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one reason (white) queer people misuse the term homonationalism is that they see queerness (or whatever you want to call it) as naturally disaffiliated with the US empire. so they understand homonationalism as a divergence from a natural mutual antagonism between queerness and empire. they talk about homonationalism as if it's an exclusively "normie gay" project, and as if it's a divergence from, rather than a consequence of, the overall trajectory of western lgbtqia+ politics. ironically it’s that self-exceptionalization by the queer, on the basis of their queerness, that imbricates them in homonationalism. they produce themselves as a homonationalist subject, and reproduce homonationalism, every time they articulate their queerness as individualized freedom. and Puar actually anticipates all of this in her original theorization of homonationalism in Terrorist Assemblages, and that's why it really helps to go to the text instead of osmosing queer theory solely through tumblr posts (esp when tumblr is so white and the queer theorists are not): "Some may strenuously object to the suggestion that queer identities, like their 'less radical' counterparts, homosexual, gay, and lesbian identities, are also implicated in ascendant white American nationalist formations, preferring to see queerness as singularly transgressive of identity norms. This focus on transgression, however, is precisely the term by which queerness narrates its own sexual exceptionalism.

While we can point to the obvious problems with the emancipatory, missionary pulses of certain (U.S., western) feminisms and of gay and lesbian liberation, queerness has its own exceptionalist desires: exceptionalism is a founding impulse, indeed the very core of a queerness that claims itself as an anti-, trans-, or unidentity. The paradigm of gay liberation and emancipation has produced all sorts of troubling narratives: about the greater homophobia of immigrant communities and communities of color, about the stricter family values and mores in these communities, about a certain prerequisite migration from home, about coming-out teleologies. We have less understanding of queerness as a biopolitical project, one that both parallels and intersects with that of multiculturalism, the ascendancy of whiteness, and may collude with or collapse into liberationist paradigms. While liberal underpinnings serve to constantly recenter the normative gay or lesbian subject as exclusively liberatory, these same tendencies labor to insistently recenter the normative queer subject as an exclusively transgressive one. Queerness here is the modality through which 'freedom from norms' becomes a regulatory queer ideal that demarcates the ideal queer. ... I am thinking of queerness as exceptional in a way that is wedded to individualism and the rational, liberal humanist subject, what [Sara] Ahmed denotes as 'attachments' and what I would qualify as deep psychic registers of investment that we often cannot account for and are sometimes best seen by others rather than ourselves. 'Freedom from norms' resonates with liberal humanism’s authorization of the fully self-possessed speaking subject, untethered by hegemony or false consciousness, enabled by the life/stylization offerings of capitalism, rationally choosing modern individualism over the ensnaring bonds of family. In this problematic definition of queerness, individual agency is legible only as resistance to norms rather than complicity with them, thus equating resistance and agency.

... Queerness as automatically and inherently transgressive enacts specific forms of disciplining and control, erecting celebratory queer liberal subjects folded into life (queerness as subject) against the sexually pathological and deviant populations targeted for death (queerness as population). Within that orientation of regulatory transgression, queer operates as an alibi for complicity with all sorts of other identity norms, such as nation, race, class, and gender, unwittingly lured onto the ascent toward whiteness. ... To be excused from a critique of one’s own power manipulations is the appeal of white liberalism, the underpinnings of the ascendancy of whiteness, which is not a conservative, racist formation bent on extermination, but rather an insidious liberal one proffering an innocuous inclusion into life."

Jasbir K. Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times (2007)

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Near the end of many of our weekly conversations, I ask Yashayaie variations of the same question: How can one hold revolutionary idealism, the belief that collective action can lead to the betterment of society, to such lofty concepts as “equality” and “justice,” when the movement’s romanticism has long fizzled out? As he listens he holds a sugar cube between his teeth and sips tea loudly, a talent unique to men of the old teahouses.

“God created the world in six days, supposedly, and we are still trying to make it better,” he replied once, before taking down the Book of Genesis from his library and reading its depiction of the Fall. “Because man is inherently flawed—and will always be seeking change,” he proclaimed, his head of thick, wavy white hair as smooth and resilient as freshly piled snow on a rooftop. Every generation can find a place to seek improvement over the status quo, he insists. “The question is the decisions you will make if and when you find yourself in that place.” (...)

What remains of Jewish life in Oudlajan today—a number of synagogues and a public bath adorned with rich wall carvings and intricate mirror work—exists mostly as destinations for walking tours. Yashayaie and a group of a dozen Jewish men who were born in the neighborhood still drive there every Shabbat morning to worship. Journalists and tour guides often ask Yashayaie whether they can see a Shabbat service, and when I make the same request he sticks to the script and invites me to Ezra Yaghoub Synagogue, the oldest that still survives in Oudlajan.

Muslims and Zoroastrians also lived in the Oudlajan of Haroun Yashayaie’s childhood, known as a Jewish neighborhood. Relationships were mostly cordial, defined by distance and respect, he says. On Shabbat, Muslim neighbors would turn on the lights of the synagogue. His brother helped Muslim neighbors cook nazri—food made for public distribution during Ashura, when the Shi’a mourn the death of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

#iran #Judaism

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You're gonna see this zionist take alot to discredit literally a grassroots movement bc israelis cant help but criticize every form of palestinian resistance so I'm just going to repost this quote:

“Palestinian workers oppose the assumption that international support for the BDS movement might harm Palestinian workers who work for companies targeted by BDS. On the contrary: the dismantling of the Israeli settlement enterprise means that we Palestinians will be able to reclaim our land and natural resources. This, of course, will put an end to the exploitation of Palestinian workers by their Israeli employers. Any argument against this is an anti-worker argument.”

— Manal Shqair, an organizer with the Palestinian New Federation of Trade Unions

Also from the beginning "employing the enemy: The Story of Palestinian Labourers on Israeli Settlements" by Matthew Vickery who interviews these workers it is clear that being reliant on israeli jobs creates is last resort and it's a hard life. It's part of Israel's ability to control palestinian life in occupation. So yes bds attacking this would pave a way where they don't resort to accept this type of livelihood

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love how when i get a new interest, i’m like “oh god it’s happening again” and i’m stuck like that for about a week until everything explodes and any interest i’ve had prior is completely dwarfed for an unknown amount of time

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NYPD officers and other branches of law enforcement in different states are pulling off students coverings (including Muslim students) beating students, allowing for Zionist counter-protesters to wave around bananas (because they became aware certain students had deadly allergies https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL9KPax1/ ), allowing for Zionist counter-protesters to harass college students, including one case where a woman screamed that the students deserved to be raped, and many, many other atrocities.

And you want me to believe they’re the aggressors? That these protests in favor of Palestinian freedom are the ones supposedly ripe with hatred? Maybe take your head out of the Zionist medias ass and actually do some digging for yourself.

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Whimsical guitars

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suck my dick with your boob

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thank you to the dishonest failing new york times for constantly erasing us and purposefully obscuring jewish participation in these protests just to make people less sympathetic to the movement opposing an ongoing genocide

btw you can see all the edits nyt makes to their article titles on this twitter account

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"Zionism is the right to not get murdered" "Zionism is self determination" "Zionism is-" it's not. Please read what zionists were saying, they weren't shy about it

Zionists always have their own takes on Zionism that, for some unknown reason, always go against what actual Zionists were saying lol

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Zionists always have their own takes on Zionism that, for some unknown reason, always go against what actual Zionists were saying lol

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the fact that there are white people going "omg they're just like us" about people in south, south east, south west asia and africa and south america like it's some huge revelation that we're all human is so fucking dismal to me. what do you mean you never considered the personhood of the people who don't look like you or don't have your culture? why do you think that you're unique in your suffering? why do you think you deserve praise for realizing that we're all human?

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Fish-rice integration is exciting. You harvest both fishes and rice on the same land. Do you like it?

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the way people treat girl characters in fandom joker-ifies me