I/p War - Tumblr Posts
Is there anything I can do to help Palestinians besides call my representatives and beg them to stop killing people?
This is a great question. There are a few things you can do—just off the top of my head:
BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) https://bdsmovement.net/
Direct Action https://www.palestineaction.org/
Urge your University/School/Organization to put out a statement denouncing Israel
Organize a Protest/Participate in a local one
You might already be doing this but while calling your reps, tell them that as a voter, you're unwilling to support them in the upcoming election unless they urge the White House to take a stand against Israel and stop funding them
Share art/writing/films around Palestinian culture
If you're part of a union, ask them what they're doing to urge their industry leaders to take a stand against Israel + pressure the White House OR urge them to start a strike/walkout/etc if they're not doing anything already
Talk with your friends IRL about Palestine, whether in an activist capacity or watching a movie or literally anything
Reach out to a mosque to see if you can help them with anything
See if your city/state council has put out a statement in support of Gazans. If not, try to push them to do so.
Donate to Palestine Legal or Direct Action if you have some money to spare
KEEP TALKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know some of these don't feel like they have as big of an impact on helping Palestinians, but we do need to make an effort not to forget their humanity in the face of continued erasure and the media's sensationalist rhetoric.
Talking on social media and posting—while not seeming like a lot—does SO much. I know in USAmerica, it's like yelling into a void, but political analysts are saying that most of the "Global South" has completely lost any amount of goodwill it may have had the past few years. Hopefully, countries will start to put sanctions and embargoes en masse on the US and Israel soon.
Our goals here are BOTH short-term and long-term. We hope for the life and liberation of the Palestinian people, so anything that you can think of might help at some point in the future is encouraged to at least try.
If anyone else has any more ideas, feel free to reblog and add on. Thank you for asking, and here is to a liberated Palestine where Palestinians can live and thrive without fear.
... Ukraine itself stands with Israel, so I guess it's time to taste a little bit of the zionist poison.
I stand with Palestine 🇵🇸
and once again: it drives me absolutely fucking insane that the posts with the most notes and the most engagement aka the voices being most listened to do not come from jewish people, or palestinian people, or israeli people, or anyone actually remotely personally affected by this, it's just by some fucking american tankie wasps getting high off the clout and popularity of telling people how to be a politics understander. where the fuck is your 'listen to marginalized voices' now, tumblr. fuck you.
i think a lot of people are clinging on to very antisemitic ideas about the global Jewish elite being behind the current us military policy in Israel because they’re antisemitic
i also think a lot of them are doing it because it provides targets that are easier to deal with mentally and simpler to fight than…: the entire us military industrial complex. Like so many of these isssues are in fact *worse* than you think they are. The us doesn’t give Israeli civilians or the Israeli economy direct cash. It hasnt been brainwashed into loving Israeli civilians through some secret (((hasbara))). The “aid” is a blank check of money that’s already been set aside for military purposes that is then used to buy weapons directly from American companies - think of it like a red lobster gift card from your uncle, who owns a red lobster. As such the money goes straight back to American arms dealers. Closed loop. They have so much reason for this continue forever and for war to continue forever. This isn’t a justification for any of the horrific things being done right now but it’s like…: so much more complicated than American Jews learning to sing hatikvah and I think there’s a massive misdirection on some of the interests involved, because those misdirects make an easier situation to swallow. After all Judaism as a whole, American Judaism, is so much less powerful than the collective interests of the military industrial complex - it’s an easier entity for people to call a war on
I'm going to try to turn my anger and frustration into action. I've abstained from making a post like this for a long time because I really don't enjoy this topic, but, we've reached a moment of such intense anti-Semitism that I think it's my duty, as a Holocaust historian, to say something. I'm going to use bullet points.
- Jewish people in leftist and pro-Palestine spaces who inform others that their speech has anti-Semitic undertones aren't trying to silence you; they're asking you to please not make the space actively unsafe for them because they WANT to stay and do this work. Anti-Semitism is part of the intellectual heritage of the West, and all the places the West has colonized. It is part of the language, the speech, the literature, in ways it's hard for non-Jews to grasp. When Jews hear it and see it, they're trying to educate you so these spaces can stay safe and accessibly to them; please listen.
- The "Zionists" aren't getting celebrities who speak out against the IDF's war crimes in Gaza fired from projects because "they" control Hollywood and the media. Those celebrities were spewing anti-Semitism veiled as criticism of Israel, and it's absolutely just that they face consequences. I wish all public figures faced consequences like these. Susan Sarandon, for example, said the following at a rally in New York: “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence.” This isn't courageous pro-Palestinian speech. This is very very blatant anti-Semitic rhetoric, in which Jews are viewed as an internal enemy; a hive-mind inherently more loyal to each other than the state; and who must suffer collectively for any act perpetrated by any Jew. Hitler talked like this. Henry Ford talked like this. The White Russians talked like this. Just because Susan Sarandon is too willfully ignorant to understand why what she said was deeply violent and anti-Semitic, doesn't mean that it wasn't anti-Semitic. To the contrary, these words not simply condone violence against Jews, but incite it. That doesn't help Palestinians. To the contrary, it creates situations where Jews may feel that they have no other option but to....flee to Israel. As happened to much of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Jewry during the second half of the twentieth century.
- Jews talking about the Holocaust, their historical experiences, and their intergenerational trauma is not political speech. It is not about Palestine, or Israel, until someone else decides to make it about Palestine, or Israel. Further, the realness of that trauma does not exist in counter towards the trauma experience by Palestinians. It does not cancel out the traumatic experiences of Palestinians, and vice versa. Both traumatic experiences simply exist. The Jew who barely survived Auschwitz and the death marches and made their way--sobbing and broken, with no living family to turn to and no home to return to--to the Promised Land when they had nowhere else to go; and the Palestinian Arab, who spent centuries living on and cultivating that land, only to be violently expelled from their property and forced to live as a landless refugee within a State built on their ancestral land, but not created for them, who now exist in silently damning photographs of Palestinian elders holding keys to properties which no longer exist...they are both real. These experiences exist, and not in contradiction to each other. As educated, informed people, our place is not to fight over which trauma mattered more or was worse, or happened in the first place, G-d forbid, but simply to accept that both experiences happened and were real. Are real. Very few things in this Conflict are easy or simple, and the only option is to learn to hold those contradictions in your head.
- All Israelis are as much a Netanyahu-loving Arab-hating group of nationals, as all US Americans are a Trump-loving POC-hating group of nationals. A lot of Israelis are DEEPLY unhappy with the war, Netanyahu, and his handling of Palestinians, and have been for a VERY long time. Netanyahu has been engaging openly in criminal acts, and working to undermine Israel's democracy for YEARS now. Further, Israel has a HUGE number of active political parties; at least 13 active right now, for a country with the population of ~9,813,920. It is a Parliamentary system, meaning that the party in charge is not the party which wins the majority of votes, but which wins the largest PROPORTION of votes. A majority of Israelis don't need to have voted for Netanyahu's party (Likud) for his party to have won the majority of seats in the Knesset. Moreover, if all Israelis WERE just like that first line of this bullet point's first sentence, why should American Jews have to be punished for that? Why is this belief in Jews as a collective hive-mind still so prevalent?
- "None of this matters all Jews should know better based on their historical experiences and any Jew who supports Israel is basically a Nazi." Yeah. A lot to unpack. First of all, no one is born having been educated and and encouraged to engage in critical thought about their past(s). That's a choice. Jews are before anything else, people, and they, like all people, must choose to grow, learn, and change. They, like you, can choose to learn from the past, or just sprint forward without critical thought. Like you. Like anyone. Now, for the next part....non-Jews really like using Hitler/Third Reich/Holocaust comparisons in relation to Israel and Palestine. Let's break this down to what it actually is. Israel and Nazi Germany are both examples of the nation-state. They are also VERY FAR from the only examples of a nation-state. Indonesia in a nation-state. China is/wants to be a nation state. Poland, Norway, Croatia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Rwanda, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey; Thailand, Mongolia; these are ALL nation-states. A nation-state--a type of polity which exists for a singular ethno-national group based on the understanding that that ethno-national group has long term historical roots in that particular geographic area--are an inherently exclusive type of political organization, and a product of modernity. Because they are inherently exclusive in their conception of statehood and citizenship, all nation-states will contain minority populations which exist as an existential threat to the State's ideological roots and agreed upon mythology. Under the best of circumstances, the majority will handle this minority with condescending interest and concern; under the worst, shit will go to ethnic cleaning and/or genocide places very fucking fast. This is not something exclusive to the Third Reich, or Myanmar, or Turkey, or Indonesia, or Bhutan, or China etc; this is a problem at the very heart of the construct of the nation-state. The fact that a certain portion of critics of Israel choose specifically Nazi Germany and the Holocaust as comparisons for Israeli policy towards Palestine again and again and again says, to me, that this is a person who is 1) sick of "whiny Jews;" 2) sick of having to pretend to care about the Holocaust; 3) is thrilled that "The Jews" (not Israel, the Jews) are "just as bad" as Hitler so now they can stop pretending to care about the Holocaust; and 4) knows that invoking that comparison will deeply disturb all Jews around, and will use their distress as "proof" that "all Jews" are Zionists who hate Palestine and use Holocaust memory as a tool of ideological violence. It's transparent, ignorant, and offensive.
If you are angry or defensive or wanting to unfollow me or respond with righteous indignation after reading this, it may be because you are an anti-Semite, and are suffering from cognitive dissonance based on the fact that you believe that you are a good person with no bigoted beliefs. The good news, is that you can use your negative emotions to learn, and grow a more complex understanding of all the truths and lies and parallel, contradictory truths at the heart of all this. This blog is a space I hope is open and welcome for everyone, Jewish, Palestinian, and otherwise, because deserves access to history, and an understanding of how history works. This is not a space, however, which will ever strive to make anti-Semites feel good about themselves.
Written by a Gazan author:
A post by @bambahalva on the subject of Oct 7 denials and demands for "proof" (that is already readily available) made me think of something related, but in the interest of not flooding her (very good) post I'll make a new one -
Does it make anyone else's skin crawl the way so many people outside of Israel and Palestine seem to face this war (and all the others before them, and the continued issues between wars) in a way that feels almost voyeuristic? The willingness of people outside Israel and Palestine to post graphic photos of dead children at the slightest provocation, the eagerness to breathlessly share the lurid details of real and alleged crimes, the insistence that it's somehow a moral duty to spend hours scrolling through photos of horrific scenes of pure human tragedy... It's. I mean. It's fucking grotesque.
I've complained on this blog before about true crime girlies (poorly) "analyzing" photos of the Oct. 7 aftermath and tbh, many of the reactions to the I/P conflict broadly remind me a lot of the worst aspects of true crime "fandom," where rather than being motivated by a real desire for justice or even a fascination with a complex real life mystery, people seek out and indeed demand the sordid details of the worst day of someone's life, treating a family's ongoing waking nightmare as entertainment to which they are entitled.
I don't know. I'm just thinking of how many times I've seen photos of horrific scenes of human suffering, bodies in Gaza and bodies from the kibbutzim, and dead Syrian children shared on Twitter by a self-proclaimed "activist" from Michigan in the name of Palestinian liberation, who doesn't know enough to know that these children died in a different country ten years ago, but by G-d, they're doing truly good work showing their corpses to strangers for...
What purpose, exactly?
I'm thinking of strangers with no influence and no power and no connection to this war save an emoji they just added to their username demanding to see graphic photos of rapes and mutilations, as if they're entitled to it, as if it's their right as an onlooker to gawk at human misery - And again I say, for what?
I’m sorry if I’m taking over your post op but it kills me how this post pointing out Hamas’s cruelty gets like what 80 notes, while posts with blood libel and conspiracy theories around Jewish people and stanning Hamas get thousands upon thousands of notes, all agreeing with that sentiment. It is really is clear that the people on here don’t give two shits about the lives being lost in this conflict and are more interested in pushing their ideology and bigotry.
who the Fuck still supports Hamas?!
yesterday they taunted everyone with showing three of the hostages and letting the world know that today they would tell everyone about their fate. Today they informed that two of those three are dead, they killed them.
Can you even imagine what kind of torture that had been not only for those three, but for their families and friends? To show you someone you love, someone you pray to return to you, only to tell you that in 24 hours you will know if they killed them or not? How it is to find out that they are gone forever? How could you believe that any good person could do that to another person? How could it be okay for a "freedom fighter" to do that?
Or are you going with the "it's not true, it is israeli propaganda" shit again like you did with the hostages? Only to not say anything when it is proven - trough exchanging the hostages for actual criminals - that they in fact did have the hostages the whole time?! How can you believe every shit lie they tell, but when the same people over the same channels inform you over their sensless hate and horrific brutal actions you suddenly claim it to be a lie?!
How can you still defend Hamas after all these things? After you were proven again and again that they care about no ones freedom, that they are not just and over all not good?! How can you still claim to be for human rights? Against discrimination and hate and violence?! How dare you still claim that you are anything but a raging antisemite?!
You yell "shame on you" at family members of the hostages and random jews you see on the street. But they are not the ones that should be ashamed. You are.
You do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to the DPRK
sometimes u do gotta hand it to dprk
Dear Free Palestine fans,
If you want to combat the inherent antisemitism in your ranks, don't say shit like "Israel wants jews to feel hated/unsafe". Israel didn't make you chant "Gas the jews" at Sydney hours after a bloody massacre of innocent civilians. Israel didn't make you celebrate and then deny the gruesome murders and mass rapes of men, women and children. Israel didn't make you carry Isis flags, or wear Hamas symbology and call Hamas freedom fighters. Israel didn't make you chant to globalize the intifada, to push 7 million jews and 2 million arabs into the sea, or one solution (how that last one did *not* remind you of Hitler's final solution I have no idea). Israel didn't make you excuse the slaughter and say that Hamas shouldn't be destroyed. Israel didn't make you rewrite Jewish history. Israel didn't make you attack and harass diaspora jews and bar them from using Cafe bathrooms (segregation much?). Israel didn't make you attack Jewish businesses. Israel didn't make you deny our right for self determination instead of advocating that both sides have a right to a state. Israel didn't make you call for a ceasefire WITHOUT the stipulation that Hamas stop shooting as well and release ALL the hostages, among which there is a 10 month old BABY and toddlers as young as 3 years old.
I could go on. Point is, Israel didn't make you do any of that. You did that. On your own. Take some fucking accountability and clean up your movement.
A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion
A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.
I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________
You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.
In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:
Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.
Pogrom- the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.
Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.
A brief History of the land of Israel
The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:
* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.
Exile from the land of Israel
Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.
Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.
The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.
Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)
Forced Conversion
Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.
*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.
First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati
Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.
Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)
*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)
As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).
-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.
Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)
Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת
The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד
Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.
Background for the Farhud:
WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.
History of violence towards Jews.
The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.
personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.
----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.
______________
Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".
What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud
History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/
What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB
The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/
Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots
Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk
Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period
Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4
https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext
@elenajones23 first of all, who are you, a non Jew to lecture me about what my religion does or doesn’t allow? Who are you to tell me, as someone who doesn't practice the same religion, that I can or cannot do things?
The Torah isn’t a simple set of guidelines and commands, it’s far more complex than that. It has different interpritations, so saying the torah doesn't allow it is blatantly false. The name "Zion" (Promised land) is mentioned 154 times.
“It isn’t your land and it never was your land” bullshit.
We absolutely do have a land, if we don't, then why do we have holy sights in Jerusalem? Why are names like "Jaffa" and "Haifa" Hebrew?
The land of Israel is where my ancestors came from, it is where they lived, it is where they had a connection to, and it is where they suffered under the romans and were exiled.
We were never welcomed in Europe, we were never welcomed in the rest of the middle east.
These are ancient scrolls called the "Dead sea scrolls" which are a set of ancient Jewish writings dating from the 3rd century BCE.
This is all of what remains of our ancient temple, this is what it once was:
The first temple is Solomon's temple, the second one is Herod's temple, which was destroyed in 70CE by the romans. centuries later, the Muslim caliphates built the Al Aqsa mosque which was built on top of our temple mount. Today, the west wall is all we have left of this historic holy place.
The name "Palestine" was given to the land of Israel by roman colonisers who exiled most of us from the land of Israel, took many of us slaves, and scattered everyone else through western Europe (Some moved further east).
Now about the Nazis = Zionist argument. The Nazis originally made a deal with German Zionist Jews (The Haavara agreement) to bring about a mass migration from Germany to Israel, it should be mentioned that this was because Hitler and the Nazis wanted a Jew-Free Europe, not because the Nazis supported Zionism.
This deal was criticized by both Nazis and Zionists. Zionist criticised it because it made a deal with the devil, and the Nazis criticised it because it went against their philosophy.
The Nazis were extremely antizionist, the belief that they were Zionists is soviet cold war propaganda to demonise the state of Israel and the broader Jewish community. They believed that Jews were biologically incapable of running their own state and were too inferior. Hitler had a "Palestinian" friend (Amin al-Husseini) who campaigned in Berlin, fought for a Palestinian state, and even CONTRIBUTED TO THE HOLOCAUST. They also lead a boycott of Jewish businesses in "Palestine".
So, you're wrong. So very very wrong. You can try to lecture me about the history of my own people and religion all you want, but you're wrong.
Please, kindly fuck off and read a history book. Please attend a Synagogue service and learn more about our religion before you come spewing false bullshit about it.
my biggest gripe with the pro palestinian movement is the lying. you can have empathy and feel remorse for gazans without lying and peddling every antisemetic trope in the book
you can realise that palestinian arabs did not kindly welcome jews who made aliyah before and after the shoah, they are not indigenous or the canaanites, they have been violent against israelis and jews, a lot of them do support hamas, the nakba was a war started by palestinians that they lost to israel, the palestinian national identity is reactionary to the israeli national identity, palestinians are not genetically distinct grom other arabs in the middle east, palestine is literally a colonial name given to the land by the romans to mock the jews living there to sever our connection to the land and STILL have empathy for palestinians. you can realise that they arent a perfect innocent victim and still have empathy for them. the source of their suffering isnt israel or jews, its the antisemitic and imperialistic goals of islamist leaders AND STILL. FEEL. REMORSE
if you need to distort the history of this land and its people and use antisemitic tropes in order to support palestine, you are the fucking problem!!!!! arabs are to the middle east what white people are to the west, and they are not victims just be they face oppression if they live in the west. go speak to any person from the indigenous populations of the middle east and levant and they can tell u all abt what islamism and arabs have done to them snd their families if u refuse to believe us sneaky lying je- i mean zionists. oh wait, its gonna be so hard to do that bc the arab world is doing everything in its power to kill them all
tl dr, you dont need to lie to have empathy for palestinians. you can accept the dirty past of palestinians (just as many israelis still love this country despite it flaws, less then pretty history and incompetent, corrupt government) and still empathise and believe in their self determination alongside jewish and israeli self determination. the need to lie, distort and discredit the jewish and israeli story shows your true (antisemetic) colors
(this is a rant from feb that u put on my insta story, thought it should be seen here)
Different Types of Propaganda: Part 1
Hello chuckle fucks of Tumblr, it's clear to me that you no fucking clue what propaganda is or how to spot it.
So 1st is what is propaganda?
Definition of propaganda:
the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors to help or injure an institution, a cause, or a person ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one cause or to damage an opposing cause https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda
dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumors, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion. It is often conveyed through mass media. https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda
information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread to influence people's opinions https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/propaganda
Propaganda Techniques Explained
This video does a good job of summarizing the different techniques
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sybo484veJY (you have to copy the link because the video doesn't allow playback.)
Agenda Setting:
Agenda: a secret aim or reason for doing something. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/agenda?q=Agenda)
A situation where critics perceive inexplicit political motives (or an institutional tendency to overlook underprivileged perspectives) to lie behind the choice of topics covered (e.g. in the news, current affairs, and documentaries), their relative importance (inferred from sequence and the relative amounts of space or time devoted to them), how they are presented, and what issues are backgrounded or excluded (see also selective representation). Media agendas are often set by ‘authoritative sources’ in government and industry upon which news organizations rely. The primary concern is that those in power thus call attention to issues that suit their agendas and distract attention from those that undermine them. It is usually argued that this influences or determines the terms and scope of public debate—not by telling people what to think but by telling them what to think about and controlling the salience for them of particular issues. (https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095355782)
Agenda setting means the "ability [of the news media] to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda". If a news item is covered frequently and prominently, the audience will regard the issue as more important. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)
(https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Agenda-Setting-Theory-Model_fig1_307536314)
Fear Appeal:
A psychological and rhetorical strategy in persuasive communication such as advertising that seeks to evoke a response of fear or anxiety in the audience by showing them an undesirable outcome that they can avoid by heeding the warning. This strategy is intended to increase the effectiveness of the message and it is commonly used in health and safety campaigns, such as those warning motorists not to drink and drive. (https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095812722?p=emailAWHA3YEy2eMug&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095812722)
For example, fear can be used to drive votes toward a particular candidate or party—a method that relies on our natural instinct to find safety in numbers. And, a meta-analysis conducted by Albarracin and her colleagues found that messages with fear are nearly twice as effective as messages without fear (Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 141, No. 6, 2015). (https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/fear-motivator-elections)
(https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/09/14/the-fear-appeal-advertising/)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreversible_Damage)
Appeal to Prejudice
Prejudice: an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/prejudice)
The one who makes the appeal to prejudice attempts to persuade you to act or feel in a certain way by associating his person, product or proposal with a certain one or more of your prejudices, positive or negative – a prejudice being a prejudgment wrapped in emotion and having a history. Not only does he rekindle your prejudice, he also arouses in you warm feelings toward the one (himself) who apparently shares your prejudice. And so it becomes much easier to make you believe or buy whatever he has to offer. (https://agloa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019PropGuidelinesSecD.pdf)
Using loaded or emotive terms to attach value or moral goodness to believing the proposition. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)
Der ewige Jude, a pseudo-documentary directed by Fritz Hippler and influenced by German Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, featured scenes of Jews in Warsaw and Lodz ghettos. The film was popular in Germany and occupied Europe, with notorious sequences comparing Jews to rats carrying contagion. The film also highlighted the alien nature of East European Jews, with "stereotypical" Polish Jews transformed into "western-looking" Jews. The film's crude characterizations and gruesome footage made it a hit with audiences, demonstrating that there was no difference between Jews in East European ghettos and those in German neighborhoods.( https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/der-ewige-jude)
Inevitable Victory + Bandwagon
Inevitable: certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/inevitable?q=Inevitable) + Victory: an occasion when you win a game, competition, election, war, etc. or the fact that you have won. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/victory?q=Victory) = Certain to happen and cannot to be stopped or averted occasion when you win a game, competition, election, war, etc.
Bandwagon: an activity, group, movement, etc. that has become successful or fashionable and so attracts many new people. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bandwagon)
An effort is made to influence you to act in a certain way by asserting or implying that that is what is popular or what the majority is doing (https://agloa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019PropGuidelinesSecD.pdf)
invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)
(https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-big-question-about-donald-trumps-rise-in-the-polls)
(https://x.com/AHA_tylersgap/status/734961473265373185/photo/1)
Beautiful People
The type of propaganda that deals with famous people or depicts attractive, happy people. This suggests if people buy a product or follow a certain ideology, they too will be happy or successful. (This is used more in advertising for products, instead of political reasons.) Usually for advertising rather than political purposes, sexual arousal may also be used. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)
depiction of attractive famous people or happy people to associate success or happiness with adherence to an idea or cause or purchase of a product. (https://www.dailywritingtips.com/50-types-of-propaganda/)
(https://quizlet.com/855901690/persuasive-techniques-flash-cards/)
Big lie
The repeated articulation of a complex of events that justify subsequent action. The descriptions of these events have elements of truth, and the "big lie" generalizations merge and eventually supplant the public's accurate perception of the underlying events. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#:~:text=Bandwagon%20and%20%22inevitable%2Dvictory%22,the%20road%20to%20certain%20victory)
A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth primarily used as a political propaganda technique. The German expression was first used by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf (1925) to describe how people could be induced to believe so colossal a lie because they would not believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Hitler claimed that the technique had been used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist political leader in the Weimar Republic. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie)
A deliberate gross distortion of the truth is used especially as a propaganda tactic. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20lie)
(https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/big-lie-looms-over-nevadas-legislative-primaries)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Adolf_Hitler#Mein_Kampf)
Black-and-white fallacy
Presenting only two choices, with the product or idea being propagated as the better choice. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
type of cognitive distortion characterized by the tendency to see things in absolutes, with no shades of grey in between. This type of thinking can manifest in various aspects of life, from relationships to work to personal beliefs. (https://www.psychowellnesscenter.com/Blog/how-does-black-and-white-thinking-affects-your-mood-and-behavior)
only two choices are given. You are either for something or against it; there is no middle ground or shades of gray. It is used to polarize issues and negate all attempts to find a common ground. (https://www.cuesta.edu/student/resources/ssc/study_guides/critical_thinking/103_think_logic_errors.html#:~:text=This%20technique%20is%20also%20called,to%20find%20a%20common%20ground)
"“Globalize the Intifada” is a phrase used by pro-Palestinian activists that calls for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel. The most prominent expressions of intifada have been through violence so this phrase is often understood by those saying and hearing it as encouraging violence against Israelis, Jews, and institutions supporting Israel. While the intent of the person saying this phrase may be different, the impact on the Jewish community remains the same."
(https://www.ajc.org/news/what-does-globalize-the-intifada-mean-and-how-can-it-lead-to-targeting-jews-with-violence)
See when people say "Globalize the Intifada" it implies that there are only two choices in the conflict. One, is the pro-Palestine side, that the aggressive resistance against Israel, and those who support it, and the pro-Israel side is the ones they are against. Without realizing that there is a peaceful option. ( The one I do not know because, one I am not a politician, and international politics is a mess. And two I do not know enough about the conflict to support a peaceful end where everyone is satisfied. )
Cherry picking
suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data that may contradict that position. Cherry-picking may be committed intentionally or unintentionally. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking)
Present only evidence confirming your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=29&k=cherry+picking&p=propaganda.php)
Example : “CLAIM: Four recent shootings show there has been an “incredible rise” in transgender or nonbinary mass shooters in the past few years, making the group “by far the largest group committing as a percentage of the population.” Donald Trump Jr. spread the narrative widely on Twitter, claiming the supposed “incredible rise” and later saying there was a clear trend forming. Hundreds of other social media users amplified the idea. Trump Jr. did not respond to a request for comment.” THE FACTS: While specific data on transgender and nonbinary mass shooters can be hard to isolate, available information shows that the overwhelming majority of assailants in mass shootings are cisgender males. In making the claim, social media users are citing four examples over the past five years in which the assailant in a shooting identified as trans or nonbinary: the November killing of five at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a 2019 shooting at a Denver-area school by two shooters, one of them a trans man, that left one student dead and eight wounded; a 2018 shooting at a Maryland warehouse that left four dead, including the shooter; and the shooting Monday in Nashville. The number of mass shootings committed by those identifying as trans or nonbinary — and their ratio compared to mass shootings committed by other groups — is hard to quantify. It depends on the database used, how the act is defined, and how gender identity is recorded — for example, transgender males may statistically be counted as just men. But experts agree that the most reputable information still shows a clear pattern that cisgender males are the most likely to commit such an act of mass violence.” (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-transgender-nashville-shooting-misinformation-cd62492d066d41e820c138256570978c)
(02:15: cherry picking definition: Biden highlights only wage growth in "the bottom 40%," while not mentioning that, due to inflation, real wages actually declined for all other income groups.) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=29&k=cherry+picking&p=propaganda.php)
Classical conditioning
That is, if A is always present when B is present and B causes a physical reaction (e.g. disgust, pleasure), then when presented with object A in the absence of B, that same reaction will be experienced. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
The behavioral psychological method that systematically transfers feelings, thoughts, or dispositions through relationships. It pairs an object, event, or variable that elicits a particular natural or reflexive response (unconditioned stimulus) with a neutral one to the point that only the presence of the latter is required to induce the originally impulsive and event-specific response. This time, it’s no longer neutral but a conditioned stimulus. (https://www.thecable.ng/classical-conditioning-potent-political-strategy/)
(https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychf19grp7/2019/11/15/classical-conditioning-puppy-training/)
As you can see, the food products in both these ads have been depicted as mouth-watering and delicious, and are designed to cause consumers to feel hungry. (https://www.advergize.com/marketing/classical-conditioning-examples-in-psychology/#Classical_Conditioning_in_Advertising_Examples)
Ad hominem
A Latin phrase that has come to mean attacking one's opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
attacking the character or motive of the person making an argument, rather than attacking the argument itself. (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?cat_id=1&id=23&k=ad+hominem)
(https://thinkingispower.com/logical-fallacies/)
(35:19: ad hominem definition: Warnock attacks the character of Walker and his allies for making allegations against his church, without addressing any of the specific allegations against his church.) (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?cat_id=1&id=23&k=ad+hominem)
Ad nauseam
This uses tireless repetition of an idea. An idea, especially a simple slogan, that is repeated enough times, may begin to be taken as the truth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
repeating something over and over again, until it forms a mental association and/or becomes perceived as truth. Based on the "mere exposure effect," is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they're familiar to them, including things they don't like. This principle for example makes people more likely to prefer listening to a song they've heard before over a new song they've never heard and to believe something they hear repeatedly, even if they know it's untrue.(https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=24&k=ad+nauseum&p=propaganda.php)
"Make America Great Again"
(https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trump-dropped-378000-make-america-great-again-hats-2015s-final-quarter-msna786506)
Appeal to authority
Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support a position, idea, argument, or course of action. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
(also known as an appeal to false or unqualified authority) plays on people’s feelings of respect or familiarity towards a famous person to bypass critical thinking. It’s like someone is telling us “accept this because some authority said it.” (https://www.scribbr.com/fallacies/appeal-to-authority-fallacy/#:~:text=An%20appeal%20to%20authority%20)
appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true because an unnamed expert, study, or generalized group (like 'scientists') says it's true (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=73&k=appeal+to+anonymous+authority&p=propaganda.php)
(09:56: appeal to anonymous authority see definition: There are "those that say" you can test too much, without identifying who those people are.) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=73&k=appeal+to+anonymous+authority&p=propaganda.php)
Cognitive dissonance
People desire to be consistent. Suppose a pollster finds that a certain group of people hates his candidate for senator but loves actor A. They use actor A's endorsement of their candidate to change people's minds because people cannot tolerate inconsistency. They are forced to either dislike the actor or like the candidate. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
Creates a feeling of mental stress when we encounter ideas or beliefs that conflict with our own. (https://www.propwatch.org/term_results.php?id=99&k=cognitive%20dissonance)
Psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive%20dissonance)
Common man
The approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist's positions reflect the common sense of the people. It is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms (and clothe their message in face-to-face and audiovisual communications) in attempting to identify their point of view with that of the average person. A common example of this type of propaganda is a political figure, usually running for a placement, in a backyard or shop doing daily routine things. This image appeals to the common person. With the plain folk's device, the propagandist can win the confidence of persons who resent or distrust foreign-sounding, intellectual speech, words, or mannerisms. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
Establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and being able to empathize with their concerns. (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=30&k=common+folk&p=propaganda.php)
(04:53: common folk see definition) (https://www.propwatch.org/category_results.php?cat_id=1&id=30&k=common+folk&p=propaganda.php)
(https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-posters/war/world-war-ii-propaganda-us-government-printing-office-1944-navy-poster-285-x-40-i-m-proud-of-you-folks-too-jo/a/7132-86871.s)
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. The hero personality then advocates the positions that the propagandist desires to promote. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
A situation in which a public figure (such as a political leader) is deliberately presented to the people of a country as a great person who should be admired and loved. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult%20of%20personality)
“Nazi propaganda often focused on glorifying Adolf Hitler as Germany’s sole savior in order to inspire a sense of personal devotion to him. Many films, books, newspapers, magazines, and other items portrayed Hitler as a strong and self-sacrificing father figure who personally embodied the character traits of the “ideal Nazi.”” (https://perspectives.ushmm.org/tag/cult-of-personality)
(Recently appointed as German chancellor, Adolf Hitler greets President Paul von Hindenburg in Potsdam, Germany, on March 21, 1933. This pose was designed to project an image of Hitler as non-threatening to the established order. This particular image is from a popular postcard. The photo also appeared widely in both the German and international press. Hitler appears in civilian dress, bowing in deference to the heavily decorated von Hindenburg. The March 5, 1933, elections had conferred legitimacy on Hitler's leadership.) (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/making-a-leader)
(https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/30/washington-trump-and-cults-of-personality/)
Demonizing the enemy
Making individuals from the opposing nation, from a different ethnic group, or those who support the opposing viewpoint appear to be subhuman, worthless, or immoral, through suggestion or false accusations. Dehumanizing is also a term used synonymously with demonizing, the latter usually serves as an aspect of the former. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
Psychological process whereby opponents view each other as less than human and thus not deserving of moral consideration. Jews in the eyes of Nazis and Tutsis in the eyes of Hutus (in the Rwandan genocide) are but two examples. Protracted conflict strains relationships and makes it difficult for parties to recognize that they are part of a shared human community. Such conditions often lead to feelings of intense hatred and alienation among conflicting parties. The more severe the conflict, the more the psychological distance between groups will widen.
“During the protracted conflict, feelings of anger, fear, and distrust shape the way that the parties perceive each other. Adversarial attitudes and perceptions develop and parties begin to attribute negative traits to their opponent. They may come to view the opponent as an evil enemy, deficient in moral virtue, or as a dangerous, warlike monster. Such images can stem from a desire for group identity and a need to contrast the distinctive attributes and virtues of one's own group with the vices of the "outside" group…Enemy images are usually black and white. The negative actions of one's opponent are thought to reflect their fundamental evil nature, traits, or motives. One's own faults, as well as the values and motivations behind the actions of one's opponent, are usually discounted, denied, or ignored. It becomes difficult to empathize or see where one's opponent is coming from.”
“Once certain groups are stigmatized as evil, morally inferior, and not fully human, the persecution of those groups becomes more psychologically acceptable. Restraints against aggression and violence begin to disappear. Not surprisingly, dehumanization increases the likelihood of violence and may cause a conflict to escalate out of control. Once a violence break over has occurred, it may seem even more acceptable for people to do things that they would have regarded as morally unthinkable before.Parties may come to believe that destruction of the other side is necessary, and pursue an overwhelming victory that will cause one's opponent to simply disappear. This sort of into-the-sea framing can cause lasting damage to relationships between the conflicting parties, making it more difficult to solve their underlying problems and leading to the loss of more innocent lives."(https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/dehumanization)
“In Virginia, for example, we are witnessing the most anti-LGBT legislative session in the state’s history. So far, 9 anti-gay and anti-trans bills have been introduced. Some of the bills reveal a fixation with determining the “anatomical sex” of students to ensure that trans students are expelled from communal bathrooms. One goes so far as to impose a $50 civil penalty on any student who uses the “wrong” bathroom. Others seek to prevent trans people from updating their Virginia birth records to match their gender and limit nondiscrimination protections based on sex to people whose gender matches the gender assigned to them at birth.” (https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/legislators-across-country-set-their-sights-transgender-people)
(https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/defining-antisemitism-talking-about-israeli-policy-by-using-classical-antisemitic-tropes)
(https://www.tumblr.com/the-library-alcove/search/zionism)
(https://en.abna24.com/story/1410340)
Demoralization
Propaganda towards an adversary to erode fighting spirit, and encourage surrender or defection. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques#Specific_techniques)
Propaganda in wartime must seek to demoralize enemy morale. A primary objective of propaganda aimed at enemy nations is to break down their will to fight. It seeks to lower the enemy’s will to resist and it does this in several ways. One is to picture the military successes on the propagandist’s side. Another is to picture the armed might and economic power that the enemy has to face. Yet another is to picture the moral superiority of the cause against which the enemy is fighting. It is part of a nation’s strategic plan to intimidate enemy leaders, to separate them from their people, and to break down resistance by producing evidence that the mass of the enemy people have been deceived and misled. (https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-2-what-is-propaganda-(1944)/war-propaganda)
(https://x.com/Cluffalo/status/1790011284471083192)
Let me make it short since all you antizionsits clearly don’t read past the headline:
October 7th
On October 7th Hamas and Palestinian citizens invaded Israel: They massacred 1300~ , kidnapped 250+, and gang raped women and children.
It doesn’t depend on the context
Hamas and why it’s ridiculous to support it
You can condemn Hamas while wanting to free Palestine.
Hamas isn’t a cool and woke liberation movement - it’s an extremist terror organisation.
“Israel controls Gaza”🤦♀️
in fact, dismantling Hamas is what will free them.
Israel doesn’t govern Gaza since 2006 when Israel completely withdrew from it.
Ever since, Hamas are responsible for their living conditions.
Solving the conflict
Israel isn’t going anywhere
Jews have always been in the Middle East and will continue to be there