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One Year of Genocide
Today marks one year since the state of Israel got the pretext they always wanted to launch a campaign of land seizure and genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza. In that time, at least 41,000 people have been murdered in the strip alone (though some estimates put the real number in the hundreds of thousands), and the Israeli war machine has proceeded to expand its bloody, colonial enterprise onto other countries in the region: the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen... as any person with a tiny bit of sense knew they would.
Though I'm not Palestinian, and I am fortunate and privileged in that I don't have the threat of violence, dispossession and death hanging over me, this year has been very difficult regardless. I have watched the worst images I have ever seen in my life, and heard the vilest, most dehumanizing rhetoric the human mind could possibly conceive of. I have witnessed governments, institutions, and people seemingly unlearn the lessons of history and sink back into a miasma of hysteria, hatred, and warmongering. I have experienced trolling, personal attacks, gaslighting, and censure like never before. And yet these are things I take on gladly, in service of a cause that I know is bigger than me. My burdens pale in comparison to those of the Palestinian people, who for an entire year and decades beforehand have experienced the full cruelty of the settler-colonial state: fear, hunger, sickness, humiliation, abuse, death. Nothing is too depraved for the Zionist entity.
It's curious to look back on last year and think of all the angry, hostile comments I've got whenever I made my stance on Palestine known. Many were deranged, unrepentant, genocidal fanatics, unworthy of anyone's time and attention. But I also found myself engaging in tedious conversations with people who professed impartiality, non-violence and justice, only to discover that underneath many layers of self-righteousness and willful ignorance lurked people just as unrepentant and racist as all the rest. I do wonder what they'd have to say now, when the Israeli regime has single handedly debunked all of their arguments and excuses: deal after deal that has been sabotaged, the flat out refusal to recognize Palestinian self-determination and the lashing out against anyone that does, and the expansion of their murderous operations into places where there are no hostages, and no Hamas.
Because ultimately, as much as I have learned from books, documentaries, human rights organizations, and Palestinians on the ground, my biggest source of enlightenment have ironically been Zionists themselves. Thanks to the words and deeds of Zionist leaders past and present, the occupation army's gleeful live-streaming of war crimes, and the hordes of online apologists, simps and trolls, I am now convinced more than ever that the state of Israel and the ideology it upholds has never been interested in peaceful, just coexistence, and never will. Even the tiniest show of sympathy towards the Palestinian people is a capital offense to them, and they will not be satisfied unless one licks the shit off their boots and thanks them for it. There's no doubt in my mind now that Zionism is an evil, racist ideology, and Israel an evil, racist nation. They will pursue their greedy, cruel, rapacious ends to the very last Palestinian, and even to the detriment of their own colonial project.
That's the hope that keeps me going, really. That in spite of all the power it wields, and the violence and misery it has brought (or maybe because of it), the Zionist project is well on its way to meet its end. The first few days of the genocide were difficult, , with the rhetoric online making me think that I was the only sane person in a sea of madness and ignorance. Now I know that is not the case. Many, many more people stand with Palestine than with Israel, especially in countries like my own. The settler-colonial state has been dealt a political and public relations blow from which I doubt it will ever recover. American hegemony is well on the decline, and all of its accomplices will diminish and disappear with it. Zionism, sooner rather than later, will become a hated, disgraced ideology worldwide, just like its close cousin, Nazism, is. I only regret that thousands upon thousands of people will not live to see the day of their liberation. But that's why we fight: justice for the dead, and freedom for the living.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
"Martyr"
2024
In honor of Medo Halimy and all victims of Zionist tyranny.
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Medo was a 19 year old vlogger from Gaza, who documented his life in a displaced people's camp. His videos were generally upbeat and joyful, in brave defiance of the misery and destruction unleashed by the Zionist occupation. He did a gardening series, bringing life at a time and place where the occupation was bringing only death. He was bright, creative, resourceful, and much loved.
Medo was killed on August 27th when he was hit by shrapnel from a nearby Israeli strike. I only got to know him from his videos, but his murder was shocking and heartbreaking all the same. It feels me with rage and grief that this young man, so full of life and dreams, had his time cut short by greedy, rapacious colonizers. And I shudder to think of all the people we don't know, victims whose names and dreams will remain forever anonymous and unknown. This humble tribute is also for them.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸 and death to Zionism.
"Vhagar VS Smaug"
2024
Looking to add to his immense treasure, Smaug descends with fire and death on Casterly Rock, to plunder the fabled wealth of House Lannister for himself. But the Lannisters aren't completely abandoned. For out of the skies comes their ally, Prince Aemond Targaryen upon Vhagar. Smaug hasn't had a challenge like this in centuries. He eagerly rises up to meet them, in what will surely be the ultimate Dance of the Dragons.
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The production team for House of the Dragon puts Vhagar's size as 90 meters long, with a 150 meter wingspan. At 130 meters, Smaug is longer, but his 110 meter wingspan is smaller than Vhagar's. Vhagar also has a bulkier, more robust body as opposed to Smaug's long and serpentine frame. Smaug is older, but he isn't really affected by age as Vhagar is; he is much more agile and nimble in both land and air. The dragons of Middle-earth can also cast spells with their gaze, and to quote George R.R. Martin, they, like, talk. All in all, I'd say Smaug, Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities, outmatches Granny Vhagar in almost every way. But it would be a terrific fight nonetheless.
"El Venado"
2024
Something for the upcoming Mexican Independence Day.
The Deer Dance is an indigenous folk dance from northern Mexico, traditional to the Yaqui and Mayo peoples. The dancer playing the deer wears a headdress with a stuffed head of the animal at the top.
Viva México, cabrones! 🇲🇽
"Man-eater"
2024
Tiger (Panthera tigirs)
The Champawat Tiger was probably the most prolific killer in the history of man-eating animals. Before being shot down by Jim Corbett in 1907, she had killed some 436 people across two countries. Her two right canines had been broken off, which is probably why she stopped hunting her habitual prey and shifted to stalking human beings. Imagine the terror she inspired!
Something a bit different to commemorate World Tiger Day on Monday.
"Sunfyre"
2024
This season of House of the Dragon marked the first time we got a good look at Sunfyre, one of my very favorite dragons in the world of Westeros. And true to the book, they made him a very beautiful young dragon indeed. I love that pair of massive, shiny horns, and his elegant and slender body frame. I only wish we got to see more of him in his full glory, before being so badly mangled at battle.
"Toco Toucan"
2024
Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco)