Mew Mint Redesign! She's A Ballerina And A Bird, So I Couldn't NOT Do Princess Tutu

Mew Mint redesign! She's a ballerina and a bird, so I couldn't NOT do Princess Tutu

The Israeli government is not the sole voice of all Jewish people everywhere. Yet I've seen a lot of people justify refusing to express an opinion or talk about the massacre because they don't want to "offend" Jewish people or be labeled as antisemitic.

It was easy to blame Russia for their invasion because many governments already saw them as a threat. But Israel? The country full of people who have been hated and abused around the world for unimaginable numbers of years? They can't possibly do anything wrong to other people, right?

"Oh the media being biased/silent on Gaza is a conspiracy theory"

I am a literal journalist and this is what happened when I pitched an article to a magazine I write for:

We covered conflict before. We denounced PMs' positions as wrong before. But this is where the editor balks - anything that makes it look even vaguely like we might, possibly, support Gaza. Even if the article itself would not have been an opinion piece, but a news feature about events on the ground.

We have free press, baby! But avoid the matter entirely if you can. It's delicate and depressing, why would you talk about it? Don't rock the boat. Be quiet. You don't need to go there.

Self-censorship is alive and well.

Bold of you to assume they want resistance of any kind, no matter how nonviolent. If someone cries about how people should peacefully protest, that only exposes them as the kind of person who condones the horrors being committed.

my coworkers, all of whom are white Christian women, said today that they think ANYONE of Palestinian descent should be deported to Gaza and then have bombs dropped on them.

They don’t know I’m Palestinian. I’m fucking terrified. We don’t have HR. I can’t lose my job. It’s crazy to me that they can spout genocidal bullshit but if I so much as mention my ethnicity they may turn on me and hate me.

I’m a patient care coordinator at a pulmonary practice. All I want to do is make sure my patients get the care they need and deserve. I’m the only care coordinator in my office. I’m great at my job. But it was so hard to focus today knowing that if my coworkers knew about one of the biggest aspects of my identity - one of the things about myself about which I am the most proud - they would stop seeing me as a person.

Fuck off with the bothsidesism. With the whataboutism. This is what the mass of propaganda and lies and anti-Arabism being spread in the media do. And I’m terrified.

Some things to note when you're discussing Palestine and Israeli apartheid in the coming days/weeks/months (not a complete list but will update as I have the emotional energy):

Do not refer to what is happening in Palestine as a "conflict" or "war." These words imply a balance of power that does not exist. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have no military, no control of their borders, no control over their access to resources like electricity, water, and medical supplies, no freedom of movement, and, most importantly, they do not have the most powerful government in the world funding them.

Israel is an apartheid state. Refer to it as such. It is based in a settler colonialist system that actively recruits and funds people from the Jewish diaspora to move into homes on stolen Palestinian land. Since the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, 42% of the West Bank has been illegally settled while 86% of East Jerusalem has been stolen for settler use. Under international law, the expansion of these settlements is illegal. Israel has faced zero repercussions for their actions. Hold them accountable in your speech.

Do not refer to the Israeli army as the "IDF" (Israeli Defense Force). Palestinians refer to them as the "IOF" for a reason--Israel does not need to defend themselves from civilians who have no military. From 2008 to September 2023, over 3,800 Palestinian civilians were killed by the IOF. There is no need for oppressors to defend themselves--they are the ones on the offense at all times by the nature of their positions of power.

Remember that decolonization will not be a peaceful process. Do not condemn a group of people who have been brutally colonized, ethnically cleansed, and displaced from their homes for 75 years for fighting back against those oppressing them. This post concisely explains why the violence necessary for decolonization will never match that of the violence necessary for the sustained process of colonization. You cannot break free of a violent system with nonviolence. When Palestinians attempted peaceful protest in 2018 on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, they along with clearly marked journalists, doctors, and medics were shot and killed for their actions. Oppressors will maintain their power status by any means necessary; the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is proof of that. Decolonization requires violence because colonization itself is an inherently violent system.

Zionism does not equate to Judaism. Do not let Zionist propaganda fool you into believing that condemning the Israeli government is in any way anti-Semitic. The Israeli government does not represent the views of all Jews, even those who are Israeli citizens. Governments should always, always be criticized and held to account for their actions. Israel is no exception to this rule. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Anyone who tells you otherwise is weaponizing true Jewish oppression and suffering as a means to gain support for a violent, racist, apartheid government.

The problem is not the "Jews".

The problem is ISRAEL and the ZIONIST.

Not at all the jews agree with the wrongdoings of the ZIONIST and ISRAEL.