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#i cannot stand the antisemitism i see is all
anexperimentallife · 6 months
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The Gaza genocide is going exactly according to the US Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian agenda, with which they hope to wipe out all Jews and Muslims
To anyone raised in the US Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian Dominionist movement in the US, the horror and inhumanity, the genocide Israel is engaged in against Palestinians right now is not a surprise. We all KNEW this was coming, and those of us who got out of the movement we were raised in have been trying to raise the alarm for decades, mostly to either deaf ears, or accusation of antisemitism.
(Because, they would say, "if you don't support Zionism, and stand behind everything Israel does, you must hate all Jews!" Ignoring that many Jews all over the world--yes, including many Israeli Jews--do not support Israel's foreign policy.)
Because everything in the orbit of Israel is going exactly to the Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian Doomsday plan--a plan that has been OPENLY talked about in Fundie circles since I was a little kid being indoctrinated into it.
In case you're not familiar, let me break down the Fundie thinking here:
Their support of Israel and embrace of Zionism is based around their beliefs that:
a) the return of Jews to Israel, and then Israel/all "unconverted" Jews being completely wiped out in an apocalyptic war, is essential to Jesus' return.
b) but that any nation that DIRECTLY opposes Israel will fall even if they defeat Israel. So that in order to fulfill prophecy, they must
c) set someone ELSE up to wipe out Israel/the Jews.
(To go into more detail: They believe that "the Jews were God's original chosen people until Christians took their place in God's favor when the Jews denied Jesus." But that God is still attached to his former faves and will punish anyone who wipes them out--thus the entire fundie idea is to get someone ELSE to do it, then serve as "the instrument of God's vengeance" by genociding the genociders.)
So they support Israel's increasing violence intentionally to create greater and greater conflict and turn more of Israel's neighbor states against them, meanwhile fostering the idea that with the power of the US backing them, they cannot fail.
And here's their next planned phase--maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually
Once things reach a tipping point, the Fundies (currently the single most powerful force in US politics, thanks to ANOTHER multi-generational plan openly talked about in Fundie circles, which was specifically designed to put Fundies amd their allies in powerful positions) will force the US to pull support from Israel so that its neighbors can destroy it, then use that destruction as a pretext for their own genocide against remaining Muslim/Arab (there is little distinction between the two in their minds) peoples.
Christian Fundamentalist support of Zionism has always been about the elimination of both Jews and Muslims, and bringing about a Christian/Capitalist (aka fascist) world.
They emphasize that they LOVE Jews, and maybe don't even entirely HATE the "evil Muslims," but that this is "God's will," and that they have no choice but to obey. They'll even shed crocodile tears about how sad all this is, but believe me--they are CELEBRATING inside. They are OVERJOYED, because they think this will bring about the Rapture, the end of the world, the Thousand Year Reign, and all the other crap in their shitty Doomsday prophecy.
(This is also their excuse for every other group they are trying to destroy. "Oh, I personally have nothing against the gays, but I have to follow God's will. Plus our children need to be protected from their recruitment efforts." During slavery, then segregation, Black folks were often said to have "the mark of Ham, meaning God said they were DESTINED to be slaves because of Ham's sin. Oh, WE'RE not saying it; GOD is!" See also: child marriage, and lots of other talking points.)
Don't believe me? Ask around on the EXvangelical tags. Listen in at some of the more conservative churches in your area. There are a lot of us who were raised being brainwashed with these ideas and had to deprogram ourselves.
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nottheleastbrave · 2 years
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evilwickedme · 8 months
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I said I'd never do jumblr content again and yet here I am because this keeps coming up and it's like the only thing I can think about. That said I will not hesitate to turn off reblogs if y'all are horrible in the notes again, and be warned that I will be blocking anybody who supports any of the theories I mention immediately
There is no such thing as a conspiracy theory that isn't antisemitic. There is no such animal
Antisemitic conspiracy theories go back thousands of years. The ones that still have the most hold on culture to this day are the blood libel, and the protocols of the elders of zion
The blood libel was an accusation that would be brought against Jewish populations in Europe often but especially around Passover claiming that we were killing Christian children for ritual purposes, usually to use their blood for baking matza or other nonsense (it is important to me that you know that this is nonsense. It is horrible and damaging but also to the core a ridiculous lie that never at any point made any sense. They just didn't care). Debatably this trope is present in the merchant of Venice. Undebatably Jews were killed because people did and still do sincerely believe this
The protocols of the elders of zion is a fictitious document published in Russia at the very beginning of the 20th century, supposedly detailing the meetings of the Jewish people who secretly run the world. The protocols were almost immediately proven to be a rip off of another document - ah, plagiarism - but that hasn't stopped antisemites from embracing it wholeheartedly (special thanks fuck you to Henry Ford for publishing them in his newspaper, spreading it across the USA). It built on previous antisemitic tropes, from the greedy banker trope (Jews were forced to be money lenders in medieval Europe as it was forbidden in Christianity and Jews weren't allowed to join any guilds, preventing them from making money in any other capacity - the reason why there are so many Jews in Hollywood is identical, but in the early 20th century) to the concept of dual loyalty (i.e. Jewish are loyal to ourselves above all else and cannot be trusted to be loyal to the country where we live, see: modern trope that every Jew is probably loyal to Israel and the subsequent idea that it's okay to ask every single diaspora Jew how they feel about Israel immediately upon meeting them). It's also worth noting that the word cabal, used to denote the shadowy organizations that supposedly control the world, comes from kabbala, which is Jewish mysticism
The idea of lizard people, created by a guy literally named Icke because he is a gross human being, was designed to repackage the antisemitic shadow cabal concept to be supposedly more palatable
Most qanon theories also build on all of this, such as world leaders preying on children (remember pizzagate?)
But more importantly conspiratorial thinking always positions you as the good guy standing against a mysterious "them", an other which is influencing things behind the scenes. The Jew is the ultimate other, and specifically an other that supposedly forms a shadowy world government, controlling everything and yet somehow not managing to get rid of antisemitism (see: protocols of Zion, lizard people, we control Hollywood and the government which is of course conspiring against you). There is no way to decouple the idea of an evil shadowy organization (usually also referred to as a cabal to really hammer it in) from antisemitism and antisemitic tropes
And this means that even supposedly "harmless" conspiracy theories attract antisemites and train people who aren't necessarily rabid antisemites to confirm those kinds of biases. Obviously Qanon and lizard people are antisemitic, but what does the moon landing have to do with Jews? Well, it was Hollywood and the government that faked it, obviously. Hell, even the conspiracy that Taylor Swift is secretly a lesbian and is either still secretly dating or is exes with Karlie Kloss is riddled with antisemitism -
Okay so I need to explain my position on this because I fucking hate this conspiracy theory, and the fact that most people simply won't acknowledge that that's what it is. Firstly, Taylor Swift has stated that she is not gay or considers herself an ally at least three times off the top of my head, and specifically denied that she was dating Karlie Kloss. Secondly, outing people is wrong. Thirdly, the conspiracy theory hinges on the idea that she would be risking her career by coming out, except that she's proven that basically no controversy can come in the way of her career, she's already "come out" as an ally, donated to glaad and the equality act, promoted queer musicians & artists & designers (there was a song in the reputation tour that was dedicated to a gay designer every single night of the tour). So what's stopping her from coming out at this point? Mysterious forces, clearly. The antisemitism in that I've already explained, but also the virulent antisemitism among Kaylor shippers aimed at her husband and at the fact that she converted to Judaism is fucking disgusting
Again: even a supposedly harmless conspiracy theory leads to antisemitism and attracts antisemites
A few years ago I tried to rewatch white collar cause I remembered really enjoying that show as a preteen and after around a season I just couldn't stand it anymore, because all I wanted to do was jump into the universe and yell at Mozzie to shut the fuck up because these conspiracy theories were barely presented as a joke and never challenged even once by any of the characters. When I rewatched that 70s show it also fucking sucked, but at least it wasn't showing up in every single episode. The blacklist focuses entirely on a literal Cabal, that's what they're called
This stuff is so normalized and it's fucking everywhere and it's exhausting. Jews are to this day being murdered over this. I can't change the world by myself, unfortunately, but if you don't have a specific person to blame for your troubles, shut the fuck up. Just shut up. There is no conspiracy against you. Sometimes life just sucks. Or definitely does for the Jews who get shot at over this shit
Again, I'll be blocking anybody who parrots this bullshit in the comments but especially fucking gaylors y'all are one of the main reasons that being a fan of Taylor Swift's music is fucking unbearable. Just accept you can connect to music made by somebody different than yourself it's not that difficult of a concept
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battybiologist · 5 months
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I hate how every time you have to stand against Palestinians being inhumanly slaughtered, someone pops up out of the woodwork to say "of course, but surely you must agree antisemitism is wrong"
I hate it because yeah, antisemitism is a plague on humanity, I wholeheartedly believe it. But opposing Israel isn't synonymous with antisemitism. In fact, Israel's attempts to make us believe so has done more to perpetuate antisemitism than anything pro-Palestinians (or anti-crimes against humanity, in my house) have done.
People have always fallen for Israeli propaganda. The consensus in the West for decades was "this conflict is extremely complicated, but in the end, Israel is in the right". It's not because of the prevalent racism in the West (although that certainly didn't help), but because the information was controlled by governments that had a vested interest in the existence of a Western-allied nation.
Now, with the decentralization of information, the October 7th attack brought the attention of many people towards Israel, much like the Bataclan attacks did, despite the fact that France was and still is doing far worse in Mali.
However, Israelis leaders, too busy relishing the opportunity to wipe out Gaza from history, launched their genocide while people's attention was still in Gaza's direction. And never as many people saw them for who they truly are: genocidal monsters
Then, they tried to peddle the same "antizionism is antisemitism" rhetoric. By doing that, they're forcing people into a choice: either support a genocide, or be branded an antisemite. A false dichotomy
Those who knew better, not least of which were the Palestinians, ignored this false dichotomy, but there are many people who don't know better, thanks to Israel's propaganda.
Some of the latter already didn't see us Arabs as humans, so it was thumbs-up for genocide, but for those who saw the brutality of the occupation, who felt the agony the Palestinian people were put under, they felt they had no choice but the non-genocide option.
I normally would blame those people for being ignorant dunces, and I partly do, but this ignorance was carefully cultivated by Israel and its allies, so the blame cannot rest on them themselves.
And I'm not just basing that on a couple of Internet dumbasses. I'm part of the Algerian diaspora, and I've seen so many other French-Arab people act exactly like I'm describing. Coincidentally, these people were almost always marginalized economically, culturally, legally, and most importantly, by the education system, all things that contribute to an inability to access the ressources necessary to learn more.
They were forbidden from educating themselves, so the lie that was ingrained in their brain is harder to fight (I know that, I tried to fight it locally for years and haven't succeeded yet)
And when you jump to condemn antisemitism in a conversation that didn't have anything to do with it, but did have a pro-Palestinian message, are you not contributing the perpetuation of the lie?
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callimara · 6 months
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Important PSA
Criticizing Israel is NOT antisemetism or an attack on Jewish people because
ISRAEL =/= ALL JEWS
And while I am not saying that there is no antisemitism because there is plenty of that too, this is not a case of that. But grouping all Jews together as Israeli and presenting them as a monolith erases their individuality and identity. It's like calling all Asian people Chinese, and that if you criticize China, then you hate all Asian people. It doesn't make sense.
I am so frustrated seeing people who are trying to raise awareness about Palestine be called antisemetic and disgusting by people who cannot perceive Jews and Muslims as anything but a monolith. That's the reason why so many people are having trouble distinguishing between Hamas and Palestinian civilians, because to them, they're all the same.
And that's why they don't see an issue with collective punishment.
And you know what? Palestine is NOT just the Jewish holy land. It is also the Christian holy land, and the Muslim holy land. Palestine wasn't even the first choice for a Jewish homeland because it was heavily contested by Jewish rabbis at the time.
Turning Palestine (I say Palestine because the entirety of what is now Israel used to be Palestine) as an exclusively Jewish ethno-state means that people of Christian and Muslim faith all over the world are stripped of their holy land. The oldest church in the world, dating back to the times of Christ is located in Gaza, and who are the ones protecting it? Palestinians.
And you know who bombed it? Even though it had 500 refugees of both Muslim and Christian faith inside? Israel.
Even the slogan used for the founding of Israel itself, "A land without people for a people without a land." Is blatantly revisionist and erases the existence of Palestinians already living there. It erases all the historic religious sites that stand there and are frequented regularly by their respective devotees. Or worse, does not consider the Palestinians as 'people.'
Some people tend to forget that religious belief is NOT the same as race, and so you CANNOT claim indigeneity just because you are a certain religion. I am an Indonesian Muslim. Born Muslim, raised Muslim, and every generation of my family have been Muslim. That doesn't mean I can say I'm indigenous to Saudi Arabia. Let alone that Saudi Arabian land is my birthright.
If a white American woman born and raised in Seattle decides to convert to Hinduism, can she then say she is now indigenous to India? Or if she has a child, and that child had a child, and they were all raised as a Hindu, but have always lived in the US all their lives, can they claim that they are indigenous to India?
No.
And the fact is, the first Jewish settlers during The First Aliyah (great Jewish migration to Palestine) came from Eastern Europe and are genetically closer to Russians and other Slavs than they are to the Jews who remained in the Middle Eastern region after their exile (and I guess some people forget that you can convert into Judaism even if you didn't come from "The Promised Land." Like for marriages and stuff.) That's why they feel the need to distinguish themselves from the word "Arab."
Granted, there were also Yemeni Jews that migrated with them (whom I would say have stronger claims to indigeneity), but even in the transition camps, there was a clear divide between the European Ashkenazi Jews and the Yemeni Jews, who literally had their kids taken from them to give to the Ashkenazi Jews.
And let's not forget that when Jewish migrants from Ethiopia came, they were given contraceptives without consent to make sure they didn't impact the "desired" population.
Wake up. This isn't a religious war. This is European colonization.
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iamnmbr3 · 5 months
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One of weirdest disconnects (but far from being the only one), I see from the left in regards to Israel is that jews have no claim to the land, are colonizers and oppressors, but at the same time make long ass rants about how native americans had their land stolen from them, deserve to claim it back and get reparations and all that. And the disconnect here is that jewish people, as a group, are native to the region of Israel, their ancestors literally built a country there after escaping slavery, lived there for a long ass time but were eventually kicked out by the Roman Empire, and after thousands of years of being persecute and not felling safe returned to their ancestral homeland, to reclaim and rebuild what was stolen from them. Isn’t that what people say we owe native americans? Or indigenous groups that were kicked out of their lands in general? Yes, in their thousand year absence other peoples built their lives around the region of Jerusalem. Yes, Palestine deserves to be recognized and it’s citizens to have decent lives like everyone else. Should Israel never have existed, or cease to exist? No! There’s plenty of room for both peoples to have their countries, the jewish people belong there too and history proves they need a nation to serve as a refuge! Their land was returned to them by British after WW2, since they legally owed it after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and while the partition could have been better, after all the horror’s jewish people had experienced it’s hard to blame to UN for giving it a go. Honestly, this whole situation just shows how dumb, hateful, bigoted, misinformed and disingenuous a lot of people in the left are. It’s easy to say that the Hogwart’s Legacy game is anti-jewish, that supporting it gives power and money to evil people and then harassing people that want to play it (which is dumb all around, as pretty much all the other hot takes and boycott to that game), but when it comes down to actually standing with jewish people and showing empathy? Nah, that’s too hard for them. It’s all performative. It’s easier to jump on the hate train and say they deserved what H*mas did to them, it gives them more likes.
Yeah. So many people on the Left are all "land back" until it's time to say land back for Jews. Kind of like how a lot of the Left shouts "believe all victims" about sexual assault till those victims are Jewish. I mean would anyone on the Left call any of the recognized sovereign nations of indigenous people in North America ethnostates that need to be abolished? Or say indigenous people still trying to get back a piece of their ancestral lands should stop because it was too long ago now? The hypocrisy demonstrates how deeply antisemitic views have seeped into parts of the Left. Which we cannot allow.
Jews are indigenous to the Levant. Both Israelis and Palestinians have a claim to the land. Israel exists. That's a fact that won't change. Any workable longterm peace must find a compromise solution that acknowledges both Israeli and Palestinian needs. Any other solution will simply result in more bloodshed (which a lot of "activists" in the West seem more interested in...probably because it's not their blood being shed).
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eretzyisrael · 4 months
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That's not even the worst example from Sunday.
Iraqi Shiite news site Baratha imagines a world without Zionists - and without Jews:
What would the world lose if the Jews became extinct?! Quite the contrary, humanity will have a good opportunity to live quietly and without the evils of this malicious sect. The idea is so wonderful that I can almost see the desert blooming, the earth getting excited, and millions of beings losing their minds from extreme happiness! Jews are the curse that came from the worst dreams of the accursed Devil. Without them, humanity would not have known atheism, the theory of evolution, and racism. With their help, the prophets were killed, usury and immorality spread, wars broke out, and nations perished. With their dirty thinking, epidemics developed, the death trade became widespread, and the world turned into an arena of conflict in which man eats man and death spreads everywhere. . If humanity had not known this malicious sect, it would not have known socialism, capitalism, and Nazism. It would not have known Zionism, Freemasonry, Illuminati, and Wahhabism. It would not have known the Cold War, nuclear and hydrogen bombs, and it would not have known corruption, anomalies, drugs, cancer, global warming, the right to veto, America, injustice, and oppression. They are a dirty, atheistic sect that claims faith, a dirty race that considers itself the only one worthy of life, and a strange society that contains the essence of meanness, malice, and deception accumulated over thousands of years. Their history is rotten, their books are false, their principles are evil, their morals are malicious, their methods are satanic, their goals are ominous, their presence is dangerous, and their survival is not good for man or animal. These people never lived among a people without their corruption, unrest, and devastation spreading, and they never moved to any country without carrying evil with them to it.. So it behooves all humanity to be hostile to them until it is safe from their evil, and I am not exaggerating here if I say that their disappearance is life and good, and their survival is death and evil. If humanity wants to live in peace, it must first stop their evil; And everyone who stands against them is on the side of truth, goodness and peace. There is no alternative to God’s laws, and the path of Satan and his servants will end in failure. Everyone who stands against them will be helped and supported by God’s care. Goodness, which is the path to salvation, is in standing against evil, not by standing by and watching. The responsibility that one cannot escape from bearing is through awareness, work, and patience, and the outcome is survival and victory in This world and the hereafter, God willing.
Unlike the resurgence of antisemitism in the West, there are next to no articles condemning the incitement to violence that is now widespread. The pretense that arab media had in separating Jews from Zionism in the past 25 years has all but disappeared. The Jews remaining in Tunisia are frightened to death that they will be slaughtered at any time. 
Western NGOs who claim to be supportive of human rights do not say a word against these explicit calls to rid the world of the evil of Jews.
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unbidden-yidden · 2 months
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And so as not to derail that previous post further, I'm taking my rant to this new post, but shit like that makes me so angry for so many reasons:
It's a hate crime against Jews, many of whom are totally uninvolved in the current situation
Let's say that hypothetically that this organization and every single one of its members was publicly advocating for the destruction of Gaza** or something: vandalizing a synagogue is still a hate crime, because you're not just targeting that community by spewing antisemitism, you are targeting all Jews. Every Jew. Every Jewish institution. Because the thing is that there is never an excuse for antisemitism. If you say that there is, what you're saying is that antisemitism IS okay as long as it's directed at Bad Jews or Jews you don't like. I can't stand Caitlin Jenner, but I'm not gonna call her out of her name or misgender her. Kanye is a walking dumpster fire of a human, but that doesn't mean I get to say racist stuff about him. And yeah - even Jews with the worst, ugliest opinions do not legitimize antisemitism. Come on guys, this is Social Justice 101.
And another thing: Let's assume again the worst about this group - they still don't have any power to actually change or stop what's happening in Israel. They are diaspora Jews who, unless they are randomly dual citizens, cannot vote and do not live there. Even if this antisemitic hate crime somehow inspired a deep reflection about who and how they are as Jews (massively unlikely for reasons that should be obvious), them taking up the torch of anti-Zionism does not have any legal significance. This act, in addition to being a hate crime, is one that is not even strategic in helping to shut down bad actors with actual power, nor is it at all calculated to build community bridges.
In fact, it is almost guaranteed to have the opposite effect: these vandals have not only made enemies of this community, but alienated any other potential Jewish allies.
But even if we set that aside, assuming that they don't care, it's massively counterproductive in that it will likely inspire more diaspora Jews to feel unsafe in that location and consider aliyah as an answer. If anything, these kinds of acts of blind hatred only reinforce the legitimate fear behind much of Zionism. You people just can't help proving again and again that Jews are physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially unsafe in the diaspora and need somewhere that is guaranteed to take us in when the next Kristallnacht happens.
It's also counterproductive, even if you actually just want Jews to die and don't care where we go; you actively want the destruction of Israel and all of the Jewish people because you're an antisemitic jackass you think it's somehow deserved: Normal people actually don't want that, and so if you're trying to attract other goyim who are decent people to your cause, associating pro-Palestinian activism with hate crimes is one of the worst things you can do in terms of PR and moral high ground.
Using Palestinian lives, deaths, and suffering as a bludgeon ignores them as real people and dehumanizes them and their struggle in the process. Anyone engaging in or excusing this kind of behavior is misusing their cry for justice as a get-out-of-antisemitism-free card, dehumanizing them by turning them into a weapon, and diverting much-needed energy away from things that actually help to doing PR cleanup and having to publicly distance themselves from these disgusting acts.
(**Please note that I am not saying these people were; in fact, I have yet to see a not-reactionary right-wing fringe Jewish group calling for anything but a return of the hostages and praying for peace in the region)
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homochadensistm · 3 months
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i'll tell you this. if i hadn't seen amputated children, elders kissing their lifeless babies before shrouding them, people shouting for help from under the rubble, condescending leaflets that mock Palestinians with verses from the Quran, whole graves desecrated by idf, israeli soldiers mocking bombed houses, stationery shops and stealing from Palestinians and flaunting their theft, i'll tell you i absolutely wouldn't have believed Palestinians AT ALL. but this is all i've seen. i haven't seen israeli houses flattened to the ground, i haven't seen israeli hospitals run out of fuel. for 1200 israelis 30000 Palestinians killed and still being killed. this isn't war. rockets with 0 casualties cannot be equaled to
Welcome to war babygirl! Now if I haven't seen GoPro footage of people being massacred and mutilated, of women's vaginas being torn open by 20+ men, of children being tied together and set on fire, of random partygoers being rounded up and shot like dogs, of Jews being paraded in the streets of Gaza and being lynched and spat on by literal thousands of "inoccent civilians" maybe I'd feel somewhat bad for all the destruction! Maybe if my house wasn't bombed consecutively for almost 20yrs by rockets yeeted from Gaza I'd also feel a bit bad. Maybe if Palestinians didn't shout khaybar khaybar ya yahood at me or in general produce the most virulent antisemitic propaganda against me I'd feel a shred of sympathy. What a wonderful world of "if"s and "maybe"s we live in!
Just because my government invests more in my protection than their government doesn't make their cause more just or mine less legitimate. Just because their rockets are produced in the basement of a school or shipped from Iran doesn't make them any less lethal. Just because you like playing corpse jenga with death doesnt mean thats the metric for a "proper war". You're welcome to try standing out in an open field while a barrage of 30 homemade organic uwu inoccent rockets falls all around you and see if you're feeling lucky then!
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kind of cringe (and by cringe i mean transphobic and antisemitic) to be talking about harry potter when rowling is a well known transphobe and antisemite and trans and jewish people have been saying for a year+ now to stop talking about this series and this author, giving them a platform and keeping them relevant and in the public conscious. i really really like this game and enjoy your writing, but if you cant do the bare minimum of allyship for your trans and jewish readers then i wont be able to keep supporting this game. very disappointing, i hope you can grow and do better
First up, I think you make a very important point in needing to caveat that we disagree with an author's stances/views (I absolutely do not condone Rowling as a person nor her transphobic / antisemitic stances) especially because NOT doing so would, as you say, continue to keep their books in the public consciousness. I've added this caveat to the original post :)
My bottom line is still: I stand with trans people, and Jewish people, and I cannot abide by the things Rowling has said and done and I fully see those deeds and words as an attack on people I care about. I think, like you said, it's important in this climate to reiterate this strongly, and unequivocally. There's no nuance needed here.
However, I think discussion of the author's work ALONGSIDE discussion of the author's transphobic / antisemitic comments can sometimes be more fruitful than simply erasing all traces of this person's existence, because discussion is (to me) always more constructive than erasure.
In other words, I believe documenting / sharing reasons for one's censure is almost as important as the act of cancelling / not supporting the author (because ultimately, statements like "I do not support Rowling's stance on xxx because xxx" will spark important changes to societal attitudes far more than simple silence will—as the latter will simply be an absence rather than a presence of careful, measured discourse.
I have always engaged with both the asks/messages I agree with and disagree with, and I have always been honest and unflinching in my replies. I understand that you might have a different view ("all talk about a work is bad/too much talk", for instance), but I think there is room for us to respectfully disagree on that.
I will continue to engage where I have the energy and time to do so, because I believe these conversations are the only way we can prevent society from becoming echo chambers / isolated, polarised camps. Censorship (including self-censorship with the intention to withdraw support from something) to me is far more nefarious than robust disagreement/dissent (in the vein of George Orwell's 1984 and Swyngedouw's argument that the absence of disagreement is the state of "post-democracy", where everything is always already decided.)
P.S. I think discussion of an author's shitty stances, and reiteration of allyship has to be done alongside cutting off all material / financial support for said author. I'm more than down with the latter. I am fully in the camp of not watching/reading/buying the books and movies, but I do believe continued discussion of the work and the author's stances go hand-in-hand with this.
Cheers!
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heavenwontbethe-same · 11 months
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Frankly, seeing how little people are talking about the taylor swift-m*tty healy thing on here is quite disappointing. I'm not even going to start about m*tty because if I do, I won't be able to stop, so I'll be talking about taylor's role in all of this.
Taylor is someone who has been in the industry for well over a decade and obviously has a lot of media training and media literacy. She is a woman who is not seen publicly if she does not want to be seen. So for her to be seen publicly so soon after the break up was announced, to be seen publicly with friends and then them mass unfollowing joe, the timing of these announcements after all the tickets were sold and she made her millions, her choice of surprise songs and her reactions to specific lines during them, reads very much as a ploy to get the criticism off of her and play victim. Of course, none of us were privy to their relationship, as it should be, so no one knows what happened between them. But joe has never publicly spoken about it, nor does it look like he ever will.
Taylor also has a history of cheating: on calvin with tom, on tom with joe, and now it seems on joe with m*tty. It doesn't look like she ever imagined the backlash against him to be so severe, regardless of the fact that his multiple offenses are wide spread and just a quick google search away. And taylor obviously spends a lot of time on the Internet if she knows about "mother is mothering" and snow on the beach not having enough lana, so she is obviously also coming across content criticising not only m*tty but also her for her complicitness in his behaviour and exactly why it is harmful and hurtful to marginalised communities and her fans within them. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that her behaviour since the break up announcement has been pr move after pr move to shift the blame onto joe, implying that he cheated with the surprise song choices, pushing the narrative that he was uncomfortable with her level of fame, to make people focus on that, because she knew parading m*tty around would bring criticism her way. She surely thought that saying that this is the happiest she has been in all aspects of her life after ending a 6+ year long relationship and being publicly romantically attached to a raging racist, antisemite, islamophobe, sexist would get the heat off of her, because people are quick to overlook anything negative concerning her and not hold her accountable. This is not me hating on her, this is holding her actions accountable, and you are not a bad fan if you do. But you cannot go around making literal documentaries talking about how you want to stand on the right side of history, about activism and feminism, to then just go and never address anything regarding any of those topics again.
The fact that she is publicly dating a man that goes against everything she has claimed to care about, that she refuses to address all of the harmful things he has said and done, not only shows that she doesn't care about her marginalised groups of fans, but also endorses his actions. As taylor said herself, she wants to be defined by the things that she loves. So if she loves m*tty, then you damn well know what that makes her.
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londondziban · 5 months
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So, I haven't posted anything regarding the Noah Schnapp situation on my blog before. I speak up for Palestine and I speak against Zionism on a daily on my socials and in my community. However, as a mostly anonymous Stranger Things blog, I always felt a little off about suddenly posting about the genocide of an entire group of people amongst fanart and fan posts (personally for me it'd feel incredibly performative).
However, coming online today to find out about Noah Schnapp's most recent stunt–for lack of a better term–has been incredibly upsetting. So, I'd like to take the time to state outwardly on my blog that I do not support Noah Schnapp, at all. Every word he's said, every post he's interacted with, regarding the genocide makes me physically ill. Anyone who still supports him despite the words he's said and the harm he's done, please do not interact with my blog.
Do I still ship Byler? Yes. Stranger Things has been my special interest for nearly 7 years and I love the show and its characters with my entire being. I will continue to post and write about the show and Byler. However, I do not condone anything Noah Schnapp says or does and I never, ever will. Will Byers as a character is not Noah Schnapp; I will only ever post of Will, never anything supportive regarding Noah himself. Additionally, I definitely understand all the people I see on here declaring they're taking breaks (indefinite or otherwise) from the fandom/Byler. I wish all of y'all who make that choice the absolute best. I know many fans want Will to be recast, but due to the fact multiple others involved with Stranger Things are Zionists, I doubt it will happen. Pirate season 5, if you can. It's better to not support Netflix with your money anyway.
Free Palestine, antizionism is NOT antisemitism. Continue to learn, continue to research, continue to offer help and support in any way you possibly can. Check in with your Palestinian, Arab, and Jewish friends and neighbors. Do not stand complicit when faced with genocide. Do not be the type of person people 70 years from now will look back on and wonder why you didn't take a stand against genocide.
Edit just to say: I'm not posting this for any brownie points nor do I feel the need to prove my activism. If you feel the need to prove your activism, then maybe your activism isn't as genuine as you like to think it is. I just wanted to make my stance clear so that it cannot be misinterpreted. Please make sure to listen to Palestinian voices.
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johannestevans · 5 months
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That native news post saying all jews are white and are siding with our opressors is Antisemitic and as a Jewish fan of your work I'm heartbroken that you would blindly attack Jews in what you acknowledge to be a time of rising antisemitism. I'm begging you to do research into what Antisemitism is and look for perspectives from actual jews of color who get to be both thrown under the bus by gentiles of color for being jewish and thrown under the bus by white Jews who suffer the most when you reblog and condone shit lile that. I want to believe you're capable of being a better person who isn't Antisemitic and hateful.
That post doesn't say all Jews are white, in fact, and I would advise you read it again.
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"The rise in antisemitism isn't rising alone, it rises with hate for Queer, Muslims, Arabs, indigenous and Black people, immigrants, leftists, the disabled, and women."
Antisemitism is inherently linked to all other forms of bigotry under imperial white supremacist movements, because the goal is to flatten outside forms of culture underneath that yoke, and engage others to copy and further that violence. Rafael is saying that these forms of bigotry are linked in themselves to and are fed by antisemitism - all forms of bigotry like this feed into one another.
"Yet it's my fellow Jews and women using it to say we should leave our allies to join oppressors.
Why? White supremacy."
Rafael Shimunov is also Jewish - and? Same?
The movement of white Jews to join in apartheid and colonial projects, such as in the violent creation of the state of Israel in Palestine and also in other acts of white supremacy throughout the world, such as in the US or the UK - specifically in taking part in aspects of white imperial society that allow us greater acceptability or whatever is like. Evil.
Israel has long engaged in a very careful and stringent selection of which Jewish people to permit under the Law of Return. Reform Jews, patrilineal Jews, Jews of the wrong colour or culture, etc. One could note particularly that Palestinians are denied a passport as a matter of course, that once they leave the confines of the occupied borders, they cannot return. Is this right? Even were we to accept this cruelty and ugliness of apartheid - what of Palestinian Jews? Is their Jewishness meaningless, because they are also Palestinian?
If your desire is to be an oppressor, to cling onto whiteness more than other precepts of your belief (such as in justice and equality) then, yes. It would appear so.
The movements of oppressed peoples to attempt assimilating into those colonial powers out of trauma and fear, out of a desire to be safe, is an understandable instinct - and an instinct that is misplaced.
It is not just not antisemitic to criticise these acts of evil and dismantle the systems that allow for them, to stand up for those who are most violently hurt and oppressed by them - it is our duty.
You have misread the post - perhaps you did so unintentionally and struggle with your reading comprehension, in which case I'd advise you to read through the post and mine a few more times, slowly. It can be frightening to be challenged on things we have previously considered to be true and ideologies that ultimately do not serve us, and I appreciate that. Give yourself time to digest and consider, and remember that you can always change and dismantle beliefs of yours that do not line up as they should with your moral and ethical standpoints.
Listen to this song, maybe, and consider the final verses.
I think it's potentially likely you thought that this message would somehow make me panic at potential criticism and back down from my long-standing moral views on the evils of our unjust society, regardless of who enforces them, as if I'm some sort of coward. You can see why I'm obviously more likely to believe the former.
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walks-the-ages · 5 months
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If you are in Michigan state's 12th District, please reach out to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib to show your support!
https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/video-tlaib-speaks-on-censure-resolution
Like and share the original speech on twitter here .
[ID: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a brown-skinned Palestinian American woman, gives her speech to congress. She is wearing a dark purple suit with a traditional white kufiyah around her neck. Various members of congress are in the background, many of them tearing up as her speech goes on. Partway through the speech, a congresswoman in a green suit and green headscarf comes up to hug Rashida in support as she cries during her speech, holding a framed pictured of her grandmother. end ID]
Transcript: 
I’m the only Palestinian American serving in Congress, Mr. Chair, and my perspective is needed here now more than ever. I will not be silenced, and I will not let you distort my words. Folks forget I’m from the city of Detroit, the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country, where I learned to speak truth to power, even if my voice shakes. Trying to bully or censure me won’t work because this movement for a ceasefire is much bigger than one person. It’s growing every single day. There are millions of people across our country who oppose Netanyahu’s extremism and are done watching our government support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorous bombs that melt flesh to the bone. They are done watching our government, Mr. Chair, supporting cutting off food, water, electricity, and medical care to millions of people with nowhere to go. Like me, Mr. Chair, they don’t believe the answer to war crimes is more war crimes. The refusal of Congress and the Administration to acknowledge Palestinian lives is chipping away at my soul. Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed—majority, majority were children.  But let me be clear: My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu’s actions. It is important to separate people and governments, Mr. Chair. No government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation. Do you realize what it’s like, Mr. Chair, for the people outside the chamber right now, listening in agony to their own government dehumanizing them? To hear the President of the United States, we helped elect, dispute death tolls, as we see video after video of dead children and parents under rubble? Mr. Chair, do you know what it’s like to fear rising hate crimes? To know how Islamophobia and antisemitism makes us all less safe? And worry that your own child might suffer the horrors that six-year-old Wadea did in Illinois.  I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable. We are human beings just like anyone else. My Sity, my grandmother, like all Palestinians, just wants to live her life with freedom and human dignity we all deserve. Speaking up to save lives, Mr. Chair, no matter of faith, no matter ethnicity, should not be controversial in this chamber. The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. What I don’t understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all. We cannot lose our shared humanity, Mr. Chair. I hear the voices of advocates in Israel, in Palestine, across America, and around the world for peace. I am inspired by the courageous survivors in Israel who have lost loved ones, yet are calling for a ceasefire and the end to violence. I am grateful to the people in the streets, for the peace movement, with countless Jewish Americans across the country, standing up and lovingly saying “Not in Our Name.”  We will continue to call for a ceasefire, Mr. Chair, for the immediate delivery of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza, for the release of all hostages and those arbitrarily detained, and for every American to come home. We will continue to work for real lasting peace that upholds human rights and dignity of all people and centers peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. And censures no one. And ensures that no person, no child has to suffer or live in fear of violence. 71% of Michigan Democrats support a ceasefire. So you can try to censure me, but you can’t silence their voices. I urge my colleagues to join with the majority of Americans and support a ceasefire now to save as many lives as possible. President Biden must listen to and represent all of us, not just some of us. I urge the President to have the courage to call for a ceasefire and the end of killings. Thank you. And I yield [the floor].
If you are outside her district, now's the time to start hounding your own representatives for supporting the punishment on Rashida for the 'crime' of speaking out against the genocide of her people
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white-moon-kitty · 5 months
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Jewish Nathaniel Kurtzberg headcanons
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It is canon that Nathaniel is Jewish, evident in his surname and absence from the Christmas special. However because "religion is a secular matter and cannot be portrayed in a children's TV show" (🙄), Nathaniel's heritage won't be represented in any of the episodes, so I'll be writing these headcanons.
Nathaniel (like Marinette, Adrien, and their classmates) was born between late 2000 and mid-2001.
The law on religious display in public schools (la loi sur les signes religieux dans les écoles publiques) was signed on March 15, 2004.
The law on face-coverings in public (la loi interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public) was passed by the Senate on September 14, 2010.
TW for references of antisemitism and Islamophobia
Nathaniel's great-grandparents were German Jews who fled to France shortly before World War II
his family is not Orthodox but they are religious, they go to synagogue, celebrate the holidays, follow kosher, etc.
Nathaniel has always been a shy, quiet kid but his parents raised him to be assertive and to question authority if necessary
the first time Nathaniel realizes he is different is when he is three years old and starts preschool, during lunch he can't eat what the other children are eating in case the food is not kosher
his parents contact the preschool, who refuse to provide a kosher/pork-free option or let Nathaniel pack his own lunch, they compromise to let him go home for lunch instead
December rolls around, and the other children are excited about Christmas, except for Nathaniel, who is excited about Hanukkah but can't help but feel a bit left out
at six years old, another boy in his class starts running his hands through Nathaniel's hair out of the blue, "I heard that your people have horns, where are yours"
at eight years old, a girl in his class sees the gold Star of David necklace that Nathaniel always wears and starts bombarding him with questions
Nathaniel knows that she has no bad intentions but can't help feeling a bit uncomfortable and othered
at nine years old, during a class debate on the hijab ban, another boy says how anyone who wears their religious symbols are not truly French and should go back to where they came from, leaving Nathaniel flushing with shame and anger
at eleven years old, he begins attending Collège Françoise Dupont
on his first day of middle school, Principal Damoclés makes him remove his Star of David necklace
he is afraid but looks the principal straight in the eye and refuses, "this is my religion and my identity," he says, his heart pounding and his voice shaking
after a few more resists, Principal Damoclés suspends him
when he goes home to his confused parents, Nathaniel breaks down in tears as he explains Principal Damoclés suspending him on his first day of middle school for his necklace
his furious parents storm over to the school to confront the principal, demanding he allow their son back to school immediately and for him to wear the symbol of his religious pride
Principal Damoclés lets him back the next day but Nathaniel never wears his necklace to school again, only at home and in non-school settings
the day he returns to school, fellow classmate Alix Kubdel approaches him
Alix explains her family heritage: her family is of Algerian origin and Muslim, and while she can pass as white, her parents and brother have faced racism, Alix's mother have even had her hijab ripped off by an old white man on public transit and no one defended her
Nathaniel knows that he, as a white-presenting boy, cannot relate to the experiences of Alix or her mother, but appreciates having a friend who understands
he invited Alix to his bar mitzvah
he loves learning about the Holocaust, it is painful but his ancestors' strength and resilience make him proud, he can't stand how all of his classmates seem to stare at him during class whenever it comes up
in his third year, he is placed in Miss Bustier's class with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Chloé Bourgeois, Sabrina Raincomprix, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Lê Chiến Kim and Max Kanté
when he arrives at school one morning he sees a swastika drawn in permanent marker on his desk, drawn by Chloé "Can't he make sushi like everyone else" Bourgeois
he reports it to a furious Miss Bustier, who sends Chloé to Principal Damoclés, who lets her off with a mere warning, which infuriates Nathaniel and his parents
as much as he wants to stay home from school the next day, Nathaniel is determined to not let Chloé win and shows up at school the next day
a sneering Chloé comes up to him, but before Chloé could open her mouth, fellow classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng spoke up
"you suck, Chloé." Marinette glares at the blonde. "you speak of him as if he is below you, but he's got more nerve in his finger than your entire body"
Rose and Juleka join in, "Leave him alone, Chloé" "go pick on someone your own size, someone with an overinflated head like you"
Chloé started bullying Marinette
meanwhile, Nathaniel starts to fall for Marinette and becomes closer to Rose and Juleka
in the middle of his fourth and final year, he gets over his crush on Marinette/Ladybug and instead starts falling for Marc Anciel, with whom he works on their Ladybug comics
he confides his feelings for Marc to Alix
"you might be bi or pan," Alix, who is aromantic and an expert in LGBT terminology, explains to him
he first comes out as bisexual to Alix, who is nothing but incredibly supportive and proud of her best friend
Rose and Juleka (canon girlfriends!) are the next to know, and he grows closer to the girls than ever
Nathaniel is hesitant to come out to his parents, however: he feels like he is betraying the Jewish identity his parents instilled in him since childhood by coming out to them
he begins to research queer Jewish identity on the Internet and hears stories of others from all across the globe, who are queer, Jewish and proud
Nathaniel eventually asks out Marc, who agrees to be his boyfriend and he is happier than ever
Marc isn't Jewish but is more than happy to learn about Jewish culture and to fight anyone who dares to say anything antisemitic, whether about Nathaniel or not
since he started dating Marc, Nathaniel gains the courage to come out to his parents, who immediately accept him, much to his pleasant surprise
"you are our son, and our religion accepts everyone," his father says
"love is love, and if this boy Marc makes you happy, that's all that matters," his mother says
he gets into the same design school as Marc and Marinette for high school
in his first year of high school, he and Marc finally publish their Ladybug comics, which quickly become successful
towards his final years of high school, he begins studying for the baccalauréat while continuing his relationship with Marc and their comics and applying for his birthright trip
on his final year of high school, he passes the bac littéraire along with Marc and Marinette, and the three reunite with their middle school friends to celebrate
soon after graduating high school, he leaves for birthright (Alix cried buckets of tears at the airport)
the trip is the best ten days of his life, Nathaniel feels at home as he connects with other French Jews and Jews from across the globe and visits the cultural sites
shortly after his return to France, Nathaniel invites Marc to the Seine, where he gets down on one knee, much to the latter's delight (they both cry tears of joy that night)
his and Marc's wedding was the most beautiful day ever, they have a traditional Jewish wedding filled with ketubah, chuppah, glass breaking, joy, light and love
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catrosshatesyou · 4 months
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Tired of being angry and defensive. I know what my family stands for, what my mother stood for, what her parents and family endured. And I know that this ethnicity is a gift. Despite the horrors unfolding, and those that have many times before unfolded, Jews continue to exist because for the majority of history, we have wanted one simple thing: peace. Because we, ourselves, have known so little.
My dad and his girlfriend surprised me with this today--Reubens, Matzo ball soup, gifts, festive cookies, and a shining menorah (more accurately, a hannukiyah, with nine spaces for candles or oil as opposed to the usual seven).
My dad is not Jewish. (Traditionally, the Jewish ethnicity and tradition are a matrilineal one, meaning that children inherit their mother's traditions and family line, not necessarily the father's, though most American Jews consider either line to be valid.) His girlfriend is not Jewish either. They did this, regardless, in part knowing how upset I've been at the horrific misinformation, dog whistle antisemitism, and presumption of "guilt" on behalf of one's attachment to Judaism or Israel.
It helped. A lot. Because to me, it means there are non-Jewish people in my life who, like myself, try their very damn best to keep themselves informed and helpful and in line with human rights--who know that many American Jews are justly terrified at the moment--and don't think it's because we don't care about Palestinian lives--all civilian lives in the region, actually-- or self-determination.
It means I don't have to hide myself or pretend that history played out according to one fundamentalist narrative or another, and I can still feel that I know myself and my ethical alignments. I know that while the Jewish part of my identity is inescapable, it is not "fixed".
I do not have to be a "good Jew," (properly assimilated and aligned with the values of progressive OR conservative gentiles) in order to be a good person, and that regardless of the fact that this is a dynamic most non-Jews cannot quite "see" or "feel" or comprehend, as their place in our culture is a "given," whereas the place of the Jew is that of the "other," that this dynamic is still extant and is irretractable, regardless.
I am Caitlin. I am a Jew. I wish for peace. I should have more cousins from Poland, because in the 40s, no one in this nation cared about our genocide until the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
So regardless of what you think, I am glad that you pay attention to foreign affairs and the suffering of others now.
May you all find an identity that is inescapable, but never fixed.
Shalom.
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