#falesteen 🇵🇸

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don't loose hope, there is love in life, there is community. people are coming together to protest all over the world, people are finding solidarity with each other even among the horror, people want to help. over the course of hours i saw hundreds come together from all over the world online to buy e-sim cards for the gaza reporters (they've succeeded in getting internet access to key online press reporters and are working to connect more), i've seen stories of people coming together in their grief and joy. despite the darkness there really is love. and i do believe that it is fundamental to the human condition.

Palestinians prepare food for the displaced families in the south of Gaza Strip. 10-28-2023

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just saw a video compiling protests that have broken out for palestine worldwide today alone and burst into tears. there are millions of us, some are calling it the largest mobilization in modern human history. my loves palestine will never die.

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intense grief and love

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via instagram, african_stream

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10/28/ 23 - 2:13 AM Eastern Time Update

Caption:

Palestinians inspect the destruction inflicted by Israeli airstrikes last night in northern #Gaza.

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i had seen a post floating around with links to the social media accounts of reporters in gaza but couldn't find it so i'm making my own. here are accounts to follow to get the raw unedited footage and information of what is currently happening on the ground in gaza in real time.

those currently on the ground in gaza:

instagram: hindkhoudary, her twitter account is here. she has an international e-sim so even when the internet is cut off she's able to give live updates.

instagram: byplestia, her tiktok account is here.

instagram: motaz_azaiza, one of the more popular users rn. (note: motaz does not have any accounts on other platforms and there are many uploading his content on other sites and claiming to be him to scam people, DNI.)

instagram: wizard_bisan1

instagram: joegaza93

instagram: wael_eldahdouh. he is one of the most well-known reporters in gaza rn working for al jazeera. the IDF recently targeted and killed his entire family, but he continues to report.

instagram: mohamed.h.masri

instagram: alijadallah66

twitter: refaat in gaza

twitter: muhammad smiry

accounts of those not in gaza but are palestinian & do great job at providing analysis/context:

instagram: eid_yara

instagram: gazangirl

instagram: anat.international

instagram: sbeih.jpg - his tiktok is here

instagram: naleybynature - her tiktok is here

instagram: anees - his tiktok is here

news accounts and palestinian activist groups:

instagram: eye.on.palestine

instagram: palestinianyouthmovement

instagram: jewishvoiceforpeace

instagram: ajplus

instagram: decolonizethisplace

as you can see a lot of this coverage is being done through instagram/tiktok and a lot of it is being shared through stories (which expire after 24 hrs). many have been making concerted efforts to preserve the footage and images as the rampant censorship and ease with which these accounts can be purged is concerning.

this is not a comprehensive list, just the ones i follow and keep up with.

resist, stay alert, and free 🇵🇸

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stop talking about your mental fucking health dear god. they are being fucking genocided!!! and all they ask is that you post about it online!!! the bare fucking minimum!! but you won’t because it makes you sad

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10-28-2023, 5:00 PM Eastern Time/11:00 PM in Gaza

Heavy and intensive Israeli air strikes on northern Gaza Strip

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i have just seen the latest videos/news from gaza right now (10-27-23, 2:13 pm eastern) and they are in hell. please pray. communications have completely fallen. even if you don’t believe anymore just pray. this is the worst yet.

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10-28-2023, 4:04 PM Eastern Time/10:00 PM Gaza

The bombing that targeted the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

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it is daybreak in gaza, first footage coming in

the caption:

Sounds of aerial and artillery strikes are heard everywhere this morning across #Gaza after Israel carried out its most intensive series of strikes last night on the besieged territory.

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I'm so confused. I'm not sure what is true anymore!

When I tried talking to a close relative of mine about Palestine, they started going on a huge spiel. They insisted it wasn't genocide, that they voted for Hamas and that Isr*el warned them and gave them time to go south before the bombings happened, that Palestine struck first, and that Isr*el had given them their land.

When I asked them for proof, they dodged the question, claimed they've been in the loop for a very long time (they're nearing their sixties), and said something about the quran.

I don't know what to do and I'm so torn!

warning: this post has a plethora of links (everything underlined) i encourage you and anyone reading to click through them and learn more.

hi lovely sorry it took me so long to respond. i understand why you're confused right now - there's currently a huge, censorship, disinformation campaign being waged by isr*el (and backed and supported by the united states) to keep people confused about what's going on right now. and sadly if you (like me) grew up in the united states/the west very little is taught about palestine and we are steeped in propaganda from the very moment we can talk. it is a failure of the system, and ourselves, and done purposefully to keep us ignorant about an evil from which we directly contribute and benefit.

and if you simply went by what western leaders and cable news are reporting right now you would be vastly misinformed about the true horror being waged and why it is being waged. social media is a powerful tool and is being weaponized by isr*el to fight a proxy war. (a war which they are losing with certain demographics, if the sheer number of us awakening right now and by your very question is evident).

many people are trying to push a narrative of this being a very complicated issue so they can remain "neutral" and i'm here to tell you it isn't - what it comes down to is that isr*el is illegally occupying palestine (which they've been doing for almost 75 years) and are currently waging a genocide against the palestinian people, who throughout the last decades have been forced to live under an apartheid state in both gaza and the west bank - areas which are really just ghettos controlled by their colonizer - isr*el.

i will note here - this is a very basic fact that many are unaware of, to our shame, but gaza is not a country, it is a strip of land under the occupation and total control of isr*el. (to even justify calling this a "war" is unfair in the extreme - wars are fought by more or less equal powers with a standing army of their own - gaza does not have it's own army. the current aggression taking place is david and goliath-levels unequal). more basic facts/questions that we are too afraid to ask covered here and here.

gaza especially is recognized (the united nations included) as the world's "largest open-air prison." palestinians cannot freely travel without the permission of isr*el (on their own land!), and everything - food, electricity, water, incoming supplies, everything - is controlled by isr*el and subject to their whims. they are under constant surveillance and overly policed, killed daily by both the state and isr*eli settlers stealing palestinian land, and thousands of them are held illegally without trial indefinitely by isr*el. (does this sound familiar to you? it should because most of america's police force is trained by the IDF).

and while hamas did attack isr*eli civilians, the attack did not occur in a vacuum and the response to that attack has been very, very, very, very, disproportionate - it is collective punishment against a civilian population and a war crime.

the oct 7th attacks are being used as an excuse to carry out isr*el's dream/ultimate goal of cleansing palestinians off their own land so they can claim it as their own.

but to address the specific claims made by your relative - yes the ongoing isr*eli occupation's aggression is genocide (and has been acknowledged as such by experts in holocaust history, human rights groups, and quite openly by isr*el itself). while hamas did "strike first" they did so in response to the many human rights abuses, systematic oppression, and colonial violence that the palestinian people have been undergoing for close to a century. an oppressed people pushed to the edge of survival and left with no other choice will be forced to use any means necessary to resist their oppressors.

the demonization and dehumanization of hamas is used to paint palestinian resistance as "terrorism" in order to justify wiping a whole group of people (2.3 million) off the face of the earth. civilians - men, woman, and children are not "terrorists" and their slaughter is not and will never be justified.

the claim that isr*el is giving them "warning" and "time" to evacuate before bombing is laughable - where are they supposed to go? they've closed down the borders - no one can get in or out of gaza. they have specifically targeted civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, churches, and residential homes which have been serving as shelter to civilians. they told them to evacuate the north of gaza and into the south (which is impossible when you think of over a million people being given 24 hours to evacuate their homes), and then continue to bomb the south and north anyway. they are also carrying out violence and aggression in the west bank which is not controlled by hamas and so their excuses are simply that, excuses.

no their goal is not to get rid of hamas, their goal is the complete and utter annihilation of gaza and the palestinian people. (which they will not succeed in doing, palestine will be free, whether in this life or the next).

and the idea that isr*el gave palestinians their land? it's their land! isr*el stole their land, violently displaced (such a soft word for such a violent act) over 750,000 people (which has created a diaspora of six million palestinian refugees), forced the remaining into gaza and the west bank, has been subjecting them to a slow suffocating death for decades, and now openly slaughters them by the thousands.

the mention of the Quran specifically by your relative is thinly veiled islamophobia (which is rampant in the west and in the united states in particular). this is not a religious war. and the fact that a majority of palestinians are muslims (though christian palestinians do exist) is being used to paint a whole people as "terrorists" and encourages the dehumanization of palestinian people.

this is why the many many videos and images of dead palestinian babies, men, and woman mean nothing to certain people - palestinians (and frankly brown/black ppl) are not seen as fully human and equally worthy of life. their lives and their deaths weigh less in certain ppl's minds (just compare the global support ukraine received when it was invaded by russia to the indifference that palestine is currently receiving).

to some and (your relative) the horrific slaughter by the literal thousands is justifiable - an "unhappy but inevitable consequence of war." this is not war, this is genocide. these are not battles being fought, these are blatant war crimes being carried out by isr*el who have been given carte blanche by the united states and other western powers to do as they wish.

tbh there are many others on here that can explain better and their masterposts and blogs are valuable resources available here, here, and here. and i recommend these tiktok users here, here, and here. i also recommend the decolonizepalestine.com website as it is highly informative.

and for keeping up with current news in gaza that is not blatant propaganda i recommend al jazeera - which has been doing some of the most comprehensive and amazing journalism i've ever seen. (seriously they are putting their very lives on the line, as several of their reporters have been assassinated by isr*el).

it is a tragedy that we have been kept largely ignorant of a struggle that has been happening right under our noses for years, supported by our own money and aid, and which we directly benefit from. but now that we know the extent of the horror it is our duty to educate ourselves, to reach out and educate others, to uplift palestinian voices, and to do everything we possibly can to help. to do otherwise is a failure of our very own humanity.

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when we say palestine will never die this is what we mean btw. the faith and strength of the people in gaza and palestine is undefeated. we will see a free palestine.

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for those of you who have been feeling hopeless with the state of the world, feeling like they’re screaming into a void and drowning in apathy - listen to these words. rejoice in the fact that you have a soul. and find solace and beauty in the fact that you feel so deeply in grief right now because you still care, you still love. and that is a strength not a weakness.