Author: mara.ahmed

zionism is racism.

“Zionism created a racial caste system, positioning Jews of European descent, known as Ashkenazim, above everyone else. Jewish communities who were Arab or resembled Arabness were categorized as Mizrahim, Oriental Jews, and treated as inferior. Not only were we ripped out of our ancestral homes of thousands of years, but upon arrival to the newly-founded Israel, Mizrahi immigrants experienced harsh racism and were placed in ma’abarot, or transit camps.

There are countless examples of the State of Israel’s ongoing racism against Mizrahim. In the 1950s Israeli authorities kidnapped thousands of Mizrahi babies, and illegally put them up for adoption with childless Ashkenazi families. The parents were told their children had died. Around that same time, a senior Israeli doctor conducted experimental radiation on thousands of Arab Jewish children for ringworm, a non-lethal skin infection, and the treatment was later discovered to cause cancer and other illnesses.

The view of “Jewish liberation” under Zionism clearly did not include all Jews, nor did it treat all Jews as equal. European Zionism was rooted in an imperialist, colonial attitude that sought to create a European country in Palestine. This not only meant a war against the indigenous Palestinian communities on the land, but also a cultural war against the identities and traditions of Arab Jews. Arabness itself became the enemy of the state, and anything that resembled Arabness needed to be demeaned, disguised, or destroyed.“ Article in 972 Mag.

riz ahmed is such a multifaceted genius. what a treat to read him, listen to him speak/think with him, and experience his art. brilliant interview about his new film “mogul mowgli”. can’t wait to see it. article in the nyt.

“Attributing imperial failures in Afghanistan, whether historical or current, to a combination of what Nivi Manchanda (in her Imagining Afghanistan) calls a “trans-historical, congenital Afghan predisposition” and “geographic determinism,” obscures more than it reveals: It prevents any serious analysis of why America and its allies’ 20-year mission failed so badly. It precludes drawing any lessons from their experiences there. And it forestalls any moral reckoning for either the damage inflicted by the occupation or the harms that will inevitably result from our withdrawal. After all, it was broken when we got here.“ More here.

“Nearly every property that comes up for sale is snapped up in days by a holiday rental company for far more money than any local family can afford to pay. If the trajectory continues — and there’s no indication that it won’t — there’s a good chance our local school will close before our child has a chance to attend.

I can’t describe to you the sinking feeling I get in my stomach every time a sixty-year-old suburban woman stops in front of our place and says to her husband, “oh, that one would be cute,” or worse, when a holiday rental company van pulls up and snaps a photo of our home.

There’s a ticking clock that hangs over our heads, counting down the days until we’ll inevitably have to move to a less desirable location, into likely a much smaller place, and still pay way more money, thanks to the commodification of real estate in the hands of Airbnb land-lorders.

…Airbnb guests: I encourage you to stay in hotels, resorts, regulated bed and breakfasts, and in real commercially-zoned vacation rental properties, not in residential neighborhoods. If you want to use Airbnb in an ethical manner, do your due diligence to ensure that the property you’re renting is a bona fide owner-occupied unit and not a unit that has been taken away from a family. It’s deeply troubling to enjoy family vacation time in a space when you know another family has lost theirs — it’s time to make the Golden Rule popular again.

Citizens: Lobby your city councilors, county clerks, state representatives, and Congresspeople to ban all commercial activity and investment in residential real estate. Whether they include a 500% second house premium, a cost-prohibitive landlording license, or an outright ban on non-owner-occupied clerkless hotel rentals, we simply must drive investors out of the residential real estate market.” More here.

lots of posts on afghanistan. just wanna say, pls center the afghan people. otherwise what’s the point. it’s more of the same. here is what we can do to support people in afghanistan: prioritize evacuations, special immigrant visas, humanitarian assistance, and welcoming refugees. write/talk to ur representatives. more details here.