mika

After getting over the initial shock and heartbreak of this tweet and this reply, it hit me that (and I don't know if this is a cultural thing here in the middle east or an Islamic one)

A child has to be named even if they're stillborn.

For a child to not be named, that means there's no one left to name them. They were killed along with their entire family.

I hoped I was wrong, but I checked the list of victims of Israeli attacks and found this:

Israel has ended 47 Palestinian bloodlines over the course of this genocide (or perhaps more), so you might think that this little detail isn't that important, but I don't think we should get used to cruelty of this proportion, no matter how consistently Israel commits it.

we cry "the innocent women and children" to appeal to the masses, to try and force their sympathy, but the men and boys are innocent too.

I have seen sons crying out for their mothers, their fathers, their siblings. I have seen them break down at the loss of their families. I have seen them cling to their dead and grieve.

I have seen fathers cradle their dead children, seen them kiss their faces and hold their little hands. I have seen them faint with grief when asked to identify the dead. I have seen them carry their sons and daughters. I have seen them fasting to provide what little they can for their families.

I have seen men and boys digging through the rubble with just their bare hands, I have seen them comforting strangers, playing with children, rocking them, hushing them, even if the face of such imminent danger. I have seen them cry, seen them grieve, seen them break down into each other's arms, seen them be selfless, beyond selfless, becoming something I don't have a word for.

I have seen the men who are doctors refuse to leave their patients, even when they have no medicine or supplies to give them, even when they're threatened with bombings. I have seen fathers who have lost all their children pick orphans up into their arms and proclaim them their child so they are not alone. I have seen men and boys digging pets out of the rubble.

it makes me physically ill. a Palestinian on twitter's last post was about burying their six-year-old cousin without his head. a Palestinian boy on youtube dreamt of 100k subscribers on his gaming channel. and yesterday he reached 500k, but he has been killed in the bombing of the gaza strip. the class of 2023-24 in Palestine has ended early because there are not enough students left alive. literal children who were the teachers, artists, doctors, scientists, scholars, writers, engineers of tomorrow.

when is it enough? statistics released by Palestinian officials about the numbers of martyred isn't enough. photographs and videos of fathers scurrying to piece together their children by gathering their body parts isn't enough. presscons surrounded by dead bodies beside a bombed hospital isn't enough.

yet, somehow, the narrative they are pushing is conflict between two faiths. it is absolutely not. this is no religious conflict. this is colonization, occupation, genocide. it's systematic oppression of Palestine and its people.

the word peace has never angered me as much as it has now. and it should anger you too. there can be no peace under violent oppression. there can be no peace after 75 years of ethnic cleansing. there can be no peace in occupied Palestine.

hi! many people have been following me and supporting my recent cruel prince artwork. thank you so much for the love! i started to share these comic pages on twitter, but i wanted to wait until i had a complete chapter finished before i uploaded it here for easier reading, so here it is: my comic adaptation of the cruel prince! ☻

thanks for reading!

updates will be chapter by chapter, as longer scrolling posts are the nicest way to read comics, so chapter 3 will be coming soon!

Matthias: We are not a couple

Jesper: Matty-poo! are you embarassed of me? I thought we were over this

Matthias: He is joking

Jesper: Now you are gasligthing? Whats wrong with you? You said you loved me. Well, if you are so sure on denying our love, you won't mind if i go and make out with the hot ginger over there waving at us

Matthias: Jesper-

Jesper: Oh! and now i am "Jesper" , yesterday i was "sugar bunny" but things change, apparently

"How insensitive"

Matthias: oh boy

---

"Are you dating?"

Matthias: no-

Inej: What?! NO! nononono! ew-

Matthias: ew?

Inej: no way! no, no no no no no no...

Matthias: alright, maybe mrs Kaz Brekker shouldn't be so judgy

---

"Are you boyfriend?"

Matthias & Kaz: no

"Because we have couples discount"

Kaz: We are married

Matthias: what-

Kaz: Neither of us have a ring because we used the money to build our house, we don't need a ring when you have such an intense and passionate love like ours

Matthias: for the love of-

Kaz: us

Matthias: no!

---

"Aww, what a cute couple are you"

Matthias: we are not a couple! what this is always happening to me?

Wylan: Maybe we should stop holding hands so they won't get the wrong idea

Matthias: not yet , they are still cold

---

"Are you a couple?"

Matthias: NO!

Nina: huh?