#pro northern independence

[matan4il]

As I promised to update, I'm back from the hospital and I'm okay.

Food was starting to run out (only had enough left for about half a day), I really didn't want to go to the store when it's dangerous to be away from the bomb shelter, but had no choice. Got food, but there's no bottled water to be found anywhere, exactly when Israeli citizens were instructed last night to stock up our bomb shelters with enough dry food and bottled water for at least three days.

The number of confirmed dead is officially at 900 (still not final), the number of wounded is at over 2,600, the number of kidnapped is at least 150. The number of terrorists who breached Israel's border and massacred civilians on Saturday is estimated to be at least 1,500.

I mentioned Mor and her grandmother already, but I felt like hearing her telling their story is important enough to share this vid. Testimonies like this are coming out in incomprehensible numbers.

Since the beginning of this war on Israel on Saturday, five independent terrorist attacks were attempted and stopped. Thankfully, no one was reported to have been murdered, though there are casualties.

In Egypt, a soldier guarding tourists (likely inspired by Hamas' massacre) opened fire at a group from Israel. He murdered two Israelis and their Egyptian local tour guide. At least one more person was also wounded in this terror attack.

There have been rockets fired into Israel from the north by Hezbollah (while Hamas fires thousands of rockets from the south) and there was also a breach of Israel from the north by another terrorist organization named Islamist Jihad. During this, Israel's northern citizens were instructed to lock themselves inside their homes. All of the terrorists who infiltrated Israel from the north were killed, but so was an Israeli commander, Alim Abdallah. He was supposed to finish his army service this coming Sunday. May his memory be a blessing.

On a personal note, my former boss' son was killed (may his memory be a blessing. ז"ל), and one of my colleagues has been kidnapped and is held hostage in Gaza.

Another personal story is that of Lior Asulin. He was a talented soccer player. Among other clubs, he played for an Arab team and helped it become Israel's soccer champion. He was murdered at the music festival that he went to in order to celebrate his birthday, and where at least 270 young people were butchered (ז"ל).

There's news from other countries about anti-Israeli demonstrations where the massacre of innocent Israelis is celebrated, in Australia the pro-Palestinian demonstrators shouted "Fuck the Jews" as well as "Gas the Jews."

In at least one protest a pro-Israeli demonstrator was beaten up:

And already there are antisemitic incidents, where Jewish establishments outside of Israel are being targeted.

Countries whose citizens are known to have been kidnapped or murdered by Hamas in the attack on Israel:

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #antisemitism #jewish #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr

[ayeforscotland]

“Imagine how this feels! One moment you are comfortable with the notion of yourself as a decent, solid, industrious Englishman - and then it’s revealed that you are, instead, a chippy-grasping, salad-dodging smack head who is unable to define the term ‘woman’.

It is like suddenly finding out, at the age of 62, that you were adopted and your real parents are serial killers. I suppose it explains why, during a hot summer, I totally fail to tan but instead resemble the victim of acute radiation poisoning, suffering cracked and flayed skin, bleeding gums and hair loss.

Such a shattering blow to one’s self-esteem and self-worth. The only consolation is that henceforth I shall expect everybody else in England to subsidise me through their taxes while simultaneously demanding total independence for them.”

Article: “Help me, I’m Scottish” by English journalist, Rod Liddle in the Spectator. January 2023

We’re used to anti-Scottish bile from the middle-class bloated corpses in the British media. It’s water of a ducks back at this point.

But this is really a test for unionists. It doesn’t matter how pro-union you are - these types of English people think you’re disgusting. It’s the same level of disgust and sheer ignorance often aimed at Northern Ireland and Wales.

I’ve had many a discussion with people on here claiming Scottish and English/British nationalism is the same.

You’ll not find any pro-independence journalists writing this type of stuff about having English family members.

#ayeforscotland #scottish politics #british politics #uk politics #scottish independence #scotland

[intersectionalpraxis]

[Video description: Jewish protesters in front of the Democratic headquarters in DC to demand a ceasefire and to stop the ongoing mass genocide going on in Palestine. The person taking the video captures these protesters being pulled, yanked, and pushed by cops who are trying to separate them to remove them. Some cops are throwing people down the steps, as well.]

I would also like to note THIS is how the Times of Israel has described this event:

Caption on the article on the Times of Israel reads: "6 police officers hurt in far-left Jewish pro-Palestinian protest at Democrat HQ in DC."

The byline reads: "Anti-Zionist demonstrators demand Israel cease its fire in war against Hamas; legislators escorted by cops from building; melee also forces lockdown of nearby US Congress offices"

LOOK at how they are describing this event... they're basically calling Jewish activists terrorists...

"The protesters were calling for Israel to cease its operations “Was just evacuated from the #DNC after pro-terrorist, anti-#Israel protestors grew violent, pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building,” Sherman posted on X. "Israel has said there will not be a ceasefire without the release of the hostages, and that a ceasefire would merely aid Hamas and help it regroup and replenish its stocks. The US has supported Israel in its stance, but is instead promoting the use of humanitarian pauses for the entry of aid into the beleaguered Gaza Strip and to allow civilians to evacuate from the battle-zone northern part of the enclave, where Hamas has many of its strongholds." The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Wednesday that 11,500 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, including at least 4,710 children and 3,160 women. The figures cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between civilians and terrorists, and also do not differentiate between those killed by Israeli airstrikes and those killed by failed Palestinian rocket launches.

American cops were assaulting and brutalizing Jewish protesters, and the Israeli press and propaganda machine is STILL lying and reinforcing the harmful narrative that Palestinian people are terrorists. After getting updates about the telecommunications in Gaza being down AGAIN, and Israel still storming Al-Shifa hospital (a war crime)... this is just despicable.

#feminist #feminism #israel is an apartheid state #palestine #freepalastine🇵🇸 #social justice #free gaza #free palestine #israel is committing genocide #israel is a terrorist state #israeli propaganda #israeli apartheid #gazaunderfire #gazaunderattack #gaza under genocide #settler colonialism #settler violence #defund the police #defund the cops #defund the military #jewish voice for peace #protect palestine #protest

[useless-catalanfacts]

Hi! wikipedia is not being super helpful - I am curious about whether support for Valencian independence is similar to the support for Catalonian independence; I am just assuming that "Catalonian separatism" refers ONLY to Catalonia, not necessarily the other Catalan-speaking regions? is there any solidarity for independence movements between Valencia and Catalonia because of shared language? I have heard a lot about Catalonian separatism but I haven't ever really heard of Valencian separatism even though I am sure it exists.

thank you!

Hello!

Catalan independentism doesn't necessarily mean only Catalonia. Historically, it has meant all the Catalan Countries, often with a focus on the ones under Spanish rule of it's being done from those territories (Catalonia, the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands being the focus) and pretty much all pro-independence organisations work in all the areas, not only Catalonia.

This is going to be a long answer, so I'll leave it under the "read more".

When you see Valencian pro-independence posters, pins, etc that have the map silhouette, you'll see this shape:

which is the shape of all the Catalan Countries, usually excluding L'Alguer (L'Alguer —the Catalan-speaking city in Sardinia, Italy— will be included when we're talking about language rights and cultural rights, but not about independence or political unity). That is, the shape you'll see includes the Valencian Country, Catalonia, la Franja, and the Balearic Islands (from Spain), Northern Catalonia (from France), and Andorra.

(Source of the examples: posters calling for pro-independence protests in València. 1. From Cartells PUA, year 1999. 2. From MDT, 2012. From endavant, 2019.)

You can search on Google images for "cartells independència València" and you'll find more. I also found this one where the silhouette is only the Valencian Country but in huge letters it says "Valencian Country. Catalan Countries" so, yeah, same thing.

The Catalan independence movement having a significant part dedicated to "Catalonia only" independence is quite recent and mostly due to strategic reasons. If you look at early to mid 20th-century independentist texts, you can find the word "Catalunya" ("Catalonia") is often being used for all the Catalan-speaking countries, because it was the terminology used at the time including in València (and even as late as Joan Fuster's early texts, that's the word being used). However, it doesn't necessarily mean only what we now understand as Catalonia proper. After the popularization of the term "Catalan Countries" by Valencian writers (especially Joan Fuster), that's what will be used and the word "Catalunya" will surely mean only Catalonia (whether it's all of Catalonia including Northern Catalonia or only the area that the Spanish administrative region system calls Catalonia —aka the Catalonia at the south of the Spanish-French border— will depend on the context, but for texts written in Southern Catalonia it will often mean the 2nd).

"Catalonia only" (or, at least, "Catalonia only, for now") only became majoritary in Catalonia's independence movement around 2010, when many new people in Catalonia joined the independence movement. New people were arriving who previously saw independence as a dream impossible to achieve or as a radical communist thing, but now were realising that it was the only possible solution to the repeated attacks from Spain. Then, Catalonia's independence movement quickly grew and gained so many followers that we were more than half the population at the very least in favour of a referendum. (Previously, right after the end of Franco's dictatorship, it was the Valencian Country where the Catalan independence movement was the strongest, which is why the right-wing created and pushed "blaverism", a Catalanophobic ideology aimed at dividing Valencians from the rest of the country and weakening the social movements and language use). At this point, Catalonia had such a strong independentist movement that its independence was finally a possible short-term goal. And, because of the way that European politics work, most people believed we could achieve it through democratic means; because every administrative region in Spain has a regional parliament and regional government, in Catalonia we voted for pro-independence politicians in our "regional" government, who would follow the necessary steps to organise a referendum and, if won, declare independence. However, at the same time the independence didn't have nearly as much support in the Valencian Country; in fact, in the previous decades, the right-wing had been very focused on encouraging Catalanophobia in the Valencian Country with "blaverism", and their chosen politicians clearly showed it. So it only made sense to focus on declaring independence for the place where the majority of its population wants it. The underlying idea was that, once we have an independent Catalonia established, the rest of Catalan Countries can hold their own referendums to decide if they want to join us, often with a union of federated states being brought up.

But this was very controversial at the time. I remember many people (the more left-wing anti-capitalist type, pretty much everyone in the CUP and related) were saying that we cannot leave Valencians and Balearics behind, we cannot save ourselves and leave them in suffering. There was also the fear that Catalonia declaring independence would cause retaliation from Spain against the other Catalan areas, the Basque Country and Galicia to strip them from more language rights and regional governance to make sure they couldn't follow our path. There was the chant "sense València no hi ha independència" (without València there is no independence), but slowly over time most of these groups came to agree that the best thing we can do for our brothers there is to declare Catalonia's independence to lead the way, show that it can be done and that a better country with more egalitarian and respectful ways of working is possible; and with the hardest part of the process already behind us, it will be easier for them to join us.

To sum up, Catalan independence nowadays can mean either Catalonia only (understood to be a real possibility in the short-term) or all the Catalan Countries (generally thought of as a longer-term project).

This is not to say that nobody wants a Valencia-only independent country. I'm sure there are people out there who want all kinds of things. But this is extremely minoritary. Valencian people are generally either one of the three: 1) in favour of the independence of the Catalan Countries (Valencia included), 2) follow the blaverist idea of Valencian regionalism as a Spanish identity, or 3) directly full Spanish nationalism.

However, blaverism sometimes backfired in a strange way and made a few people really hate Catalans but still love their land, and you'll find a few people who defend Valencian rights in a very isolationist way while still believing the blaverist conspiracy theories or pseudohistory to justify its separation from the rest of the Catalan Countries. So I'm sure you can find some people who argue for a Valencia-only independent state, but it's going to be a handful of people and it's not an organized political movement comparable to Catalan Countries independence movement.

Thank you for your interest. I hope this answers your question; if not, please feel free to ask again!

#ask #b1tchplanet

[mapsontheweb]

Stances of IRA divisions on the Anglo-Irish treaty, which ended the Irish War of Independence.

by oglach:

For background, what made the treaty so controversial was the fact that it gave Ireland partial independence as a dominion (akin to Canada at the time), where politicians still had to swear loyalty to the crown. As well as effectively guaranteeing the partition of the island, and the creation of Northern Ireland.

Many within the IRA rejected these compromises and wanted to keep fighting for complete freedom, causing a civil war between pro-treaty and anti-factions. This was eventually won by the pro-treaty side with British support, with the pro-treaty IRA going on to become the new Irish military.

The anti-treaty faction was driven underground, but continued to wage a low-level insurgency against both Britain and the new Irish government until the 60s, when they split again into communist and nationalist factions. The latter of which became known as the Provisional IRA, and obviously experienced a huge "revival" during the Troubles.

#maps #ireland #ira

[jackoshadows]

Hi, so I watched GoT+ am on asoiaf 1 rn and I have a Q about Dany; why is her character so divisive? I read meta by pro Dany fans and its "Dany's compassionate, self critical, a good ruler, a political reformer, frees slaves she'll be a hero at the end" and the antis "shes entitled, vengeful, profiter of slavery, a coloniser and GRRM wont validate a foreign invasion with nuclear weapons; hes anti war!!" Like, wHAt? Surely her character cant be THAT ambigious?! These are popular opposites??

Alright, I'll try to explain this from my perspective as a Jon Snow fan. However, this will be spoilery if you have read only one book. I would suggest reading all the books before joining in on discussions about the character.

It's a combination of things.

One is most definitely sexism. I don't throw that word around lightly having been constantly attacked as a ‘sexist dudebro who hates women’ for simply critiquing a female character.

Sexism in fandom is when female characters are held to different standards compared to their male counterparts. When female characters are critiqued or disliked for doing the same thing that male characters are often praised for doing. Daenerys is subjected to a lot of this which is especially evident in the books because she has a parallel arc of leadership with Jon Snow over at the Wall - the two characters at the ends of the world. 

An example is right there in your ask. GRRM is anti-war and hence why would he validate Dany's invasion - She is therefore in the wrong. Okay. In which case why not extend that argument to every other main character in the series? GRRM is anti-war and therefore Robb Stark was wrong to wage war for Northern independence. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is wrong to help Stannis in his battle against the Boltons. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Tyrion is wrong to use wildfire and defeat Stannis at the battle of the blackwater. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is the villain of the battle at Castle Black.

I think the main thesis of GRRM’s argument in regard to his protagonists has been that there is no good or bad and instead they are all morally gray? Yeah war is bad and most of our protagonists engage in war and they are therefore morally grey characters. I mean, Jon Snow is over there taking child hostages that he has promised to behead - does that make him a baddie? Ned Stark took Theon as a child hostage. Is he a baddie? Our main characters all belong to noble houses in a feudal monarchy - a system of governance that GRRM relentlessly critiques in the books. Are they all baddies?

This double standard is particularly glaring when Dany's battles in Essos is about helping the little guy - the slaves who are under the worst kind of oppression. The WOT5K (War of the 5 Kings) on the other hand was about personal power, ravaged the land and lead to much devastation and suffering. However, for some strange reason when fandom discusses the books and the author being anti-war they focus particularly on Daenerys - that strange reason is sexism.

If you have watched GOT, I am sure you would have noticed those obvious  double standards yourself.

Tyrion standing there making sad faces makes it look like Daenerys is doing something wrong when she executes the Tarlys - two treasonous traitors. However every other House does the same! Jon Snow executed the mutineers at the wall - even a child. After the battle of bastards, he mentions the Karstarks and Umbers having been killed in battle or else they would have been executed. Sansa wants to punish even their children!! But for some strange reason [(i.e) sexism] a female leader executing traitors is evil. That she does so without crying (Something the show runner David Benioff points out in an BTS interview) means she is evil. Jon not crying when killing people = badass, Dany not crying when killing people = evil.

Daenerys in battle with Jaime Lannister to get the Iron Throne = evil. Starks fighting against the Boltons to get Winterfell = Yay! Awesome. Thousands die in both battles - in one battle they die, burned by dragonfire. In the other one they are hacked to death and die with their guts hanging out. In both cases, people die.

The show quickly moves past Jaime Lannister, the Tarlys and their men massacring everyone of Olenna's men and piling their bodies high and sacking and looting the place. However, the show takes time to linger on Tyrion's sad face with the sad music and the men dying when Daenerys is attacking those same men on the battlefield.

I am not even getting into season 8 because it was so, so bad and full of puke inducing sexism that will need 10 pages to outline. I think you have got the gist of why sexism is such a large factor in how Dany's character is otherized and analyzed by fandom at large and made worse by Benioff and Weiss' rampant misogyny shining through in the show's writing.

I mentioned this in another post and I will say again - removing show Tyrion from show Daenerys' narrative would reduce the sexism in her story arc ten fold. He was D&D's mouthpiece in the series after season 5 - there to tell us that Dany was evil for doing all the things the male characters did.

And yes, Nuclear weapons are bad. Nuclear weapons can also be a deterrent and prevent war. Nuclear weapons can also be useful in a fantasy, magical world dealing with an existential apocalyptic threat. This is why I find one to one comparisons like these to be ridiculous. The Starks also have some fiercesome beasts that the author has indicated will be used in battle. Are we calling them evil?

The rest. Colonizer? They should look up what that means and whether it applies to Dany's story in Essos. Profiting off slavery? If one reads the books one knows this is blatantly untrue. Entitled and vengeful? No more than any of the other main characters who belong to noble houses in Westeros.

Daenerys has her flaws, not saying that she doesn't. That's what makes her a three-dimensional and relatable character. It's easy to criticize the character because she does self-reflect and introspect, is sometimes crippled by self-doubt and wants to do things differently and try different options - something that makes her human and real and very well written. Leadership is not easy and she’s 15 in the last book.

The other aspect is a flaw in the writing with respect to the setting of Daenerys' story in the series. She's the only main POV character in Essos until Arya and Tyrion get there in ADwD. And there is a lot of orientalism in GRRM's writing for Essos - meant to represent the East while Westeros represents the West.

There's much to say about how he writes the Dothraki as savage barbarians. While he gives POV characters for the Ironborn with Theon and Asha and characters like Mance, Tormund and Ygritte for the Freefolk, where's the equivalent of all that for the Dothraki? Oh but look, they are eating honeyed locusts! How exotic! There's lots of cartoonishly evil slavers who kill puppies! GRRM keeps otherizing their customs and culture as being savage and cruel and different - highlighted by the fact that we don't have a single Essosi POV giving us their side of things.

I do find GRRM's orientalism distasteful and off putting, especially as Essos is just a prop, a stepping stone for the characters before they move onto Westeros where the real story is happening. That is however a critique of the writing, not of the character. People tend to conflate the two. A middle aged white man writing in the nineties about a fantasy eastern world does not make Daenerys a 'white savior' or a 'colonizer' and it's clear from various interviews the author has given that this was not his intention either.

Daenerys is also the only Targaryen POV in the books. Think about that. The Starks have 6 POVs in the first book. The Lannisters get 3 by AFfC. The Greyjoys have 4, the Martells have 2. The only major house worse off than the Targaryens are the Baratheons with no POV characters.

We see Jon Snow through Arya and Bran’s POV. We see Arya through Jon’s. We get none of this for Dany. The Starks have a home and a loving family. Dany meanwhile is starting off the story at her lowest point - an abusive brother and forcefully married off to a Dothraki. While the Starks then end up losing that security, family members die, one of them is a hostage and the other is on the run - they still have memories of each other. Danerys meanwhile, slowly and painfully works her way to the top. 

Reminds me of a post I responded to the other day, where the OP said that Arya and Jon cannot be underdogs because they are winners (Whatever that means). That’s the attitude that a lot of fandom has towards Daenerys - now that she is queen and has power, she has it easy compared to the likes of Sansa and the rest of the Starks. Ignoring that when the books started Daenerys was in a way worse position than any of the Starks.

This is a fandom that thinks that Sansa Stark deserves to be Queen in the North because she’s beautiful, has good manners and is a Stark. And this is the same fandom who think that Daenerys, who worked her way to the top - with no family to help, no happy childhood, no teachers, no security of food and shelter, who were beggars and on the run at one point - the Daenerys who is currently spending an entire book ruling a city state, making trade deals, dealing with an insurgency and famine, engaging in marriage diplomacy to sue for peace for the slaves she freed, that Daenerys is entitled. Do you agree?

I am a Jon Snow fan and even I can see how utterly ridiculous the fan discourse around Daenerys is. When the show was on, I was only posting about Jon and there was so much anti Dany stuff on the Jon Snow tags I had to wade into discussion about the character. And the more I defended her, the more I ended up re-reading her chapters, the more I ended up loving the character. There’s so much hypocrisy and sexist double standards where the character is concerned.

And I have not even touched upon the obnoxiousness that is ‘Jonsa’ - group of morons who think Sansa is the main character in a book series called A Song of Sansa and Sansa and Jon is secretly in love with Sansa who is going to be Queen with executioner/personal spymaster Arya Stark and her consort Jon Snow who will sexually manipulate and murder Daenerys for his great love Sansa.

Sansa fans make up the vast majority of asoiaf fans on Tumblr and the majority of them dislike Daenerys and Arya or see Dany as Sansa’s antagonist - even though these two characters have no connection in the books and I doubt they would ever interact. If you look at most of the anti Dany posts on here, they will be made by someone with a Sansa pfp. There are posts about how Jon will kill Dany or how Arya will kill Dany, and if you look at their blogs they will be big Sansa fans.

These are the same people who write essays on how Arya is not a real girl or is ‘male-coded’ or who write essays on how Daenerys only uses ‘threats and force’ whereas Sansa is apparently a political genius who uses ‘Soft Power’ - a foreign policy concept - because she talked down 13 year old idiot Joffrey that one time. When in the actual books, it’s Daenerys who has used Soft Power in her marriage diplomacy with Hizdahr and Sansa has never engaged in any kind of politics with actual adults.

Notice that these kinds of ‘metas’ are popularized by fandom bnfs using blogs like asoiafuniversity. There’s this very popular idea that’s propagated in fandom that Sansa is kind and compassionate when in the actual books there are more instances of kindness and compassion from Arya and from Daenerys. This is once again an example of how sexism and misogyny in this fandom has worked to give the wrong impressions of these characters. Arya and Daenerys are seen as more violent compared to Sansa even though Daenerys’ entire arc for two books has been about helping an oppressed population. The mind boggles!

It’s the same when it comes to love and romance. Arya and Daenerys are not considered worthy of love, romance and marriage because they are the wrong kind of girls. And let’s not bring age into this considering Sansa is 11 at the start of the books and she is the fandom bicycle shipped with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

I am not even getting into the slut-shaming and victim blaming that Daenerys gets in the fandom. There was actual discourse in this fandom on how Dany was not a good rape victim like Sansa because she brought up her rape in conversation! Daenerys is somehow seen as less than because she can’t possibly have children - that apparently makes her less of a woman and a bad partner for Jon Snow unlike Sansa Stark who will surely have ten babies!

The worst part is that’s it women who engage in this kind of discourse and the same women who turn around and gaslight the fandom into thinking that Sansa is unfairly targeted because of sexism.

There’s also the usual dislike from the fans of other characters.

There are Jon Snow fans who see him as the prophesied hero and main protagonist, who don’t like Daenerys coming over and taking away main character status. I personally think there is no one main character. IMO, Jon, Dany, Arya, Bran and Tyrion are all tier one main characters, who will work together against the Army of the Dead. [Note: This works the other way as well. I have seen Dany fans who dislike Jon Snow as well and think he is unimportant in the grand scheme of things]

There are Stannis Baratheon stans over on the Asoiaf subreddit who will excuse everything Stannis does - including burning people alive for his God - and then nitpick every single policy decision of Dany’s in order to argue she is evil or a bad ruler. 

There are house Stark fans who hate House Targaryen and see them as in opposition to each other. There are fans who believe in Northern exceptionalism i.e the North is special and Dany is a threat to that specialness because she wants the 7K etc. etc.

This turned out to be a long post. On the whole, the answer to your question on why Daenerys is such a polarizing character is mainly because of sexism. There are other factors like the setting and isolation of her story, the lack of other POVs etc. The main reason though is sexism and ship wars.

#asks #ask

[mightyflamethrower]

So much for the idea that if women were in charge the world would be a much kinder and less violent place.

Peruse campus literature. Watch clips from university protests. Scan interviews with pro-Hamas protestors. Read the chalk propaganda sketched on campus sidewalks. Talk to raging students in the free speech area. And the one common denominator— besides their arrogance—is their abject ignorance. Take their following tired talking points:

“Refugees” 

We are told that the Palestinians after more than 75 years of residence in the West Bank and Gaza are “refugees.” If that definition were currently true, then, are the 900,000 Jews who were forcibly exiled from Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia after the 1947, 1956, 1967 wars still “refugees?”

Most fled to Israel. Do they now live in “refugee” camps administrated by the UN? Are they protesting to recover their confiscated homes and wealth in Damascus, Cairo, or Baghdad? Do Jews on Western television dangle their keys to lost homes in Damascus a half-century after they were expelled?

How about the 150,000-200,000 Greek Cypriots who in 1974 were brutally driven out of their ancient homes in Northern Cyprus? Are they today living in “refugee” camps in southern Cyprus? Are Cypriot terrorists blowing themselves up in “occupied” Nicosia to recover what was stolen from them by Turkey?

Turkish president Recep Erdogan lectures the world on Palestinian “refugees,” but does he mention Turkey’s role in the brutal expulsion of 40 percent of the residents of Cyprus?

Are there campus groups organizing against Turkey on behalf of the displaced Cypriots? After being slaughtered and expelled, are the Cypriots a cause celebre in academia? Do the “refugee” cities of southern Cyprus resemble Jenin or Jericho?

For that matter, how about the 12 million German civilians who between 1945-50 were expelled, and mostly walked back from, East Prussia and parts of Eastern Europe, some with Prussian roots going back a millennium and more. Perhaps 1 million died during the expulsions.

Are any current survivors still “refugees?” If so, are they organizing for war to get back “occupied”  “Danzig” and “Königsberg” for Germany? So why does the world damn Israel and romanticize the Palestinians in a way it does not with any other “refugee” group?

“Apartheid”

Israel is said to practice “apartheid,” although since 2005-06 Gaza has been autonomous. Mahmoud Abbas runs in his fashion the West Bank. Like the Hamas clique, he held elections one time in 2005, and then after his election, of course, cancelled any free election in the fashion of the one election, one time Middle East. Who forced him to do that? Zionists? Americans?

At any time, Gaza could have taken its vast wealth in annual foreign aid and become completely independent in fuel, food, and energy, without need of any such help form the “Zionist entity.”

Gaza could have capitalized on its strategic location, the world’s eagerness to help, and the natural beauty of its Mediterranean beaches. Instead, it squandered its income on a labyrinth of terrorist tunnels and rockets. Today, it snidely snickers at any mention of following the Singapore model of prosperity–a former colonial city whose World War II death count vastly surpassed that of the various wars over Gaza.

Are the Israeli Arabs—21 percent of the Israeli population—living under apartheid?

If so, it is a funny sort of oppression when they vote, hold office, form parties, and enjoy more freedom and prosperity than almost anywhere else in the Middle East under Arab autocracies. Are those in sympathy with Hamas fleeing from Israel into Gaza or the West Bank or other Arab countries to live with kindred Muslims under an autocratic and theocratic dictatorship, or do they prefer to stay in the “Zionist entity” under “apartheid?”

Where then is real apartheid?

The Uyghurs in China, fellow Muslims to Middle Easterners, who are ignored by Israel’s Islamic enemies, but who reside in China’s segregated work camps to the silence of the usually loud UN, EU, and Muslim world?

How about the Muslim Kurds? Are they second- or third-class citizens in Muslim Turkey? And how about the tens of thousands of foreign workers from India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries who labor under the kafala system in the Arab Muslim Gulf countries, and are subject to apartheid protocols that allow them no free will about how they live, travel, or the conditions of their labor?

Are campuses erupting to champion the Uyghurs, the Kurds, or the subjugated workers of the Gulf?

“Disproportionate”

Israel is now damned as “disproportionally” bombing Gaza. The campus subtext is that because Gaza’s 7,000-8,000 rockets launched at Israeli civilians have not killed enough Jews, then Israel should not retaliate for October 7 by bombing Hamas targets–shielded by impressed civilians— because it is too effective.

Would a “proportionate” response be counting up all the Israelis murdered, categorizing the horrific manner of their deaths, and then sending Israeli commandoes into Gaza during a “pause” in the fighting to murder an equal number of Gazans in the same satanic fashion?

Does the U.S. lecture Ukraine not to use to the full extent its lethal U.S. imported weaponry since the result is often simply too deadly? After all, perhaps twice as many Russians have been killed, wounded, or are missing than Ukrainian casualties. Should Ukraine have been more “proportionate?” Has President Biden ordered President Zelensky to offer the Russian aggressors a “pause” in the fighting to end the “cycle of violence?”

Or did U.S.-supplied artillery, anti-armor weapons, drones, and missiles “disproportionally” kill too many Russians? Or does the U.S. assume that since Russia attacked Ukraine at a time of peace, it deserves such a “disproportionate” response that alone will lose it the war?

For that matter, the U.S. certainly disproportionately paid back Japan for Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese brutal take-over of the Pacific, much of Asia, and China—and the barbarous way the Japanese military slaughtered millions of civilians, executed prisoners, and mass raped women. Should the U.S. have simply done a one-off retaliatory attack on the imperial fleet at Yokohama, declared a “cease-fire,” and thus ended the “cycle of violence?”

Civilian casualties

Campus activists scream that Israel has slaughtered “civilians” and is careless about “collateral damage.” They equate retaliating against mass murderers who use civilians to shield them from injury, while warning any Gazans in the region of the targeted response to leave, as the moral equivalent of deliberately butchering civilians in a surprise attack.

So did protestors mass in the second term of Barrack Obama when he focused on Predator drone missions inside Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen to go after Islamic terrorists who deliberately target civilians?

At the time, the hard-left New York Times found the ensuing “collateral damage” in civilian deaths merely “troubling.” No matter—Obama persisted, insisting as he put it, “Let’s kill the people who are trying to kill us.” Note Obama did not expressly say the terrorists in Pakistan or Yemen were killing Americans, but “trying” to kill Americans. For him, that was, quite properly, enough reason “to kill” the potential assassins of Americans.

What would the Harvard President today say of Benjamin Netanyahu saying just that about Hamas?

We have no idea how many women, children, and elderly were in the general vicinity of a targeted terrorist in Pakistan or Yemen when an American drone missile struck. Then CIA Director John Brennan later admitted that he had lied under oath (with zero repercussions), when he testified to Congress that there was no collateral damage in drone targeted assassinations.

Obama was proud of his preemptive assassination program. Indeed, in lighthearted fashion he joked at the White House Correspondence Dinner about his preference for lethal drone missions, when he “warned” celebrities not to date his daughters: “But boys, don’t get any ideas. I have two words for you, ‘predator drones.’ You will never see it coming. You think I’m joking.”

Did the campuses erupt and scream “Not in my name” when their president laughed about his assassination program? After all, Obama had also admitted, “There is no doubt that civilians were killed who shouldn’t have been.” Did he then stop the targeted killings due to collateral damage—as critics now demand a cease fire from Israel?

“Genocide”

Genocide is now the most popular charge in the general damnation of Israel, a false smear aimed at calling off the Israeli response to Hamas, burrowed beneath civilians in Gaza City.

But how strange a charge! Pro-Hamas demonstrators the world over chant “From the River to the Sea,” unambiguously calling for the utter destruction of Israel and its 9 million population. Are the Hamas supporters then “genocidal?”

Is genocide the aim of Hamas that launched over 7,000 rockets into Israeli cities without warning? What is the purpose of the purportedly 120,000 rockets in the hands of Hezbollah if not to target Israeli noncombatants? Is all that a genocidal impulse?

Do Hamas and Hezbollah drop leaflets to civilians, as does Israel, to flee the area of a planned missile attack—or is that against their respective charters?

Hamas leaders in Qatar and Beirut continue to give interviews bragging about their October 7 surprise mass murdering of civilians. They even promise more such missions that likewise will be aimed at beheading, torturing, executing, incinerating, and desecrating the bodies of hundreds of Jewish civilians, perhaps again in the early morning during a holiday and a time of peace.

Is that planned continuation of mass killing genocidal? Does the amoral UN recall any other mass murdering spree when the killers beheaded infants, cooked them in ovens, and raped the dead?

Perhaps students at Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and Stanford will protest the real genocide in Darfur where some half-million black African Sudanese have been slaughtered by mostly Muslim Arab Sudanese. Did the Cornell professor who claimed he was “exhilarated” on news of beheaded Jewish babies protest the slaughter of the Sudanese? Did the current campus protestors ever assemble to scream about the Islamists who slaughtered the indigenous Africans of Sudan?

Are professors at Stanford organizing to refuse all grants and donations that originate from communist China? Remember, the Chinese communist Party has never apologized for the party’s genocidal murder of some 60-80 millions of its own during the Maoist Cultural Revolution, much less its systematic efforts to eliminate the Uyghur Muslim population?

These examples could easily be expanded. But they suffice to remind us that the Middle-East and Western leftist attacks on Israel for responding to the October 7 mass murdering are neither based on any consistent moral logic nor similarly extended to other nations who really do practice apartheid, genocide, and kill without much worry about collateral damage.

So why does the world apply a special standard to Israel?

To the leftist and Islamist, Israel is guilty of being: 1) Too Jewish; 2) Too prosperous, secure, and free; 3) Sufficiently Western to meet the boilerplate smears of colonialist, imperialist, and blah, blah, blah.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Pitch for the upcoming Earth Avatar TV show:

(note: this is really an expansion of an older post of mine about a 1980s-themed Avatar show)

1) The title:

Avatar: The Legend of Kazuya

2) The plot:

It’s been 60/70 years since Legend of Korra. The world is now in their version of the 1980s. Since Korra’s death, this is how the international community currently looks:

1) The Fire Nation is a mess of class inequality, riots, and a stagnant government. The Fire Nation parliament (which was installed at some point thanks to Korra’s push for more democracy in the world) struggles to pass any sort of meaningful legislation due to political infighting. Meanwhile, the Fire Nation royalty are now the jokes of the world due to several high-profile scandals/affairs and power being shifted to the Fire Nation Prime Minister.

2) The Earth Kingdom is also going through similar societal problems. In addition to the above, crime is skyrocketing in Ba Sing Se, with many people claiming that the capital city is now run by the crime families. Meanwhile, the Earth President was voted in as a result of backlash to the previous president, who the public saw as too globalist, anti-Earth Kingdom, and pro-Avatar. So, the current Earth President is an anti-globalist, anti-Avatar conservative who wants to put the “Earth Kingdom first”.

3) The Water Tribes are in stark contrast to each other. The Northern state resembles the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom when it comes to societal advancements and problems. Meanwhile, the Southern state has become the equivalent of a struggling third-world nation, mostly thanks to corrupted leadership and exploitation from the other nations. Despite achieving independence, there is now a movement to reconnect with the Northern Water Tribe as a way to solve the Southern state’s issues.

4) The Air Republic went through the most change. Despite a peaceful start to the new Air Republic, the nation was taken over by extremists who were eager to prevent another Air genocide. This meant focusing on building a formidable military and indoctrinating the public with “pro-Air/anti-world/anti-Avatar” propaganda. Thus, the Air Republic was turned into a police state that is ruled by Airbending nationalists/extremists, and is widely considered to be the most dangerous nation in the world. Our real world equivalent would be something along the lines of North Korea or Iran.

With the way the world is, the public sentiment has shifted against the Avatar. Due to the rise of democracy and nationalism, people now see the Avatar as a dictator due to their ability to intervene in other nations’ affairs in the name of “balancing the world”. So, despite all the good that Aang and Korra did, Earth Avatar Kazuya was born into a world that despised him from the start.

Because of this extreme resentment, Kazuya grew up to be a bitter, angsty man filled with guilt and shame. Since the world views the Avatar as this unrestrained Superman who could do whatever they want, Kazuya decides to live life by a strict code in the hopes of setting a precedent for future Avatars. Kazuya’s code is:

1) The Avatar can intervene if it involves the Spirit World.

2) The Avatar will only intervene in world affairs if it will lead to another world war or some other international catastrophe.

3) The Avatar will no longer be a tool used for political purposes. They must always be neutral and act without emotion.

Kazuya’s code is met with mixed reactions. Some people praised it as a sign that the Avatar was willing to adapt to this new, modern world. Some people criticized it since they saw Kazuya as a coward for letting violent disputes/clashes between nations to occur. Despite the criticism, Kazuya embraces his code as a way to keep the Avatar relevant in a world that seemingly no longer wants him around.

So, Kazuya is an angsty, guilt-ridden man who sticks by his incredibly strict moral code, even though it pains him to do so. Basically, if you know your Marvel, he’s the Avatar version of Matt Murdock (Daredevil).

And that’s basically where the show begins. Kazuya, who is a fully-established Avatar at the start, declares to the world that he will only do his Avatar duties under certain circumstances. Problems then start, leading to Kazuya struggling in deciding whether or not he should intervene.

3) The Kazuya Gang (our main quartet)

* Earth Avatar Kazuya. For voice actor, I was thinking Steve Blum (who previously voiced Amon).

* Haerang: A world-famous pop singer from the Earth Kingdom who joins Kazuya since she views him as a “celebrity” like herself. She is Kazuya’s love interest and the only non-bender in the quartet. For a real world comparison, Haerang is like Madonna in the 1980s.

* Shyam: Haerang’s manager and an exile from the Air Republic. Shyam is a skilled Airbender, but hides his ability due to anti-Air discrimination (based on the state of world politics).

* Miko: A firebending assassin/bounty hunter who was initially hired to kill Haerang (this was the first story arc). Miko later drops the mission after learning that her employer betrayed her, leading to her joining Kazuya to get revenge.

(so compared to the Gaang, Kazuya is Aang, Haerang is Katara, Shyam is Sokka, and Miko is Toph)

4) Some story arcs that I came up with for the show

* The Haerang assassination arc (see above)

* Exiles from the Air Republic attempt to start a world war in the hopes of getting the Earth, Water, and Fire states to invade the Air Republic and overthrow the current government. So, here’s the moral quandary for the Avatar; let a world war happen to overthrow a dictatorship or keep the peace to spare lives?

* The Earth Kingdom begins research into “Avatar-level” weaponry, which pisses off the Spirit World.

* The return of Vaatu and the rise of a Dark Avatar.

* The Earth Kingdom presidential campaign, in which the leading candidate is from the most powerful crime family in Ba Sing Se.

5) Miscellaneous

* Technology advancements are in the 1980s. This means we have (primitive) computers, video games, more modern cars, movies, a music industry, and so on.

* Oh, and guns. There’s guns now, which were probably invented by non-benders so they can keep up with the benders.

* Due to the state of things, the “mystique” of the Avatar world is gone. Kyoshi Island has been reduced to a vacation spot for tourists (because it’s an “exotic” location according to the media). Aang and Korra’s stories have been turned into tacky movies that take numerous liberties with what actually happened (example: in their movies, Aang is a one-dimensional action movie hero who says cheesy one-liners while Korra’s portrayal skips over all her trauma and growth to present her as a squeaky clean superhero). The monument to Zuko has been vandalized by anti-government protestors.

* While avoiding the TV-MA rating, I did picture this show to be much darker and more serious than Aang and Korra’s show. The world is grimmer and Kazuya is not as fun and happy as his predecessors. So, TV-14, maybe?

* This is just a personal preference but I’d love it if the soundtrack was mainly 1980s-themed synthbeats/vaporwave. It’d be incredibly different from the previous shows, but it would fit the setting.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar the legend of korra #the legend of korra #tlok #Aang #Korra #earth avatar #Katara #Sokka #Zuko #toph bei fong #vaatu #ba sing se #avatar the legend of aang #avatar imagine #avatar aang #avatar korra #avatar characters #earth kingdom #air nomads #fire nation #water tribe #avatar studios

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON — The White House says pro-Palestinian protesters are wrong to chant “Genocide Joe” at President Biden over his support of Israel — pointing out that the Jewish state is not trying to “wipe the Palestinian people off the map” with its invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The phrase is “inappropriate” to describe Israel’s Biden-backed war against the Hamas terror group, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.

Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators in New York City and DC have chanted “Genocide Joe!” and “Genocide Joe has gotta go!” — with activists even writing the nickname next to red painted handprints on the masonry of the White House’s northern gate during a raucous rally on Nov. 4.

“We’re not worried about nicknames and bumper stickers. I mean, it’s First Amendment free speech,” Kirby began when asked about the attack on Biden, who is seeking $14.3 billion in new funds from Congress to support Israel.

“The president’s focused on, as he wrote his [Washington Post] op-ed, on making sure that we can continue to support Israel as they fight a terrible terrorist group, Hamas, and as we all work together to get humanitarian assistance in and get people out, including hostages,” Kirby said.

Growing more heated, the former Pentagon spokesman added that “people can say what they want on the sidewalk and we respect that, that’s what the First Amendment is about — but this word ‘genocide’ is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks.

“What Hamas wants — make no mistake about it — is genocide,” Kirby emphasized, noting that the terrorists began the conflict with an Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people — including at least 33 Americans — and kidnapped more than 200 others.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that more than 13,000 people have died in subsequent Israeli military action, though the death toll cannot be verified by independent parties and Biden has publicly dismissed the tally as inaccurate.

“They want to wipe Israel off the map. They’ve said so publicly on more than one occasion — in fact, just recently. And they’ve said that they’re not going to stop [and] what happened on the seventh of October is going to happen again and again and again,” Kirby went on.

The phrase is “inappropriate” to describe Israel’s Biden-backed war against the Hamas terror group, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.James Keivom

“And what happened on the seventh of October? Murder, slaughter of innocent people in their homes or at a music festival. That’s genocidal intentions. Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. Yes, the numbers are too high. Yes, too many families are grieving. And yes, we continue to urge Israelis to be as careful and cautious as possible. That’s not going to stop, from the president right on down.”

Kirby concluded: “But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel’s not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat … If we’re gonna start using that word, fine. Let’s use it appropriately.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who is Palestinian-American, accused Biden earlier this month of supporting “the genocide of the Palestinian people.” The House of Representatives voted to censure her days later over anti-Israel commentary, with 22 Democrats siding with most Republicans on the reprimand.

“Israel’s not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat … If we’re gonna start using that word, fine. Let’s use it appropriately,” Kirby continued.James Keivom

Polls show that a majority of Americans support Israel in the conflict, but that Biden’s management of the crisis has gotten poor marks.

An NBC poll released Sunday found that just 34% of registered voters approved of Biden’s handling of the Gaza conflict, in which an unknown number of US citizens — believed to be up to nine people — remain hostage.

The same NBC poll found that 47% felt Israel’s actions in Gaza are justified, while 30% felt Israel had gone “too far” and 23% said they didn’t know enough or were unsure.

A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released Monday found that 80% of Americans support Israel in its conflict with Hamas, but that support is lower among younger voters, with just 55% of 18-24-year-olds backing Israel in the war.

#nunyas news

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up April 25-26, 2023

Under the cut

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of doing “everything to destroy [Ukraine] completely,” following a Russian missile strike in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, which left two people dead and 10 injured.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow is concentrating its forces on the assault in the battered eastern city of Bakhmut — and consequently reducing offensive operations in some other areas.

Russian forces have emptied out a key base in northern Crimea, recent satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows. The facility, near the village of Medvedivka and close to the border of Kherson, housed a significant number of Russian armor.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months. Zelenskiy, describing the hour-long phone call as "long and meaningful", signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Forty-two Ukrainian military personnel and two civilians have returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity in another prisoner swap, Presidential Office head Andrii Yermak reported on April 26.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of doing “everything to destroy [Ukraine] completely,” following a Russian missile strike in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, which left one person dead and 10 injured.

"So far, it is known about the dead employee of the museum and ten wounded. There are still people under the rubble,” Zelensky tweeted Tuesday.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy [Ukraine] completely," he added. “We have no right to forget about it for a single second,” Zelensky said. “We must bring [Russia] to justice both on the battlefield and with fair court sentences to the terrorists.”

Russian forces allegedly used an S-300 surface to surface missile to target Kupyansk, according to the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff, Andrii Yermak.

Earlier Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said on Telegram that it was the Local History Museum that was hit.

-via CNN (A later update brought the death toll to 2 and the number of injured stayed the same.)

~

The Ukrainian military said Moscow is concentrating its forces on the assault in the battered eastern city of Bakhmut — and consequently reducing offensive operations in some other areas.

Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Ukrainian television that the situation in Bakhmut "changes from time to time, and there is a positional war going on."

"The enemy is concentrating all its forces on Bakhmut, and in fact is not conducting such powerful combat operations anywhere else in our operational area of responsibility," Cherevatyi said. In Bakhmut over the past day, he said, the Russians "attacked our positions 23 times, fired 280 times with various types of artillery, and carried out four air raids. There were 85 attacks and 20 firefights in the Bakhmut area alone. One-hundred-and-seventy-five occupiers were killed in action, 213 were wounded."

Cherevatyi’s figures cannot be independently verified.

He said that Wagner fighters were no longer carrying out independent missions in Bakhmut.

"Both airborne units of the occupying army and special forces are increasingly being used. Therefore, we realize that the enemy's losses are very significant," he said.

Cherevatyi said that Ukrainian artillery was constantly engaged in protecting supply routes into Bakhmut, while engineers were doing all they could "to ensure that there are several routes of communication."

Unofficial pro-Russian Telegram channels claim that the Ukrainians are continuing to retreat from parts of Bakhmut and have destroyed the communications tower on the western side of Bakhmut.

CNN is unable to verify the claims.

-via CNN

~

Russian forces have emptied out a key base in northern Crimea, recent satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows. The facility, near the village of Medvedivka and close to the border of Kherson, housed a significant number of Russian armor.

Imagery from the European Union’s Sentinel 2 satellite from January 21 shows a large footprint of Russian equipment. Higher resolution Maxar images from February 11 reveals dozens of armored vehicles, including tanks and artillery pieces.

Newer imagery taken by the EU’s Sentinel 2 satellite reveals most of those vehicles are no longer present at the base.

It wasn’t immediately clear why Moscow relocated the equipment or where to, but earlier in the month, Russian-installed officials in Crimea signaled that they expected a Ukrainian counteroffensive to target the peninsula.

“I think the decision to build defensive structures in Crimea and on the approaches to the peninsula was correct and justified,” the Russian-appointed Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said on April 11.

Maxar imagery from February 11 to February 16 shows a large concentration of defensive structures near Medvedivka, including a network of trenches and wedge-shaped anti-tank concrete barriers known as dragon’s teeth. One Maxar image from January 3 shows the fortifications were much smaller at the beginning of the year.

“In general, I can say that our armed forces have built a modern, deeply echeloned defense,” Aksyonov said. “This does not mean that they will necessarily be used for their intended purpose.” “We had to prepare for any scenario, and we did,” he added. In light of Aksyonov’s comments, experts have suggested the withdrawal of Russian military equipment from the base in Medvedivka may be related to defensive operations ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

-via CNN

~

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months.

Zelenskiy, describing the hour-long phone call as "long and meaningful", signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Zelenskiy said in an evening video address that there was "an opportunity to use China's political power to reinforce the principles and rules that peace should be built upon."

"Ukraine and China, like the absolute majority of the world, are equally interested in the strength of the sovereignty of nations and territorial integrity," he said.

Zelenskiy also said Xi had expressed "words of support" for the extension of a deal to export Ukrainian grain from its Black Sea ports. Moscow has said the pact will not be renewed beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports.

Xi, the most powerful leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia's invasion, visited Moscow last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan, greeted sceptically by the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv as a sign of Chinese interest in ending the war.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the Chinese state media reports.

"As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, still less seek to profit from it," Xi said.

The White House welcomed the call but said it was too soon to tell whether it would lead to a peace deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he had pushed Xi to hold the call with Zelenskiy during a visit to Beijing this month.

-via Reuters

~

Forty-two Ukrainian military personnel and two civilians have returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity in another prisoner swap, Presidential Office head Andrii Yermak reported on April 26.

The Ukrainian prisoners of war who were released included soldiers, navy personnel, border guards, and national guardsmen, said Yermak. Among them were 36 privates and sergeants, as well as six officers.

According to the report, the former POWs took part in Ukraine’s defense of Mariupol, including the Azovstal plant, and fought against Russian troops in Kherson Oblast and the east.

Some of the exchanged POWs were wounded and tortured by Russia in captivity, added the official. Among them were also two men whose wives had been previously released from Russian captivity.

In the previous prisoner exchange, 100 Ukrainian POWs were released on April 10.

According to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, more than 2,000 Ukrainians have returned home from Russian captivity.

-via Kyiv Independent

#Daily Update #Ukraine #Russia #War in Ukraine #China #Bakhmut #Crimea #Kharkiv

[akaiitori]

Verant - World Maps

Verant and the story it belongs to is still a work in process, so anything pictured may change in the future.

Something a little different :) I feel like I can't keep going forward rambling on Vagrant Skies unless I give some geographic and historical context.

Verant is very similar to Earth, having the same atmosphere, chemical composition, and rotation axis. It's orbited by two natural satellites, Alderhan and Tarohan. A year has 14 months, with each one lasting 24-25 days.

I won't be speaking about every single country since...evidently, I've only developed the areas that are actually relevant to the story :P

Some specific infodumping after the cut!

--------------------------------------------------------------

The Atesham Empire is a nation that disappeared around a hundred years before the story takes place. It was a paragon of scientific development, powered by their rich uranium mines. However, in the other countries desire to seize control over their resources, they opted to destroy the mines in an event that rendered their territory into a nuclear wasteland.

--

The Tarrukar Empire is a densely populated northern country. They've historically been a colonialist nation, powered by their domestication of the horse and the falcon. While their power and reach have diminished a lot, they still are one of the strongest nations in the world's geopolitics.

Tarrukar took on a strong interest in genetically modified soldiers after the fall of the Atesham Empire. The former nation had done a lot of progress in the field, but most of the involved scientists fled during the war. Tarrukar offered them asylum in exchange for their knowledge, and from this, they created transgenic humans, or transhumans; laboratory-grown animals with visual resemblance to humans.

Initially, transhumans were created by implanting new genes into a human fetus. In modern times, they are all synthetic in nature.

Tarrukar is fervently pro-transhuman, leading the research into new territories. While their expertise began in military design, currently they also create transhumans for domestic care and show. Socially, transhumans are meant to be subservient as a show of gratefulness for being created.

--

The Republic of Braukar is a very new country, created after the Tarrukar Civil War a couple of decades ago. This war happened due to the disapproval of civilians towards the creation of the Cyclones. These groups had suffered greatly during the war with Atesham, and instead of providing aid, the Empire had opted to splurge tax dollars on demonic bird creatures. In current times both nations aren't in direct war, but they aren't on good terms.

Braukar is harshly anti-transhuman, and they will deport or even execute any found in their territory.

--

The Kingdom of Menet is another northern country, linked to naval power and machinery. Historically, it has been in constant battle with Tarrukar to control the system of isles on the Storm Sea. After the fall of Atesham and the introduction of Cyclones, Menet decided to make their own variety of genetically modified soldiers. These are called Vastare, and while they look fully human, they have superior traits, ranging from healing to strength and speed.

While Menet accepts the concept of transhumans in theory, they have very strict limitations towards their creation. In particular, they are against introducing visually non-human traits, as this goes against the Menetian ideal of human holiness over beasts.

This doesn't stop the wealthy from commissioning Tarrukar-made transhumans, though.

--

The Tescano Alliance is an international organisation that spans sixteen countries, with its headquarters in Teotlanco. It has some level of sovereignty over its members, while still allowing independence between the nations. Ancient civilization hailed from this part of the world, and while most modern customs have been replaced by Tarrukar and Atesham's influence, many terms and ideals come from Tescano roots.

The Tescano nations have limited contact with foreign states. Other countries leave them alone too, as a war declaration with one means having to face the entire alliance.

Their views towards transhumans are neutral. The Tescano culture sees all living things (animals, plants, and beyond) as gifts that deserve respect, transhumans included. They will welcome any of them into their countries, getting treated with the same rights as any other foreigner. However, creating new transhumans is banned in the Alliance as it's seen as a transgression against nature's will.

#worldbuilding #geography #fantasy map #science fiction #concept art #Vagrant Skies

[ayeforscotland]

Hey previous anon

Sorry i think you misunderstood me about 'the deficit', more specifically that the average Scot currently receives more in public spending and contributes less in tax than the national average. Nothing to do with the national debt, more that the way Scotland is currently run is not financially sustainable and in order to BE financially sustainable as an independent country it would have to cut the things that make it better than the rest of the UK. Or tax people more. Which is a great way to sell a referendum.

Also I know its a tired comparison but 'our trade is currently restricted by the entity we do the vast majority of our trade with, so we need to erect massive tariff barriers with it and completely restructure our export market in order to reclaim our sovereignty' really?

'None of the practicalities of making this immense change really concern me so long as we have the capacity to make the decisions for ourselves' fucking really?

There's a reason why this blog only posts about the fuckups of Westminster, funny and many as they are, and its because you don't have answers about how to make this work beyond 'it will work.' 60% of your trade is with the UK? Doesn't matter, the EU will sort it out. Never mind the presumed change in tastes and preferences or the differences in competition structure, it'll just work. Because it has to.

As it stands, support for independence is about 50/50. And running with that comparison, what happened the last time the government made a decision with little consideration of the consequences that half the country opposed?

Again its pointless because this is your identity so nothing's gonna get changed here, and I recognise the same is true for me. It's just frustrating.

Okay so I reckon you're pulling this from the annual GERS report which accounts for Scotland as a region of the UK rather than if Scotland was an independent country. This means the GERS contains multiple UK-wide expenditures which are not controlled by the Scottish Government. These costs are applied to GERS as a population percentage of total UK Government expenditure, this happens regardless of where that expenditure was applied and whether it was the Scottish or British government that spent the money. This *is* impacted by UK National Debt. There's a line in GERS called the 'Public Sector Debt Interest' which is the interest on the debt accrued by the British Government that Scotland contributes to paying off. From 2019-2020 this added up to an additional £4.5 Billion. Lastly on the economics side, several revenues like Oil & Gas taxation, corporation tax and VAT are controlled by the UK Government. Changes to those can drastically alter Scotland's income without running it past the Scottish Government. Now on to Trade - It's funny you talk about barriers when the UK has just bent over backwards to get a deal for Northern Ireland through. The only reason you would talk about erecting a barrier between Scotland and England is because you believe the British Government are going to deliberately negotiate in bad faith. And sure, you might claim that that's their right, but that's not exactly going to win anyone over to the pro-union side. I never said anything about ignoring the practicalities so I'd appreciate you don't put words in my mouth. Becoming an independent country will require hard work and effort, and it's 100% worth it if we are able to then make our own economic decisions. We barely have to look back six months to see a Tory Party tanking the economy on a whim over the course of a week. I have plenty of criticisms about the Scottish Government - it often moves at a frustratingly glacial pace to enact change. Some policies stagnate because of lack ambition from senior civil servants. But that's nothing compared to the ridiculousness of the Westminster system who are often outright malicious in their policy-making - and they hold the purse strings for the devolved governments. There is a democratic deficit in the UK, and it's why many people support independence. I know this is probably difficult for you to reconcile with which is why unionists tend to opt for the barrage of practicalities first, and you're never happy with any of the answers so you just resort to saying we've not answered the questions. At the end of the day you just don't want Scotland to leave the UK because you see that as part of your identity - and that's absolutely fine. But pretending that Scotland is some unique economic basket case is silly. I'm cool with unionsts who openly say they are passionate about the union, they don't need to dress it up.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Karen Bekker

Although they’re slightly late to the party, Rolling Stone seems to have gotten the memo that the latest trend in antisemitic agitation posing as journalism is glamourizing young Palestinian terrorists. A nearly 6000-word piece by Jesse Rosenfeld – who has previously written for +972, The Nation, and Al Jazeera – fails to inform readers of Palestinian rejectionism, payments of salaries to convicted terrorists, or the effect of terror on Israeli society.

Instead, Rosenfeld portrays “Gen Z” terrorists as having no alternative but to take up arms against Israeli civilians: “‘Israel has left us no choice,’” he quotes his 22 year-old interview subject, a member of a Jenin-based terror cell, saying. “‘The occupation has proven that the more we are silent, the more it will take from us.’” What Israel has attempted to give to the Palestinians – that is, independence – isn’t mentioned.

And at the same time, the article portrays Israeli actions as wantonly evil. (“Generals, Peaceniks, and Palestinian Fighters Agree: Bibi Must Be Stopped,” July 22, reprinted on Yahoo.)

The piece brings to mind the adage that “a half-truth is a whole lie.” Consider the following passage from Rosenfeld’s article:

Elias and Mohammad al-Ashqar are in a state of shock. Sitting in the living room of their modest ground-floor family apartment in the Askar refugee camp on a brisk winter evening, they are surrounded by men from the community. The al-Ashqar brothers’ father, 61-year-old Abdel Hadi, had been shot and killed during an Israeli-army raid in the adjacent northern West Bank city of Nablus hours earlier. The Israeli army stormed the crowded city at 10 a.m., opening fire as residents scrambled, abandoning their midmorning shopping to run for their lives down the winding streets.

Several paragraphs later, Rosenfeld does add that “the bloody Feb. 22 raid-turned-firefight was directed against the Lions’ Den.” From his description of events, however, a reader could easily think the IDF opened fire on Palestinian civilians for no reason at all. In fact, the Times of Israel reported, “The Israel Defense Forces said troops had entered Nablus to arrest [Hussam Bassam] Isleem, a senior member of the Lion’s Den terror group, who was allegedly the third member of a cell that killed Staff Sgt. Ido Baruch during a shooting attack in October.” According to a military source, “soldiers surrounded a home where three suspects, all members of the Lion’s Den terror group, were holed up, demanding they turn themselves in,” a gun battle broke out between the members of the terror cell and the IDF, and civilians were tragically killed in the crossfire. But Rolling Stone would prefer its readers to think the Ashqar brothers’ grief is solely a result of gratuitous Israeli violence.

#rolling stone #jesse rosenfeld #media bias

[useless-catalanfacts]

What do you think about the idea that Valencian is a separate language from Catalan? I'm pretty sure you don't agree with it but do you think it's harmful? What do you think are the motivations behind it?

Yes, it's harmful because it was created to be harmful.

A while ago I answered a similar ask about the main talking points of blaverism. That post is more "academic", in a way, as in you'll find citations and a serious breakdown of the arguments. You can find the post here:

But to focus on your question, you guessed right, I don't believe they're different languages. It's obvious to anyone who speaks the language that Catalan and Valencian are the same language. It's like saying that British English and American English are different languages. Actually, it's even less different than dialects/accents from different parts of inside England itself.

Many languages have historically had more than one name, but that doesn't change the fact that it's the same. For example, nobody claims that "castellano" and "español" are different languages just because two words exist for it. Throughout history and places, Catalan has had many names: Limousin, Catalan, Valencian, Mallorcan, Tortosan, etc. But that doesn't stop it for being the same language.

And the variant of Catalan spoken in the Valencian Country is more similar to the variant of Catalan spoken in Western Catalonia, than Western Catalonia is to Eastern Catalonia.

Even if you don't speak the language, just looking at history it's obvious that they're the same language.

(the label "Castilian" means "Spanish")

Nobody doubts that the language from Andalucía is a variant of Spanish (even though Andalusian dialect is far more different from Northern Spanish than any sub-dialect of Valencian is to its most farther away sub-dialect of any other variant of Catalan). In Seville they speak Spanish for the same historical reason that in València they speak Catalan, as a result of the Medieval expansion of the Christian kingdoms after the Islamic conquest.

The idea that Valencian is a separate language was spread by Spanish supremacist right-wing in the 1970s, in the political context of the Transition (end of Franco's dictatorship, begging of the democracy). At the moment, the Valencian Country was the place with a stronger pro-independence movement in all Spain. This movement was in favour of the independence of the Catalan Countries (the Valencian Country, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands). Spreading "blaverism" (the ideology that Valencians have nothing to do with Catalans, that the language is different, that the history is completely separate) was a political strategy defended mostly by the right-wing (the political parties that has championed this idea the most are UCD and PP). The objective was to divide Catalans, turn us against each other, make us waste time arguing about pointless things instead of organizing, and to have an official set of excuses to use to separate us and implement anti-Catalan (=anti-Valencian) legislation.

It was mostly spread by UCD when they lost the 1977 regional elections in Valencia. They had an idea that is recurrent in Spanish politics which is "hey, let's use hatred towards Catalans to win votes!" and so they based their political strategy on that. (Same as Lerrouxism had done before, C's would do later, and Vox also first gained significance only with this).

It doesn't make any sense for anyone who speaks the language, it's so unbelievable that they're different languages and it would require a huuuuuge ignorance of any history whatsoever to deny the existence of the Crown of Aragon and the Catalan population of the Kingdom of Valencia. But they don't care, because it's not about culture or language or history: it's about ideology, (internalized) Catalanophobia and Spanish supremacy.

Blaverists don't (in 95% of cases) defend Valencia as its own culture or identity. It wouldn't be such a problem if they did. No, instead what they do is defend that Valencian culture doesn't exist per se, it's only a regional variant of being Spanish, ~but completely different from those Catalan rats because we don't want to be like them they're bad Spaniards pls Madrid senpai notice us we're good spanish patriots!~. That last sentence was me patronizing what they say, but it's not exaggerated at all. They even deny that the Valencian Country can be called "Valencian Country" (a historical name that Valencian people elected as their own in a referendum, but Spain last minute decided not to listen to) because they don't consider it a country but a Spanish region, and made up a conspiracy theory with no historical nor linguistic basis saying that Valencian is a different language and was already spoken before Jaume I's conquest... 🤦 (before the conquest, people spoke Arabic, and centuries before there had also been Mozarabic but it had gone extinct by the 12th century).

The worst thing is that blaverists have been violent too. As I said before, it's a movement whose most active members are far right-wing groups, often openly neo-nazi. The conflict reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s during what was called "the battle of València", but continued to the 1990s, and has been responsible for attacking Valencian intellectuals, scholars, activists and bookshops. Think just as an example how many times Joan Fuster's home was attacked with bombs!

That is a summed up explanation of the motivations of blaverism, but there would be so much to be said about it. During the years that the conservative party PP was in the Valencian government, they applied many policies in this direction. For example, did you know that in Spain each "comunidad autónoma" (administrative region) has its own TV and radio channels and we all can see all of them, except Valencians and Catalans? I live in Catalonia, I can watch the channel from Andalusia, Madrid, Galicia, whatever I want... Except for the Valencian one. And in València, they can watch again every channel they could want... Except the ones from Catalonia. Because the PP government made it literally illegal. Things like this are done to stop us from hearing the other, to make it easier that when a young Valencian person is told "Catalan is something else entirely", they will never have heard a person from Catalonia speak their same language and they'll be more likely to believe it.

So I'm sure there's someone who actually believes it, but tbh most people who claim to believe in the conspiracy theory that they're different languages and that Valencian comes from something older (I've even seen some claim that it comes from Ancient Iberian and not from Latin 🤯) ... I doubt they can actually believe it? It's so stupid and requires ignoring so much evidence for something that has zero evidence, I'm sure many of the leaders who say it (I'm thinking for example Jiménez Losantos, who yes is a fascist, but he has an education) are more focused on spreading that idea to further their ideological agenda of dividing the Catalan Countries to make us weaker, and not because they actually believe it. But, sadly, some people are fervent defenders of it, whether or not they actually believe it.

Needless to say, everyone is welcome to add to this post, especially Valencians.

#satyrwaluigi #ask #blaverisme

[mapsontheweb]

1920 Irish local election highlighting areas which supported pro-Irish independence parties in green versus areas which supported pro-UK parties in purple.

by u/MapsnStats

The 1920 Irish local elections were the last set of elections in Ireland whilst it formed part of the United Kingdom.

The result was almost identical to the 1918 general election where Irish Unionists won a majority in present-day Northern Ireland whilst pro-independence Sinn Féin won all-but-three constituency seats in present-day Republic of Ireland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_Irish_general_election

In present-day Republic of Ireland, the affluent south Dublin suburbs of Pembroke and Rathgar were the only areas to vote for pro-UK parties outside of Trinity College Dublin.

In present-day Northern Ireland, all parts of County Antrim and most parts of counties Down and Derry/Londonderry voted for pro-UK parties, with Tyrone being more pro-independence leaning and counties Fermanagh and Armagh being quite evenly split.

#maps #ireland #1920 #elections

[zvaigzdelasas]

An Amazigh separatist movement in Algeria has enlisted an American lobbyist based in Morocco to help it make a case for support from US officials and lawmakers built on concerns over Algiers' deepening ties to Russia and harsh crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia (MAK), whose leadership is based in Paris, calls for independence for the predominantly Amazigh region in Algeria's northern mountains. According to registration documents filed this week at the US Department of Justice, MAK has recruited Elisabeth Myers, an American lawyer, to represent it in Washington. The contract was signed on 25 June. Myers registered as a lobbyist using an address in Marrakech on the same day. “Activities will involve promotion of US friendship with Kabylia, along with an understanding of the region, its people, and the impact of the Algerian government's strong-arm tactics over the region,” the documents say. MAK has already secured meetings with two US lawmakers’ offices. On Thursday, Kabylie independence leader Ferhat Mehenni will meet virtually with senior officials from Democratic Senator Tim Kaine’s office and Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, a source familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.[...]

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US made a bid to pull Algeria away from Moscow’s orbit. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited the country in March 2022 as part of a wider trip to the region that included a stop in Morocco. A US spokesperson said Blinken vowed to "broaden and deepen the [US] relationship with Algeria."

But Algiers has proven resistant. In June, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune met Putin on a visit to Russia designed to strengthen cooperation between the longtime allies. Western countries have had more success gaining access to Algeria’s massive gas reserves. US energy giants Chevron and Exxon are nearing a deal that would allow them to drill in the country for the first time, Algeria’s energy minister told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. But European countries’ rush to find alternatives to Russian gas has also empowered Algeria, which has replaced Russia as the top gas supplier to Italy, and is now shopping around for Italian-made military hardware. It is also locked in a rumbling dispute with Spain over the status of Western Sahara which has brought non-energy trade between the two countries to a halt.[...]

The separatist group's bid for influence in Washington could prove to be an indicator of the future direction of Washington’s wider relations with Algeria, a major North African exporter of gas and oil.

Algeria designated MAK a terrorist organisation in 2021. Authorities accused the group of working with Morocco and Israel to start deadly forest fires in the Kabylia region. MAK and Morocco denied the allegations. A 2021 US State Department terrorism report called the terrorism label “more political than security focused,” adding that Algerian authorities refrain from discussing the group or its threats with their US counterparts.[...]

Algeria hosts and supports the Polisario Front, a rebel movement that established the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1973 in the disputed Western Sahara, which Morocco annexed in 1975 after the end of Spanish colonial rule. The US unilaterally recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory in exchange for Rabat's normalisation of ties with Israel. Amazighs [...] are an ethnic group scattered across Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya whose roots in the region predate the Arab conquest of North Africa. Amazighs are believed to account for about 20 percent of Algeria’s 44 million population. Their culture and language have historically been suppressed by the Algerian government. Amazigh activists played a prominent role in the Hirak movement.

29 Jun 23