Countering hate

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/.

 

In the post on my main (Pagan spirituality) blog   “Post No. 2,881 - Countering hate/discrimination with joy: Neurodivergent (or Autistic) Joy, and Trans Joy”   https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2024/09/post-no-2881-countering.html   I mention that I had started reading the book   “Neurodiversity For Dummies”, by  John Marble, Khushboo Chabria, and Ranga Jayaraman (pub. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA, 15 February 2024, ISBN 978-1-394-21619-2; For Dummies, Wiley, Kobo, Apple Books, Amazon)   - which is an excellent book, well worth a read on that topic.

However, in that book they - understandably - take the approach of discussing problems (bigotry, exclusion/non-inclusion, etc) from the point of view of lack of familiarity, fear, etc, with some particularly apt examples such as left handedness. 

That approach is valid for the neuroaffirming approach they are promoting for personal and social situations ... but it is not appropriate for all situations. 

As an example, consider this: 

“Georgian trans model murdered after parliament passes ‘anti-LGBTQ+’ law”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/georgia-trans-model-kesaria-abramidze-murdered-parliament-passes-anti-lgbtq-law   “Tributes paid to Kesaria Abramidze as ruling party and allies are accused of state campaign against minorities”     

This shows the life-threatening, both in terms of quality and actual existence, of hate-based laws. 

Other events I have posted about show the dangers of what is variously referred to as “dog whistling”, stochastic terrorism aka inciting  a  crime, and so on. 

Reactions to that will necessarily involve education, but education will only go so far. As was shown by Australia’s “no” vote to the Voice to Parliament  referendum, there are still a small number of die hard white supremacist bigots. Other actions have shown that there are a small number of die-hard transphobic bigots in the context of gender (who I consider are the gender world’s equivalent of amathiac  flat earthers - gender flat earthers for short). 

Thus, activism must also advocate for suitable laws, including against discrimination and, in accordance with international conventions, against hate. 

As Martin Luther King wrote: 

“It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.”

And for those who are - or claim to be (some are actually hypocritical on this) - free speech absolutists, James Baldwin's comments are appropriate: 

“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” 

and 

“One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.”

I consider that many of these principles also apply - perhaps with adaptation - to international events. 

PS - also consider this: 

“Two men plead guilty in death of Cecilia Gentili, New York transgender activist | New York | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/23/cecilia-gentili-transgender-activist-death-guilty     

As an example, I take the principle of not naming mass murderers (on the grounds that doing so is giving them exactly what they want) and apply to not naming violent extremists - not giving them the satisfaction of being described as t_rr_r_sts, which are both what  they  want. (Primary news sources, however, have a valid need to identify groups, but should, I consider, minimise use of their names and the descriptor t_rr_r_st.)

And in terms of what people want, the following is a good analysis of what Benjamin Netanyahu likely wants: 

“A Ceasefire is not Enough in Gaza”   https://www.juancole.com/2024/09/ceasefire-enough-gaza.html     

The article has the first mention I have seen - finally! - of Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother, Yoni, who was killed leading the rescue of hostages at Entebbe in '76 (although, contrary to the article, it was NOT Yoni who decided on a military approach then), and also outlines the greater effectiveness (stated as ten times) of ceasefires and peaceful approaches than violent military action in rescuing hostages, and the need for additional actions beyond a ceasefire (such as cutting of arms/munitions supplies), particularly by outgoing US President Biden. 

There are international laws against acts of hate - for instance, the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide and other Conventions, and mechanisms for enforcement - the International  Court  of  Justice, which has already delivered some relevant  pronouncements, and the International  Criminal  Court, which has been asked to consider warrants against “both” sides. 

Another aspect that should be noted here, by the way, is that H_______h is NOT Lebanon. There is a Lebanese government, albeit one that is widely seen as weak, and this means that any ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon (which is an event with “no clear winner” at this stage) would involve three parties - Israel, H_______h, and Lebanon.

And on other aspects, the other area of combat to note is in the world of diplomacy. 

Diplomacy has been quite validly criticised for being weak on, or even undermining, human rights, and for allowing the rise of tyrants such as Putin, but it has considerable opportunity now with regard to the WANA-ISRAUSA (West Asia & North Africa vs. Israel & USA) conflict, and that opportunity and role should be aimed at ensuring the original promise of a viable Palestinian nation is finally met - a goal that is well considered, including the current and recent actions by Saudi Arabia, in this article: 

“The pager bombing of H_______h was jaw-dropping. Will it make Israel safer? Not for long | Jonathan Freedland | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/20/pager-bombing-h_______h-israel-safer-diplomacy     

This, now and in the coming decades, are when genuine, credible, firm diplomacy must take a lead in committing to fairness, justice and equity, and achieving a true and lasting peace by the establishment of a viable, democratic Palestinian state.

(I may add more links to this post as I get time and energy to do so.)

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

 

If they are of any use or interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post.  

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below. 

Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/