master of disaster

The Blue Gate at the End of the Long Border - Francis Hamel , 2020.

British , b. 1963 -

And here is a video explaining what’s going on in more detail than I provided.

With everything else going on in the world, it can be hard to keep up with stuff going on at home, but ICE is still out here terrorizing innocent people. We must keep our eyes on them, and keep fighting.

78 years of forced displacement, restricted aid and unimaginable violence against the Palestinians. It is still ongoing to this day. How much longer can this go on? Until we reach the 79th year? The 80th?

At the same time, The Toronto Palestine Film Festival hosted an event to commemorate the Nakba. It starts with a documentary directed by Mai Masri called, "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears". The film is about two girls, Manar and Mona, who develop a friendship by exchanging letters after Southern Lebanon is liberated from the Zionist occupation in the 2000. Even though they are separated by the border, a wired barricade, their love and companionship is felt in their words across papers. 26 years later, Lebanon is under attack by the Zionist occupation. [BBC reports: "Lebanon's health ministry says the number of people killed in the country by ['Israeli'] strikes during the conflict between ['Israel'] and Hezbollah, which escalated at the beginning of March, has surpassed 3,000. It put the death toll at 3,020 on Monday, a grim milestone in the fighting that shows no sign of abating despite a fragile ceasefire"].

As the film ends, a keynote speaker is present. It is no other than Mouin Rabbani: He is a a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-['Israeli'] conflict, and contemporary ['Middle East'] issues at the ['Middle East'] at the Council on Global Affairs. He starts with a speech about the Nakba, detailing the horrors Palestinians have gone through, then finishes with a reassurance of their resilience and resistance.  

This makes me think about the many people risking their lives to fight against oppression and occupation! They are throwing rocks at tanks and snipers, boycotting products and protesting in the streets and fighting for their land ownership in courts. It begs the question: What are we doing in the West? We should join our Palestinian and Lebanese comrades, of course! Continue to boycott, donate and protest!

Please consider helping my friend, Suad (@stillwritingtoday). She is a computer engineer from North Ghazzah and she is a mother to an 1 year old child who is ill with allergies and infections. Suad is caring for older relatives, such as her in-laws and her grandparents! She needs to purchase medicine, clothing, food, fuel, supplies, and other essentials!

Her fundraiser is #279 in the vetted fundraisers' spreadsheet by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi. @/nabulsi has written posts for Suad, with the latest update here.

Please donate here. / Donation Match.

Nishimoto Ryota