Setareh Samimi

[Yipeng Ge 葛义朋 @yipengGe]

I tried to attend the @OntariosDoctors annual general meeting tonight in Ottawa, and was removed from the room by members of their executive team Sandy Zidaric and Adam Farber because I wore my watermelon pin that I’ve worn countless times without issue in many spaces including on parliament hill. They cited the concern that the watermelon pin as a political symbol could possibly make other physician colleagues in the room “uncomfortable” or “unsafe”.

All the while genocide continues in Palestine. When I asked if their policy of what could not be worn on the bodies of their members in their meetings have applied to any other political symbols or attire, they could not give me other examples. They asked me to remove the watermelon pin or leave the room, or sit in another room by myself to tune into the meeting virtually. I declined and left. I explained to them this is an incredibly disappointing and discriminatory policy for their meetings, and I hope it is revised.

I know medical colleagues including medical learners who have been kicked out of clinic because they wore a watermelon pin. These are examples of anti-Palestinian racism. As a physician, I stand in solidarity with my Palestinian medical colleagues who have been killed by the Israeli military and continue to be subjected to genocidal violence. Over 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza. Many Palestinian healthcare workers remain in Israeli captivity and are being tortured by the Israeli military, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a paediatrician who stayed to care for his patients in the hospital he was the medical director of.

Shame on @OntariosDoctors for not only censoring what is allowed to be displayed on the bodies of their members, and even more so to be painfully silent in the face of attacks on our medical and healthcare worker colleagues in Palestine. Don’t look away from the genocide in Gaza. These acts of discrimination are forms of racism, and racism is a distraction from the real issue of ending Canadian complicity in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

[Aaron Maté @aaronjmate]

Trump admin couldn’t get their lies straight on why they launched this aggression. But one was that Iran poses a threat to the US. But even in a war, Iran isn’t bringing death and destruction to US cities. It doesn’t have the capability to. It’s for that exact reason that the US and Israel are bringing death and destruction to Iran, knowing that Iran can’t do the same to the US:

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

What's happening Syria is probably the most incoherent geopolitical event I've come across, and the more you look into it, the more confusing it gets.

I mean, just look at this list:

- First of all, the speed of Assad's collapse still makes very little sense: after successfully holding out against multiple enemies for 13 years with Russian and Iranian backing in a brutal civil war, his regime suddenly crumbled in just 11 days with almost no bloodshed.
- The "liberators" of Syria being celebrated by the West are Islamist groups on their own official terrorist lists. The country's new leader, Al-Julani, still has a $10 million bounty on his head as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" for founding the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.
- Biden called this "a historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future" while his administration continues to occupy a third of Syria, control its oil fields, maintain crippling sanctions, and bomb its territory... thereby obviously very much compromising this better future.
- Assad's Prime Minister immediately agreed to work with the rebels and they accepted him - despite being mortal enemies in a brutal 13-year civil war.
- Al-Julani, after years of orchestrating suicide bombings and sectarian massacres against civilians, is now suddenly positioning himself as "diversity friendly".
- Russia, despite being in an alliance with Syria dating back to the Soviet era, billions invested in protecting Assad, and their only Mediterranean naval base in Tartus, essentially shrugged it all and let their ally fall.
- Syria's new leaders remain bizarrely silent about Israel invading their territory and the U.S. bombing and occupying their country. They've said nothing about their strategic assets - including the entire navy and air force - being destroyed in U.S. and Israeli air raids.
- The U.S. maintains its occupation of a third of Syria (including most oil fields), claiming it's necessary to "ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS" - despite Trump declaring in 2019 (and the U.S. repeatedly confirming since) that "we have defeated ISIS in Syria". Western media largely ignore this ongoing occupation while celebrating Syria's "liberation".
- Hamas, while in the middle of a war with Israel, took time to congratulate the Syrian rebels - even though Assad was their (and Iran's) longtime ally and Syria's fall significantly weakens their own strategic position.
- The U.S. celebrates the liberation of Syrian prisoners while operating its own concentration camps in the country (https://t.co/VoSHG8bi3B) holding tens of thousands indefinitely without trial - half of them children - but that apparently doesn't count as oppression.
- Türkiye is fighting against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with apparent U.S. approval, while the SDF was fighting Assad (which the U.S. wanted) - meaning U.S.-backed forces are effectively fighting other U.S.-backed forces.
- Iran, normally eager to defend its regional interests, suddenly abandoned billions in investments and a crucial strategic ally in their "Axis of Resistance", evacuating their personnel and citizens within hours.

Truly one of the strangest chapters in modern geopolitical history. Every possible explanation contains its own contradictions, and most players are acting against their own stated principles and interests.

At this stage it looks like the simplest explanation might go something like this: the U.S. welcomes the fall of a longtime opponent; neighboring powers like Israel and Türkiye see an opportunity for territorial gain; rebel leaders seem willing to accept loss of sovereignty and territory in exchange for domestic control over a diminished Syria; Russia and Iran chose to cut their losses given other regional priorities; and smaller players like Hamas are scrambling to adapt. Still, the unprecedented speed and coordination of these events suggests we're missing some crucial pieces of this very strange puzzle.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Israel is already accusing the ICC of antisemitism for issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. But, as I explain here, that's BS because a Holocaust survivor/ex-Israeli diplomat was one of the legal advisers on this ICC arrest warrant, who agreed with it.
https://t.co/SyJd2TiF6V

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/MTMakuKyZA

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/VGndGjYATo

[Ken O'Keefe @RealKenOKeefe]

🌍 🇮🇱 Although done under the cover of comedy, when you actually begin to comprehend what they have done and continue to do, you will realize it is literally humanity’s fight against pure fucking evil.

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/hkLCx5sACg

[usaama @yoUsaama]

Pogroms in Amsterdam! 😱

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/wVRs2lCBM2

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/2yKcSDS3LH

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/qr4pXMngSr

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/bCzhm8rVlO

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/s8XNzzdoY4

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/oNmmeEMU1K

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

See this Instagram post by @drmadsgilbert https://t.co/eSk2Gyagd3

[Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا @SMohyeddin]

“The impunity that has been granted to the state of Israel for 76 years.”

Israel’s war on the @UN is maniacal. They’ve destroyed more than 70% of UN structures in Gaza and killed more than 200 UN workers.

It’s long past due for member states. Invoke Article 6. #UNseatIsrael

[Setareh Samimi @Setarehsamimi]

https://t.co/MrE5A15wPh