thenixkat

[thenixkat]

Chen Chen

[thenixkat]

i'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, but sometimes i hear women talking about their diets and it takes all i have to not be like "this is not normal. you have an eating disorder and you are in a cult."

[thenixkat]

Queer history and the history of disability are inherently connected. Beyond the myriad of queer disabled people throughout history, the medicalization of queer people has existed for a long time and continues to this day. This means that a lot of the abuses of disabled people have overlapped onto the queer community, and ideally this would give queer people a greater understanding and ability to stand in solidarity with the disabled community. In practice, this often isn’t the case. Eugenicist beliefs, ableist rhetoric, and a deep fear of aging and losing access to an abled body, are all things that run rampant within the queer community. It is past time to do better.

There is so much to learn from the people sitting on the intersection, and the queer people who have been forced through the medical system because of their queerness. Queerness and disability are connected, and that’s a strength for both communities. Within queer history is the history of disability and within the history of disability is queer history. To learn one is to learn the other, and let that be the joy of it.

[thenixkat]

How to spot Liberal Zionist Propaganda 101

This post is by no means exhaustive at all. There are many Liberal Zionist talking points but these are just some of the most common ones. While on the surface they seem a little naive and hopeful at best, they are very much harmful. If you claim to be an ally to Palestinians, this post is primarily for you!

For starters, liberal Zionists will often try to both-sides the issue of Palestine, talk about how it's complicated, they'll claim that the conflict hurts both Israelis and Palestinians, how the only way forward is one where Jews and Arabs "just need to get along," amongst other things. They also often like to centre themselves, even when acknowledging Palestinians as the victims of Israel or this "conflict." From time to time, they also like to engage in tokenising certain Palestinians whose views tend to more or less align with theirs. Here are some common arguments you may hear from them:

1. Any form of justifying Israel's existence or claiming that the only solution is two states

It does not really need to be said why justifying Israel's existence is harmful but justifying its continued existence also means legitimising Israel's land theft, its expulsions of Palestinians, and its ongoing harm to Palestinians and other populations. Reducing any sorts of “solutions” into a binary is unhelpful. Needless to say, a 2ss would not even address any legitimate concerns Palestinian have, such as the right of return, and would only legitimise Israel’s colonialism. Talking about a two-state solution also implies that the root of the conflict lies in Palestinians not having their own state rather than being an occupied people. It is very much also possible to construct a paradigm where Jews and Palestinians both live together on the same land as equal citizens that doesn't involve two separate states, much less an ethnostate.

2. Security for Israel could only come through peace

This is a similar talking point to the one above. Not only does it centre Israeli safety and security above Palestinian liberation but it mistakenly assumes that once Israel makes peace with Palestinians, it'll achieve security. The reality, however, is that Israel's imagined security has quite often come at the expense of peace. In fact, "peace" has just acted as nothing more than a smoke-screen for Israel to carry out its expansionist policies, particularly in the West Bank. When liberal Zionists talk about peace juxtaposed with Israeli security, they're talking about attaining a negative peace rather than a positive one.

3. Israelis are not their government.

This point does nothing to actually help Palestinians. It is also an incredibly tone-deaf thing to say when Israel has targeted many Palestinian civilians by having alleged proximity to Hamas, such as being family members of militants or leaders (inc. children!), civil servants in a Hamas-led government, or even any male above the age of 15 they consider to be a potential combatant! It also deliberately erases Israeli civilians' support of and culpability in Israel's actions towards Palestinians.

4. Netanyahu and/or the Israeli right are the source of conflict.

While it is true that things have gotten inadvertently worse under Israel's various right-wing governments, they are not the source of conflict, but rather a product of extremist nationalism and Jewish supremacy perpetuated by the system. Both the 1967 occupations and settlements were undertaken under centre-left governments in Israel, and Israeli policy under non-right wing governments has been just as harmful towards Palestinians and has paved the way for where we are today. Blaming Netanyahu just also obscures the violent nature of Israel's military occupation over Palestinians which long precede him coming into power.

5. Netanyahu and Hamas are two sides of the same coin

I don't think I've seen any allies give validity to this claim but it's an extremely reductionist claim and is sort of similar to the one above. Groups like Hamas are merely a response to the Israeli occupation while Netanyahu is a byproduct of it. While some Israelis may see Hamas or their actions as an "obstacle to peace," Israel's actions and policies long pre-date Hamas and how Israel is currently responding to Hamas is no different to how Israel has engaged with Palestinian militant groups in the past, regardless of political affiliations or political goals. It is also important to note that Hamas has agreed to the establishment of a state along 1967 borders while Netanyahu aims to prolong the occupation and empower the settler movement (some of whom are part of his coalition government) as much as possible.

6. Israel is not a settler-colonial state.

While it is indisputable that Jews have historical connections to Palestine, that doesn’t automatically make you Indigenous or negate Israeli settler-colonialism. Colonialism in particular describes a relationship of exploitation. There are many cases of this, but we most clearly see this in the West Bank where Israel exploits natural resources on occupied Palestinian territory for its own political and economic gains. In terms of settler-colonialism, it is widely known that Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to make way for Jewish refugees and migrants to the new state of Israel, and is still actively facilitating Jewish migration to Israel today while denying Palestinians their right of return.

7. (X) doesn't help Palestinians.

It is not up to anyone to determine whether certain tactics or strategies are helpful or not. This point only seeks to discredit pro-Palestine organising. Only Palestinians get to decide what is actually helpful for the cause or not.

8. Any sort of Hamas-blaming.

On the surface it may seem like there’s nothing wrong with this, but this point is often harmful and usually lends itself to right-wing talking points because its objective is to deflect blame away from Israel. Certain arguments blaming Hamas also aim to minimise Palestinian suffering perpetuated by Israel. It also paints Israeli violence as retaliatory to Palestinian violence which only obfuscates Israel’s (and by extension, the US’) role in its state military apparatus and the differing power dynamics between Israelis and Palestinians. In other contexts, this point seeks to also legitimise certain opposition, such as the Palestinian Authority. Hamas-blaming also tends to sometimes lead to racist diatribes about Palestinians and their culture.

9. Al-Jazeera is not a credible news source.

Al Jazeera is a news source like any other. It has varying editorial policies and therefore will have equally good reporting on certain issues while having terrible reporting on others. The difference is that Al-Jazeera's news on Palestine is credible because it comes directly from their Palestinian reporters on the ground and first-hand eyewitness accounts. Western news sources are no more or less credible than al-Jazeera. Compare this to CNN, NYT, and any other Western news sources where Palestinian voices are often entirely missing from the narrative.

10. Overemphasis of antisemitism on the left

Antisemitism is a real issue and has the potential to fester in left circles if not directly addressed head on. Combatting antisemitism is extremely important, however, it is not an issue exclusive to the left. There is also a double standard in that no one expects Zionists to call out Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. Certain accusations of "antisemitism" also seek to distract from what's going on in Palestine by making it about Jewish comfort and feelings. Combatting antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism etc is always important as the basis of good politics.

Last but not least, be wary of native collaborators or any sort of normalisers! They are Palestinians or Arabs who try very hard to appeal to Western liberal consensus and can end up perpetuating a lot of harm to the cause and/or other activists. You will know them when you see them.

[thenixkat]

It just doesn't make sense to me. If it's immoral not to vote for Biden because "xyz will die", then is it not also immoral to VOTE for him under that same reasoning?

[thenixkat]

I'm sorry for being so stupid with this stuff but what exactly is not voting supposed to do?

I always see people say not to vote and just leave it at that with nothing to do beyond that and I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of not voting is anyway because I don't think the movement is big enough for politicians to really care. I would love it if you could explain it to me please.

I guess my question in response is that I don't understand what *voting* is supposed to do? Like what are your goals for voting? For the "vote uncommitted" campaign, it's to scare Biden enough that he takes some sort of a stance. But for voting for him...? What does that do other than not have trump in office? And "not having trump in office" is an ideologically meaningless position if the person you're voting for is an out and proud genocider. So like, who are you helping if you claim to care about Palestine?

My point is, I genuinely don't understand that if you're someone who cares about people dying — which is what Biden supporters say is the reason they're voting Biden no matter what — then why are you voting for the guy that is killing people so openly? What is the moral reasoning? Is it "sacrifice the few to save the many"? If so, then you're not voting on the basis of caring, you're doing a cost benefit analysis using human lives. That's at its core a morally flawed way to look at the world.

So how can you, as a moral person, agree to subscribe to such an immoral system that forces you to make this "decision"?

I know I'm getting more ideological than practical here but there needs to be a serious reckoning behind why everyone is ok with being part of this system we are in. "Well what else would you have us do?" Some might say. And in response, I'd say, I don't know. But to be a moral person as you claim you want to be, should you not refute immorality as a structural system?

I'm not sure if this answered your question, if not feel free to send again but honestly, my only real response to "what does not voting do" is a headscratch because I don't understand what *voting* does that you believe will fix any of the problems we have?

[thenixkat]

Listen vote for Biden if you want but keep Palestine out of your mouths. Palestinian Americans have made it clear that they're not voting for him no matter what. Don't speak over us. Don't try to guilt us. We've been at this much, much longer than you have.

[thenixkat]

I'm very grateful that strangers are able to come together and support each other but I'm also incredibly mad at how the world has failed the people of Gaza, made them choose between leaving their homes and living in safety, and making them pay so much money to cross the border. I'll never forget how every institution that should have protected them did nothing and exploited them for money

Neither will I. There is not 1 institution, not 1 establishment, not 1 agency, NONE. There are none that have done right by the people of Ghazzah. At all. I will never forget it. The fucking cunts at the Egyptian border are fucking multi-millionaires by now. And for those who know how low our currencies in the region are compared to the American dollar (which is what is being demanded in egregious amounts) you know that these agents taking this money are filthy filthy dogs.

[thenixkat]

Wow, hey did you know the invisible man from H.G. Wells' book of the same name is albino? That's literally the key to him becoming invisible, because the thing that lets you become invisible doesn't affect pigments, but his skin already does not have any pigmentation, so he wouldn't have been able to make himself invisible if he weren't already albino.

listen here on the internet archive to a free audiobook version

or from project gutenberg

#huh

[thenixkat]

it's interesting how 'fact check' and 'vet your sources' seem to be the correct course of action only when it's about things we don't agree with isn't it

[thenixkat]

Israelis are taught such an alternative history about how their state was formed, extending to current events… and yet they never question why people could empathise with Palestinians and why the rest of the world sees this “conflict” differently, oh no it must be nothing other than antisemitism and Jew hatred!

[thenixkat]

obsessed with the kid who thinks furries are more looked down upon than disabled people this is absurd

I agree that people hate on furries a lot and it’s a massive signifier of queerphobia also but the way they just randomly decided Deformed People were gonna be their Bad Guys for the post is hilariously detached to me.

People constantly forget that fascists target us first and authoritarians and capitalists don’t want us to exist so I’m not surprised they also apparently don’t think we’re bullied either 🤷🏼‍♂️ like believe whatever helps you sleep at night I guess but don’t just lie about it blatantly and not expect anyone to disagree with you

[thenixkat]

I wish I could talk about social pressure and expectation to pass as cis and perisex as a tool of oppression but 99% of queer people on this site and even in other spaces are not ready for that yet.

[thenixkat]

intersex people: hey this thing you're doing is intersexist

perisex trans ppl: why are you attacking me why do you hate trans people you're literally the reason trans people are dying why do you hate trans people you know I'm literally trans right you want me dead why do you want all trans people dead

[thenixkat]

it always bothers me so much to see how some peoples' idea of allyship hinges on if you can see us as sexual or beautiful beings. and that's not allyship, it's fetishization, even if you meant it in good faith.

i see this with so many marginalized groups. poc, especially asians and black people. trans people, especially trans women. intersex people. disabled people. neurodivergent people. where these people are asking for allyship, and peoples' response is to say 'yeah i'd fuck you!'

that's not helpful. it's not helpful for us to know that your allyship depends on how fuckable we are to you. it's not helpful for us to know that you're seeing us and first and foremost thinking about how fuckable we are because that's easier than trying to be an actual ally.

i'm not a puritan who thinks marginalized people are unable to consent to sex, and i'm not saying it's wrong to want to fuck anyone from one or multiple of the demographics i listed. it's not! my problem is when we are asking for genuine allyship and we basically get told that people only support us because they want to fuck us.

[thenixkat]

when the IOF first bombed a hospital in gaza they blamed hamas for it and so many of you blindly believed that lie and now they have shamelessly destroyed majority of hospitals in gaza WITH PROOF and not a single word from y’all “proof!!!” people about it anymore. you just love claiming POC are liars for no reason. you get the proof you pretend you care about and you still don’t believe anything but the white genocidal agenda

“just bc they say it was israel doesn’t mean it’s actually them” okay just because u say it’s hamas doesn’t mean it’s actually them LMAO

[thenixkat]

'we need more stories with complex and nunaced themes and world building that doesn't exist in black and white/where no one is uniquely good or bad' y'all can't even handle the freedom fighter trope when they use 2% violence in their own liberation