#image bank ben

[ded-and-gonne]

[esyra]

After the hospital bombing, I finally heard back from my grandmother and confirmed that several of my relatives were murdered by Israeli bombing. Seven of them, to be precise. Three are still going, including her. We've been talking constantly ever since.

Asked if it was possible to head south, and was told they did but were also bombed there. So they decided to go back home, in Zeitoun. Their home was bombed and they were pulled out of the rumble, then driven by ambulances to the al-Ahli Arab Hospital. There were people in every corner. Gazans sheltering, sleeping on the floor. Gazans dying on the floor, waiting for beds.

Four were declared dead on arrival, three were in need of surgery and other three were just bandaged. Then, a bomb was dropped in the parking lot that made parts of the ceiling collapse, like Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah reported in that horrific conference/interview. Those in need of surgery died.

By the way, just in case you didn't know: the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the third oldest in history, bombed by Israel a few days back, was located near the hospital.

When looking for new shelter, they saw schools with signs hanging outside, "We can't take any more families." They met families, sympathetic but already sheltering too many people. They're now staying in an apartment building they found empty. Sleeping in the corner of the living room. If the family comes back, they'll apologize and leave.

Told me she was saving her phone battery for when the bombing stopped, and she had to ask for help to rebuilt the neighborhood. But she doesn't think it's gonna stop anymore. The ones still with her are mute most of the time, like they're saving energy, but she feels lonely and wanted to talk. There's no internet and to connect to WhatsApp, people are buying "a card from the supermarket, there's a password and username." Not sure what she meant. Still, the internet is inconsistent and won't load neither videos or images nor pages, so she doesn't know what's happening on the outside world.

Told her there were a lot of people protesting to stop the genocide, she replied, "The bombings are getting worse by the day." The bombing yesterday was the worst she ever witnessed. The entire neighborhood is infested with the smell of death, of decomposing bodies. Bodies are piling up in the streets and she's not sure if it's because they ran out of places to store them, but most of them are in bags. The smoke of the bombings hide the blue sky—she hasn't seen the clouds for a while.

Asked if I could share their pictures, names and dreams with people and was told, of which I partly agree, "they're not entertainment." If anyone genuinely cared, they would be alive—I'd argue there are people who do care, but I'm not gonna lecture her pain. And they don't deserve to be used to fulfill someone's sick fantasy. Told me to remember what some Israelis do with pictures of dead Palestinians. And I do.

For those of you who are not familiar, many times before settlers got together to celebrate the murder of Palestinians. For one, in 2015, Israeli settlers set a house in Duma, West Bank on fire. An 18-month old baby, Ali Dawbsheh, was burnt alive. Both parents later died of wounds and only a 5-year-old, Ahmad, survived, although severely injured.

Two celebrations of their murder are widely known, one at a wedding and others outside the court in which two were indicted for the terrorist attack. In the wedding, guests stabbed a photo of the toddler, Ali, while others waved guns, knives and Molotov cocktails. Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was present.

That's what happens in an apartheid. Palestinians are so abused by authorities that their "innocent civilians" come to accept the brutality as necessary or are desensitized by our suffering. After all, it's been 75 years—get used to it!

So I won't risk the image of my loved ones, in fear they are used in these kinds of depravity. I will say, though, the world lost a young footballer. Lost a female writer and an aspiring ballerina. Lost a kind father, who was also a great cook, and a loving mother that enjoyed sewing and other types of handicraft art. Lost a math teacher and a child that wanted to become one.

People think Israel is testing new weapons on them. There's civilians arriving at the hospital with severe burns, which they thought was from white phosphorus, but apparently the pattern is different from the one caused by white phosphorus. It's widely believed Israel tests weapons in Palestinians.

Jeff Halper, author of War Against the People, a book on Israel's arms and surveillance technology industries, said: "Israel has kept the occupation because it's a laboratory for weapons."

They've ran out of drinkable water and the "aid" Biden sent was only for the South of Gaza and no fuel, for hospitals, was allowed in. Many shelves in the supermarket are empty. She said many are convinced that if they don't die from the bombing, they'll die from starvation or dehydration, or whatever disease will develop from the dirty water they're drinking.

Told me all people do now is pray, cry and die. Told me she hopes West Bank is spared. Told her Israel bombed a mosque in West Bank and dozens of Palestinians in West Bank are being murdered by settlers, so she bided me goodbye.

[saddayfordemocracy]

How the Watermelon Became a Symbol of Palestinian Solidarity

The use of the watermelon as a Palestinian symbol is not new. It first emerged after the Six-day War in 1967, when Israel seized control of the West Bank and Gaza, and annexed East Jerusalem. At the time, the Israeli government made public displays of the Palestinian flag a criminal offense in Gaza and the West Bank. 

To circumvent the ban, Palestinians began using the watermelon because, when cut open, the fruit bears the national colors of the Palestinian flag—red, black, white, and green.  

The Israeli government didn't just crack down on the flag. Artist Sliman Mansour told The National in 2021 that Israeli officials in 1980 shut down an exhibition at 79 Gallery in Ramallah featuring his work and others, including Nabil Anani and Issam Badrl. “They told us that painting the Palestinian flag was forbidden, but also the colors were forbidden. So Issam said, ‘What if I were to make a flower of red, green, black and white?’, to which the officer replied angrily, ‘It will be confiscated. Even if you paint a watermelon, it will be confiscated,’” Mansour told the outlet.

Israel lifted the ban on the Palestinian flag in 1993, as part of the Oslo Accords, which entailed mutual recognition by Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and were the first formal agreements to try to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The flag was accepted as representing the Palestinian Authority, which would administer Gaza and the West Bank.

In the wake of the accords, the New York Times nodded to the role of watermelon as a stand-in symbol during the flag ban. “In the Gaza Strip, where young men were once arrested for carrying sliced watermelons—thus displaying the red, black and green Palestinian colors—soldiers stand by, blasé, as processions march by waving the once-banned flag,” wrote Times journalist John Kifner.

In 2007, just after the Second Intifada, artist Khaled Hourani created The Story of the Watermelon for a book entitled Subjective Atlas of Palestine. In 2013, he isolated one print and named it The Colours of the Palestinian Flag, which has since been seen by people across the globe.

The use of the watermelon as a symbol resurged in 2021, following an Israeli court ruling that Palestinian families based in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem would be evicted from their homes to make way for settlers.

The watermelon symbol today:

In January, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave police the power to confiscate Palestinian flags. This was later followed by a June vote on a bill to ban people from displaying the flag at state-funded institutions, including universities. (The bill passed preliminary approval but the government later collapsed.)

In June, Zazim, an Arab-Israeli community organization, launched a campaign to protest against the ensuing arrests and confiscation of flags. Images of watermelons were plastered on to 16 taxis operating in Tel Aviv, with the accompanying text reading, “This is not a Palestinian flag.”

“Our message to the government is clear: we will always find a way to circumvent any absurd ban and we will not stop fighting for freedom of expression and democracy,” said Zazim director Raluca Ganea. 

Amal Saad, a Palestinian from Haifa who worked on the Zazim campaign, told Al-Jazeera they had a clear message: “If you want to stop us, we’ll find another way to express ourselves.”

Words courtesy of BY ARMANI SYED / TIME

[apod]

2024 April 7

A Total Solar Eclipse over Wyoming Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper

Explanation: Will the sky be clear enough to see the eclipse? This question is already on the minds of many North Americans hoping to see tomorrow's solar eclipse. This question was also on the mind of many people attempting to see the total solar eclipse that crossed North America in August 2017. Then, the path of total darkness shot across the mainland of the USA from coast to coast, from Oregon to South Carolina -- but, like tomorrow's event, a partial eclipse occurred above most of North America. Unfortunately, in 2017, many locations saw predominantly clouds. One location that did not was a bank of the Green River Lakes, Wyoming. Intermittent clouds were far enough away to allow the center image of the featured composite sequence to be taken, an image that shows the corona of the Sun extending out past the central dark Moon that blocks our familiar Sun. The surrounding images show the partial phases of the solar eclipse both before and after totality.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240407.html

[brainrot-goes-brrrrrr]

Savannah Squad Presentation Night Headcanons/Drabble [3/3]

I totally didn't forget about this, I don't know what you are talking about (I'm sorry, I suck at finishing things & I don't know how to write for these two ;_;)

Part 1: Taylor & Logan Part 2: Ben & Tyler Part 3: Aiden & Ashlyn

Start of the drabble:

Thankfully, with Aiden's good laptop, there were no more technical difficulties for the rest of the night. But that in no way means the rest of the night is calm, and that is simply because Aiden has gotten up to the front of the room drip drying while setting up his presentation. Logan is then left mopping up the previous puddle he left from when Tyler dumped the entire contents of the spray bottle on him. For the betterment of the final two presentations, and Logan's floor, the spray bottle was retired for the night.

When Aiden is finished setting up, the TV practically demands for the attention of the rest of the group for none of the right reasons. It is horrendous. Astronomically so; the title of the presentation is somehow even worse.

Aiden Clark

(off topic, looking at my old art makes me want to vomit)

You see the title. That's not the bad part. The bad part is the fact that the slideshow is like thirty slides with multiple images per slide. The worst part is the fact that it's volume one. Check this man's storage, I promise you there is absolutely nothing left.

I want you to imagine you are just in a dark room with friends only lit by the TV and a small laptop screen. Imagine that, and then imagine this flashbang of a presentation popped on screen and each slide only gets progressively worse. Aiden is capable of making good presentations, he strikes me as a more artistic type, this is poorly made on purpose. Because why not.

This presentation is pretty much just going through his camera roll, but its categorized by person and gets progressively more deranged as they're section goes on. Which means the person with the longest section gets the worst of it. Which means Tyler gets the worst of it.

Like Ash got off pretty easy, Logan too. Taylor, gets the next longest section because I can see her and Aiden enabling each other to do dumb shit (one of the videos is her stuck in a traffic cone trying to get Tyler to help her out (spoiler: he didn't)), he lives with Ben so he absolutely has material on him, mainly his shit cooking. Then there's Tyler... half of the photo's aren't even of him!!! He just made dumb ass bottom text memes. They're not even funny ;_;

Aiden put his photoshop skills to work cause he is pulling up pictures like this:

He also screenshots texts too. I want to give you examples, but everything I can think of can't be put here cause I don't want to be considered weird. It's nothing bad, it's just like teenage humor. like ironic stuff.

Just think teenage boy humor, but if it was made by a decent person and wasn't problematic. Like how people would jokingly flirt with their friends and the other person is like "bro, wtf 💀"

so the presentation is just Aiden avoiding things being thrown at him while he exposes the group

(I had to tone this down because teenage humor does not translate to written word without sounding like a creep! I'm banking on the fact that you've just seen teenagers interact with each other cause then you'd get it)

Group's Reaction

the only reaction that matter's is Tyler's and you know why. You know why.

Everyone is having a good, grand ol' time laughing at each other being dumb, then there is just Tyler being raked through the mud.

The majority of the group think "yeah, my pictures are bad, but at least I'm not Tyler".

tbf, I also headcanon that Aiden shares a PE class with Tyler so he has more material. Cause exercising is somehow more embarrassing in PE. It doesn't matter how athletic you are, no one looks good when you are struggling not to face plant when doing a wheel barrel because your partner is just hauling ass across the field.

Ashlyn Banner

I need Ashlyn to drag everyone. desperately. In good fun obviously, but it just goes to show how odd everyone really is.

These are teenagers. Even though they are in awful circumstances, they still do stupid teenage shit. This is mainly revealed in the arguments that take place during hang outs and study sessions.

Her presentation is split up by how dumb she considers each conversation. Most of the conversations involve Aiden and Taylor, not because they are dumbasses, though is does play a part, but because they enable each other's dumbassery.

Ben only makes up about a slide... for obvious reasons. Part of him is relieved, but the other part wishes that he could say more to be included.

One of her favorite moments that she put in the presentation is when she overheard Logan having to explain to Aiden that 1.) the North Pole does, in fact, exist and 2.) that it is not the same thing as Antarctica when they were doing pair work in science. It took... painfully long, for the point to reach Aiden. She's not convinced it has. (I had this argument with my friend during senior year...)

^^ The argument gets brought back up because Tyler started shitting on Aiden cause of it.

Another big chunk of the presentation is just when she caught the group baby-talking Logan's cat (he has a cat cause I said so). You'd think it be Taylor, considering her general demeanor, but Tyler's the one who talks to the cat most of the time. And the cat absolutely loves him. The cat is sitting on his lap as we speak.

Logan is a person to play first person shooter games. With mic. Need I say more. (He doesn't say anything bad, but he can shit talk. It's easier since they don't know who he is lmao).

Taylor gets off easy because everything dumb that she says is on purpose. She is absolutely the person to just go with the bit, so everything she says just goes with the flow of the group. What's that? It's because Ashlyn has more of a soft spot for Taylor! What, no! I don't know what you are talking about, Aiden. Such accusations. (he is 100% correct)

Group Reaction:

Since the presentation was pretty balanced with who got made fun of, excluding Ben (ToT), everyone's having a pretty good time.

Since Ben barely had anything in the presentation, Logan had the bright idea to scroll through this guys social media posts. Mainly twitter. He struck gold at the expense of Ben.

Regarding cat point in the presentation, Ashlyn had some videos as proof. Is Tyler embarrassed? Yes. Can he do anything about it? No, he has the cat on his lap.

[tkachuktkaching]

The Tag team of Chucky & Benny were at it again

Sam Bennett #9 and Matthew Tkachuk #19 of the Florida Panthers take on Ben Chiarot #8 of the Detroit Red Wings during first period action at the Amerant Bank Arena on January 17, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida.

(Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

[ton-618-ton-618]

2024 April 7

A sequence of images showing the Moon covering increasing amounts of the Sun is shown, with the center image showing a total solar eclipse. The great corona of the Sun can be seen around the dark moon in the center image.

A Total Solar Eclipse over Wyoming

Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper

Explanation: Will the sky be clear enough to see the eclipse? This question is already on the minds of many North Americans hoping to see tomorrow's solar eclipse. This question was also on the mind of many people attempting to see the total solar eclipse that crossed North America in August 2017. Then, the path of total darkness shot across the mainland of the USA from coast to coast, from Oregon to South Carolina -- but, like tomorrow's event, a partial eclipse occurred above most of North America. Unfortunately, in 2017, many locations saw predominantly clouds. One location that did not was a bank of the Green River Lakes, Wyoming. Intermittent clouds were far enough away to allow the center image of the featured composite sequence to be taken, an image that shows the corona of the Sun extending out past the central dark Moon that blocks our familiar Sun. The surrounding images show the partial phases of the solar eclipse both before and after totality.

[welldonebeca]

Uncertain Ground (2)

Summary: After Herogasm, Abby meets Soldier Boy again. This time, though, he doesn’t plan on her leaving his sights again, and she realises there’s more to him than meets the eye. Pairing: Abby (OC) x Soldier Boy WC: 1.2k words Warnings: 1970s, time skip, graphic violence, angst.

If you like my work, consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my Patreon. It’s just $2 a month and I promise you won’t regret it.

Masterlist

Abby held onto the seat as Soldier Boy raced through the street into her house, and was ready to hop into the shower the moment he let her go.

"I just need a minute to freshen up," she said quickly, not giving him the chance to stop her.

Was she really doing this? Scrubbing blood off of her hands to hop in bed with some A-lister after all that had happened in the bank?

Any idolisation she had for Soldier Boy had faded the second he snorted cocaine off her stomach, but.. he wanted her? As in: really wanted and desired her even after he had already fucked her?

Unkempt, untalented, unwanted leech Abby?

She gripped the sink, trying to push the ghost of her mother back into her stupid grave.

She was fucking dead. Her words should be too.

Abby breathed in before finally stepping out of the bathroom, leaving her suit inside and just wrapping a robe around herself, and frowned when her ears caught glass clicking.

"Ben?" she was back in the living room.

He raised a glass, drinking her bourbon.

"You got nice taste," he hummed.

Her face heated up and she tried to pull her robe tighter around herself, as if to conceal her body from him, but it was like Ben could see right through her.

"Come here " he instructed, patting his thigh.

Oh.

When her powers emerged at a young age, it felt like any delicate detail of her was ripped right out of her hands.

She was strong and she knew it, and maybe to some, it was liberating, but her mother always reminded her of how she wasn’t a real woman and no one would ever see her as one.

But there Ben was, making her feel small with just a simple movement of his hand.

"What's up with that robe?" he asked, relaxing back.

He was shirtless. She could see his flawless skin underneath, stomach a little soft over his muscles and just overall stupidly tempting.

He smirked, pulling her to seat her on his lap.

"You want me to unwrap you like a present again?"

Her face flushed and he smirked.

"Soldier…" she sighed.

He hummed, shaking his head.

"Ben," he corrected her.

Abby looked away, and he moved his hands up to her body, caressing her hips and then pushed her robe away.

"Perfect," he hummed. "Never found a woman this hot, you know?"

"What about countess?" she asked, not able to hold back her tongue.

He snorted

"I don't even fuck countess," he moved his hand up her stomach. "Not since I got a taste of you."

She wanted to doubt him. He was fucking Soldier Boy, he could have any girl he wanted.

Why would he-

But her thought process stopped when he captured her lips, kissing her deeply.

She moaned, letting his tongue slide in as one of his hands just threw her robe down, fondling her breasts in his rough hands.

"How wet are you for me?" he purred, pulling away from her lips and taking a hand down between her legs, and Abby gasped when he parted her folds with his finger. "Hm, baby... were you this wet when you saw me come to the rescue?"

"No," she protested, and whined when he pushed a finger into her.

He clicked his tongue.

"I don't think you weren't, baby," he decided. "I think you want me to take you right there. Could fuck you right in front of the reporters and you'd just take me."

She moaned.

"Ben," she protested.

Was he crazy?

He pushed a second finger into her, opening them and slowly fucking her.

"I could have laid you out on the hood of that police car and fucked you right there," he smirked, lips moving to her neck, kissing and teasing her skin. "Letting them all get the good angles of my cock fucking this pussy."

Abby couldn’t stop her brain from conjuring the images. It would’ve been so dirty, everyone would know that soldier boy fucked her, that he liked fucking her.

It made her gush at the thought of everyone knowing, but the embarrassment was still there. What would Vought say? It wouldn’t be good for either of their images.

"Ben!" she yelped, feeling a pinch in her clit.

“You’re thinking too loud, baby doll," he pulled his fingers out and lifted her. "No thoughts, just cock, baby."

He lifted her up, standing and wrapping her legs around his waist and making Abby gasp.

"Hold on, pretty doll," he commanded simply, not even looking like he was breaking a sweat as he walked to her room.

Ben closed her door shut with his foot and put her in her bed, smirking and taking off his pants quickly.

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard you'll feel it for days," he promised, tossing his clothes back. "Nothing will ever be better than my cock inside you, pretty doll. You'll never be able to get yourself off if not just rubbing that pretty bud because of how addicted you are to me."

She fell back on her bed, spreading he legs as he fumbled to finish undressing, and licked her lips by just looking at his cock.

"Hey," he called her. "Eyes up."

Abby looked up at his face, and Ben raised his chin.

"I'll fuck your face later, doll," he promised. "Right now, I want to pound that tight hole first."

Her face burned. She vaguely remembered sucking him off during herogasm - there was a lot she had forgotten thanks to whatever he had given her. Still, it was her first time sucking a guy off, and she wondered if she could get better with it for him.

He crawled into her bed and pulled her close, holding her thighs open and in place as his head pressed against her entrance.

"You feel what you do to me?" he teased her. "Made me hard as a rock, I got a nice big load waiting for you."

It was a good thing she had made herself get an IUD after the last time they saw one another. She was terrified of their encounter leaving more than just memories in her, and the moment she was free of that splitting headache, Abby had scheduled a visit to her doctor and popped that thing into her uterus.

She couldn't expect a man like Soldier Boy to always come prepared, plus, a secret part of her loved being filled, and by the looks of his balls, he wasn't lying.

Ben pushed his cock into her, not wasting any time to get what he wanted.

"Perfect tight cunt," he held her hips, thrusting hard into her. "I missed it so much, baby doll, you know that?"

She moaned, breathless at his strong movements.

"My perfect always virginal cunt," he chuckled.

Oh. He remembered.

They were interesting, her healing powers.

She hadn't met another female super talking about it, but having your hymen constantly regenerate was an interesting feeling.

"No hymen for me to break today, though, uh?" he remained. "What happened, baby doll? Were you touching yourself before they called you for help?"

She flushed. Yes, she was. In the morning, though, not right before they called her.

"Ben," she whined, embarrassed.

He laughed amid his grunts.

"God, what a little slut," he purred, taking his hand to caress her bud. "I should punish you."

She moaned, tossing her head back.

"Is that what you want?" he teased her. "Your Soldier Boy to punish you for being naughty?"

She nodded, needy.

"Next time you wanna touch yourself you'll have to ask my permission," he warned her. "And I'll know if you fucking do it, sweetheart. Don't test me."

Abby moaned, overfilled with pleasure, and he moved his hips faster.

"I'll spank your ass until you're begging me to stop," he growled. "And then I'll finally fuck that ass that's been haunting my dreams."

She gasped at the suggestion.

Her ass wasn't meant for fucking!

Ben looked at her face and laughed at her shock.

"Of course you've never been fucked in the ass before," he grunted. "Of. Fucking. Course."

Her mind was filled with so many questions.

What did he even mean with all that? Why had he even come after her? He could have called before, too, and-

"Nope, no more thinking, little whore," he pushed her legs up against her chest, getting even deeper into her.

Abby cried out at the brush of his cock against her cervix, pain mixing with pleasure as he dove into her, fucking using her.

"Ben," she moaned loudly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to bring him close.

Soldier boy groaned, kissing her again as he slammed his cock into her.

He pulled back away from the kiss, face to face with her, and bit her lower lip with an intense look on his face.

"Mine," he growled. "All fucking mine."

His, yes. She was his.

She could feel the knot in her stomach starting to tighten more and more.

"Ben, I'm close! Please, please!" she begged.

Abby restrained herself from touching her cunt. She had to ask for permission now, after all.

His hand reached down and started to rub her clit, and she cried out.

"Ben!"

"So fucking sloppy," he groaned. "I'm gonna wreck this cunt until it is gaping."

She shook at his promise, his promise driving her over the edge.

Fuck. She loved his filthy mouth.

She went limp as she rode out her pleasure, though he continues to fuck her, his stamina keeping him going until she was about to peak again before he even came himself.

"Ben," she whined, mixed with a moan. "Want you to cum."

He chuckled.

"Want that, baby doll? Want me to make you drip?"

"Please," she moaned. "I need you, Ben."

Her pleading did it, and he pushed down onto the bed even further, fucking her loudly into she finally felt his seed filling her up.

She didn't even realise she was cumming with him until she was shaking and crying, much happier with the feeling of being filled to the brink than any other feeling.

"All mine, baby doll," Ben whispered, putting his face in the crook of her neck and kissing the skin there, keeping her close.

Her cheeks were wet with overwhelmed tears when he pulled away to look at her, and Ben moved his hands to her face, wiping her tears away in an oddly sweet way.

"Poor doll," he cooed, teasing her with a mocking pout. "Too much?"

"A little," she confessed, whining, squeezing around his cock, growing soft inside her. "You are just... everywhere."

"You like that, don't you?" he kissed her chin. "If I pull out, all my seed will drip out of you."

Abby panted.

"Ben," she whined.

"We can't have that," he kissed her chin.

He pulled back slowly, raising her hips and pulling his hand, making her hold herself in a very open position and keeping his cum inside by gravity.

"Stay just like that," he commanded. "Don't move."

She obeyed, a little uncomfortable but nothing as bad as her performances, though she was confused about what he was doing.

Ben walked out of her room and then came back, walking to her with something in his hand.

A plug.

"Ben?" she asked as he spread her folds open, quickly catching his seed before it started dripping out, scooping it back in and slowly pushing the toy inside.

"Pretty as a picture," he cooed.

She whimpered, squeezing around the plug as it settled in.

"You are gonna keep that in all night, okay?" he commanded, kissing her neck and pulling her legs back down, laying by her side and pulling her to his arms.

The night?

"Are... are you going to stay the night?" she found herself asking.

Ben pulled her to his chest, caressing her cheek.

He looked at her face, seeming to process her question.

"I've never done that before," he wondered out loud, caressing her thigh with his free hand, concentrating.

He then looked after and smiled.

"As long as you don't snore," he decided. "I don't see why not."

That made her laugh, and she tried to show her appreciation by lifting her head up to kiss him.

She wanted to be his.

And maybe... just maybe, he could be hers too.

…

“Uncertain Grounds” was fully posted on my Patreon on 2022. If you like Soldier Boy and other Jensen Ackles characters, and like the idea of having early access to my work, consider checking it out. It’s just $2 a month and I promise you won’t regret it. (link takes you to the public masterlist)

...

Forever Tags: @emoryhemsworth​​ @amythyststorm33​​​ @shaelyn102 @yknott81​ ​​@letsdisneythings​​​ @maximofftrash​​​ @kgbrenner @thefridgeismybestie​​​ @magpiegirl80​​​ @mogaruke​​​ @shadowhunter7 @musicalcoffeebean​​​ @megasimpleplan4ever​​​ @deemoriarty @05spn18​​​ @malindacath​​​ @kdcollinsauthor​​​ @random-fandom-fangirl2112​ @widowsfics​​​ @frozenhuntress67​​​ @averyrogers83 @notyourtypicalrose​​​ @nerdypinupcrystal​ @giruvega

[beemers-hell]

how'd you come up with eb's cutest killer tattoo? it's so damn cool and I would love to know the thought process behind it! + other characters you have tattoos for!!!!

ok so forgive me i was originally gonna draw a big diagram for this but i just dont have the energy for that so I'm resorting to using a mix of recent doodles and old, and i mean like OLD ASS art, to show off the designs lmao. ANYWAY

Regarding Ebs tat: idk tbh! i just kinda came up with it on the spot when I made her madness au version, and then eventually I was like "actually thats such a good design her normal version has it too now lol" and now here we are lmao

regarding my other ocs who have tats: lets start off with this old doodle page I made when i was 15/16(?) where you can see that tat ideas for Neco, Hoana, Raina, Kind Boy, Yume, and the Mob Poly

Lets start with the mob poly! They've all always had the tattoos they have currently, I designed them initially when I was like 13 (which is when I drew the first image of Fumei im inserting next) and the tattoos have stuck since. Here's some examples! I dont have much to show off Fumei's bc i dont draw his bare back very often lol, but at least there's a couple more examples of Ikute and Shinda's tats!

You can also see in that first image that Kind Boy had a Princess Mononoke tat when he was alive, which you can see better in this old piece I did when I was 14(?)

Now for characters that arent shown in that image: Ben! He has two tattoos! The first and biggest one is one he's had for a while, which is the words "Que Dios Descanse Tu Alma" written on his back, which is also engraved in his main weapon!

secondly, and this is a more recent thing, I decided that this stamp design I drew him with one time is actually a canon tattoo that he has lmao

anyone else? Bank! I think if you look at most artwork of her that shows her hands then you'll be able to see it, but as her reference sheet states:

hopefully I'll feel energized enough someday soon to actually draw out all of these tattoos with updated designs and even design more for more of the goons!

[satellitebroadcast]

Head of Hamas in the West Bank, Zaher Jabareen: Telegram

The Palestinian people have proven that they do not care about "israeli" threats. Unity is the image that must be embodied during this phase the Palestinian people are going through. The Palestinian people cannot raise the white flag despite all the "israeli" crimes. The Palestinian people have the right to resist the occupation by all means and tools. What is happening now is a religious war par excellence due to the actions of extremist "israeli" officials. The major battle will be over Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Quds. Ben-Gvir should know that his fate will be like that of Ze'evi and all the extremists who attacked our holy sites. I call on the Fatah movement, especially the Security Forces in the West Bank, to move to protect Palestinians. Palestinians must unite in these difficult circumstances. The real problem in the negotiations is Netanyahu, who wants to prolong the war for his personal interests. Netanyahu bears full responsibility for the failure to reach an agreement regarding Gaza. The Palestinian people in the West Bank insist on resistance despite all the difficulties. The Palestinian people have only one option, which is resistance. It is the duty of the scholars of the [Islamic] nation to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinian people must unite to resist the occupation.

[ded-and-gonne]

Ben, mourning Klaus

[girlactionfigure]

ISRAEL REALTIME - late-morning updates - Nov 2

THE MEMORY of the Holocaust is fading with the lives of those who saw it.  WHO will speak for the murdered babies of October 7 if we refuse to see it?

Do not turn away, do not ignore, do not go about your lives.  We will witness, we will speak for the murdered.

— BEIT LID, SHOMRON/YEHUDA (West Bank)… terror shooting attack at passing car on Route 557.  Driver shot, car overturned, did not survive.

Related - there are many reports of active incidents throughout the Shomron / Yehuda (West Bank).  At least 3 terrorists shot, skirmishes by Kalkilyah (at least 1 terrorist shot), riots by Shechem (Nablus) with rioter(s) shot attacking checkpoint.  

— LEBANON… Al Jazeera: An Israeli drone attacked with two missiles a target in the Al-Adisa area in southern Lebanon.

— NASRALLAH… the wait of the day is a 3:00 PM speech planned by Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.  Will Hezbollah ramp up, do the ‘big launch’, or posture?  Will Israel launch a preemptive strike?  IDF spokesman to Nasrallah a few minutes ago: We are ready.  

— POP-UP BATTLE REPORT… The heroic battle of the fighters of the 13th Battalion of Golan in the north of the Gaza Strip: about 30 terrorists from an elite Hamas force prepared a planned ambush from tunnels, with anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers and drones. The terrorists tried to surprise the fighters - and even tried to get into their armored personnel carriers. The fighters engaged in face-to-face battle, and with air support that hit the terrorists. The battle lasted about three hours. About 20 terrorists were killed in the battle, about 10 escaped. No casualties to our forces.

— HOSTAGE COUNT… increased to 242.

— GERMANY… from today activities of Hamas are banned in Germany.

— US THREATENS TO WITHHOLD GUNS GIVEN TO CIVILIANS?  (Supposedly from Haaretz)  “The USs has reportedly warned Israel that it would not send American-made rifles after the Israeli national security minister was seen handing out such guns to civilians amidst the war with the Hamas. The row erupted after images shared by minister Itamar Ben-Gvir showed him distributing rifles to civilian security squads on Oct 28 (Saturday), Israel’s Haaretz outlet reported.

(( This story is a bit bizarre. I can’t find a US source, Israel has PLENTY of guns - the IDF throws away nothing, generations of M-16’s etc, and many of the new Kitat Konenut town defense volunteer squads have also been raising money for their own equipment upgrades, and Israel manufactures rifles.  It buys them from the US because US military aid requires it. MSN reported but unconfirmed. ))

— WHEN THEY SAY IT OUT LOUD… Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: “We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified.”  

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Love and War

Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter

Synopsis: Bob Floyd never expected to fall in love during the war, especially not with a pretty, young nurse during basic training. But love works in funny ways and can their love stand the rest of time, the war and the distance that separates them. Warnings: mentions of graphic themes, war, injury, weapons, sexual images, language, 18+.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Operation Market Garden, Netherlands, September 1944

Bob never realised what true pain actually was until he had been shot. As a child he’d often played Cowboys and Indians with his brothers, pretending to shoot at each other and fake dying, but that had been so far from the truth. Hot, steering pain shot through his abdomen as the bullet flew straight through him. The pain hadn’t come at first but as soon as his knees hit the floor he’d screamed out in agony. He’d seen soldiers sustaining worse wounds than simply being shot, Jackson had been caught in an explosion in Carentan just three months before and still bore the scars on his face and neck to prove it, yet he’d never once complained or grumbled. Even when they were back in Aldbourne and the local women seemed to avoid him due to his scar he didn’t complain.

Aldbourne seemed so far away now, like some distant memory and all too soon they had been jumping back into enemy territory, jumping low into Holland. Bob vividly remembered cutting a replacement out of his parachute after the boy became tangled in the strings. He jumped with his reserve chute even though it had been low and the boy had been crushed under the weight of all the baggage he was carrying.

Bob didn’t know how it happened, one moment he’d been running to shield the injured replacement, he was inexperienced and missed the sniper who was nestled on the roof. The poor boy could have only been 18 years old, fresh from Fort Benning, with little to no battle experience. Bob recalled helping the boy prepare for the jump just days before.

“You jump ready to fight,” he informed him, tightening the boy's webbing and securing the musette bag. “You won’t need your reserve chute, we’re jumping low and if your first one fails you won’t have time to open the second.” He’d continued nonchalantly not noticing the faces of the fearful replacements. “Now we are jumping into enemy territory, you must be quick and precise. Remember your training. Once you land, cut the ties on your parachute, make sure your gun is loaded and ready and follow your platoon leader.” The boys' faces only looked more and more nervous as the time to jump came but Bob reassured them. “You boys will be fine, like I said remember your training, that’s what it’s there for.”

The sniper had hit him in his neck, just missing the jugular but causing the boy to cry out in agony, withering on the tarmac road while his comrades dived off their seats on the Sherman tanks for the banks on either side. He screamed, rolling around while the sniper fired at him again. Now Bob knew this was a trap, snipers often shot one man, leaving him just about alive to draw out the other soldiers but he couldn’t just watch the bit suffer. Against Bob’s better judgment and Private Jackson’s protest, he lunged forward, scrambling up the bank and scurrying over to the wounded paratrooper. He’d managed to drag the boy to the bank, Jackson reached out and helped him pull the boy to cover when the bullet struck him, causing him to fall forward into the ditch.

Bob’s mind was hazy but he simply remembered the pain. He saw Jackson's face above him, slightly blurry and his shouts would have been deafening if not for Bob’s ears ringing from the explosion around them. The grass earth beneath Bob’s fingers shook as he grabbed ahold of it as Jackson began applying pressure to the wound. He watched as the dark, scarlet began oozing from his abdomen and across his pale flesh. He watched as Jackson began shaking out the white powder sulfa to the wound. He watched as Jackson stabbed a surrette of morphine into his thigh. The earth exploded around him, mud flying through the air like fireworks on the 4th of July. Bob just watched, as if everything was in slow motion if he lay quietly everything would be ok.

“Stay with me, Floyd,” Jackson repeated like a mantra in Bob’s mind.

“Where’s Miller?” Bob mumbled out, not realising he was actually talking until Jackson replied.

“He’s coming, buddy, he’s coming. Just hold on for me, Floyd. You’re gonna be fine.”

“I don’t look fine,” Bob mumbled, watching as he bled into the earth around him. “Am I gonna die?”

“No, you’re not gonna die… I promise,” Jackson’s voice broke as he spoke and Bob knew that he couldn’t keep that kind of promise, no matter how much he wanted to. Bob nodded reluctantly, resting his head against the grassy bank behind him. Pale, white clouds danced above his head on the clear blue background, like an artist's paintbrush was dancing across the canvas of the world. Bob was a mere speck of dirt on this artist's canvas, maybe the artist was trying to remove him with the red paint that flowed from his abdomen.

Doc Miller’s voice echoed near Bob’s ear but he didn’t see him, his eyes glazed over as they started to the heavens above.

“Floyd! Floyd, can you hear me?” Miller’s tone was calm and collected as if he were simply chatting to Bob back in the pub in Aldbourne and not saving his life. Bob remembered groaning as the medic began slapping his face, he remembered Lieutenant Nelson’s voice and he remembered being carried. Images flashed before his eyes as the stretcher he was on bumped around in the back of the truck, flashes of light misted his vision as the pain grew through his body. He could feel everything, and at the same time, nothing at all. Bob thought there and then that he was dying, he was going to die and he’d never see (y/n) again, her beautiful smile, hear her laugh, touch her.

Bob could hear your voice breaking through the darkness, he pushed himself towards it, desperately trying to open his eyes but no light came and your voice faded away. “NO! NO COME BACK!” Bob screamed into the abyss of his mind but no one replied, no one came for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing Bob could recall was a heavyweight against his hand, it squeezed him gently, a soft, familiar voice filing his subconsciousness. It was barely above a whisper and Bob wondered for a moment whether he was imagining it until he felt a warm pair of lips against his forehead. Stirring slowly he forced his eyes to open, squinting at the bright spotlight that seemed to shine on him, groaning under his breath.

“(Y/n)…?” He asked groggily, his eyes trying desperately to focus on the figure beside him.

“Hey Bobby,” she answered, leaning forward and running her fingertips across his forehead, brushing away the stray blond hairs. “How’re you feeling?”

“Sore but all the better for seeing you,” Bob mumbled back, his throat crying out for a drink as he spoke roughly. (Y/n) must have realised because she was soon supporting him to sit up, propping several more pillows behind him before raising a glass of water to his lips. Bob drank gratefully, never taking his eyes off (Y/n) for a second in case she disappeared and this all turned out to be a figment of his imagination. (Y/n) helped him lean back against the pillows, pulling the blankets higher up his body when he began shivering.

“You had me worried, you know, Bob. When I heard what had happened I came as quickly as I could,” she leaned down, pressing a light and gentle kiss to his lips. He felt her start to relax, watching the tension leave her knowing that he was now safe.

“Where are we?” Bob asked, his bright, blue eyes wandering around the room. He knew he was in a hospital, both walls were lined with beds wrapped in crisp white sheets, some filled with soldiers and some lay dormant. Nurses flitted in and out of the room, checking in each patient before hurrying off again.

“You’re in a hospital, my love…” She smiled sweetly at him before adding, “In Holland.”

Bob’s eyes grew wide as he studied her face, trying to tell if she was being serious.

“Why are we in Holland? Why are you in Holland, you’re meant to be in Paris, away from all of this?” He began rambling, trying to push himself further off the bed but cried out as the pain began to spread through his abdomen again.

“Stop Bob, please,” she begged, helping to rest him back against his cot and holding a firm hand to his chest, knowing that if she let go he’d try to launch himself off the bed again.

“I’m stationed here, at the military hospital in Holland. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d worry. I thought you might have realised when my letters started to arrive with different postage stamps,” she laughed lightly and Bob couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he admitted, squeezing her hand gently. “I missed you but I just wished you’d told me. I didn’t want you in harm's way.”

“Bob, you don’t get to decide whether I’m in harm's way or not,” you looked at him sadly, “I’m a nurse, I need to go where I’m needed.” Bob nodded glumly, reaching out his hands to you. “Come here.”

(Y/n) obeyed, scooting onto the edge of his bed as Bob wrapped his arms tightly around her middle, nestling his head into the crook of her neck. “I missed you so much,” he mumbled into her warm skin. (Y/n) hummed in reply, carding her fingers through his blond locks in response.

Bob’s recovery was slow, he’d pushed himself too soon, reopening his stitches and setting his recovery back. (Y/n) had been fuming, reprimanding him as if he were a child.

“Do you have no care for your health?” She shouted at him, after pulling him into one of the storage rooms away from the other patients.

“I need to get back to my men (y/n), they are my friends and they need me.”

“But I need you, Bob. I need you to get better. I need you to be ok.” Bob could see the tears welling in her eyes and instantly reached out to embrace her, cradling her into his chest as they both sat in silence, afraid that if either of them spoke it would drive the other away.

Bob stayed in the hospital for two weeks recuperating from his wounds. He saw (y/n) every day, watching as she tended to the other soldiers and she would try and spend every evening cradled in Bob’s arms.

“You got yourself a purple heart then,” (y/n) murmured, running her index finger over the small purple medal.

“I guess I did,” Bob hummed, smirking in reply. She poked his chest with her index finger, “my brave, handsome soldier.” A blush warmed his cheeks but he couldn’t drop his gaze, mesmerized by her eyes.

“How did I get so lucky.” He asked, carding his fingers gently through her hair whilst trying not to distrust the bin pinned neatly to the back of her head.

“I think the question is ‘how did I get so lucky?” She smirked in reply. “Although after the stress you’ve put me through, I don’t know if it’s worth it.” She jested and Bob shoved her shoulders lightly, cashing her to fall into a fit of giggles. She’d made him promise that if all the medals he could get, a purple heart was not one of them.

His wound had healed quickly and although he was still a little sore he knew it was time for him to head back to Easy Company.

“Bob, please don’t do this. You need to take more time to heal,” (y/n) had pleaded, tears staining her soft cheeks as Bob watched her as she desperately tried to stop him from packing his bag.

“You know I need to get back to them, Doll. They need me and I have to go.” His large hand came up to rest against her cheek, brushing away the stray tears. “I promise I’ll come back to you, I’ll always come back to you.” He sealed his promise with a kiss, not a deep, sensual kiss but it was soft and loving and took her breath away. “I promise,” Bob whispered once more, before picking up his kit bag and heading for the door. Bob knew that going AWOL was frowned upon but he always knew that any other man in his company would do the same, they were a brotherhood. Before Bob reached the door he stopped, his heart heavy in his chest.

“(Y/n)?” He asked, trying to stop his voice from shaking.

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes shining bright and hopeful and Bob knew that she thought he was going to change his mind and stay.

“I love you,” this time Bob’s voice didn’t shake, he spoke with a certainty that demonstrated how much he truly meant it. “And I promise one day I’m gonna ask you to marry me.” (Y/n) stood frozen for a moment, she knew what her answer would be but the words lodged in her throat.

“I love you too and my answer is yes,” she whispered but Bob heard her, a wide smile growing on his lips as he looked at her with so much love and adoration that she felt as if she would melt beneath his gaze. With one last look, Bob turned and disappeared from view, heading towards the vehicle bay in the hope of a lift back to Easy Company. She ran her fingers over her lips, memorising every detail, how his hands held her face, his lips brushed against hers, how his chest felt when they were pressed together. (Y/n) bit back the tears as she turned back to Bob’s now empty bed, pulling the sheets off the lumpy mattress and bundling them into her arms. She pressed the sheets to her nose, inhaling his scent one last time before walking down the aisles of beds and leaving the ward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“FLOYD? IS THAT YOU?” Jackson hollered, throwing his arms in the air in greeting. Bob grinned at the young radioman, waving frantically from his seat on the M4 tank as it trundled along the mud track, its large caterpillar tread churning the ground. As the tank slowed Bob jumped down, waving goodbye to the gunner and hurrying towards Jackson, a shy smile gracing his lips at the sudden attention.

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Well as I live and breathe. I was sure you were a goner, all that blood and screaming I never thought I’d see you again,” Jackson admitted, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke and his brown eyes glistening.

“Ya can’t get rid of me that easily,” Bob replied, pulling his fellow paratrooper into a tight hug which Jackson quickly returned, hanging onto Bob for as long as he could.

“Would ya look what the cat dragged in,” a smooth southern accent came from behind them and Bob turned to see Albert Miller, a wide grin on his face as he rubbed his hands in a grey cloth, trying to scrub the blood from his fingers.

“Miller, it’s good to see you too,” Bob flung his arm around his friend's shoulder. “You’ll never guess who I’ve spent the past two weeks with.” Both men looked at him quizzically, Miller scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully.

“No, who was it?”

“(Y/n), she’s stationed at the field hospital. She’s been nursing me back to health.”

Jackson let out a great whoop of celebration while Miller affectionately patted Bob on the back.

“I’m really happy for ya, Bob. (Y/n) is a good woman, one of the best, just like my Mary.” Bob knew that Albert missed his wife, Mary, a great deal, he rarely spoke of his life back in Mobile, Alabama but whenever he did this strange glazed expression appeared on his face, as if he wasn’t truly there with you anymore and he’d gone home.

“(Y/n) sends her love to you both,” Bob gestured to the two men in front of him. Miller gave him a crust nod in return, while Jackson blew Bob a kiss. “Give this to her when you next see her,” he snorted as Bob smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

The two men were so caught up in their friendly punching that they didn’t notice Captain Nelson approaching.

“Floyd,” he spoke, his tone harsh and authoritative, causing all three men to stand to attention.

“Yes Sir,” Bob saluted the Captain, trying to keep his eyes trained over Nelson’s shoulder. Since when had Captain Nelson become so stoic and harsh? The next thing Bob knew Nelson had broken out into a fit of laughter. “My God, you should see the look on your faces, Boys,” he patted Bob on the back. “It’s good to have you back, Floyd, 2nd platoon has missed you.”

“We sure have,” Jackson chimed in with a cheeky grin.

“Thank you, Sir, it’s good to be back.”

“I’m sure it is. Although I have a feeling you’ll be missing your dear nurse though, won’t you?” Bob froze. How did Captain Nelson know about you? It’s not like he’d been that public with you.

“Don’t look so alarmed 1st Sergeant Floyd, your secret's safe with me. Come and collect your new insignia from Battalion CP.” All three men watched as Nelson retreated before Jackson looked up at Bob.

“Hang on a second, 1st Sergeant?”

Bob shook his head, squinting at the radioman in confusion. “What the hell are you on about?”

“Captain Nelson just called you first Sergeant Floyd.” Jackson retorted.

“Congratulations Bob,” Miller shook Bob’s hand vigorously, while Bob just stared blankly at them in utter shock.

“I think this calls for a celebration. I found a bottle of Vat 69 that I’ve been saving for a special occasion and I think this is classified as one,” Jackson threw an arm around each man’s shoulder and directed them toward the temporary barracks, laughing jovially all the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @bradshawseresinbabe @wkndwlff @a-reader-and-a-writer @callsign-phoenix @imjess-themess @averyhotchner @mayhem24-7forever @callsignmaverick5 @ssprayberrythings @smoothdogsgirl @xoxabs88xox @luckyladycreator2 @abaker74 @elenavampire21 @classyunknownlover @okiegirl24 @flashyourgreeneyesatme @airedale17 @shadowolf993 @flyboyjake @topguncultleader @callmemana @t-nd-rfoot @desert-fern @cherrycola27 @green-socks @alexxavicry @shadowsintheknight @callsignmeiga @marchingicenotes7 @shanimallina87 @jstarr86 @starkleila @mayhemmanaged

[mariacallous]

On Saturday, Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of hostages. It was one of the most significant offensive by Palestinian militants in fifty years. In response, Israel bombed targets in Gaza, killing hundreds more, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country was at war. President Joe Biden offered full-throated support for Israel; despite its sometimes rocky relationship with Netanyahu, the Biden Administration has recently been working to broker peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

I spoke by phone on Saturday with Nathan Thrall, the author of the book “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.” Thrall previously worked at the International Crisis Group as the director of its Arab-Israeli project, and currently lives in Jerusalem. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed the calculations behind Hamas’s attack, why the political fallout in Israel is so hard to predict, and how the Israeli response may alter the future of Palestinian politics.

How do you understand the timing of this attack?

In recent weeks, we have seen a resumption of the protests along the border fence with Gaza, a deterioration in conditions in Gaza, and withdrawal of support from Qatar, which works closely with Israel in managing Gaza. And there was the Israeli declaration that it was suspending work permits for Gazans, which the Gaza economy relies on. Those are all proximate causes of the timing.

But of course, it’s hard to imagine that Hamas could have pulled this off and surprised Israel in this way without a lot of planning. And in its messaging, Hamas is not emphasizing the conditions in Gaza. It’s emphasizing the Aqsa Mosque—the increased visitation by the Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other Israelis to Al Aqsa and the open declarations of intent to build a temple there and so forth—which is self-serving for Hamas because it would rather be perceived as defending the greater Palestinian cause, and defending a Palestinian national symbol and a Muslim symbol, than as acting out of a more narrow interest to end the siege of Gaza.

At least one Hamas spokesman said on Saturday that this attack should be a warning for Arab states not to ally with Israel. We’ve seen increasingly close relations between Arab states and Israel recently, and now discussion about the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, brokered in part by the United States. What do you make of that?

Clearly, this act by Hamas is suicidal. It is an attack of unprecedented scope, and Israel will retaliate to a greater degree than it has before, potentially leading to outcomes we haven’t seen before: not just a simple razing of Gaza by airplanes but also a ground incursion and potential reoccupation of parts of Gaza. So the decision to wittingly, knowingly, undertake this comes from a sense that there are no other options and that there’s nothing left to lose. And part of the reason that Hamas, and Palestinians in general, feel that they’re in such a desperate situation is that they have been entirely abandoned by those who should be their allies: the Arab states. The talks about the steps toward normalization with Saudi Arabia certainly inform the Palestinian sense that they have been abandoned.

When you say that the attack by Hamas was suicidal, do you mean it’s suicidal for Hamas? Do you mean it will cause pain and suffering for the Palestinian people?

All of the above. I think that the attacks are virtually guaranteed to bring civilian deaths on a greater scale than we have seen, and Hamas has put in jeopardy its rule in Gaza and the lives of its leadership to a greater extent than ever before. It’s hard to overstate how shocking these images are to the Israeli public. Gaza is made up of refugees from towns within Israel, and more than seventy per cent of the population of Gaza comprises refugees, so it’s something out of Israeli nightmares that the refugees are going to come storming back and take over their old towns.

That degree of shock and that degree of military failure by Israel—not simply that the attack took place but that you and I are talking now, more than twelve hours after it occurred, and reports are that Hamas fighters have taken over and are still controlling military bases outside Gaza—is incomprehensible to any Israeli. Politically, it is hard to imagine that this government will not feel a need to exact an extraordinary price in order to save face.

But to go back to my question: When you first said that this was suicidal, it was in response to something about Israel making peace with its Arab neighbors. What I thought you were going to say was this is going to invite an overwhelming Israeli response, which in turn is going to put pressure on the Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, not to make deals with Israel right now because it’s just going to be so gruesome and awful, and therefore Hamas will have achieved something diplomatically even if it faces huge retaliation.

Perhaps Hamas can delay a normalization that’s in the works, but I don’t think that its actions will thwart a normalization that would’ve otherwise happened. Now, there are considerable obstacles to normalization, and there are real difficulties and outstanding issues. The Saudis greatly dislike the Biden Administration. They would rather hand this gift to a Republican Administration. There are many, many reasons to believe that a normalization isn’t as imminent as it’s been reported in the press. But I don’t think Hamas had any reasonable hope that it could make the difference between normalization happening and not happening.

Why do this then? You don’t need to convince me that Palestinians feel completely hopeless about the situation and feel a need to turn to armed resistance. But the people who run Hamas are perhaps less sentimental than you or I, and would worry about doing something that might be suicidal to their movement. That’s why I was somewhat surprised by this.

I have written all about the explicability of everybody’s actions in this conflict through rational self-interest. That was the subject of my first book. And this move by Hamas appears to me to be inexplicable. They have put themselves in greater jeopardy than at any point in their history. Of course, this is going to increase the support for Hamas and make them appear heroic to some people, and there are political gains to be made from this brazen act, but the risks are just too high. This is perceived by Israel as a qualitatively different act.

Hamas can launch a bunch of rockets—and we’ve seen this pattern, and it lasts anywhere from a few days to a few weeks—and they survive because, at the end of the day, Israel doesn’t want to reoccupy Gaza. That is considered from the Israeli perspective to be an extremely undesirable task and a bloody and costly one. However, Hamas understands that this attack would be perceived by the Israeli public and political leadership as being of a totally different order of magnitude. And therefore, Israel would consider acts that it had not in past escalations, including coming in with ground forces and reoccupying Gaza and trying to eliminate its leadership.

Does this make you think differently about Israeli military preparedness and the competence of the current Israeli government?

There has not been a military failure of these proportions since the 1973 war. In 1973, on Yom Kippur, Israel was surprise-attacked by Egypt and Syria, and there was a commission of inquiry into the military failure. It is the trope in Israeli politics of a misguided conception of your enemies and what they intend. And every Israeli military official has in his bones the lesson of 1973: to constantly question your premises and to be prepared for them to be challenged. So, not only does this call into question for Israelis the competence of their Army but also for every outside observer. It’s shocking. This is one of the strongest militaries in the Middle East. And a group of fighters from a besieged ghetto penetrated the fence and took over Israeli military bases.

There has been some criticism of Netanyahu’s government for harming military readiness with its domestic plans. What do you think of that argument?

With the judicial reform, you’ve had all of these reservists, in particular those from the Air Force, who said they’d refuse to serve when called up. So the protesters say that Netanyahu, by doggedly pursuing the judicial reform, is jeopardizing Israel’s security. And that’s the partisan claim that has been made recently.

It’s entirely self-serving. It’s a claim made by the opponents of the judicial reform. I don’t doubt that it has harmed Israel’s capabilities. But there is a rebuttal from Netanyahu and his allies, which is, O.K., let’s not dispute the fact that this reserve protest has harmed Israel’s security and its preparedness. But who’s to blame for that? Is it that we are to blame for it, for doggedly pursuing what we consider to be an entirely legitimate judicial reform? Or is it that these reservists crossed the line?

And I would imagine you find both sides of this debate to be missing the point?

Yes, I very much disagree with the entire premise of the protests over the judicial reform, which are based on the assumption by both sides that Israeli democracy is at stake. I do not see how any definition of democracy can include a situation in which one in ten Israeli Jews lives in the occupied territories and has full rights—voting rights, civil rights—and, when they go to and from their workplaces and their homes, they do not cross an international border. When the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics publishes the number of Jews and Arabs in the country, it lists the Jews living in the settlements. It doesn’t say that they’re living abroad. When the people vote in the settlements, they do not cast absentee ballots; in every sense, these people live inside the state of Israel alongside millions of people of a different ethnic group who are deprived of basic civil rights. That has existed for decades.

The 1973 war is considered as having had very long-term political consequences for Israel, and for the Israeli Labor Party, which was never the same afterward. How do you think this might register politically? For now, it appears that Netanyahu’s opponents are going to join him in a unity government while this war continues.

This is an enormous challenge to Netanyahu and to this government because of the scale of the failure. That said, the opponents of the current coalition are not very impressive politically, and Netanyahu has proved himself to be extremely adept and resilient. Even on the day of a catastrophe of this scale, I am unwilling to predict that that will lead to the demise of Netanyahu’s political career.

There were a number of consequences of 1973. One of them was internal, as you say. It was the beginning of the end for decades of Labor Party dominance. But the most important consequence of the 1973 war was that it pushed Israel to reassess its policy toward Egypt and toward holding on to Sinai. And it started to take steps toward reaching an agreement with Egypt; that happened iteratively at first, and then led eventually to the peace agreements with Egypt and the full withdrawal of the Israeli forces and settlements from Sinai.

As you’ve seen the statements from around the world, Europe and the United States especially, do you think the full-throated support we’ve seen for Israel is a sign that Israel has had some success diplomatically? Or is this event so shocking and horrific that you would expect this kind of reaction regardless? I was not surprised by the condolences sent, but there were not many calls for “an easing of tensions,” etc.

First of all, Western and U.S. support for Israel is unwavering, and that is entirely unsurprising. In terms of the absence of calls for restraint: those are often perceived by Israel as a signal to quickly end some bombing campaign in Gaza. The absence of it here I interpret to be the opposite: it’s a green light for Israel to take the retaliatory steps that we all are sure are coming.

I am not under the impression that Israel is in a difficult place diplomatically. There’s lots of chatter about how much the Biden Administration may not like working with the most right-wing Israeli government in recent memory and open racists in senior ministerial positions and so on. But, at the end of the day, what is the policy of the Biden Administration toward Israel? It just allowed Israel to enter the Visa Waiver Program, which was a coveted diplomatic victory, and it’s doing next to nothing to stop a forced displacement of more than eleven hundred Bedouin in the West Bank.

How might Palestinian politics look different in a few months?

If there’s anyone who’s shaking in his boots right now, it’s Mahmoud Abbas. He is watching as city centers in the West Bank come out in support of Hamas and other groups in Gaza. He and the Palestinian Authority are perceived as working hand in glove with Israel to keep a lid on any kind of resistance to Israeli occupation. So this giant boost for Hamas’s popularity is extremely threatening to him, as is the increased violence that we see in the West Bank, both preceding Saturday’s events and immediately following them.

It suggests that the future is extremely unknown if this is extremely worrisome for both Hamas and Abbas.

A lot of it depends on how high a price Israel is willing to pay to really change the situation from the one that existed on Friday. And that’s what I meant by suicidal. If Hamas understands Israel—and I think that it does—it will have known prior to launching this attack that Israel was going to contemplate options it had never contemplated before.

What else have you been thinking about today?

I’m looking at the media coverage of this event. For a decade I was working at the International Crisis Group, and a lot of my job was to write a reactive report every time there was an escalation in Gaza, because all the world’s attention is on the issue as soon as we have any kind of a surge in violence. But we all turn our eyes away when that doesn’t exist. And the process, for me, of working at the International Crisis Group and writing the same report over and over again about the escalation, convinced me that I should leave the International Crisis Group and this sort of work. And that what I needed to do was to bring more attention to the root causes, which are ignored and we are just guaranteed to see more and more of these sporadic outbursts of violence, with civilians killed on both sides, because we refuse to focus on the actual causes of the violence.

When I was choosing a subject for a book, I wanted to explicitly draw the attention of the world to the structural causes. It was very tempting to choose something that is attention-grabbing, like bombings in Gaza, or attacks by Hamas. Those are the things people care about. But I deliberately chose something ordinary, something that happens all over the world—a car accident, a tragic collision involving a group of kindergartners on their way to a play area. What does it mean for something like this to take place in this specific system where the parents have different ability to visit their children in different hospitals depending on whether they have a green ID or a blue ID? And to explore the daily lives of the people who are trapped in the system that is the real driver of these explosions that grab our attention every few months or years.

[garadinervi]

Un espace parlé = A spoken space : 47 propositions, (gatefold cover, 6 pp double-sided soft cover booklet inserted in jacket designed to resemble a sound-disc sleeve), Messageries Associées / Galerie Gaëtan, Genève, 1977-1979, Edition of 500 [Alternate Projects, Newport, KY. Libreria El Astillero, Cantabria. Specific Object]

Feat. María Carmen Albernaz, Renata Boero, Alberto Carneiro, Ulises Carrión, Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, Giuseppe Chiari, Geoffrey Cook, Diego Cortez, Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Douglas Dunn, Eulàlia, Fernando de Filippi, Robert Filliou, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Peter Frank, Peter Grass, Mary Harding, Renate Heyne, Image Bank, Christina Kubisch, Lawrence Kucharz, Jean Claude Lefevre, Jacques Lennep, Jacques Lizène, Lyn Mandelbaum, Valcárcel Medina, Antoni Muntadas, Ian Murray, Maurizio Nannucci, Mitra Naraghi, Floris M. Neusüss, Charlemagne Palestine, Carles Pazos, Fabrizio Plessi, Stephen Ruppenthal, Juliao Sarmento, John H. Schuetz, Zdzislaw Sosnowski, Ernesto de Sousa, Al Sousa, Diane Spodarek, Seth Tillett, Franco Vaccari, Ben Vautier, Lawrence Weiner, Larry Wendt

[catdotjpeg]

Ahed Tamimi, 22, was detained overnight in Nabi Saleh, an army spokesperson confirmed to the AFP news agency. She was arrested during an Israeli raid which the spokesman said aimed to apprehend “individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities and incitement to hatred” in the West Bank. A security source sent the AFP an Instagram post allegedly made by Tamimi when asked why she had been detained... Tamimi’s mother, Nariman al-Tamimi, denied that her daughter had written the post, telling the AFP: “There are dozens of [online] pages in Ahed’s name with her photo, with which she has no connection.” [...] News of her arrest Monday was welcomed by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He posted an image on X appearing to show Tamimi being restrained by a soldier, along with a Hebrew caption offering “kudos” to the Israeli forces involved in her capture. Ben-Gvir also accused Tamimi of being a “terrorist” who had “expressed sympathy and support” with Nazis since the outbreak of the war. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, Tamimi was one of over 70 people arrested during Israeli raids Sunday night in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. A total of 2,150 Palestinians have been detained by Israel since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war in response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 which killed over 1,400 Israelis, according to local estimates.

-- From "Viral Palestinian Girl Detained in Israeli Raid as Gaza Says Death Toll Hits 10,000" by Dan Ladden-Hall for Daily Beast, 6 Nov 2023, 9:34 AM EST

Nariman Tamimi, the activist’s mother, told Anadolu news agency that Israeli forces had searched the house and confiscated the mobile phones of the family members. Her father Bassem Tamimi was arrested by Israeli forces during a raid in the town last week, with no information of his whereabouts. [...] The Israeli army celebrated Ahed Tamimi’s arrest, publishing a picture on Facebook and asking: “Where is her smile now?” Tamimi and her family members are well-known activists and have led Nabi Saleh’s non-violent resistance for nearly a decade. Her father has been arrested numerous times by Israeli forces and has spent at least four years in prison. Ahed Tamimi became an icon of Palestinian resistance since a video of her 2012 confrontation with an Israeli soldier, who had arrived at the family house to arrest her brother, went viral. She was previously arrested by the Israeli army in December 2017 following further confrontations, alongside her mother and 20-year-old cousin Nour. Indicted on 12 charges, including assault, incitement and past instances of stone-throwing, she was jailed for eight months.

-- From "Israel arrests Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi in occupied West Bank raids" from Al Jazeera, 6 Nov 2023