Random Musings

The hashtag #SaveGSFCrews is trending globally in response to the mass detention of over 450 humanitarian activists and crew members from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which was intercepted by Israeli naval forces in international waters while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

🚨 What Happened?

42 boats carrying over 500 civilians from more than 40 countries were part of the GSF mission to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

The flotilla was intercepted between October 1–3, about 70–80 nautical miles off Gaza, in what many international observers and legal experts have called an illegal act under maritime and humanitarian law. [www.itfglobal.org], [www.aljazeera.com]

Greta Thunberg, journalists, doctors, lawmakers, and activists were among those detained. Some were reportedly denied access to lawyers, water, and medical care, and subjected to aggression and harassment. [www.itfglobal.org]

🌍 Global Reactions

Protests erupted in Italy, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Greece, and Turkey.

Colombia expelled all Israeli diplomats and terminated its free trade agreement with Israel in protest. [www.yahoo.com]

Amnesty International, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned the detentions and demanded immediate release of all crew members. [www.itfglobal.org], [cpj.org], [www.amnesty.org]

⚖️ Legal & Humanitarian Concerns

The interception in international waters violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Geneva Conventions.

The International Court of Justice has issued binding orders requiring Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. [www.itfglobal.org]

Obstructing aid delivery and starving civilians are considered war crimes under the Rome Statute. [www.itfglobal.org]

✊ What You Can Do

If you want to support the #SaveGSFCrews movement, here are a few ideas:

🕊️ Join or organize peaceful vigils or protests in your area.

📢 Raise awareness on social media using hashtags like #SaveGSFCrews, #FreeTheFlotilla, and #BreakTheSiege.

📝 Write to your local MP or government urging them to demand the release of detained citizens and condemn the blockade.

A Masking crab wearing a Sea anemone like a chef’s hat.

'we need to normalize that'

can you all shut the fuck up for a minute and reconsider how constantly demanding normalization only retrenches the moral position that weird = bad?

like no you're not actually going to be able to normalize a lot of stuff, because it's statistically unusual or aberrant. you can't normalize shit that is not by any definition normal.

what you need to do is fucking stand up for the weirdos, freaks, and deviants, and remind everyone who is normal that their position just makes them normal. not good, not right, not correct, not better, not perfect, not beyond reproach or improvement.

Normalizing brings an idea into the circle of "acceptable" behaviour without questioning or deconstructing that circle.

Found this on facebook but reposting to SAVE A LIFE.

Or at least some of y’all’s GPAs.

also, use Unpaywall

Garth Brooks winning video of the year at the ACMs for a song about how none of us are free as long as there's racism and homophobia

Reba McEntire charting with a gothic horror song about an innocent man being executed by an incompetent judge and a corrupt sheriff

Willie Nelson being, well, his entire self tbh

Dolly Parton recording the hating capitalism banger of all time

- The Chicks and speaking out against Bush and the Iraq war, and when they got death threats and were blacklisted from country radio, they doubled down and recorded a song saying 'no, you're wrong and were not going to sit down and accept it'. (Also, their song about how you should definitely kill your friends abusive husband, dump his body in a lake, and live out the rest of your lives as lesbian farmers.)