What are some ideas for hobbies that I can pick up and put down without finding big blocks of time, and that will feel more productive than doom scrolling or watching stupid YouTube videos?
Related to the fear Israelis are feeling, and here’s a little tip for you on the international left: Fucking stamp out any whiff of antisemitism in any pro-Palestinian movement you are a part of. It shouldn’t have to be explained that antisemitism is morally abhorrent. And by the way, that remains the number 1, intrinsic reason to get it out of your circles.
It’s also extremely counterproductive. If you want to build a broad movement for justice, you aren’t going to do that by making a group of people fearful of being targeted because they celebrate different holidays than you, or because they were born into a different ethnicity than you. Does anyone honestly think spray painting something on a random synagogue or Jewish community center is somehow going to help ease the suffering of the Palestinians? That screaming at some random person in a yarmulke (who may very well agree with you politically!) is going to convince people to stop supporting the place in the world where they are ensured they will be protected from such harassment? Expunge these people from your groups, they aren’t leftists in any sense that you should want to identify with. They are taking advantage of this moment with bad intent, just like the antisemites on the right who are extremely pro-Israel are.
8/10
@0af78396
Obviously this question is some sort of weird attempt to score political points against Biden, but I'll be a peach and answer it anyway:
You'd have to ask Bibi what he believes. My guess is that in attack like this took years of planning, not one month. But I'm sure it was largely funded by Iran, yes.
@Cousin_Martha_Corey
Interesting. Yeah, your theory is a good one, I think.
Anyway, I hope if it comes up again you are able to (delicately!) nudge her in the right direction.
@Cousin_Martha_Corey
Yeah, I think that woman has a pretty bad take, and it is hard that many otherwise progressive people have a wrong-headed and harmful view about Israel/Palestine.
To try to be charitable to her, I think these conversations are especially difficult to have outside of Israel without knowing and trusting the person. So often - in fact, on this very thread, though I've blocked all the relevant posts - people's expressions of solidarity for the Palestinians are just ways of signaling coded antisemitism. So I wonder if her guard was raised because she was worried you were antisemitic? I don't know though, that's a complete guess, I don't know how well you know this person.
It is a real shame, and it makes this issue such a landmine. Israel is an apartheid state, but its also true that antisemitism exists, and Israeli institutions are interested in trying to conflate criticism of the former with the latter. We obviously shouldn't conflate them, but we also shouldn't pretend that antisemitism doesn't exist (not saying you were!!!).
@Cousin_Martha_Corey
Oof, Cousin, question (a) is a doozy, in part because it is of course very complicated and in part because it is very depressing. Let me return to that in a second.
(b) There are four different possible situations that a Palestinian can be born into.
Situations 1 and 2 are quite similar, so let me lump them together for purpose of your question - Palestinians born in Gaza or the West Bank cannot become Israeli citizens. At best, they *may* be able to get a work permit which does not allow them to sleep in Israel but allows them to enter between certain hours of the day for work only. These permits are highly coveted by the dispossessed population, there are not enough to go around, and their amount can be raised or lowered by Israel as a bargaining chip.
One exception is that Gazans and Palestinians from the West Bank, if they marry an Israeli citizen, are *sometimes* able to receive residency, which entitles them to some but not all rights that citizens have.
Situation 3: East Jerusalem. A Palestinian born in East Jerusalem is given a residency permit automatically, which allows them to travel and work within Israel. They are allowed to apply for citizenship, and in theory (and often right wing Israelis will falsely claim) it is supposed to be available to any East Jerusalemite. But it is actually a process that only some succeed at, as it is convoluted, expensive, and many are rejected.
East Jerusalemites who apply for citizenship are also often harassed by fellow Palestinians for normalizing the occupation, so there is a social cost as well. However, my (incomplete) understanding is that this is becoming more acceptable in some sectors of East Jerusalem society.
East Jerusalemites can in theory move into Israel proper, although in many cities and towns this is de facto impossible because of implicit and explicit racist policies against renting to Palestinians.
Situation 4 are Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are, well, citizens, so they formally enjoy all rights that an Israeli Jew enjoys. (Of course they face discrimination, but in theory they are legally equal.)
@671bc5e9
I'm a leftist, I am engaged in pro-Palestinian activism. So no, it wouldn't be unbiased.
A quick scroll through your profile reveals that you are an antisemite who is happy to "see Jewish civilians slaughtered". Blocked.
Hi all, I been living in Jerusalem for 7 years, politically active for 4. There are many people who understand much better what is going on in Israel/Palestine right now as well as its context, but maybe you, reading this, don't know such a person.
Feel free to ask any questions that you might have for someone on the ground, and I will either answer them or find an answer from someone who would know.
(Please boost)
Just a note here, because it is going around in WhatApp and Signal groups that I am in.
I think Israel oppresses the Palestinian people and violates their human rights on a daily basis. Outside of my job, a lot of my time is dedicated to trying to fight these things. In fact, I just spent this morning helping a Palestinian family with their olive harvest. So please don't take this as coming from some kind of right wing perspective -
This is a very good moment for all you leftists around the world who are watching the situation unfolding here to *read the fucking room*. I do not want to be lectured on the internet about why what Hamas is doing is justified, or actually not as bad as what Israel did in Gaza War X or whatever. This is not some hypothetical philosophical exercise, ok? I spent a large chunk of my day checking in with friends who were in affected areas. I am worried sick about an acquaintance who lives right next to Gaza who hasn't yet responded to my message.
Having a good ideology is awesome, but so is having a fucking heart.
Philosophy is a discipline that simultaneously wants to be close to science but also close to the humanities. Or perhaps it wants to be the bridge between the two.
That's not a novel point, but I wonder if one way it manifests is in the discourse about philosophical writing as "boring" in comparison to how it was 40-50 years ago.
I was reading Williams' original paper on moral luck yesterday and I was struck at how - I'm sorry, I know its sacrilege - *unclear* it is, in structure, in argumentation, in precision. And yet it is certainly an enjoyable and well-written article to read if you read it without worrying about the details.
In the sciences (at least the ones I have a passing familiarity with), articles have a very clear and formulaic structure. You know exactly what happens when in a paper, and it helps to guide you about where to look for info that you need, what's coming next, etc.
Analytic philosophy articles aren't like this now, but they are much more like it than they were 50 years ago. And I think, consciously or not, this is what people are lamenting when they complain about the 'boringness' of 21st century analytic philosophy.
The question is really about what kind of discipline we want to be: Do we want first and foremost to be clear and precise about what our arguments are, our premises, how we defend them, etc.? Or do we want our writing to be engaging and exciting? (Yes, yes, both is possible, but most of us aren't David Lewis, sorry.)
For myself, I don't want philosophy papers to become *as* formulaic as scientific articles, but I am inclined to think the discipline should err in that direction. If you asked a scientist why they don't write super engaging and creatively structured articles, they'd tell you (I guess) "If you want to read something exciting, do it in your free time. Our job is to advance knowledge and understanding, not to entertain you." - My hunch is that more analytic philosophers have the 'advancing understanding' view of philosophy than the more humanities, 'say interesting things in an interesting way, stimulating excitement and thought is more important than being clear', but maybe I'm wrong.
(And yes, there is space for both, and yes, I am oversimplifying in a bunch of places. This is a microblog, not a philosophy paper!)
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