@rjohnston@mstdn.ca cover
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rjohnston

@[email protected]

IT contractor in #Ottawa, Canada
#dotnet #csharp #fullstack

#QueensU engineering alumnus, former #infantry soldier, rides #motorcycles, hispanohablante (más o menos).

I'm here to improve my snark game. My views should be yours too.

Blocked by NotJustBikes for asserting that bicycles are vehicles and therefore they belong on the roads.

Profile photo: An inukshuk overlooking the frozen Frobisher Bay, taken when I worked in Iqaluit.

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oatmeal , to palestine group
@oatmeal@kolektiva.social avatar

Define “pariah state”:

[…] Unlike rogue states, pariah states do not have a fixed definition, but only characteristics that indicate possible violations. These include, above all, the production and use of weapons of mass destruction, tolerating terrorism, a lack of freedom of expression and democracy and violations of human rights. Unlike rogue states, a pariah state does not necessarily pose a threat to other states. Instead, the grievances are often directed only against one's own population.

https://www.worlddata.info/pariahstates.php

@israel
@palestine

rjohnston ,
@rjohnston@mstdn.ca avatar

@oatmeal @israel @palestine
I've always wondered, if Israel and Palestine become 2 separate states, will we see the same chaos as when India and Pakistan split?

oatmeal , to palestine group
@oatmeal@kolektiva.social avatar

/ Biden Administration has discussed potentially negotiating unilateral deal with Hamas to free U.S. hostages

The administration has discussed potentially negotiating a unilateral deal with to secure the release of 5 American hostages being held in , if current ceasefire talks involving Israel fail.

Such negotiations would not include Israel and would be conducted through Qatari intermediaries, as current talks have been.

Officials say Hamas may have incentive for a separate U.S. deal as it could further strain U.S.-Israel relations and pressure on .

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/biden-administration-discussed-potentially-negotiating-unilateral-deal-rcna156266

@israel
@palestine

rjohnston ,
@rjohnston@mstdn.ca avatar

@oatmeal @israel @palestine Interesting, as this really flies in the face of the American narrative that is the party blocking negotiations.

mondoweiss , to palestine group
@mondoweiss@social.mondoweiss.net avatar

Canada’s largest private high school recently organized a genocide solidarity trip in which students cooked for Israeli soldiers. In a sane world, the school’s charitable status would be revoked.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/05/toronto-school-promoting-israeli-military-deemed-charity/


@palestine @israel

rjohnston ,
@rjohnston@mstdn.ca avatar

@mondoweiss @palestine @israel Worse than this, we have citizens that have and are fighting as members of the IDF, including a former cabinet minister's son. When people left to go fight with ISIS, we didn't let them back easily, but a different standard will surely be applied this time.

oatmeal , to palestine group
@oatmeal@kolektiva.social avatar

/ On the Jewish State’s absurd policy of the right of “return”, if you’re not a Palestinian that is

[from a column in which the reporter talks to people passing through TLV's airport​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​]

Q: … And we thought we were the “after the wars” generation

A: […] And now we're here, and I feel a strange sense of obligation. In the most basic human sense, I came here from somewhere, the government gave me money, gave my brother a school, essentially funded an entire year of really good living for my family, just because we're Jewish. I always knew I was Jewish, my mother worked in the Jewish education system in Russia and I went to a Jewish kindergarten and school. But it was something on the periphery of my thinking, and now it's more central.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Q: What surprised you the most when you moved here?

A: All the people I ever knew in Russia, everyone I ever met, is here now. I don't think I have a single acquaintance left in St. Petersburg.

Q: Were they all Jewish?
Turns out.

[…]

[Hebrew] https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/flights/2024-05-15/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/0000018f-7c52-d604-af8f-7f53f1ea0000 or https://archive.is/DuC5q

@israel
@palestine

rjohnston ,
@rjohnston@mstdn.ca avatar

@oatmeal
When I once worked at a government office, an employee told me there was a scam going on around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union whereby people would claim to be Jewish in order to get to Israel.

Then they would get to Canada and apply for asylum here, claiming that they're being discriminated against in Israel because they're not Jewish!
@israel @palestine

mondoweiss , to palestine group
@mondoweiss@social.mondoweiss.net avatar

The Israeli army has intensified its renewed assault on Jabalia refugee camp and the Zeitoun area in northern Gaza as resistance factions regroup there, months after the Israeli army said it had "defeated Hamas" in the north.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/05/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-220-resistance-returns-to-the-north-unrwa-says-300000-people-fled-rafah/


@palestine @israel

rjohnston ,
@rjohnston@mstdn.ca avatar

@mondoweiss @palestine @israel Israel has been conducted clearing operations in the same areas for a second or third time. This tells us that there is no security/political plan for the post-war period. One can conclude from this that the intention of the operation in Gaza goes no further than destruction.

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