Please Support This Family, They Have Reached Out To Me Directly!! 💔

Mr.Azura

Commonwealth Books, Boston

In the process of our Western indoctrination in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many of us were never introduced to who “Palestinians” where or the *mechanics* of creating a Jewish state. We’re taught romantic ideas of self-determination and simplified stories of refugees escaping the horrors of the Holocaust (despite this happening long after Zionist ambitions began). Israel was, and in many is, seen as a pragmatic solution to Europe’s problem (namely, the “Jewish problem”). The first thing to know about settler colonization is just how unpractical and unpragmatic it is. Settler colonies always have a “demographics” problem — which should already be a red flag if one has to say that. People need great incentive to leave their home countries, while people living there have no natural incentive to leave—hence why they’re there in the first place!

Of course when you learn who Palestinians are, and start to investigate Israel’s creation, the obvious dilemma stands out on the page:

How does one create a “Jewish state” on a land that is overwhelmingly not Jewish?

Many of us were trained to stay so far away from this conflict that we never reached this very obvious question, nor its very, very obvious answer. How do you create a Jewish state on a land that is overwhelming non-Jewish?

You remove the non-Jews.

Israel never wanted Palestinians in their country. Israel is not simply Jewish, it is also explicitly not Palestinian. To be Palestinian is to be the anti-thesis of Israel. Even the Arab Israeli minority, which is mostly Palestinian, is only referred to as “Arab”. And that experience and label is bad enough in Israel.

The idea that Israel has even been entitled to such aspirations is itself a crime against humanity and works to dehumanize Palestinians every single day. The idea that they could seize people’s land, kick them out of their homes of countless generations, then ham-fisted-ly “find” a state that was still after decades of disposession just under 50% Arab — and we *still* don’t abhor that — abhors me.

"Herzl replied—and quickly, in a letter on March 19. His letter was probably the first response by a leader of the Zionist movement to a cogent Palestinian objection to its embryonic plans for Palestine. Herzl simply ignored the letter’s basic thesis, that Palestine was already inhabited by a population that would not agree to be supplanted. Although Herzl had visited Palestine once, in an 1898 visit timed to coincide with that of German Kaiser Wilhelm II, he (like most early European Zionists) had not much knowledge of or contact with its native inhabitants. Glossing over the fact that Zionism was ultimately meant to lead to Jewish control of Palestine, Herzl deployed a justification that has been a touchstone for colonialists and that would become a staple argument of the Zionist movement: Jewish immigration would benefit Palestine’s Indigenous inhabitants. “It is their well-being, their individual wealth, which we will increase by bringing in our own,” Herzl wrote, adding that “no one can doubt that the well-being of the entire country would be the happy result.” Herzl’s letter addressed a consideration that Yusuf Diya had not even raised: “You see another difficulty, Excellency, in the existence of the non-Jewish population in Palestine. But who would think of sending them away?” But Herzl had underestimated his correspondent. From Yusuf Diya’s letter, it is clear that he understood perfectly well that at issue was not the immigration of (as Herzl put it) “a number of Jews” into Palestine, but rather the transformation of the entire land into a Jewish state. Instead, Herzl offered the preposterous inducement that the colonization, and ultimately the usurpation, of their land by strangers would benefit the people of that country. Herzl’s reply to Yusuf Diya appears to have been based on the assumption that the Arabs could ultimately be bribed or fooled into ignoring what the Zionist movement actually intended for Palestine. This condescending attitude toward the intelligence, not to speak of the rights, of the Arab population of Palestine was to be serially repeated by Zionist, British, European, and American leaders in the decades that followed, down to the present day. As for the Jewish state that was ultimately created by the movement that Herzl founded, as Yusuf Diya foresaw, there was to be room for only one people, the Jewish people. As for the others, “sending them away” was indeed what happened, despite Herzl’s disingenuous remark." - Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017

My art block is usually caused by something that I'm struggling to process. And if I can't draw it or talk about it, it stays with me until it no longer bothers me.

It is difficult to feel helpless in anything I do to show support. Sometimes art feels frivoulous and paltry in the face of so much death and destruction of innocent lives. Yet these are the faces that run over my eyes every night. And there's so many more. So putting them in my pocket sketchbook allows me to carry them close as well. I suppose by coping, I can maybe reach someone new or at least start a line of questions.

I'll be doing one for men and boys as well, then scour the internet for people and voices of sudan, congo, tigray, etc. They don't get enough love and news coverage as it is. It's important to remember that they're not just faces in a screen. They're people, some of them my age, that either gave their lives, lost their lives, or live on a razor's edge.

I have them to thank for giving me the courage to remain outspoken. My only regret is that i can't draw these fast enough, but there's no better time to get creative.

Hey guys! I want to spotlight Hossam Bardaweel's fundraiser today. As you may remember, he is the last survivor of his direct family members, and is now responsible for taking care of all his orphaned nieces, nephews, and his brothers' widows.

gofundme.com

Donate to Urgent Relief Needed: Rebuild Hope for Hossam's Family, organized by Walid AS

Dear Compassionate Hearts, My name is Walid. Today, I reach out on… Walid AS needs your support for Urgent Relief Needed: Rebuild Hope f

Please do not hesitate to donate. He is heartbroken enough as is having to deal with the grief of extreme loss such as this. I cannot imagine having to take care of my nieces and nephews while I grieve my own parents and dear siblings.

Freedom, to All Palestinian Prisoners by the PFLP (ca. 1980s)

Especially for those who are working professionals please strongly consider donating (please read her message, and the links are also provided).

i had shared what is happening in sudan on a long facebook post last night, but it virtually received almost little to no engagement or shares from the nearly 600 “friends” i have on the site.

this morning, my great-aunt was shot by the soldiers fighting for power, and God forbid, i lose more of my family members before eid this friday.

please read below to understand what is happening and how you can help my country. i hope the tumblr community can show more kindness than the lack of support and advocacy i’ve seen elsewhere.

يا رب اجعل هذا البلد آمناً 🇸🇩

the lack of awareness and advocacy from the African, Arab, and Muslim diaspora and the human rights community has been painful.

while Western media has done little to no coverage of the ongoing conflict in the capital city of my motherland, Sudan, it appears that the rest of the world also partakes in normalizing crimes and violence against SWANA people.

violence and war hurting the SWANA region are NOT ordinary occurrences — no one, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, religion, and gender, should experience the unprecedented amount of violence that harms my two living grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and baby cousins who live in Khartoum.

your decision to ignore reading or educating and discussing with others about what is likely to be a civil war is complicity in viewing SWANA people as individuals who regularly experience conflict and are undeserving of help.

the silence is damaging, and it is up to us as privileged members of the diaspora (or individuals living in the Western world committed to human rights) to support the people of my country and their dream for a stable, democratically elected government.

what is happening in Sudan is a fight that started on April 15 between two competing forces for power — the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — neither groups are representative of the needs of our people. The Sudan Army is loyal to the dictator, Omar Al-Bashir, and the RSF is responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

with both power struggles backed by different Arab and Gulf nations, the two parties have been fighting for power for the last few years. While they worked together to try and end the people’s revolution, they lost. however, they are now in a constant power play of who will get to rule the nation.

this all means that war is NOT a reflection of my country — violence does not represent the SWANA people. Sudan is a nation of beautiful culture, strong women, intellectual and influential Islamic scholars, poets, and youth at the front lines of the revolution. we are a people committed to a region of peace for ourselves and the rest of the Ummah.

my family and the rest of Sudan’s innocent civilians are at the most risk, with many currently without drinking water, food to eat, electricity, and complete blockage to any mosques during the final nights of Ramadan, our holiest month of the year.

i ask that you please keep Sudan and our people in your prayers — donate to the Sudan Red Crescent or a mutual aid GoFund Me, email your representatives if you live in a country that can put pressure on either competing force of power, discuss this with your family and friends, and please do not forget to think about SWANA people — our brothers and sisters in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and many others need our love and support.

الردة_مستحيلة ✊🏾

#KeepEyesOnSudan

Hi everyone, I hope you are able to support this family in any way possible. They reached out to me personally via message and have worked hard to verify themselves. They are really really trying and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Love and Free Palestine.

Before and After💔

please help me and family 💔

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Mahmoud's Family Overcome War Tragedy, organized by Heyam Sharif

I am Mahmoud Al-Sharif, married and have 3 children, and my wife is about to g… Heyam Sharif needs your support for Help Mahmoud's Family Ov

‎‏We are from the Gaza Strip, which suffers from wars. I lived through 5 of these wars, and I lost my eyes and fingers hand , and my other eye was damaged. These were the previous wars until this 2023 war came and destroyed everything from my home and my workplace