Rachael LIf you level most all buildings in a tiny region then it's unavoidable combatants will end up in the same buildings as non-combatants. But also the IDF is wrong even if they aren't lying. It's a choice to use bombs on a school building sheltering families with children.
When I write Rep. Adam Smith about the state of israel's violence, his office now just responds with email text that doesn't mention anything about his positions on the topic and instead just lists constituent services. Sigh. #EndGenocideInGaza #GenocideJoe #Israel #Palestine
I am again upset and crying that this is happening and worse it is with my indirect support. So I have yet again called my senators and representative in Congress.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/world/middleeast/west-bank-raids.html
Some excerpts. None of this is moral. The #UnitedStates government is supporting this. #Israel #Palestine
Cancel culture in the US is apparently not when a rapper gets removed from events because he said "fuck America" to a crowd upset about the United States funding the murder of tens of thousands of children. https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/macklemore-clarifies-controversial-remarks-at-seattle-pro-palestinian-concert/
I say "fuck america" like three times before breakfast if I happen to read the news and see something about Israeli military actions which are supported by my government and our general world hegemonic power. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't reliably get replies from my senators but my member of the house usually does. Though now all his office sends is a generic thank you for your comment and here are the constituent services the office offers. They used to give his current position on the conflict.
I'm taking a sun break from work and I see israel's political leadership is just utterly committed to starting a wider war and incidentally killing civilians. Since now bombing residential buildings in Beirut is apparently a thing now that the US leadership is also silent about. I'm sure the excuse is some Hezbollah leader lives there. :/ #Israel #UnitedStates #Genocide
If WW3 starts from this, it's not like we can say there wasn't warning. Bombing the capitol city of a neigboring sovereign nation is an act of war which Israel is doing with impunity. That it hasn't caused significant counter-response yet from other nations in the region is honestly surprising and speaks to leaders not wanting a wider war but it seems unlikely to continue that way. And Israel isn't going to stop with the current US shrug stance.
It's friday afternoon and I am enjoying the sun but also worried a world war that may turn into a nuclear war is starting right now and all my elected leadership seems to not care. :/
Pointless probably but I just called all my members of Congress to leave messages. I'll probably go write up something later and send that too. Bah.
It seems pretty outside the bounds of morality to level several large residential buildings in the capitol city of another country in order to kill one man, no matter what he might have done wrong.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/28/g-s1-25279/israels-military-says-it-killed-hezbollah-leader #israel #UnitedStates
It's monday and israel's government is invading lebanon on the ground, warning civilians there to evacuate and also the US is going to send more troops to the middle east. focus on work kind of hard.
Short history lesson: Palestinians driven out into Lebanon never got citizenship. Hezbollah came into existence after Israel invaded Lebanon in the early 1980s.
For most of my life and including the last year the violence between Hezbollah and the Israeli govt is often labeled as "tit for tat" and then with periods of "escalation" like the past couple weeks.
But the past year is not "tit for tat" even if it has escalated recently. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-lebanon-death-toll-israel-hezbollah-attacks/
The Appalling Attack on Ta-Nehisi Coates Is a Massive Media Failing
https://newrepublic.com/maz/article/186577/ta-nehisi-coates-media-antisemitism
--
The "interview" really was appalling. The project of trying to delegitmize criticism of the Israeli government exists partly to give cover to the leaders in the US that continue to support sending weapons to Israel.
Chris Hayes has a good interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates. https://youtu.be/aLzKy2N4s2M
Full Ta-Nehisi Coates interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes
A short video of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Maaza Mengiste and Eve Ewing experiencing the occupied West Bank.
It ends with TNC: "it's a lot. it's a lot."
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Maaza Mengiste, Eve L. Ewing / Reflections from Palestine
Is anyone I know in #Seattle going to the one year of genocide protest today at 2pm at Pier 62? Want to buddy up?
The Sunday #SeattleTimes print edition put this story above a story about universities being investigated for student protests of the #genocide in Gaza. The headline for this one leads with "Pro-Palestinian" which to my mind is like calling 2020 Black Lives Matter protests "pro-Black". Yes, "pro" the marginalized folks but really defending universal dignity. So the consent machine keeps going whirrr but at least they printed a story.
Anyway, if you're a #UnitedStates resident and horrified that we keep sending billions in weapons to #Israel, call your congress people tomorrow. #EndGenocideInGaza
If you live in the United States,
you paid for this.
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2024/gaza-before-after-satellite-images/
#EndGenocideInGaza #GenocideJoe
In 2007-2008 when I was also going through a long breakup I was reading a lot about genocide. I special ordered obscure books. I was steeped in it. It wrecked me at the time possibly partly because I was in the middle of major personal change.
Now I have a supportive partner and extended family and friends and it still wrecks me.
Every life is a universe. I couldn't get through 5 minutes of this video. https://youtu.be/poHGZW-mg_M
The names of those killed in Israel’s genocide in Gaza | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
Report from a UN org about the Israel govt targetting the health system of #Gaza: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-inquiry-accuses-israel-crime-extermination-destruction-gaza-health-system-2024-10-10/
Predictably there are the same excuses (see screenshot), but a reminder that Gaza has (had?) over 2 million people in an area the same size as the city of #Seattle. I'm don't believe Hamas never ever has military fighters or equipment near civilians. How could they not in such a small area? Plus I live near US military bases & no doubt members visit Seattle.
I called my members of Congress again:
- Rep. Adam Smith's staffer answered. Smith's latest newsletter had a milquetoast bit about investigating settlers in the West Bank and zilch about Gaza or Lebanon
- Senator Cantwell had a staffer answering. Asked that she sign onto Sen. Sanders' call for an embargo.
- Senator Murray's number went straight to voicemail. After my comment, I thanked the staffer who has to listen to this while Murray does nothing.
It appears Israel has killed the immoral Hamas leader who planned the Oct 7, 2023 attack. #Israel leaders plans to continue #genocide in #Gaza anyway.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-israel-hezbollah-gaza-lebanon-beirut-hamas-war-strike
Chris Hayes' discussion with Israeli Jewish journalist Amir Tibon has a lot of history abouy Gaza and about this Hamas leader's relationship to Netanyahu. https://overcast.fm/+AAuOFuzfHpQ
I've no idea if it matters but calling and writing my members of Congress is something I keep doing whenever I'm upset. Today I saw news that Israel has denied entry to more medical aid orgs and is continuing to bomb northern Gaza and likely killing many non-combatants. Genocide paid for by everyone in the United States and supported by our leaders! :( #EndGenocideInGaza #GenocideJoe #israel #palestine
Guess I'll be calling on Monday. Intentionally targeting water engineers who got clearance with the IDF is just ... how broken is that? Not that this is new / different. It just continues and Adam Smith, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell either just don't care or are too chickenshit to say anything. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-condemns-killing-water-engineers-gaza #EndGenocideInGaza #UnitedStates #genocide
It is hard not to be cynical. For reasons complicated to post I don't think US policy will chge til after election is sorted. But it should. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/urgent-last-remaining-hospitals-north-gaza-under-siege-and-population-trapped #EndGenocideInGaza #israel #palestine #UnitedStates
It appears that the office of Rep. Adam Smith just sends a generic "here are the resources available to you" email text when you submit comments on Israel/Palestine now. He hasn't made any public statements that I can find other than to call for an investigation of a US citizen killed in the West Bank. :/
Oh actually, I just got a more specific response from Rep. Adam Smith which also links to this page which is a storymap (??) of his recent statements: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a006723b21cb4b1f8fca1544b2afaa6b
He's still not calling for an arms embargo.
#UnitedStates #uspolitics #Israel #palestine #EndGenocideInGaza
Get on social again after work again and I see the news that Israel is bombing in the vicinity if hospitals in Beirut now. Just ... how does anyone with power to stop this think this is going to go? "Glad" I called and write my congress folk at lunch.
Guess I'm calling or writing all my congress people again. This isn't a new sentiment from this Israeli political leader currently in office but my political leaders seem to believe it's not relevant information as to the past actions and plans of the Israeli government.
https://news.sky.com/story/this-is-our-land-we-deserve-it-dozens-of-israelis-planning-to-cross-border-and-settle-in-gaza-13238436 #GenocideJoe
If you're a US person, calling your elected members of Congress does matter. They keep tallies of who calls and make estimates about how many other folks likely agree but don't call. Another reason to care: yet more journalists killed in #Gaza. https://dair-community.social/@ZekuZelalem/113352683051495951
Zecharias Zelalem (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image Re-upping on all my platforms, because we cannot tone down our condemnation of this unprecedented slaughter of journalists. The apathy & indifference towards Israel's killing of Palestinian media professionals (130 since 7/10/23 per the IFJ), including among many prominent journalists, is a chilling indictment of our industry as a whole. Incredibly disturbed by the silence of friends and colleagues & those who cited "objectivity" for it. It has truly been an eye-opening year for journalism.
I called my congress people right before my lunch and now I want to call again having seen this Doctors Without Borders update on the situation in north Gaza. Gaza is by land area no bigger than the city of "Seattle (the legal city boundaries). No aid is getting in and it is under continuous attack.
https://mastodon.online/@michael_w_busch/113358582136645054 #Genocide #Israel #Palestine
Michael Busch (@[email protected])
QT MSF @[email protected] 2024 October 23 "Update from North Gaza" "Israeli forces have targeted the last remaining hospitals in the north, including the Indonesian, Al-Awda, and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls on Israeli forces to immediately stop attacking health facilities, cease the all-out war on the people of Gaza, and allow for the evacuation of people in need of vital care." https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/update-north-gaza-i-just-dont-have-words
For unrelated reasons we stopped donating to the ACLU but still: what the fuck. Facts:
- the ACLU took positions on the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa
- every missile and bomb dropped in Gaza comes from the US
- US politicians, universities and others justify violations of free speech rights in the US on people who oppose the genocide
- military, police and surveillance tech used here is "tested" abroad
https://theintercept.com/2024/10/22/aclu-israel-gaza-war-divest/
"After a year of conflict, two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, leaving behind 42 million tonnes of rubble and a mountain of health risks."
This is from Oct. 5th. I likely missed it because I thought I would be too upset. Anyway I called (& wrote) my members of Congress to ask them to look at this article and examine why they haven't called for an arms embargo.
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/ANNIVERSARY-GAZA-RUBBLE/akveegbnlvr/
UNRWA is a UN org created with US backing in the early 1950s to help Palestinian refugees. Since world leaders have never kept their promise to the Palestinian people to create and support a nation (within the pre-1967 boundaries) UNRWA forms a huge part of the societal "infrastructure" -- education, health care, etc -- of the West Bank and Gaza.
Yesterday Israel's government voted to ban UNRWA. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1156231
Lazzarini: Israeli Knesset vote on UNRWA will deepen Palestinian suffering
Monday’s vote by the Israeli Knesset banning the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) contradicts principles of the UN Charter, violates Israel’s obligations under international law, and sets a dangerous precedent, the head of the Agency, Philippe Lazzarini has warned.
A former spokesperson for UNRWA spoke with the Makdisi Street podcast back in February and it's clear how important UNRWA is and how longstanding it is that various leaders in Israel have wanted to undermine UNRWA for no reason ... unless those leaders' goals are ethnic cleansing and genocide. https://overcast.fm/+ABFQ4UGo1sM
“The world has been lied to” w/ Chris Gunness — Makdisi Street
The brothers interview Chris Gunness , former chief spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), about journalistic coverage and distortion, the shaping of representation of Palestine,…
In #Seattle, people whose families immigrated or were refugees from #Palestine are dealing with grief and mental health. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mental-health/for-palestinians-in-seattle-war-in-gaza-brings-lasting-mental-health-toll/
Meanwhile the school district is investigating teachers targeted by right wing extremists for voicing any compassion for Palestinians (outside school until the extremists showed up at their school!) https://southseattleemerald.org/voices/2024/10/30/opinion-open-letter-to-seattle-public-schools-reinstate-teacher-ian-golash-immediately #genocide #UnitedStatesGenocide
united states, israel, palestine
It probably seems pointless but if you live in the US or can vote I encourage you to call or write your members of Congress and ask them to call for an end to sending arms to Israel. There's still a genocide. #genocide #GenocideJoe #gaza #palestine
It probably seems pointless but if you live in the US or can vote I encourage you to call or write your members of Congress and ask them to call for an end to sending arms to Israel. There's still a genocide. #genocide #GenocideJoe #gaza #palestine
I found out yesterday Senator Murray signed onto a letter to ask President Biden to sanction some of Israel's most virulently genocidal leaders who push for Weet Bank settlements: https://delauro.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/delauro.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024.10.29%20Final%20letter%20to%20admin%20re%20West%20Bank%20violence%5B19%5D-compressed_1.pdf (via -- https://bsky.app/profile/diplomatofnight.com/post/3lawfcuswp223)
But it's not enough so when I received a JVP action alert (https://jvpa.tools/fjsPP9), I called my senators again to ask them to cosponsor the Joint Resolution of Disapproval that Senator Bernie Sanders has been pushing.
The local #Seattle Times is manufacturing consent for #genocide.
The president of the largest publicly funded university in the state had her home & car vandalized. The article seems to label messages like "free palestine" and "blood on your hands" as "pro-Hamas".
Jewish groups mentioned or quoted as is issue of antisemitism. No local Palestinian-Americans are quoted. They exist and many have family who have died.
I don't personally think vandalism like this is particularly effective but who knows! At least people will hear about the issue even in this biased form. It is surely not unexpected when tens of thousands of people including children are being killed with monetary and cultural support from the United States and its institutions. It's even more expected when the university is among many in shutting down more "legitimate" protest actions.
Some recent reading and listening that in part touches on #Palestine:
Book:
- Recognizing the Stranger by Isabella Hammad - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/463942/recognising-the-stranger-by-hammad-isabella/9781911717379
- The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates - https://ta-nehisicoates.com/books/the-message/
Podcasts:
- Makdisi Street esp https://overcast.fm/+ABFQ4VKNQJo (with Rashid Khalidi)
- On the Nose esp https://overcast.fm/+AAwyJIMtIc8 (w Naomi Klein and Hala Alyan) and https://overcast.fm/+AAwyJJdYIo8 (with TNC)
- The Big Picture - https://overcast.fm/+AA_5fR30TBo
Recognising the Stranger
‘A book that calls us to witness our place in history’ Sally Rooney An urgent and moving essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of narrative from the Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Enter Ghost. Award-winning author Isabella Hammad delivered the Edward W. Said Lecture at Columbia University nine days before 7 October 2023. The text of Hammad’s seminal speech and her afterword written in the early weeks of 2024 together make up a searing appraisal of the war on Palestine during what feels like a turning point in the narrative of human history. Moving and erudite, Recognising the Stranger is a brilliant melding of literary and cultural analysis in which Hammad sheds true light on the Palestinian struggle for freedom. 'Hammad shows us how the Palestinian struggle is the story of humanity itself, and asks us not to look away but to see ourselves' MAX PORTER 'A reminder of the radical potential of reading and the possibility of change' OLIVIA SUDJIC 'Extraordinary and amazingly erudite' RASHID KHALIDI
#UnitedStates folks! Senator Sanders has introduced 6 Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block arms sales to #Israel. They might not pass. But it's worth calling and telling your senators (at least) why they should vote for them. US and international law clearly at this point are being violated. Tens of thousands of children in #Gaza have been killed with our tax dollars with no sign that it will stop. Please call yours!
#Seattle / #Washington folks. Maybe you also think it's wrong your tax dollars have funded the deaths of tens of thousands of children? Consider calling Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.
Murray: (202) 224-2621 (DC), (206) 553-5545 (Seattle)
Cantwell: (202) 224-3441 (DC)
The SEIU has called for support of resolutions from Sen. Sanders to end arms sales. https://www.seiu.org/2024/11/seiu-supports-sen-sanders-joint-resolutions-of-disapproval-to-block-sale-of-offensive-weapons-to-israel #EndGenocideInGaza
I don't actually like to frame this issue this way -- it's not how I think about it as the US' long standing abuse of its world power is more important than "my taxes" -- but that is not how a lot of folks think.
God it's so gross. Biden's legacy is going to be the murder of tens of thousands of children and not the best climate policy the US has ever seen.
Thread on bluesky of the WH pushing senate dems to vote against the JRD: https://bsky.app/profile/diplomatofnight.com/post/3lbdqnsgbxk2a
It seems unlikely they have the votes to pass it (given need for R votes) but still pushing the minority Dems to vote against?!
Emissary Of Night | ليلى (@diplomatofnight.com)
Unsurprisingly, the Biden White House is urgently lobbying Senate and House Democrats to vote against Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen's Joint Resolutions of Disapproval which would block military sales to Israel in accordance with US and international humanitarian law. https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-admin-urging-dems-to-reject-progressive-push-to-block-arms-transfers-to-israel/
The US vetoed another UN security council resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire and return of hostages / release of prisoners. Nearly every other country in the world supports this. https://bsky.app/profile/diplomatofnight.com/post/3lbfcbntves25 #EndGenocideInGaza
If you are in the US call your senators to ask them to support the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval. They are being voted on today! https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/tell-senators-no-more-weapons-to-israel/ #Israel #palestine #genocide #uspol
I am sad to report that it appears both Senators Murray and Cantwell of #Washington voted against the JRDs. A yes vote would indicate their support for ending arms shipments to Israel supporting the #genocide of the people in Gaza.
Looks like 2 more votes to go but I don't imagine they'd vote against some and for others. But I guess it's too soon to say?
I called the Seattle and DC numbers for Senators Murray and Cantwell to express my disapproval and reiterate the need for an arms embargo.
Also Biden sucks. Keep in mind the ICC also indicted a Hamas leader. One group of people committing atrocities doesn't give other people a free pass for other atrocities.
I got a response from #Washington Senator Murray about her failure to vote for Senator Sanders' Joint Resolutions of Disapproval. 👎🏼
If you read the 4th paragraph it's clear that to her the people of Gaza being killed by the US & Israel either:
- aren't mostly civilians, or
- aren't innocent, or
- are "culpable" civilians who deserve death, or
- aren't equal to the possible future deaths of people who largely aren't in Gaza.
Technically I suppose there's a fifth option that she thinks decreasing the arms the United States sends to Israel will increase civilian deaths in Gaza. I didn't list that because that's so obviously absurd. But let's be "fair". 🤮
Cross post of something on another social on ways to help Palestinian safety and freedom.
https://bsky.app/profile/r343l.bsky.social/post/3lcsma25fac2u
Rachael (@r343l.bsky.social)
Things you can do to help people in Gaza: - donate to families if you can - share Palestinian stories - donate to aid orgs - for US folks: call & write your elected officials regularly (even ones who don't seem to care). - support groups near you working for Palestinian freedom & safety. 1/2 [contains quote post or other embedded content]
I'm clearing out my inbox at my desk for the first time since getting covid so the first major thing I did was write my representative in the House that I am disgusted his email update this week on passing the NDAA doesn't even mention this bullshit dehumanizing provision that bans the Pentagon from using Gaza Ministry of Health numbers. The least Adam Smith could do is express regret that the provision stayed in.
Chuck Darwin (@[email protected])
On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a $900 billion military budget in a bill that also bans the Pentagon from citing the official death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza and restricts health care for trans youth. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed 281 to 140, with 81 Democrats and nearly all Republicans voting “yes.” It sets aside $895 billion for military spending, largely going toward the Pentagon, which recently failed its seventh audit in a row and which works to sow violence and chaos across the world. The legislation bars the Pentagon from citing the death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza as collected by the Gaza Ministry of Health, or other sources citing those casualty figures — despite experts having repeatedly found that the ministry’s death counts are accurate and, if anything, are a severe undercount due to limitations to tallying deaths in the besieged territory. https://truthout.org/articles/81-democrats-vote-with-gop-for-military-budget-barring-gaza-death-toll-citations/
I didn't expect him to vote against the NDAA -- after all he's long been the ranking member of the main committee in the House on military stuff! -- but he could at least acknowledge the pain of the members of his community who are affected personally by the #genocide in #Gaza and the others who oppose it.
My bike commute today I started this episode of Makdisi Street on international law, the ICC, the ICJ, how hard war crimes and similar are hard to prosecute and how/why #Israel seems to be particularly protected. https://sites.libsyn.com/495388/the-problem-has-always-been-that-israel-is-above-the-law-w-nimer-sultany
Last night we were sorting some US quarters and found this one. I am nostalgic about the vision and promise of the UN and international cooperation. My government constantly undermines and destroys that vision. #EndGenocideInGaza
Makdisi Street: “The problem has always been that Israel is above the law" w/ Nimer Sultany
The brothers welcome , a Reader in Public Law at SOAS University of London. They discuss the difference between the hypocrisy of the Western liberal legal order versus the Western liberal abandonment of its own international order to protect Israel, the imperatives of justice in Syria at a time of injustice in Palestine, the ICC and ICJ cases, the fact that South Africa stopped appealing to the ICJ earlier this year, the idea of law as a site of struggle, the need to prevent instead of simply documenting genocide after the fact, and Western and liberal genocide denial. Check out his recent article "A Threshold Crossed: On Genocidal Intent and the Duty to Prevent Genocide in Palestine" ICJ Case against Israeli apartheid ICC Palestine Watch the on our YouTube channel Date of recording: December 10, 2024. Follow us on our socials: X: YouTube: Insta: TikTok: *Sign up at to access all the bonus content, including*
Over on bluesky I have a list of things you can actually do. https://bsky.app/profile/r343l.bsky.social/post/3lcsma25fac2u #EndGenocideInGaza #palestine #uspol
Rachael (@r343l.bsky.social)
Things you can do to help people in Gaza: - donate to families if you can - share Palestinian stories - donate to aid orgs - for US folks: call & write your elected officials regularly (even ones who don't seem to care). - support groups near you working for Palestinian freedom & safety. 1/2 [contains quote post or other embedded content]