Little by Little
Hi! I'm Shomps, 28, Israel. I post art and fanart, and reblog stuff I like! |
Ask me anything! |
Art tags: #shompsketch, #tis no sketch |
Original story tag: #blaze

thatmezuzaluvr:

girlactionfigure:

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I think about this poor little guy all the time ):

cata613:

In honor of Leonard Nimoy’s 93rd birthday, I’d like to shine a light on a couple of his lesser known roles: those of Rashi and Maimonides, two great Rabbis in Jewish history.

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Nimoy hugely influenced me not only by his portrayal of Spock, but through the ways he showed the world his Judaism without fear, and with nothing but love and pride.

Happy heavenly birthday, Mr. Nimoy. May your memory be a blessing. 🖖🏻

(via spacelazarwolf)

jewishgay4il:

shofarsogood:

prismatic-bell:

rainbowfractals:

This post is about antisemitism. I’m going to put my cards on the table here. I am not Jewish, I am a Muslim. I have been spending a lot of time in predominantly left and leftist spaces for some years. I’ve been paying attention to what’s being going on on this site too. I think the left, the right no matter what your politics are has a big problem with antisemitism. I’ve seen people constantly dismiss it, claim it isn’t a priority, claim the effects aren’t that bad.

Within the last 4 months, I have seen many Jewish people on the Internet , on this site and others leave or take down anything relating to being Jewish because of constant harrasment. This harrasment has had an upsurge but it is not new, I remember hearing the same canards and same false claims years and years ago. I keep seeing people betray a callousness to effects this political enviroment and hostility has on Jewish people.

They refuse to even push back against statements like ‘they care more about the jews’ or 'being a member of the chosen people means your better than everyone else and they’re your slaves’, 'there are too many jews in the government’, 'there are no palestinians who are of jewish descent, have jewish family members or are jewish and this is propaganda’’. I’ve seen people unable to speak about grief about those they trusted and respected turning out to be antisemites without being harrased over the i/p war.

I’ve seen a lot of antisemitism in Muslim spaces too, ranging from 'we’re tolerant and this is how they repay us’, to condenscension to 'some aren’t bad but others are bloodthirsty and vengeful’, and denial of any antisemitic attacks or crimes done by Muslims. I have also seen attempts to put a stop to this and defend against this and correct misinformation.

But the biggest problem I’ve seen is that their are a lot of people, who see this is wrong but don’t do much about it, or think that it will somehow take away from calling for Palestinian liberation some who have saying this line for years others who have only just started saying it recently. In my experience it is generally not Palestinians saying this who are far more likely to push back against dehumanzing rhetoric than those who say , 'Oh we can’t focus it now, Palestinians are dying.’ In fact I seen anger against using phrases like 'free palestine’ to hurt Jewish people as using the oppression of a people to be antisemities.’

People [in general] keep adding all kinds of caveats 'oh some are good’, 'oh some are kids’, like acknowledging the humanity of the Jewish people takes the lifeblood away from a Palestinian. In my experience openly saying one should listen to and defend Jewish people and Jewish communities from antisemitism without question is getting increasingly a volatile response. Simply saying that 'Oh what if they’re a Zionist?’ to just horrific biogtry is antisemitic and you should never deny what’s happened to them is bad on that basis. Its used a dogwhistle to justify anything.

And here’s the thing, I’ve spent the last 5 or so years trying to learn all I can about Judaism and Jewish culture, and the dissonance between what I now know and what I see around me has grown very wide. I don’t know that much, but I keep seeing the same misinformation and lack of care as to how destructive it is. I keep seeing people assuming that antisemitism is someone else’s problem to deal with. I keep seeing all kinds of monolithic, flattening and caricatures that bear no resemblance to the reality.

The most jarring thing was that there are people on this very site that if you had one should support and stand with Jewish people against antisemitism to make a fairer world that had learned a lot about why it is so rampant are now shying away from these statements. Jewish people are spoken about as if one event has obliterated any past or present of discrimination. As if their lives they have led have ceased to exist. The things that caused that atrocity and the current horrors were still around 5, 10 years ago. It wasn’t out of nowhere.

I have seen those who have no issue with agreeing with neo-nazis and just violent hate and doxxing and shootings and so on and simply unpersoning Jews in their mind. This has happened many times before and unless there is a big change will happen many times again.

More and more Jewish people are ailenated and leaving places there otherwise went, changing how they live their lives and so on. To all those who are suffering from this. I’m sorry that this happening you shouldn’t be treated in such a cruel way.

And to those of us who seen or noticed this withdrawal, we should try to prevent it. Its not enough to say that’s wrong to some hateful statements we have work against a hostile and suspicious enviroment this hate flourishes in and give it no air to breathe and to water to drink from.

Antisemitism is not someone else’s problem, its all of our problem. We should be vigilant in spotting it and then doing something about it. Many say this but there is a great need for action. Everywhere, on the social media, on the schools and workplaces in the place sof worship in the businesses, in the politics, in the media and so on.

I’m going to say this again, as because I am not Jewish I cannot be claimed to be priveleged and looking for attention by those denying the case. When I say volatile reaction, I mean there are people who viewed me talking about differences in theology between Judaism and Islam and the work of David Bar-Tzur in sign lanaguage interepretation Jewish settings and writings and community work with the Jewish Deaf community and how Judeo-Christian does not exist and is antisemitic and so on.

As first distaste as I spoke to them about it over multiple conversations and was met with increasing hostility and eventually claims that I was following 'degenarates’ and that I was too 'kindhearted’ and had become 'brainwashed’ by 'Zionist media’. Which quickly changed form condescending pity to cold anger when I protested against this. When said I wasn’t going to get disclaimers that some 'Jews are bad’ all the time whenever I said anything about them and deemed what they were saying to be antisemitic, the conversation devolved from there.

In their eyes I’m object of suspicon for essentially sympathising too much with Jewish people and knowing 'too much’. Yes the considering the amount I knew to be a sign I was brainwashed. It was even insinuated that I lack faith in my own religion and so on. If I didn’t like this, I could just walk away and ditch everything I have said and done then keep my head down. But those suffering from antisemitism can’t do this as they are being targeted.

That’s all I have to say. Please respond if you have anything you’d want to say to me.

@rainbowfractals as a Jew, here is what I would like to say to you:


Thank you.


Shalom, and salaam. And if memory serves me re: this year’s calendar, may you have a blessed Ramadan.

Thank you!!! This is a really beautiful sentiment.

Thank you. You made me cry, it is so rare that I see something like this.

(via jewishlivesmatter)

mental-mona:

“The Jewish response to trauma is counter-intuitive and extraordinary. You defeat fear by joy. You conquer terror by collective celebration. You prepare a festive meal, invite guests, give gifts to friends. While the story is being told, you make an unruly noise as if not only to blot out the memory of Amalek, but to make a joke out of the whole episode. You wear masks. You drink a little too much. You make a Purim spiel.”
Precisely because the threat was so serious, you refuse to be serious – and in that refusal you are doing something very serious indeed. You are denying your enemies a victory. You are declaring that you will not be intimidated. As the date of the scheduled destruction approaches, you surround yourself with the single most effective antidote to fear: joy in life itself. As the three-sentence summary of Jewish history puts it: “They tried to destroy us. We survived. Let’s eat.” Humour is the Jewish way of defeating hate. What you can laugh at, you cannot be held captive by.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l, “The Therapeutic Joy of Purim,” article published 1 March 2015

(via jewishlivesmatter)

counterpunches:

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source

[transcript:
[slide 1]

we are treated differently and we are so tired

[slide 2]
From day one, we were treated differently: the celebrations

Hamas is an internationally-recognized terrorist organization that is explicit in its aim to annihilate Israel and the Jewish people in its very foundational charter. On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded internationally-recognized sovereign Israeli territory and slaughtered 1,200 people in a matter of hours, the majority of them civilians. They went door to door, pulling people from their beds, maiming, mutilating, beheading, raping, and burning entire families alive. About 80 of the corpses showed signs of torture. They also took over 200 people hostage, including Holocaust survivors and a 9-month-old. It was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel is a small country; had October 7 happened in the US, it would be the equivalent of individually slaughtering 50,000 Americans in a matter of hours.

Instead of expressing outrage, there were worldwide celebrations. In the West Bank, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Arab world, candy was handed out on the streets in celebration. In Gaza, thousands gathered to cheer as terrorists paraded mutilated corpses. A group of 3000 United Nations teachers expressed their joy at the murder and mutilation of Israelis, including young children. All over left-wing social media, people celebrated.

On October 8, before any Israeli retaliation whatsoever, crowds of thousands gathered in Times Square to express their support for the murderers, holding signs that declared “decolonization is not a metaphor” and “by any means necessary”.

Fringe extremists exist, but this was hardly the fringe. And we know this is not a normal reaction. We did not see entire protests in Times Square in support of the Russian slaughter of Ukranians, 9/11, the ISIS genocide of Yazidis, the slaughter of Yemenis, the slaughter of Syrians, or any other atrocity.

[slide 3]
From Day one, we were treated differently: the contextualization and qualification

Secretary General of the United Nations Anthony Guterres’ initial response to the October 7 massacre was the following: “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”

First, let me make one thing clear: there is no context, in international law or anywhere else, that justifies or minimizes the slaughter, torture, and rape of civilians, including women, children, those with disabilities, and the elderly.

But beyond that, there is a glaring double standard when Israel is the victim of a massacre. Let’s take a look at another example of terrorism as a guideline. When ISIS bombed an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England on May 22, 2017, killing 22, Secretary General Guterres immediately “strongly condemned” the attack, and the Security Council released a statement, condemning “in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack” and extending its solidarity to the United Kingdom. No one said the attack had to be understood “in the context” of the UKs invasion of Iraq, the war against ISIS, or the UKs long history of colonialism in the region, and no one said that it did not happen in a vacuum.

Similarly, on October 7, millions of people rushed to social media to provide “context” for the cold-blooded, purposeful, and indiscriminate murder of civilians. Others, before their “condemnation” felt the need to clarify that they were not supporters of the Israeli government (okay, and?), when they’ve otherwise strongly condemned atrocities perpetrated on others, without feeling the need to qualify support (or lack thereof) for any other country’s government.

[slide 4]
From day one, we were treated differently: the victim blaming

On October 7, as the massacre was still unfolding, 31 Harvard University organizations released a statement holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the slaughter of its own citizens. I reiterate: as Israelis were still being slaughtered by the hundreds simply for being Jewish - or for being associated with Jews - we were told that our own slaughter was our fault.

They were not the only ones to do so. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran, and Iraq blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. Black Lives Matter Chicago blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. Labor unions across the US blamed Israel for the October 7 slaughter. The list goes on.

After the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article in which one anonymous police officer said that the police is looking into the possibility that some of the victims of the Nova music festival were killed by fire from an IDF military chopper, antisemites took the statement out of context, distorted it, and disseminated it all over the media and internet.

In response to the Haaretz article, the Israeli police put out a statement that the investigation was only in regard to police activities on October 7, not military activities, and that as such, they do not have any indication about the harm to any civilians due to any aerial activity there.“

Regardless, the conspiracy has taken a life of its own, so much so that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of carrying out the massacre. Abbas later retracted his statement. A few other unverified reports have also similarly taken out of context to "prove” that Israel was actually behind its own massacre.

To this day, we are told, in response to released hostage testimony that Israeli women are being raped in the Hamas tunnels, that it’s justified because “they were soldiers.” For what it’s worth, no one’s rape is justified - even when they’re soldiers.

[slide 5]
A few days later came the denial

The 10/7 massacre was live-streamed by the perpetrators on their own social media platforms.

Initially, antisemites celebrated. After more and more heinous, indefensible details started to come out, antisemites started denying it happened at all.

To reiterate: the massacre was live-streamed to social media - by the perpetrators. We all saw it in the early hours of October 7. The perpetrators have gone on to boast about it since. For example, on January 10, the leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said, “We should hold on to the victory that took place on October 7 and build upon it.”

The level of denial - just a few days after October 7 - is so pervasive that Israel had to compile a 47-minute film of footage with the most graphic, dehumanizing video evidence to screen for international reporters, government officials, and more.

But no amount of evidence seems to be enough. No independent investigators are enough. No video footage is enough. No survivor or eyewitness testimony is enough. Why are people denying what’s before their very eyes? Why?

[slide 6]
Then the one-sided demands.

From October 7, there were already demands on Israel - on Israel, as its civilians were massacred - to ceasefire. These demands came from important voices, including American Congresspeople, groups such as UNICEF, and more. These calls made little, if any, mention of Hamas, the perpetrator of the October 7 massacre.

No other country would be asked, as a slaughter of their people was still unfolding, to lay down their arms.

Since then, the calls for Israel - and only Israel - to ceasefire have been incessant. They have continued even as Hamas vowed, on October 24, that “there will be a second, a third, a fourth” October 7. When asked to clarify, in the same interview, whether they meant the complete annihilation of Israel, the senior Hamas official responded, “Yes, of course.”

The calls for Israel to ceasefire continued as Yaha Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, promised on November 30 that “October 7 was just a rehearsal.”

The calls for Israel to ceasefire continued as Hamas violated the terms of the temporary ceasefire every single day between November 24 and December 1.

The calls for Israel to ceasefire as Hamas has fired over 13,000 missiles at Israeli civilians. Even more infuriating, the calls for a ceasefire are often made hand in hand with calls to “globalize the Intifada.” An intifada is an armed uprising; it’s incompatible with a ceasefire.

The calls for Israel to ceasefire have continued as Hamas has rejected several ceasefires in the past several weeks. At this point, those calling for a ceasefire should be honest: what they care is that Israel ceases, but they are not particularly bothered (or even support) when Hamas fires.

[slide 7]
The genocide accusations

There are 153 countries that have signed the Convention of 1948. Before this January, only two had ever been brought to trial before the International Court of Justice. Of the signatories, a number of them have been accused of genocidal acts after signing the Convention, including Azerbaijan, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and more.

Only Israel, however, is put on trial, which is all the more egregious when we consider that the events post-October 7 are in response to a massacre of Israelis that Genocide Watch classified as “an act of genocide.”

What’s even more egregious is that South Africa, which has brought this case before the ICJ, maintains close relationships with genocidal dictators, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir. It is a close ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas’ patron, which has been brutally oppressing the people of Iran since 1979. South Africa even hosted Hamas officials for a “solidarity” event in December 2023 - two months after the October 7 massacre.

Per the Hamas Ministry of Health, 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza; Israel claims at least 9,000 of them are Hamas combatants. While any civilian death is tragic, there are far deadlier wars and atrocities happening around the globe right at this very second. In Yemen, nearly 400,000 have been killed and a million have died in a famine. In Syria, over 600,000 have been killed. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 6 million have been killed. In Ukraine, at least 100,000 have been killed. The list goes on and on. In many of these cases, the perpetrators of the atrocities - some of them South Africa’s closest allies - have explicitly expressed genocidal intent. Yet South Africa hasn’t found it necessary to bring them before the International Court of Justice. Only the Jewish state.

[slide 8]
Feminist advocates are suddenly silent - or worse, accuse us of lying

Perhaps among the most infuriating responses to the October 7 massacre has been the response of so-called feminists and feminist organizations.

On October 7, and every day since, Hamas weaponized rape as a tool of war, which is not only a war crime, but a crime against humanity. There is a preponderance of evidence, including extensive forensic evidence, eyewitness testimony, perpetrator confessions, and survivor testimony.

Yet the Women’s March has not condemned Hamas’ weaponization of rape as a tool of war; instead, it has only called for a ceasefire. Me Too has not condemned Hamas’ weaponization as a tool of war. UN Women did not condemn Hamas’ massacre until December 2, nearly two months after October 7, after intense public pressure from Israelis and the Jewish community.

Angelina Jolie, perhaps the most vocal global activist against the weaponization of rape as a tool of war, has said absolutely nothing about Hamas’ war crimes; instead, she has asked Israel to ceasefire.

[slide 9]
Double standard: legitimacy

Israel is condemned more than any other nation in the world, but the double standard doesn’t end there. Israel’s real or perceived crimes are blown out of proportion in comparison to other countries’ real or perceived crimes, but the double standard doesn’t end there. Israel’s suffering is minimized, contextualized, denied, or qualified in comparison to the suffering of other countries, but the double standard doesn’t end there. Instead, there is another double standard: everything coming out of Hamas’ mouth is immediately taken as fact, while everything that comes out of Israel is questioned.

This is not merely a matter of “feeling” like there is a double standard.

On October 17, an explosion went off at the Al Ahli Hospital parking lot. Within minutes, Hamas claimed that an Israeli airstrike had targeted the hospital, killing 471 people. Israel claimed that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad missile misfired and hit the hospital. But the BBC ran with Hamas’ story. This triggered worldwide outrage, inciting anti-Jewish riots in the Arab world and in Russia. Eventually, most international independent investigations corroborated Israel’s version of events. But by the time the media retracted its original claim - that is, what Hamas said - it was too late. Two Jews had already been killed in Tunisia in retaliation for a massacre that Israel never actually committed.

Then there is the issue of the hostage videos. Hostage videos are hostage videos because they are made under duress. The hostage is told what to say; otherwise, their life is in danger. Hamas, of course, has coerced the Israeli hostages into saying that they are being treated well. These statements, made with a gun to the head, have been taken as fact, so much so that prominent figures such as Shaun King have gushed over Hamas’ so-called “humane” treatment of the hostages (that they brutally abducted after murdering their entire families and friends before their eyes).

Yet, now that over a hundred hostages have been released, and they are no longer under threat from Hamas, they are coming out with stories of abuse and torture. Suddenly, no one believes these accounts, claiming that Israel must have told them what to say. It’s absolutely absurd and defies all logic.

[slide 10]
support my work

venmo: @rootsmetals
cash app: $rootsmetals
paypal: @debbie@rootsmetals.com

complete bibliography for this post:
patreon.com/rootsmetals

disclaimer: the intent of this post is to educate, raise awareness, and challenge hate speech]

(via athingofvikings)

littlestfallenangel:

weirdchristmas:

cosmonautroger:

Know what? We all need some pure innocence combined with satisfying accomplishment.

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(via the-library-alcove)

libraryloiterer:

Been seeing a whole lot of excuses lately for people using violently antisemitic language/images. Oh they didn’t know and oh they didn’t mean it like that about calling for intifada, from the river to the sea, the red hand pins, Hamas paraglider imagery, AK-47 imagery, death to Israel, death to Zionists, resistance by any means necessary (referring to terrorism), resistance (referring to terrorism) is justified when people are occupied, etc etc etc.

So let me say this:

1. Many of the people using these phrases and images knew exactly what they meant and/or insinuated.

2. Even if some people genuinely didn’t know, Jews have been explaining over and over again why these are antisemitic.

3. Upon being informed, the perpetrators of these calls to and support for terrorism never change their chants, their signs, their speeches, their posts. They double down. It’s almost like they do, in fact, support terrorism and only retain the barest veneer of plausible deniability in order to avoid legal consequence and to gaslight Jews. Funny, that.

(via the-library-alcove)

notaplaceofhonour:

“I didn’t say [insert libel], I just said something that looks like I ran every word of that libel through a thesaurus, but still hits the same beats, and is being used to justify demonizing Jews for fitting the stereotypes that libel describes. If you think that’s the same thing, you’re falling for hasbara propaganda!”

No, see, what I’ve actually fallen for is a thing called “giving people the benefit of the doubt” and “trying to have a nuanced conversation about the terrible effects of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza without overextending beyond the facts in a way that echos ancient libel” and my prize has been even more libel, suicide bait, death threats, hours wasted engaging in good faith with people who are convinced they can argue their way out of being antisemitic by splitting hairs, and a substantial upgrade to the PTSD I already had, so… I’m good.

(via the-library-alcove)

jewishlivesmatter:

if you open this on IG, please note the trigger warning for slide 7 and a graphic image of violence and gore - I am omitting it here.

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(editing to add: the description of the pin from the website was added after the Oscars, according to the Wayback Machine - as in, they saw the criticism, and rather than reach out with compassion, or even apologize for unintended meaning, they chose to obfuscate.)

jewishlivesmatter:

blunderpuff:

jewishlivesmatter:

I’m seeing a lot of discussion about this:

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do I think the Artists4Ceasefire pins were designed this way intentionally? probably not. I suspect this happened out of unfortunate ignorance, but that ignorance, or humanitarian intent, doesn’t negate harm. the connotation being made here is disturbing.

and yes, the website does mention a release of the hostages and a focus on aid along with desiring a ceasefire, which are good things that I think most of us support. all that said, this should’ve been done with more consideration.

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“Yes, they have something to do with blood-stained hands indeed…

These red hands refer to the Ramallah lynchings hich took place on October 12, 2000 at the el-Bireh police station.

Two drivers in the IDF reserve, chief sergeant Yossi Avrahami (38), a toy salesman, and corporal Vadim Nurzhitz (33), a truckdriver, returned to duty that day. The two reservist drivers made their way in a civilian vehicle towards their unit’s assembly point near the settlement of Beit El. They had little army experience, were unfamiliar with the West Bank road system and drove through the military checkpoint outside Beitunia and headed straight into the Palestinian town of Ramallah 2 miles east of the checkpoint.

Reaching a Palestinian Authority roadblock, where previously Israeli soldiers had been turned back, the reservists were detained by PA policemen and taken to the local police station at Ramallah’s twin city el-Bireh, not far from Arafat’s headquarters.

The arrest took place at the same time as the conclusion of a funeral service, attended by hundreds of mourners, for Halil Zahran (17), a Palestinian youth who had been killed in clashes with Israeli forces two days earlier. There were lots of tensions as many Palestinians, nearly two dozen of them minors, had been killed in the preceding two weeks in violent protests with Israeli forces in Ramallah.

Rumors spread very quickly that Israeli undercover agents were in the building, and an angry crowd of more than 1,000 Palestinians gathered in front of the station calling for the death of the Israelis. According to the Ramallah station chief, there were 21 policemen in the building. Soon after, Palestinian rioters stormed the building, overcame the Palestinian police and murdered and mutilated both soldiers. Approximately 13 Palestinian policemen were injured while attempting to stop the lynching, whilst at least one participated.

The Israeli reservists were beaten and stabbed. At this point, a Palestinian (Aziz Salha), appeared at the window, displaying his blood-soaked hands to the crowd, which erupted into cheers – there you have the origin of the symbol of the red hands.

The crowd clapped and cheered as one of the soldier’s bodies was then thrown out the window and stamped and beaten by the frenzied crowd. One of the two was shot and set on fire, and his head was beaten to a pulp. Soon after, the crowd dragged the two mutilated bodies to Al-Manara Square in the city center and began an impromptu victory celebration.

The brutality of the murders shocked the Israeli public, intensifying Israeli distrust of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The event also deeply damaged the Israeli left-wing’s faith in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, at the onset of the second Intifada.

MARK SEAGER, 29, a British photographer, was working on a pictorial study of Palestinian refugees when he found himself caught up in the horrific lynching of two Israeli army reservists in Ramallah. The only journalist to witness the beating, this is part of his exclusive, eyewitness account:

‘I got out of the car to see what was happening and saw that they were dragging something behind them. Within moments they were in front of me and, to my horror, I saw that it was a body, a man they were dragging by the feet. The lower part of his body was on fire and the upper part had been shot at, and the head beaten so badly that it was a pulp, like red jelly…. I thought he was a soldier because I could see the remains of khaki trousers and boots. My God, I thought, they’ve killed this guy. He was dead, he must have been dead, but they were still beating him, madly, kicking his head. They were like animals… I was scared for my life. At the same time, the guy that looked like a soldier was being beaten and the crowd was getting angrier and angrier, shouting ‘Allah akbar’ – God is great. They were dragging the dead man around the street like a cat toying with a mouse. It was the most horrible thing that I have ever seen and I have reported from Congo, Kosovo, many bad places. In Kosovo, I saw Serbs beating an Albanian but it wasn’t like this. There was such hatred, such unbelievable hatred and anger distorting their faces…. The worst thing was that I realised the anger that they were directing at me was the same as that which they’d had toward the soldier before dragging him from the police station and killing him. Somehow I escaped and ran and ran not knowing where I was going. I never saw the other guy they killed, the one they threw out of the window…. I thought that I’d got to know the Palestinians well. I’ve made six trips this year and had been going to Ramallah every day for the past 16 days. I thought they were kind, hospitable people. I know they are not all like this and I’m a very forgiving person but I’ll never forget this. It was murder of the most barbaric kind. When I think about it, I see that man’s head, all smashed. I know that I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life.’

So the symbol of these red hands at the Pro-Palestine protests are not just some artistic, or otherwise ‘peaceful’ symbols, or some more or less innocent way to draw attention to the cause of Peace and well-being of the Palestinian people.

The call here is a whole other one; it is in the same vein as the calls to Intifada and to globalize the Intifada; they are direct calls to violence and death, murder of Israelis and Jews. They do not signify ‘blood on your hands’ – the context is a whole other one, especially in an Israeli-Jewish context. Not learning history and context does things like this, and simply saying ‘but’…will not change the legacy of this image and its symbolism.

Now you know.”

Not only that, but the little heart in that hand? It’s a reference to another one of the photos of that lynching, where a Palestinian man is holding aloft the heart that was cut out of one of the Israeli victims of that lynching. This lynching kicked off the second intifada, and it is extremely well known in SWANA/MENA, and Palestinians often invoke this imagery as shorthand for their “cause”

yes. there’s a photo of the men holding up the bloody hearts and other internal organs they ripped out of the victims - I had never seen it until a few hours ago, though I’ve seen the photos of his bloody hands in the window many times before. it’s too graphic for me to share here, if you need proof I imagine it’s not difficult to pull that picture up for yourselves (please be careful and keep triggers in mind due to the gore). the imagery is WELL known. these wealthy famous people may be ignorant of it, but anyone from the region, and Jews who know this well, are not, and the imagery invoked is far from peaceful, it is brutal, devastating, and frightening.