#Southwest Asia

[zestingbloodorange]

The ignorance that the queers of the world have about swana/mena queers and them only bringing us up when talking about how they're illegal there and they would get raped and killed there speaks volumes in so many ways.

and one of them is that it's because it's about them. It's about them wanting to come to our countries and have vacations and adventures and wear our cultural attires for aesthetic and getting free / cheap stuff and rides and even places to stay. I've seen so many tourists take advantage of our hospitality thinking their posts won't reach bilingual arabic speakers. film us whilst laughing as if we are circus animals. and fetishizing us and making content out of us...etc.

it was never about our safety and lives it's about their safety if they wanted to come visit countries that they will never be forced to go to or live in.

The western celebrities that come to the middle east and wear rainbow things have done absolutely nothing for us and actually it has backfired on us so many times while they get to leave. because it was not thought out and it was not about us from the beginning just for them to look good and for their non swana/mena queer fans.and their silence and neutrality at this critical moment tells me enough.

I'm not surprised because when we actually need solidarity we get ignored we only exist when it fits an agenda, for jokes, fetish or for selfish reasons.

And we have queer swana/mena famous artists and activities by the way (I know that's crazy) and they did are doing so much for the community than any westerner queer activities have done and is doing.

#swana #middle east #southwest asia #north africa #queer #lgbtq+ #lgbtq community

[bfpnola]

[ID: Screenshot of an Instagram post by @/SeekWithSer. The location reads, “Haut-Karabagh.” The title reads, “WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS A RESULT OF THE WEST'S APATHY TOWARD S.W.A.N.A REGIONS.” The users Substack article is mentioned at the bottom, titled “Uncomfortable Truth: Breaking the wall of silence, indifference, and apathy.”

Slide 2 reads: I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT SOMEONE (A WHITE PERSON) SAID WHEN I MENTIONED THE 2020 WAR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH.

"ISN'T THERE ALWAYS CHAOS IN THOSE AREAS? IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, THOSE PLACES ARE ALWAYS INFESTED WITH WAR AND DESTRUCTION."

This statement stuck with me because it represented the general apathy, indifference, and willful ignorance of the West toward countries we can't point to on the map whose names we can't pronounce.

And yet. AND YET. What we fail to realize (or conveniently ignore) is that our tax dollars are one of the most significant contributors to political and economic instability and PEACE in "those places."

Slide 3 reads: WHILE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT BANKROLLS GENOCIDES AGAINST WEST ASIAN MINORITIES, ETHNIC COMMUNITIES CONTINUE TO BE GASLIT AND TOLD TO BE GRATEFUL FOR U.S. INTERVENTION.

For example, Armenians are expected to be grateful to the U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide despite continuing to aid Azerbaijan in their genocidal efforts and ethnic cleansing of our ancestral lands.

For example, Afghans are expected to credit American soldiers for fighting terrorism in Afghanistan despite the U.S. playing a key role in the Taliban's rise.

IT IS ALL RELATED.

The more we see them as separate issues, the more divided we will become and the more power we hand over to imperialist agendas to continue pillaging ancestral lands and destabilizing SWANA communities.

Slide 4 reads: I'M NOT EXPECTING EVERYONE TO CARE ABOUT GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS. THAT IS YOUR PREROGATIVE.

BUT I WILL SPEAK ON BEHALF OF ALL SWANA COMMUNITIES THAT ARE HURT BY THEIR SO-CALLED ALLIES WHO WERE OUTRAGED OVER THE WAR IN UKRAINE BUT WHO CONTINUE TO TURN AWAY IN APATHY TOWARD THE PLIGHT OF THEIR COMMUNITIES.

Do they not deserve the same ounce of respect?

Have we collectively decided that their lives don't matter? Are they not worthy of the same rage and empathy that we've showed to our Eurocentric counterparts?

I IMPLORE us all to look at our hypocrisy. WE ARE COMPLICIT ABOUT THE SAME VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS THAT WE STAND AGAINST.

Slide 5 reads: ALLIES OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES NEED TO BREAK THEIR WALL OF SILENCE, INDIFFERENCE, AND APATHY.

WE NEED COLLECTIVE ACTION AGAINST THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF COLONIZATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZED TERRORISM NOW.

INDIGENOUS ARMENIANS OF ARTSAKH ARE BEING ETHNICALLY CLEANSED FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS AS YOU READ THIS AND THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ATTENTION AND AWARENESS OF THIS HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE.

IF THE VALUES OF INTERDEPENDENCE, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU, IGNORING THIS WOULD BE OUT OF INTEGRITY.

Slide 6 is a painting of an Armenian woman with tape across her mouth that reads “terrorist.” At the top, it reads: “seekwithser.substack.com.”

/End ID.]

#instagram #armenia #azerbaijan #artsakh #nagorno karabakh #indigenous #swana #southwest asia #south asia #west asia #north africa #bipoc #resources

[virgocurator]

Details of The Wonders of Creation

Iranian scholar Zakariya al-Qazwini ‎(1203–1283).

After traveling throughout Mesopotamia and Syria, he wrote his famous Arabic-language cosmography, 'Aja'eb ol-makhluqat wa qara'eb ol-mowjudat (The wonders of creation, or literally, Marvels of things created and miraculous aspects of things existing).

#art history #art #history #medieval #13th century #middle ages #medieval art #manuscript #persian #persian art #Iran #iranian #iranian art #iranian history #south asian history #southwest Asia #asian art #cosmology

[an-onyx-void]

Disclaimer: I am not the original owner or creator of this content. The source is listed below.

#threads #palestine #southwest asia #middle east #israel gaza war #gaza strip #gaza #free palestine

[divinelyfemme]

Signs from the Freedom Rally for Iran Los Angeles, CA – 10/01/2022

25,000 Iranian-Americans and allies gathered in Los Angeles as a part of a global demonstration to support the people of Iran in their fight for freedom from a misogynistic, oppressive, and dangerous government––a government that is not representative of its people. These were immigrants from Iran, first- and second-generation children of the diaspora, and non-Iranians who understand their privilege in their ability to protest and speak out.

#iran #iran revolution #zhina amini #jina amini #mahsa amini #nika shakarami #hadis najafi #jin jiyan azadi #zan zendegi azadi #women life freedom #assyrian iranian #swana #mena #middle eastern #southwest asia #freedom #never posted these...but this day was so emotional

[saharathorn]

Persepolis (Iran): Great Stairway to the Terrace Complex. c. 1902-1905. - Antoin Sevruguin.

#Iran #Persia #Iranian #Persian #middle east #Southwest Asia #West Asia #photography #History #Antoin Sevruguin #persepolis

[bikerlovertexas]

#flag #retreat #633rd CS #Cannon #Southwest Asia #U.S. Central Command #CENTCOM #Afghanistan #flickr

[tenth-sentence]

The West long ago expanded from the original core in southwest Asia* to encompass the Mediterranean Basin and Europe, and in the last few centuries the Americas and Australasia too.

*What, since the nineteenth century, people have rather confusingly called the "Middle East."

"Why the West Rules – For Now: The patterns of history and what they reveal about the future" - Ian Morris

#book quote #why the west rules – for now #ian morris #nonfiction #the west #expansion #southwest asia #asia #mediterranean basin #europe #the americas #australasia #middle east #19th century

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"THE WORD "GABBEH" COMES FROM THE PERSIAN "گبه," MEANING RAW, NATURAL, UNCUT."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a colorful vintage gabbeh rug [No. 9], by Forsyth Art, Saint Louis, gallery & studio. Dimensions 60 x 80 inches.

"A gabbeh rug is traditionally a sleeping rug. The pile is thick and cozy and hand-spun and woven of 100% sheep's wool. These rugs is popular among the populations of the Zagros Mountains of Iran, including Kurdish, Luri and Qashqai people."

-- FORSYTH ART (gallery and studio)

Source: www.forsythart.com/collections/vintage-rugs/products/vintage-gabbeh-rug-no-9.

#Gabbeh rug #Gabbeh rug No. 9 #Rug #Vintage Rug #Vintage Gabbeh rug #Gabbeh #Vintage Rugs #Home décor #Décor #Forsyth Art Gallery and Studio #Forsyth Art Gallery and Studio St. Louis #Forsyth Ar. Gallery and Studio Saint Louis #Haute boheme #Rugs #Bohemian Style #Vintage Style #Zagros Mountains #Iran #Southwest Asia #Boho Style #Boheme #Persian #Kurdish #Boho #Bohemian

[whats-in-a-sentence]

One of the central facts of human history is the early importance of the part of Southwest Asia known as the Fertile Crescent (because of the crescent-like shape of its uplands on a map: see Figure 8.1).

"Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years" - Jared Diamond

#book quotes #guns germs and steel #jared diamond #nonfiction #fertile crescent #human history #southwest asia #mediterranean

[zestingbloodorange]

The thing that has been getting to me the most in these mental health conversations these days, is westerns who keep acting like we are being insensitive to their disabilities and mental health issues when we say it's not an excuse to be ignorant or to be silent and to do nothing and to keep a blind eye for comfort and for some to not to trauma dump on palestinians and on pro palestine people of color on social media.

People keep assuming that palestinians and pro palestine people from other parts of the region that have been destroyed by the west are able-bodied and have ok mental health just because they don't talk about it much or don't talk about it. we have suffered and we are suffering because it doesn't end with a ceasefire it doesn't end when you grow up it doesn't end when you leave the country it doesn't end when you get help it doesn't end even if you were born outside of those countries and never stepped a foot on your mother land it doesn't end.

and we are still privileged because palestinians in gaza are keeping us updated and are keeping up with the west bank and with the rest of the world whilst being under one the worst bombardments in history and going through a genocide that in itself should make you feel embarrassed to even bring this up.

I grew up with American airstrikes non stop dropping on my neighborhood and my SCHOOLS because we kept evacuating from schools because they kept getting bombed, watching my family and friends and classmates and my neighbors get kidnapped and killed get blown up to bits watching limbs fly into our house and into our school playgrounds then watch almost everyone i know that lived flee the country in the worst conditions possible then live through daesh...etc I could go on and on for months and I'm only in my early 20s and we didn't get mental or physical help. my uncle just died a couple days ago because of his disability he was poor and he got diagnosed way too late he lived such a hard life that when he died it was relief. most of us don't have access to the most basic human rights which medical help and therapy.

and we are expected to always be well spoken have patience and be comforting for people that we are spoon feeding information or otherwise we are aggressive and barbaric and ungrateful and we are pushing people away from our movements.

I keep seeing people send anons and dms of their suicidal thoughts because of the news to every palestinian i follow on every social media platform and some other pro palestine people of color including myself which is crazy because I don't even have a big following, the news that they have the privilege to turn off because for the gazillion time western countries are committing massacres far from the west especially americans who are in the stomach of the beast.

Have shame.

#this is a #rant post #i hope this came off right and sorry if it didn't #palestine #فلسطين #free palestine #فلسطين حرة #gaza #غزة #mental health #disability #america #united states #iraq #العراق #swana #mena #middle east #southwest asia #north africa #assyrian #current events

[storm-of-feathers]

Totk is fun and all but god the writers hate people of color

#every scene with ganondorf is deeply uncomfortable holy shit #it seems mostly targeted to southwest asia north africa ''cultures'' #(seriously just racist bullshit but okay whatever okay) #and thats so stupid bc so much of this game has chinese imagery thats at least like. trying. #one day ill talk ab the rito ''aesthetic'' and its gross anti indigenous undertones #not today but one day #also dont come on this post to tell me the game was made by japanese people #like yes no shit #and im not the one to have a conversation ab it but japan is incredibly xenophobic #rbs off for rn i might change my mind #edit: i put cultures in quotations bc none of the actual cultures are being represented here its just weird stereotypes

[an-onyx-void]

US reaches deal to extend military presence at Qatar base: Source

US reaches deal to extend military presence at Qatar base: Source

#the strait times #strait times #TST #united states military #us military #qatar #middle east #southwest asia #an onyx void reports

[wgm-beautiful-world]

The beauty of Maldives

#the maldives #the maldives islands #las islas maldivas #indian ocean #southwest #india #sri lanka #paradise #paraiso #asia

[saharathorn]

Dasht-I-Lar Region, Mount Damavand in Background: Shah’s Escort Regiment. c 1880-1930. - Antoin Sevruguin

#Iran #photography #Persia #history #middle east #southwest asia #west Asia #Persian #Antoin Sevruguin

[americangirlstar]

a good parent for Kavi in the descendants au could be the genie? He has huge theatre kid vibes! and I know Aladdin doesnt take place in any particular real life country and picks and chooses from many west asian countries, but it does have quite a few inspirations from india since that is a important part of Kavi's story. And aladdin is a pretty big show on broadway right now too.

no wait oh my god that is PERFECT

#aladdin takes inspo from both south and southwest asia this is a GREAT idea