toastykitten

There's more bombing. I don't know what there is left to say.

Things to call your reps about:

30 Senators introduce a resolution calling for the end of the blockade on Gaza.

House Rep Rashida Tlaib re-introduced H.Res 409 - recognizing the Nakba and Palestinian refugees' rights.

This is now playing nationwide. You can check here for listings. Unfortunately it's only playing at the New Parkway for one night.

• Powerful speeches from trans Reps in Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell delivered on Montana House floor flips dozens of Republican votes and kill 2 anti-trans bills. 
• Dr Michelle Monje was awarded the Brain Prize. Dr. Monje's lab is one of the places that the Neev Kolte & Brave Ronil Foundation supported with their donations. Her research into DIPG and treatment has led to the complete recovery of one patient in clinical trials, giving hope to children diagnosed with DIPG, and also possibly leading to treatments for other cancers.
• Michael Sheen writes off over $1m of debt for 900 people using his own money.
• A new study from Stanford Med taps AI to find a naturally occurring molecule that works similarly to Ozempic, without the side effects.
• A small biotech lab in China made a new lung cancer drug that's twice as effective as the current biggest cancer drug on the market.

There are multiple boycotts going on right now:

• BDS - this is a multi-decade movement aimed at disrupting businesses that support Israeli apartheid. There is a recent debate about whether No Other Land, the Oscar-winning Palestinian/Israeli documentary about apartheid in the West Bank, should be on the boycott list or not, due to its perceived "normalization" of Zionism. (Side note: almost impossible to find a non-Israeli source about the boycott via search or the actual BDS statement without a lot of digging, really annoying. So much for impartiality.) I follow a lot of the BDS stuff, so I agree with them on a lot of things, but I disagree on this one. If you read the critique of the BDS statement, you'll see there's a class component to it as well as the different circumstances between Palestinians who live in the West Bank and are suffering under Israeli occupation and Palestinians in diaspora who are a bit more removed from the day-to-day violence. 
• We're going to see No Other Land today. I do not see a point in boycotting any Palestinian work as most of it is already so marginalized. It is an incredible achievement for this work to break through the censorship in Hollywood, and the thing is, we are starting to have Palestinian/Arab/Muslim art and work that does stand on its own and unapologetic about their politics and point of view. See Mo, Ramy, etc. Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammad El-Kurd, which is a searing critique of Western treatment of Palestinians is a NYT bestseller. (Have this one, haven't read it yet.) It also goes to show that there is no such thing as a Palestinian monolith, as the existence of multiple political parties show. The one thing they all agree on is Palestinian self-determination and rights. How we get there is going to be a process.
• PEN America Boycott still stands.
• TeslaTakedown's been pretty effective, I think.
• The one day Feb 28 boycott seems to have had some noticeable effect. There is now a Target Fast in effect for Lent, led by black faith leaders. (Gonna be honest, this one's going to be difficult for me. I love Target.)
• I think of the boycotts as a marathon, not a race. You know, like how Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm not going to boycott Google (impossible for me to) but other people can have at it. It took us a while, but we no longer buy soda at all, and we stopped going to fast food restaurants for the most part, and also chain restaurants. It turns out...we prefer local, independent restaurants anyway. I've dropped a bunch of my Amazon subscribe & saves and downloaded my Kindle ebooks. The Kindle has not really worked out for me...I keep forgetting it exists and it turns out I really like reading on paper.

I don't know why but I keep messing up pita bread. I want nothing more than light fluffy pieces of bread that puff up in the oven but I get heavy disks that taste right but just don't have that lightness. Damn, ok, this might be what I need to review. 

We recently shopped at our local Middle Eastern grocery store - it's tiny but it sells halal meat for a quite reasonable price, and they have an amazing spice array in the front. Previously it was all Sadaf products, which we had recently learned was on the boycott list. It's now stocked with Greenland food products, which by the way, you can order online too. I wasn't sure if the removal was related to recent events, but Google reviews where the owner responds to people complaining about the removal of Sadaf products confirms it was. Anyway, Greenland food products are not just comparable to Sadaf, but honestly I think they are better quality than Sadaf. 

We also found that they stocked Palestinian olive oil. Bought a bottle to try, but we have not opened it yet. 

Anyway yesterday saw someone literally argue, sure the Israeli govt is starving Gaza, bombing them, and its leaders say genocidal stuff, but that doesn't necessarily meet the definition of actual genocide....Like literally do you even hear yourself? 


For anyone interested, MetaFilter just posted a roundup of links related to ICJ ruling. Of interest: Palestinian groups forming a unity agreement in Beijing. 

And I refuse to look at the images. Knowing what has been allowed to happen is more than enough. May those children, mothers, fathers, people, rest in peace.

If you have money and want to help:

Operation Olive Tree links to vetted fundraisers for Palestinian families trying to leave/survive in Gaza.

Most countries, with the exception of the US and UK, have resumed funding to UNRWA. Americans can also make their own individual contributions. Still tax-deductible for now.

As always, I recommend PCRF and Doctors Without Borders. World Central Kitchen has resumed operations in Gaza, and they are also in the south of Lebanon.

I would say call your Congressperson, but honestly now I'm at a loss for words. What am I supposed to demand, how do I summon all the words to express my rage that they didn't stop this slaughter? What are the magic words to make these assholes stop?

Campus Bail Funds

World Central Kitchen is going back to Gaza. Jose Andres posted a scathing op-ed stating what they expect and need from Israel, along with calling out their discriminatory treatment of their Palestinian workers. 

PCRF - this is the main Palestinian charity I donate to. 

Donations to UNRWA are still tax-deductible I think. 

Doctors Without Borders operates in Gaza. 

goddamn I did not really dream I would see the day the entire US would actually stand up for Palestine. unabashedly. And this proud USC dad! 

anyway, a list of campus bail funds collected here. 

and I agree it feels like we're speed-running 9/11 all over again. 

 text: GSUSA has lifted the fundraising ban to support those affected by the Israel-Gaza War. Per Blue Book requirements, our National CEO Bonnie Barczykowski and National President Noorain Khan have approved a three-month lift of our organization’s fundraising ban. Girl Scouts may now raise funds through June 4, 2024.
I assume this is in reference to the former troop in St. Louis - they disbanded but are still raising money for Gaza.