NYSharara

Development Consultant. Egyptian. Suffering from chronic rage.

[K.Diallo ☭ @nyeusi_waasi]

"Nothing looks the same after a trip to the Congo. The world back home no longer makes sense. It is difficult to reconcile how it even inhabits the same planet. Neatly arranged mountains of vegetables at grocery stores seem vulgar. Bright lights and flushing toilets seem like sorcery. Clean air and water feel like a crime. The markers of wealth and consumption appear violent. Most of it was built, after all, on violence, neatly tucked away in history books that tend to sanitize the truth."

- by Siddharth Kara from Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.

[Workshops4Gaza @Workshops4Gaza]

Where is the open letter to Palestinian prisoners?

[Malick Doucoure @DoucoureMalickX]

I've been gathering my thoughts, but haven't really had much to say - since so many others have already so brilliantly said everything that needs saying! My opinion isn't needed.

But what I do want to share, is what I've learned of Jason Arday in recent days.

From the positive stories that have been circulating, he evidently spent much of his time supporting, writing, speaking, volunteering, running, teaching and mentoring, campaigning, and acting for other people. That's such a wonderful, genuinely beautiful legacy, to have focused so much of his energy on helping rather than hindering others!

I've also read just a bit from the research papers he's published, and there's really a tragic and painful irony in how his public mistreatment aligns with some of his work. At the heart of what we were all forced to bear witness in recent weeks, was fundamentally a sharp contrast in how race and neurodiversity (among other things) influence how human beings are perceived, and our experiences ultimately valued.

How and why do we decide who to believe, and who should be subjected to scrutiny? Whose knowledge and experiences are respected, versus whose opinions should be disregarded? Or, in certain spaces, simply who belongs and who does not?

How we answer such questions exposes our core values, and reveals much more about our fundamental worldview. But this goes far beyond just ourselves as individuals; these same questions must be asked, and were posed in writing by Jason, on a societal and institutional level.

I hope that we may soon collectively receive the answers that remain long overdue.

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

If you’re an Israeli occupier, you can terrorize Palestinians, steal their land, burn their trees, kill their animals, shoot, paralyze and kill them, and you’re called a “settler.”

If you’re Palestinian and try to defend yourself against any of this, you’re called a “terrorist.”

[الكسندرا ميراي @LexiAIexander]

Islamophobia is spreading because Israel is spending billions on making sure it does. This here reads like a horror story

[susan abulhawa | سوزان ابو الهوى @susanabulhawa]

He's one of a small group of the highestJewish religious figures in the zionist colony. His brother Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who was Chief Rabbi him, compared Black people (whom he referred to in the derogatory slur "sushi") to "monkeys". In 2016, he stated during a sermon that the only non-Jews who should be allowed to live in "Israel" are those who accept the role of servants to Jews.

David Yosef does not recognize Reform Jews as real Jews and called them a "lie". He hates women and has urged people to publicly humiliate women who try to use mikveh (ritual bath) facilities without a male supervisor.

He said Palestinians "are not a people" and all the cities where they live should exclusively belong to Israel, praising the destruction of Gaza and calling for it to be wholly colonized by Jews.

Another rabbi, Eyal Karim, former Chief Rabbi of the military, said it was permissible to rape non-Jewish women—to "satisfy the evil inclination by lying with attractive Gentile women against their will."

The Jewish colonial military frequently refers to the so-called "Kings Torah," compiled by two other prominent rabbis, which set forth divine permission to kill non-Jewish children and babies, raping non-Jewish women, and so on.

[Charlotte Kates 🔻 @charlottekates]

It is quite obvious that one does not address the people of Iran, whether those in prisons or elsewhere, by writing letters in English to The Guardian. Therefore, the audience of the letter is not in any way its declared one; it is quite clearly, the left & solidarity movements.

[Canary @TheCanaryUK]

Now the Greenstein trial has concluded, the Canary can reveal the extent to which the judge interfered — but the jury weren't swayed

Via @financialeyes
https://t.co/HK9MLXYXO3

[B.M. @ireallyhateyou]

This is Refaat. Actual Jews murdered him but I'm not allowed to say it because Owen Jones would be pissed.

[Barry Malone @malonebarry]

Israel bombed a seaside café in Gaza yesterday, killing 7 people, including a child. One person's body was so shredded they couldn't be identified. The force of the explosion was so intense that people were hurled into the sea. And most of the international media just shrugs.

[Multipolar Lens @RudderPierre]

@richimedhurst This is NOT Richard Medhurst.

[Jordan Valley Activists نشطاء غور الأردن @JVActivists]

חברנו הפעיל דוד שוץ הלך לעולמו באופן טרגי. דוד נולד בירושלים לפני 36 שנים, בן יחיד. הוא היה שחיין מצטיין בילדותו. דוד הצטרף לפעילי.ות בקעת הירדן זמן קצר לאחר ה-7 באוקטובר. הוא היה מעורב עמוקות בפעילות והשתתף בנוכחות מגינה בגדה המערבית, כמו במסאפר יטא, שם פגש אישה, איתה תכננו להתחתן בהמשך השנה. דוד קיבל תואר ראשון באוניברסיטת פרינסטון בארה"ב, והמשיך בלימודי משפטים באוניברסיטה העברית. הוא היה אמיץ ודעתן, ולא היסס להשתמש בידע המשפטי שלו נגד חיילים ושוטרים שעברו על החוק. רבים מאיתנו היו עדים לכך.

ב-22 במרץ, שבוע לאחר הפוגרום המזעזע בח'ירבת חומסה, דוד ושני פעילים נוספים הגיעו למקום כדי לנוכחות מיגנה. בערב, מתנחלים מהמאחז הבלתי חוקי הסמוך פלשו לאדמות הפלסטיניות עם פרותיהם, ודוד ניסה לעצור אותם. כשהם חטפו את הטלפון שלו, הוא ניסה לקחת אותו בחזרה, ואז ספג מאחד מהם שתי מכות חזקות לראש מקת הרובה. המשטרה סירבה להגיע למקום.

זמן קצר לאחר מכן נסע דוד לארה"ב, שם שהה אצל קרובי משפחה. במהלך אפריל, הוא נסע לשיקגו לבקר חבר ילדות. בלילה השלישי הוא יצא מהאכסניה לבוש במכנסי חליפת צלילה וקפוצ'ון. אך הוא מעולם לא חזר. גופתו המפורקת קשות נמצאה כמעט חודשיים לאחר מכן באגם מישיגן הסמוך.

הוריו ההרוסים של דוד החליטו להחזיר את שרידיו לישראל ובשבוע שעבר נערכה הלווייתו בבית קברות נוצרי קטן בירושלים. הוריו כיבדו את נוכחותם ופעילותם של פעילי.ות בקעת הירדן בהלוויה והתעניינו מאוד לשמוע סיפורים על דוד בשבעה. הם העניקו כבוד לבנם על תשוקתו ומחויבותו להגן על זכויות האדם של הפלסטינים אל מול מתנחלים קיצוניים. אביו של דוד קרא ברכות ובהערכה את דבריו של רועה צאן פלסטיני תושב בקעת הירדן, שהביע תנחומים עמוקים ותיאר את דוד כחבר יקר ובן משפחה. נזכור את דוד בחיבה, עצב וגעגוע.

[Muhammad Shehada @muhammadshehad2]

Disappointed the BBC cancelled my interview on Israel's killing of Hind Rajab

2 producers eagerly reached out. They confirmed the time & one called to prepare a brief for the anchor

She asked me whether Israel's announcement is positive, I explained in detail it was a cover up.

The IDF is blaming the killing of Hind, her uncle, aunt & 4 cousins on the family itself for trying to flee by car & on the ambulance sent to rescue her for "failures in the co-ordination of the movement."

None of this is remotely true! The Red Cross immediately informed the IDF about 5-year-old Hind who was hiding in that motionless car, & they requested permission from Israel to allow an ambulance to rescue them.

After multiple long hours, Israel granted greenlight to the ambulance & provided them with a designated route on a GPS to drive on.

As soon as the ambulance reached Hind's car, the IDF ambushed & bombed them immediately with an American made anti-tank missile then opened fire on Hind's car. The car was hit with 355 bullets.

Israel then kept that area under lockdown for 12 days, & prevented anyone from approaching.

Hind's mom went daily to the Ahli baptist hospital hoping to find her daughter, until her lifeless body was brought in along with the charred remains of the ambulance men.

Israel then claimed after an "initial investigation" that its troops were NEVER in that area to begin with. They maintained that claim for 2 years despite ample recordings & satellite images debunking this lie.

The only reason Israel is now making this new announcement of a deeper investigation is to shield its soldiers & generals from the International Criminal Court by invoking the principle of "complementarity;" that the ICC cannot investigate a state that is already investigating itself in good faith.

I told the BBC producer Israel today also quietly shut down the investigation into the triple tap killing of American, Canadian, British, Australian & Polish citizens in the WCK massacre. Israel blamed the massacre on the aid workers themselves for "deviating from the predesignated route" & for hiring an armed security guard "without informing the IDF" (both claims where debunked by WCK themselves, who had coordinates their every step with the IDF).

I told the producer the Israeli commander responsible for this massacre, Nochi Mendel, is a fanatical settler who had signed a petition calling for starving Gaza & that he was celebrated by settler leaders & supported by Israeli government leaders after what he did.

Mendel even received a box of chocolate from the settler council's leader & a letter of support for what he did.

Mendel was initially dismissed by the IDF & blamed for the massacre, but was quickly & quietly reinstated & promoted in the Defence Ministry as the head of the settlements and national infrastructure unit.

It's abundantly clear Israel is NOT serious about prosecuting any of the atrocities committed in Gaza. Since the genocide began, only two soldiers were punished by the IDF; one for microwaving a living frog & another for cooking sausages in the army kitchen on Shabbat.

The producer asked me: What about the 150 cases the IDF said are pending review?

I answered: it's just a number designed to give the appearance of seriousness, but it's essentially meaningless.

If it took the IDF two whole years to admit the simplest of facts that the entire world had already known, which is that their troops were the ones who fired on Hind Rajab's car, how do you expect them to do with the remaining cases that are not as high profile?

Five minutes after the call, the producer wrote me that they decided to cancel the interview & will not even host anyone else to comment on the issue, & instead they'll play archival footage!

[NYSharara @NSharara]

And now you know why the UK government wants to stop jury trials for ‘certain offenses’.

[Ben Smoke @bencsmoke]

BREAK: Jury refuses to convict in second Filton trial

After more than 38 hours of deliberation, the jury refused to convict Madeleine Norman, Hannah Davidson, Teuta Hoxha, Ola Alexandra Herbich, Ian Sanders, William Plastow and Yulia Brigadirova of all charges against them.

[Declassified UK @declassifiedUK]

The MoD recently gave a £10 million contract to an Israeli-owned arms firm which operates under the authority of minister Bezalel Smotrich -- who is subject to UK sanctions.

Is Andy Burnham going to do anything about that?

https://t.co/ykT7pLEIxP

[NYSharara @NSharara]

“The people of Gaza bleed every day”

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🔴 “We went down and found people in pieces. The upper halves of people’s bodies had been blown away.”

Abu Ahmed, 30, described the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Palestinians gathered at Gaza Port, west of Gaza City, where displaced Palestinians living in tents had come to sit on the concrete by the sea and escape the summer heat.

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 14 wounded in the strike.

“We don’t know what we’re supposed to deal with anymore. Do we deal with the Israelis? Or the sun burning us inside the tents? Or the water — waking up at 6 a.m. to go get water? Or do we deal with the winter that is still coming, when we’ll also suffer from the weather?” Abu Ahmed told Drop Site’s Mohamed Ahmed.

After nearly three years of displacement, he said Palestinians in Gaza are being exhausted in every way, while repeated announcements of truces and agreements bear little relation to what they experience on the ground.

“The people of Gaza bleed every day. The war has drained them of all their physical, financial, psychological and mental strength.”

“These children deserve to live. Children should be in school. Young people should be building a future.”

🎥 Footage by Mohamed Ahmed

[Muntadhar al-Zaidi @muntazer_zaidi]

I am still fighting the corrupt officials brought in by George Bush to rule Iraq, and my daily life is still threatened because of my defense of my people's rights.

[Paul Williams @freemonotheist]

Just brilliant

[Randa Jarrar @randajarrar]

Every day I see a new book being published by a non-Palestinian about Palestinians. Please read Palestinian writers.
We shouldn’t have to say please.

[Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده @RamAbdu]

13 year old Jehad Mohammed Masri , was murdered today by Israeli drones along with his father while enjoying the shore with his family .