none of this is new info, but you know I have the "loves to write lists and compile links" disposition, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of the tips I've seen about how to make sure you're sharing legitimate palestinian evacuation fundraisers and bundle all those tips into a single handy reference post.
this is a spreadsheet of legitimate ("vetted") fundraisers on tumblr.
this post explains how the people who maintain this spreadsheet confirm the legitimacy of each fundraiser they add.
this podcast episode ("yousef and the fourth move") explains why evacuation fundraisers are often organized by people who don't live in gaza and/or who may not be immediate relatives of the people trying to evacuate. it's part three of a series about a man named yousef and his family; parts one and two aren't required listening for part three to make sense, but if you have a few hours to spare then I wholeheartedly recommend listening to all of them.
this is the process that I personally have been using to check whether a particular fundraiser has been vetted:
spreadsheet method
open the vetted fundraisers spreadsheet.
inside this spreadsheet, open the "find..." menu. on a windows computer, this shortcut is ctrl+F. on a mac, this shortcut is cmd+F. on a mobile device, click the three dots menu in the upper right corner of your screen, then select Find and replace.
search for the last name of the person or family in the fundraiser. you may get several results because last names obviously aren't unique; keep hitting "next" until you've looked at all the results.
if you find an entry in the spreadsheet that has the exact same name and whose gofundme link leads to the same fundraiser associated with the blog, it's legitimate. if you don't find an entry in the spreadsheet that matches the blog's fundraiser, that does not mean it's a scam. try the next method below!
tumblr search method
copy the username of the tumblr who originally posted the fundraiser and/or sent you a message asking you to boost the fundraiser. (for example, username123)
paste this username into tumblr's search bar.
for best results, click the All types drop-down menu, then select Text. since the search page is often dominated by asks sent by username123 (which people then answer and tag with their username), this helps narrow things down a bit.
look to see if any people who are not username123 have made posts confirming that username123 is legitimate. this includes people who've reblogged fundraisers and added notes, people who've compiled masterlists, and people sharing hyperlinks to other posts confirming a fundraiser's legitimacy. if the message seems to be "yep, looks legit," then it's safe to assume it's legit.
this is not a comprehensive list, but here are some of the usernames I've seen associated with "yep, looks legit"-type posts and who I've come to trust by association. (disclaimers: I am not mutuals with any of the users, and not all of them do the vetting firsthand, but the ones who don't vet posts themselves still seem to be careful about what they share and therefore are a good lead to follow. also, don't bug these people to vet fundraisers for you unless they've specifically indicated that they're open to that.)
90-ghost
el-shab-hussein
nabulsi
appsa
northgazaupdates
retvolution
communistchilchuck
neptunerings
a-shade-of-blue
shimamitsu
neither of these method yielded anything definitive; what now?
it may just be too early to tell. unless a trusted source has shared overwhelming evidence that a particular fundraiser is a scam (which seems to be a very very rare occurrence), the best thing you can do is ignore it. don't report their blog as spam, because there's a good chance it's a legitimate fundraiser who just hasn't been vetted yet.
last post i reblogged made me think about what it's like working with kids as a nonbinary person and like. there is a narrative about this topic that's like "little kids don't care about your gender they just want to know your favorite color" / "if you tell a little kid you're nonbinary they just go okay cool" and it's not entirely accurate. many kids especially aged 4 and up get very insistent and confused if they can't figure out your gender and especially if they ask and you tell them you're neither a girl nor a boy. they will ask the same question again and again and can even get genuinely frustrated. and the most uncomfortable part about it is honestly the reactions of the other adults around you and the idea that the kids might talk to their parents about it. I personally feel pretty embarrassed and uncomfortable in these situations because it makes me feel very vulnerable and exposed, but I don't want to just lie and say I'm my agab, even though that would be simpler.
at the same time these moments are so important specifically because it confuses the kid. that confusion and even annoyance is an important part of learning something that goes against what to them has so far been an unquestionable truth about the world; that people are either girls or boys. and I'm in a position to represent a different point of view that they haven't even considered before and I feel like that's my job as a teacher and especially as a teacher who will at worst have to be a part of an uncomfortable conversation or get confronted by a parent (which hasn't happened so far at least). I'm not in danger of losing my job or getting reprimanded by my boss and even if I did, my country's curriculum for ECE clearly states that children should learn about different kinds of people and that diversity should be embraced in ECE. I'm well protected and even though my coworkers are almost all open-minded and kind people, I haven't seen anyone else at my workplace have these conversations with the kids and when the kids interrogate me about my gender, the other adults around usually go quiet like they want to know the answer too.
this is such a ramble but I think about it a lot. talking to kids about your gender can be really uncomfortable and even scary, because they represent this black and white worldview that is very ruthless to people who don't fit into it. the kids can't even fathom the possibility of something else to the point where they think I've misunderstood the question or that I must be deliberately teasing them by not giving, in their standards, a straight answer. kids do adopt bigoted worldviews very very quickly and easily even when their parents aren't conservative. it's sad and uncomfortable but it's worth the discomfort to challenge those ideas and show a different reality that can ultimately help that kid grow.
I do really love it when women write graphic and fucked up things. I feel like so often people react to fucked up fiction with âof course a disgusting man would write this đâ and it often carries an unspoken (honestly sometimes spoken) message of âa womanâs PURE and DELICATE and FEMININE mind could NEVER think of something this VILEâ. Thank you women in fucked up fiction đŤĄ
okay this is a list of exclusively bangers, not even counting the fact that WE HEXED THE MOON is on here which obviously makes me feel joyous. but kushiel's dart fuckin RULES as did on sundays she picked flowers and patricia wants to cuddle. 10/10 no notes
