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a little mock postage stamp i did a while ago. free to download (X) and print as stickers, posters or whatever you like.

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sorry i cant hang out i forgot how to mimic human like behaviour

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Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (Q.U.I.T.), San Francisco, [early 2000’s].

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you can click on this button once daily to help palestine and support other causes in the middle east for free. it takes literally 5 seconds and could help save lives so please take the time to click and share this link.

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On this Valentine’s Day please don’t forget about the Palestinian people. Candy is being bought in droves while innocent people are starving. While people are planning romantic dinners for their lovers, Palestinian people are losing their lovers to bombs and snipers. There is no rest for the Palestinian people today. Don’t let them mask what’s really happening behind pink ribbon. Fight for love, find empowerment in your love for others. We will not stop fighting, not for a single day. Palestine will be free.

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From the guardian.

The sheer scale of destruction in Gaza right now.

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There’s some common threads I see in the anti-voting posts going around, and I feel like I need to discuss some of them. Let’s start with the biggest one:

Voting to punish evil. I see lots of variations of this. Biden is supporting Israel, therefore we can’t vote for him. Is there any viable candidate who would stop the genocide? I don’t think the anti voting crowd actually cares. They are appealing to moral feelings rather than political strategy, because strategically, you have to realize that voting is not going to change foreign policy, and that change has to be pushed by other means. It’ll probably be something in the long haul.

Democrats should run someone else. First of all, this is a shit strategy. You don’t primary your president in the second term unless your party is falling apart. This may come from people from countries where replacing the head of government is easier, but the POTUS is the de facto party head. Also, going to the lack of thought to the goal — do you know someone willing to primary Biden and able to win who would do the things you want.

Biden hasn’t done anything anyway. This is just a way to bat away pro arguments. There’s plenty of lists of progress on lots of things. Student loans, insulin price caps, regulations, anti-trust.

Putting the entire Palestinian genocide on Biden. I’m not saying there’s not culpability there, but understand that the entire US government is in support of Israel, on both sides. It was a miracle we got a handful of Senators to call for investigations. We should cut off aid, absolutely. Who’s running to do that? And keep in mind that Israel chose to engage. US officials would have liked a more limited response, not out of care for Palestinians, but because they know from experience that it will come back to bite Israel in the form of newly radicalized Hamas recruits.

Liberals just have no hope for change. This is a new one. Just some idea that people are stuck in a rut and that’s the reason the two party system exists. The two party system is a mathematical consequence of the way we vote. There is reason to hope for change. The change, though, whatever means you choose, will take decades. Keep working at it. The hope is not that this election will fundamentally change things. The hope is that many small political actions over the years will push things forward.

Funnily enough, I haven’t seen a whole lot of third party promotion, just lots of this rhetoric aiming to punish. When voting, ask yourself:

Is this problem I have with this candidate something that the other candidate would be better on?

Are there other political actions I can take that will help?

What things can change with a different President or Congress, and what needs to be pursued by other means?

Withholding your vote as a punishment isn’t really going to help. Biden doesn’t know who you are or why you are not voting for him, and there is no one with a chance of winning that will do everything you want. But you have other means. Protest, organize, donate, build up alternatives, advocate for a different system.

Vote to give yourself space and get a little bit. Do other things to keep things moving.

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please take everything you read with a grain of salt. misinformation spreads everywhere like wildfire, and i've been having major trouble wading through false journalism to get actual updates on everything. some resources i've compiled for myself and anyone who's interested:

fact sheet: israel and palestine conflict (october 2023)

live updates - intense israeli bombardments strike gaza as the war rages on

live updates - israel plans to step up attacks on the gaza strip

little light, no beds, not enough anesthesia: a view from the 'nightmare' of gaza's hospitals

what international law has to say about the israel-hamas war

a dangerous new phase in the israeli-palestinian conflict - expert commentary by the foreign policy research institute (FPRI)

the global conflict tracker (israeli-palestinian conflict)

the arab-israeli war of 1948

the 1967 arab-israeli war

the 1973 arab-israeli war

dr. ghassan abu sitta is a doctor on-site who's also been reporting about the atrocities transpiring in gaza.

also some palestinian aid orgs to donate to. if you have some money to spare/know anyone who does, please consider donating/spreading the word:

palestine children's relief fund

palestine red crescent society

medical aid for palestine

gaza emergency appeal

donate to arab.org with one click

the middle east children's alliance gaza emergency fund

help UNRWA USA reach their palestinian aid fundraiser goal

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My father was martyred by Israel on 10 October 2023 after sacrificing his care in hospital so the injured children could take priority. Today would have been his 60th birthday. He was always selfless, kind, and giving for others. My father gave up everything for me to be able to have a better life, because that is what he always dreamed for me and my sister. The world suffered a great loss when he died, and my heart is always with him and every Palestinian who has lost someone.

In his honour and memory, I would love for anyone who is able to do so to consider donating to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

The PCRF is an amazing organisation that does so much for those in Gaza right now, including helping provide food, water and medicine. You can donate any amount you are able to- there is no minimum! My father would have given his very last cent if he saw the way Palestine was continuing to suffer after over 100 days with this limited aid, so I know celebrating him by helping others is the least he would have wanted.

I saw @parrot-parent do a very successful donation match and I thought it was such a good idea so I will also match all donations up to $500! If you feel comfortable sending me proof of the amount of your donation, I will match it as a donation at the end of February. (My messages are set to mutuals only, but if you donate and we aren’t mutuals if you send an ask with the proof I will make sure to answer it privately.)

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SUPPORT PALESTINIAN BUSINESSES

while it’s important for us to protest, raise awareness, boycott, and pressure our governments… it is also important that we appreciate palestinian people and palestinian culture. they are more than just victims. they are artists, entrepreneurs, fashion designers, movie makers, writers, musicians, scholars—they are people. so let’s celebrate all that makes palestinians who they are by supporting their businesses and showing our appreciation and solidarity.

hirbawi

handmade in palestine

watan studio

hilweh market

sitti soap

yafa queen

nominal jewellery

nurnei

levantinian

dār collective

wear the peace

pali roots

west bank apparel

bella hijabs

anat international

inaash

nöl collective

deerah

darzah

falastini brand

interlink publishing

philz coffee

zatoun oil

knafeh queens

kuvrd

the coffee queens

pali apparel

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- Sephardi Jew here. Thank you for your posts concerning Palestinian Jews. Jewish people who are ethnically North African/West Asian are consistently left out of these conversations. Make no mistake - the word "Mizrahi" was invented by Israel to literally strip Palestinian Jews of their identities during the beginning of the occupation. The message was to either assimilate with the Ashkenazi, or die as a Palestinian. The entire reason people struggle to find resources about the history of Palestinian Jews is because it has been purposefully obscured by the occupation. While I am not Palestinian, (that I know of, the other funny thing, diaspora members of the Sephari community often have trouble pinning down our exact heritage, I'll let you guess why) my ethnic background is Moroccan, Libyan, Maltese. Jews from the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean Sea have always been here, will continue to be here. You don't have to answer this publicly or anything, btw, I just really try to reach out to people who elevate the voices of the Jewish people from this area of the world. It profoundly touches my heart.

of course, no need to thank me. an aspect of the occupation is a lot of palestinian jews have been erased from palestinian history which is pretty heartbreaking as someone who makes it their lifegoal to preserve palestinian cultural heritage and spread it to people.

it is really difficult finding resources on jewish history in SWANA before it was touched by the occupation despite it being a fundamental part of swana history.... and part of that is from european colonialism and the other part of it is collaboration with european colonialists and swana governments.

if anyone has sources on swana jewish history (i know of hadar cohen and avi shlaim rn), please do let me know so i can look into it!!

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anyways, instead of focusing all your energy on calling out Succession and the Last of Us for being anti-palestinian, here's some of my favourite media made by Palestinians 🇵🇸 and their allies...

Salt of this Sea (2008). Dir. Annemarie Jacir. Heist film set in Palestine about 2 Palestinians who help a Palestinian American woman rob a British bank who refused to give her the money her grandfather left her.

Netflix original series, Mo, created by Mo Amer. Dramedy about Mo, a Palestinian American without papers, trying to stay out of trouble until his US citizenship is approved (he's already been waiting for 12 years). This just got renewed for a second season!!!!

Farha (2021). Dir. Darin J. Sallam. Coming of age story about a 14 year old girl trying to survive the Nakba in 1948. Tw: settler colonial violence.

In Between (2016). Dir. Maysaloun Hamoud. A film about 3 Palestinian women, one of whom is queer, in their 20s living under occupation. Heart-warming story about friendship, solidarity and revenge. Tw: sexual assault.

In Vitro (2019). Dir. Larissa Sansour. Breathtaking short scifi film set in a future where Bethlehem has been destroyed by an ecological disaster and two scientists from different generations are trying to remember what happened. This film is pure poetry and I think about it constantly.

It Must Be Heaven (2019). Dir. Elia Sulieman. A charmingly absurdist film about Elia Sulieman seeing parallels to Palestine everywhere he goes as he tries to make a film about his homeland.

The Crossing (2017). Dir. Ameen Nayfeh. Short film about Palestinian siblings trying to cross an Israeli checkpoint to visit their grandparents.

Ramy. Episode 3 of season 3: 'American Cigarettes'. Far and away the best episode of TV of 2022, and also directed by Annemarie Jacir. Ramy goes to occupied Palestine to make a diamond deal with some Israeli brokers, but his horniness takes him to The Other Side. I think about this episode almost everyday, it's unlike anything I've ever seen.

Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis. A book of interviews and essays conducted by Angela Davis on how systems of racism and colonial violence are all connected, and how solidarity between communities of colour are vital, using the long-standing allyship between Palestinians, Aboriginal peoples and Black Americans as case studies.

As fine and good as it is to call out Zionism in media, rmr to also support Palestinians, their work and their art. Feel free to suggest more ❤️

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I grant you refuge from hurt and suffering.

With words of sacred scripture I shield the oranges from the sting of phosphorous and the shades of cloud from the smog.

I grant you refuge in knowing that the dust will clear, and they who fell in love and died together will one day laugh.

“I Grant You Refuge” by Hiba Abu Nada (trans. Huda Fakhreddine)