Kind: Replies

I'm sure Palestine will be free any minute now thanks to the strategic placement of this sticker on a statue of someone whose views on Israel and zionism I'm not sure we're even aware of.

On the other hand, I don't think Babka the community would really have been achievable on Twitter, and I love this community.

No I don't think Mastodon has a shot at replacing Twitter anymore, partly because Mastodon is not Twitter, and partly because of some cultural issues in the Mastodon community that mean the software will not accommodate anybody but a very specific user base with very specific needs.

Hey thanks for sharing your Goodreads book reviews here. I've just added you as a friend over there since I've found a couple books to add to my want-to-read list through your reviews. Under my maiden name of Rush, I need to log in and fix that.

Welcome!

@sereedmedia @boogah Or maybe I'm subscribed in the other podcasts app I was using and forgot to import the subscription.

@sereedmedia @boogah For some reason I wasn't subscribed, I have fixed this.

@aliza @GottaLaff If I insisted on absolute position purity I'd never vote for anyone because they all suck when it comes to disability rights and/or web/technological accessibility. If I have to compromise, the rest of the slacktivists can figure out how to do it too.

I remember when someone created a Toonhead voice because they thought it would be cool. It definitely was not.

I couldn't find a Mastodon account for any of them or I would have done just this. This is sick and I don't care how good the intentions are.

@swarming This eposide's on my list of podcasts to catch up on.

Yeah this is a real thing.

@swarming @ViciousBabushka Yeah, and the west wants to talk about a state? I'm sorry but the west needs to do a bit more after October 7, a situation it helped create by insisting the Israelis withdraw from Gaza and allow elections and by letting UNRWA run wild, before it insists Israel come to the table about a Palestinian state. Like maybe actually help eliminate Hamas and shut down UNRWA and tell the PA no more funding until you quit paying terrorists' families.

@swarming @ViciousBabushka Yeah there are even people in Gaza who want Israel to finish Hamas, no matter what it takes. And they don't want the west shoving the PA down their throats because nobody trusts that the west and the Saudis are going to reform the PA. Even if they are going to do this, the time to talk about a Palestinian state is once this reform has legs, not before it even gets off the ground.

@dukepaaron @ViciousBabushka And how do you think Israel is going to view "Hey Israel we gave the Palestinians a state that they're unable to govern so we need you to do things like manage water and electricity and all the things you do now except let's all make them feel better by calling this a state when actually it's not a state because no military and no elections". That's just absurd, and hope is not a strategy, and proponents of the two-state solution need to get serious about things like Palestinian agency and reforms on that side instead of just yelling at Israel. Which is all that manages to happen.

@8124 @ViciousBabushka There will eventually have to be a two-state solution. Not as any reward for October 7, perceived or otherwise, and not without some serious reform of both the PA and Palestinian politics. None of these things are happening just because the international community says here we'll give you a state first. That already happened with Gaza, a plurality of Palestinian adults elected Hamas, and here we are now. There's a reason Israel isn't going for this and it's not just because Netanyahu's a jerk.

@ViciousBabushka They already started a war, on October 7, and Israel is being condemned for smashing them. This hasn't worked at any time in the past, there has been no change in Palestinian politics on this score, what makes you think that somehow this time will be different? Because the international community pinky swears it's going to reform the PA when it's refused to do anything about even UNRWA for decades?

@swarming That's exactly how this will go down, and I'm pretty sure the Israeli public, in general and including Israeli Arabs, is not up for another round of that. Especially if it includes continued terrorist attacks and God forbid another October 7.

Yeah I think let the remaining 30,000 return with descendants settled in countries of residence is definitely something doable. But Palestinian leadership and intelectuals have to agree to stuff like this and they have to start selling it to the street. They also have to start selling recursive reform of the PA to the street. Otherwise the world can say whatever it wants and this is never happening. Netanyahu and his government are gone after this regardless of what the international community decides in any case, so even if this were all Netanyahu's fault, he's going to be out of the picture.

Oh and then there's the perpetual refugee issue.