#oslo agreement

[tomorrowusa]

Until this month, Bibi Netanyahu was a HŪGE fanboy of Hamas. Their relationship goes back decades. This is not some wacko conspiracy theory. Much of the information about this comes from mainstream Israeli media and high ranking Israeli former officials.

Here are excerpts from an in-depth article at the CBC – Canada's public broadcaster.

Israelis don't agree on much, especially lately, but polling shows they mostly agree that Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is to blame for leaving Israel unprepared for Hamas's onslaught on October 7. The accusations aimed at Netanyahu go beyond merely failing to foresee or prevent the Hamas attack of October 7, however. Many accuse him of deliberately empowering the group for decades as part of a strategy to sabotage a two-state solution based on the principle of land for peace. "There's been a lot of criticism of Netanyahu in Israel for instating a policy for many years of strengthening Hamas and keeping Gaza on the brink while weakening the Palestinian Authority," said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. "And we've seen that happening very clearly on the ground." "(Hamas and Netanyahu) are mutually reinforcing, in the sense that they provide each other with a way to continue to use force and rejectionism as opposed to making sacrifices and compromises in order to reach some kind of resolution," Zonszein told CBC News from Tel Aviv.

Bibi and Hamas could be called "frenemies".

Yuval Diskin, former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, told the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 2013 that "if we look at it over the years, one of the main people contributing to Hamas's strengthening has been Bibi Netanyahu, since his first term as prime minister." In August 2019, former prime minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio that Netanyahu's "strategy is to keep Hamas alive and kicking … even at the price of abandoning the citizens [of the south] … in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah." The logic underlying this strategy, Barak said, is that "it's easier with Hamas to explain to Israelis that there is no one to sit with and no one to talk to."

The Bibi-Hamas relationship goes back almost 30 years. In some ways, Hamas helped put Bibi in power in the first place.

Netanyahu first came to power in the 1996 election that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli extremist opposed to the Oslo Accords. Early polls showed Rabin's successor Shimon Peres comfortably ahead. Determined to sabotage Oslo, Hamas embarked on a ruthless suicide bombing campaign that helped Netanyahu pull ahead of Peres and win the election on May 29, 1996. Today, some of the same extremists who called for Rabin's death hold power in Netanyahu's government.

A reminder that the current Israeli government led by Netanyahu is the most far right in Israel's history. Netanyahu filled it with extremists, religious fanatics, and virulent ethno-nationalists in order to stay in power.

Just two weeks before Rabin's assassination, a young settler extremist posed for the cameras with a Cadillac hood ornament he said he had stolen from Rabin's car. "Just like we got to this emblem," he said, "we could get to Rabin." Today, that young man, Itamar Ben Gvir, is 45 years old and has eight Israeli criminal convictions — including convictions for supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism. Once he was rejected by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for his extremist views. Now, Israel's police must answer to him as Benjamin Netanyahu's minister of national security.

Imagine how a second Trump administration would be and you get a hint of what Bibi's pre-October 7th cabinet was like.

The Bibi-Hamas connection only gets worse.

Netanyahu's hawkish defence minister Avigdor Liberman was the first to report in 2020 that Bibi had dispatched Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the IDF's officer in charge of Gaza, Herzi Halevi, to Doha to "beg" the Qataris to continue to send money to Hamas. "Both Egypt and Qatar are angry with Hamas and planned to cut ties with them. Suddenly Netanyahu appears as the defender of Hamas," the right-wing leader complained. A year later, Netanyahu was further embarrassed when photos of suitcases full of cash going to Hamas became public. Liberman finally resigned in protest over Netanyahu's Hamas policy which, he said, marked "the first time Israel is funding terrorism against itself."

Yep, Bibi actually had a bag man deliver cash to Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority's Ahmed Majdalani accused the Qatari envoy of carrying money to Hamas "like a gangster." "The PLO did not agree to the deal facilitating the money to Hamas that way," he said.

Netanyahu fancies himself as a clever Machiavellian playing one side against the other. He has even bragged of this to members of his party.

On March 12, 2019, Netanyahu defended the Hamas payments to his Likud Party caucus on the grounds that they weakened the pro-Oslo Palestinian Authority, according to the Jerusalem Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel's regular allowing of Qatari funds to be transferred into Gaza, saying it is part of a broader strategy to keep Hamas and the Palestinian Authority separate, a source in Monday's Likud faction meeting said," the Post reported. "The prime minister also said that 'whoever is against a Palestinian state should be for' transferring the funds to Gaza, because maintaining a separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza helps prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Of course Bibi was ultimately being too clever by half.

Netanyahu insisted that neither the money nor the construction material given to Hamas would be diverted to military purposes. But today, the IDF finds itself showing how Hamas has done exactly that — by diverting and converting civilian funds and materials to warlike purposes. The military tried to warn him at the time, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot told the Ma'ariv newspaper. He said Netanyahu acted "in total opposition to the national assessment of the National Security Council, which determined that there was a need to disconnect from the Palestinians and establish two states."

A lot of radical chic Hamas fans in Western countries will undoubtedly try to obscure the fact that they are cheering the same group which a far right Israeli politician (until recently) has been lavishing with tons of cash.

And the Bibi-Hamas connection is a reminder that while far right politicians in many countries like to portray themselves as tough on security, they will usually put their craven lust for power above all.

[plitnick]

We didn’t need hindsight to see Oslo as a failure

30 years ago today, Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands in front of Bill Clinton on the White House lawn. Imaginations got fired up about a post-Cold War world that even saw peace in the Middle East. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But we didn’t need the benefit of hindsight to see that the Oslo Accords could never do what it was meant to do. We didn’t even need to be as smart and…

[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

[zvaigzdelasas]

China’s massive rollout of renewable energy is accelerating, its investments in the sector growing so large that international climate watchdogs now expect the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions to peak years earlier than anticipated—possibly as soon as this year[!!!].

China installed 217 gigawatts worth of solar power last year alone, a 55% increase, according to new government data. That is more than 500 million solar panels and well above the total installed solar capacity of the U.S. [...]

Wind-energy installation additions were 76 gigawatts last year, more than the rest of the world combined. That amounted to more than 20,000 new turbines across the country, including the world’s largest, [...]

The low-carbon capacity additions, which also included hydropower and nuclear, were for the first time large enough that their power output could cover the entire annual increase in Chinese electricity demand [!!!!], analysts say. The dynamic suggests that coal-fired generation—which accounts for 70% of overall emissions for the world’s biggest polluter—is set to decline in the years to come, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency and Lauri Myllyvirta, the Helsinki-based lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.[...]

Its rapid emissions growth long provided fodder for critics who said Beijing wasn’t committed to fighting climate change or supporting the Paris accord, the landmark climate agreement that calls for governments to attempt to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial temperatures. Now, analysts and officials say Beijing’s efforts are lending momentum to the Paris process, which requires governments to draft new emissions plans every five years.

“An early peak would have a lot of symbolic value and send a signal to the world that we’ve turned a corner," said Jan Ivar Korsbakken, a senior researcher at the Oslo-based Center for International Climate and Environmental Research.

In 2020, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged that the country’s emissions would begin falling before 2030 and hit net zero before 2060, part of its plan prepared under the Paris accord. He also said China would have 1,200 gigawatts of total solar- and wind-power capacity by the end of this decade. The country is six years ahead of schedule: China reached 1,050 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity at the end of 2023, and the China Electricity Council forecast last month that capacity would top 1,300 gigawatts by the end of this year.[...]

Transition Zero, a U.K.-based nonprofit that uses satellite images to monitor industrial activity and emissions in China, says the official data are “broadly aligned and consistent" with theirs.[...]

[M]oving China’s timeline for an overall emissions peak forward could shave off around 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Celsius of projected global warming if emissions started to decline next decade, analysts say.[...]

The most certain variable in the equation is the breakneck pace of China’s renewable-energy rollout, which analysts expect will continue to add 200 to 300 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity a year. The investments in renewable energy have become a major driver of the Chinese economy. The country’s clean-energy spending totaled $890 billion last year, up 40%. [...]

The adoption of electric vehicles is happening so rapidly that analysts say peak gasoline demand in China was already reached last year[!!!].

10 Feb 24

[7amaspayrollmanager]

I think the funniest thing is when an Israeli gets an anon telling them they don't know how bad life is under occupation and then they're so insecure they write the most dramatic response about "well you don't know what it's like to have missiles over your head" forgetting that there are much more powerful missiles killing thousands of palestinians in Gaza now and that's the reason missiles are flying over their head. But where is this audacity coming from like your life is not perpetually disrupted. The trauma of going to a bomb shelter is not the trauma of being in a refugee tent and the threat of dying in that tent equally possible from a missile from tank shelling from disease from starvation. In the WB, the occupation is so bad that israeli surveillance is able to extrajudicially drone palestinians in jenin. That sure is not something that could happen to you and completely missing the point that they are a citizen of a state that is holding an occupation over other people and as a result you live a life that is only possible because of palestinian repression. So this occupation means you. Are. The. Ones holding the strings. You hold the power you can't blame palestinian "terror attacks," preventing the end of occupation when your governance can end the occupation At Any Moment and intentionally keeps the occupation to facilitate land grabs and keep palestinians repressed on purpose which disrupts the "peace process." Your infinite access to water? That's because post Oslo the so called water distribution fell completely under the authority of israelis and we get less than 20%. Again you can touch any topic and you can find out the power dynamics very quickly like why act stupid

In 1995, under the Oslo II Accord, division of water sources was designated as an issue for “final status negotiations” – a device used by Israel to continue illegal appropriation of Palestinian water resources from 1995 until the present (the “final status negotiations” of Oslo have never been reached). A Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) was set up, but Israel maintained control of the total flow and volume of water to the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories While the PWA has no ability to manage water resources and just allocates the limited supply made available by Israel, the PWA, rather than the Occupation, is blamed for water scarcity. Moreover, the Oslo II agreement does not call for redistribution of existing water sources nor require any reduction in water extraction or consumption by Israelis or settlers.”

- Palestine Water Fact Sheet #1 - Center for Economic and Social Rights

[halalchampagnesocialist]

I think us Palestinians know better than anyone that the only way of freeing Palestine was going to be through direct action. Liberals really assume that any kind of solution will come through negotiation or the involvement of the international community. Okay, Palestinians agreed to Oslo but all it did was fragment the West Bank further, and any "peace" negotiations/agreement is just used by Israel as a smokescreen to further its expansion of settlements and colonial activity. We have the United Nations and they've issued resolutions condemning Israel several times. What use is it though when they just get vetoed by the US? With that said, international law is mostly a guide, it is not enforceable at all. We've also organised and built up awareness around the issue, and the crowds at the rallies grow and grow. The boycotts grow and grow. That's still not enough to bring Israel down or end the occupation, especially when the Israeli population who are pro-Palestine are a mere minority to directly impact their own country. At this point, Israel does not care either, and to be honest, it never did. They want to cement the occupation for as long as they can. As long as Israel is treated in a legitimate manner, it's naive to think any international diplomacy was going to solve anything in Palestine. It really will be a combination of international solidarity actions + resistance from Palestinians on the ground.

[esyra]

These days, I have long debated what to write regarding Palestine-Israel, and questioned why I should write anything at all. The idea that celebrities and the loudest chronically online people you've ever met, blessed in their ignorance and indifferent to livehoods different than theirs, feel the need to opinate on social and geopolitical issues is absolutely insane. Most of the time, they do more harm than good—spreading misinformation like wildfire. Such opinions are what convinced me to ultimately talk about it.

Rest assured I'm not particularly qualified to talk about any of this, then again no one seems (or tries) to be. This is not a statement, simply questions about selected nuance. Full disclosure: I am of Palestinian descent. And I tried my hardest to be all-encompassing and empathetic; if I fail at any moment, my sincerest apologies.

All around social media I've seen only two kinds of posts regarding Palestine and Israel; they're either completely favorable to Israel and dehumanize Palestine or they treat Palestines as a footnote, in which it's made to assure its author doesn't endorse murder but also to point out that Palestine "deserve what's coming." There's a certain nuance required to support Palestine that's not asked when supporting Israel.

I've seen Jamie Lee Curtis reposting a picture of Palestinian children watching Israelis air strikes as if they were of Israeli children. There's no doubt it was a malicious-intended post considering she credited the photographer while deleting the original caption which explicitly explained who the ones pictured were. After being severely corrected in the comments, she simply deleted and made no mention of it. Guess children don't matter if they're Palestinian. I've seen way too many celebrities responding to the conflict with worries about how they might be affected by it, as self-centered and selfish as you can imagine.

I've seen a journalist claim that 40 Israeli babies were beheaded and multiple newspapers (many of them British, because what else can you expect from them?) and public figures reposting as a fact, only for the same journalist to later claim she actually "never said that" (she absolutely did). Also the IDF explaining they have no information confirming the allegations that 'Hamas beheaded babies'. I've seen people using statements from Sabra and Shatila massacre survivors and trying to rewrite Palestine, which were the victims of said crime, as the perpetrators. I've seen people using videos of Russian attacks as Palestinian ones. I've seen a British journalist fabricating a harmful statement from a Palestinian Ambassador to help dehumanize Palestine, and being proud of such. I've seen BBC using the nuances of language to their liking, reporting how Israelis were 'killed' while Palestinians 'died'. Always heard journalists avoid adjectives in favor of being unbiased. Again, guess that's unimportant when it comes to Palestine. Most of all, I've seen people equate supporting Palestine to anti-semitism.

If that belief steams that Palestine and Hamas are one-and-the-same, and the latter is a anti-semitism organization, then that's another concern I'd like to add the recently appraised 'nuance'.

Hamas first appeared during the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. The signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 marked the end of the uprising—an agreement between Israel and Palestine meant to lay the groundwork for the formation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead, it has erased Palestine's recognition as a State. In its history, Hamas have equate the liberation of Palestinians with the destruction of Israel, likely the reason they're a highly divisive organization that has often been at oddens with more mainstream Palestinian politicians. However, Hamas backtracked on its aims in a 2017 proclamation, making it clear that what it wants is to end a “racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project.” In its 16th topic, they state "Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine."

The description of the Israeli occupation as fascist most likely comes from the similarities of Palestine to an "open air prison". They have no control of their own borders (IDF controls who and what enters or leaves) and are deemed stateless. "In defiance of international law, Israel considers all Palestinians inhabitants of the occupied Palestinian territory as non-citizens and foreign residents." Meaning if they leave their territory, they won't be allowed back in. Their rights in the Arab World are uncertain, particularly in Lebanon and Egypt where they are denied rights to secure residency, employment, property, communal interaction and family unification. Procedures to allow non-residents to apply for naturalisation in Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia do not apply to stateless Palestinians. So while those asking for Palestinians to be evacuated for their safety certainly have noble intentions, I ask of you: where they will go? Can you imagine walking away from home knowing you're heading into nothing? What's the difference between living in the rumbles of their homes and being homeless in another country?

The ones who decide to stay (and the ones unable to leave) are likely not making it for much longer. According to the United Nations, roughly 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis have been killed in the ongoing conflict since 2008, not counting the recent fatalities. Is it truly a war if one side is so overpowering in its resources and retaliations? I feel the need to point out these stats to question why the notion that "violence is never the answer" is only used now. When it has been the only response until now.

Then again, Hamas remains a polarizing force in Palestinian society. They're an organization that's slaughtering families and less than a third of Palestinians think the group deserves to represent them. There has not been an opportunity, however, for elections to change their representatives. Palestinians living in Gaza must endure an unstable political reality with an unrepresentative government implementing repressive policies against LGBTQ people and abusive policies against detainees. Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu purposefully propped up Hamas and there has been speculation that Iran has supported them. I've seen many post as if it's a fact, so I'd like to reinforce that it's speculation. In essence, Hamas is a terrorist group with questionable history and even more questionable allies. None of which has the Palestine's best interests at heart.

This has been overly long, and I still haven't touched on all topics I wished to address. Some I probably couldn't express properly since it's such a complex geopolitical issue. Then again, no one seems to try while all seem very comfortable in being as biased as they wish to be. So I thought I add my compassionate two cents in favor of Palestine and all the years of oppresion they've endured. I still hope you'll read this to the end, and extended to Palestine the same sympathetic hand you've rightfully extended to Israeli citizens.

My heart aches for the innocent people murdered, Palestinian and Israeli. Settlers aren’t innocent, but people who were born there didn't really choose to be one. Jewish people following matters of faith don't deserve to die. No one has (or should have) the right to take someone's life away. People at the Gaza Strip that are either just trying to survive or attempting to protect their homes also don't deserve to die, as flawed as their logic and actions might be, and many are missing that nuance. The denial of food, water, and medical aid, violates the Geneva convention. And it's a kind of retaliation that Palestine in its entirety will never be able to match.

Currently, the Israeli government is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza. An anonymous Israeli official said they would turn Gaza into “a city of tents.” A parliamentarian said that Israel should not concern itself with the safety of any Gazans who “chose” to stay in the Gaza Strip, as if every crossing hasn't been blocked.

Soon, the 'war' will end. And when it does, I can assure you Palestine won't be the last one standing. They've never had a real chance. I'd like to remember everyone that, despite Netanyahu's claims that they are "human animals", Palestinians are human beings. People. All of which deserve to live, deserve compassion and deserve protection. They also deserve to be remembered.

[violottie]

how the fuck is it possible for one country to prevent resolutions and an end to literal mass murder?!?!! FUCK AMERICA

"Yesterday the USA used the veto to stop a resolution to recognize Palestine as a member state..

"So I am going to tell you about Oslo accords.This agreement was supposed to take 57% of the Palestine land to Israel so Several political parties withdrew from the PLO and didn’t sign the agreement, but the PLO signed and gave Israel a chance.. it was an attempt to find a solution for the a 45 years of occupation.. they say ( conflict ).

"30 years later, we regret giving them a chance or trusting the USA." from Bisan, 19/Apr/2024:

[musicforastylesrestaurant]

Hi hun, would you be in the mood to write something about dadrry dealing with his kids terrible twos pls

The Terrible Two’s.

masterlist || ask me anything <3

blurb masterlist is here.

authors note - something about lhh being a dad does something to me i simply cannot describe so enjoy my loves…!

word count - 1.4k

in which, travelling with your husband around europe hasn’t been the most smooth sailing, especially when your daughters currently experiencing her terrible twos.

Faith Anne Styles.

After dating your boyfriend Harry for just over a year, you fell pregnant at the lovely age of nineteen and now both of you are at the age of twenty one and had a beautiful baby girl.

The perfect mix of both of you.

But life wasn’t all that swell.

As you stand backstage at the One Direction concert in Oslo, Denmark ,the pulsating excitement of the crowd seeping through the walls from the support act McBusted.

You watched as your boyfriend, the charismatic Harry Styles, attempts to navigate the treacherous waters of your two-year-old daughter Faith's terrible twos.

It seems that tonight, the tantrum monster has reared its head, threatening to disrupt the carefully choreographed chaos of the concert.

Great timing there, Faith Baby.

You glance around and notice Niall, Louis, and Liam, all observing the situation with wide eyes and amused expressions.

Harry, ever the doting father, crouches down to Faith's level, his brows furrowing in concern.

"Hey, baby love," Harry cooed gently, his voice a soothing melody in the midst of the chaos. "What's got you feeling so gloom and doom, eh?"

Faith's tiny face contorts, her little fists clenched tightly as she lets out a shrill cry. The sound reverberates through the backstage area, drawing amused glances from the rest of the band.

Louis, unable to resist a cheeky remark, leans over to Liam and whispers, "I think little Faith here is giving Harry a taste of his own teenage rebellion. Karma's a funny thing, innit?"

You never knew Harry in his pre teen years, however from the stories that you had been told by his family and fellow bandmates, he was a bit of a cheeky chappy.

And you couldn’t help but think that Faith, at just two years old, had developed some of his cheeky persona.

Before going down for naps, she would negotiate about how she wasn’t tired and then proceed to jump out of her crib, running through the house the same way that Harry would.

If you ever went to the shops or the park, then you would often catch her talking to random strangers as she held onto your hand or sat in her stroller, waving at them and being the kind girl she is and due to her father most likely doing the exact same thing.

You knew your two year old shouldn’t be interacting with strangers but she was just simply too adorable.

Liam chuckles and nods in agreement, but their attention is quickly pulled back to the unfolding drama.

Harry tries a different approach, his voice filled with patience and understanding. "Faith, darling, let's try to use our words, yeah? What's making you so upset?"

But Faith's wails persist, growing louder and more intense with each passing moment. She falls to the floor, kicking and flailing her arms, her cries echoing through the backstage area.

You watched as Harry ran a hand through his shoulder length hair, you could see slight stress lines appearing on his forehead.

He took it exceptionally hard when Faith would be upset, no parent liked to see their child sad but Harry absolutely hated it. He would always sit with her until she felt up for talking and although she was only a two year old and could hardly form a coherent sentence he would nod his head and listen to every word she said.

Faith idolised him.

Niall chuckles, watching the spectacle unfold. "Well, she's certainly giving us a show, isn't she? The drama of the terrible twos."

Tell you about it.

Harry shoots Niall a slight glare, finding absolutely nothing about the situation taking place funny in the slightest,before refocusing his attention on Faith.

He kneels down beside her, speaking softly amidst the cacophony. “Hey, my love, I know it's frustrating. Let's take some deep breaths together, okay? In and out."

But Faith's tantrum continues to escalate. She starts throwing toys and objects around, her frustration seemingly endless. The backstage area is filled with the commotion, drawing curious glances from the crew members and dancers nearby.

One thing you hated was gaining unnecessary attention.

Louis leans closer to Liam, a mixture of amusement and awe on his face. "I never thought I'd say this, but Faith might just give us a run for our money in the energy department."

Liam chuckles, nodding in agreement. "That she does. But Harry's got this. He's a patient one, that lad."

Harry tries different tactics, attempting to distract Faith with a toy or a silly face. But her cries persist, and the tantrum shows no signs of abating.

The band members exchange glances, a mixture of amusement, sympathy, and mild concern. This is uncharted territory for them, witnessing Harry deal with the full force of a toddler tantrum.

Harry's voice remains calm, though a hint of exhaustion seeps in. "Faith, sweetheart, I understand you're upset. Can you tell daddy what's wrong?"

But Faith's words are muffled amidst the tears and screams, her frustration rendering her temporarily speechless.

She continues to lash out, her tiny body wracked with sobs.

You step closer, offering your support. "Harry, maybe it's best if we take a break. Find a quiet spot for her to calm down."

Harry nods, his eyes filled with determination. "You're right, love. Let's find a quiet room where she can settle."

Together, a crew member leads you as well as Harry and Faith away from the backstage chaos, seeking Together, you lead Harry and Faith away from the backstage chaos, seeking refuge in a nearby dressing room.

The familiar scent of hairspray and the faint echoes of music provide a contrast to the storm of emotions still raging within Faith.

Gently closing the door behind you, you find a comfortable corner where Harry can sit with Faith in his arms. The room is dimly lit, allowing a sense of tranquillity to settle in.

Harry cradles Faith, his touch gentle and reassuring. "Shh, my love. We're here in our little haven. Take your time, sweetheart. We'll wait until you're ready to talk."

And if it was up to both you and Harry, you would both wait an eternity.

Faith's cries gradually subside into sniffles, her breath hitching as she tries to regain control, gripping a strand of her fathers long curls whilst the other grips onto the hem of his shirt.

Harry's soothing presence provides an anchor in the midst of her emotional tempest.

You sit beside them, offering a comforting smile. "It's okay, Faith. Mommy and Daddy are here for you. We love you, no matter what."

Faith looks up at you, her tear-stained cheeks glistening in the soft light. Her eyes search yours, seeking solace and understanding. You gently stroke her hair, allowing the silence to envelop the room, giving Faith the space she needs to collect herself.

Minutes pass, and the tension begins to dissipate. Faith's breathing steadies, her tiny frame relaxing against Harry's chest.

The storm of her tantrum has run its course, leaving behind a weary calm.

Harry speaks softly, his voice a comforting lullaby. "Sometimes, my love, we get overwhelmed. It's okay to feel angry or frustrated. But remember, we're always here to help you through it."

Faith nuzzles closer to Harry, finding comfort in his words. She wraps her tiny arms around his neck, seeking solace in his embrace.

The best father daughter duo.

The door creaks open, and Niall peeks inside, his eyes filled with concern. "Is everything alright?"

You nod, a sense of relief washing over you. "Yes, No, Faith just needed some quiet time. She's calming down now."

There was no doubt that Niall was Faith’s favourite uncle when it came to the four boys.

Niall steps into the room, his face softening as he gazes at the scene before him. "You're doing a great job, you guys. Parenting isn't easy, especially in the midst of all this craziness."

Harry smiles, gratitude and weariness mingling in his eyes. "Thanks, Niall. It's a learning process for all of us. But moments like these remind us why it's all worth it."

The sound of music drifts through the door, a reminder of the support act performing still in full swing. The energy of the crowd and the rhythm of the songs pulse through the walls, but in this small sanctuary, you find a moment of calm amidst the storm.

As Faith's breathing evens out and her grip on Harry loosens, you lean in and plant a tender kiss on her forehead. "We love you, Faith. And we're here for you, always."

Always and forever.

For eternity.

[argyrocratie]

"In February, four months after Hamas broke through the fence around the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military establishment secretly employed hundreds of Palestinian workers from the West Bank to repair it. The incident represented one of the only times that Palestinian workers have been allowed to return to work within the Green Line after the Israeli government revoked almost all of their work permits in October.

The Israeli military establishment’s decision to rehire previously-banned Palestinian workers, which bypassed elected lawmakers on the official Security Cabinet, represents a growing tension between Israeli leaders’ divergent approaches to Palestinian laborers.

(...)

In the post-October 7th moment, Israeli leaders are retracing this familiar debate about Palestinian labor, but the rise of the far right has meant that the exclusion pole is much more powerful than in previous iterations. According to Hussain, a 60-year-old Palestinian laborer and West Bank resident who worked in construction near Tel Aviv before October 7th, Israel’s cancellation of almost all work permits has created one of the most dire crises Palestinian workers have ever faced. “The situation was never this bad even during the First or Second Intifada,” Hussain told Jewish Currents, asking that only his first name be used to protect his job prospects. “I have a family of seven and I haven’t worked in five months. I haven’t been able to buy meat since October 7th. We are relying on Allah and no one else.”

(...)

In the first two decades after it occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, Israel opted to integrate a Palestinian labor force in the hopes that ensuring a basic level of welfare for Palestinians would maintain calm. But Israel changed tack with the onset of the First Intifada, the late 1980s Palestinian uprising against the occupation. In that period, Israel’s repeated closures of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which intensified following a wave of Palestinian militant attacks, barred tens of thousands of Palestinians from reaching their workplaces. This created a crisis for employers in the construction sector, where the dependency on Palestinians was most acute, and since Israeli workers were unwilling to work in these hazardous jobs—which also became socially stigmatized due their association with Palestinians—the government had no option left but to bring in workers from elsewhere. As a result, by 1996, the Israeli government had granted 106,000 permits for foreign migrant workers.

The shift to supposedly pliant and depoliticized foreign labor was seen as not only a way to keep the Israeli economy going, but also a strategy to quash the Intifada, which leveraged Israel’s dependency on Palestinian workers to put forward political demands through frequent strikes. “When the working Palestinian population rose up and threatened the interests of the state and employers, migrant workers were brought in as a sort of strike-breaker population,” said activist and anthropologist Matan Kaminer, who researches migrant workers in Israel. Bringing in a non-Palestinian labor force was also seen as preparation for an imminent two-state agreement: “The Oslo years also represented the most significant attempt to wean Israel off Palestinian labor because the government genuinely believed that there would be political separation,” Preminger said.

For right-wing Israelis, however, the potential replacement of Palestinian labor with foreigners triggered other latent anxieties. “The Israeli right was worried about foreign workers because if they were given rights and equality as non-Jews, it could create a liberal society where the first and most important marker is not the fact that you’re Jewish,” said Yael Berda, an academic who studies Israel’s permit regime. Preminger echoed this point: “In Israel, there is a constant negotiation between the inclusionary economic pressure to hire cheap or otherwise exploitable labor, and the exclusionary political pressure of an ethnonationalism that doesn’t want any non-Jews.” To manage this tension, Israel restricted the rights of its new migrant labor force. Even as more than 100,000 foreign workers were brought to Israel by the turn of the millennium, they were not allowed to bring their families. Most came on five-year visas, which gave a clear terminus to their lives in Israel, and there was no route to naturalization. Guaranteeing that migrants’ time in Israel would be finite “ensured that the costs of social reproduction—care of children and the elderly, long-term medical treatment, and so on—were not borne by Israeli society,” Kaminer said, adding that “all these draconian measures were designed very explicitly to ensure that migrant workers don’t become a permanent non-Jewish population.”

Despite these measures, Israeli leaders remained concerned that this population would naturalize, a problem they didn’t have with Palestinian workers. “One of the main advantages [of Palestinian labor] is that Palestinians are part of the economy without being part of the polity, which means you can extract labor without paying the social and political cost of their belonging. At the end of the day, they return to their homes,” said Berda. These concerns, alongside the economic and security benefits Israel enjoyed by hiring subordinated Palestinian workers, eventually led to their return.

For their part, Israeli employers welcomed this shift because, in Preminger’s words, “Palestinians were familiar with the land and the language, and they knew how to do the work, and how to work with Israelis.” Israel also benefited in other ways: As opposed to foreign workers, who send remittances back to their home countries, “Palestinian workers live in a captive market, and all their money ultimately ends up getting recycled into the Israeli economy,” said Abed Dari, a field coordinator with the workers’ rights NGO Kav LaOved. Leila Farsakh, a Palestinian political economist, explained that Israel’s decision to employ Palestinians further consolidated the de-development of the occupied territories, with labor migration to Israel—which accounted for up to one third of the Palestinian workforce during the ’90s—decimating smaller industries in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The higher salaries Palestinian workers were offered in Israel also contributed to pulling them out of agricultural work, facilitating Israel’s land confiscations. “Palestinian labor migration has played a key role in binding and subordinating the Palestinian economy to Israel,” Farsakh explained.

Even more crucially, labor migration became a central pillar in Israel’s regime of control over Palestinians, especially once Israel established its extensive system of work permits in the 1990s and set up a network of checkpoints with which to surveil Palestinian labor after the Second Intifada broke out in 2000. As Berda argued in her book, Living Emergency: Israel’s Permit Regime in the Occupied West Bank, the permit regime constitutes “one of the most highly developed systems of control over a civilian population anywhere in the world.” Since a permit can be denied or revoked if the applicant is found to have engaged in any political activity—even peaceful protest—the system has served as a successful deterrent against individual Palestinians’ political participation. The broader closure policy in response to Palestinian uprisings also offered a collective deterrent, what Berda termed “an instrument for managing the political conflict in the labor market.” Following the Second Intifada, Israel also expanded the category of “security threat,” which led the number of Palestinians blacklisted from receiving movement permits to grow from only a few thousand before the Second Intifada to one-fifth of the male Palestinian population by 2007. Those who were denied permits sometimes became Israeli collaborators, which caused widespread suspicion and frayed social bonds within the occupied West Bank—as did the emergence of a class of Palestinian brokers invested in facilitating and managing Israel’s labor regime. These dynamics have continued into the present: As Farsakh noted, “the fact that the West Bank didn’t explode after October 7th is a testament to the success of this pacification policy.”

(...)

In this context, far-right politicians’ hardline rhetoric against Palestinians, and their insistence on bringing in foreign labor, seem likely to result not in a replacement of Palestinian workers but in “a new security regime for managing them,” according to Farsakh. Berda concurred, adding that “the influx of migrant workers will give Israel even more leverage over Palestinian workers, which will mean worse working conditions and more surveillance.” Indeed, the military establishment’s recently proposed pilot for a partial reentry of Palestinian workers explicitly suggests the use of “advanced monitoring systems that have never been used before” as a way to address the far right’s concerns about Palestinian militancy. In crafting this harsher version of the previous system, Israel looks poised to draw from the precedent of both the Intifadas, bringing in a migrant labor population to depress Palestinians’ power as it did in the ’90s while also heightening surveillance on Palestinian workers as in the 2000s. For the Palestinian workers on their receiving end, these emergent re-entry policies constitute a bitter lifeline, offering a short-term improvement on months of unemployment, but a long-term erosion of their already precarious rights."

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

While it's true that much of the current criticism of Israel is antisemitic...

it still feels like gaslighting when people insist that any criticism of the Israeli Government's current actions is antisemitic.

[All links are to Wikipedia articles]

Especially when I am old enough to remember watching coverage of The Camp David Accords, on the evening news ... and also sitting with a Jewish teacher* in my school cafeteria over lunch as he talked about how the Zionists don't speak for all Jewish people.

And then, watching on the evening news, a few years later, about the assassination of Anwar Sadat, by an extremist member of his own army, because, in part, he had signed those Camp David Accords.

I also remember the Oslo Accords, and how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was also assassinated by an ultranationalist student specifically because he had signed that peace agreement.

This war has deep and long roots. But so does the struggle for peace. On all sides, we've gotten close to peace (however imperfect) only for those extremists in support of religious ethnostates (on both sides) to sabotage that peace struggle.

*(Not to be: "I can't be antisemitic, because I've had Jewish friends," but rather: "I've come upon some of my opinions through face-to-face conversations with people I care about, and not through just outrage-farming headlines."

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET ELEVEN - ROUND ONE - MATCH TWO

"The Grief of the Pasha" (1882 - Jean-Léon Gérôme) / "Monolith in Vigeland Sculpture Park" (1944 - Gustav Vigeland)

THE GRIEF OF THE PASHA: man just look at it. oh my god the composition, the colours, THE SUBJECT? holy shit. (anonymous)

MONOLITH IN VIGELAND SCULPTURE PARK: I've seen the sculpture once myself and it's truly astonishing. I don't have a deep analysis here, and neither does the article offer one, but all those bodies stacked on or crawling over each other really evokes some type of primal emotion I can't describe. It feels like looking at something forbidden, but you can't look away. It's morbid and beautiful at the same time. Despite literally being made out of stone, it gives the impression that the bodies are moving, struggling. The fact that it's carved from a single block of granite is also baffling to me. When you stand at the base, it's way too high to see the top. You need to be at a good amount of distance to get the whole picture, which is poetic in and of itself…. yeah. (@carryingpitchers)

("The Grief of the Pasha" is an oil on canvas painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, better known here for a slightly different painting. This one measures 36 1/2 x 29 in (92.7 x 73.7 cm), and is held by the Joslyn Art Museum.

The "Monolith in Vigeland Sculpture Park" is a granite sculpture consisting of 121 human figures by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. The monolith stands 17m (55.8 ft) tall. Vigeland had an agreement with the city of Oslo after they demolished his studio that they would provide him a new one and inherit his works, resulting in the park this piece is in.)

[mcufan72]

Cold winter days, a lonely woman on a bench, a stranger in the park...

An Encounter in Winter ❄️

Loki and female reader

18+/adult themes/talking/flirting/slow burn/fluff/angst/smut (eventually)

A/N: this is a Loki x female reader AU. It's the most personal story I've written so far and I put my whole heart, blood, sweat and tears into it. It's a story about love and my protagonists talk a lot with each other. It's a slow burn but eventually, there will be smut.

I've never been to New York or Norway, all my descriptions are fictionalized. Also, my usage of MCU facts is incorrect and I don't delve deep into details here. I use it as I need it for my little story you hopefully like and enjoy!

This fic mentions an accident and alcoholism but only in one chapter. Descriptions are vague and not detailed. If any of it should trigger you, please don't read. Every chapter will have a warning if necessary.

Some things here are heavily inspired by @lokisprettygirl 's writing. Loki smelling like sandalwood and the overly sensitive lines on his skin when he's in his Jotun form are things I read in her fics first (HMN and TNSATSI). A big thank you to you, my friend, for being in agreement that I'm using it in my fic here, too. And also a big thank you for your constant support and encouragement. You know how much it means to me.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 here

It was a cold winter afternoon, Christmas day and New Year's Eve only a few weeks away. This year it was already very cold in New York City and you had to wear warming, cuddly winter clothing for your daily walks in the park. Today you chose a knee-long woollen black dress that hugged your body perfectly, warm stockings, a pair of warm leather boots, a thick black winter coat, a big-sized fluffy scarf in shades of green and your favourite knitted beanie with the dark green big bobble…and not to forget your matching knitted gloves.

Warnings: none so far, just some flirting

After you got dressed, you were on the way to the park. Walking to that place and spending some time there after work became a ritual for you since you moved to this city around springtime. Your favourite place there was a bench at the little lake and you loved to sit there, especially when the sun was shining.

You had a fantastic view over the lake here. There was also a large lawn where people could sit, do sports or have a picnic and there was plenty of space for children to run and play safely. You loved to sit on that bench, secretly you called it yours, and you loved to watch the people here being happy and having fun. Somehow it warmed your heart to see all the couples in love flirting with each other or the families on their Sunday walks. You could have had it too, all of it but … it wasn't meant to be. Not for you.

After everything that happened and went wrong in your life, you had the urgent need to leave your hometown. You needed that distance from your old life. You had worked in many different big cities like London, Berlin, Oslo and you never had any trouble finding a job.

And now it's New York. You hadn't gotten the job you originally wanted to get but it was fine for now. Most important for you was that this city had the right measure of distance to your previous home. Besides, there was no one left there who would worry about you. It seemed you were destined to be alone so you couldn't disappoint or hurt anyone anymore.

Now in the winter time, the shallow lake was completely frozen and the first snow had already fallen. The kids built snowmen with their friends or their parents, had snowball fights or made snow angels. Some people enjoyed ice skating on the lake. It made you smile when you saw how much fun they had.

You let your gaze wander over the scenery and you soaked up every beautiful moment of it as you did every single day when you were sitting here. It always calmed you down from your stressful job and it was also a calming distraction in general.

On the bench next to yours sat a man, watching the lake and the people like you were doing, an old married couple and their dog were walking past you and you greeted each other kindly. When you began to freeze you decided to go back home. You were hungry and tired and after a hot shower, you went to sleep.

The next day at work was a very hard one. Your job as a medical assistant at a medical care centre exhausted you more and more recently, there were so many people to take care of. So today's walk in the park was extremely welcomed.

When you had taken a seat on your bench you first soaked up the peaceful atmosphere. You closed your eyes and took several deep breaths and you felt better immediately. Your gaze wandered around and on the bench next to yours sat a man again. Wasn't that the same man as yesterday? You weren't sure and you didn't think about it further.

His gaze wandered around and he watched the people in the park. He enjoyed the atmosphere here, it calmed him down in a pleasant way yesterday and so he decided to come here more often. It was a good distraction for him from the hard and strenuous trips and missions he has to make regularly.

On the bench next to him sat a woman. Wasn't that the same woman as yesterday? It should be you, you wore the same unique beanie with the big dark green bobble. He will be here again tomorrow. Maybe you'll be here again too.

The next few days went by in the same routine and as every day you visited the park. And as every day…the man on the bench next to yours was there again, too. Sitting there like you, alone like you. How come you had never noticed him here except in the last few days? You came daily here for months now but you had never seen him here. Maybe he had just discovered this place here recently and it seemed he liked this place as much as you did.

Today you allowed yourself to look a little bit longer at him. He was well dressed, in a black suit, black leather ankle boots and a coat that seemed to be too thin for the cold weather. His raven hair was slicked back and reached far over his shoulders.

Even when he sat there with loosely crossed legs you could see how long and well-trained they were. Also otherwise he seemed to be very attractive. When he turned his head in your direction and glanced at you, you looked away quickly. You felt caught staring at him and you hoped he couldn't see your reddened cheeks.

The next day you came to the park again as he hoped you would do. Same time, same place. And you were alone again. Did you wait for someone who never comes? You sat down and watched the scenery like every day. Whenever you did not look in his direction he observed you secretly. Not in a weird way, he would never do something like that. He was just curious and you looked cute with your knitted beanie with the big bobble, cuddled up into your fluffy scarf.

Yesterday you two looked at each other for a very short moment but unfortunately, you looked away quickly. He liked your pretty face and he thought he saw your cheeks reddening when he caught you staring at him.

He would like to get you known but he would never dare to address you. He would never bother you. You seemed not to be the kind of woman he usually asked to spend the night with him. He couldn't really describe what it was but there was a special aura surrounding you. You seemed discreet…and lonely.

There was something about you that evoked his protective instinct and so he decided to return to the park and this bench daily to have a look if you might be there again, too. You radiated so much peace and kindness and it made him feel comfortable. He just wanted to see you. Nothing more.

When you arrived at the park in the early afternoon at your bench, the handsome stranger was already there again, staring at the lake. It seemed he didn't even recognize you. You had the feeling of being protected by him only through his presence. But maybe it was just your imagination or wishful thinking because he was a great, tall, noble statue of a man. You had fallen for something like this before…

Nonetheless, he has intrigued you and you were wondering why he was here every day now too, on his bench and every day at the same time…at the same time as you. This morning before you went to work you decided that today would be the day when you would address him. You had nothing to lose so you would give it a chance. Of course, he was a stranger and maybe you should not talk to him but you felt drawn to him somehow.

After half an hour of sitting on your bench, you gathered all your courage and went over to him. You felt a bit nervous because normally you would never do that. But nothing in your life was normal anymore. You knew it could be dangerous to talk to a stranger. But there were so many people here around you that you felt safe enough to talk to him. And why shouldn't two lonely people talk to each other? Could be nice, couldn't it?

"May I?" you asked the well-dressed man with the black, slicked-back long hair.

Unlike before when you just looked at him from afar, you now realized how handsome he actually was. Before today you had mostly only looked at him from the corners of your eyes because you never wanted to stare at him.

He had a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, small but seductive lips, curved into a slightly mischievous smile, a straight beautiful nose and irresistible piercing baby-blue eyes…he looked like a prince, his appearance was flawless, godly. Like every day he wore a perfectly tailored black suit, a light cashmere coat and a light-woollen scarf, just loosely wrapped around his neck.

You still wondered if the cold didn't affect him because he wore clothes like this every day.

He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows when he looked up at you, directly into your eyes. You nearly forgot to breathe. He made you shiver with excitement.

"Of course! Please, take a seat" he answered while he rose from the bench.

His gaze softened and he made an inviting gesture with his hand. His smooth dark voice caused goosebumps on your skin under your cosy and warming clothes and you smiled at him.

"Thank you, Sir" and the both of you sat down again simultaneously, facing each other.

"You might be surprised why I'm talking to you. Normally I don't do that." You smiled at him, almost apologetically.

"Normally you don't? But now you do!" he smirked at you, seemingly amused.

"Ahhmm…I'm sorry, maybe…maybe it wasn't a good idea…ahhmm…believe me it was the last thing on my mind to inconvenience you, I'm sorry! I guess I'd better get going" and you wanted to get up and leave. How embarrassing, what had gotten into you?

"No, no young Lady, please stay!"

His deep baritone and the friendly tone in his voice stopped your want to leave. You smiled at him again but you still felt embarrassed and you felt your cheeks blushing. He was a fascinating man and his eyes seemed to stare deep into your soul. You were sure you could neither lie to a man like him nor not like him. You took a deep breath before you found your voice again.

"I recognized you being here every day like me, alone…just like me. And I thought maybe we could sit here together and talk to each other…but of course…only if you want."

"Believe me or not, I had the same thought but I would never have spoken to you. You know, I didn't mean to come at you like that."

"Oh, that's very decent, Sir. Not every man is like this" and you smiled at each other.

"I just …watched you from afar. Sounds weird, doesn't it? But I was conce–…I noticed you're coming to the park every day, too. Aren't you afraid to sit here every afternoon alone?" he asked you and his concern was genuine.

"To be honest…no! No, I'm not. There are so many people here every day in the afternoons, I feel safe so far." you explained.

"I've been visiting the park every day for months now and never something bad happened. Of course, something bad could happen every day. I also know that this city was attacked by aliens several years ago, but that's not how I want to live…every day expecting the worst, no!" and you shook your head. Bad days you've had more than enough.

"I always hope that every day will just offer the best things to me" you said thoughtfully and smiled.

"And now you are here every day…you could protect me if you want," you said to him and laughed.

"…no no, I'm just kidding, don't take me too seriously!" You smiled at him while you pulled your beanie right.

You were cute, really cute. Your smile was warming, your attitude was friendly, and you also seemed to be strong and confident…with a hint of sadness. He got to know many women and with most of them, he was intimately involved. With some of them he had also nice conversations but none of them was like you.

"I would do that immediately for you, my Lady. I would never let someone harm you."

He genuinely meant it and he gave you a friendly grin. But he was sure if you had known who he really was and what he did in the past, you would never allow him to do that.

"You're truly a gentleman…but please, I'm not a Lady…I'm y/n " and you offered him a handshake with your gloved hand, a radiant smile on your lips.

He took your hand and held your fingers with his, lifted your hand carefully upwards, bowed down his head and gave an implied kiss to the back of your gloved hand. When he lifted his head upwards again he looked into your eyes, still gently holding your hand. You swallowed thickly, nobody ever did that before. Never before had someone given you a perfect hand kiss.

"Lady y/n…I'm Loki Laufeyson. It's an honour to meet you!"

You couldn't help yourself but stare into his eyes with a slightly open mouth. You were utterly impressed by him and his manners.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Laufeyson" you answered breathlessly.

After what felt like an eternity, he softly let go of your hand. You wished he would still hold it because it felt nice.

You weren't sure but you thought you had heard his name before. You had lived and worked in Oslo for some time so it might be just a coincidence.

"Are you from Norway? Because of your name…"

"No, not really" he chuckled.

"Oh, okay, I lived and worked there for a while and that might be the reason your name sounds familiar to me" you explained and you still had the feeling you had heard his name somewhere before.

"Maybe you ought to be afraid of me!" he stated. He knew that nearly everyone still feared him.

"No, Mr. Laufeyson, I'm not afraid of you. I just dared to speak to you" and you gave him your sweet smile again.

"Should I be afraid of you?" you asked him mischievously.

"I don't know…" he answered you playfully with his deep, dark voice and it made you shiver.

His voice was like sweet honey that slowly ran down your body. Probably you would do anything he asks you for and you would just obey. You should better get rid of this weakness.

Instead of widening your eyes in fear, he seemed to seduce you. Why didn't you fear him? And he could swear you had an idea who he was.

"So we conclude that I'm not afraid of you." You smiled at him brightly again.

"If you'd have wanted to harm me you could've done it yet, you had many opportunities in the last days, didn't you?" You asked him confirming.

"Right. But what if I'm planning to do it?" He leaned his head towards you.

"What if I lied?"

His voice went more silent and deeper but his gaze remained friendly. You shivered again but not because of fear.

"Possibly you did…but if you want to harm me, even if you want to abduct me, I wouldn't mind …there won't be anyone who would actually miss me." Your gaze became more serious and sad.

"What are you saying?" He furrowed his eyebrows and gazed concernedly at you.

"No one would miss me" you murmured sadly.

"And still I'm not afraid of you…just a gut feeling, it rarely deceives me" you said, more confident again.

"There must be someone?" and he furrowed his eyebrows again.

He felt bad for you. What happened to you that you were all alone nowadays and his concern about you grew…feelings he knew but barely showed others.

"No, there's no one. It's a long story, Mr. Laufeyson" you said quietly and turned your head away from his gaze towards the lake and you changed the subject.

"It's a nice place here, isn't it? One of the best people-watching spots in the city," you said.

"Yes, it is. Indeed" he answered and looked intensely at you.

"It's kind of peaceful and it offers an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, doesn't it?" he asked you and couldn't take his eyes off you. Somehow he felt drawn to you.

"Yes, it does...and it also offers a distraction from life…" you said, sighing.

"It's beginning to dusk…I should go home now" you said and looked at him again.

"Will you be coming back tomorrow? And I can assure you, I definitely won't harm you, I didn't lie to you."

He would never do that to you and he just wanted to see you again. And the confirmation that you were alone fueled the desire to protect you.

You looked and smiled at him again before you answered.

"I knew I could trust you. Of course, Mr. Laufeyson, like every day I'll be here again tomorrow. Same time, same place!"

"Same time, same place, my Lady."

He almost looked lovingly into your eyes, took your hand carefully and gave you an implied kiss to the back of your hand again. When he released your hand, you both stood up from the bench.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Laufeyson."

"See you tomorrow, Lady y/n."

On your way back home you couldn't stop thinking about him. Had you really had the courage to talk to a stranger? You laughed at yourself and your exuberance. You were about to make the same mistake as then…but Loki Laufeyson seemed to be different. Extremely handsome but different and with perfect manners. But no, you would never fall for someone again, it would just come to an unfortunate end again.

Loki couldn't believe what just had happened. You, one of the most beautiful women he had seen in a long time, so beautiful both externally and inwardly too so it seemed, dared to talk to him.

Did you actually say you trust him? Him? Without knowing him? You were adorable, indeed…and you were different. You were not like all the women who stood literally in a line in front of his bedroom door, you weren't nearly like them.

Of course, it confirmed his ego, that many women wanted him but it wasn't something that made him happy in life. If he was honest with himself he always searched for someone like you.

But he wasn't made for a serious relationship and to handle it this way, to only look for sexual affairs, was the best solution for him and it satisfied his carnal needs. And by the way, he knew there would never be a woman for him.

He knew there would never be someone who wanted to satisfy the undisclosed desires of his heart and his desire for genuine love. And so he went to the bar, like almost every day, where he would definitely find a willing companion for a lustful night of sex.

To be continued ...

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

@lokisprettygirl @wheredafandomat @fictive-sl0th

[probablyasocialecologist]

Israel’s policy of ‘creating facts’ on the ground, the single most effective foil to these plans, put the creation of a sovereign, viable Palestinian state out of reach, and thereby spelled the end of the two-state solution. As Israeli colonisation and segmentation of the West Bank proceeded unimpeded throughout the years since 1967, up to and including the period after the Oslo Agreement, the Palestinian territories supposed to form the state were rendered unusable for that purpose by the jigsaw of Jewish colonies, bypass roads and barriers. Jerusalem was judaised beyond the possibility of its becoming the Palestinian capital, and Gaza was left stranded in an Israeli sea, unconnected to the rest of Palestine, its single shared border with Egypt not under its control. These logistical obstacles in the way of a viable Palestinian state became so extreme over the decades that many observers, including the most ardent supporters of the two-state solution, started to fear that it was not going to happen. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories was forced to conclude as far back as 2006 that ‘this vision [of a two-state solution] is unattainable without a viable Palestinian territory. The construction of the wall, the expansion of settlements, the de-Palestinisation of Jerusalem and the gradual incorporation of the Jordan Valley are incompatible with the two-state solution.’

Ghada Karmi, One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel

[doctoremrys]

So, like any other girl who reads fanfiction, and has so many n/m ships, I too, was exposed to Heartstopper, one day, and became obsessed with it. Yeah, and not only the show, ALL THE NOVElS, I read all of them at least 3 times, watched the show a lot, I even read fics about it beacause I can't wait fir season 3 to come out this year on October...

I fully support the LGBTQ+ community, I might not be a part of it, but, as my dear Imogen said on the show "I'n an ally".

I had lots of respect to tge author and illustraitor of this fantastic novel series, Alice Oseman, but today I found out that she had stated her support for Palestine.

I don't tend to comment about anything on social media, not at all, but after finding out about this, I became too upset and had to write my thought out, so yeah, this post will probably get deleted, and it's not like I have many people who follow me, or people that will read this.

Look, I have nothing against people who want to have peace on this world, besides the war between Israel and Hanas, there are lots and lots of wars happening around the world, having said that, lots of pro palestiniabs, simply don't know the basic facts, so let me starts stating a few of them. Israel became an independent state on 1948. Between 1947 to 1949 Israel had its' first war, what they call in"the independence war". The war started after the UN had agreed on Resolution 181, a UN plan thar divided the state between the jews and the arabs, and had Jerusalem as the capital city for jews and arabs. The jews agreed to this plan immediately, it was barley 2 years after WW2 had ended, the one wherein 6 Million jews were murdered beacause of hate. The arabs however, did npt agree on that plan, a UN plan, and started attacking the jewish citzens on 30th of November 1947. After Israel got its' independent,on May 14th 1948, the neighboring Arab coubtrues had joined the arabs in Israel in their fight against the new country. Israel won. Egupt gor conrol of Gaza. On 1967, Israel won another war, one we call, the "6 days war", and got Gaza. On 1969 Israel gave the people in Gaza Electricity from Israel's Electricity Connector.

In 1971, the Israeli government decided to rehabilitate the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Israel did not annex the Gaza Strip to its territory, Israel didn't know what to do with it. On Marah 1979, Egypt and Israel had signed a peace agreement between them. Egyot didn't want Gaza back, so Israel got kind of "stuck" with it, and even after that Israel still did not annex the Gaza Strip to its territory. On December 1987, the first intifada broke out by the palestinians, . At its beginning, it was characterized mainly by mass riots that included demonstrations, stone throwing, roadblocks, and in some cases Molotov cocktails,

Subsequently, the intifada changed its character, and from 1989 terrorist attacks began to be carried out. Kidnapping people, stabbing them to death, shootings, and more, 164 Israelis were murdered. It officially ended in 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords, but the attacks continued. The oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and were meant to give peace, and end to the terror attacks agaibst Israel.

On 1994, as a result of the Oslo Accords, the IDF, left Gaza, and Control of the city passed to the Palestinian Authority. On 2005, all the Israelis who lived on Gaza were evacuated, as a part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. After that, Gaza started firing more Qassam rocket and missile fire at southern Israel than before. On 2006, Hanas, a terrorist organization, won the elections in Gaza, and started ruling Gaza.

On October 7th Hamas and The Islamic Jihad murdered more than 1200 people, kidnapped 240 people. Many women and men were raped, bodies were violated, organs were cut from victims, babies were murdered, entire families were burned to death. Even to this day, according to Palestinian Statistics, more than 85% of palestinans on Gaza still support Hamas' actions on October 7th. Palestinian citizens had helped Hamas, and there are even released hostages that said that palestinians families had held them captive. Lots of palestinian citizens had helped Hamas, they robbed houses, and killed innocent people as well.

Israel did not want this war, all it want is for her hostages o be released, and be back home with their families. This war is not against thr palestininans, it's war against Hamas. There are still 132 hostages held captive by Hamas, Israel and the world don't know for sure which of them is alive, and which one is not, but it needs all of them back home with. Women, Mean, Children, babies, elderly were kidnapped on this day. How is a one year old baby, your enemy? How is a Holocaust survivor your enemy?

And for those of you that say, that there is a genocide in Gaza. , on 1948, there were 710,000 palestinians ib Gaza, now there are more than 2.2 Million palestinians.

Secondly, Israel supplies the palestininans with food, water, and medicine every single day. I don't think that the US army gave Japan aid on WW2, but you know what they did do? Detonated atomic bombs on her. I don't see people call this genocide, so why is it different when it's Israel?

You don't know what it's like, to fear fron rockets, to fear leaving the house beacause Hanas can shoot at you whebever he wants. You don't live in fear.

But the people of Israel know what it's like, beacause ti them it's their nornal routine of life.

And again, while I'm against violence in general, remember, that this conflict did not start by Israel, no, Israel got attacked first by the palestininns thenselves.

Dear Aloce, I am dissapoined to find out that another jew supports Paelestine. Yon live on the UK, you write about LGBTQ+ characters on your novels. You identufy as a she/her and they/them, you are aroace. The people in Gaza, hate people fron the LGBTQ+ community, they murder every one of them, they do not care for your support, and all your money will go tk Hanas, a terririst organization, because guess what? Hamas controls everything in Gaza, including all the money the people like you, the UN, and other counries give to Gaza, and they use thus money for terror, and for murderm

Why did you have to start being politucal? Why do you support sonething that you dob't fully undestand.

And by the way, Hamas murdered and kidbapped muslims, arabs, and Israelies, they did not care for who you are, which country are you a citizen of, and what are your poltic views, if you were in the wrong place on the wrong tine, they simply did not care, they killed everyone, and kidnapped arabs and Israelies alike.

I still love Heartstopper, but it'a dissapoing to find out that another jewish person supports something that they do not understand. Alice, you will not see this post, but "thank you".

[mariacallous]

Washington CNN  — Rifts between the United States and Israel spilled into public view Tuesday as President Joe Biden warned that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected American plans for post-war Gaza.

The divides, which until now had mostly been contained behind the scenes, reflected growing differences between the two staunch allies as the civilian death toll in Gaza mounts.

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington, Biden voiced criticism of Israel’s hardline government and said Netanyahu needed to alter his approach.

“I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden said, calling Netanyahu’s government the “most conservative government in Israel’s history.”

He warned support for the country’s military campaign is waning amid heavy bombardment of Gaza and added that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”

Speaking ahead of Biden’s comments at the fundraiser, Netanyahu admitted Tuesday that he and the US president disagree on what should happen to Gaza after the war. In a statement, the Israeli leader said: “Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”

The pair of remarks amounted to some of the most candid to date when it comes to the persistent differences between Israel and the United States, its top international ally.

Before the war broke out following Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, Biden had been open in his criticism of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which includes far-right parties. But he has mostly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu in public since the conflict began, despite mounting criticism of the Israeli campaign.

Netanyahu has been asked repeatedly for his vision for a post-war Gaza in interviews with international media since October 7, telling CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview last month that he did see a role for “some kind of civilian Palestinian authority,” albeit one that had been “reconstructed.”

But in his statement Tuesday before Biden’s remarks at the Democratic fundraiser, Netanyahu said: “I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo.”

Biden’s comments Tuesday – in particular, that the current Israeli government “does not want a two-state solution” — suggest major differences with his Israeli counterpart.

That idea – of a Palestinian state existing alongside the state of Israel – took off in the 1990s, with a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords, which created, among other things, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which assumed partial control over the West Bank and Gaza.

The PA was effectively driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 but the Biden administration has made increasingly clear it believes the PA should resume governance of the enclave when the war is over.

“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” Netanyahu’s statement concluded, a reference not just to Hamas but also to Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction, which was instrumental in the signing of the Oslo Accords, and continues to control the Palestinian Authority three decades later.

Israel began its assault on Gaza shortly after Hamas’ terror attacks, which left more than 1,200 people dead. Biden has said Israel has a right and a responsibility to defend itself.

In phone calls, however, Biden has encouraged Netanyahu to do more to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, and top administration officials have said there is a “gap” between Israel’s intentions and the realities on the ground.

Speaking Monday evening at a White House Hanukkah reception, Biden acknowledged Israel was in “a tough spot” following the Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza. And he alluded to differences with Netanyahu amid the current fighting.

“We’ll continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful – they have to be careful,” Biden said. “The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen.”

Biden and Netanyahu have a decades-long relationship that has at times been strained. At the Monday evening reception, Biden said he once gifted Netanyahu a photo and wrote at the top: “I love you but I don’t agree with a damn thing you had to say.”

“It’s about the same today,” Biden said, adding he’d “had my differences with some Israeli leadership.”

Biden administration officials have been pressing their Israeli counterparts in recent weeks to begin planning for what happens in Gaza once the military campaign ends, including insisting on keeping the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.

The US says it would reject any proposal that includes Israeli control over Gaza and has warned against shrinking the Palestinian territory’s boundaries.

The US is also pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, US officials told CNN.

The Israeli government on Tuesday allowed aid trucks to be inspected at Kerem Shalom for the first time since Hamas’s attack on October 7, but those trucks must still drive back through Egypt before entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing. While the move doubles Israel’s capacity to inspect aid trucks, it does not resolve the bottleneck that is emerging at the Rafah crossing.

Biden raised the issue directly with Netanyahu during their last call last week, the US officials said. National security adviser Jake Sullivan also urged his Israeli counterparts to open up the Israel-Gaza crossing before he arrives in Israel for meetings on Thursday, the officials said.

“Rafah cannot absorb a sufficient amount of aid to meet the needs of the Palestinian people which are only growing as there have been more people displaced,” Sullivan told CNN in a phone interview Tuesday.

“We need the capacity that Kerem Shalom provides – on an emergency basis – to get more food, water, medicine and essentials in to be distributed to Palestinian civilians and we’re putting that quite urgently to the Israeli government to say, ‘We are asking you to do this ASAP because of the nature of the humanitarian situation on the ground,’” he added.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move. Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.