olegas retweetledi
olegas
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I am gay, I am Polish and I am proud today. After eight years of hate against people like me, LGBT+ people, the creation of LGBT free zones, attacks on women and minorities, Poland is BACK on the path of democracy and the rule of law. This is also end of political trails of human rights activists. This is just the beginning of reclaiming of our country. The fight is ahead but we are breathing fresh air today. After eight years of goverment hatred, authoritarianism is over in Poland. I still can't believe it... The nightmare ends...

English

@jadlauskas @slow2021y ble, gerai kad kazkas tai supranta Lietuvoje, aciu.
Lietuvių

@slow2021y Ir TĄ PAČIĄ naktį, kai tu su savo šeima su tapkėmis išstūmiami į gatvę - čia pat iškarto apsigyvena tavo šeimos name kokia Žydų šeima iš Miamio JAV.
Daug siaubo istorijų kurių žiniasklaida neliečia.
Lietuvių

Good morning,
Many of you have questions about why I support Ukraine, but find it confounding that I support Palestinian sovereignty and security.
(For those who need to hear it: Yes, I also abhor Hamas and support Israel's right to defend itself, even as I criticize its government.)
I also have reflections for those who wanna accuse me of West-plaining--especially when I talk about the hypocrisy of how my country, the United States, reacts to Ukraine versus other nations.
I promise to be as constructive as possible. Many of you support my work primarily because of how I bring my personal humanity to it, which is why I have to talk about this. If you are unable to receive this thread constructively, it is OK. You can also not immediately respond and just ponder my thoughts before responding😉.
Off top, I'd like to pose this thought: I wasn't "westplaining" when I was on U.S. television at the start of the Russian invasion calling out Russian genocide and sharing how I, as a Black person, cannot call out white supremacy at home and western colonialism abroad and not challenge Putin's genocidal death mission in Ukraine. Even when some Black people questioned by "Black card" for supporting Ukraine when my people were facing and continue to face racism across Europe for being Black refugees (which I also speak up about), I defended Ukraine because I have the emotional intelligence and bandwidth to think about multiple issues at once. It was the right thing to do then and standing for Ukraine is the right thing to do now--even as I help my people deal racism in Europe.
I've been cheered on for my stance and solidarity and wasn't accused on conflating issues. I wonder why?
But when I question why *my* country is ignoring the plight of millions of Palestinians, helping to prop up an apartheid state in Israel, for selectively applying human rights law and being selective on whose occupations to call out over others, now I am Westspaining?
Please.
I was nothing more than a mascot for some folks. You never cared for me as a person. I was a prop. I was never a full human with my own experiences worthy of nuance and respect. I wasn't "injecting myself" when it suited some people. Now, I am?
Good to know.
To be clear, it's nothing wrong with discussing Ukraine and Israel at the same time. No serious person is a one-issue thinker. The world is so interconnected that interests will inevitably intersect. They often, however, clash because western hegemony and those outside of that framework have colonial interests that make it so. Personal ties linking us to multiple nations also play a role in how we feel about one nation versus the next, whether we want to admit it or not.
The problem is too many people are willfully conflating issues and are having unconstructive dialogues about how to reconcile complex world problems without retreating to simplistic talking points that pit us against one another. There is nothing wrong with challenging power dynamics and demanding moral consistency.
The ideal time to discuss this is now.
To be clear, we can support Ukraine and Israel in its right to defend itself. Anyone who says military aid must be cut to Ukraine to support Israel is an idiot. The U.S. doesn't have a resource problem. It has a politics problem led the Republican Party that bastardizes complex issues for its white nationalist political agenda. Just as Republicans bastardize the immigration, crime and gun control debates, they are bastardizing global affairs.
Ukraine's security is a victim of such racist U.S. domestic policies.
Be it the terrorism of Hamas or the Israeli-sanctioned violence waged against Palestinians, Western powers have a strong hand in these conflicts. If you don't want to acknowledge this or challenge Western imperialism in all of this, then you are not ready to have a serious conversation about global politics and I cannot help you.
It is opportunistic politicians, often in Western capitals, who benefit from our divisions elsewhere in the world because western hegemony often defines how we respond to each other. Why is it that we can call out genocide in Ukraine (which we should) but not challenge decades of anti-Palestinian violence that Israeli policy carries out and that the U.S. and Europe have no problem turning a blind eye to?
That is not conflating Ukraine and Israel; this is asking why we aren't morally consistent. This *is* the right time to think about these issues.
If we are critical thinkers, we can challenge this and reimagine a new model of how we can govern ourselves in this world in ways that are beneficial to all of us. Because, right now, too many of us are on auto pilot and are uncritical of how our pain and indifference to each other is being exploited to fuel world powers' one-sided political agendas.
This is not difficult, people: both Ukraine AND Israel deserve to be free from outside attack. I support safe and secure sovereignty for Ukraine and Israel.
And also for Palestine.
I can support the safety of Israelis AND demand that my country not support a racist government that has officials calling for the extermination of Arabs. If you cannot see the difference, you choose not to and that is a reflection of your own selfish values and unwillingness to consider that your political alliances are morally inconsistent.
All of us have inconsistences in our politics at times. Talking through them in a meaningful way helps us to *refine* our values, not *betray* them.
Even President Biden, whose politics on this issue I do not fully agree with, said yesterday that the vast majority of Palestinians do not agree with what Hamas has done. Since so many of you love him, I hope his words resonate with you if mine don't.
Bottom line: If you won't want people conflating Ukraine, Palestine and Israel because it rightfully offends you, don't conflate all Palestinians with Hamas and terrorist.
See how that works?
I know many of you will reflexively respond to this thread negatively and in bad faith. That is OK. At the very least, I wanted to make my thoughts on this issue clear because so many of you support journalism because of the moral clarity I bring to it.
I hope this brings some clarity to how I feel in this moment and the value of challenging power structures and understanding global power dynamics.
If we want all people to be decolonized, we must do the very messy and uncomfortable work of decolonizing our own minds.
Now is as good a time as ever.
Thank you.
English

Heitinkit Veryga kiek norit, bet jo požiūris į alco buvo teisingas, nors ir labai drastiškas :)
lrt.lt/en/news-in-eng…
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