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GLOBAL STRIKE FOR GAZA BEGINS TODAY!!!

To participate:

During the 21st - 28th of January...

Do not shop/online shop

Skip school/work if you are able to

Be present & active on social media and uplift Palestinian voices

Draw, write, sing, create art for Palestine

Repost & boost Palestine related content on social media

Educate yourself about the issue

We have been asked to strike during these days by the lovely & hardworking journalist Bisan from Gaza. Let's all try our best for a people being tested with the harshest conditions imaginable. The occupation must be held accountable.

They all deserve to be boycotted and divested from, regardless of the claim that their branches in various countries are wholly or partially owned by local businesses. The parent company is complicit for allowing its Israel branch to support an ongoing military aggression that leading scholars of genocide have described as a “textbook case of genocide.” We encourage continued pressure on entities that support apartheid Israel and its genocidal war against our people in Gaza. Visit our website to learn how you can help to escalate our strategic #BDS campaigns. https://bdsmovement.net/

(thread from their official twitter. unrolled copy of it here)

GLOBAL STRIKE FOR GAZA BEGINS TODAY!!!

To participate:

During the 21st - 28th of January...

Do not shop/online shop

Skip school/work if you are able to

Be present & active on social media and uplift Palestinian voices

Draw, write, sing, create art for Palestine

Repost & boost Palestine related content on social media

Educate yourself about the issue

We have been asked to strike during these days by the lovely & hardworking journalist Bisan from Gaza. Let's all try our best for a people being tested with the harshest conditions imaginable. The occupation must be held accountable.

Bisan is calling for another global strike!

I saw some posts just outlining Jan 21st, and wanted to clarify that Bisan has called for a full seven days of action.

What a global strike would look like is:

calling in sick to work

purchasing bare essentials ahead of the week so you can observe the general boycott of goods / buying as little as you genuinely can

putting in a concerted effort to elevate Palestinian voices and make it clear that this strike is in support of a permanent ceasefire!

For those who will have to purchase necessary goods during this time, please observe the brands that the BDS movement is asking us to boycott!

♢♢♢

Right now is also a good time to mention some better uses for your money during this week.

Available e-sims in Gaza are running low!!

Mirna El Helbawi and her team are working round the clock to continue to connect Palestinians as Israel does its best to cut them off from the rest of the world.

You can learn how to purchase and send e-sims here, and below you’ll find a list of what is currently needed (the areas in brackets indicate what region you should select to buy e-sims in).

--

CareforGaza is an organisation that does verifiably good work, distributing supplies directly to Palestinian families.

They have a Gofundme set up at the moment, but because of Gofundme’s poor track record regarding refusing to transfer funds to Palestinians, I’d recommend continuing to donate directly to their PayPal here.

Read this. Read it slowly.

Read it again.

And then again.

Don't you ever forget it.

1) traffickers spread honey on top of your car, so that youll wonder what it is and stay outside longer while cleaning it up. If you see theres something strange/sticky on there: get in your car and drive away

2) sometimes a trafficker will hide under your car with a knife to cut your achilles heels so that you cant run away. Make sure theres no one under there, especially if its dark or remote. (Note from me: works super from a far while approaching)

1) The “honey” is just sap from a tree you parked . No potential trafficker is gonna stay long enough spreading honey because it increases the chances of witnesses and getting caught. That’s just dumb as hell not to mention very conspicuous to potential witnesses.

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/tiktok-human-trafficking-hoax/

This has also been revealed to be a complete hoax, as with the zip ties.

2) Snopes and other news sources have debunked this so much it shouldn’t be believable at this point

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-unkindest-cut/

3) Also ties into 1. That’s literally leaving a paper trail. It has also been debunked as a hoax/just advertisers.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/carjackers-leaving-flyers-100-bills-car-windows/

Listen I’ve worked for years at a Rape and DV shelter as a volunteer counselor. The Stranger Trafficker/Kidnapper/ Rapist is so rare it’s very nearly a myth. Your more likely to be trafficked by someone you know already. They operate the same way as predators do… BY GROOMING!!!

“Indian staff from the Indian Space Research Organisation celebrate after the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft entered Mars’s orbit.

On November 5, 2013, a rocket launched toward Mars. It was India’s first interplanetary mission, Mangalyaan, and a terrific gamble. Only 40 percent of missions sent to Mars by major space organizations—NASA, Russia’s, Japan’s, or China’s—had ever been a success. No space organization had succeeded on its first attempt. What’s more, India’s space organization, ISRO, had very little funding: while NASA’s Mars probe, Maven, cost $651 million, the budget for this mission was $74 million. 

This was not the only success of the mission. An image of the scientists celebrating in the mission control room went viral. Girls in India and beyond gained new heroes: the kind that wear sarees and tie flowers in their hair, and send rockets into space.”

FUCK YES. THIS IS THE TYPE OF REPRESENTATION I’VE BEEN HERE FOR!!

They gave me a number to shoot for.  It was about twice than what I had been making at the time.

So I went online, did some research, found some figures backing up my claim, put it all together and went to my boss.

I got what I asked for.

If it hadn’t been for that person in accounting telling me I was way underpaid, I’d have never known.  I went from barely scraping by to being able to have a savings account and getting all my debts paid thanks to them.

“Hello, my name is Sharlene Pike and I am a black transgender person originating from South Africa and working as a receptionist/host. I moved to the United States 4 years ago alone and without any support, as my parents died in my home country when I was 18. Being a transgender black female immigrant places three discrimination barriers and makes it extremely hard to socialize and find a job to live properly. Nevertheless, I tried my best. I had been working at 7 different companies as a receptionist/host/waitress for these four years, but 2 months ago I lost my job. The reasoning I was given - ‘staff reduction due to COVID-19 complications’. I have been unemployed for these 2 months, but the reason I can’t start a new job is not COVID-19. In February, I was diagnosed with stage-3 esophageal cancer. I had no prior knowledge of my diagnosis as this type of cancer can be quite concealed, and I had only two or three weeks of eating discomfort before I had a medical consultation. The company I was working at had a special program to support staff members who need expensive surgeries or therapies, and I believe my diagnosis was the true reason I was reduced, since it happened just after I told my office I might need an extended medical leave. The sum I have spent on the medical procedures only to clarify the future treatment equals my 3 salaries. The sum I’m asking for is actually covering first 6 months of treatment and the cheapest drug - basically simply to have a chance to survive. I have no health insurance and I can’t take a new job because my health condition significantly deteriorated. The thing that I have learnt throughout these months is that it is very hard to get any, even basic medical help if you are transgender. The death rate of the esophageal cancer is about 30%, which is very high, and I ask you to help me to have a chance to survive. I tried to deal with everything without anyone by my side, but current circumstances left me with no choice but to ask you to donate and share my story. Thank you very much.”

There is a lot of misinformation out there, especially from Fox News, which photoshopped a gunman into pics, wow.

First, the best resources to find CHAZ info are local to Seattle: The Seattle Times, Capitol Hill Blog, and the CHAZ livestream where you can see the streets for yourself.

Capitol Hill is a very densely populated neighborhood full of apartment buildings and bustling restaurants and bars. If you work there, you live there (because it is hard to navigate by car, like NYC), and if you live there, you are probably super liberal. It’s also the center of counter-culture and LGBTQ culture in Seattle.

Are the protesters terrorizing the locals?

No, the protesters ARE the locals. They live in the many, many apartment buildings on Capitol Hill.  Having lived there for years, believe me when I say “fuck the police” is a prevalent opinion there even when there isn’t a nationwide protest.

Is there looting?  How are businesses protecting themselves?

The local businesses are not being looted; they are open and are doing a booming business.  Also, a lot of workers / business owners ARE protesters.

I saw a picture of Seattle on fire!

Actually you saw a picture of a protest in Minnesota that Fox News pretended was Seattle because they are frauds and shills.

How big is the Autonomous Zone?

Six square blocks.

How did this situation come about?

There was a peaceful march.  The mayor abruptly set a 5 pm curfew.  The protesters ignored it and marched anyway.  Then the police set up barricades to stop the march.  The cops started using tear-gas and flash-bangs and the situation devolved from there. (You can find videos of this on Capitol Hill Blog.)  What prompted the tear-gas was … one of the protesters thrust a pink umbrella over the barrier.  Yes, really.

The situation deteriorated for several days/nights running until the police abandoned the East Precinct on Capitol Hill. The violence was very one-sided: the police attacking the protesters.

Then the police left.  From what I heard the mayor ordered them out due to rumors or fears that the police station would be burned down? Which didn’t happen.  Anyway, they abruptly left.  As in, hired a literal moving truck and emptied out their headquarters, in almost a comedic beat.

Do you have to show your ID to enter the Autonomous Zone?

No.  People come and go freely.  City services are also allowed to come and go (and I presume delivery trucks but I haven’t looked into that.)

What’s with the physical barriers if people can come and go freely?

They’re to keep vehicles out. 

Backstory:  While the protests were ongoing, a guy (whose brother was an East Precinct cop) tried to ram his car into a crowd of protesters.  A brave man eating a hot dog threw himself at the side of the car, grabbed the steering wheel through the open window, and stopped him. Whereupon cop-brother-car-man shot him with a gun.

Personally I think cop-brother-car-man was planning a mass shooting because he had extra ammo taped to his hoodie sleeve. You can see the blue tape on his arm in the pic above. (The protester who was shot thankfully survived.  Check out those brave medics tending him while an ACTIVE SHOOTER is standing feet away!)

But anyway, that’s why there are barriers. I believe they move them aside for approved vehicles, like emergency vehicles or deliveries.

Are there people with guns roaming around?

Not on a regular basis, although I’ve heard a local gun club had some members there one night when it was rumored the Proud Boys (a Nazi group) might show up.  (They didn’t.)  But in general, no.

Is it scary??

No.  The neighborhood is fully on board and overall there is a festive atmosphere.  There are speeches about BLM, about discrimination, about what people want for the neighborhood.  There are first aid stations, medics and counselors, and people offering free pizza.  If you watch the livestreams, you can see people walking their dogs, out with their kids, etc.

Where will this all end?

I don’t know.  The barriers can’t stay up forever and I think everyone knows that.  The “Autonomous Zone” name is tongue-in-cheek, the protesters aren’t actually trying to secede from the United States.  Basically, this is a boiling over of frustration.  The police have never been good-faith neighbors on Capitol Hill.  Also Seattle police have always been pretty racist and had a problem with excessive force.

Look at this whole situation.  All the police had to do was stand back and let the protesters march; they would have marched and gone home and that would be that.  All the police had to do was nothing.  Instead they turned a neighborhood into a warzone.

By the way, did you know that yesterday (6/12) in a different Seattle neighborhood 60,000 people marched to support BLM?  And because the city had learned its lesson about dumbass curfews, they let everyone march and nothing bad happened.

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