post mission aftercare rest

You guys are so mean

Holy shit that's so cool

Finally “do you love the colour of the sky” got compressed for our convenience

This is now my favorite photo

i do think there is a degree to which certain kinds of Instagram activists have convinced themselves that traumatising themselves in solidarity is a useful form of activism. "I'm having nightmares and crying so much I want to be sick because of all these videos of dying children but I can't look away while people are getting hurt" I mean don't you think you'd be able to help more if you weren't having nightmares and crying all the time?? don't you think this is a one-way trip to burnout? don't you think maybe increasing the amount of trauma going around is counterproductive? I dunno bro there's something to be said for bearing witness but there comes a point where you gotta look hard at yourself and go "am I helping, or am I just making myself suffer so I don't feel guilty for not suffering while somebody else is experiencing bad shit"

I say "there is no such thing as a thought crime" a lot on my blog. Well, the other side of the coin is there is also no such thing as thought heroics, thought charity or thought activism.

Howl’s Moving Castle - Fan art by Julia Tveritina

"what does international law mean for Palestinian children in Gaza today? It has protected neither them nor their parents. It has not protected their families or communities, it has not protected their lives or limbs, it has not protected their hopes or homes. We are a proud and resilient people that has endured more than its share of agony.

It is so painful to be Palestinian today. "

Today at the international court of justice hearing on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, held back tears as he appealed to the judges to uphold international law in the Palestinian territories and help secure a two-state solution 'in which the two-states live side by side in peace and security'.

Its a disgrace and a mockery of justice and a damning condemnation of "international rule of law" in itself that the palestinians are forced to degrade their righteous struggle for total national liberation into watered down demands for the bankrupt and futile nonsolution that is the two state idea when engaging with the "international community" 🙄

Today's hearing is beginning. Namibia is starting off

Namibian representative has a kufiya draped over her shoulder

Mentioned Germany committing the first genocide of the 20th century in Namibia, and is now talking about the similarities between Namibia and Palestine

Pointing out that an ICJ ruling helped Namibia's liberation. Other nations had also mentioned this in their presentations

Addressing the Palestinians directly with a message of hope, now passing it over to their second speaker

Namibia is focusing heavily on apartheid

Namibia is asking the court to set a strict time limit for the unconditional end of the Israeli occupation. Also acknowledging Israel's history of defying the UN and the ICJ

Norway is next. I don't know their stance

Talking about severe use of force in Gaza, illegal settlements, displacement and destruction of homes and so on

Talking about Hamas violating international law and needing to be held accountable, but that this does not justify measures taken against the civilian population

Discussing the possibility of this being a de facto annexation as it's been allowed to continue indefinitely

Norway's representative has been mentioning several previous ICJ rulings that are comparable to the current hearing

Quoted Netanyahu to prove that Israel's goal is annexation

second speaker for Noway is up and talking about Norway's full support for a two state solution

Discussing at length the process of Israel joining the UN and their responsibilities as a member state

Mentioning that the Israeli occupation has already been defined as illegal, quoting a Security Council resolution from 1980

Oman's delegation is up next

Accusing the international community of failing Palestinians in achieving their dream of having a free state, and mentioning the severity of the genocide happening in Gaza

Calling for an immediate and unconditional end to all actions, policies, and laws that prevent the Palestinian's right to self-determination

"There is no legal justification for continuing the occupation and denying the right of self-determination"

10 minute break, Pakistan will be first after the court resumes

Pakistan is now presenting

Discussing Pakistan's history of supporting Palestine, and stating that these hearings offer hope to the Palestinian people

Stating bluntly that this is not, if it ever was, a military occupation. It is annexation

Talking about how France previously withdrew over 1 million settlers from Algeria, and that this outnumbers the number of Israeli settlers in the OPT

Talking about the unique status of Jerusalem and how it is holy to all 3 Abrahamic religions, but Christians and Muslims have not had full religious freedom in the city

Discussing support and the necessity for the two state solution

Pakistan just called out the US for voting in favour of ending South Africa's occupation of Namibia in the past, but not doing so for Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories

Drawing parallels between the Namibia case and Palestine

Just stated that if the ICJ refrains from issuing a ruling they will be signaling to other powers that they too could possibly get away with illegal occupation

Indonesian representative is up now. She is wearing a kufiya

Quoting Natanyahu when he stated that no one, not even the Hague, could stop Israel

Did air quotes while mentioning the "rule-based international order"

Stating that the argument that an ICJ ruling would undermine the peace process is null because "there is no peace process to undermine"

"Negotiation with someone holding a gun to your head is not a negotiation"

"Never again means never again"

Indonesia is finished, and I hope I can find a recording of that presentation later.

Qatar is presenting now

"For 75 years the lives of the Palestinian people has been treated as an exception to the rules of humanitarian law"

"Recent events did not occur in a vacuum"

"the so-called peace process is dead"

Talking about how the war in Gaza is being used as a cover for an increase in illegal settlement activity

"Before October 7th Gaza had already been described by the UN secretary general as 'hell on earth' today it is indescribable"

Just spoke about Israel murdering journalists and members of human rights organizations. I don't think I've heard any other delegation mention that

Qatar has finished their presentation by telling the ICJ that the whole world is looking at them, and they hope they take this historic opportunity to end the injustices against the Palestinian people.

Throughout Qatar's presentation the representative followed several comments about Israeli crimes, and other points, by mentioning that more information is included in the folders that Qatar provided the court. I don't know how large the folders are, but it sounds like at the very least Qatar provided more information for every breach of international law they observed, and they also included arguments from other states where the same conclusions were drawn. They came very prepared.

That's the morning hearing finished, afternoon hearing is in 2 hours with presentations from the UK, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, and Tunisia

Afternoon hearing is starting now

UK is first, given their recent drama who knows how this will go

Calling for a two state solution in the opening statement

Talking about October 7th and the following humanitarian crisis. Also stating the need for a ceasefire

Disputing what others have said about Israel and the UK, and saying that comparisons to previous rulings should not be drawn

Second speaker is arguing that the court should not give an opinion

They're insisting this is a bilateral dispute and therefore the court can't rule on it

Arguing that the conflict needs a negotiated end and that constant delays don't matter in the existing Security Council framework

Surely there has to be a ruling stating that if one party refuses to negotiate then negotiation is not the required method and that a court ruling would suffice

Stating that if the court will give a ruling, the questions they're addressing should be reevaluated, and instead the court should endorse the current Security Council framework

Slovenia is presenting now

Slovenia is endorsing the two state solution

Stating that it is concerning that negotiations aren't moving despite the UN's best efforts

Stating that the need for negotiations and an existing framework are not compelling reasons for the court to not give a ruling

Second speaker is talking about the right to self-determination and how it is included in the UN charter, and mentioning agreements Israel signed related to this

Talking about violations of the laws regarding occupation of territory, same as many other presentations before this one

Most of what Slovenia said was similar to previous presentations. Now Sudan is presenting

Sudan is hoping the ICJ will give their advisory opinion and that it will help lead to peace

Second speaker is addressing the arguments against the ICJ giving an advisory opinion, and the fact that the ICJ has always dismissed such objections

Pointing out that the court can give an advisory opinion on any legal question as long as it is in accordance with the UN charter, and that the UNGA can ask the court for an advisory opinion on any legal question. There goes most of the UK's presentation

Outlining that the court can only decline to give an advisory opinion if there is compelling reasons not to. Now addressing reasons given by others for why they shouldn't give an advisory opinion, and why these arguments are not compelling

Claiming that arguments revolving around the existing framework is not compelling as the framework has been suspended for several years now

Some have argued that since Israel didn't give consent, then the ICJ cannot give an advisory opinion. This didn't stop the court in 2004 when Israel didn't consent back then

Sudan's presentation is finished. They outlined all the reasons why the court has no compelling reason to use its discretionary powers, which seems to be mainly what the delegations defending Israel were arguing for.

Now they're having a 10 minute break before Switzerland, Syria, and Tunisia give their arguments

Resuming now, Switzerland is up

Immediately talking about October 7th and the following humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but stating that they will not focus on that, but will instead focus on the legal questions regarding the occupation

Pointing out that the right of occupation and legality of occupation are two different things, governed by different laws

Talking about interpretations of laws and occupier obligations

It seems like Switzerland is doing what the Dutch did, and just reciting laws without arguing in favour of either side

Mentioning a few Israeli violations in their obligations as occupier

Talking about the laws regarding use of force, and how incidental death is generally not tolerated when dealing with an occupied population

Specifically mentioned the use of snipers in peace time is unacceptable. Still seemed to avoid taking sides though

Syria is up

Syria is stressing the need to hold Israel accountable for it's breaches of international law, humanitarian law, the UN charter, and the Geneva conventions

Arguing the same self-determination points that most other delegations have. Unsurprising since it is an inalienable right

Syria has mentioned the occupation of Golan several times. I wasn't sure if they would try to include their own grievances against Israel or not

Talking about the blockade on Gaza pre-October 7 as an example of racial discrimination

Talking about Apartheid now

Syria's presentation has been very similar to most others, but with mentions of Golan mixed in. Nothing else noteworthy so far

Tunisia is now presenting

Addressing the argument that an ICJ advisory opinion could hamper negotiations, and pointing out that an impartial third party is a big part of maintaining fair negotiations

Talking about how the League of Nations recognized Palestine as a nation and that it should have gained statehood after the British mandate expired, but did not

Talking about the war after Israel declared statehood, and how this affected Palestinians

Tunisia is basically outlining the entire history of Palestinians being promised their rights, but never gaining their rights

Talking about the genocide now

Quoting the UN's definition of genocide

"The whole world is witness to this right now"

Talking about the illegal settlements now

Quoting Natanyahu's declaration that all territory west of the Jordan river is Israel's territory

Couldn't catch much of the closing statement. They changed interpreters for some reason, and the second one spoke too fast for me to keep up with

That is the end of day 5 of the hearings. There will be no hearings over the weekend. Court will resume for day 6 of the proceedings on Monday

Roasted chicken, ginger, daikon, shiitake mushroom soup with lime, cilantro, broccoli sprouts, and rice noodles

Thank u for this contribution

it's a weird emotion when somebody goes "doesn't this just shake you to your core and rewrite your dna and change who you are as a person" and your honest experience of it was that it was ok

"Fuck I'm going to get a bad grade in friendship media resonance"

花怜💕

So I’m in a new kind of hell for this two. I still can’t bear to watch the last episode Cus god knows when season 3 is ever gonna come out. PAIN OF WAITING GAME 🥹📿🫶🏻💞🥺🙏🏻✨🔥🔥🔥

Happy Year of the Dragon!

I love the idea of kintsugi so here's a porcelain dragon that highlights the broken seams with gold. Despite all the pains of hardships in life, we are beautiful.

Y'all remember "cops aren't supposed to kill guilty people, either", right?

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to die beneath the rubble of their homes.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to be shot with expanding bullets that cause massive tissue damage leading to amputation.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to have their flesh burned away with white phosphorous.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve their fishing boats blown up.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to see their husbands and fathers executed in front of them along evacuation routes.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve an anonymous phone call threatening to destroy their lives and families.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to be detained for years without charges.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to be tortured, starved, and sexually assaulted in prison.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to be deprived of water.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve their olive trees to be uprooted while they look on.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve sixteen years of blockade.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve to be prevented from traveling for lifesaving medical care.

Palestinians who have done something wrong don't deserve this genocide.

Adding to OP:

Palestinian children do not deserve to get kidnapped by the occupation forces and get labeled as "prisoners".

Nomnom NOMnom NOM SLURPPPPPP nom NOMnomnom

To The Person In The Newspaper - Jordan Bolton

hua cheng in white; official donghua art.