with an armed wing, much like the black panthers party was, and like the bpp, a large part of the organization is dedicated to social welfare and civic restoration.

they have stated that they are not against judaism, but against the zionist project. they openly support political solutions.

labeling hamas a terrorist group is a propaganda tactic used by the united states and israel to justify the horrors of settler colonization.

hamas is palestine, a part of it, even if palestinians like any other demographic on earth, are not a unified, single-minded people. to declare hamas a separate entity falls prey to the imperialist lie that there is an enemy to fight "fairly" within the people they are displacing and exterminating.

am i rejoicing in the deaths of israelis? of course not. killing civilians and taking civilian hostages is a war crime, whether it is committed by the opresor or the oppressed. the israeli government is not its people, and many jews, within israel as well as in the US, are bravely risking their lives to publicly dissent the criminal acts of the israeli government. all loss of human life is a tragedy.

no one should ever be faced with the choice between annihilation and murderous violence after exhausting all other forms of peaceful protest and being massacred like animals.

but why is it that we consider a resistance group formed within a population with a median age of eighteen a terrorist group, and not the IDF, a US-backed military force with an annual budget of twenty billion dollars?

i am currently reading hamas and civil society in gaza by sara roy to learn more about hamas and the history of israel in palestine. i'll remember to post more excerpts which i am admittedly terrible at.

but all of the information above can be found by reading wikipedia. investigating with duckduckgo searches (not gonna pretend google isn't prioritizing propaganda, to be fair), and reading reliable news coverage like aljazeera and the many journalists who are at risk of, or have lost their lives, reporting on the ground.

i have also appreciated reading posts from @determinate-negation @opencommunion @fairuzfan @ibtisams and @bloglikeanegyptian amongst others

in conclusion:

[diejager]

I HAVE A (kinda) stepdad!König+DBF!Horangi

so it was a while ago but I reealllyyyy liked the one u did where reader’s sort of hooking up w/ soap and ghost on the side?? If u remember that

I was wondering if you could do a story where they’re sort of just hooking up occasionally (as often as reader can get away) but clearly both the boy like them and want to further it but she’s worried about König and Horangi finding out.

pretty much they notice her exhibiting really weird behaviors in and out of bed towards them?? She’ll freak out if they approach her a specific way (not knowing König and Horangi take advantage of her that way) or sort of doesn’t rly care about her own pleasure cuz she’s sacrificing it for theirs…just sort of stuff that makes Soap and Ghost go “uhhh 🧍🧍‍♂️that’s kinda weird innit” (they’re presenting traits of being groomed/manipulated/raped/etc)

anyways somehow Soap and Ghost find out ab what’s going on at home and….yeah they’re not happy 😬😬

Thank you for your consideration!!!

— 🌘 !

Cw: DARKFIC, STEPCEST, DUB-CON/NON-CON, implied smut, abuse, implied kidnapping, possessive behaviour, implied one night stand, implied crush, kinda poly, tell if I missed any.

They weren’t saints. If anything, they were the farthest thing possible from good-natured men, with kind hearts and sound morals. Ghost and Soap were sick men, soaked in bloodshed and tragedy, gunpowder and tears, they weren’t good men, they were simply men doing another’s dirty work to keep the world safer. They’d seen their fair share of filth on this earth, the most depraved and savage monsters that found pleasure in plundering and killing, covert crimes done under the nose of most civilians, and hushed exchanges for prizes. They, themselves, have committed unforgettable and unforgivable acts, torture, murders, arson, and so, so much regrettable things that would forever scar their victims.

But this- your situation was gut-wrenching, in a way that twisted their guts and made their throats tight, deathly silent in the brewing rage. From Simon, who had an abusive up-bringing and torturous life, morals and ethics twisted beyond normalcy and comprehension; to Johnny, who’s busybody life turned darker and darker with every life he’s taken, bodies piling over bodies, a permanent reminder that he wasn’t the same bright-eyed and goodwilling saint he was when he first enlisted. 

They were mad: Simon enraptured in wrath, burning hotter than hell’s fire, whose rage rivaled one of God; and Johnny bubbled with rage, running through his veins like rivers of magma, scorching everything on his path to ash and rock. They were enraged to see the way you were used and forced into a new purpose by older men —much, much older men that they knew. Whereas Simon seethed silently, Johnny screeched loudly, words stumbling in a crazed frenzy.

It just- it simply wasn’t a good-natured frenzy. Ghost and Soap were not good men. It stemmed from jealousy and emotional possession. The many dates that you’d suddenly canceled, calling in a rain check that they had listened, were because you’d been fucked numb, legs too weak to walk or support you, tied to your bed or filled with another man’s cum. How rarely they met you outside of simple bar nights with your girlfriends before you’d hookup with them for the night until you had to leave. Or your reoccurring bruises, hidden under the clear lie of being clumsy, a white lie, truly, but a lie nonetheless and they hated liars. 

And the worse thing, the one that hits the most, was that you were being fucked, and abused, and taken advantage of by men they constantly butted heads with. Once enemies, always enemies. They didn’t forgive or forget in their business, and their rivalry would continue until one or the other had died. Ghost would plan, scheme your taking and Soap would take care of you, a man much softer than his rough hide. Soap would gently introduce you into your new life, and if it does work, then Ghost would have to step in, eyes dark and heart frozen over. 

You’d eventually like living with them. At least you liked them.

Taglist: @sae1kie @yeoldedumbslut @bvxygriimes @distracteddragoness @konigsblog @daisychainsinknots @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @danielle143 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @notspiders @brokenpieces-72 @petwifed @randominstake @haven-1307 @shironasumi @lucienbarkbark @sparky--bunny @bloobewy @223princess @maylovesyousomuch @cod-z @sweetnanah @aldis-nuts @evolutionarry @kaoyamamegami

[secular-jew]

The man who held 3 Israeli hostages for eight months was Abdallah Aljamal. His family was complicit in guarding them. Aljamal was not only a "Gaza civilian" but also an Al Jazeera "journalist." And not only an Al Jazeera journalist, but also a previous spokesman for the Hamas "Ministry of Labor."

This is another example of why AJ is an illegitimate news source. It is merely the propaganda arm of Hamas and Iran.

This is just some of his "reporting" aka, Islamist propaganda.

Israel's rescue operation was brilliant and strategic and will be lauded in the annuls of military warfare. And yet the world press will slander Israel and falsely report it.

This is one of his posts praising the Hamas massacre on Oct 7th, 2023.

This is his 6 yr old child, dressed in Hamas regalia, and hoping for his future as a Shahid (terrorist warrior).

Every innocent death is a tragedy for Israel and a strategy for Hamas.

Every time people quote Gaza casualty numbers, they are quoting the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, a terror organization comprised of murderers and rapists.

When they speak of innocent women and children, let me remind you that these “innocent” Palestinian kids are raised on and participate in rape and murder with alarming regularity.

Thousands of Gazan civilians participated in 10/7 and that’s a well documented fact. And these four hostages who Israel heroically rescued were being held in civilian homes belonging to a doctor and a journalist. Right in the middle of a Gaza market.

As the IDF rescued them, they came under massive amounts of fire from Hamas terrorists all hiding within a civilian neighborhood. And that is all you need to know. The rest is propaganda.

This is a war of good vs evil. Try to differentiate between reality and Islamic propaganda, which closely mirrors Nazi propaganda.

This is a war of good vs evil. Choose wisely. 🇮🇱

[flightfoot]

Miraculous Enemies AU fanfic recs

So I was just thinking about one of my favorite Miraculous tropes, enemies au. Whether it's Marinette getting the wrong idea about Adrien from the beginning of school, or Chat being cajoled into working for his father, I adore most fics with these tropes, and I'm betting that a lot of other people do as well, so here's a list of some good ones for people to peruse!

Note: I am only listing fics that are currently completed, so you don't have to fear any of these being abandoned. They are in no particular order (or rather, they're in the order in which I was able to track them down in for this list).

cruel youth by @anyxnka

Two teenagers are chosen to wield miraculouses. Only one becomes a superhero. Weeks later, Ladybug’s lucky charm won’t stop spitting out cats.

---

i have found someone (like a nomad finds a home) by @hanaasbananas

After Stoneheart, Gabriel figured out who Chat Noir was, and forced him to work for him, rather than with Ladybug. Years later, Adrien is miserable until one night, he meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

---

Unstuck by @ominousunflower

Chat Noir, notorious supervillain of Paris, experiences a wardrobe malfunction in the best and worst possible place: Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s balcony. Heart pounding, Chat pins Marinette’s wrists to the balcony. She stares up at him, her blue eyes kaleidoscopic from the lights hanging overhead, her features twisted into a scowl. “Why are you trying to take my Miraculous?” Chat hisses. “Because—you—I—” Marinette splutters, her eyes dipping down below Chat’s face. “Why is your suit unzipped?” “I—well…” Chat sighs. “My zipper got stuck.”

---

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every Miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace. Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most. Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

---

with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask. The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes. It wasn’t meant to be this way.

---

Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

---

home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder. “—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred. Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

---

The Great War by icebelle24

'And maybe it’s the past that’s talking, screaming from a crypt Telling me to punish you for things you never did So I justified it' The unthinkable happens, and suddenly, Chat Noir’s allegiances change. Now Ladybug stands on the opposite side of the battlefield from the boy who was once her partner, left alone to make sense of an impossible situation. At least she still has Adrien to give her hope. Or maybe this war is not entirely what it seems.

---

Miss Dial by @mysticraven20

Adrien Agreste has always considered Marinette Dupain-Cheng entertaining. Whether it was the endless back and forth of their banter, the clumsiness he found so cute or the fact her anger levels could go from 1-100 in a mere millisecond; he always found there was something about her... if only he could get to know her better. Marinette Dupain-Cheng has always considered Adrien Agreste a pompous, arrogant asshole. From his constant teasing of her, to the obnoxious laugh at her discomfort and the way he could anger her quicker than any other human being; she knew she hated Adrien Agreste with all she was worth. But what happens when Adrien accidentally sends the wrong text to the wrong person and a new friendship blossoms - a friendship deeper than either have ever known? Will Marinette choose to stay faithful to the budding relationship with the boy on the other side of the phone? Or will a new job with an old foe fill the loneliness in her heart?

---

call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world. Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. (adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

---

oh, look, there you go with hope again by @ladyofthenoodle

After the defeat of Hawkmoth and his accomplice, Chat Noir, Marinette is ready to return to her normal life, but she can't escape Adrien Agreste, who was sentenced to a fate many consider worse than prison: public school. Specifically, her public school. Still, that doesn't mean she has to interact with him, does it? Except, if she doesn't... who will?

---

Redemption by JamieHasCatEyes

Papillon has been defeated and imprisoned, but his accomplice, Chat Noir, was given a second chance. Marinette's time as Ladybug may be over, but she still has work to do if she wants to help Adrien reintegrate back into society.

---

The Son Of My Enemy by Saccha

Cat Noir never wanted to be a villain, but he doesn't have a choice. Ladybug wishes she could save him. A reverse love square, villain!Cat Noir AU.

---

metamorphosis by @peachcitt

“I was thinking about that time you hated me.” “Why?” "I don’t know." “I didn’t.” “I know.” or three years after hawkmoth's defeat, marinette is still trying to figure out her version of normal. there's also sleepovers.

---

Stealing Freedom by @rosie-b

Adrien Agreste was a good person. Marinette knew this to be true, of course; she wouldn’t be marrying him if he were some irredeemable villain. No, her fiancé was practically the opposite of evil. He cooed over babies and kittens, literally stopped to smell the roses, and always brought large bouquets of them to dates. He had trouble killing spiders and bugs, begging his partner to take on the task whenever she was around to save him. Adrien was the sweetest person Marinette knew, the most kindhearted, the most forgiving; he was almost too perfect for her sometimes. But now, Marinette knew that the same Adrien who still blushed when his fiancée kissed him was also the well-known terror of Paris, Cat Walker.

[hero-israel]

Here's the thing about this narrative that Palestinian resistance no matter what form is acceptable. Jewkilling cannot exist in a bubble. It cannot be politically neutral. 1000 years of European (and Arab) antisemitism culminating in genocide have ruined that. Sorry to Palestinian activists but that's just how it works. You can't murder a Jew without it being a tragedy, without it contributing to the continued global oppression of Jewish people.

And all that said, that's just if Hamas and others only targeted soldiers and police (or at least tried as best they could). The IRA didn't go out of its way to purposefully target noncombatants. Why? Probably because there isn't thousands of years of history of English people being seen as subhuman, there isn't thousands of years of anglophobic propaganda showing English people as twisted monsters preying on children and secretly undermining Irish society. The Irish national movement was not born because English refugees returned to their historical homeland and challenged the notion of Irish Supremacy. It was a pragmatic liberation movement. Resist military occupation, undermine military infrastructure designed to oppress the people. The descendants of English and Scottish settlers would even be allowed to stay if they had won. Imagine that.

These things are all tied up in each other. I'm against police brutality, I'm against the escalation and the militarization and the mistreatment of Arabs in Israel and in Judea & Samaria and Gaza and Golan and everywhere. But killing Jews can never be righteous. Sorry to anyone who feels that way but it can't. Antizionists NEED to understand that. Jews will always feel defensive and ready themselves for retaliation because of history, because of that context. Jews keep saying "prove to us a post zionist society where we all share the land won't be antisemitic" and their concerns are completely brushed off.

There's no empathy at all. A little girl can be stabbed to death and antizionists celebrate because she was a "settler," and that brave Palestinian man was defending his indigenous homeland, by targeting the weakest of his enemies. And since Israel has mandatory military service the antizionist can surmise that no Jews are Innocent. An Israeli Jew cannot be a noncombatant. They have to, otherwise the only other explanation for why Jewkilling is acceptable to them, or even feels good to them, is that they hate Jews. And as of right now, the optics are still against that. I have a sinking feeling the optics won't be against them much longer. I inherently don't trust a "liberation" movement that's all too eager to make murdering Jewish civilians praxis. I'm sick of the internet falling for this bullshit.

One of the best asks I have ever received. Thank you for sharing it and I agree with every word.

The entire progressive intersectional social-justice frame has failed Jews (or, alternately, has succeeded in excluding them), due to being intellectually colonized by a clearly fascist ideology of incessantly hating the Jew as a poisonous alien. Try to get an online activist to critically deconstruct the social assumptions they were raised with about Jews in their Muslim, Christian, or very slightly post-Christian society... it won't go well. Funny how Jews have lived in India and China for thousands of years yet you will look in vain for examples of bitter bloodthirsty kill-your-nextdoor-neighbor antisemitism in those societies. That's because the origin, the core, of Chinese and Indian societies was not "We're the people who are better than Jews."

From a review of Richard Landes' new book "Can the Whole World Be Wrong?":

[During the Second Intifada] Israelis were described at the time as the new Nazis. But the malice that was unleashed was even worse. As Landes writes, “It was mostly about being freed from a sense of obligation to the Jews, a chance to take up again the Jew-baiting so long denied Europeans by a politically correct post-Holocaust sobriety.” Landes quotes a poisonous comment made by a member of the House of Lords and reported in the Spectator, “Well, the Jews have been asking for it, and now, thank God, we can say what we think at last.” During that time, I was told something horrifyingly similar to my [=the reviewer's] face.

Your example of Irish nationalists not going out of their way to murder British children is a good one. The oft-reached comparisons between Palestine and South Africa are frivolous for many reasons as I have explained here before, and the ANC advocating and normalizing a vision of enduring racial diversity and equality is high on the list of reasons (made possible because black African identity is not predicated on a thousand-year history of hating and oppressing whites). The case of Rhodesia is even more instructive. Robert Mugabe - ROBERT MUGABE! - pleaded with the whites to stay, to live as equals, as brothers, and work together in building a better society in Zimbabwe. Ian Smith, last white PM of Rhodesia, agreed with him and stayed in Zimbabwe. If a so-called "liberation" movement is more openly dedicated to straight-up exterminating their enemies than Robert Mugabe ever was, maybe, just maybe, it shouldn't be described as "liberation" at all.

[buildabettermeme]

Why is no one talking about the riots and protests over the murder of 17-year-old Nahel by police in France?

This boy was only 17 years old, shot in the chest in the driver's seat by cops. People seem to think there isn't racism in France but there is. We all need to be talking about this. Nahel should not be forgotten.

The French government is attacking their own citizens with 40,000 police officers (yes, 40k cops) to quell the unrest. 5,000 cops are being sent to Paris alone.

The French government needs to realize that there wouldn't be riots if you didn't allow cops to and protect cops who kill unarmed, non-threatening, peaceful civilians, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN. French citizens won't let their government get away with this. Neither should the rest of the world.

If we all join forces to condemn this horrible tragedy, all across the world, maybe less young POC people will be murdered in cold blood by police officers. Maybe the French government WON'T sanction murder of their citizens for exercising the basic human right of free speech and protest. Maybe, one day, cops will have stricter standards and punishments. Maybe, in the future, there won't be cops at all, and no one would die by their hand. But we HAVE to work together to ever see that happen.

Blow it up. Blaze it if you want to. Find every post about this murder that you can and FORCE the media to notice.

Nahel's mother is organizing the protesting and has been photographed speaking and acting out for her son. We should also support her, because not enough parents would do this for their murdered child/ren. I know mine wouldn't. But she is, and she deserves to be recognized and supported.

Don't let children be murdered in vain, without notice, without awareness, without action. If we will not avenge our next generation, they won't be here to avenge anyone else. Don't let them die, especially not like this.

I don't know how to start a GoFundMe but if anyone did and wanted to, this would be a great place and cause for funds to go to.

Make the French government quake in their boots. Make them terrified of their own people. Make the government pale at the reality that is facing them; they will lose everything, all of their power, all of their money, if they do not get their shit together and protect their goddamn people.

This CNN article is horrifically boot-licking, however it is the most comprehensive reporting I have found in English, and my French is unfortunately nonexistent.

Don't buy into the copaganda. These fuckers are murderers, plain, cold, and simple.

Fuck the French police.

Fuck ALL police.

(Disclaimer: I am horrible at tags, I'm learning I swear)

[eretzyisrael]

To Israel, every single fallen soldier is a tragedy and their names, faces and stories are seen and heard in all media.  The nation mourns its children.  Five more today, from among the elite Duvdevan, Maglan and Yahalom units - a testament to how brutal the fighting is and the bravery of these soldiers, among the best of the best.  https://timesofisrael.com/gaza-war-claims-lives-of-five-soldiers-amid-battles-for-hamas-strongholds/

We never see names of Hamas dead (in this regard, I note that even Hezbollah publicizes the names and photos of its dead "fighters" in S. Lebanon).  Why?

1.  Were Hamas to do that, it would undermine their narrative -uncritically lapped up by far too many journalists who should know better- that every Gazan casualty is a civilian.

2. To Hamas, individual lives don't matter in the least (whether Palestinian or Israeli), all that matters is their persisting with their murderous cause.

3. Were Hamas to do that, it would reflect how badly they are being crushed, in the North and South, above ground and below.

Kamel Amin Thaabet

[old-school-butch]

It's honestly sickening how easily you justify the murder of civilians. The loss of life on 10/7 was a tragedy, but how many more lives have been lost by Israel murdering civilians? What do you stand for? If you can rightfully be enraged by the loss of life on 10/7 and condemn Hamas for it, why can you not condemn Israel for this? What does Israel stand for if they can be outraged by the loss of life of their civilians but see tens of thousands of more deaths as nothing? What do you stand for? Because it's not that the loss of human life is a tragedy if you can condemn Hamas but not Israel. Why are the lives of Palestinians so worthless to you? What do you stand for? If one group kills less than 2,000, and the other kills tens of thousands, what do you stand for?

Peace, in the very TLDR version, I stand for peace. We clearly have different views about how to achieve that, but maybe its good for you to consider that people who disagree with you are as human as you are.

Where do I begin?

As bizarre as it seems, war is a human means of communication. Policy by other means, as the saying goes, where conflicts move from ideas and words to deeds, where emphasis is added with explosions, where commitments are made with life and limb and we argue through this kinetic medium until we reach some compromise, or at least a one-sided silence.

This almost sounds reasonable, until you consider that the ideal outcome of war, from any individual point of view, is to risk as little as possible and force your opponent to sacrifice as much as possible. The inevitable discrepancies in power mean that the poor, the weak, the dependent, ill, elderly, women and children inevitably make up much of those sacrifices. Men, with broad freedoms to loot, rape and kill among 'the enemy', will tell themselves that the ordinary rules of society don't matter here and feed their darkest desires to punctuate their own moments of fear and terror.

So, while I view conflict as inevitable between people and societies, I am opposed to war. I stand for peace. I would like to see peace in the Levant.

I support:

the self-determination of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.

the recognition and declaration of an independent Palestinian state, or perhaps 2 states since they are not contiguous.

Israel's removal of its settlements from the occupied territories of the West Bank

the end of UNWRA and all claims of 'right of return'

normalization of relations between Gaza, Egypt and Israel and the West Bank and its neighbors.

That's a baseline. In more ideal terms I want to see:

free and fair elections for all people in every nation.

a Human Rights code established in all Levant states

lifting people out of poverty by finally focusing on economic development instead of decades of dependence on foreign aid

puppies and rainbows while I'm at it

Hamas started this particular war on October 7th, their 3rd try since Israel ended their occupation of Gaza in 2005 and Hamas defeated the PLA on its bloody path to power. Hamas' actions were a series of territorial incursions and war crimes targeting civilians and taking hostages. That sent a pointed message to Israel - we will kill your people wherever we find you, we will destroy you and we have no regard for the conventions of war.

That's not a one-time communique though. Hostages are still being held and Hamas' cruelty and indifference to life has turned to its own people - there are no air raid sirens, no shelters, no civilian-only zones where Hamas fighters separate themselves from civilians, Hamas fighters wear no uniforms to identify who's a combatant so civilians are safer. Multiple countries are sending humanitarian aid and Hamas not only fails to distribute it but instead captures it and sells it to fund their war, so the poorest and most vulnerable people are left to starve. That also sends a message I think too many in the West ignore - Palestinian life has no value to Hamas.

A nationalist Arab movement emerged in the Palestine region in the 1920s, just as Zionism swelled among Jews in the same era. It was the end of the 500 year old Ottoman empire and as it collapsed, new opportunities emerged. However, older ideas also surged including the desire to rebuild the Caliphate.

This was the vast settler-colonial Empire built from the start of Islam, under the prophet/warrior king Muhammad, until it peaked here. The caliphs is like a king, the Supreme court and the Pope all rolled into one - his right to rule came directly from Allah and his Prophet, and was head of both state and church where regional or secular laws were abolished and obedience to Allah, Muhammad as his prophet, and the Caliph as his heir was absolute. Differing claims about legitimacy led to splintering into multiple factions, which were then vulnerable to the Mongol, Byzantine and eventually the Ottoman Empires that would itself claim the title of caliph to shore up its own legitimacy.

Islamists are radical Muslims who have fundamentally colonial aspirations, first in this region and ultimately across the globe. Most of the conflict in the MENA area result from factions within this broader movement - Shia versus Sunni, Persian versus Arab, the Kurds Khorason and Wahhabists are all competing dynasties and sects who vie for control.

To Islamists who are inspired by this history and wants to recreate its colonial glory before moving on to conquer the world, it's clear that you can't have a Jewish state right smack in the middle of your beautiful Empire. They are super pissed that European colonial powers ruined their own Arabian colonial plans, so they've adapted their arguments. Those forces have found it convenient to continue the 'Palestinian cause' as a stepping stone to wiping out Israel and establishing an Islamic state by framing it as a struggle of national self-determination. Thus, it can appeal to the West and the U.N. as a nationalist struggle while continuing to pursue imperialist goals. The PLO was violent and somewhat deluded, but I at least believed that Arafat actually thought he would lead an actual Palestinian state and I supported their goal to remove Israel from the occupied territories.

Hamas' goals in the conflict are shared with all Islamist factions. Yes, even when Islamists are fighting each other, they are still all trying to establish the caliphate, they only disagree on who should be in charge of it. This ideology is already at war with the West but the West is blissfully ignorant of this colonizing and intensely violent movement, because Islamist energies are currently consumed with attacking each other, competing for followers, and punishing Muslim populations who are insufficiently enthusiastic about their rise to power.

Currently, radical Islamist regimes have already seized power in enough of the middle east that conflict is limited to proxy wars and destroying Israel (unless you're in Syria where 5 different proxies are in a multi-sided conflict) and the most intense insurgent fighting is now happening across Africa in a dozen different countries.

Strangely, the West barely acknowledges, much less compiles, this new threat of Empire. This wikipedia entry looks long, but it's only documenting the wars of the IS. That's just one group. Overall, Islamists are involved in the overwhelming majority of current conflicts, coups and insurgencies, and the West - with its ideals on nationalism, religious freedom, democracy and its own more material interests, doesn't have a good handle on what to do. I don't want to see a return to Cold War approach where the U.S. would back any dictator who said he hated communists. And, since there are internal struggles, we're already backing Islamists like the Saudis even though they supported Al Quaeda, ISIS etc. (who now think the Saudis are apostates who are too friendly with the West) or the Syrian dictator. These extremist, woman-hating, slave-fueled regimes are horrifying, and the less we have to do with them, the better.

I think we have to hold to our ideals but also accept that you can't bring peace to people who don't want it, and sometimes there is no 'good guy' to back in a fight, just less worse actions that both sides can be encouraged to take.

So these are the things I read and care about, and then I read your opinions about Gaza. So many deaths, you say, while Arab Islamists kill 300,000 Africans in the Sudan without a peep of concern from you, and you ask me what do I stand for? The Muslim Rohingya in northern Myanmar tried and failed to create a separatist Islamic state, and are now being expelled en masse - their population of 1.2 million destroyed as 900,000 fled (mostly to neighboring Bangladesh) and most of those who remain are confined to refugee camps. But I'm a terrible person who supports genocide, and you're a good person who cares about genocide... but only when white people involved in some way? Islamists have perfectly targeted white guilt and ignorance to gain your inaction in global conflicts and shift it to Gaza.

Personally, I find religious zealots hazardous to my health and, philosophically, I do believe in the ideals of liberal democracy and would like them to continue. I also believe that, under the rhetoric and extremism, many people living in the Levant area also want to be free from these regimes. I believe there are Palestinians who would like self-government and, like many violent regimes, Hamas is a parasite on the people.

Anyway, I don't blame Israel for this war because what alternative does it have? Allow its people to be raided, raped, murdered and kidnapped? Even if it somehow ignored October 7th - and the families of hostages are making it difficult enough as things stand now - Israel has no incentive to return to another ceasefire situation where they wait for the next raid.

I have many, many critiques of Israel and actions I would like it to undertake, and I think undertaking this entire campaign has been a mistake, but they have a goal to remove Hamas and I think that's a good goal. I also think Israel will fail in that goal to remove Hamas from power, just as Hamas has failed to destroy Israel.

I don't think a ceasefire will help Palestinians, whether it comes sooner or later, they're in for more of the same as long as Hamas remains. But the over-arching conflict of Islamism and its goals won't change in Gaza unless the bigger picture changes.

So I'll ask you the same question - what do you stand for? Isn't this war just one step of a bold, revolutionary vision to overthrow Israel, drive out the Jews and link up with the glories of the new Caliphate? Aren't these deaths worthwhile to support that vision? There was a ceasefire in place before October 7th, what was so wrong with that situation that this war was needed? A ceasefire now would hardly return Palestinians to better conditions, so the next war will be just as justifiable as the last one. That's what Hamas stands for, what about you?