may the wish come true

Apology Post (with extra info)

TW! Suicidal thoughts/Intrusive thoughts, poor grammar

(Note: Every hate message I receive referring to the post below will be posted here as well. Pin of shame, bastards!)

I edited this lightly to add some extra information and move the TLDR up here, and added a cut.

Now, with the explanation, things have calmed down a bit. However, due to poor conduct, asks are going to be turned off until Sunday (25/2) and anon asks will be on back at 1/3.

If it continues when I resume anon asks, everything will be off again.

TLDR: I felt guilty and my mental health deteriorated because of the war, so I blocked the Palestine tag and received heavy backlash.

So the post I am referring to is this one. (Note: Said post has now been deleted by yours truly.)

Here, I will detail why I made this post, the events leading up to it and the backlash.

Some background information: I am a 14–year-old girl with unmediated anxiety and depression.

I have always been concerned about human rights. Even when I was a child, I would ask my mom, “Why do we have wars? Why can’t everyone get along?”

I tried to write a letter to my principal asking for more extensive sex ed, but scrapped it once I remembered that I was in a catholic school.

And when the Ukrainian war came along - biggest incident since I got access to tumblr - I was a staunch supporter of Ukraine. When I wasn’t in uniform, I made a point to dress in blue and yellow. No one noticed, of course.

In the early days of the Palestinian Genocide, I was eager to reblog any and all information that crossed my dash, even though I knew I couldn’t do anything to help. If you scroll down deep enough, you can find my posts.

However, as time passed and the war went on, whenever I saw those posts, I started getting thoughts to off myself. Those included, though not limited to:

“Oh, wow, look at you scrolling tumblr while millions are dying. Good job you, why don’t you go and join Hitler in hell, you’re contributing to this mess.”

And it got so bad that I would have mini panic attacks whenever I saw some posts like that.

I blocked the tag last year.

At that time, I sent an anonymous ask to @justagingerwithredhair, one of two people I trusted decently with my mental issues.

I can’t find it anymore, but it went something like this:

“Ginger, I’m sorry but I had to block the Palestine tag, it’s detrimental to my mental health and I can’t deal with it anymore”

and it was received positively.

Yesterday (in my timezone), I posted the post seen in the photo. I had not enough brainpower to realise that it could be taken both ways.

I was blocked by at least one person and received the following anonymous ask.

You can see my response in my blog, but I will repeat it again.

I am not a terrorist, a genocidal maniac, an Islamophobic bitch or a Zionist.

I have spoken out against Israel. I watch videos of Islamophobic people with disgust. I was outraged when the Holocaust was not required teaching in my school. I believe the Israeli Government is in the wrong.

If you keep this up I will be the one hanging from buildings.

You have made me write a post about my life that’s longer than 90% of my fanfictions. Congratulations.

@tobefree-in-palestine

absolutely hate how disappointing and infuriating our government's response has been to palestinian genocide, hate to see these transparent attempts to sow animosity between ukrainians and palestinians online or paint supporting ukraine and supporting palestine as two opposing sides and hate how well it has been working on so many people.

Say "I know nothing about the history of Russia's treatment of Ukraine (the Holodomor being one such example) or what's currently going on between Russia and Ukraine" without saying it. 🙄😒

For those who can't access the video due to the "age restriction," here is a transcript of the 60 Minutes interview with Scott Pelley interviewing Freed Ukrainian Prisoners of War:

SPOILER ALERT: The following video/transcript contains descriptions of beatings, torture, rape, starvation, child deaths, and human rights violations.

As for "Russia is not continuously bombing all civilian infrastructure and committing a genocide," there have been multiple posts and articles over the past 2 years proving otherwise (including their recent attack on New Year's Eve). This also includes the Russian war crime of Ukrainian children being kidnapped by Russian soldiers, deported to Russian reeducation camps, getting brainwashed, and being used as Russian Propaganda tools:

Between the 2:27 and 2:37 mark, Isobel Yeung (the narrator) doesn't mince her words when she notes how Vladimir Putin and his cronies are accused of trying to "ethically cleanse a generation of young Ukrainians."

If you've read this far, you can probably come to the conclusion that imtryingsir did absolutely zero research, or even cared enough to follow the last 2 years of news about the Russian-Ukraine War, before making their abhorrently idiotic comment.

So why am I bothering to dignify this with a response when it's clear this person is being maliciously stupid? Because of this post. Specifically, the disgusting little remark they made where they tried to justify why a Jewish woman on social media deserved to be bullied/harassed (which eventually led to the Russia apologist comment above when they were called out on it by multiple Tumblr users):

Putting aside the gross victim-blaming and thinly-disguised antisemitism (which I'm sure my Jewish followers are deeply sick of at this point), what really gets me is how disingenuous this user is. They don't actually give a rat's ass about what's going on in Gaza: Someone who truly cares about genocide and the deaths/suffering of innocent people wouldn't be going out of their way to downplay/whitewash the genocidal actions of another country (Russia), or making comments dismissing another groups problems/trauma while dehumanizing them, or even straight up wishing for more death and destruction:

People like this (as well as the so-called "Pro-Palestine" users in the Jewish woman's post who were harassing her) are devoid of empathy. They relish in being cruel and condescending to others because they feel empowered in doing so, and they know they can get away with it without facing lasting consequences. They are doing nothing to help alleviate an already horrific situation, and are just making the world a worse place to live in. I'm sure they'll tell themselves the sweet little lies about how their bullying and antisemitism is really "activism" or "caring for Palestinians" or "Being antizionist; not antisemitic" (while continuing to spew the same bigoted rhetoric that Jews have been calling out as antisemitic for YEARS). At this point, I truly don't give a damn what their excuses are since they will grasp at anything, no matter how flimsy, to rationalize their behavior.

I never thought I'd see the day where a bunch of Leftist/Westerners would embody two of the most loathsome fictional characters in media (right down to their hateful, sadistic, vile attitudes), and yet that is the point we've currently reached:

To say this has been deeply unpleasant to witness is an understatement. 😒

I talked about this in a recent post about antisemitism from the Left, and I'm going to reiterate something I said: "There is a larger conversation that needs to be had about how selective Leftist empathy and compassion really is. By this, I’m talking about people on the Left who will a.) Only be compassionate/empathetic when it’s convenient for them, or b.) Only be compassionate/empathetic towards people they think are “deserving” of it."

People like imtryingsir only prove why it's important to have this conversation: If you're perfectly okay dismissing/downplaying the suffering of one group of people (be it Jews, Ukrainians, Palestinians, etc) so you can prop up your preferred group of people who are suffering because you think they are more "deserving" of empathy/compassion......................you need to do some serious self-reflection about the type of person you've become.

Anyone who has ever said stuff like "culture outside of politics" in regards to russia and spreading russian art/media/music/etc. — kindly, educate yourself.

If you refuse to educate yourself, kindly go fuck yourself.

First of all — a little bit of history lesson. Russia is an imperialist state. Always has been. Over the course of its history (russian empire, the ussr, whatever names it held at any given time period) russia has colonised countless Eastern European and Central Asian nations. Over 90% of russian "culture" is culture stolen from those nations. Ivan Aivazovsky, Kazimir Malevich? The artists I bet you thought were russian? Yeah, they're Ukrainian; and that's only two I can name off the top of my head.

But sure, let's say the art you're sharing is really russian; what's wrong with sharing some art? The war is just the politicians fault, and can you imagine if someone had tried to "cancel" British culture like this for all the atrocities they've done???

Well, I'm sorry, I can't seem to remember Britain committing any genocides in 2023. Use your head — you're you're using the same "separate the art from the artist" argument — there is literally no way to do it if the "artist" is alive and profits from it! And russia does profit: of course there're music and movies and video games, profits from which are literally going to help create weapons to kill Ukrainians; but that is already obvious. No, I want to tell about how russian "culture", "art", things that don't bring them money still are helping russians in their invasion.

It's all about popularising and media presence; it is about making you believe that politics are completely separate from other aspects of life; it is about gathering sympathy for "poor russians" whose government is at fault, and they're just people: with history (colonizing), culture (stolen), their lives (which are, apparently, worth more than the lives of Ukrainians).

It's about spreading the propaganda that regular people are not at fault, that it's the government, that it's only one man responsible for the entire war, that real people are against it! And the more you believe that — the more you begin seeing russians as being victims instead of oppressors, and the more you begin to undermine Ukraine's fight for our lives — "how can we sanction russia, there are poor people living there", "how can we give Ukrainians weaponry, they're killing russians!"

Here's the thing: russians are not against the war. They're not afraid to revolt because they're scared for their lives. They're the ones in tanks, with guns in hands shooting civilians and bombing hospitals. They're the ones sitting in the comfort of their homes writing on social media how Ukrainians deserve to be raped and murdered simply for being Ukrainian (you don't see a lot of that — it's in russian. But a lot of Ukrainians know russian, so we do. We share it, too, for you to see it — but you don't want to)

And those "apolitical" russians, who don't claim to support the war, you know what they do? They take "aesthetic" photos of Mariupol — a Ukrainian city, completely burned down by russians. They call it "doing whatever they want in their country"

Even the most "liberal" "anti-war" russian doesn't think Crimea is Ukrainian.

But of course, you don't want to listen. You want to pretend that russians don't protest because they're scared for their lives, and you want to continue to consume russian media uncritically, because you think that if russians will have to face consequences for their crimes, then you, American or British will have to do so as well.

You should be thinking "my country did terrible things, that's why we need to learn from our mistakes and don't let anyone else do those things", but instead you're thinking "my country did terrible things and experienced little to no consequence, that's why we should let other countries do the same!", and it shows.

Russians were planning the genocide from the very beginning

Employees of the National Museum of Ukrainian history have captured some russian documents in the freed Dymerka. From it, we have learned two things:

Once again, it is the proof that “we didn’t know we were going into Ukrainian territory” is a lie russian soldiers were told to say in case of capture;

The genocide that is happening right now is not a “plan B”, or “punishment of disobedient ukrs”, or “frustration of poor poor russian soldiers”, but a planned and coordinated policy of the russian federation

Below you can see the instructions left for common russian soldiers on how to communicate with the native Ukrainian population. You will notice a lot of similarities with russian narratives pushed by kremlin propaganda, and also those of the online “anti-war anti-escalation anti-everything-bad” crowd. My translation below

Don’t say “shot”, “liquidated” or “killed” about pets, territorial defence of marauders. This affects the native population negatively. Instead, use the phrase “the problem was solved”.

Don’t say “Death to ukrops* (note: ukrop - one of the slurs used by russians against Ukrainians), or “Forget about Ukraine, this is russia now”. Say “the people will choose by themselves how to live and by whom to be governed”. It will help shift the responsibility from russia to the locals, and their capability to accept responsibility until a certain moment.

If people ask you “What are you doing here? What do you want from us?”, respond with “We brought you humanitarian help, because your government has abandoned you. Where is your administration? Where is the police?”. Explanation: you don’t need to explain who is killing the people in Donbas and that we came to solve this problem. Locals do not comprehend this. By answering a question with another question, you shift the need for reasoning to your opponent. 

If people ask you “Why did you come with weapons? We are afraid”, say: “Don’t be afraid, we temporarily replace your police that have fled. The streets are dangerous because of marauders and criminals, who were weaponised by Zelensky (only in Kyiv he distributed 25 000 rifles to random people). Do not mention the word “war”. Don’t answer any questions about war. Answer the question that we have an answer for - that the administration and police have fled. Your purpose is to make people believe that the Ukrainian government is weak and that they were abandoned without food, salaries and pensions.

If people say “We don’t have electricity, you have bombed our ETLs and substations”, respond with “Think about it, we are here with you, and we don’t have electricity either. Why would we need this? What really happened is that your administration and police, while fleeting, have set up explosives in the ETLs and substations! They don’t care about you!”. Another possible answer is “All north of Ukraine has been cut from electricity by the orders from Kyiv”. Your answers need to shift the blame on the Ukrainian government that has abandoned its people and left them on their own.

On the question “Are you Ukrainians or russians?” answer “There are both Ukrainians and russians among us, but it isn’t important, because we are all orthodox Christians and we have no need for quarrel” (translator's note: in reality majority of occupants were neither russian nor ukrainian, but indigenous people of the poorest regions of russia). Explanation: yes, we are russians, but avoid admitting it to escape confrontation. 9 years of propaganda have created an impression of a russian as an occupier. But the image of an orthodox Christian is pure. If people start arguing with you, talk about gay parades, the schism within the orthodox church, selling land to foreigners, and biolabs.

Talking to the locals, don’t blame “Ukraine” or “hohols” (note: hohol - common slur against Ukrainians). Blame puppets Poroshenko, Zelensky and their masters in the USA. National conflicts are unnecessary. We will temporarily have to accept the usage of the terms “Ukraine” and “ukrainian” until we create and new government and establish new laws. 

Don’t say “We came here to establish order”, or “Now that we’re here you’ll live orderly”. Instead, say “We will provide temporary help to the local people to find the trustworthy and honest among you, who can help their fellow citizens access responsibility for their city (village/town/etc). We need the locals to claim responsibility for their community. 

genuine question, why would anyone mourn or care about the lives of ru soldiers that died in the war? they participated in the invasion, they probably killed innocents before dying. if somebody i knew turned out to be one of those dead soldiers i would only be glad that such a person died. i dont care if we were close, coming onto the foreign land with the purpose of harm eliminates any good characteristics this person might have had

well there is enough people who still pity russian soldiers. for example, russian "liberal" news channel dozd’ that was based in latvia wanted to start gathering money for "poor russian boys" but their licence was withdrawn. but again it’s only one example, you’re probably lucky not to see just how many people in the west want to see ukrainians dead. plus my post implied more than just russian military - I’m tired of europeans pitying "regular russians". because they enjoyed all of the advantages of the modern world, they always had access to information (again the was started in 2014, they never talked about. made jokes about "our crimea" but never fucking did anything) but somehow europe pities them more that regular ukrainians. because it was ukrainians like me who had to hear the explosions, to live without basic utilities which russia destroyed, to work without paying attention to the deteriorating mental health and I’m still the bad guy for asking not to pity fucking russians.

so all I’m saying if they behave like animals and don’t want to do anything to change their society (again the soldiers have families, friends, neighbours who stay silent), don’t try to make them human, that is their job.

ukrainian are expected to be perfect: 40 millions should be this image of goody-two-shoes, we can’t have racists, homophobes, far-right but walk out of your door right now and ask 10 people simple questions about their political spectrum and you’ll see that every country has them. but ukrainians who are experiencing a literal genocide - there are all of the evidence of this from killing civilians to destroying physical culture and kidnapping of the kids - have to be perfect. russians? they just have to say "we are against war" as if it shouldn’t be a given. after that they can say whatever: they can call ukrainians khokhols or be racist towards tatars, say that crimea is not a sandwich and it won’t be return to ukraine or that reparations won’t be payed to ukraine.

they say that we are at fault for putin being in power. that is true, I’ve seen tweets saying that zelenskyy is a hypocrite because he didn’t prosecute putin for the explosion in russia in 1999 - zelenskyy just finished university in 2000. we should’ve organised the protests in russia, we should’ve taken responsibility.

we showed them again and again how to protest: the two biggest protest in 2004 and 2014 should’ve been an example for them. in 2014 we had russian flags in kyiv, people wanted russian people to finally do something like "look we came out - you should too, together we are stronger". people were killed in ukrainian capital - more people came out, so their "oh we will beaten by the police" is pathetic.

your country is a terrorist. your friends or family are killers. you work for them to kill. you either want to change that or you complicit.

really love every shit for brains american and uk 'leftists' taking ukraine into their mouth in light of a new horrid conflict breaking out "ahh but if ukrainians did this, the west would support them" we have literally been begging for arms and funding for two years because the west is worried that ukraine could possibly resist occupation in an 'incorrect way' that escalates the conflict or that the govment is too corrupt to actually handle the funding or that the arms would go to the "neo nazis" or terrorists. "imagine if russia ever did THIS in ukraine" they have BEEN doing this. for two years openly and since 2014 before anyone else paid attention. there are hundreds of recorded war crimes from the side of the occupier. and none of the previous times have you ever said anything about ukraine other than how it really is #concerning how there's nazis theres, the only occupied and opressed coutnry in history of humanity on earth that has ever developed militant ultra patriotic groups in response to the violence and genocide its people were subjected to. yeah. shut the fuck up man

Michael de Adder

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 23, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 24, 2024

Two years ago today, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky made a passionate plea to the people of Russia, begging them to avoid war. He gave the speech in Russian, his own primary language, and, reminding Russians of their shared border and history, told them to “listen to the voice of reason”: Ukrainians want peace.  

“You’ve been told I'm going to bomb Donbass,” he said. “Bomb what? The Donetsk stadium where the locals and I cheered for our team at Euro 2012? The bar where we drank when they lost? Luhansk, where my best friend's mom lives?” Zelensky tried to make the human cost of this conflict clear. Observers lauded the speech and contrasted its statesmanship with the ramblings in which Putin had recently engaged.

And yet Zelensky’s speech stood only as a marker. Early the next day, Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” involving dozens of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities before dawn. He claimed in a statement that was transparently false that he needed to defend the people in the “new republics” within Ukraine that he had recognized two days before from “persecution and genocide by the Kyiv regime.” He called for “demilitarization” of Ukraine, demanding that soldiers lay down their weapons and saying that any bloodshed would be on their hands. 

Putin called for the murder of Ukrainian leaders in the executive branch and parliament and intended to seize or kill those involved in the 2014 Maidan Revolution, which sought to turn the country away from Russia and toward a democratic government within Europe, and which itself prompted a Russian invasion. He planned for his troops to seize Ukraine’s electric, heating, and financial systems so the people would have to do as he wished. The operation was intended to be lightning fast.

But rather than collapsing, Ukrainians held firm. The day after Russia invaded, Zelensky and his cabinet recorded a video in Kyiv. “We are all here,” he said. “Our  soldiers are here. The citizens are here, and we are here. We will defend our independence…. Glory to Ukraine!” When the United States offered the next day to transport Zelensky outside the country, where he could lead a government in exile, he responded:

“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

That statement echoes powerfully two years later as Ukraine continues to stand against Russia’s invasion but now quite literally needs ammunition, as MAGA Republicans in Congress are refusing to take up a $95 billion national security supplemental measure that would provide aid to Ukraine. 

Instead, Republicans spent the day insisting that they do not oppose in vitro fertilization, the popular reproductive healthcare measure that the Alabama Supreme Court last Friday endangered by deciding that a fertilized human egg was a child—what they called an “extrauterine” child—and that people can be held legally responsible for destroying them. Since the decision, Alabama healthcare centers have halted their IVF programs out of fear of prosecution for their handling of embryos. 

Republicans who oppose abortion have embraced the idea that life begins at conception, an argument that leads naturally to the definition of IVF embryos as children. But this presents an enormous problem for Republicans, whose antiabortion stance is already creating warning signs for 2024. Today a memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) noted that 86% of the people they polled support increased, not reduced, access to IVF procedures.

The good news for the Republicans is that their frantic defense of IVF means that the media has largely stopped talking about the news of just two days ago, the fact that the man whose testimony congressional Republicans relied on to launch an impeachment process against President Joe Biden turned out to be working with Russian operatives. House leaders have quietly deleted from their House Impeachment website the Russian disinformation that previously was central to their case against Biden. 

But today, as Republican House members remain on vacation, President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia, and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was in Ukraine, where he challenged House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to pass the national security supplemental bill. “The weight of history is on his shoulders,” Schumer told reporters in Lviv. “If he turns his back on history, he will regret it in future years.”

“Two years,” Ukraine president Zelensky wrote today. “We are all here…. Together with representatives of Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Egypt, Estonia, the EU, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, the Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye, the UAE, the United Kingdom, the USA, Viet Nam, as well as international organisations….”

Slava Ukraini.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

“Westerners’ opinions on this don’t matter, you are not part of this, you cannot fathom what living under bombing is like,” says fellow westerner who has been incessantly giving their opinion, who lives in a luxury apartment built on the remains of the MOVE bombing in a state that manufactures the weapons Israel uses to commit their atrocities, with a state and reps and universities and businesses who fund the atrocities, who is neighboring states where the police force is trained by the IDF in a partnership camp paid for by US tax dollars and then tries out these techniques on Americans, and whose facebook profile picture is from a gay Israeli cruise trip.

I’m not sure if you’re aware but Westerners’ interest in the conflict is how we are where we are now. The West’s relationship with Israel is symbiotic and they learn from one another’s brutality. Struggles for liberation are interconnected. Boycott-Divest-Sanctions didn’t spring up out of nowhere, it came from The US being responsible. From Americans funding genocide through our active fundraisers and through inaction. Palestinian Liberation movements and Black Liberation movements found deep solidarity decades and decades ago through similar government repression, through the ADL calling both groups terrorists and supporting apartheid twice, through the violent and horrific police and military tactics placed upon both.

“You don’t need to be involved” gets reserved for pro-Palestinian support as if apathy and “staying out of it” is not Israeli support. Inaction allows this. Apathy allows for a quiet genocide. Every conflict is “complicated” in that none exist in a vacuum and are always the culmination of hundreds and thousands of years if you want to go back that far. Every country is formed on stolen land. That didn’t make Ukraine assault “complicated” to people because the issue is happening right now, the specific injustice is happening now. If the Nakba is ancient history to the cause of conflict then sorry but so is the Shoah.

You cannot claim to support liberation movements in the US and then think support for them abroad is all for brownie points. You do not support land back and self-determination in the states if you then reject them abroad. You cannot believe in the right of Ukrainians to fight back and then see all Palestinian struggle as terrorism.

All Israeli deaths are being framed as civilian deaths whether they are soldiers or not. When your civilian population is mandatorily a solider, it’s easy to conflate the two. The targeting of military bases and killing of military leaders is “civilian deaths”, then the bombing of residential neighborhoods is a “strike on Hamas.” All Palestinian deaths are being framed as terrorist deaths if we even bother to count them. “40 beheaded babies” vs silence on 300 children. A bombed children’s hospital. Children burned to death by white phosphorus. A newspaper headline read “mutilated Israeli children” and showed a photo of injured Palestinian children.

It’s not about loss of life to people, it’s not ‘complexities’ in a struggle for freedom, it is the expectation to die in silence lest you make us feel bad for our complicity.

President Isaac Herzog’s words are atrocious, but unfortunately he is not alone in his sentiment that, “[Palestinians] could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d'etat.”

Fighting Israel is justification for your death, not fighting Hamas is justification for your death. There are no innocent Palestinians and there are no guilty Israelis. Vigils for just Israelis is “caring about human life” but any vigils or supprt for Palestinians whether it is coupled with support for Israelis or not is labeled as antisemitic and terroristic. If you oppose the atrocity you are a terrorist, if you take action to try to stop it you’re a terrorist, if you sit on your hands and pass judgement from “the other side” then you are simply a reasonable and wise voice in a tricky situation with no remedy but to suggest both uneven sides kiss and make up.

It’s quite incredible how many people suddenly come out slamming Israel. They claim to want to support Palestine but it’s just the “woke” “socially acceptable way” of expressing the age old hatred of Jews. They claim that the Israelis are occupying and should leave but my question is where should they go? Nobody else wants them. Where do they find a home?

Remember when Antifa thugs were declaring people to be "Nazis" so they could punch them? The same people are either remarkably silent, or worse, actively defending or even encouraging, terrorist violence against Jews and Israel. Literally taking the side of the Nazis.

Don't forget, there are still people who think the 9/11 attacks were completely justified.

This Babylon Bee post is parody, of course, but the reason it works is that it's so realistic.

[ Link: The Babylon Bee ]

What we've also seen is the mask really drop from the "right side of history." People who gave the anodyne Motte defence of "decolonization" have really come out swinging with the violent Bailey.

They're actively saying "this is what we meant."

https://www.thefp.com/p/this-is-what-decolonization-looks

Meanwhile, the ersatz activists of Hollywood and Silicon Valley are eerily quiet. The people who turned the Ukrainian flag into their avatars, those who worry about misgendering and triggering and safe spaces, those who insist words are violence (those for whom violence is apparently not violence)—they’re busy ignoring all this. We should listen closely to these latter-day Bolsheviks and their many enablers. They are being honest. They are saying exactly what they believe and what they want to see happen.

As I've said time and time again: believe them when they tell you what they're up to. Stop moderating it because it sounds awful, and you assume they must really mean something less appalling. If you're genuinely unsure, press them to be specific.

There are two things you can take away from this horror.

It's never "just about" something benign. If it sounds awful, it is. The people saying this are either lying or ignorant. This is akin to apologetics over Islamic doctrine framed as "you're taking it out of context" or "translation problems"; if it sounds like it's advocating violence, it is. Once you talk to an Islamic scholar, they will unapologetically and unashamedly tell you that it's exactly what it means. Same thing.

The people who want to scold you for your lack of adherence to elite luxury beliefs - neo-pronouns, "privilege," accuse of you of being a "Nazi" for having completely mainstream, liberal values, say slogans like "words are violence," "wE'rE LiTeRaLLy dYiNg," call everything "harm" and "danger" - are hypocrites who endorse actual violence, actual antisemitism, actual genocide. You've been duped by manipulative language. You need never feel ashamed or guilty again.

Pay attention who screamed at you that you were a "racist" for thinking The Little Mermaid was pretty shit, overly long, didn't make any sense when they rewrote it with intersectional feminist themes, the actors expressionless, the CGI amateur... who are now studiously saying nothing about those calling for actual genocide. They've shown who they are, they're morally confused, and their righteousness card has been revoked.

If anyone hasn't already peaked by now, I legitimately don't know what else it will take.

As far as answers, I legit don't know. Both claim entitlement based on their ancient superstitions. Both claim to be justified by their gods. Islam is rampantly and inherently antisemitic, so I don't see much long-term ability to co-exist. It doesn't matter that Israel existed before Palestine, and Judaism before Islam, Palestine isn't going to give up, so I suspect Israel would have to. But then, Islam is never satisfied, as it's a supremacist ideology. You can't negotiate with it, you can't reason with it, and you can't capitulate to it or it will simply escalate its demands; if we've learned nothing else from the betrayal of Salman Rushdie, it's that. So Palestine conquering the area would just embolden other Islamic regimes, as well as terrorist organizations like ISIS and Boko Haram which claim the same entitlement.

EDIT: Or all-out war, I guess.

To those two whatever they're called , since tumblr apparently hates my replies.

@potuzzz

@minisoc

First of all , I don't know if you have ever bothered to check that I am in fact Ukrainian , from Kharkiv , which was bombed to hell by russians since the first days , and in my mother's neighborhood , northern Saltivka there wasn't any building left intact . Those things , I didn't see them on "western / american media" , unlike you who ARE repeating what you saw on russian/pro-russian media . Those videos of destruction are sent to me directly by my family , and the bombings are something I heard constantly in our video calls . I also have a bunch of Ukrainian friends , the relatives of one of them were executed in russian occupied bucha , another friend from Mariupol sent me an audio crying , saying that the shelling doesn't stop and told me that they are going to die at this rate . They have no reason to lie, as does the whole country basically.

You also are communists marxists leninists whateverists , while I am apolitical ( I didn't even turn 18 , but this none of your business) . I don't care who rules Ukraine , who rules russia , who rules the west or the world . But I do care that I might wake up one morning and my family or friends will be dead , that my country will be occupied, and me being denied of my identity. You said that I hate russia , but before 24/02/2022 I wouldn't even have bothered to correct someone who called me russian instead of Ukrainian . On the first day of the war I was asked if I support Ukraine or russia and I just waved it off . I grew up speaking russian , watching soviet movies and cartoons and even singing russian patriotic songs , and even if I got some sense of unease about it after 2014 , I still didn't hate russia . But the full scale war changed it , not only because of the atrocities russia committed left and right , but also because I got to finally see on internet what russians think and write about us .

And while there's a whole bunch of stuff that I would like to adc, my previous post was directed at Arabic/Muslim readers, because they support the russian genocide for a whole other reason and I got fed up with them mentioning Ukraine every time they discuss their own geopolitical problems like we are the ones responsible for them and even making up stuff just to justify this war , and mainly because it affects me directly , even though I've been bullied since kindergarten for my Slavic appearance , the amount of hate that I have received (yes , when I'm not even mentioning something about the war) those last two years was on a whole new level . That's what I wrote about preparing myself mentally to face this again ,and while I do find the excuses those arabs use and them supporting russia because they think it's they're bestie who's completely innocent while it did a lot of harm to their *muslim brothers* stupid , I do not find being called a n@zi and having people (including my own father) telling me that Russia will occupy Kharkiv and then Kyiv and won't spare anyone of us enjoyable or funny.

And if you have bothered to read this post till the end , then have a nice day .

MONEY ON THE LEFT

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 touched a dormant but significant fault line on the left. On the one hand, much of the left was outraged by the invasion, believing it to be an illegal and genocidal land grab. On the other hand, a cadre of the left, especially in the US and the UK, took the opposing position. They blame the US for NATO’s eastward expansion for provoking Russia’s invasion to defend its “legitimate security interests.” This second group, given voice by Noam Chomsky and by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has consistently demanded Ukrainian capitulation to Putin’s demands. These voices combine an economistic definition of capitalism with the offensive realist IR theory (mainly John Mearsheimer‘s) of international relations as driven by the politics of power projection. Thus, they attribute Ukrainian unwillingness to capitulate to an American capitalist Realpolitik that perpetually threatens Russian security and not as an authentic defense of their nation.

However, this argument suffers from a poverty of theory. It views the world as a mechanistic body driven solely by predetermined (capitalist) instincts and denies human agency to affect the world. It also suffers from acute ahistoricism. Mearsheimer’s formulation of an anarchic “security competition” is a tautology that self-consciously excludes factors that contradict his theories as outside the scope of international relations. He does not explain how this anarchy developed, what specific social property relations it expresses, or how those social relations evolved. Thus, while it is necessary to question NATO’s continued relevance in the 21st century, the critiques by Chomsky and the DSA rely on a theory of international relations that is divorced from the material realities of the actual historical process. A leftist IR theory must be firmly rooted in the specificities of history and must account for the development of the social relations buttressing the international order. If Western capitalism is to be blamed for the war, then capitalism should be defined. The theory must also understand the evolution of internationalism as a complex and sometimes contradictory ideology, which implies a complete understanding of its revolutionary origins. Finally, a left IR theory must consider how militant worker action impacts the creation of world systems and their tensions.

The Head and the Heart

The DSA position is that the US is uniformly responsible for capitalist expansion and exploitation. It is easy to dismiss this as typical left-reactionary anti-Americanism, but this proposition is critical to DSA’s analysis of capitalism. For example, its original NATO statement argues that provocation from NATO’s expansion is the sole reason for Russia’s militarization. The International Committee’s opening statement proceeds from the organization’s 2021 platform, which states “DSA operates in the heart of a global capitalist empire” and later says, “as socialists living in the heart of the American empire.” The conflation of the US with the totality of an empire of Capital suggests that they view the two as indistinguishable. It is not just a rhetorical posture; it is a philosophical disposition.

From a moral standpoint, the DSA statement is correct. As the sole remaining superpower, the US is responsible for many atrocities and horrors, disproportionately targeting people of color and developing nations. These horrors have been committed – sometimes justified – as necessary actions to spread democratic values, protect human rights, and above all, capitalist social relations. The DSA is right to call out these hypocrisies, and they stand on firm moral ground. However, as a critique of the current imperial order and an analysis of the specific social relations that comprise the existing order, they present a reductive and mechanistic theory of history that ultimately undermines their moral capital.

Consider DSA’s description of an individual’s relationship to the system of Capital. The system is a body, the US, the body’s heart. Humans living “within the heart” are individualistic cells encoded by DNA for specific functions. Cells have no agency – they can only do what they were programmed to do. A single cell cannot change the direction the body moves and does not exist apart from the body. The body is intrinsic to the cell’s identity and existence. Not only do people have agency that goes beyond the orchestrations of a univocal political “body”, but this agency is social and linked to other relations of affiliation and dependence.

(Continue Reading)

Putting this behind a cut, not because it's anything exceptionally serious or disturbing but because it sometimes feels like posting something publicly on Tumblr implies a kind of "I am telling all of you this." sort of feeling, but this is more of a "I'm saying this to no one but you can hear it if you want to" feeling, if that makes any sense at all. Additionally, like, I'm talking about my thoughts and feelings but I need to make clear to passersby that these are not a.) well-organized, or b.) my primary and top and most important feelings about the current situation so... It feels like, idk, symbolically acknowledging that to put it behind a cut?

Anyway.

So I cry really easily, let me say, and it's something I find very frustrating about myself, so if you're like "wow that's not worth crying over" when I say I cried about something, you may well be right and I probably already know it, lmao.

Today at shul we prayed for Israel and we prayed for the soldiers and we prayed for the hostages and we prayed for the Palestinians and we prayed for peace, and I found myself crying a little bit, which is probably not surprising because there is much to cry about these days.

But out of all the complex emotions involved recently, I found myself struck suddenly in that moment by two things, of which I am trying very hard to focus on the first, but need this space to talk about the second.

Those things were 1.) how glad I was to hear my rabbi lead the congregation in praying for peace and for the innocent Palestinians who are suffering right now and how glad I am to be part of a community and a tradition that makes room for this even in the midst of immense grief and anger,

And 2.) how hurt and angry I was to think that I've seen so many people who are not involved and who will never be involved past their armchair activism painting Jews and Israelis as bloodthirsty hateful warmongers for struggling with that grief and anger over what happened on the 7th.

They do this even as the congregation of my synagogue (and many others) prays for peace and for the safety of the Palestinians, while many, many people within that room have friends and family in Israel or are Israeli themselves. I see Israeli friends and strangers I follow posting and speaking about their fear for the innocents in Gaza and reminding themselves and their community not to let their own fear and grief drive them to hate, and yet people who are now and only ever will be exposed to this conflict through their fucking computer screen are comfortable saying some of the most absolutely vile shit I have ever read in my entire life about them.

I don't know. I have to admit that I was pretty disillusioned with many western leftists because of their response to Ukraine, in which their professed principles seemed suddenly not to apply when the aggressor was not aligned with the United States, and I have also seen people who proudly proclaim themselves as champions for justice and oppressed peoples everywhere turn around and spout Assadist bullshit without a hint of irony, along with denying the genocide of Uyghurs in China and past crimes of the Soviet Union against Jews and Ukrainians and... The list goes on.

I know I said I was not surprised by the response several days ago, but I think maybe that's not completely true - I had seen the awful shit people said prior to this specific incident and I knew many of them meant it in ways that maybe weren't obvious to a lot of other people, but I think the scope of it still shocked me. I also guess I must have expected that many people did not realize that the hateful shit some people said about Israelis and "zionists" was said in complete seriousness, and I guess I thought that if those people ever made it clear they were serious and it wasn't hyperbole or simple keyboard warrior blustering that we could count on a lot more people to, at the very least, say "whoa dude that's fucked up" -

uhhhhhhh but it turns out we can't and in fact instead of saying "that's fucked up maybe you should not say that," a lot of people just went "YEAH!!!" and that's something that is going to take a lot of time to come to terms with.

My personal principles (which are pretty damn left-wing in most regards) have not changed one bit in the light of any of this, but I came to recognize something I hadn't really been able to put to words before, which was the strange feeling of discomfort or tension I often got around other people with whom I ostensibly shared these principles.

I realized it last shabbat at kiddush, while sitting at a table full of people around my age -- One started talking about his environmentalist work and even as I nodded along with him, I could feel some discomfort creeping in and without even really realizing it my brain said, "wait, hang on, it's fine, we're in a synagogue." and that discomfort was rapidly replaced with the discomfort that comes with realizing ohhhhhh i guess i do get uncomfortable around people who are outspokenly left-wing even though i might be completely agreeing with what they're saying and... that's why.

This sucks, man.

(before you come in here to say "well do you feel uncomfortable about right-wingers?!" mockingspongebob.jpg, let me say that i make it a point not to fucking talk to people who are outspokenly right-wing if I can goddamn help it, thank you.)

...I don't know where i'm going with this, I just needed to kind of puke it out somewhere and I don't want to take attention away from other discussions that are happening around these topics right now, because I also know that I'm far from the most impacted or affected by the shit going on right now, and that those I personally care for are impacted way more by the rockets being fired in their direction and the actual war they're living in than the hateful words of a bunch of American and European dipshits.

But there won't be rockets forever, and then what?

As upset as I am about the broader antisemitism that has exploded recently (and I am! boy howdy!), and as much as I feel that Israel and the Jewish people are inseparably connected, the anger I feel about this specifically is in two parts - The sense of anger at the attacks on a community of which I am a part (Jews), and a sense of anger at the attacks on a community of which my friends are a part (Israel).

It's hard to articulate the difference between those feelings, but... Like, there's absolutely some (many!) people who use hatred at "Israelis" as a cover for their hatred of Jews, but there are also people who specifically hate and believe awful things about Israelis because they're Israeli and them being Jewish is certainly a part of it but it's sort of secondary, and some people aren't as upset about people saying hateful shit towards Israelis so long as they're clear that they're saying hateful shit about Israelis for being Israeli and not just for being Jews, and I do find that also to be pretty fucked up???? I've noticed there's sometimes a certain amount of attempt to differentiate between the two (Jews vs. specifically Israelis, even though OBVIOUSLY this group has significant overlap) that results in throwing innocent Israelis under the bus because it's important that the speaker is sure, even as they call people out for their hateful rhetoric against Jewish Israelis, that they know the speaker is upset that they're saying hateful things because they think the hateful things are coming from hatred of Jews rather than specifically Israelis. Like, yes it's often a dogwhistle, but sometimes it isn't and this person is just being flat honest that they think Israelis are uniquely evil and I have to tell you that's actually also fucking wrong and hateful.

Does that make sense? I don't know if it does, but I hope so. You're free to reply to this or w/e if you want to discuss it further, I just didn't want to post it not behind a cut for the reasons I mentioned before.

GISHING FOR UKTAINE 💙🌞

Every year, the GISH community unites to "Change A Life," making a profound difference in the lives of people facing extraordinary hardship. In the past, we’ve gathered our community to help Syrian refugees rebuild their lives, support a courageous team of women working to clear unexploded bombs from villages in Laos, and assist a farming co-operative of  Rwandan genocide survivors working to feed their families — among the many other vital efforts the GISH community has helped to mobilize around people working to overcome tremendous adversity. In the chaos of conflict, marginalized people are among the most vulnerable; they are often left behind and suffer unimaginable hardship due to the ravages of war. Nowhere is this more true than the war zones of Ukraine.

OUR MISSION In partnership with Legacy of War Foundation and Random Acts, we’re setting a goal of raising $100,000 to assist LGBTQIA+ and Ukrainians with disabilities.

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WHAT YOU GET:

If you make a donation of at least 10 USD to Random Acts Fundrise of Team UnicornSugar you get a little “Thank You” art of your choosing!

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WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO:

Donate at least 10 USD to Team UnicornSugar

Then dm me a screenshoot of your donation!

That’s it!! Once I checked with our Team captain that the donation went throught, I’ll chat you up abpit what you art you would like! 💙(Be aware that it might take till the weekend, because I’m doing more Gish stuff all wekk)

Optional: Share the post to reach more people!

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WHAT YOUR DONATIONS DO: Your donations will fund Legacy of War Foundation’s work essential support to marginalized Ukrainians who have been displaced due to the effects of war. We are setting an initial goal of raising $100,000 for Legacy of War Foundation’s Ukraine Crisis Response (in partnership with Random Acts). This will enable us to fully fund two critical projects: We will be funding a year-long "disability hub" in Ukraine to supply specialized wheelchairs and equipment. Many people with disabilities were focused to evacuate without vital supplies, and this is not merely impractical or uncomfortable: lacking the correct medical equipment or mobility aids can have a serious impact on health and wellbeing. These funds will enable us to get critical equipment at cost and, utilizing our network of volunteers and partner organizations, distribute the equipment where it is needed most. But that’s not all: we will also be funding two shelters in Lviv, Ukraine — one for women, and one for LGBTQIA+ individuals. These marginalized groups are at particular risk in Ukraine as Russia overtakes their towns and their homes. We will be working with Women’s March and Insight, two reputable organizations with a long history of supporting these groups in Ukraine. LGBTQIA+ individuals’ lives are at particular risk as Russia invades due to their draconian stance on LGBTQIA+ rights, so the need for this help could not be more urgent. With your help, we’ll be able to provide shelter and support to 250 vulnerable Ukrainians for six entire months through these two shelters. Please help us reach this important initial goal so we can ensure that no one is forgotten or left without the support they need to survive this brutal war. DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX-DEDUCTIBLE (for countries other than the U.S., deductions are contingent on your laws). 90% of the donations will benefit the Change-A-Life efforts with 10% to Random Acts’ General Fund to further support random acts of kindness, like these, all over the world.  

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If you can’t donate, please consider sharing!

💙 Thank you so much! 💙

Organization Sign-On Letter: Stop Perpetuating Racist Rhetoric Against Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Russia  

In a recent interview, Pope Francis mentioned Chechens and Buryats as “cruelest” perpetrators of the war in Ukraine. “When I speak about Ukraine, I speak about the cruelty because I have much information about the cruelty of the troops that come in. Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryati and so on,” the Pope shared in an interview with America The Jesuit Review magazine published on November 28, 2022. CNN reported on the Pope’s remarks on November 29, but mainstream media in Europe and the U.S. has previously amplified this misinformation, which is steeped in racism. On August 9, 2022, coincidentally International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, journalist and author of “Killer in the Kremlin” John Sweeney in an interview with CNN stated, “On the outskirts of Bucha…the Russian soldiers we saw weren’t ethic Russians, they were Buryats, Mongols…” implying Buryats and Mongols were solely responsible for the atrocities. 

Enough is enough!

We denounce this racist and hateful rhetoric and call the world’s attention to the fact that these narratives are created and promoted by the Russian State, which is now attacking Ukrainian independence. Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Russia face stereotypes, discrimination, and marginalization, and Russian propaganda has deliberately used them as faces of the war in order to distance violence and injustice from the Russian political regime. The Pope’s repetition of Russian propaganda is an ill-informed and dangerous accusation that perpetuates harmful, racist and colonial myths that stem from Russia’s long and violent imperial  history. These accusations by the Pope are forms of double colonialism, genocide, and a horrific history set to repeat.   

The Russian Federation is home to millions of people of diverse ethnicities, including Indigenous populations spread across roughly two-thirds of Russian territory and representing 2% of that region’s population. There are 47 Peoples recognized as Indigenous under Russian law and defined as “Indigenous small-numbered Peoples of the Russian Federation.” Within the Federation, to be recognized as “Indigenous”, a group must fit distinct qualities, including numbering under 50,000 individuals, practicing traditional customs, inhabiting a remote area, and maintaining a distinct ethnic identity. This State-imposed definition prevents approximately 140 Indigenous Peoples, including for example, Buryats, Altaians, Sakha, and Peoples of southwestern Russia, from claiming Indigenous rights through official recognition by Russia. 

Many see Putin’s recent forced mobilization of soldiers for the war against Ukraine as an “ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Peoples” as it has disproportionately affected ethnic and Indigenous people in Russia. 

This summer, Pope Francis made an apology to Indigenous Peoples in Canada for the Church’s role in the genocidal atrocities that took place at boarding schools and apologized for the “colonizing mentality” of the times. But his latest interview with America shows that colonial mentality is yet to be overcome. As the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope needs to acknowledge the Church’s role in past atrocities around the world and actively work to stop the perpetuation of racist, colonial narratives. 

 We, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, other nations, and civil society:  

Demand the Pope apologize to Chechens and Buryats for perpetuating colonial stereotypes. Whole Peoples should not be vilified and blamed for the actions of the Russian State. 

Strongly encourage that Pope Francis meets with Indigenous Peoples from Russia to start a discussion about overcoming the stereotypes of our common colonial history. 

Also demand that mainstream media, like CNN,  recognize their role in sustaining these stereotypes and call them out outright. 

Signed