poet abridged

thats the most insidious part. the propaganda is so good, you have liberal zionists who believe all of the problems with israel go away when Netanyahu does.

the foundation is soaked in blood and rotting from the inside out for it.

Bibi's gonna die soon, but that doesn't unkill people, the settlers will keep the homes they stole, they might say a land acknowledgment at big events 20 years down the line, Israel will still be occupied Palestine.

On again… wait, off.

Maybe it’s on… no, definitely on…

Oh… never mind. It’s off again.

Will my children become just another number in the daily death toll?

I thought we had finally survived that fear would no longer find its way to our door.

The whole point of ethnic cleansing being bad is the ethnic cleansing and dispossession itself. The same way Zionists argue that they have a right to ethnically cleanse Palestinians bc they’re just “Arabs” and “can go to any other Arab country,” I don’t think arguing “oh but Palestinians are descended from ancient peoples living on the land” counteracts the point. In fact it provides a concession to that original argument that Palestinians who had arrived from xyz 100 years ago were right to be ethnically cleansed because they hadn’t been there that long

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جعفر الحلي

Please ignore if this is inappropriate to ask. I remember you mentioning you have family in NOI. Can you share how/when they joined, and if they are still part of NOI. I was reading about it recently and that reminded me bc for so long before, I assumed the organization was long dead.

Hey there. I’ve had family join the NOI through a number of ways throughout the 90s to as recent as about 2016 (and maybe after that). One of the most important conversions in the family occurred when a family member, who was a college student at that time, went to a synagogue on his college campus (another relative of mine worked at its library, IIRC). When he got there, the people asked his opinion about Farrakhan. At the time he didn’t know anything about Farrakhan. But the way they were attacking him, it made my relative look into him further, and he found a program catered to creating family and community and positive changes for the black man. So he got involved.

Another generation was affected when going to hear the Minister speak at his million man march in 2015.

Somehow I had heard about NOI in passing (most everyone I know has no idea about them) and assumed they’d long ago disbanded. I think I misunderstood that they shifted to a more orthodox theology.

Imagine my surprise when I was in Detroit one day and I saw NOI had just had an event the day before.

Yeah, it’s interesting. Tbh most American Muslims don’t know much about the NOI, if I tell people my own religious journey half of the questions are relevant to the NOI in general haha.

When Shaheed Malcolm left the NOI, many African American Muslims followed him into Orthodoxy. I know communities from Malcolm’s (ra) time who have since become a sort of West African Sunni or Sufi leaning community.

My friend and I were discussing the approach and appeal of some movements, that outsiders are quick to call out. Emotional and even logical arguments like “imagine sleeping full while your neighbor sleeps hungry” are very attractive. Same way is “we should build our own communities with our own values - no more defeatist attitude”. Everyone can agree with this. The belief gives you meaning, the community gives you strength.

It’s impossible not to sympathize.