Another Neurodivergent Queer Writes A Blog!

Ya know, I’d rather talk about anything aside from the slaughter of human beings. I’d rather not have to think about the massacre of thousands of people. I’d rather not have to think about genocide.

But I will never pretend that a genocide isn’t happening as it happens. I will never stand by while entire family lines are destroyed—not just three or four members of a household, but entire extended families.

And I will never be cowed by genocidal imperialists trying to silence dissent against genocidal imperialism—not for a job, not for likability, not for anything. I’ve stood up for humanity my entire life, my own and others.

al-Ahli Baptist Hospital

First of all, it is beyond obvious that the IDF targeted the al-Ahli Baptist hospital. Resistance rockets are not capable of that kind of damage. It does not take advanced intelligence to see the reality, but it does take separating yourself from Western media.

Here’s a newsflash: this is official strategy, called the Dahiya Doctrine. Destroying civilian infrastructure is central to the Israeli project of oppression.

And don’t forget the blatant murder of journalist and US citizen Shireen Abu Aklah (link to the State Department, admitting that one of our own citizens was unjustifiably murdered by the IDF in violation of international law). The same pattern with this murder is playing out with the bombing of the hospital. ‘No, it was Palestinians not us!’ This attempted deflection is not for people like me, who very well know what is happening, but for the majority of people living in the West, who do not know what is happening.

Aid to Gaza

I am especially sickened by our President’s statement upon leaving Tel Aviv yesterday, that Egypt has agreed to allow through 20 trucks. Egypt has over a hundred trucks lined up on their side of the Rafah crossing (Reuters), which was bombed by Israelis, by the way, after they told Palestinians to seek refuge there (PBS Newshour). So, first of all, the roads have to be rebuilt for a truck to get in even if it could except Israel has kept that gate closed. So it’s not that Egypt agreed to send aid! Actually, it’s that Netanyahu agreed to allow less than a fifth of the aid already waiting there for his permission to enter Gaza.

Did you catch that? It’s up to Netanyahu and his administration—whose fascism, remember, has been the target of mass protests all year—whether anything gets in or out of Gaza through Egypt.

All these headlines proclaiming our President some kind of diplomatic wunderkind because he got Egypt to agree to send aid are outright absurd. It is Donny With The Combover levels of absurd. Egypt has been begging to be allowed to get aid into Gaza the whole time. In fact, his accomplishment was to walk away with this outrageously paltry allowance from Netanyahu that will not come close to meeting the needs on the ground caused not only by this heavier collective punishment of Gaza (because Gazans are punished everyday no matter what simply for existing in their own homeland), but more substantially by the everyday blockade of Gaza imposed by the Israeli military.

Actions

BDS

What can you do? Join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), and begin to boycott Israeli-made products today. Your tax dollars are being spent on this genocide; you do not have to fund any more of it personally with your own dollars.

Palestinian Flags

Second of all, begin flying a Palestinian flag as soon as possible. If you put one out for Ukrainians, what justification can you come up for even just yourself to justify not standing up for a more seriously oppressed people? Stand up!

Hirbawi Kufiya/Kefiyyah

You know the scarf-type thing Yasser Arafat always wore in just such a way that it resembled the land of Palestine? You know, that scarf-looking-thing Representative Tlaib wore yesterday to speak in protest in DC? I’ve always wondered about them, but only decided to look into them after I saw Rashida Tlaib wearing one.

Originally, these were worn by Palestinian farmers, but in the 1930s they became a symbol of Palestinian resistance, and solidified as such by Arafat.

Turns out, there is only one remaining manufacturer in Palestine, the Hirbawi family. All the rest are Chinese products that aren’t even all that similar. So skip Amazon, and pre-order your own Palestinian-made Kufiya through their webstore. Why? Because it is a way to support at least one family and the families they employ. Even if you never wear it or do anything other than keep it folded in your closet, think about it. Given the total blockade of the moment, all orders are set to ship after the blockade is eased.

I was surprised how many different versions they make in so many different colors, and they’ve named different versions for different Palestinian communities (so, theoretically, you could get one of each and everyday you could tell people the story of that community, something I’m definitely thinking about).

Resources

Get active. This is absolutely not a moment to stay seated while a genocide is carried out on your dime. US munitions are falling on Gaza right now.

Jewish Voices for Peace

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

Arab Resource and Organizing Center

Institute for Middle East Understanding

Middle East Children’s Alliance for Peace

These are great sources of information with ways to stand up against this on-going atrocity, with special thanks to Lara Kiswani and Morgan Bassichis on this episode of How to Survive the End of the World. As they also say on this episode, for information on what is actually happening, turn away from your typical sources. The main Western outlets are out-and-out lying to you in extreme bad faith. There is no other way to characterize their coverage. Shame on them. Turn to Al-Jazeera, The Intercept, even The Guardian. (And, yes, for the record, The New York Times and The Washington Post have lost my subscriptions over their barbaric coverage. Good riddance to garbage.)

This is anti-Zionism, not antisemitic.

Zionism is not Judaism. I’m tired of this accusation that a person could be somehow antisemitic for dissenting against the Zionist (not Jewish) genocide of Palestinians. What is actually antisemitic is the bad-faith claim that opposing Zionism is opposition to Judaism. It is antisemitic—not to say repugnant—to conflate fascistic nationalism and settler-colonialism (Zionism) with an ancient religion like Judaism. Shame on anyone who follows this line—but you’ll not find this claim outside the West; everyone else knows better.