They murdered a six year old girl.

Don't let her down

Plestia, Motaz, Wael, Saleh, Hind and Bisan by Peonica Fernando

(Feb. 3, 2024)

(Dec. 1)

I was reading an article from CNN about journalists in Gaza (link) and this particular paragraph stuck out to me...

I was initially a journalism major in college so I understand the background of why an organization like CNN would require this style of reporting (i.e. "both sides" representism). However, these inserts of Isreali "viewpoints" that have been shown to be barefaced lies in an article about Gazan journalists risking their lives is just piss-poor optics.

If anyone wonders why people have lost faith in traditional media sources, this is a perfect example. In an article centering Palestinian voices, the organization still requires that Israeli talking points be linked as well and often, in the same paragraph. It reads like: 'here's a quote about a personal lived experience of genocide but nah uh, here's isreali propaganda claiming they are lying and bc they are an ally, they should be believed'. It's American/Western exceptionalism at its finest because "why should we believe a Palestinian, they aren't paragons of truth and justice like we are?"

I don't know if I quite explained myself like I wanted but this particular article just made me so angry that CNN and other Western media were once considered 'trustworthy' sources of information and now are parroting isreali lies. AND telling their readers that Palestinian voices on the ground telling first-hand information are not "good enough" sources of information.

I see so many comments on my Palestine posts by Zionists saying "Hamas are terrorists" "They raped children" "They did this" "They did that" and I just want to let them know:

We're done playing this game.

This game where Zionists come up with whatever lies they want and we have to look for ways to disprove them.

They're thieves and murders. Let's just all collectively agree to tell them to fuck off and die mad.

Here's a collection of tools to do so with:

My art block is usually caused by something that I'm struggling to process. And if I can't draw it or talk about it, it stays with me until it no longer bothers me.

It is difficult to feel helpless in anything I do to show support. Sometimes art feels frivoulous and paltry in the face of so much death and destruction of innocent lives. Yet these are the faces that run over my eyes every night. And there's so many more. So putting them in my pocket sketchbook allows me to carry them close as well. I suppose by coping, I can maybe reach someone new or at least start a line of questions.

I'll be doing one for men and boys as well, then scour the internet for people and voices of sudan, congo, tigray, etc. They don't get enough love and news coverage as it is. It's important to remember that they're not just faces in a screen. They're people, some of them my age, that either gave their lives, lost their lives, or live on a razor's edge.

I have them to thank for giving me the courage to remain outspoken. My only regret is that i can't draw these fast enough, but there's no better time to get creative.

So I accidentally found Hind Khaudary's Tumblr blog that she'd made when she was 20 when I posted her IG username. Fairly sure it's her, the age lines up exactly. What are the odds?

It just hit me how young she is. Most of the famous reporters in Gaza like Motaz and Bisan are Gen Z, but I really thought Hind was about 30. But oh my god she was 20 in 2016. I was 29 then and 20y olds seemed like kids to me even then. It was so weird scrolling her blog, like stepping into someone's closed up childhood bedroom. She was just one of the depressed Tumblrina kids with no social life, haunting a website held together with safety pins, ductape and discourse. She had no idea she'd be living through one of the worst things a person can ever experience; that she would lose everything she took for granted— all her books and photos and plushies and hair clips and favourite cups and plates and everything— except for her life, her family, and the clothes on her back. She had no idea she'd become a superhero to millions of people; the kind that nobody would ever want to be. She was just a lonely kid not knowing where she fit in.

It's enough to make you feel like one of those pinballs in a lotto machine. Except it's the lottery to hell.

(Jan. 26, 2024)

(Dec. 22)

I check everyday to see if they are alive 💔🇵🇸

"I hope bisan and hind also evacuate" ok let's say they evacuated then what ? do you think they're going to be ok after being forced out of their land ? and what about all the palestinians that are in gaza that you haven't established a parasocial relationship with ? the ones who you aren't seeing their suffering on your phone screen ? the ones who aren't talking to you ? and the ones who cannot leave ?