#i really wish i could do something to get the israeli government to listen to palestine's cries. i feel ashamed of being israeli.

[furcoveredinblood]

.

[kafkasmelomania]

June 5, 2021: American Queers by SuperKnova

*Bandcamp here

SuperKnova is SO cool. Did you know that she not only writes all her songs and records all of her songs completely by herself but also taught herself how to produce and master music so that she could have total creative control? That’s really impressive! What’s also cool about her is that she’s setting an example for people who feel like outsiders in the music scene, especially queer people of color. She talks about that in this article, which is really good and something that you should definitely read:

Only now, as SuperKnova, Ellie is beginning to finally overcome the impostor syndrome that influenced her artistic confidence for the majority of her professional life. “I had a degree in music and I still felt like I wasn’t a real musician”, she looks back on her younger self. Today, Ellie strives to create “more of these media images, the ones [she] never had growing up” in all of her work.

She also discusses why she wants to be a role model in this article:

She also said her art is intentional. She hopes to make the kind of art she needed but never found in the world while younger. Whereas other artists might balk at a role model designation, Kim somewhat embraces it, or at least embraces the responsibility, actions, and intentions of someone set on giving voice to populations often ignored.

“Half of what I do as SuperKnova is create interesting, creative music. But I want to create the art I wish I had growing up as a closeted trans teenager growing up in a transphobic community, to be like queer therapy,” Kim said. “I never started this to be some mainstream thing like Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande. I want to make the art for my community and then if people outside of the community like it, great. If not, they don't need to listen to it.”

Also! She has a Tumblr! You can follow her at @superknovamusic.

Because it’s Pride Month:

Here’s some queer history from around the world, not just the United States.

Here are some LGBTQIA+ GoFundMe campaigns: Rent Fund For Black LGBT Family, Help Roze get somewhere safe (Non-Binary LGBTQ), Survival and Gender Affirming Needs for Black Enby, College Fund for a Black Trans Woman, Tito’s top surgery and recovery fund, Omi’s Transition Fund: Health, Housing, & Security, Help Emmett Pay for Emergency Surgery

If you’d like to get involved with stopping the atrocities against Palestine, here’s where you can start (text in bold for readability):

This Carrd is full of information, petitions, and places to donate.

Here are some organizations to which you can donate. This post now includes a list of corporations to boycott.

Here is some information about the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and a list of other organizations.

Decolonize Palestine has an FAQ about Palestine here.

This is a list of actions you can take (somewhat UK-specific). This is a reading list of texts with more background information.

UK petitions: This is a petition for the UK government to formally recognize the State of Palestine. This is a petition to introduce sanctions against Israel. This is a petition to condemn Israel for their treatment of Palestine and Palestinians.

Here’s the Wikipedia overview of the current iteration of the crisis.

If you’re curious about the United States’s involvement: this is a report about U.S. foreign aid to Israel. This is the Wikipedia page for Palestine-United States relations and this is the Wikipedia page for Israel-United States relations.

Here are some perspectives from on the ground in Gaza. This is also explains why spreading the Palestinian point of view. is so important.

This is one Jewish person’s explanation of the conflation of Jewish identity with the modern Israeli state. They mention the Nakba, which is important – per Wikipedia, “the Nakba, […] also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people.”

This Vox video gives a brief overview of the conflict from its inception until the present day, although it’s from 2016, so it’s not entirely up to date. This CrashCourse video does the same, and I think it’s actually a little better than the Vox video because within the first minute they shut down everyone who claims that this is a religious conflict. That video is also not entirely up to date, as it is from 2015.

This post has some resources with information about the history of Palestine, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and updates about the current situation.

Do you like podcasts? Here are some podcast episodes about Palestine.

Here are some miscellaneous resources for helping Palestine.

Black lives matter and here are some ways you can get involved in the  fight against racism, specifically anti-black racism (text in bold for readability):  

This Linktree and this Carrd are full of ways to confront and fight against anti-black racism: places to donate, advice for protesting, educational resources.

This post is specifically about Daunte Wright and how to help his family. This is Daunte Wright’s memorial fund.

The  Minnesota Freedom Fund is doing good work, and since so many people have been recognizing that work and donating to them, they ask that you  instead donate to Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, the Racial Justice Network, Communities United Against Police Brutality, the Minneapolis NAACP, the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minneapolis, and the Black Immigrant Collective. You can also donate to the Bail Project, which operates in multiple states.

Other organizations to which you can donate are the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Okra Project, the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, For The Gworls, G.L.I.T.S., the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, the Black Trans Travel Fund, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective.

GoFundMe: Justice for Breonna Taylor, In Memory of Jamarion Robinson, Rent Fund For Black LGBT Family, Esperanza Spalding’s BIPOC Artist Sanctuary, Survival and Gender Affirming Needs for Black Enby

(via https://open.spotify.com/album/3HAKCGSBK2CdNR94iSKMLS?si=ifgUe8PhQrC8Q4ipuGqGqQ)

[hatari-translations]

I’ve been asked to translate this pre-ESC interview, which is pretty interesting! Since it’s eight minutes long and a lot of text, I’m not going to transcribe the whole thing, just translate/summarize what is said in the same vein as my translation of the People Behind the Costumes documentary.

Dramatis personae

The other people with Hatari in the interview there are:

- The host is Gísli Marteinn Baldursson, long-time talk show host. He’s also been RÚV’s Eurovision commentator for a good few years now.

- Bjarni Benediktsson (usually nicknamed Bjarni Ben), finance minister. Yes, the same one whose baking ad they were parodying that one time. Yes, he’s still finance minister. No, actually, after the 2016 election he was prime minister for a bit, until that government imploded because of more scandals, and after that election we just didn’t have a government for a while as none of the possible complicated multi-party coalitions worked out, until the Left-Green movement sold their souls to get together with the Independence Party and he got to be finance minister again. Independence Party voters are distressingly loyal and also like 20-25% of the country for some reason.

- Brynhildur Guðjónsdóttir, actress.

- Salka Sól Eyfeld, actress.

(I don’t watch this show, so I have no idea why on earth this is the combination of people he had on that night.)

English translation

The video starts with Gísli Marteinn interrupting something to introduce new guests, and explaining that this is being taped in advance because by the time it’s aired Hatari are going to be on their way to Tel Aviv. He introduces them as “the joy and pop band Hatari, or the dystopian electronica band Hatari”. Matthías, Klemens and Einar walk in with bottles of SodaDream that they offer to everyone, and Einar very deliberately squeezes in next to Bjarni Ben instead of with the rest of the band.

Everyone expresses their delight at getting to try SodaDream, and Klemens suggests a toast. Gísli Marteinn expresses his wishes for them to do well abroad, Bjarni Ben agrees.

Gísli Marteinn: “Welcome home, Einar, from the tour with V��k! Did that all go well?”

Einar stares silently into the camera.

Gísli Marteinn: “Right, Einar... he’ll just go over that later.”

Matthías: “He’s being punished.”

Gísli Marteinn is amused, then goes over how now it’s all about Hatari, a wonderful band, who won Söngvakeppnin and is currently working on bringing down capitalism. “How’s that going?”

Matthías: “It’s going well. Of course we have the loyal support of voters and our sponsors, and listeners, so we believe that as the momentum builds, we will succeed.”

Klemens agrees that they’ve built a lot of support and they’re planning to build up more; Matthías says they’re very flattered and touched by what they’ve achieved.

Gísli Marteinn: “Well, when you’ve gotten the finance minister himself on board with your anticapitalism, victory is clearly in sight.”

Matthías: “Yes. It’s basically in the bag.”

Gísli Marteinn goes over how they’re heading off soon and there’s a lot of interest in Hatari. “Are you feeling any stage fright? You know you’ll be followed everywhere out there, and everyone wants you to do something really brilliant and clever, do something, say something...”

Matthías: “Sure. Well, stage fright we can deal with. It’s more the tension over how this contest is being held where it is. The contest is a beautiful thing, in that it’s about peace and unity, but it’s being held in a country marred with conflict and disunity. And we said we’d use our agenda-setting powers to put those issues on the agenda, and that’s quite a project.”

Gísli Marteinn: “So are you sticking with... do you have a plan for how you’re going to do that?”

Matthías: “Well, plans A, B, C and D. I change my mind on which daily, but yeah. Yeah. It’s all according to plan.”

Klemens: “Of course, we get all our answers sent to us from Svikamylla ehf. every day, so we just take it day by day.”

Gísli Marteinn. “Right. But this is a massive affair, I mean, you’re bringing an entire media organization with you, Icelandic [sic] Music News.”

Matthías: “Very true. The most honest news organization in the country.”

Gísli Marteinn: “It’s wonderful. Very honest. They really prioritize honesty.”

Matthías: “Yes.”

Klemens: “...in the history of Iceland.”

Matthías: “Trust and courage.”

Gísli Marteinn talks about the costumes, and Matthías explains about the collaboration with creative studio Döðlur. Gísli Marteinn says Einar is there “all fired up” (it’s a bit hard to translate this phrase, “í miklu stuði”, which is literally more like “in a great mood” but really here means something more like oh, yeah, he’s doing exactly what he does best, awesomely). Klemens thanks SodaDream for sponsoring them.

Brynhildur says it’s very good sparkling water, but still kind of disappointing. Salka asks “Because it’s not champagne?” Brynhildur points out that no, it’s in the ingredients, and Matthías confirms: “Oh, yes, it’s carbonated water and disappointment.”

Gísli Marteinn goes over how we know 90% of the nation will be watching them compete in the semifinals (Icelanders are very passionate about Eurovision), hoping they’ll qualify, and asks if they’re as preoccupied with how they do.

Matthías: “How we do is important, but the other thing [i.e. putting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the agenda] is more significant. We didn’t necessarily expect to get this far, and we don’t really know to what extent we could hope for victory, and haven’t really known that from the start. We’ve tried to use our agenda-setting powers, as we keep repeating, but we just wanted to ask - well, we hope people at home will ask themselves, and I’d not least like to ask all of you here, not least you, Bjarni, being in the government - about these issues, don’t you think it’s right to go out there and put these issues on the agenda, and recognize Palestine as an independent state? We are, after all, one of the countries who do so, and I’m proud of that.”

Gísli Marteinn: “Right. We’re one of few nations who recognize both, aren’t we? Well, what do you say on the couch?”

Bjarni: “Well, I think there’s no question that we should participate, and I personally always believe in dialogue, and I don’t believe in exclusion and burning bridges...”

Matthías: “Do you think Palestine should be recognized as a state?”

Bjarni: “That, on the other hand, is an entirely different issue, and I passed on that vote when that happened. It’s a process that’s had a very long buildup, but it was handled by parliament, and...”

Gísli Marteinn: “Well, the official policy of the Icelandic government is...”

Bjarni: “...a two-state solution, yes. But it’s very important to have peace on both sides of that border, and in recent years we’ve often discussed Israel and Palestine in parliament, and I think the location of the contest this year should absolutely not prevent Iceland’s participation. I think that’s ridiculous.”

(I think Einar is staring extra-hard into the camera throughout all this.)

Gísli Marteinn asks the actresses if they were on the boycott wagon. Salka says she never really formed an opinion, but she heard out both sides, and she’s very happy with Hatari’s act and was rooting for them from day one; she’s not worried about them out there and thinks they’ll make the Icelandic nation proud, and she hopes they’ll let their voices be heard.

Brynhildur: “We’re sending well-educated, well-informed and beautiful young people who know exactly what they’re doing.”

Salka: “I trust them 100%.”

Gísli Marteinn starts trying to wrap things up, and Klemens interrupts for some closing words: “Shouldn’t we clarify the message of our song a bit? We consider it to be a dystopia, and it’s a contemplation on power and powerlessness, hope and hopelessness, and if we don’t come together and forget to love, then hate will prevail. And that’s a message that should be heard in Israel and Palestine, as well as elsewhere in the world.”

I think this was pretty brilliant, because honestly I had no idea that Bjarni Ben was reluctant to recognize Palestinian statehood but Hatari sure just used their agenda-setting powers in this talk show interview to establish this for everyone watching.

[schraubd]

In Relating to our Black Allies, Jews Need To Stop Being Babies

Every toy for babies is basically the same. There is a button to be pressed, or some other simple action -- a bop or a shake or a slap. The toy emits a sound, squeak, or noise. The baby is happy beyond belief, and presses the button again. The sound repeats, and the baby is (somehow) just as ecstatic as the first time. Rinse, wash, repeat forever. Sometimes I feel like, in our relationship with the Black community, the Jewish community remains in infancy. Because we are constantly behaving like babies, and we need to cut it out. Here's the play: we find a Black person. We ask them to condemn antisemitism (Farrakhan is always a good target). They comply. We are delighted. We press the button again. They make the condemnatory noise again. *clap clap clap*. Oh, what could be more fun? And again and again and again we go, pressing the button on our fabulous condemn-antisemitism toy. Until eventually, our partner doesn't want to play anymore. Maybe they're concerned at the disproportionate attention Black antisemitism seems to receive. Maybe they want to talk about something other than antisemitism. Maybe they just don't like being used as a toy. So we press the button, expecting to hear the delightful sound of a condemnation of antisemitism, and ... it doesn't come. And then, like a baby, the tantrum begins. "How could you not condemn a monster like Farrakhan?" "Don't you care about Jews?" "If anyone asked me to condemn a racist in my community, I wouldn't hesitate!" Bawl bawl bawl. A moment's reflection shows how juvenile these demands are. There are plenty of actions by the Israeli government I oppose as wrongful or even (in some cases) prejudices. And I condemn them, often. But I would not accept anyone's entitlement to have me do so "on demand", like a speak-and-spell, any and every time I wished to present myself in a public space. That sort of behavior -- and it does happen (remember Matisyahu in Spain?) -- is rightfully deemed antisemitic. So we should understand how our parallel demands in the Black community are rightfully understood as racist. In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, Derrick Bell recounts an incident where Rep. Charlie Rangel was asked on television to condemn some antisemitic remark by Farrakhan. He did so, while also expressing frustration at the sense that Black Americans "have to carry around their last statement condemning Farrakhan" like a passbook in order to be accepted into civil society. Yet this is the effect of our infantile mode of relating to our Black peers. Whenever they swing into our orbit, we reach out and press the button, waiting for them to say those magic words for us. I'm not saying that there is no antisemitism in the Black community, and I'm not saying there aren't Black people who really do apologize for Louis Farrakhan's antisemitism. This post isn't about them. This post is about people who know full well that Farrakhan is an antisemite, and have never given any indication they think otherwise, but just resent being asked to say so over and over and over again. So to be clear: What makes a Black person an ally to the Jewish community is not that they stand ready to be pressed as a button whenever a Jewish person needs to hear the comforting sound "Louis Farrakhan is an antisemite." That's an unreasonable, frankly infantile demand. But too often it seems characteristic of how Jews relate to those in the Black community we wish to see "allyship" from. There's one other element of this analogy that I think it's important to bring forward. The reason babies love these toys is not just because they appreciate the sounds that they make. That's part of it, but just as important is the toy's testament to the baby's ability to manipulate the world around them. They can tell that when they push this button, that results -- and for an infant who generally can't really cause things to happen in the world (no matter how much they might want to), that's a really nice feeling. When it comes to antisemitism and eliciting a response to it, Jews are in a similar boat. We very much want people to respond to our calls; to condemn antisemitism when we ask them to. But for the most part, the world doesn't listen to us. When we, say, ask Mike Huckabee to not make gratuitous Holocaust comparisons, he flatly rejects the demand and snarls that "Israel and Jewish people need to make friends, not insult the ones they have." Like infants, Jews are constantly made quite aware that we are for the most part sitting at the mercy of people bigger and stronger than we are. So, when there is a spot in the world where, when we say "condemn antisemitism!", something actually happens, there is something understandably exciting and delightful about it. It is an exercise of power by people who typically feel powerless. A similar dynamic explains why sometimes there might seem to be outsized attention to Jewish racism. For the most part, condemnations by communities of color of racism instigated by White Americans fall on deaf ears, for it is a feature of Whiteness in America that they are if they wish impervious to such demands. And likewise, it is a feature of Jewish vulnerability that we are not so impervious and that therefore at least sometimes, in some spaces, we can be compelled to answer. That, I imagine, is a delightful rarity. So perhaps it's understandable why those attacking racism so often seem to draw from the Jewish well. But if it still feels like an exploitation of Jewish marginal status, that's because it is. And likewise, the reason we're able to get some Black leaders, some of the time, to condemn antisemitism on cue is because of racism. The comparative vulnerability of a Black American versus a, say, Mike Huckabee means that they have to be responsive to these sorts of demands in circumstances where others don't. The constant call to "condemn antisemitism" exploits that vulnerability -- which is to say, it exploits Black marginalization. And that exploitation is reasonably resented. If the only way we relate to our Black allies is by asking them, again and again, to condemn antisemitism, we don't actually have a relationship as allies. We have a relationship that could be fulfilled by a tape recorder. True allyship is bidirectional. It involves giving as well as taking, and it involves learning new things, not just repeating the same homilies over and over again. Most importantly, a genuine allyship involves trust -- trust to know that one's partners oppose antisemitism even when they're not saying out loud. Trust that they've got your back even when they're operating in precarious circumstances, where sensitivities are on edge and tensions run highest. And unfortunately, right now, it seems that trust is lacking. Can that lack be laid entirely at the feet of the Jewish community? No, it can't. But do we have our share of the blame? Yes, most certainly. I get, obviously, why it feels good to hear Black people condemn antisemitism. And I get the social conditions which make it easier to focus on Black people who do or don't criticize Louis Farrakhan compared to tackling the far more entrenched, but far more dangerous, iterations of antisemitism in Congress, in churches, among Soros-conspiracymongers and White supremacist murderers. But such pleasures are cheap, and we are not babies. It's time for the Jewish community to grow up. via The Debate Link http://bit.ly/2VXNNOF

[nataliesnews]

Religious women want a non Jewish life saver  the murderer of Emil Greenschwieg says others will carry on his work, right-wingers vent frustrations at premier - The Times of Israel, 12.8.2020

12.8.2020 Weirder and weirder this country gets. I am actually doing very little, walking, swimming, friends, Spanish and Arabic….all of which nothing very exciting so this is mainly for those of you about the Israeli scene. A post on facebook which shocked me about a swimming pool in Jerusalem which had a sign up that that day the lifesaver was an Arab. The director said that as soon as he heard about it he had it taken down. But the reason it seems was not racism!!! But even stranger. Religious women had asked for a female lifesaver  but when there was not one they had asked for a lifesaver who was not Jewish. If a man is not Jewish he is less a man?  Go understand their heads.

I think it is well that the interview with the murderer of Emil Greenzweig so many years ago at a march of Shalom Achshav   below was published.  Those of us who took part in that march remember well the violence and curses against us as we walked. The next murder is on the line. And what easier way to do it than to take a hand grenade today and thrown it into the crowds at Balfour. I ask why  this man who is a murderer was freed and not given a life sentence. Of course by the way he now has his kippa on his head and says he stays whom,  eats and drinks and prays. To what God I would ask him.  Now I am sure the idea has been planted in the hands of his supporters. There are enough settlers who have the opportunity to obtain a grenade. Only yesterday some cars with supporters of Netanyahu actually stopped at the stand of those who have been there for weeks and attacked them physically. But it will be as it was with Emil and also with Rabin.  I doubt that even if this does happen anything will change. In the meantime all over the country there are demonstrations. I wonder that also in Caesaria a black curtain has been put up round the ancestral!! home of the Netanyahus and there are barriers all over to prevent demonstrations. I wonder how come no one has interviewed people of that area to ask how they feel about this.

 Peace activist’s killer calls anti-Netanyahu protesters ‘germs’ to be dealt with

Ahead of Saturday rallies, Yona Avrushmi, who in 1983 ‎lobbed grenade into left-wing rally, killing Emil Grunzweig, has no plans to attend but says others 'know exactly what to do'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/peace-activists-killer-calls-anti-netanyahu-protesters-germs-to-be-dealt-with/

Joining anti-Netanyahu protests, right-wingers vent frustrations at premier

While still a small contingent compared to majority of protesters, some who once voted for the Likud leader are making common cause with those on the left in calling for him to go

https://www.timesofisrael.com/joining-anti-netanyahu-protests-right-wingers-vent-frustrations-at-premier/

But sometimes there is something heartwarming. I wonder how the women who came in their black anonymous dress will manage not with Western dress. On the other hand I believe  that many Palestinian women here under this outfit are very modernly dressed and I remember once outside such an area seeing a woman drive up, park, get out very modern in her dress and put exactly that one. I just hope no one in her family ever found out

UAE helps reunite Yemenite Jewish family that was separated for 15 ‎years

'My soul felt reborn,' one relative says at Abu Dhabi airport ceremony; tweeting about reunion, Emirati FM Abdullah bin Zayed hails his country as 'homeland of coexistence'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/uae-helps-reunite-yemenite-jewish-family-that-was-separated-for-15‎-years/

I received in my bank account the 760 shekel which Netanyahu promised but first of all I know I will pay for it in some way and secondly I will donate the lot.  As many of my friends do. But I realise now in what security I grew up in. There were always financial worries of which I was very aware but never did I feel that I would lose my home and never did I think that I would go hungry of need clothing. And today listening to the news I think of the young people who are just starting out, the children who up to now grew up in the same security I did and who are now seeing a very different future. I think of people in their middle age  suddenly also having to confront a new reality and how the world has turned upside down. And I have now stopped asking…”Can this really be happening to us.” I just hoped it isn’t a case of “they said to her smile it could get worse” and she smiled and it did. Put gloomy mood down to just going off to town now for root canal work….. and it brings me back to the present as the dentist to whom I am going said to me, “Do you know  how much it will cost you”

Palestinians….and if they put up tents those are confiscated

 Don't say We Didn't Know 709

The Co-Existence Forum In The Negev's 2019 report shows that the government of Israel demolished 2241 Bedouin structures in the Negev!  88% of these demolitions were carried out by the structures' owners! They demolished themselves, for fear that if the state carries it out, they must pay the demolition expenses. In addition, in order to avoid the trauma of having police enter the village and evict the dwellers by force, they decided to demolish their homes with the same hands that had built them.

Importantly, the various governments of Israel have created a situation whereby all structures in the Bedouin villages of the Negev have been constructed illegally, Thus, any Bedouin in village who wishes to fulfill his basic human right of shelter, must break the law

 Natalie.

[chasingbeetles]

For the ask meme, whichever of the odd numbers that speak to you (or all of them lmfao)

“and lo, the odd numbers spoke unto them, saying, ‘prepared art thou, mortal fool, for the uncomfortable and intimate act of being known, knowing also that thou art utter shite at recalling any personal information on cue?’”

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

read: pet shop of horrors - matsuri akino

watch: yu yu hakusho

listen to: the crow & the beekeeper (both by dessa)

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.

hxh: kurapika

ygo: bakura

the hobbit: gandalf

yyh: kurama and shizuru

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?

i had to double-back and make sure i understood the concept in general but tbh i’d say both. i define myself by my actions and the things that i do because i do them because they reflect and expand on the sort of person i want to be, even if that means that sometimes i’m not doing them for some greater-minded or zen reason but because i want acknowledgement or to be seen. idk i think separating either into a vacuum overlooks both how the world works whether we like it or not but also how humans as a species interact with it and each other

7. do you care about your ethnicity?

y’know, i used to care so much about it bc i was so desperate to find like, One Source Of Belonging? or no not even a place to belong but like, a concrete point that i could refer back to and be like “this is where i come from, these are my very clear-cut roots, i live in flagrant disregard of a lot of what being a member of this community and culture means bc some of it hasn’t updated with the times At All and now actively hurts people, but it’s mine”, especially since growing up i was always in-between communities and often joked about moving someplace i would always be identified as an outsider already bc that’s how i was gonna be perceived by my actual communities anyway (which is hilarious considering where i live now)

but lately i’m just.......idk, tired? maybe it’s just bc interrogating and coming to terms with and identifying with the stupid big number of ethnicities i belong to requires more nuance than i’m willing to put into it right now, or i’m just burnt out by the fact that there’s no way to be part of an ethnic group in an apolitical or amoral way (like, if i had a penny for every time as a jew i get harassed about israel like it’s my personal fault what a government in a country i’m not even a citizen of does to other people, regardless of my own opinions of how deep a well the israeli govt can fall down, i’d have enough pennies to walk right into another stereotype about jews). either way i try not to think about it very much at all lately and largely fail miserably at it lmao

9. are you an artist?

allegedly! i actually got an art scholarship in high school to go to uni but i don’t think i’ve Drawn™ anything in a very long time, and despite having a sketchbook that i literally just purchased in oxford burning a hole in my backpack, i am Afeard to start drawing again in earnest

11. describe your ideal day.

i don’t know about my Absolute Ideal Day bc that changes a lot, but today was pretty good and i enjoyed it and wish more days were like it. i went to the lab and got some stuff done, then went to the diner and ate my weight in sushi rice and now i’m sat at a coffee shop doing work (tbf i’m sat in a coffee shop bc i have a dreaded feeling that my landlady will be back home today, but also i just work a lot better when i’m not at home, so)

13. inside or outdoors?

both!

15. five most influential books over your lifetime.

idk if this means “of all books published in my lifetime so far, which do i think are the most influential in general” or “which five books have influenced me the most” so i’m gonna go with the latter bc it feels like it makes the most sense. also all of these are fiction in no particular order bc every nonfiction book i’ve read in the last 21 years has suddenly fled my mind

the girl who owned a city - o. t. nelson

the bartimaeus trilogy - jonathan stroud (yes i know there are four books now but ~back in my day~ it was a trilogy)

the orphan tales - catherynne valente

inkworld trilogy - cornelia funke

fire - kristin cashore

(this question was really interesting bc i was.......not quite expecting these books to be the ones that would be the answer to this question and when i started thinking about why they came to mind it got Very Existential fjdslkfa)

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?

i......guess so? i mean i reblog stuff i’m interested in and i talk about my ridiculous shenanigans, so i suppose it’s fairly representative??

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?

general friend consensus is that i’m either a slytherin or that mix thing that people started doing a while back? idk i’m not in the hp fandom but there was that test a while back and i was like a slytherclaw or something.

21. do you love easily?

i don’t think i do, but once i do love somebody i’m really at ease with telling them/showing it

23. how often would you want to see your family every year?

at the moment i see my mother and grandmother two or three times a year and bc of where i live and it’s like That’s Just How It Be™, especially considering we’re in contact literally every day via text/calling/etc. besides that, there’s a time limit when i do get home on how long they’re happy that i’m back and things are pleasant to us starting to get into the same old shit (or them starting the same old shit and me being too Tired™ to engage). that being said i have extended family that i don’t see for years at a time and i’m unbelievably alright with that

25. could you live as a hermit?

i absolutely could, but bc of the speed and surety with which i was like Hell Yeah i think it’s better for my mental health if i don’t fjdsklfa

27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?

oh my god no

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

no plan - hozier

bremen - pigpen theatre co

grand canyon - the wind and the wave

[republicstandard]

The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi Supports the Patriarchy and the Victimization of Women

Well friends, it is another day ending in 'Y' and that means there is another feminist moonbat screeching at the sky about guns. Actually make that two but Jessica Valenti doesn't count as newsworthy anymore. Sorry Jess.

Our kids are literally being shot to death by weapons of war, and the government continues to do nothing. ~ Jessica Valenti

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:10817585113717094,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7788-6480"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

Yes, it certainly appears that after decades of creeping gun control and a Soros-funded PR blitz featuring Teen-Bop Against The Evil Guns that the mean ole gubbermint just isn't doing enough to restrict the rights of people to protect themselves. H.R.5717 is a figment of your imagination. Lex B from the Freebird Forum describes 5717 thus:

Over 10 states looking to institute risk protection orders which authorise the unwarranted seizure of firearms from “dangerous” individuals. People like ex-girlfriends, postmen, welfare agents, mental healthcare workers, family members and others can petition to have your guns remove from your possession without evidence for a minimum of one year and a maximum of a lifetime. This outrageous law is supported thoroughly by the NRA! A bill is being introduced to the federal government to disburse more funds to states which adopt this risk protection measure. Spread this to your family members, friends and acquaintances, whether liberal or conservative. This is one of the most dangerous laws I’ve seen in my lifetime.

If you were under any doubt that the gun control agenda is going ahead full steam, Trump or no, #MAGA or no, this is your wake-up call. The Guardian columnist cries out in pain as she strips your rights.

Staying with the Guardian, Valenti's compadre Arwa Mahdawi describes herself as a Palestinian-Brit in New York; three intersecting aspects of identity that would lead most sane people to be avidly pro-Gun if they had any sense.

British: Strict gun laws don't stop acid attacks, global jihad and criminals using guns.

Palestinian: Having no guns to shoot at the Israelis with is proving a problem.

New Yorker: self-explanatory.

I won't even go into Greater London without at least a fully licensed concealed carry soup-spoon. It's that dangerous these days.

So, what is Arwa's burning issue?

I wrote about how feminism is cynically being used to sell guns https://t.co/ZqEvupaUvG

— Arwa Mahdawi (@ArwaM) May 18, 2018

Yes, it's the heinous reality of all-American babes openly expressing their love for the Second Amendment (and by crimminy it is a beautiful thing- but we'll get to the ladies later). The bee in Arwa's bonnet is that pure, innocent and beloved feminism is being used -used!- to sell guns. Heaven forbid that a cult which has no problem selling pussy hats and infantilizing coloring books be co-opted by women with a different opinion about what a self-determined woman means in 2018.

We begin with the unfounded conflation between "women" and "feminism". It's very easy for feminists to then claim that they speak for all women when they use this simple rhetorical trick. Note: Feminism and women are not the same thing. Will Wheaton is not a woman as far as we know, but he is undoubtedly a feminist. So is that guy who just jumped the shark with Star Wars VIII, you know. That guy who will never know what credibility or talent is. There are probably other male feminists out there too, but who cares.

Firearms, it would seem, have become a feminist issue. Second amendment proponents and the gun industry are using female empowerment, and even the #MeToo movement, to sell their products and fight back against gun control.

Ladies, through feminism you can become empowered! So empowered. Just not empowered enough to take responsibility for your home and your person, because that is actually being exploited by the gun industry. Could you imagine the look on Harvey Weinstein's face if he pulled out his piece and Rose McGowan had pulled out a piece of her own, with a thicker barrel? If we take Mahdawi's view, it is probably for the best that she was raped by one of the most powerful people in Hollywood; because you just can't allow women to become too good at not being raped by the literal physical and financial embodiment of the patriarchy. Maybe I'm a bad feminist, but I fully support the right of all women to shoot rapists square amidships.

When faced with examples of actual rape, the feminist mentality is forced into a paradox. What comes first? The victim, or the ideological need to subvert the dominant paradigm? In her own article, Arwa Mahdawi writes:

Shayna Lopez-Rivas, 23, who recently graduated from Florida State University, also bought a gun after being attacked. Lopez-Rivas grew up in an anti-gun household and always had a negative view of guns until she was raped on campus in 2014. “I had pepper spray, he had a knife,” she said. “I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough.” The first time she picked up a gun, Lopez-Rivas felt empowered. “As much as women are equal to men in every other way, the truth is that in a biological sense we’re not equal. They’re bigger, faster, stronger. We need to find something that is an equalizer. And for me that equalizer was a firearm.”

Arwa's response? Pure feminist sophistry.

It’s important to listen to women like Lopez-Rivas, who have found guns to be empowering. It’s crucial we don’t dismiss their experience. Nevertheless, it’s also crucial that we don’t let gun rights activists cynically exploit women’s rights to sell more guns. While firearms may empower some women, they kill a whole lot more.

Some wags out there might accuse Arwa Mahdawi of literally exploiting someone's rape to make her point in this very excerpt, but that would be uncouth. Correct, but uncouth. In the mind of the feminist, guns are simply part of capitalist patriarchy. There is no question that they are evil, and must all be destroyed- for the women. Actual rape victims like Ms. Lopez-Rivas who have been through hell on Earth are dismissed with a handwave; that they shouldn't be dismissed but, actually, dearie, even though if you had a gun you might not have been raped, the fact that guns also kill women means that you really should be quiet. Sisterhood, Yeah!

Live. Speak. Stand. Run. Carry with Confidence. Ladies, chances are your assailant is gonna be bigger, stronger and faster and that’s why you have @alexoathletica for your gun, your mace, or even your phone. Yeah, you’ve got it covered. #TeamTomi #alexoathletica #NotYourAverageGunGirl

A post shared by Tomi Lahren (@tomilahren) on Mar 22, 2018 at 5:54pm PDT

Hey, it's that Tomi Lahren girl from the TV who says stuff. Seems like she entirely agrees with the assessment of Ms Lopez-Rivas that according to the most horrifying field test imaginable, men are stronger than women and shooting a rapist is a good tactic that may prevent your rape. Mahdawi's response?

Much of this messaging seems to echo the NRA line that guns empower women.

Well Arwa, maybe -and I mean, just maybe- you could consider the possibility that the NRA are right, just this once? It is a very poor piece of thinking indeed to assume that your enemies are always wrong; not only is that almost certainly not true (except in the case of the Green Bay Packers) but it betrays a certain arrogance in that you consider your own position to be unassailable. Is it so far beyond the pale that the National Rifle Association might have a point?

In the aftermath of this year's school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Loesch also defended guns by arguing that arming women would help them defend themselves against sexual assault. Framing gun rights as a feminist issue feels disingenuous and exploitative when there is a huge amount of research that shows women are more likely to be killed by a gun than saved by one.

Here is the crux of Mahdawi's case- it's one that has been drip fed into the cultural zeitgeist by virtually every liberal media outlet available; and generally it comes down to this utter mess of an assertion. Women are more likely to be killed with a gun than to save themselves with a gun. Therefore, guns are bad for women.

NEWSFLASH. Guns are bad for everyone. That's what guns do. That's why you want to be a competent gun owner when faced with someone with a gun or some other weapon who wishes to do you a mischief. The data this claim comes from appears to stem from this study by the anti-gun Violence Prevention Center. In it, the claim is made that a woman is more than 100 times more likely to be killed with a gun than to save herself with one. The message is clear; save the ladies, get rid of your guns.

Fortunately, it appears that the women of America are smarter than gun-grabbing feminists.

I have no apologies for my graduation photos. As a woman, I refuse to be a victim & the second amendment ensures that I don't have to be. pic.twitter.com/5CKmQobrMb

— Kaitlin Bennett (@KaitMarieox) May 15, 2018

I don’t take normal college graduation photos... pic.twitter.com/eI1NvLFYHs

— Brenna Spencer (@BrennaSpencer) April 7, 2018

Further, Mahdawi recognizes this truth. Female gun ownership is on the rise, and they are buying guns for self-defense. Even with the flawed comparison of all women killed by gun versus all women saved by gun on the table, the result is not less guns, in reality. It is more women making the smart choice that, in a world in which feminists have demanded equality even when there is none, self-defense is a personal responsibility.

According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, women are more likely than men to say that the only reason they own a gun is for protection. While 27% of women say protection is the sole reason they own a gun, only 8% of men say the same.

Wyoming: 53.8% of people own Firearms Gun Homicide rate: 1.7 per 100k DC: 25.9% of people own firearms Gun Homicide rate: 18.0 per 100k https://t.co/VtRvV733Bp

— Andrew Quackson🇺🇸 (@AndrewQuackson) May 21, 2018

One might speculate that the breakdown of the nuclear family may have had something to contribute to these figures, which gall Mahdawi so much but please me immensely. It is my suspicion that perhaps if feminists had not been quite so keen on demonizing men and all we stand for that, perhaps, we may see far fewer spinsters needing to defend themselves with firearms; that would be a husband's job, after all.

The gatekeeping by the feminista media denizens is nothing short of anti-woman, anti-liberty hypocrisy. Of course, Mahdawi doesn't give a damn about rape victims, murder rates or women at all. This is a one-hundred-percent ideologically-driven poop-fling from the cheap seats; because it cannot be allowed to stand that pretty girls can responsibly promote responsible gun ownership in an era when pretty girls are kidnapped and murdered by MS-13. In the United States. In liberal Houston. By El Salvadorean Dreamers! It must be that the NRA hates women!

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:10817587730962790,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-5979-7226"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

Ok, let's wrap this one up. Mahdawi has in the past published overtly racist and misandrist articles, whatever this is:

Latest column is on frugality porn, LinkedIn broetry, and condom snorting https://t.co/NfhG0BiDP4

— Arwa Mahdawi (@ArwaM) April 4, 2018

And, of course, literally subverting other people's businesses that she is paid money to do a serious job for with SJW-lite nonsense.

am currently freelancing at an agency, drafting corporate manifestos. have amused myself by peppering manifestos with Black Panther quotes ('build bridges not barriers' etc). unfortunately this has now been found out...

— Arwa Mahdawi (@ArwaM) February 22, 2018

Now I feel bad about picking on Arwa. She clearly can't help it, the Kool-Aid is just too damn strong.

Go buy a gun today, ladies.

Thank you for reading Republic Standard. We publish this magazine and the Freebird Forum because we believe in free speech- but it doesn't come cheap! Will you make a small donation towards our running costs? You can make a difference by clicking here.

If you love free speech, we are building the platform for you! Read about how we are building FreebirdTV, open source video hosting with no thought-policing.

The Republic Standard Web Shop is now open! Every piece of merchandise you buy is a victory against the nerds.

from Republic Standard | Conservative Thought & Culture Magazine https://ift.tt/2karFyC via IFTTT