[ID: drawings of a golem animated by a palestinian flag painted on its forehead. it is seen: holding out its arms protectively in front of a crowd of children, the children also hold each other supportively; catching an air strike missile from the air and throwing it away or crushing it in its fist; turning its back so that a child can warm her hands by the earth oven built into its back, food in a pot is cooking on the fire and a boy holds a cup of steaming tea to his face and enjoys the aroma; clearing away rubble so a man can help up his wife who was buried underneath, she is clutching a baby to her chest; stooping down to look at a kitten a young boy is holding up to show it; and dissolving small flakes of clay from its finger into a glass of water, purifying it. end ID]
@fairuzfan asked people to create and share art for the strike. i wrote an artist statement and then set about trying to draw what i envisioned. artist statement below.
This golem is a protector that I wish I could gift to the children and adults in Gaza. The flag on its forehead is to show that love for the Palestinian people is an animating force for people fighting for a free Palestine all over the world, especially for those in Palestine who are trying to free themselves and their people. Love is the motivation for the call for a free Palestine, not hatred like people try to claim. It is very strong and fast and can catch air strikes out of midair and crush them to dust or throw them back in the direction they came from. It can lift all the rubble of a collapsed building very quickly so nobody can get trapped underneath. It has an earth oven in its back with an ever-burning flame that people can use to warm themselves and cook food and heat water to use to bathe themselves or make tea. Pieces of its clay can be crumbled up and mixed into water to make even the most brackish and unclean water pure and safe to drink.
The golem is always a bit of a tragic figure so I don't imagine it staying around forever once Palestine is free and it is no longer needed. I think it would use its great strength to help rebuild the destroyed houses, churches, schools, universities, hospitals, and mosques and then dive into the Jordan river and dissolve. It would clean the river of all pollution and make the water splash up over all the newly replanted fruit trees, causing them to grow big and strong. Its love for Palestine and its people can be tasted in the fruit they grow for generations.
I choose a specifically Jewish icon of protection because of how it feels to witness such horrors done in the supposed name of Judaism and the Jewish people. For many anti-zionist Jews, we feel like we are acting directly within the teachings of our stories and communities by opposing this genocide. It is difficult to understand how the very people and institutions who taught us these values now fight against them so fiercely. While obviously I would still oppose Israel were I not Jewish, the way I oppose Israel is directly informed by my Jewishness. I hope that someday, somehow, Judaism can bring as much joy and support to the Palestinian people as it has brought grief and destruction. That Jewish symbols used in the name of love and justice will bear more significance than the ones used in shows of hatred. Knowing the depth of the harm caused, I do not know if this is possible. But this artwork and everything I have dedicated myself to these past few months and continue to dedicate myself to in the future is born from this hope. I love you. Thank you for being on this planet with me. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! And it will be beautiful.
not to be insensitive but some of the salem witch trials were so funny bitches like “i saw her at the devils sacrament!!!” girl… what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament 👀
articles and news on what’s happening in west papua are so appallingly scarce that i could rarely find any except a few before this. as an indonesian, i didn’t even know any of this is happening in the first place until a few months ago because rarely any of the big news outlets have ever brought it up, much less in a scale that is necessary to gain the world’s attention. SO PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT, one article at a time if it seems too much (which is what i'm currently doing too).
i think it’s important to note that while indonesia has been loudly advocating for palestine’s freedom, it has also been committing silent acts of violence against the people of west papua and exploiting them for years and silence those AND others who have tried to bring it to light.
things included in the thread ->
ARTICLES :
freewestpapua.org *the link isn't working at the moment but op has included screenshots in the tweet!
west papua : a history of exploitation (al jazeera)
courtesy of amnesty international
OTHERS :
amnesty international - "sudah, kasi tinggal dia mati" pembunuhan dan impunitas di papua (in bahasa)
BOOKS TO READ :
'the road : uprising in west papua' by john martinkus
'an act of free choice : decolonisation and the right to self-determination in west papua' by pieter drooglever
'merdeka and the morning star : civil resistance in west papua' by jason macleod
’see no evil : new zealand’s betrayal of the people of west papua’ by maire leadbeater
‘freedom in entangled worlds’ by eben kirksey
‘poisoned arrows’ by george monbiot
‘papua blood’ by peter bang
’west papua and indonesia since suharto’ by peter king
pdf available :
’the united nations and the indonesian takeover of west papua’ by john saltford
’west papua : the obliteration of a people’ by carmel budiardjo and liem soei liong
FILMS TO WATCH :
rebels of the forgotten world (1991)
blood on the cross (1999)
freedom for west papua (1999)
papua merdeka (2002)
west papua — the secret war in asia (2007)
forgotten bird of paradise (2009)
strange birds in paradise — a west papuan story (2010)
west papua — a journey to freedom (2011)
mama malind su hilang (our land has gone)
benny wenda — oslo freedom forum (2012)
isolated (2013)
courage is contagious — TEDx sydney (2013)
the road to home (2015)
punks for west papua (2016)
run it straight (2016)
act of no choice (2019)
paradise bombed (2023)
investigative tv reports :
inside indonesia’s secret war for west papua — ABC news (2020)
selling out west papua — al jazeera (2020)
INFOGRAPHICS :
amnesty international
brief history
2017
2018
Métis Miku (Creeku)
hopping on the miku in different cultures trend with anishinaabe (ojibwe) miku
I don’t think enough of us are taking into account the opportunity we are afforded by being able to romance/sleep with many companions in baldurs gate 3:
Mamma Mia BG3
Whose the dad? Halsin? Gale? Wyll? Astarion? The drow from Sharess’ Caress?
There are possibilities here people!!!
(Plus you know the companion guys would absolutely follow the same logic of “well we’re all the child’s father now JUST like Mamma Mia)
I’ve seen a lot of talk in the writing community lately around quitting writing/giving up on your WIP, and it’s really been quite discouraging. So, I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction. So, here are EXAMPLES of reasons your WIP is worth finishing:
Imagine your story after multiple revisions, rounds of beta readers, a professional edit and proofread - it’s shiny and ready for publication - is it something you’d like to read?
Instead of comparing your first draft to others’ finished products, imagine your manuscript/story idea as the best it can be. If that version of your WIP is something you’d enjoy reading, others will probably too, which means that it’s worth writing.
Not all novels need to make some monumental statement or drive readers to tears of inspiration, but if your story does that, it’s sure as hell worth writing.
If you feel that your story has the potential to cast light on an important topic or mean something to someone, it’s worth continuing.
When that first spark of inspiration for your WIP hit you, you were excited, right? Excited by the ‘what if’, by the characters, by a specific scene or a plot twist. Something about this story made you think: “Wow, I have to write that.”
Writing a novel can take a lot of time and spending such a long period with one story can dilute your excitement. So, think about that element that made you excited at the beginning. Do you think readers might get excited at that when they read it for the first time? If your answer is yes, then your story idea is worth writing.
This isn’t compulsory. Nearly all books have similar elements.
BUT if your WIP has a fresh take on a cliche or a world unlike any other ever created or a unique story line, it’s probably worth writing.
Just think about it. You’ve had this awesome, original idea. If you don’t write it, the world will never experience it.
Yep. That’s it. If you like writing it, then keep doing so. There doesn’t have to be some objective justification for you to do something you enjoy. You can just do it because you want to.
And no, no one likes working on their WIP all the time. Sometimes, you feel like pulling your hair out or setting your manuscript on fire.
But if it mostly gives you joy and excites you, you should keep writing.
I’m not advocating for continuing your WIP at all costs. By all means, if you want to abandon it, do so. But don’t do it because you feel discouraged or someone else has convinced you it’s not good.
If you have any requests for posts/questions about creative writing, feel free to pop me an ask or a DM.
there's an app called "No Thanks" that scans barcodes and tells you whether a company supports israel or not if anyone is interested! it should be available on most app stores!