this website - the "everyone here is notoriously already broke" website - has been funneling thousands of dollars to various gaza gofundmes. and then the "required" amount per person got raised, and then gofundme and the finance sites wouldn't release the money, and then the crossing got destroyed and no one can get through. and even when something reaches its goal, I've never actually seen a "success story" about someone getting out or getting their family of rafah because of it
serious question, has any of this mattered? did anyone actually get out because of a fundraiser? have we been doing anything at all other than laundering money for corrupt border guards? is this a better use of donations than, say, the esims? or donating to aid orgs? or any other way of trying to help?
"and i know the gofundmes here can be overwhelming"
here's the thing. fuck being overwhelming, fuck getting exhausted seeing the fundraisers every day, none of that matters. my only question is, have people actually been benefiting from it? not in a "I think someone is impersonating people and scamming us" way (I trust the verification work people have been doing), but in a "is this actually going somewhere" way. if every single "$5000 x number of people" fundraiser got filled up to the maximum, would it make a single bit of difference?
most of the families that made it to egypt before the border was destroyed by israel did so through funds raised by gofundme, including ahmed @90-ghost on tumblr, at least four people i know personally, and maybe hundreds more i know through acquaintances or i've seen on twitter. if you donated to these campaigns you would know this because they usually post updates saying "good news! we were able to get x out of gaza, but now we're trying to get the rest of our family out, so we've upped our goal to x."
most of the campaigns remain open because they will try to get the most vulnerable members of a family out first, after which they will try to get the rest out.
since the border was destroyed right now people are being displaced internally, which means instead of the money going to corrupt border guards it is used to buy tents, buy medical supplies, buy food, or rent some of the few units still standing in different areas within gaza. basic foodstuffs in gaza now can cost up to 200USD. and it is only getting worse and more extreme.
the only entries and exit are through israeli crossings now that egypt has no control over. egypt could be bribed. israel can't. they have a small list of injured children they occasionally evacuate through israel-controlled crossings and airbases, but just so you understand how this is also part of the genocide and how israelis use any excuse to allow more people from gaza to die, netanyahu froze one crossing as a 'retaliation' for the bombing of (syrian, arab) children in majdal shams that no one has actually taken responsibility for.
other crossings were out of use for weeks because israel allowed settlers to block the aid trucks going into gaza, until the rafah border was destroyed and these blockades were no longer necessary.
they also consistently close the single humanitarian corridor, kerem shalom crossing. yesterday it was open to deliver 80 bodies of unidentified dead palestinians to be buried in a mass grave, today the "humanitarian route" is closed until further notice.
if the border was still open, you would have more feel-good stories and you would be confident your money was going to evacuate people (also known as ethnic cleansing. i hope you understand that this best-case scenario you're referring to, this hope you want to cling to, is forced displacement of people who have lost their homes and who may never be able to return.)
but israel destroyed the border. people are still raising money to register their families for once it does open, but there is no guarantee of when that will happen, and most of the money ends up used so they can survive their current displacements within gaza.
there's a lack of feel-good stories because it's a genocide. that's all. this has been nothing but ten months of torture and slow death and closing every avenue for survival to gazans. now you know what that means.
anyway you should donate to e-sims for gaza because those are also running out
if you're feeling powerless right now—and god knows I am—here's a reminder you can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Trans Law Center, Gaza Soup Kitchen, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and hundreds of other charities that will work to mitigate the damage that has been and will continue to be inflicted
life continues. we still have the capacity to do good, important work. that matters
If Harris loses, please try blaming real issues (Republican-driven voter suppression and intimidation tactics; billionaire-funded Trump-PAC’s and propaganda machines; a broken electoral system that hinges presidential elections on a dozen or so states instead of a simple popular vote; or the Democratic Party’s fumbled opportunities to respond to things like the corporate greed driven cost of living crisis, the housing shortage, the medical debt and healthcare accessibility crisis, the ongoing climate disaster, and the ongoing genocide in Palestine) instead of doing the Right’s job for them by blaming folks like climate protestors, Antizionist and pro-Palestine activists, Black and Brown people, jaded millennials living paycheck to paycheck, and tumblr users with an audience ⅛ the size of the average Christofascist MegaChurch Congregation.
I'm Haya from Gaza , from a family of 8 people: my parents, two sons, and four daughters (two of them suffer from allergies).
Dear Humanity,
I'm Haya from Gaza , from a family of 8 people: my… Ahmed Alshawish needs your support for Emergency: Help Evacuate My Fa
I've witnessed the evidence of the tragedy that has struck our lives in Gaza, where my family and I have survived amidst numerous previous wars. But today, we face the most dangerous and fierce battle in the current war. The urgent need intensifies for us, as we have nothing left and are unable to secure our basic needs such as food, water, and safe shelter.
Here is our story - On October 7th, our lives changed forever, my family and I evacuated from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, hoping to return soon, but it wasn't meant to be. Our home was surrounded, burned, and then completely destroyed, Our home, once a fortress of hope, now lay in ruins, a stark reminder of our shattered dreams.
The night before we left from the north to the south was terrifying. Shelling sounds were everywhere, making a loud noise that felt like it went through our souls. Every explosions shook the ground like earthquakes, sending shockwaves of fear through our trembling bodies. filling us with fear. The air smelled of destruction and blood, making it hard to breathe. When dawn came, we saw the devastation around us, realizing our home was now a symbol of loss and despair.
We ran into the streets and with each step we took into the unknown streets, we felt as if we were plunging deeper into the abyss of our shattered existence, leaving behind everything we own in our home: Clothes, important official documents, the car, and literally it's almost everything - the enormity of our loss weighed heavily upon us.
Our home it was where we found hope, safety, and made precious memories. Losing it felt like losing years of our lives, leaving us adrift amidst the wreckage of our shattered existence.
A brief video depicting the devastation that struck our home and our entire neighborhood in Gaza.
Desperate Plea: Escaping Gaza's Allergy Nightmare
I, Haya, suffer from severe allergy to penicillin-derived medications, and my sister, Amal, also suffers from severe allergies to medications from my family such as Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.
These allergies create a deep sense of fear and anxiety for us, as we live in a constant state of tension and fear of anything that may require a visit to the hospital. We fear being given inappropriate medications due to the unavailability of suitable treatments in Gaza because of war or lack of awareness and not informing the doctor of our allergies, which could lead to serious consequences threatening our lives.
MY Father Income
Our dreams are heading towards oblivion in the labyrinth of an uncertain future
My story, along with my siblings, represents a united team of four individuals, three of whom are skilled programmers and one graphic designer. We work as freelancers in the world of freelancing.
As for my younger sister, she is a student studying at the College of Architecture. She has always carried a big dream in her heart, a dream of being part of changing Gaza, of making it more beautiful and better. She looked forward to the day when she would receive her degree and start building this dream. But the beginning of the war changed everything. The destruction of infrastructure and universities cast shadows of despair over her dreams.
When I think of my brother in Belgium, I can't help but feel deep sadness. He has been suffering from unbearable anxiety and insomnia since the outbreak of the war. Sleep eludes him at night, and his physical and mental health collapses under the weight of these heavy burdens, negatively affecting his performance at work. Problems and challenges pile up in front of him without the slightest opportunity for rest.
We all feel psychological pressure and extreme anxiety. The war hasn't been limited to external attacks but has deeply infiltrated our daily lives. We search among the rubble for a little safety and the basic resources for survival. Every day comes with a new challenge that we must overcome.
As we sway amidst the rubble of shattered dreams, our souls wrestle and our hearts beat strongly challenging the ravages of war.
Our parents earnestly seek a way to rescue us from this hell, feeling the heavy responsibility for every moment we spend under the shadows of fear and destruction. They dream of a safe place where they can build for us a better future, filled with security and hope, for we deserve life in all its meanings of comfort and peace.
Perhaps this fundraising campaign represents a light in the midst of darkness, it is indeed the only hope we cling to firmly.
I appeal to the world as a whole to hear my cry and the mournful cry of my family in Gaza. We need the helping hand that reaches out to wipe our tears and build a bridge to safety.
Your donation is not just a donation; it's an opportunity to rebuild life and brighten a better tomorrow. Be part of our hopeful story, for we need your hand to start anew.
The purpose of the fundraising campaign
The goal of this fundraising campaign is to rescue my family - my parents, my siblings, and me - through the Rafah Crossing to Egypt, which currently requires $5000 per person. This campaign is our only chance to stay alive, and I humbly request your assistance at this critical time. I will provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses, committing to transparency and clarity.
Dear Humanity,
I'm Haya from Gaza , from a family of 8 people: my… Ahmed Alshawish needs your support for Emergency: Help Evacuate My Fa
All of our important links are here https://linktr.ee/hayanahed
Verified by :
⭐️ operation olive branch, number 26 on their spreadsheet. (On Master list)
⭐️ Project watermelon,line 249 on their spreadsheet. Or you could see it as number 212 here is the photo for more clear proof
Hi,
I hope you're doing well and I am sorry in advance if I sent you this message before. We are very close to the goal and I really need your help.
I'm writing to you with a heavy heart and an urgent request for help. My family is in a very danger situation due to the ongoing war, and I've launched a GoFundMe campaign to save them.
Could you please rebblog my campaign post from my profile?🙏 Feel free to share it in any other social media platform if you would like.
Our campaign has been verified ⭐️ by operation olive branch, and is entry number 26 on their spreadsheet. Also with ⭐️ Project watermelon,line 249/(212) on their spreadsheet.
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you in advance for all of your support and kindness.
This post has been in the back of my mind ever since i saw it last year because it is a mask off moment for a usually more subtle transmisogynist. : I blacked out the account names being accused in the screenshot above, because i don't want to be spreading fake transmisogynistic callouts around even to be criticquing them.
Like "trans women are sexual predators who use their identity as queer women as cover to prey on children and other vulnerable people, and liberals are too afraid of being called transmisogynistic to stop them" is like the basic transmisogynist narrative. It's literally the terf narrative about trans women. This is the real terf rhetoric, not trans women criticizing (trans)misogyny.
Yet it is still so common among ostensibly transfem-accepting liberals/leftists. Like trans women using their identity as a shield against legitimate criticism of their predatory behavior is such a common trope in queer spaces that claim to be against terfs. This is because TME people use hating on terfs as a substitute for dealing with their own transmisogyny.
This is extremely common among people in the callout culture transmisogyny fandom like the screenshotted blogger.They go for this line about "transfems using their identity as a shield against genuine criticism" all the time when their obvious if lightly veiled transmisogyny is pointed out. This is their main argument, their own shield against criticism. And it rings very hollow when these people call out transfem after transfem as sexual predators based on them liking harmless kinks like fauxcest and CNC, literally using old radfem arguments against kink.
What this sort of thing is, is the denial that transmisogyny even exists. A claim that instead of being an especially oppressed class of women, we are actually a privileged group. And terfs here are open about saying it's because we are men and have male privilege. The more subtle kind of transmisogynist, the "trans women are women, terfs dni" crowd, leaves the trans women have male privilege bit unsaid but implied.
And of course it's false. As people are surely aware, being transfem makes you more likely to publicly accused of being a sexual menace. And they are most likely false accusations. Accusations against the privileged and powerful, like cis men, are seldom false. The social power that these men wield make it dangerous for any victim to come forward.
Accusations towards members of marginalized groups like transfems, however, are easy and safe to make, because they don't have that kind of social power or privilege. Their position in any social setting is tenuous, and it's easy to turn the group against them to exile them. Transfems don't have the power to defend themselves even against the flimsiest of accusations, while privileged men can defend themselves even against the most well-documented ones. Transfems are instead more likely to be victims of abuse, and then DARVOed by their abusers, being accused of abuse when they were actually abused.
The fact is that transfems can "scream transmisogyny" but few TME people, including other lgbt people, are not likely to listen.
And this is not a "white girl" problem despite what the screenshotted post implies. This problem is far worse for black transfems suffering from transmisogynynoir, and other non-white transfems. Read writings written by black transfems like Positions of Guilt: Black Hot Allostatic Load by Anonsee Storyweaver.
this was an especially fucked up callout even putting “screaming transmisogyny” aside because the trans women they were calling “self admitted pedos and predators” were labeled as such just because they answered asks about fauxcest kink by saying “not my thing really but i don’t care what consenting adults do with each other!”. that was it, no involvement of any children, no mention of anything sexual related to children, just the simple crime of being an inconvenient trans woman who’d dare to offend the sensibilities of yet another lesbian cryptoterf by saying consent matters
Accidentally wound up on "hear me out cake" tiktok, and I swear, if another one of these bitches puts down an at-most-unconventionally-attractive human man, Lady Dimitrescu or Nick Wilde/Robin Hood I am going to lose my fucking mind.
Saw one where the first person they named was Disney's Aladdin and I tapped out so hard I entered a fugue state and didn't regain full consciousness for like a solid hour.
Girlies giggling and gasping because they said their 'hear me out' was Gill from Finding Nemo, like
I'm so sorry, babygirl, but that's a hot fish. I know you thought you were being so controversial, but that is one of the most fuckable cartoon fish in existence. This is weaksauce.
the problem with "I need to criticise myself to prepare for other people criticising me" is that it fails to account for the possibilities that a) nobody will criticise you, or b) the people who do criticise you are not people you value the opinions of anyway. I know it feels like a good defence mechanism, but at the end of the day there is a high chance that you're just being mean to yourself for no reason. consider this
Totally agree with this post but I'd like to add some stuff because I used this type of positive messaging as a way to excuse my shitty behavior, and I still do but I'm working on it.
This doesn't mean self critism is always bad. If you've done something shitty, recognize that, give yourself critique. Think about what you did.
But don't beat yourself up or hate yourself, Recognize the bad behavior and say, "I can be better! :]" and ACTUALLY TRY to be better.
Don't be mean to yourself, but don't be ignorant either.
I'm still working on not being shitty and it's hard not to give myself critism that negatively impacts me, but its also hard to stop avoiding my faults. I'm trying to love myself no matter what. And you should too, because I bet you have potential.
People are people, and you are a person no matter what you may think.
"Hello, I hope you and your family are well. Can you please help me recycle the post on my account? 🌺 And help rescue my family from the war in Gaza? 🙏 Thank you."
Hi, I'm Nevin from Gaza. Please help me and my family escape to safety. Your donation will save my life, my child's life and my parents' life. If everyone donated even 10 euros, of basic necessities, it would help save our lives. Thank you in advance.🍉 https://gofund.me/b44d7cbc
theartofmadeline
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