A Palestinian senior in a makeshift gas mask: there’s an old adage that revolution is for the young. But that doesn’t operate when genocide is involved.

Stand with Palestinians. Honor BDS.

(Photo from The Palestinian Information Center)

We should take a moment to join Kashmiris in honoring the memory of Asiya Jeelani, a human rights activist & journalist who edited Voices Unheard, a magazine on women & the Kashmiri struggle. She was killed in an IED attack on April 20th, 2004 at the age of 30 while monitoring elections in Kupwara. Ghulam Nabi was also killed in that attack & human rights activist Khurram Parvez lost his leg. Her contributions are honored at a time when young women & others across Kashmir are taking to the streets to demand justice for Asifa & protest the use of militarized & caste sexual violence.

Her writings are archived by the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society at:

https://jkccs.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/voices-unheardvol-1-1.pdf

Photo is Asiya Jeelani.

Omar Abdullah was the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir for the Indian government between 2009 & 2015. He’s the thug who authorized the use of pellet guns against unarmed protesters in 2010. He has previously spoken at universities in the US & yesterday was invited by the Institute of International Studies & Institute for South Asia Studies to speak at the University of California, Berkeley on “The Path Forward in Kashmir.” He probably expected to be treated like an éminence grise but our man was met by Kashmiri protesters chanting “we will take you to international criminal court” & “you’re a war-criminal.”

This is his mug shot. If he shows up on your campus, greet him with the same disrespect he got from protesters at Berkeley.

(Photo from With Kashmir)

A lot of people unfriend me because my wall’s too full of sorrow. The world’s too full of sorrow. It’s often overwhelming & there’s no denying that. The way you keep your bearings against an overload of war, occupation, genocide is not to bury your head in Hallmark sentiments but to do something, even if modest, to stand with those taking the brunt & who can’t hide from sorrow. It really helps a lot if you focus on the kids & our responsibility for making this world suitable for them to live in.

Young boy wearing improvised gas mask at Great Return March today in Gaza. The tire is to burn to shield protesters from Israeli snipers. Imagine a young life spent fighting unarmed against superior military force, apartheid & genocide. It’s not conceivable to most of us.

(Photo from Great Return March on Twitter)

There’s something about this photo of unarmed Palestinian protesters running from Israeli snipers which is absolutely infuriating but it also exposes the reality of who are the real terrorists in the conflict between Palestinians & the state of Israel. Palestinians are waging a peaceful, well-organized campaign, including children, demanding the right of return for millions of refugees still living in refugee camps. Palestine is their homeland. Most of them living in Syria have been displaced by the counterrevolution which continues today at the Yarmouk refugee camp south of Damascus, now being pummeled by Syrian bombers. Jordan long ago closed its borders to Palestinian refugees from Syria so there aren’t many places for them to seek asylum. Meanwhile, Israel continues to recruit Zionists from around the world who have no connection to Palestine to become part of the settlement program & take Palestinian lands. They have no more claim to Palestine than Irish-Americans have to the Rhineland from whence their ancestors came 3,000 years ago. The right of return is a fundamental issue to Palestinians & must be supported.

Palestinians can only win against the ruthless behemoth of Israel backed by the US & Europe with consistent mobilized international solidarity actions. During this Great Return March campaign in Gaza, we should be holding rallies to support their demands & stand with them against Israeli violence.

(Photo from protest today from Great Return March)

Israeli snipers gunned down two unarmed Palestinians at the Great Return March today. The total number killed is 37 since the start of the campaign four Fridays ago. The two young men killed today are 23-year-old Ahmed Rashad Al Athamna (on the left) & 25-year-old Ahmed Abu Aqel (on the right). May they Rest In Peace.

There are sporadic rallies around the world against the execution of unarmed protesters in Gaza. There is a need for Palestinian supporters to hit the streets massively & in unison to demand that Israel stop the killing.

(Photo from Great Return March on Twitter)

A little girl at a justice for Asifa rally in Kochi, India in the state of Kerala.

(Photo by Sharam V/Reuters)

Syrian refugee kids. Or what Assad propagandists & their guppies call “jihadis” who foam at the mouth on cue when the White Helmets pull them out of rubble & give them medical care. As they come of age in refugee camps, they will come to terms with how the Syrian Arab Spring uprising was trashed & they will rebuild that vision & the struggle for a new society based on equality, democracy, & justice.

(Photo from Nino Fezza)

A vignette from the occupation: a Kashmiri workman going about his business is assaulted by Indian occupying soldier.