If you haven’t been following the saga of A Gay Girl in Damascus, there are a number of places summing it up.
Okay. Now then. I’ve been reading AGGiD for a few months now. I’ve found some of it odd, and, as a Jew who supports the State of Israel, if not everything it does, offensive. And the one time I posted a comment, asking for some clarification on the situation, saying that attempts to research it are difficult due to biases and the overwhelming amount of information, “Amina” dismissed me. (All comments have now been removed.)
I also found some of the writing strange, syntactically, but, okay, she was born in America but has lived away from it for many years. I guess I can get past that. And the fact that seemingly everyone (her parents, her devout Muslim friends) was supportive of her was certainly strange, but I decided to view that as hopeful evidence that maybe there was more acceptance of the LGBT (or at least the L) community than I thought.
What I’m saying here is, I basically willfully ignored the signs. But I also couldn’t quite figure out why anyone would be behind this. If it were the Syrian government—or any government—wouldn’t they be able to get the word out about the blog? I had only heard about it from one or two sites prior to the last few days, and I read a number of political and gay blogs. If it was someone anti-Syrian, what point exactly were they making?
We still don’t actually know that. It seems that Tom MacMaster is indeed an American—and also white, straight, apparently a non-Muslim, and a man. And he wears a Che shirt, although I didn’t get a real Marxist drift from “Amina”. MacMaster and his wife also seem to be viciously anti-Zionist, which “Amina” certainly agreed with, although I did not see militant anti-Jewish content, which would have led me to stop reading her, something MacMaster undoubtedly knew.
While I am certainly relieved that “Amina” is not being tortured somewhere, there are surely other Syrian lesbians, real ones, who are. Hence, I don’t find myself relieved. I find myself furious. Someone (it was retweeted by NPR’s Andy Carvin, but I’m not sure who said it originally) said that if “Amina” is not real, ”this is truly one of the cruelest jokes I’ve ever witnessed”, a position I wholeheartedly agree with. Was “Amina” giving hope to real Syrian lesbians? Were people taking her seriously, listening to her as an authentic voice?
MacMaster’s condescension—“I only hope that people pay as much attention to the people of the Middle East and their struggles in this year of revolutions…I have only tried to illuminate them for a western audience.”—while simultaneously claiming to combat “liberal Orientalism” is risible, and offensive besides. If he is a hardline anti-Zionist activist, using the very real bigotry and danger that women like “Amina” face to push his agenda, which may or may not be itself bigoted, is reprehensible and disgusting.
Tom MacMaster is none of the things that “Amina Araff” was supposed to be. I hope that he experiences academic repercussions for his actions, and that those who knew about this hoax lose credibility. But more than that, I hope that the real Aminas, the real Syrian lesbians—and all Syrians, all oppressed people—do not take this as a sign that acceptance and improvement can only come when a white straight American man is behind them. I hope that men like “Amina’s” father and mother do exist, and someday find the courage to speak out, because they will be welcomed by so many of us.
Once we’ve established that they’re real.
Consider an analogy. There is evidence that people in dire poverty are, for a number of reasons, less “successful” as parents. Suppose some of us therefore proposed banning marriages between poor people.
The author doesn’t seem to realize that rather than realize how ridiculous banning gay marriage is, the right wing is salivating at the very idea of banning poor marriage.
(Source: economist.com)
In the past 40 years, no other justice has gone an entire term, much less five, without speaking at least once during arguments.
Yet another reason for me to dislike Clarence Thomas: he’s one of those people who doesn’t talk. I don’t trust them. You don’t know what they’re thinking.
Also, I’m pretty sure he’s just not smart enough to understand what’s going on.
(Source: guerillawomentn.blogspot.com)
This made me cry. Why are we torturing those who are coming in legally, doing the “right” thing? Setting foot in Ciudad Juárez is about as dangerous as crossing the desert. Pullquotes, but read the whole thing:
Monica Bosquez managed to “stay positive” most of the time. But in our conversation just days before she left for Ciudad Juárez, the bright and friendly program analyst for the state of Texas broke into tears. “If I don’t come back,” she said, “make sure you tell people what happened.”
An internal Department of Homeland Security assessment notes that one of the cartels “has used terror tactics generally seen in Iraq and Afghanistan—mass video-recorded decapitations, targeting of civilians…to instill fear among rivals, law enforcement and the general public.” One Mexican human-rights worker interviewed by London’s Guardian newspaper summed up the Juárez situation as “martial law, without the law.”
The consulate’s website is vague on the safety issue. Under “Frequently Asked Questions,” it asks: “Is it safe for my family and I to travel to Ciudad Juárez given the recent reports of violence?”
The answer: “All immigrant visa cases in Mexico are currently processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez. Therefore all applicants must present themselves at the Consulate at the time and date of their appointment if they wish to proceed with their cases. It is incumbent upon you to take the necessary precautions when traveling to your visa appointment.”
The State Department, meanwhile, urges US citizens to “defer unnecessary travel” to Juárez because of the violence
Guess what the guy in this one was doing.
Just after midnight, she posted a message saying that her husband’s body had been positively identified. His hands and feet were bound and he had been shot in the head and tossed into the car trunk. Supporters of Liley99 filled the forum boards with expressions of grief, sympathy, and calls for changes to the system they blamed for Sabas’ death.
In conclusion, the US government continues to completely disregard the mental and now physical health of its citizens with regard to immigration and I continue to wonder how long until people stop crossing at all, because America stops being worth it.
Monique Pomerleau, a mother of three from Northern California, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a traffic accident last February but has not yet undergone rehabilitation because her insurer, Health Net of California, said it lacked such services within the network. Her family has hired a lawyer to press the matter and recently received word that a 30-day rehabilitation program had been approved.
“We watched the congresswoman’s care and we thought, How marvelous, but there are real people out there like Monique who don’t get the same possibilities,” said Lisa Kantor, a lawyer who specializes in challenging insurance companies and was hired by Ms. Pomerleau’s father, Tom.
For Tucson Survivors, Cost of Medical Care Is a Concern
Seriously. Gabby Giffords isn’t just lucky that the bullet missed something vital. She’s lucky that her health insurance (her government-provided health insurance) will cover her treatment.
Lucky and a minority
Wait, but I thought all Muslims hated all Jews. And how can “Karim Lahidji, the head of the Iranian League of Human Rights” be there? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier, and he’s the president of Iran, and therefore all Iranians are Holocaust deniers, Q.E.D.
Right?
You’re a rape accuser until he’s proven guilty
There’s no way—no way—that this is not utterly misogynistic. And going to fall apart at the first legal challenge.
So why try it?
Not especially, but why? And why does it vary by country?
Immigration officer sacked for placing wife on terror list - Armchair Traveller
Via morefunthanbeingsad, who you should also be following.
(via indefensible)
It’s almost like terrorist watch lists can have flaws and be used for bad and ignored when they could have been used for good.
(via indefensible)
Remember that one time when Obama said he was a liberal?
