wyf-of-bathe

[wyf-of-bathe]

Reminder: Jewish indigeneity is not a threat to any other ethnic group. It’s just a fact. Acknowledging Jews as indigenous to the levant doesn’t actually harm any Palestinians. Palestinian indigeneity does not actually rely on Jews NOT being indigenous. Multiple peoples can be indigenous to the same place.

#antisemitism

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748852177010900992/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe748757914593935

Same anon — I do not have a horse in the race either. At a baseline, I do not like when people get hurt, so I am on the side of “get a ceasefire, permanent, temporary leading to permanent, just stop the bombs and the rockets”. And it has been troublesome to try and advocate for that because I don’t trust anybody who I’d potentially be marching with.

I made a meme to respond to this because I cannot for the life of me articulate my thoughts, but I feel using a meme is in bad taste so now I just have to nod and shrug like

#sorry; tumblr has castigated me before for using memes when I couldn't articulate my thoughts so ig you just don't get to learn my thoughts

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748850429612457984/also-same-anon-from-previous-asks-and-that-it

Same anon — you did not get the asks out of order, I sent them like “Oh, that’s a good thought, I should send that”

it's more that I didn't pay attention to whether or not I answered them in order lol. but thank you.

[wyf-of-bathe]

ftr I also see when US policy is unfairly biased in Israel's favor over Palestinians. and sometimes it's just fucking... jfc.

okay, so the US has found that a particular Israeli military unit has committed grave human rights violations and thus the Leahy Law obligates the US to suspend aid to that unit. okay, that's legit; in fact it's about fucking time and is still not near the amount of pressure I'd like to see the US apply. however, it seems now the US is postponing that halt in aid so as to give Israel time to 'right the wrongdoing.'

in contrast to that, I recall the US and other countries suspending aid to UNRWA nigh instantaneously upon getting reports that UNRWA employees had participated in October 7th, committing grave human rights violations.... despite the fact that UNRWA not only announced that themselves, but were also actively taking action against said employees.

like, okay, I am well aware that there's a lot of information the public doesn't have access to - especially in the case of UNRWA and Hamas - and it's unclear what exactly US (and other) officials saw that caused them to act so quickly and drastically, but in the absence of having that information, this is a pretty wild double standard. and honestly, in absence of that information, I'm still not convinced cutting aid to UNRWA isn't causing more harm than not. so this particular example of double standard is pretty egregious.

[wyf-of-bathe]

just as a disclaimer: I see a lot of news every day that I don't comment about on this blog. I'm still keeping up with news on Ukraine, Taiwan (re: the earthquakes), Sudan, Niger, Iran, etc etc. I have too many thoughts to put into posts so I generally Just Don't, but I do try to pay attention.

anyway tldr: just because I'm not talking about it on this blog doesn't mean I'm not aware of it.

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748757914593935360/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe748677220038590?source=share

Same anon

And just to start a dialogue (which is gonna be hard through anon, but bear with me):

One thing I can thank my brain for is that it has to double, triple, and quadruple check everything because I got caught up in the wave too (which I am ashamed of, I want to be a better person than what I turned out to be) but then after a while, things just stopped making sense. The bad part is, I still genuinely don' t know if I'm in the wrong, because the people around me are so confident they're right. Having doubt feels like betrayal, and I already have a hard time trusting myself, so...

Bad combo.

yeah!!! yeah!!! you get it!!!

I feel this is intensified by the fact that I - I'm not sure about you, but I assume you're similar in this regard - am neither Israeli nor Palestinian, so I don't really have a horse in this race. and that, in turn, just makes me feel more obligated to attempt to be fair and impartial to both sides because I don't have that personal, emotional connection. because neutral mediators can make for great peacemakers, right? and since I'm already privileged, I should use my privilege to help others. so I should be trying to mediate, not inflame tensions.

and then I feel like a dick when I decide 'hold on, these arguments aren't equal' and end up giving more support to one side - at least for now - than the other. like now I feel guilty for maybe not being impartial. which is even more aggravating because Palestinians and Israelis do both have valid and equal points of view! it's just, uh, western leftists tend to not engage with either of them, and the POVs they do engage with are causing a lot of immediate harm in my country, so I feel obligated to give the majority of my attention to that. because realistically speaking, as an American I can do a lot more to help American Jews than I can do to help Palestinians or Israelis.

anyway it's all very fucky-wucky and generally not great when you have the occasional clinical Problem with reality.

#ask #anon

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748757412975132672/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe748672286631018?source=share

Same anon and I just got an example of this kinda thinking -- somebody on a Discord server I'm in mentioned that the pier they're building for aid over in Gaza got shelled by millitants (https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/25/gaza-terrorists-attack-israeli-pier-00154386)

Except that they just went into the server and outright said "Israel bombed the pier", and everyone instantly agreed, without even having read the article.

I love how everyone is satisfied with this situation because it's exactly what everyone expected.

people who thought US forces would just get attacked by militants while building the pier: correct.

people who thought Israel would attack the pier: they know it in their hearts that they are correct. they know this with such conviction that there no need to actually read the article.

people who figured the previously group would react this way without actually reading the news: correct.

everybody wins!

#ask #anon

[wyf-of-bathe]

Also, same anon from previous asks and “that it was Zionist and suspicious to blame Netanyahu for doing these things instead of 'Israel,' because - in their eyes - all Israelis were complicit, and blaming Netanyahu was just using a convenient scapegoat” is actually a lot closer to the take I am thinking of.

As a side note, it really sucks that it’s come down to this. I really feel like we (Royal we) could have done a lot of good

oh, I may have gotten these asks out of order. hm.

I (jokingly) object to the use of Royal we when in respect to Americans but yes, it's been.... disappointing. so much energy to effect change, and it's being used for the worse.

#ask #anon

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748757412975132672/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe748672286631018

Same anon — you’re good! I have my ups and downs, but I’m seeing somebody to help out so that my downs aren’t at the bottom of the Marianas Trench

As for what happened with HowidyHamza (got the name mixed up the first time) — he posted the following on Twitter:

“As a Gazan I’m delighted to see that the world has finally woken up on one of the biggest money laundering organizations “UNRWA”, cutting some of its resources isn’t enough it must be banned globally.”

And then he was immediately accused of being a poser / a Fed (specifically a Fed, there were a lot of memes about that if I remember correctly). To counter, he posted his travel papers for himself and his family or something like that and they clowned on him for that too, saying “look how the numbers are exactly the same on this one specific part of the paper, it’s fake”. Last I checked, he posted a photo of himself on the campus of the Islamic University of Gaza to prove he is who he says he is.

He is also a contributor to Newsweek, he has written two articles — one saying “Yes, Hamas is actually bad” (https://www.newsweek.com/hamas-tortured-me-dissent-heres-what-they-really-think-palestinians-opinion-1857169), the other saying “This is not an ideal way to do campus protests” (https://www.newsweek.com/message-gazan-campus-protesters-youre-hurting-palestinian-cause-opinion-1894313)

I don’t want to know what Twitter is saying in response to that. I can guess, though, and it fills me with dread.

taking a brief moment to be amused at the contrast re: your main problem being downs the depth of Mariana's Trench and my main problem being highs the height of Mt. Everest. poetic symmetry.

oh, I've seen his first article! nothing in that first article surprised me; it feels a lot like what I hear from Iranians, Cubans, Vietnamese etc who fled to the US during their countries' respective revolutions. if anything, I'm mostly just surprised I haven't seen more diaspora Palestinians voicing dissent against Hamas. it's honestly a bit odd tbh.

I really do feel for this guy. I don't like waxing poetic about how sympathetic/empathetic I am for someone's situation, so suffice to say, I've kept this guy in the back of my mind for awhile, while also recognizing that no one single person represents their entire nation and this guy may be a fringe minority opinion. doesn't mean his opinion is invalid per se, but I can't assume the majority of Palestinians think like he does. I don't see why people can't just recognize that instead of calling him a fed and discrediting him as a Palestinian.

#side note: my personal anecdotal experience is that Iranian immigrants are the most likely to voice dissent against their old gov #I've chatted with total strangers - in public - about how much they hate the IRGC. and like. they HATE the IRGC #tbf most of the 'in public' settings were train stations/airports and we all know social interaction gets a little weird in those places #ask #anon #i/p

[wyf-of-bathe]

I've been dealing with bad reader's block for awhile now, and for whatever reason, I can only really make myself read nonfiction and maybe the occasional short fanfic.

most recently, I've been reading a nonfiction book about the history of Islam's origins, and I can actually read it and focus! without struggling! I feel actually literate and not like the ADHD gremlin I usually am!

the problem is that this book is so fucking bogus and revisionist like. dude. your thesis sucks and even I know that. it's not revisionist in a current American liberal or conservative way, but in a Dan Brown way. sir, I think 'maybe the Prophet Muhammad was actually a nobleman or king from around the Syria-Palestine area and not only were the hadiths and isnads were invented wholecloth but also Arabized from a previously not-Arab source' is not a very tenable thesis...... like it's just a lot to take, my guy, for a great many number of reasons.

so why do I keep reading it? I have no idea. it's like reading Dan Brown but Dan Brown who's convinced he's writing serious historical nonfiction. this is some kind of bizarre orientalist anti-Arab racist nonsense. I just want to put this man under a microscope and ask what his fucking problem is.

#IT DOESN'T EVEN COMPEL ME THOUGH #I just wanna see how he can possibly fucking make this argument at all #it's bile curiosity at this point #this author: yeah so we are aware that there were Jewish tribes in the Hejaz & south and all kinds of Christians in northern Arabia #also this author: HOW could have Muhammad have lived SO FAR from the centers of Judaism & Christianity yet have known SO MUCH about them??? #this author: maybe.... BECAUSE HE WASN'T FROM ARABIA AT ALL??? #[incorrect buzzer noises] #admittedly maybe I'm just too early in the book but like. :/ #so far it's just really funny because everything he brings up as background just like... refutes his own thesis #I appreciate that most scholarly reviews of the book come to the same conclusion: great writing style! your thesis is stupid though

[wyf-of-bathe]

I was pretty upset last night, which is not unusual given the nature of my disability.

what was unusual, however, was my conclusion that the only thing that could possibly soothe me was to listen to a New Zealander accent...? I listened to a few hours worth of youtube essays just because the youtuber was a Kiwi? like I need to emphasize that I wasn't psychotic or anything, just very distressed.

besties I am having symptoms tonight.

#I don't even find the New Zealander accent very special? #mostly I think it sounds like an Aussie speaking thru a mouthful of peanut butter #sorry kiwis

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748677220038590464/for-the-record-i-keep-trying-to-understand-their

Same anon as the one trying to explain their viewpoint — I am again very sorry if I have made any aspect of your condition / psychosis worse. I have my own troubles with things like that,

and you're fine. I'm better today than I was yesterday, and I was better yesterday than the day before, so I am improving.

Something I want to clarify because I should have earlier: I'm not equally vulnerable to triggers at all times; rather, usually I'm reasonably resistant to triggers, but under certain circumstances/at certain points when my body and brain are already doing weird shit, I get much more vulnerable. so things that would trigger me this week would not necessarily trigger me two weeks ago. explaining someone else's viewpoint will, both in general and when I'm vulnerable, not be a trigger. but someone insisting, in absolutist language, to 'not listen to what they tell you' or using other conspiratorial phrases and positing a completely different set of facts with no language to indicate any sort of subjectivity - eg 'this was my experience' - is going to annoy me when I'm lucid and trigger me when I'm vulnerable.

something extremely annoying about many psychotic disorders is that they tend to have a late onset, so this is all pretty new to me too, and I'm also still trying to understand and get the hang of it. I'm also a bit slow on the uptake as to when I start entering that more vulnerable phase, unfortunately.

I hope you're doing okay. this... this shit absolutely sucks, to say the least.

#ask #anon

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748672286631018496/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe748518044049063

Same anon — glad to hear you are doing better! I hope, despite the difficulties of… everything, you are able to navigate the world in a relatively peaceful manner.

To explain further:

Q: “[Do people] realize that when they demand others 'pick a side' that there are more than two sides at play[?] Or they do recognize this and take it to mean anyone not on 'their' side is therefore on the 'other' side, whether or not that's actually true.

A: Essentially, yes. The prevailing narrative seems to be “Palestinians (the people / resistance) vs. Israel (the gov’t, people, state, etc.). I think one take I have seen (not sure how widespread it is, but I would not be surprised if it was) is that the Tel Aviv anti-government protests essentially don’t count because “they just don’t like Netenyahu, they don’t want Palestinians to have equality”, or some such statement. Also, there I’d a notion that “they’re going to use Netenyahu as the fall guy to pretend everything is fine if / when he leaves”.

And a question of my own: I’m not sure I fully understand how “Biden is the President as all these bad things are happening” is specifically reactionary. I get that it’s whataboutism, which is a logical fallacy, but it’s most commonly used as a retort to a “what about Trump” comment, specifically in the context of Gaza. But that’s also in the most generous case. Most times, it feels like the Two Minutes of Hate but stretched out over a 24 hour period.

With regards to reactionary politics, though: the general consensus (at least online) seems to be that the Overton Window has shifted so far to the right that Biden himself is right-center, and what he REALLY wants is for the things that are happening in Gaza to keep happening, and that he’s essentially running diplomatic cover for Netenyahu, and that the people who try to speak in Biden’s favor are one of four things:

1. Hasbara

2. Crypto-zionists (definition: people who say they’re not Zionists online, then feed Zionist ideas through progressive language)

3. Biden staffers or Feds pretending to be a marginalized person to shift discourse (easiest example for the latter is what happened with HamzaHowdy)

4. Irredeemable pro-genocide maniacs (their words)

TL;DR — Discourse seems to be “You are either with us all the way, or you can fuck off and die.” (which is also a direct quote from a fairly popular leftist TikToker)

I have seen the suggestion that not only would the Israelis use Netanyahu as a fall guy - which, honestly, his party would do if they had two brain cells to rub between the lot of them - but that it was Zionist and suspicious to blame Netanyahu for doing these things instead of 'Israel,' because - in their eyes - all Israelis were complicit, and blaming Netanyahu was just using a convenient scapegoat. I shit you not, I have seen that take.

And re:

And a question of my own: I’m not sure I fully understand how “Biden is the President as all these bad things are happening” is specifically reactionary.

Sorry, that's probably me misusing the term. I intended 'reactionary' in a more general, literal 'just reacting' sense, like resorting to whataboutism is a reaction rather than thought-out position; I didn't mean specifically reactionary politics. That's my bad.

easiest example for the latter is what happened with HamzaHowdy

.......... Do I even want to know?

#ask #anon #i/p

[wyf-of-bathe]

besties I am having symptoms tonight.

[wyf-of-bathe]

I can’t get over how the students at Columbia screamed “Go back to Poland” to American Jews. Not even Israelis (though that wouldn’t be okay either). American fucking Jews.

Way to tell me that you don’t want me in your country and think my family and I would be better off dead. You’re such an activist, gleefully screaming for the ethnic cleansing of your country’s own populations.

Get absolutely fucked, you monsters.

#re: my post immediately before this: this is the kind of shit that triggers my psychosis #'don't believe what you're told' 'don't listen to what the mainstream media says' etc #this is not promoting the critical thinking of bias and detecting deception #it's just straight up unreality #literally if you just worded it differently it'd be fine #but no. we have to be absolutist about it

[wyf-of-bathe]

for the record, I keep trying to understand their point of view and how they see and understand the history and current events of the conflict - am I being fed biased information? are they being fed biased information? if so, how can we reach them? - and there's such a massive discrepancy between the far left's framing of the conflict and pretty much everyone else's that it's been threatening to trigger my psychosis again. I'm not even saying that disparagingly, either; they have such a dramatically different perception of reality that listening to them makes me feel like I'm literally going insane.

and they don't seem to be aware of how others perceive them and how others perceive the conflict, which imo is absolutely devastating to their cause.

this isn't even respectability politics either; we're well past that. we're at the point that the far left seems to conflate 'persuading others to support the cause' with 'respectability politics.' at that point, why even bother?

does the far left even know that they have effectively alienated massive numbers of regular folks who’ve seen protesters chanting “burn tel aviv to the ground” and “globalize the intifada” or watched jewish people all over the world be subjected to harassment from antizionists

personally, speaking as a long-time leftist, i have lost all trust in leftists as a whole

#i/p #leftist antisemitism

[wyf-of-bathe]

https://www.tumblr.com/wyf-of-bathe/748518044049063936/httpswwwtumblrcomwyf-of-bathe742150338030747

Same anon

(Disclaimer:

This ask is not meant to trigger / worsen anything. I just wish to share this information so you are able to understand the logic [or, rather, illogic] behind the current discourse as best I understand it. I do not claim to understand the motivations myself, this is just my best possible guess. Take all the time you need to respond to this ask. I mean this with all the sincerity and seriousness I am able to convey over text.

End disclaimer)

With regards to the “is ANYONE paying attention to what Trump is promising at the moment” tag: it’s either “we survived four years of Trump already, we can do four more”, or “Bringing up Trump is bad faith whataboutism because Biden is the President as all these bad things are happening”, which ties into “Libs are allergic to criticizing Golden Boy Biden”. For more specificity, I half remember seeing a tweet that said something along the lines of “The libs are saying that Biden can’t do anything, so I’m not worried about what Trump can do”.

And there’s also this developing strain of “saying you’re with the civilians is a cop-out; you have to pick a side”. I didn’t stick around long enough to see where that went.

(Thank you for the disclaimer; I wasn't entirely sure on that last ask if you were trying to explain or persuade.)

Partisanship and polarization is nothing new lately, but it is frustrating that people don't seem to realize that when they demand others 'pick a side' that there are more than two sides at play. Or they do recognize this and take it to mean anyone not on 'their' side is therefore on the 'other' side, whether or not that's actually true. But what else is new?

As far as

Bringing up Trump is bad faith whataboutism because Biden is the President as all these bad things are happening

This is just pure reactionary kneejerk bullshit.

#ask #anon #my head is clearer today than it was yesterday #not that I'm focusing but I am focusing *better*