It's Just Generally Horrific 🤦🏽♀️
But somehow also very funny...
Here’s a photo of me at the wonderful Tin House Summer Workshop where I had the true honor of learning from the writer and poet Safiya Sinclair herself 🥺
It’s been such a painstakingly slow news cycle these last few weeks that I feel I barely have anything to write about… 🙃
First, let me just share that I’ve been traveling for the last few months and won’t be in my normal home space until November. With this in mind, I haven't had the right kitchen setup to escape the endless stream of bad news on my feeds and lose myself in an audiobook while I chop, chop, chop.
Tis’ a shame because after seeing the car crash that was Biden’s attempted re-election campaign, Trump using the word “Palestinian” as a pejorative in a debate, the willful ignorance of white feminists parading behind Kamala Harris as if she will be the one to save our “democracy,” or our Congress giving a standing ovation to Netanyahu after the ICJ concluded that almost all of Israel’s actions violate international law, I’d really love to find refuge in the kitchen…
Alas. If you don’t want to hear about Netanyahu and would rather find YOUR refuge in some book recommendations, please skip ahead to the final paragraph of this post. Protect your sanity while you can, people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the revolution is polyrhythmic and sometimes that includes thoughtfully tuning out when necessary.
I’ve gone through the unfortunate task of reading the transcript from Netanyahu’s latest speech before the US Congress (seriously thank God for Prozac because the anger I could feel while reading these atrocious things is very much numbed out because of these mood stabilizers. Highly recommend for anyone who needs some help right now ✌🏽)
Here are some direct quotes that I felt were extra spicey:
“This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization”
I personally love that imperialism hasn’t switched up it’s playbook. If you didn’t already know, similar to the European claim that their colonization of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and even Ireland, was beneficial to the indigenous communities, that it, in fact, helped ‘civilize’ the people, Zionists also claimed that the indigenous Arabs in Palestine would benefit from their being in Palestine. Theodor Herzl wrote in 1896 (please take note of that date and how it precedes WWII) of the promising nature of the Jewish state, saying it would “form a part of a wall of defense for Europe in Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism.” Netanyahu has been rinsing and repeating his Zionist forefather’s language long before October 7th. There’s nothing interesting or new about Zionists’ reasoning that their kind of war is the righteous kind. Imperialism is, especially today, unoriginal and tired. I’m grateful Netanyahu has made that abuduntly clear.
“President Biden and I have known each other for over forty years. I want to thank him for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, a proud Zionist. Actually, he says, a proud Irish American Zionist.”
It feels like an extra jab bringing in Biden’s Irish background in light of how historically the Irish have aligned with the Palestinian resistance.
“Defeating our brutal enemies requires both courage and clarity. Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and evil. Yet incredibly many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers.”
Conflating anti-war protestors demanding the dismantling of an apartheid state and occupation with ‘evil’ is pretty much the only PR strategy Israel seems to have right now but for some it’s working so who am I to poke holes in their methods?
“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing. Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming ‘Gays for Gaza.’ They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.’”
Uh…
“These protesters chant ‘From the river to the sea.’ But many don’t have a clue what river and what sea they’re talking about. They not only get an F in geography, they get an F in history.”
This rings of a 1990’s Yo Mama joke and I must admit it did tickle me…
“And don’t be fooled when the blood libels against the Jewish State come from people who wear fancy silk robes and speak in lofty tones about law and Justice.”
This entire speech was lofty and decietful but I digress.
“Here’s a case in point: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That’s half a million tons of food, and that’s more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman and child in Gaza. If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it, it’s because Hamas is stealing it.”
To be clear, Israel initially imposed a complete siege on Gaza in the early days of the war and, under U.S. pressure, gradually eased it to allow the entry of food and humanitarian supplies. And even with this gradual easing it’s pretty hard to ignore the multiple videos circulating that show Zionists blocking aid trucks from entering Gaza let alone the hundred of videos of Palestinians starving to death or eating animal food to stay alive.
“So much for that lie, but here’s another: The ICC prosecutor accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. What in God’s green earth is he talking about? The IDF has dropped millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way.”
At this point my Prozac prescription needed to be upped because I did begin to lose my mind. I don’t need to share the statistics. If you are reading this you already know the numbers and are well aware of the inhumanity.
Flyers… wow. Thank you for saving Palestinians with flyers.
BTW — “what in God’s Green earth” is very funny. Tipping my hat off to the speech writer for this one.
“For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, it’s a strategy.”
Clever rhyme. No further comment.
“Well, last week I went into Rafah. I visited our troops as they finished fighting Hamas’ remaining terrorist battalions. I asked the commander there, ‘How many terrorists did you take out in Rafah?’ He gave me an exact number: 1,203. I asked him, ‘How many civilians were killed?” He said, ‘Prime Minister, practically none.’”
Also no comment. Too angry.
“If you remember one thing, one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.”
If there are any English or Comp teacher reading this I highly suggest using this speech as material on your syllabus because, my god, the way that this man addresses his audience to create a creepy brotherhood with the American public is a marvel.
“On October 8th, a day after the Hamas attack. It has launched thousands of missiles and drones against us. 80,000 of our citizens in northern Israel evacuated their homes, becoming effectively refugees in their own land”
And here we have the wonderful moment where Zionists have once again claimed victimhood by stealing the very language used by the victims of ethnic cleansing. I wonder what it feels like to be a refugee in your own land 🙃
“In World War II, as Britain fought on the frontlines of civilization, Winston Churchill appealed to Americans with these famous words: ‘Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.’ Today, as Israel fights on the frontline of civilization, I too appeal to America: ‘Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.’”
Okay… see! English teachers, hello? Someone should assign high school or college students an essay analyzing how Netanyahu uses rhetorical techniques to build camaraderie with the American public. This man quoted Churchill, CHURCHILL!
“A new generation of Palestinians must no longer be taught to hate Jews but rather to live in peace with us.”
A final, fuck you Netanyahu. Oh look, I can rhyme too!
There are a few other quotes I could share here but, in brief, Netanyahu goes on to repeat himself about light and darkness and how the forces of light (imperialism, America, Israel etc) must win over the forces of dark (Palestinian barbarism and terrorism etc). He yabbers on vaguely about his vision for the future of Gaza. Prosperity was a word used, Peace was also used, so was Demilitarization and Deradicalization so do with that what you will. He goes on to thank Trump (perhaps he’s worried Trump is about to be president and wants to get on his good side) and once again talks about how Israelis and Americans are brothers and blah blah blah God bless America, God bless Israel, etc. That’s where it ends. If you need more specifics, be my guest.
There were many lies, so much so that even mainstream (ehem, non-Arab) news outlets have started fact checking his speech: CNN, AP, The Guardian, & ABC thus far.
Well, there’s that. Let’s take a breather and recalibrate and think about what books we all should buy from our local bookstore.
I just finished If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English and it truly blew my mind. If you are an artist of color and have ever found yourself in in the grim position of being workshopped by artists you don’t really know or trust, this book will hit home and then some. I loved, loved, loved Sloane Crosley’s new book Grief is For People. It’s a detailed account of her losing her best friend and its heartbreaking but also very funny. Sloane Crosley is actually one of the reasons I decided to try my hand at writing. Her first collection of essays I Was Told There’d Be Cake is a book I return to over and over again. I’m almost done with The Best of Everything which is a “working girls’ novel” written in 1958 and frankly still holds up. It’s funny, self aware, and it was Rona Jaffe’s first novel which she wrote in less than six months—can’t relate but admire from afar. My FRIEND has a book that recently came out that I had the honor and pleasure of reading before it hit the shelves. Please, please go check out Vogue writer, Emma Specter’s debut More, Please! It’s a memoir about Emma’s experience with binge eating and her journey to recovery — a journey that I should say is rarely tied up with a bow.
Thanks for being here, thank you especially to the new subscribers who are not blood relatives and yet have found your way to my writing. If you haven’t checked out my more polished pieces, here are some goodies: The Atlantic, TIME Magazine, Apogee Journal, & Bon Appétit.