#there was also someone with a huge palestine flag

[easterndaylighttime]

malayka, the opening act for aziz maraka, mentioned she was from egypt and someone in the audience unfurled a full-size egyptian flag. must we always do the most

[gothhabiba]

When my life journey took me to Italy, even the mere glimpse of an Israeli flag flying over a food stall in the city of Varese would provoke me. “This is our food!” I told my colleague. “Israelis can sell mujaddara, hummus, maqlubeh and falafel, but they cannot declare them their property!” As if stealing the land, water, and air were not enough?! This food is part of our identity and culture. For me as a Palestinian, each plate has a story that relates to my people, the state, and the fragrances of my homeland.

Israel uses food to claim ownership of the territory and encourage tourism, not only internally but also abroad, featuring it in advertisements and in articles published in international newspapers and world-famous magazines. Israeli chefs present huge events in which they appropriate Palestinian cuisine and our cultural foods, denying the origins of these foods and pretending that they are theirs. As Israelis proclaim ownership of plates whose origins lie in the Middle East, the Levant, or even Egypt, they deny the existence of the people who live on this land and whose dishes and recipes are much older than the state of Israel.

Someone as tenacious as I cannot let this go by unchallenged. Instead, I have decided to use food as a soft power tool to fight the occupation. Food has become my means to speak about Palestine.

Historically, cuisine has been a mirror of civilization, culture, heritage, and the economic status of a people. Likewise, Palestinian dishes reflect all these aspects and elements. Take musakhan, for example, a Palestinian farmer’s dish that traditionally has been cooked during the olive harvest season: tabun bread is drenched in olive oil, covered with onions that have been caramelized in olive oil, and topped with sumac. All these ingredients are the fruit of Palestinian land. As living standards rose, chicken was added, then toasted almonds and pine nuts were sprinkled on top. But despite these changes, the dish has kept its original flavors as its essence has been passed down from generation to generation, preserving the authenticity of the dish.

Our occupiers can take possession of our food in the material sense, as they have done and continue to do with our land. But they cannot transmit its history, traditions, and associated sentiments because we Palestinians consider our food to be a thread that brings us together and connects us to our homeland – especially those of us who live in the diaspora.

It is no coincidence that many Palestinian poets and writers talk about food when they express their longing for their homeland. The famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, for example, wrote while in exile, “Dearly I yearn for my mother’s bread, my mother’s coffee.”

Food is part of Palestinian identity wherever we go. It reflects our culture, heritage, and personality.

– Fidaa Abuhamdiya, "The Soft Power of Palestinian Food." This Week in Palestine Issue 286, February 2022. Palestinian Cuisine: From Tradition to Modernity. p. 57.

[spacelazarwolf]

Hey, I saw a post from another tumblr user that you are a Zionist and spreading false info about Jewish people being excluded from pride parades and I don't know what a Zionist is (they just said it was nationalist) but I enjoy your blog and wanted to ask you about it directly to understand better whats going on if thats okay? Im not anonymous in case you want to privately answer or tell me youd not want to discuss. 💕

first, i wanna thank you for being respectful about this, and for asking this off anon. this tells me you're asking in good faith, so i'm happy to answer.

i've had to state numerous times on my blog that i'm not a zionist bc people love to slap that label on any jew they disagree with, which is exactly what's happening in this situation. they disagreed with what i said about a lot of jews not feeling comfortable at pride because of the pervasive antisemitism in queer spaces, and several queer events banning the jewish pride flag because it "looked too similar to the israeli flag" and decided that made me a zionist. it happens a lot bc ppl know that that word is very taboo in activist spaces, and labeling you a zionist is a surefire way to get you kicked out of a lot of progressive circles. interestingly (said with a huge dollop of sarcasm) this rarely happens to gentiles.

zionist is also a pretty useless word for determining what someone actually believes, because depending on who you ask their ideologies can range from "i think that jewish people should be able to live in the land that is currently israel and palestine alongside palestinians and other indigenous groups" to "i think that only jews should get to live in that area and we should kick everyone else out." and as you can imagine, there's lots of people like me who agree with the first statement but vehemently disagree with the second. it's become somewhat of a dogwhistle, to the point that alt righters popularized "zio" as a slur, which was then picked up by leftists (because there is also a huge problem with antisemitism in leftist and non palestinian gentile-dominated antizionist spaces.) one of the events i mentioned in the first paragraph deleted a tweet using this slur.

the person you're probably talking about also claimed that i, a genderqueer trans man, am a misogynist, because i said that jewish masculinity is very culturally different from white masculinity and that i find a lot of comfort in it. they cited a bunch of problems with misogyny within the orthodox community, despite the fact i'm not orthodox or even ashkenazi. what it boiled down to is that they disagree with the takes i have on anti transmasculinity, and they needed something else to pin it on.

so in the future, if you see someone accusing a jew of being a zionist, take everything they have to say with a bucket full of salt and do as you did with this ask and go ask the person what they actually believe. sometimes you'll find their beliefs actually don't line up with your morals and you can unfollow, but the vast majority of the time you'll find that they just said something someone didn't like and it was the easiest way to discredit them.

in general, i don't share my opinions about zionism/antizionism on tumblr because that's not what my blog is centered on, and also i oppose the expectation that jews should have to disclose our opinions on zionism in order for gentiles to determine whether or not we are worth listening to. i also have a lot of thoughts abt how the focus on anti-anything makes it easier for activists to weaponize that activism against marginalized people, but that's an entirely different post.

anyway, i hope that answers your question, and i will probably pin this ask somewhere on my blog since i have been asked this a few times now and it seems unavoidable since ppl just won't drop it.

[aretheyaterf]

Btw, I (Mod Sylvan) wanna apologize for the general radio silence. I have been spending most of time not working either commuting, sleeping, or trying to play video games.

I am also in a huge amount of pain from lack of assistive devices (someone is helping me with it, dw) and my fibromyalgia flaring up something horrific.

Alongside the general paranoia and anxiety around my Jewish identity and worry about Palestine/current events, it doesn't leave much time or ability for me to help run this blog. I try to reblog when I can, but you've probably seen a lot less calling out TERFs than I used to.

That being said, we are still looking for trustworthy people who are willing to take the time out of their day to run this blog with us! Especially if you're capable of looking through popular tags to find people flagged or flag anyone who isn't flagged already.

The world is in a scary place right now, but we cannot give up hope. We are all in this together. Palestine will be free. We will stop the anti trans activists and fascists.

We will come out the other side better people, trans or cis, gay or straight, Jewish or Muslim or Christian or whatever you believe in.

Love y'all,

Mod Sylvan

[intersectionalpraxis]

do you mind me asking what, in your experience, has the general vibe been in canada among like everyday people? are more canadians pro-palestine or pro-isnotreal? this site is us-centric so I wonder about neighboring country perspectives. if you don't want to answer, that's cool btw! def not expecting you to be an expert!

Hello! Thank you for your questions, and of course I can share some of my thoughts.

In my city we had a march to protest IOF violence (a few thousand people showed up) but a lot of folks from my area tend to go downtown to gather (especially since the Consulates are there too), and the turn outs in Toronto have been high, just like they have been in Ottawa. Compared to 'pro-Israel' crowds in Canada, visibly, it can't compare to people who have come out to support and be in solidarity with Palestine in larger cities -in that respect, it is similar to the US in terms of images we have seen to compare the gatherings. There are a range of people, from Vancouver to Halifax where thousands to hundreds gathered, to only under a dozen -and that speaks volumes in many ways. There have been a few direct-action activist protests where railways were blocked (I know of one in Winnipeg, Manitoba back a few weeks ago that were demanding a ceasefire, and one in Montreal, Quebec very recently [a few days ago] that was demanding an end to IOF terror and Canadian complicity).

In my area the only few visible acts of solidarity I have seen was when I saw a huge Palestinian flag being waved, and I saw someone in the mall, who wore a keffiyeh, and had a small Palestinian flag on their bag. I still see predominantly white women getting their starbucks around (I get there are exceptions, but they're the demographic I mostly see getting their drinks there, much to my dismay). I also work in a mall (and I had to work the Sunday that weekend of Black Friday), and it was BEYOND packed in there -and it's a big shopping centre. This is just my inference, and I don't know anyone's stances based on behaviors like this, which could range from ignorance to bigotry, but I am unsure.

I did, however, look over some articles to give you and anyone interested a little more perspective. Sadly, in terms of polls and politicians support - most 'Canadians,' support a ceasefire, but only on the condition IOF hostages are released, and that even if a majority support humanitarian aid to Gaza, the sentiment is very much pro-IOF, and based on my understanding that there is no acknowledge as Israhell as a settler-colonial force and power that is committing war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

Here is one article, with some excerpts below with the most recent information available. I will include the link here:

"A majority of Canadians, 75 per cent, hold Hamas (33 per cent) or Iran (42 per cent) responsible for the Oct. 7 attack in Israel that left 1,400 people dead and led to Hamas capturing some 240 hostages. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas." "The Palestinian health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip, says some 10,000 Palestinians have been killed so far. That figure has not been independently verified." "Most Canadians (76 per cent) classify Hamas as a terrorist organization and another nine per cent say it is a proxy for Iran. Just eight per cent consider Hamas to be freedom fighters. Overall, 71 per cent of Canadians support Canada calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but 81 per cent say that a ceasefire must start with the return of hostages taken by Hamas. Just 18 per cent of Canadians oppose calls for a ceasefire." "New Democrats are most likely to support calls for a ceasefire: 86 per cent support the call, compared to 57 per cent of Conservative voters, 82 per cent of Liberal voters and 85 per cent of Bloc Québécois voters." "When given a choice, 68 per cent said the priority in the conflict should be protecting Palestinian civilians living in Gaza and ensuring they have humanitarian aid, while 32 per cent said retaliation against Hamas should be the priority. Here, there are stark differences between parties: Forty-eight per cent of Conservatives say the fight against Hamas should be the priority, compared to 25 per cent of Liberals, 20 per cent of New Democrats and 18 per cent of Bloc voters." "Fifty-nine per cent approve of Canada’s support for Israel (only 18 per cent disapprove). At 71 per cent, Liberal voters back Canada’s support for Israel most strongly, followed by Conservative voters (67 per cent) and Bloc Québécois voters (61 per cent). Just 39 per cent of New Democrat voters back Canada’s support for Israel."

I think it's also important to add that the Liberals passed a new bill a few years ago, called Bill C-10, which was to amend the Broadcasting Act (which is a way for them to decide which *content* to censor, which includes most videos on the ground from Palestine, depending on the platform -but I can't access Eyes on Palestine, and can't see videos uploaded on Let's Talk Palestine). They say this is so that people turn to 'reliable' and 'credible,' news sources (as one element), but when mainstream western media isn't covering the genocide the way it needs to be because the IOF is a settler-power ethnically cleansing Palestinian people -that is clear as day, but similar to the US -the Canadian government has a vested interest in 'Israel,' and has been, since day one, saying 'Israel' has a right to defend itself, and classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization like the US, and STILL advocates for a two-state solution:

I would also like too that here, too, multiple politicians and journalists have been fired for their 'pro-Palestine' comments. It's just despicable. You can read more about this here and about the people/what they posted:

Of course this wasn't all-encompassing, and I am by no means an expert, but I would say generally, Canada and their 'pro-Israel' crowd (unsurprisingly) is similar to the United States. I hope this offered a bit more insight into what's going on here. I will try to keep updating about Canada here as well, because yes -a lot of what we see tends to be from the US, which understandably, but I will try to be reflexive of this moving forward.

[trans-girl-nausicaa]

OAKBOUGH: A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE STORY.

CHAPTER 8.

Read the rest of the story:

LOCATION: SANDS OF THE MOJAVE BASE NUMBER X

>Say you want to stop DARPA’s Domino Particle experiments, by force if necessary.

You take a deep breath.

“We… we can’t let them keep doing these experiments,” you say. “There’s no telling how many people will be displaced and killed if they continue.”

Paul looks at you squarely.

“Are you prepared for what ‘stopping them’ might mean? We’re talking about fighting against the government. You’re a civilian, right? You’ve never seen combat?”

You shake your head. “Yeah… Civilian all my life. Never been involved in anything like that. My response to street fights and shit has always been ‘run the fuck away.’”

“I want you to really think about what it might mean to kill someone. Or provide information that might lead to someone being killed. Or to stand next to a comrade as they die.”

“Paul… Have you… have you been in combat before?” you ask.

He nods. “Mostly in the early days. Before the Death Valley Treaty. Before we got established. We had no base, no ‘visitors center,’ none of that. We were bands of guerrillas just scraping by, stealing to survive. Ambushing police patrols, hit-and-run tactics. We studied history. Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Che, Castro. To try and cobble together a strategy. We were just figuring shit out as we went along. I was in the Battle of Badwater. I saw the aftermath of the Sequoia Massacre. …I guess you might not know what those are.”

You shake your head.

“Well… anyway, I saw a lot of shit. And eventually I decided I’d had enough of it. I was always the one who led us in campfire songs, the one who tried to make dehydrated food more edible. So when I was trying to find a non-combat role, someone suggested that I be the one to talk to visitors. Nowadays we actually have visitations from friends, family, partners… Sympathizers… And journalists. It’s a huge accomplishment for us to have gotten to this point. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I shot a lot of cops and I lost a lot of friends.”

“Paul…” you say. You aren’t sure how to continue the sentence.

“Uh… Sorry for rambling like this,” he says. “I just want you to think about it.”

Judging from his appearance, you’d never guess he had ever been in combat, had killed people before. He was shorter than average, with a slight frame, and a graceful, effeminate way of moving. You look at his face, and beyond his long eyelashes and soft features, you see the expression of someone who has been permanently changed by what they have seen and done.

A long moment passes.

Maybe if someone like Paul Paulson, with his gentle nature, can get through guerrilla warfare, you can get through… whatever the hell you’re about to do.

And you don’t want to let more people die when you’re one of the only people in the world who knows why or how it’s happening.

“Paul, I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” you say.

Paul lets out a long breath.

“I was afraid you’d say that. And I was hoping you’d say it too,” he says. “Well… Even so, how about you sleep on it? Before we start making tangible plans. Just to be extra sure.”

You suppose that sounds reasonable.

“Yeah, sure,” you say.

“Why don’t we take a walk around?”

You put your lanyard back on, and Paul takes you on a walk around the base.

Sure enough, he confirms what you suspected earlier: It’s a repurposed gated community, with high walls and one entrance, guarded by a security checkpoint.

All of the buildings are repurposed suburban homes. Some of them have banners pinned up, emblazoned with symbols for racial equality, anti-fascism, and other liberation movements. You also spot the national flag of Palestine.

You see people walking around in streetwear, work clothes, and military garb. At least half of the people you see have a pistol holstered on their hip.

Paul explains that he can’t show you the armory or the strategy center or other strategically important buildings. Not yet, at least.

Paul shows you the medical center, a nascent community garden, and the common house. The common house is a free-area, designated just for recreation, he explains.

There are only three people inside at the time: An older woman in camo putting together a large puzzle, and a man and woman playing ping-pong.

It has the same slapdash decorative sense as the visitors center, with armchairs next to folding chairs squeezed up next to a ping-pong table.

There’s a bookshelf that is similarly disorganized in terms of genre: well-worn romance novels sandwiched between copies of the Little Red Book. There’s volumes 3, 8, and 10 of a slice-of-life manga, and a copy of the Kama Sutra.

The gray-haired, dark-skinned woman looks up from her puzzle and smiles at Paul, her eyes crinkling.

“Heyyy Paul! How’s it going!” she calls out.

Paul walks over to her. “Hello Cass! It’s going well! This is Mulligan Redux, a visitor!”

“Oh, wonderful!” she says.

“This is Colonel Cassidy Clearwater, the commanding officer of this base,” says Paul.

“Oh, i’m not such a big deal,” she says. “Just call me Cass, please!”

"Well, it's... nice to meet you, Cass," you say.

She shakes your hand without getting up.

"Likewise!" she says.

"But Paul, it's almost dinner time!" says Col. Clearwater. "Make sure you don't miss it. We need to get some meat on those bones!"

They both laugh.

Paul bids her good-bye.

"See you at the next game of bridge!" she says.

You and Paul hurry back to the visitors center. "I gotta slice this bread!" says Paul.

In the kitchen, Paul neatly slices the warm loaf of sourdough into thick slices and wraps it in a cloth napkin.

The two of you head to the canteen.

A small crowd of people stand on the dead front lawn, some standing and chatting, others sitting and eating on the front steps.

Everyone is unarmed.

You squeeze past the people sitting on the front steps.

"GOSH, don't obstruct the STAIRS," whines Paul.

Once you make your way up the stairs, you find yourself in a crowded house. Clearly it has had all the furniture emptied out of the ground floor and filled again with tables and chairs. The seating spills out onto the spacious patio. The hardwood floor is very worn down from the high amount of foot traffic going in and out, the varnish worn away in places.

You stand in line to wash your hands, and then you stand in line for the food. "It's channa masala tonight," says Paul. You ladle yourself a bowl of chickpea curry. Paul hands you two slices of his sourdough bread. "Not an 'authentic' pairing, but I swear it's tasty!" he says.

Paul grabs a bowl and fills it, and puts a plate on top of the bowl to cover it.

"I promised to take some food to Snoust!" he says. "You know, our PR lady? She's gonna be up late watching the news tonight! So I have to leave! I'll be back, OK? Don't worry, everyone's nice here!" he says.

You squeeze through the crowd and find a place to sit on the patio. The sun is setting, and the temperature is going down, so it is no longer sweltering and now simply balmy.

"Oho, a visitor!" says the tall woman next to you in a deep voice. She has olive skin and curly black hair, and is wearing a camouflage ensemble. "Where you from?"

"New York," you say, in between bites. You spread the curry on the bread and it tastes great together.

"That's a long way!" she says. "Almost a record. I think the person who came here from furthest away was that one journalist? She came here all the way from Al-Jazeera."

"Al-Jazeera is the name of the news network she worked for, not the place where she came from, dummy," says the person on your other side, flatly. "Al-Jazeera is a Qatari news network."

They said it in a very flat tone of voice. You turn to look at them. They're a pale androgynous person with a brown buzzcut, wearing olive drab coveralls. On the breast pocket a patch is sewn on that reads "THEY/THEM."

"That's Private Splash Swampton. Don't listen to her about anything fact-based," they say.

"And that's Private Disc Gruntle, a total buzzkill!" says Splash.

"Uh, nice to meet you, I think?" you say.

"Mulligan Redux, civilian visitor. They/them pronouns," you say.

"Nice to meet you," say Disc and Splash, and then they glare at each other.

They snipe incessantly at each other through the meal, and you find they often talk past you as if you aren't there. But then Splash will pat you on the back or Disc will say to you "Can you believe she said that?" and you find yourself chuckling at their antics.

You find you ate rather quickly, and you still have once slice of bread left.

"If I give you guys each half a slice of bread, will you get along?" you ask.

"Where'd it came from?" asks Splash.

"Yeah, I don't eat mystery bread," says Disc.

"Paul Paulson baked it today," you say. "Know him?"

"Aw man! Everyone talks about his bread and how it's so good but I've never had any! That's a deal," says Splash.

"Please give me some of that sweet sweet twink bread," says Disc.

You raise an eyebrow at Disc.

"Hey, I mean, not to be offensive or nothing, but it's a real shame that he has a boyfriend. And they're practically married, too. Super loyal. Both of them are, like, husband material."

You laugh and tear the slice of bread in half, handing a half to each of them.

As people finish their food, many are leaving. It quiets down a bit, and you can hear a television playing from another room. It sounds like the news.

"Hey, since you did me a solid and gave me some of that awesome bread, that totally lives up to its reputation, allow me to give you an alcohol ration card," says Splash.

"Well, also, I'm generous too," says Disc. "I bequeath unto thee a marijuana ration card. Good for one joint."

"You guys have ration cards for this stuff?" you ask.

"Yeah. It cuts down on over-indulging. And we're only allowed to smoke weed or drink alcohol at the canteen. 'Never drink alone,' as the Corporal says," responds Disc.

You accept the ration cards.

It's not that late, so you have some time to kill.

STATS:

AGGRESSION: 5

CAUTION: 5

HOMOSEXUALITY: 5

ENDURANCE: 5

SKILL: 5

INVENTORY:

CASH: $50

MULTI-TOOL

S.O.T.M. CANNABIS RATION CARD

S.O.T.M. ALCOHOL RATION CARD

EQUIPMENT:

SUNGLASSES

T-SHIRT

JEANS

HIGH-TOP SNEAKERS

S.O.T.M. VISITOR CARD

[unhonestlymirror]

"The main question I have is why neighbouring countries don't want to help Palestine and accept their refugees. Why is it always Europe who has to do that, yet being constantly accused of Islamophobia? Saudi Arabia, e.g., is"...

...this is linked to russia and their alliances to various countries, too, probably.

Most likely. I just don't really get how can Palestines, living safely for a while close to their land (because it sucks living far from your land), be disadvantageous for russia?.. AH. OH. HOLD ON. Remember the illegal immigrants on the Belarus-Poland border problem? Latvia and Lithuania actually suffer from it, too. And it's being highly encouraged and financed by russia. Although, EVERYONE must have known for today that Poland is very strict in these terms (I'm not judging them). I didn't expect anything else from a country where almost every city has a Holocaust museum.

Unfortunately, Palestines are hostages of the situation even more than Belarus because Belarus at least has neighbours, which support her. They are hostages because they can't even raise their flag without being perceived as terrorism supporters... thanks to hamas and russia, which finances it (together with China and Iran)! The next problem is they don't have a flag which is not associated with hamas: which of course makes people hate them. Belarus doesn't really have this problem because its official flag is ⚪️🔴⚪️, which was replaced by dictator Lukashenko. russian opposition tried to solve it by ⚪️🔵⚪️, I can't call it a success because stealing the flag of Yotvingians is kinda questionable (lol), nevertheless, some russians fight for Ukraine and kill occupiers under this flag. I can not truly disrespect those who kill russian occupiers of my land.

It's important to notice that telling Jews and Israel citizens that "they have no right to hate Palestinian flag" is the same as telling Ukrainians that we have no right to hate any russian flag or any Belaruthian flag. If a Ukrainian hates it, it means they have reasons, for example, their loved ones were killed and raped, so you better shut the fuck up.

The most important problem of Palestine: they don't have a clear action plan. The "I'm asking you a REASONABLE question" video proves it. Ukraine has a veeery clear action plan. Belarus... 50/50. And no clear plan will help russia, because there are no people left there who are not zombies. What's interesting: Palestines don't have a clear action plan, nevertheless, they have such big rallies all over the world... Not even Ukraine had so much, therefore, someone is investing a lot of money in this. And it's not poor Palestine.

Unfortunately, the immigrants also play a huge role. You see, Muslims are very famous in Europe for thinking that everyone owes them, famous for not working and adding a balast on the economy. Thankfully, not everyone are like this, but unfortunately, A LOT of Muslim people behave completely disrespectful to countries that give them the roof over the head and the money. They also often demand that the government build mosques, which make people develop prejudice against Muslims, including Palestine. It is absolutely possible that this is, to some extent, exaggerated and financed by russia, but! It's also reality. I had an opportunity to travel by French, English and Spanish public transport (French is more polite, btw). You can scold Poland as much as you like for the "cruelty towards immigrants", but nevertheless, it has all the grounds for such behaviour, and unfortunately, it influences the Polish perception of other refugees like Ukrainians and Belaruthians too. To Ukrainians, and ESPECIALLY to Belaruthians, it's very important to not be perceived like that. (Sadly, not all of us care, as well.)

The saddest thing is that russia steals the grain from occupied Ukrainian lands -> russia sells it to countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and receives money, and asks them in return for some "small services" like the Palestinian ban from the neighbouring countries -> for those money, russia finances terroristic organisations including hamas (which is imo not even Muslim organisation, they kill CATS, the sacred Muslim animal, they kill potential food like cows, they don't give a single fuck about Palestine) -> hamas attacks Israel under Palestinian flag and kills a lot of people -> Jewish people start hating Palestine -> with the same money, russia spreads ideas like "Palestine needs to get rid of Israel because you see, Israel now wants to see you dead😱" and finances rallies, finances murders of French teachers "for Palestine" -> people start hating Muslims even more. I believe that's how it goes since 1987. We could have stopped it earlier if we had stopped the russian invasion of Ukraine earlier. But we have what we have. We must put more sanctions on russia.

Since Palestine doesn't even have a clear plan, I don't want to say "I stand with Palestine" because I don't understand what it means except "I want Israel and Jews to stop existing." I don't want Israel and Jews to stop existing, I don't want them to be tortured and raped for anyone. I also have friends who lost someone because of hamas. I don't see here any solution unless russia is gone.

[papirouge]

Ahhhhh……. Time to fix my tinfoil hat because I’m tired and these theories make my spirit ache but…. 9/11 was a hoax too @ that old anon talking about US and China… Hundreds of people on the ground that day remember hearing a explosion like a demolition. They reported it. They saw how odd the buildings came down. Some even theorized that even a plane crashing into it wouldn’t have had them fall like that. Those buildings were too huge. But they were told to shut up about it. Some were followed for a while.

Boston marathon bombing was another hoax. By the government as a test run for immediate large scale lockdowns as the city went into one soon after and other things. The older brother was pressured to be an informant for the fbi soon after he returned visiting family in Dagestan. The younger was pressured to obey the fbis orders since he was lost and depressed in school unknown to his friends. I remember tumblr back in 2013 too when that happened. Literally every single person who knew the younger brother said he couldn’t do this. He was the complete opposite of a terrorists profile. There were no red flags for terrorism because there weren’t any ever. Their mother was adamant that her kids weren’t involved and I trust a mothers instinct too. Fbi detonated those bombs remotely. Fbi wanted to blame muslims and Islam for the attack again like they did with 911 because those guys were muslim. I think also the zionists that keep America as an “ally” ordered those attacks too to justify more military equipment from the US and attacks on Palestine. Both brothers of the Boston bombing are Chechen and guess what happened? journalist reported attacks by the cia in Chechnya. Fbi shot and killed one of the friends of the brothers for no reason in Florida. His father still wants answers 9 years later today. My dad believes JFK the president was killed from a mafia hit because he knocked up one of the daughters but many people believe it was our government that ordered the hit. Probably was both. Our government doesn’t shy away from creating temporary alliance to reach a common goal. So much terrible things have happened due to US involvement. The Iraq war was a farce. Invading the Middle East was for no reason other than oil because America will never hurt their Saudi masters so they go after innocent and poor countries. I have Friends who’ve been in the marines that were deployed returned to hate what the country became. They literally have said to me that they believed they were defending our freedom from terrorists and all that only to arrive and realize that THEY were the terrorists. That the radicals there were radical because the Us were stealing, raping women and children and torturing the locals. No justice was brought against those crimes. George W Bush Jr literally even joked about being a war criminal similar to Putin. Like he admitted it. Nobody is doing anything about that even though the theorists have said that the war in the ME was fake and for alternative reasons - it’s never for “freedoms”

TELL THEM, ANON!!

idk if I already did tag them as #papiconspiracy but I already made a few post where I said the "planes" during 911 where deep fakes and that what made the towers explode were bombs. Indeed, many architects and demolitions specialist notice the "pattern" of the collapse couldn't be achieved by a plane hitting the towers. 911 was a gigantic blood sacrifice to satan.

For the boston marathon bros, my theory is that they were some sort of sleeping agent - DELTA type (I recommend you VC article about monarch programming elaborating on that type delta programming). Someone eventuallt "triggered" the shooter for them to do what he did. Don't you find interesting that many terrorists have link with the secret services or military?

And as someone which has an oddly extended knowledge in the JFK case, I know for a fact that it was Lyndon Johnson and the deep state that conspired against him. Probably because Kennedy wasn't as much of a warmonger as they would him to be. Mafia people are clever and it would be more interesting for them to blackmail JFK into giving them money for them to keep it quiet than kill him off. As powerful as it is, the mafia wouldn't have the logistics ressources the USA deep state to cover their tracks. From memory, they even went as far as to switch JFK' body with someone else while in the body bag. This whole conspiracy was HUGE.

The Iraq was a gigantic farce indeed. They used the daughter of a Kuwaitian diplomat (Nayirah) to lie about the Iraqi government killing babies in their incubators.... It was a big flat lie that got pulled out by the Bush administration to justify their invasion of Iraq

"Her story was initially corroborated by Amnesty International, a British NGO, which published several independent reports about the killings and testimony from evacuees. Following the liberation of Kuwait, reporters were given access to the country. An ABC report found that "patients, including premature babies, did die, when many of Kuwait's nurses and doctors ... fled" but Iraqi troops "almost certainly had not stolen hospital incubators and left hundreds of Kuwaiti babies to die." Amnesty International reacted by issuing a correction, with executive director John Healey subsequently accusing the Bush administration of "opportunistic manipulation of the international human rights movement""

People just NEVER LEARN. And that's why History keeps repeating itself. So many lies to cover the ugly face of American Imperialism

And yes, you're absolutely right about US imperialism breeding terrorism. Weren't Afghanistan's mujahideen formerly created & manipulated by the CIA to refrain Communism influence in middle east, only for them to turn against their pygmalion? smh

[theartofjournalling]

I don’t trust Mitch at all

My intuition told me that Ari and Mitch are really close friends

He even said they call each other up every day

So I felt certain that ari would be the one to tell Mitch about my Palestine account

Then

Mitch says ari hates Mitch now

Because he is right leaning

I wonder if Mitch is lying

Then his whole saying he did half the work

I’m wondering how I can approach this for the future

If I cut Mitch out, perhaps the musicians will hate me

I have a huge network of musicians though i can ask.

I think the appropriate thing would be to talk to him about everything.

I’ll say

I don’t think you’re pulling your weight at all of which I’ve told him before

I found it concerning that you’re claiming to be music director when you haven’t done anything

But if I say that

It sounds egotistical also

So maybe it’s better to just cut his name out and be more subtle about it

I really just want to do a show without him

And starve him slowly of the work I’m involved with.

But in the future

I want to direct multiple shows at the same time

So I’d need him as a second musical director

So for now

I’m just not going to say anything

But I’ll cut his name out for the next one again

I bet you he noticed the first time

Goals re Mitch

Cut him out with the least damage

With maximum benefit

Don’t lose the musicians

Do it in a way that the musicians will side with you

Palestine is a good one

If Mitch leaves me

Musicians can’t blame me for that

I’m a humanitarian

All work that you get, don’t include Mitch unless you absolutely have to

At the moment this just means midnight crown

If you don’t include Mitch at crown it appears that you’re cutting him out

You need to cut him out without it appearing that way

If you get multiple gigs you can use him to do the second gig and benefit from it.

Split profits, get your name as a director for a show you didn’t direct, use his medicine against him if you can pull it off. I doubt he’ll allow it though the cunning Jew he is.

If Roger has a project

You can do it and hire new musicians

That won’t get back to Mitch

I can post it to Alera

Mitch will 100% fuck me over

I need to fuck him before he fucks me

What he did is a huge red flag

I’ve been thinking about it all night

The next show

Unless it’s a dual gig

I’m thinking of not involving Mitch at all

Not even including him or mentioning him

It’ll be a Mason Dzelilovic production

Completely new band

So they don’t get back to Mitch

If he finds out

He finds out

I want to cut him out anyway

The only thing is maintaining a relationship with musos

Without making me look like an asshole

So I’ll say there’s no gig on (with secret sound) and mislead him

And when there’s a dual gig

I’ll involve him when I absolutely need to

Even then I’d rather hire someone else to direct

He’s a dead weight

Negatives if he finds out

I lose Ethan and Ari

Great bassist and drummer

Bad reputation

Don’t work with Mason

He cut out Mitch from his business

It will be awkward in the wedding band

As well see each other every Saturday

Advantage

I double my money

$800 instead of $400

I don’t have to do all the work and pay him half and he gets half the credit for literally doing nothing

Not lifting a finger

[kayla1993-world]

'Great friend': Canadian official under fire for praising convicted Palestinian criminal

Wettlaufer's office responded to Rajoub's recent meeting with a tweet on Thursday. Both were seen sitting on seats with a Palestinian flag in between them and a huge portrait of Arafat, the former Palestinian Authority leader, in the background.

The caption that accompanied the image highlighted an interesting debate about regional politics before going on to call Rajoub a wonderful friend of Canada.

The original post has since been removed, but multiple screenshots have been circulating on social media, causing some indignation among Jewish political leaders in the Liberal and Conservative parties.

Saks and Housefather issued a statement expressing their strong opposition to Rajoub being referred to be a friend of Canada.

Lantsman requested Joly to respond.

Rajoub, chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee and former director of the Palestinian Preventive Security Force, has a long history of encouraging violence against Israel.

He was condemned to life in jail in 1970 for hurling a grenade at Israel Defense Forces but was released 15 years later in a prisoner swap. He was detained several times afterward for terrorist actions before becoming Arafat's national security advisor.

In 2013, Rajoub warned Al Mayadeen that if the Palestinian Authority obtained nuclear weapons, it would use them against Israel.

In 2018, the FIFA disciplinary tribunal suspended and punished him for inciting hatred and violence by calling on soccer supporters to burn Messi jerseys and images before of his national team’s upcoming play in a Jerusalem stadium.

That opinion was shared by Rotrand, national director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, who believes the prompt deletion of the problematic tweet suggests that someone saw it and notified Mr. Rajoub’s history.

Canada’s envoy in Palestine is a seasoned diplomat with extensive expertise in the region.

Wettlaufer formerly served as Canada’s special envoy and head of political affairs in Syria from 2014 to 2019. She formerly worked as an Iraq desk officer, a G8 foreign ministers' process conflict prevention advisor, and a senior adviser to Sudan's Darfur peace process.

She is now on her second deployment in Ramallah, having previously served there from 2005 to 2008.

Wettlaufer's meeting with Rajoub, according to Rotrand, was a blunder for a Canadian delegate with a stellar reputation and a respectable track record.

Wettlaufer's terrible judgment in agreeing to meet with Rajoub worried CIJA.

It is not, however, the first time Canada’s delegate has met with the divisive figure. Wettlaufer also met with Rajoub in early July, according to a tweet that was still available on Friday.

Global Affairs notified the National Post that they are aware of Canadians’ outrage over the content of the tweet that referred to Rajoub as a great friend of Canada, and that it has since been removed.

Skinner went on to say that Canada is dedicated to establishing a comprehensive, just, and long-term peace in the Middle East, including the establishment of a Palestinian state coexisting in peace and security with Israel, and that terrorism must be rejected as a way of accomplishing political goals.

Wettlaufer's three-year term is about to come to an end. Shtayyeh, the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister, tweeted her farewell, stating she has worked hard to increase collaboration and develop bilateral connections.

[hero-israel]

I'm absolutely disgusted, idk if you use tiktok (for your sake I hope not) but there's been this pretty infamous (and memeable) incident where a guy was talking about "you evil ass religious Jews" talking about his personal baggage wrapped up in stereotypes and justified it by saying Free Palestine. He blocks Jews and Palestinians alike who call him out. Fast forward to another infamously antisemitic leftist tiktoker who's OBSESSED with calling Israel a settler colonial state, all he talks about is Israel. He blocks 90% of Jewtok because of course he does. He "calls out" this particular other creator, and I already roll my eyes because this is how it goes. The bare chested antisemite can get gently chastised with hollow words by their political allies, now they get a free "see I defended Jews" sticker, even though none of them spoke a word about the hostage situation or any other antisemitic incidents ever. But it gets worse, he immediately frames this as innocent Palestinians and "anti Zionist Jewish creators" getting silenced by this one insane individual, you see it's a step too far when you block the people you're trying to help and the good Jews who side with us, like okay? But the main point of his video was to make it about himself. See open antisemitism in the name of Palestine is a psyop essentially, a tool to justify Zionism. It "makes us look bad," "great now Zionists are going to shut down legitimate criticism of Israel harder than ever, thanks asshole," stuff like that... which is what Jews were anxious about from the opposite side in the first place. Glad to see zero self awareness. I just had to get this off my chest. Also apparently this guy (jamesgetspolitical) "studied genocide" and is/was a member of a fraternity with a huge white supremacist problem, like they've been investigated multiple times for this shit (as well as sexual assault stuff).

I am somewhat glad to say I have never heard of any of this, and am somewhat sorry that I looked up this Jamesgetspolitical creature. At first glance I thought he was a Babylon Bee post: the world's whiteguy-iest white guy, posturing with a Palestinian flag and the autobiography of Malcolm X. Turns out if someone puts a little effort into leftwashing, they can indulge in all the narcissistic and sadistic depths of internet trolling but still get upvotes for it, just as surely as someone can hide their misogyny and sexual harassment behind loudly saying "Karen" every now and then.

[mintedwitcher]

1. Bi lesbian isnt a terf term and the movement against bi lesbian is more biphobic and lesbophobic and transphobic than people realise. Good explanations can be found at bi-lesbian's tumblr blog. Anti bi lesbian implies gatekeeping at the very least. 2. Zionism is the right to Jewish self-determination, not the genocide of Palestinians. Zionism isn't the same as supporting how Israel's government is treating Palestinians. You can be a Zionist but not support the genocide of Palestinians. (1/?)

1. I didn't say it was a terf term, I said the user you called out told me that they'd only seen terfs using it, which is a huge red flag for most terms. If it's exclusive to terf circles, it's usually not a great term. That being said though, I have never met or known a person who calls themselves a bi lesbian. The only point of reference i have for this term is its association with terf rhetoric, which is that lesbians can be attracted to men - specifically trans men - and therefore cannot be True lesbians, ergo, "bi lesbians". As such, and as I dont know the history behind the term, I cannot make a concrete judgement on where I stand with that particular term. Nor do I feel comfortable calling out someone else for being uncomfortable with its use.

2. As for Zionism, as I said before, I am unfortunately not very educated on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. From what I read prior to discussing this with the user in question, my understanding was that Zionism was a movement which aimed to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. However, if that is at all connected to the genocide of Palestinian peoples by the Israeli government, as this user has told me, I cannot fault them for not wanting to interact with Zionists. For the record, they also do make a distinction between being a Zionist and being pro Israel. They just so happen to be against both.

I am currently trying to find more sources that I can read through to educate myself better so i can try and understand this conflict better. Until then i am reserving judgement.

(#2 coming up next)

[schraubd]

We Need More (and Better) Polling on BDS--Ask Me How!

A new poll, from the left-wing "Data for Progress" outfit, has dropped on BDS. This is the second poll that's devoted significant attention to BDS to have been released in the past month (I talked about the first, which came out of the University of Maryland, in this post).

The main takeaway I'm getting from reading these polls is, first and foremost, that most people don't know that much about BDS. The UMD poll, for instance, found that strong majorities of respondents had heard either "a little" or "nothing" about BDS; the Data for Progress memo acknowledges that it got an abnormally high amount of "not sure" responses even after dedicating lengthy paragraphs explaining to respondents what BDS (supposedly) is.

This actually is reflective of a larger methodological problem facing polls like this. They want to generate data that's neither just noise or "I don't knows". But since most people don't know anything about BDS, that means the surveyors need to explain what BDS is. This, in turn, creates two problems:

"BDS" is a fragmented idea; there are a host of different tactics and programs which have at one form or another fallen under its ambit. Any effort to explain BDS in a remotely brief fashion inevitably will end up elevating and promoting a particular iteration of BDS over potential competitors.

The more description one has to do, the more opportunity there is to inject surveyor bias -- describing BDS in terms that reflect the questioner's own support or opposition to the movement.

In the case of both surveys, but especially this new Data for Progress one, it is pretty evident that the questioner is at the very least BDS-sympathetic. The cynic might say that all these polls are therefore demonstrating is that when BDS is described in exactly the manner its supporters would want it to be described (It's non-violent! It seeks nothing more than the end of the occupation! Opponents want to take speech pathologists out of the classroom because of their beliefs!), it gets a respectable amount of support. Fancy that! Draw up a push poll pushing in the opposite direction, and it's likely you'd get different results.

Still, one could nonetheless find these surveys useful as a means of message-testing, i.e., telling us whether particular ways of framing BDS are likely to gain a sympathetic hearing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, framing BDS relatively narrowly -- targeted divestment from a company that "provides services and equipment to Israeli prisons" -- generates support in a way one would suspect might dissipate if one instead illustrated its demands more broadly -- say, "severing ties with all Israeli colleges and universities". BDS critics will accordingly say that these messages are based on lies -- BDS, after all, isn't narrow in this way. But as I've written elsewhere, I expect BDS to behave like other social movements in that it will moderate as it mainstreams. So I actually do think polls like these are emblematic of and may accelerate a trend whereby "BDS" supporters will coalesce around narrower actions like targeted consumer boycotts of particular companies (e.g., settlement goods), and jettison more ambitious actions like blanket boycotts of all Israeli companies, period.

That said, I'd actually like to test my hypothesis that more moderate forms of BDS poll better than more radical versions. And I'd also like to sidestep the problem that most people don't know what BDS is, and the problem of injecting my own biases in describing to them what BDS "actually" is. So if someone wanted to fund my survey -- and if you do, feel free to email me -- what I'd do is avoid asking about BDS (other than a raw, unadorned "do you support or oppose the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign targeting Israel" [yes/no/not sure]), since it's a term that it seems most people don't know and is quite pluralized even for those who do know it. Instead, I'd just ask questions about support for various campaigns or policies that have, at one time or another, been promoted under the BDS banner, to see what people actually do and do not back.

Here are my rough ideas for questions:

1. Should products from Israeli companies operating in the West Bank be labeled as coming from "Israel" or "the West Bank"? [Israel/West Bank/other/not sure]

2a. Some people support a consumer boycott of Israeli products which are made or manufactured in the West Bank. Do you, personally, support such a boycott? [Yes/no/not sure]

2b. Some people support the US government banning the sale of Israeli products which are made or manufactured in the West Bank. Do you, personally, support such a ban? [Yes/no/not sure] 

3a. Some people think investors such as pension funds and university endowments should divest from specific companies operating in Israel or the Palestinian territories which are accused of assisting in human rights violations against Palestinians. Do you, personally, support such divesting? [Yes/no/not sure]

3b. Some people think investors such as pension funds and university endowments should divest from all Israeli companies. Do you, personally, support such divesting? [Yes/no/not sure] 

4. Some people think America should place conditions on foreign aid to Israel, for example, by requiring that such aid not be used to support settlement construction. Do you support placing such a condition on foreign to Israel? [Yes/no/not sure] 

5. Some people think that Americans should refuse to do business with all Israeli or Israeli-owned companies operating in the United States. Do you, personally, support boycotting all Israeli or Israeli-owned businesses? [Yes/no/not sure] 

6. Some people think that American universities should sever institutional ties with all Israeli colleges and universities (for example, ending research partnerships, study-abroad programs, and student exchange programs). Do you, personally, believe American universities should sever institutional ties with all Israeli universities? [Yes/no/not sure]

7. Some people think that Israeli teams should be forbidden from participating in international athletic competitions, such as the Olympics and the World Cup. Do you, personally, support barring Israeli national teams from international athletic competitions? [Yes/no/not sure]

8. Some people think that Israeli artists and cultural figures should not be invited to perform at American theaters and centers. Do you, personally, support a policy of refusing to invite Israeli artists and cultural figures to perform in America? [Yes/no/not sure]

9. Some people think that American colleges should not host talks from Israeli political or academic officials. Do you, personally, believe colleges should not host talks given by Israeli political or academic officials? [Yes/no/not sure]

10. Some people think that American governmental officials should not work with counterparts in the Israeli government (for example, by traveling on trade missions to Israel or participating in training exercises with Israeli colleagues). Do you, personally, believe American governmental officials should refuse to work with counterparts in the Israeli government? [Yes/no/not sure]

11. Some people think that Jewish student organizations at American colleges should be defunded, and that other student groups should refuse to work with them, because these Jewish student organizations are "pro-Israel". Do you, personally, support defunding and/or refusing to work with Jewish student organizations because they are "pro-Israel"? [Yes/no/not sure]

My hypothesis is that we'd see significant differences in levels of support as we moved through these different questions. And if there is significant stratification across these various questions, that suggests (a) that asking people whether they support "BDS" doesn't tell us that much, because the term encompasses a huge variety of different proposals which carry different levels of support and (b) that support for "BDS" is not "in for a penny, in for a pound" -- people can support "BDS" while not supporting all campaigns which fly the BDS flag. I'd also like to ask a few follow-up questions the answers to which I think might be very illuminating:

12. In general, the decision by a corporation to refuse to do business with Israeli customers or Israeli businesses because they are Israeli should be ... [Protected, as a matter of free speech/Prohibited, as a form of nationality-based discrimination/not sure]

13. Which of the following statements do you most agree with?

(a) We should encourage closer connections between Israelis and Americans, as a means of transmitting shared values and facilitating understanding across cultures; or (b) We should sever connections between Israelis and Americans, as a means of signaling disapproval of Israeli policies and putting pressure on Israelis to change them.

14. Some people believe the state of Israel should be eliminated and replaced by a state of Palestine. Do you believe the state of Israel should be eliminated? [Yes/no/not sure]

Anyway, if you'd be interested in the answers to these questions and have access to funding for survey work, let me know! My contact details are very available on the internet. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2QMm3MO

[momo33me]

A picture can say a thousand words, but in today’s ever-connected world, the good ones can generate even more retweets. A viral image taken in Gaza by photojournalist Mustafa Hassona, which depicts a bare-chested Palestinian protester holding a large flag and wielding a sling, has achieved both of these feats.

The photograph was taken as protests continue on the border of Israel. Gaza's health ministry said 32 Palestinians were wounded as demonstrators threw stones at Israeli forces, who responded with tear gas and live fire. The image has provoked a huge reaction online, with social media users likening it to Liberty Leading the People, the iconic Eugene Delacroix painting of the French Revolution.

From the moment we sleepily check our phones in the morning, most of us are bombarded with information and imagery, some of which can be disturbing. This photograph is undeniably striking, but the online reaction displays a worrying tone of detachment in the face of human suffering that is becoming all too common.

Paintings such as Delacroix’s have decorated gallery walls for centuries. Encased within ornate gold frames and protected by glass, their figures are distant, providing us with the romantic fantasy of a world gone by. They might be based on historical events, but our minds can easily decipher that there’s nothing real behind the flat oily surface of the canvas.

But Hassona’s photograph couldn’t be more real. Behind its palpable kinetic energy and visual dynamism lies one of the most desperate human rights situations in the world.

The flag bearer, identified by Al Jazeera as 20 year-old Aed Abu Amro, is one of almost two million people that are trapped on the tiny Gaza strip, unable to leave. This year has seen hundreds of deaths at the hands of Israeli forces, who have been condemned by the United Nations for using “excessive force” against protestors. Unarmed medics, such as 21 year-old Razan al-Najjar, are among the fatalities. A 12 year-old boy was shot dead earlier this month. A UN report has warned that Israel's blockade will make Gaza, the world’s third most densely populated area, “uninhabitable“ by 2020. 97 per cent of the territory’s drinking water is undrinkable and there are only four hours of electricity a day.

These facts are distressing to read. But this hopeless situation has been facilitated by governments across the world enabling what will one day be universally accepted as crimes against humanity.

Romanticising the image of a desperate man taking on an army allows us to justify its circumstances and distract ourselves from the grim truth that, in the real world, David rarely defeats Goliath. Aed could die today, tomorrow, or the week after that. If he keeps protesting, it is almost an inevitability.

Protesting is, of course, a choice. But it is also a choice for Israel to continue flouting international law by building on Palestinian land and planning to demolish Palestinian villages – a potential war crime. It was a choice for the US to deliberately inflame the situation by moving its embassy to Jerusalem, causing unnecessary bloodshed and anguish. Left to swelter without a trace of hope in what is essentially an open air prison where 50 per cent of children express no will to live, as the world looks the other way, is there not a chance we would all do the same?

In the most tasteless responses, social media users have remarked on Aed’s chiselled jaw and physique. This overt fetishisation of his suffering is obscene, but the idea that the pain and anguish of marginalised groups is a price worth paying for beautiful art is a notion far older than even the paintings of Delacroix.

From Asad’s chemical weapon attacks in Syria, to the bodies of refugee children washed up on the beaches of Europe, images have a radical, empathy-spreading power that can change the world. But the flippant reaction this particular shot, of someone literally risking being shot, represents our growing detachment from pain and lack of collective responsibility for it.

Don’t let this photograph fool you: there is nothing beautiful or poetic about the oppression of Palestinians. Beyond the lens, the constant misery of wasted life and unnecessary death in Gaza continues - we must not let that drift out of focus.

[emmaekay]

Galaktikon II - Post Lyric Release Analysis

Hello friends! If you follow this blog for Dragon Ball content, avert your eyes from what is about to be a full critique, breakdown, and analysis of my favorite metal album of the last 5 years. 

Released on August 26, 2017, Galaktikon II is the 2nd studio album of Galaktikon, combo metal outlet of Brendon Small, Gene Hoglan, and Bryan Beller. I say “combo metal” because what the fuck even is this, other than holy?

 At times, melodic death, at times speed metal, at times operatic metal - it’s everything good about all those subgenres and none of the trite or campy elements. This weekend, to celebrate the year’s anniversary of the release, the official lyrics were released to the album - that’s a big deal for a lot of reasons.

See, Galaktikon II is special in another way, too. It’s the unofficial end to the Metalocalypse story. Criminally cancelled before the story could draw to its planned close, fans everywhere have protested, petitioned, spammed, come just this side of rioting... and a certain exec at Adult Swim just can’t be arsed. Small has said in this-side-of-legal ways that Galaktikton II is the true end to Metalocalypse. 

But when I listen to it, I hear something else, too. I hear the story of someone who spent 10 years building a world, only to have it burned down by someone else. I hear a love letter to the fans, but also a plea to let the end be the end. To accept that that world is over. From The Ocean Galaktik to Rebuilding a Planet, this is Small’s story, of trying to find the right combination of factors that would force that network to allow him to finish his tale, to his own acceptance of the fact that that will never happen. He has been clear about that in interviews - it’s over, and he’s ready to move on to the next project - the next world - he’s ready to rebuild. In this album, I hear an ask - will you, my friends and fans, come with me to the next? 

So, here it is - everything I heard and everything I think about each track on Galaktikon II. SIDENOTE - this review is in the VINYL track order, which is also the “story” listening order. The CD/digital track order will not be followed here, and I really recommend listening to it in the vinyl order only.

1. Some Days Are For Dying

This track picks up right after the end of The Doomstar Requiem. The “Doomstar” is not the same thing as the Dethlights, which is the power that the band gains control of when they get Toki back. There is a huge asteroid or meteor heading for the earth. It’s freaking people out, destroying satellites, causing chaos. It’s being predicted that it will hit the Earth and destroy the planet.

Triton is nearby, but doesn’t appear to want to get involved. 

Fuck this, never was my occupation. 

He sings, correctly, since he’s not a planet savior but a bounty hunter. 

On the Earth, various forces are mobilizing, militarizing, magnetizing. Nathan is still drawn back to the Whale goddess in the sea: The voice in my heart still speaks to me / It beckons me back to the deep. Nathan seems to want her help, for the first time - he doesn’t want the planet to be destroyed and actively wants to seek out that “Right Song” that has been eluded to since season 4. Any gift in this haze that the gods bestow / remove the blindfold, enlighten my soul / Would aide in the poetry I’m to sing.

The Church of the Black Klok is predicting the end of the world. We forsee blackness. We forsee doom. 

Both the soldiers in the Falconback project AND the Gears are assembling for a serious battle. Fall in - Fall in - Fall in. (This cadence is echoed in Could This Be the End when Nathan asks the band “Alright?”) Prepare your captains. Prepare your flag. Prepare the battlements. Prepare the bloodied ram.

The song ends with a threat. 

I will make you twist and burn. (Nathan)

I have waited, clock must turn. (Halfman)

Who is threatening who? I take it as both the Halfman and Nathan threatening each other, noted above, but it’s the Halfman who gets his say in the next song.

2. Nightmare

Full disclosure, this is my favorite track on the album. Man, this manages to be powerful and sinister even as it touches on a poignant key of sadness. 

This song is a soliloquy by the Halfman. He was cursed with this demonic affliction, but says he isn’t the devil - Mephistopheles isn’t me - he sings, though people have made him into the devil. He explains how he died, then came back from the grave... half alive. Half of what he used to be. Based on later tracks, one can infer that Vater Orlaag is who brought him back to life and imbued him with the powers and overall creepiness he displays.

He doesn’t want to let go of the half life he has, but the impending star will change that life into something entirely different. Even while expressing feelings that he was misunderstood and even of fear, he still stands out as a villain. He seems to vascillate in the context of the song between fearsome and fearful. He has, after all, lived this way - waiting to see what would happen - for a very long time. 

This cold heart keeps on beating

I’m the darkness you’re feeling. 

The delivery of that lyric, at the same time powerful and ominous even as it hints at uncertainty. The song ends with the Halfman’s trademark “we’ll see” sort of sentiment. 

I still wait

Time will tell

Falcon flies

Magnetize 

3. The Ocean Galaktik

This song, I think, is where Small really gets the most personal on the album. This is the story of both Nathan’s return to the deep to find the music - the right song - and of Brendon’s own quest to release the end of this story, to come to terms with the falling out on the network, and to find the right way to release this music, these songs, and to end this story. 

Some hearts will grow cold (The network)

Some of them outshine them all (the fans and the band)

Show love through it all (Small himself)

Breathe through my soul (Release the story the only way he can - through the music.) Leave this all behind, and look within (stop trying to get the 5th season)

Though we must all die, we don’t all live (Everything has an end, not everyone gets to do 4 seasons + a rock opera on tv, so he’s grateful for what he DID do)

and of course, the obvious: “Could this be what I need to set me free?” Small is asking himself, could this denial from the network, and also this album, be what sets him free from doing the same thing over and over - allowing him to invent and explore?

“I’m ready to serve my planet now.” I also hear the word “storm” laid over “serve” in this lyric. Officially, it’s serve, but Small is a tricksy little minx, so I’m not ruling out storm. In fact, the dual lyric makes the most sense - Brendon is ready to storm the planet with his next project. The “storm” thing comes into play later in the album, too. But also, Nathan, storywise, is ready to serve the planet because after meeting with the Beast Queen (who I think is Abigail but might just be that cool ass whale, who I’ve taken to referring to as the Whale Goddess) he has THE Song. 

4. The Agenda

This is, simply, Vater Orlaag and the Halfman programming a poisoned Murderface to do some fucked up shit. 

Oh - be anything I want to be?

Oh - is this just a dream?

Oh - give away so willfully

Oh - please carry me away. 

These lines are Murderface himself, seeing the immortality and adoration offered by the two villains. Already poisoned, Murderface falls for it. 

“Just lock the door, and trap accused. Just flip the switch & light the fuse.”

5. My Name is Murder

Well, yeah, it is. This song describes Murderface luring the rest of the band into a trap where they nearly die. The idea is that when the rest of the band dies, the Dethlights will all flow into him, which I can only assume Orlaag and the Halfman intend to take from him at that point. Murderface runs away after lighting Mordhaus on fire, the Gears chase his ass down though. He thinks about taking his own life. He chooses not to - I interpret this as Murderface himself breaking the possession/poison a bit. The Gears appear to catch him. 

6. Exitus

Oh man, if this song doesn’t give you chills, check your fucking pulse. 

The rest of the band tries to think of how to cure Murderface. The reason that “there’s gotta be a relationship between the water and” the Halfman based on the fact that water has been protective and healing for the band in the past, and appears to have driven the Halfman out of “the man in green” which I think is General Krozier. 

The Gears & the Band take Murderface to the cove from the end of Season 4 and literally fucking drown him. Brutal. 

I have always thought this next verse was from the perspective of Ofdensen:

Come back to me.

Blink if you hear me. 

You gotta fight to breathe.

Hold my hand - look in my eyes. The klok within your chest gives back your life. 

Too soft for Nathan. Anyway, Murderface is cured and comes back to life. Holy shit this bit kills. 

You live, you live in your body

You live, you live in your soul

You live, you live in your heart

And we live, we live with you. 

And now we stand here believers - a pentagram of black faith. 

So Murderface is back with the boys and the Dethlights are powering up again. Next stop? FUCKIN SPAAAAAAACE BOYYYYY

7. Icarus Six Sixty Six

The boys literally go to space? Based on the video for Nightmare, where the whale goddess meets up with Triton, I’m guessing that Triton shows up and is the “UFO” referred to in the lyrics. He helps the boys rig a fucking planet wide sound system like the one in the Dethkones Israel/Palestine episode but EVEN BIGGER. (This is also the current cover photo on the Metalocalypse Facebook as an additional clue.)

Louder than the world believes

Defying physics all perceive! Shit goes tits up and they end up having to eject from a crash landing on their way back to Earth. 

Not now! Eject? Not now! Eject? Not now! Eject? BUT NOWWWWW. 

Thanks for helping the boys save the planet, Triton. 

8. Become the Storm

Nathan literally uses a planet wide PA system to notify the whole population that the Earth is about to get fucked up royally by the Doomstar - a possessed star with a demon inside it that’s going to take up residence in the Halfman’s body and really, really wreck up the Earth 

Nathan inspires people all over the world, civilians and fans and Gears, to unite and “become the storm” that will wipe this evil out. 

From the land to the sea

There’s no them - only we! 

That might be the warmest thing said on this entire album, not leastwise because I’m starving for some kind of unity in humanity lately. No division here - it’s the people of the planet vs. Orlaag & the Halfman. 

Also there are robots on Orlaag & the Halfman’s side. That’s the Falconback project. Robots that will serve them and the demon - literally soulless people who have been mechanically augmented. Bwomp. And also there appears to be some kind of big machine at work - also hinted at in Some Days Are For Dying and later in the album in Could This Be The End?

“We march forth to his throne

We will die for our home.”  The Army of humanity heads for the Halfman. Look out, motherfucker!

9. To Kill a God

Well, the title says it. They’re heading out to kill a god - or really, prevent the birth of a new one. Orlaag and the Halfman are holed up in a snow covered mountain range. The band sends the main wave of soldiers to “dismantle their magnetized machines.”  The sky will part to let the demon soul descend. 

Yep. The star is a demon. And it’s coming to chill inside the Halfman’s body. The rest of the song is a battle between the robotic Falconback soldiers and the Storm. Nathan urges them to fight on - “Don’t leave the gods alive.”

10. Could This Be The End?

This song is a fucking rollercoaster. Okay:

The Storm is fighting outside and the band is waiting in place. They turn the Falconback magnetized weapon against the star, trying to destroy it or override the machinery. It, of course, goes tits up. The band decides to use the Dethlights against the Doomstar, even though it will probably kill them.  They form a “pentagram of power” and basically go toe to toe with this fucking demon asshole. They’re willing to die. The machinery is overloading. The star gets nearer and nearer to anchoring in the Halfman.  Oh oh, leave their souls. We were always meant to go. 

Let it be one last strike with our sword

Save them

Call the lights

We must die

But we lived our lives

They choose to save the Storm soldiers and all of the planet, opening themselves up completely to the destructive power of the Dethlights. 

The Falconback machine explodes.

The demon tries it. 

Doesn’t win. Dethlights fuck it up totally. 

Because of their bond, their commitment, their pure brutality - the Dethlights are strong enough to repel the demon WITHOUT killing them. 

Nathan compels everyone to hold on - “We know that we must die,” he says, “But for now we live! ”

Alright

Alright

Alright

Alright, we live!

He asks each of them and by context gets an affirmative answer. 

The song closes with the question - Could this be the end? 

11. Rebuilding a Planet

This is totally instrumental, so you know, imagine whatever scenario you want. Do they return to playing music? Do they rule the world? Do Nate and Abigail have the most metal wedding ever? Do Toki and Skwisgaar still pretend to hate each other? Whatever you want “rebuilding” to mean, it can and it does. This, maybe even moreso than The Ocean Galaktik, is truly a love letter to the listener. A gift. An absolute salve on the burn we’d all felt for so many years of unresolved plot line. A promise, that Small isn’t done and Galaktikon will be rebuilt with new stories and new potential. Overall the tone is hopeful, peaceful, soothing - a satisfying goodbye to five goofballs Small loved, and that we all loved, too. 

[ameerawritesstuff]

ok i totally understand why you'd be bothered about the flag stuff but in light of Israel literally being an apartheid state rn and committing genocide on the Palestinian people, would u not agree that the star of david could be interpreted as support of Israel?? it's unfortunate but true.

Complicated and valid question!

So, first off, I gotta make one thing clear:

While I am Jewish, I am also an American by birth and have never been to Israel. 

I try and stay as educated as possible but I definitely don’t know as much as someone who is Israeli or Palestinian about all the details. I know more than the average American and I have a million problems with Netanyahu plus numerous others. I just want to get that out of the way so it’s clear I have no agenda of defending Israel or Netanyahu’s regime.

Okay, so, to the question about Stars of Davids on rainbow flags being banned at the Dyke Marches in 2017:

First off, the same flag had been flown by Laurel Gauer for over a decade in the Dyke Marches. Only in 2017 she says she was verbally harassed by other marchers and then told to leave by the organizers. The Dyke March said in a social media post: “This decision was made after [the expelled marchers] repeatedly expressed support for Zionism during conversations with Dyke March Collective members.”

Here’s the issue with that: Zionism is a nuanced thing. It means a desire to “re-establish a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel.” It does not mean you support only Jews living in that territory or being citizens. There are many Zionists who believe in a two-state solution as well as an independent Palestine. Zionists like, you guessed it, Laurel Grauer. The woman kicked out of the Dyke March who is openly for both the two-state solution and an independent Palestine. (source)

Now, let’s take a step back. 

Was her flag even a Zionist symbol? 

Not really, no. The Star of David really just means “I am Jewish and proud of my identity.” Literally. That’s it. It has been used by Zionist movements and groups and Israel but it was also used by the Nazis to identify all Jews whether they cared about Israel or not and the reclaiming of wearing that symbol pridefully is super important to the Jewish community. We had to hide our Jewish symbols for so long, it’s huge that we feel safe to show them. The Star of David is everywhere and is independent of Zionism. It’d be like saying all maple leaves are signs of support for Justin Trudeau. It’s just not true or even practical.

Is the confusion understandable? 

Eh, somewhat but only if you have literally never met a Jew, seen a holocaust film, or tried to educate yourself on the subject.

Ultimately it’s the same kind of argument as “well, there are Islamic terrorists so wearing a hijab makes people uncomfortable!” One person’s misinformation is not grounds for erasure.

Now, finally, and I mean this with the utmost of respect: 

Stop asking every Jew what they think about Israel. 

You know why I know as much about Israel as I do? Because I constantly am made into the sole resource for random non-Jews who decide googling is too hard. You know where I get a lot of my info? Google. Jews aren’t born with this innate knowledge of Israel anymore than African-Americans are born rapping. You know that scene in Sorry to Bother You where a bunch of white people expect Cassius to rap for them just because he’s black even though he has no clue how to? It’s like that.

Again, I hope my answer was helpful and came across informatively and didn’t seem condescending (because lectures often do via text) and hopefully everybody learns something! :)