When she said that, I realized that I do that too when I live in a more publicly visible apartment. I told her that I think it's because of the internet. Younger people feel like we're constantly being watched, observed, and JUDGED for merely existing. So when we're home, we just want to be alone, unbothered, and unobserved because it's the one place we can control that. She was very surprised to hear that I felt like that and she was VERY concerned for us young folk (and to be honest after talking with her I became pretty concerned too...)

People from her generation will have their blinds open all day, hang out on their front porch, and randomly visit/enjoy random visits from neighbors and strangers. If a stranger knocks on my door it's scary and if they want to stay and chat? It's a huge inconvenience and it feels super awkward and weird and I'm stuck wondering why exactly they're talking to me, when just a few decades ago welcoming someone new to the neighborhood was just what you did! In fact to not do so was rude!

It made me really worried that as the Panopticon sinks its teeth deeper into our psyches, we are losing the very essence of what makes us human and got us this far as a species: community. I find that being on the internet for hours a day tends to almost trick my brain into thinking "I've been social all day, my social need is full" when in reality I've only talked to one, maybe two people I know from my real life all day, and only for short bursts, not REAL conversation.

I find it hard to have the energy to invite friends to hang out, and when I want to I feel like I'm a big inconvenience for asking them to take a break from their busy lives for me (not that they would ever say that's the case, but it's this nagging feeling internally). I feel like while we used to be a series of large islands of local community, our islands splintered apart and started drifting away from each other. Now your island is just you, your immediate family, and maybe a couple close friends. Those living physically closest to you feel like they're miles away and unreachable, to the point where you might as well not even bother.

It's disgusting this is what we're dealing with, but people are losing money because of some truly evil people out there.

DO NOT TRUST ANY GOFUNDME OR REQUEST FOR CROWDFUNDING THAT PALESTINIAN BLOGGERS HAVEN'T VERIFIED.

At this point I'm fine receiving a bunch of inbox messages asking me to vet x y z so y'all can avoid this shit. But please have some critical thinking!

Whether you wanna read the whole thing or not idc.

REBLOG IT.

Many areas of northwest Gaza report withdrawals, but other parts of north Gaza are still besieged by IOF ground troops. Momin Abu Owda reported that Al-Tawam Junction in the northwest is now free of IOF troops for the first time since the ground invasion began (link below). However, Shukri Filfil reported that Al-Rimal in Gaza City, which is in the southern portion of north Gaza, is still under attack by IOF troops. Eshak Daour reported IOF firing gas bombs at him and a group of civilians in Beit Lahiya, which is more in the central area of north Gaza. Hossam Azam reported ground clashes very near to his location, although his exact location is not yet clear. Ahmed Kouta reported that although the ground troops pulled out of northwest Gaza, they have moved on to other parts of north Gaza, such as the central and southern regions (link below). All but the first and the latter appeared on Instagram Stories and as such there is no permanent working link, so message us for screenshots if desired. Mahmoud Ziad also documented the continued incursion of IOF personnel and machinery around Al-Shifa Hospital in the southwestern region of north Gaza, which Ismail Al-Ghoul reported as well.