#rights
A Democratic state senator needs an #abortion. She told her colleagues about #Arizona’s ‘cruel’ #laws.
The only reason I had to hear those things was a cruel and uninformed attempt by outside forces to shame and coerce and frighten me into making a different decision other than the one I knew was right for me. There’s no one-size-fits-all script for people seeking abortion care, and the #legislature doesn’t have any right to assign one.
source: https://19thnews.org/2024/03/eva-burch-arizona-abortion/
#law #democracy #justice #rights #women #humanrights #problem #health #life #religion
German memory culture, anti-Semitic Zionists and Palestinian liberation
Germany’s much lauded ‘memory culture’ is pure, empty, self-congratulatory propaganda.
Rachael Shapiro — Anti-Zionist Jewish activist based in Berlin
Published On 1 Mar 20241 Mar 2024
I am a #Jewish #pro-Palestine solidarity activist originally from the #NewYork area and now based in #Berlin. My #grandmother was a #Holocaust survivor from #Cologne who fled to the #UnitedStates during the Second World War at the age of 16. Her parents and much of her family were murdered during the Holocaust. I came “back” to #Germany about five years ago, a decision born largely out of the desire for intergenerational healing for me and for my grandmother, who was alive at the time. I learned German and was able to speak to her in her native language in the last few years of her life. I told her stories about living in Germany, she met some of my friends and she was grateful for the ways in which the country and its people had apparently evolved and atoned for their ugly history.
I am glad she died before I had the opportunity to recognise what a naive, idealistic delusion this was.
In the past few years as I have educated myself, become active in the movement for #Palestinian #liberation and extracted myself from the extreme #Zionist conditioning and #brainwashing baked into the fabric of my upbringing, my appreciation for German “Erinnerungskultur” (“memory culture”) has steeply devolved into the realisation that the entire concept is pure, empty, self-congratulatory propaganda. It is grounded in the intentional, racist displacement of anti-Semitism and responsibility for the Holocaust from the Germans who perpetuated it to the #Arabs, #Muslims and, above all, the #Palestinians, who they now demonise and scapegoat as a deflection and distraction.
A documentary from 1985, Ma’loul Celebrates Its Destruction, provides an account of the destruction of entire villages during the 1948 #Nakba. In it, an interviewer says to a Palestinian man who was displaced: “But they killed six million Jews.” His rightful response is, “Did I kill them? Those who killed them must be held accountable. I haven’t hurt a fly.” The fact that a truth this fundamental has been so deeply buried in the language of “complexity” and “conflict” is a testament to the commitment and breadth of the imperialist narrative disseminated by Israel, the #US and #Germany (and the #West in general). Meanwhile, more than 90 percent of all anti-Semitic incidents in Germany are attributable to the #far-right despite the media’s rampant efforts to ignore statistics, skew the reality of the violence and racism directed at Palestinians, and disguise the true apathy towards the so-called “fight against anti-Semitism”.
While actual incidents of anti-Semitism go largely unpunished, those of us standing in solidarity with Palestine are accustomed to brutal, state-sanctioned violence, repression and surveillance from police and the German government in response to peaceful #protests and #boycotts. This has intensified massively since the #genocide in #Gaza began in October, regularly under the guise of accusations of anti-Semitism and “Judenhass” (“hatred of Jews”). We are accordingly committed to remaining loud and visible, including through our refusal to be excluded from the fight against rising fascism and the extreme-right Alternative for Germany party ( #AfD ).
On February 3, I attended an #anti-AfD demonstration in Berlin as part of the pro-Palestinian bloc with the revolutionary #Marxist group #Sozialismus #von #Unten (“Socialism from Below”), in which I am an active member. I had quite a bit of trepidation about going to this protest after the violent, racist and disturbing experiences of my Palestinian and pro-Palestinian comrades at anti-AfD protests over the past few weeks. Folks protesting the AfD while showing solidarity with Palestine have been ruthlessly harassed, attacked, reported to the police and violently removed by both demonstrators and cops all over Germany.
In general, the #mood was positive, and there seemed to be more of a tangible solidarity in comparison with the earlier demonstrations. I stood with a sign that read, “ #Juedin #gegen die #AfD und #Zionismus, #fuer ein #freies #Palaestina” (“ #Jew #against the #AfD and #Zionism, #for a #free #Palestine”). We handed out flyers encouraging a strategic and systematic mobilisation against the AfD. We spoke to demonstrators about the link between fighting fascism and fighting for Palestinian liberation. We explained that Palestinians in Palestine are currently suffering under the fascist policies we are demonstrating against in Germany, and in Germany, Palestinians and those standing in solidarity with them are already experiencing the concrete infringement and denial of #fundamental #human #rights ( #freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly). We emphasised the importance of unconditional, #international #solidarity.
Some were cautious about engaging, ostensibly out of concern for being viewed as anti-Semitic, but many were curious, interested and open to learning. As much as the mainstream media have tried to distort and mangle news of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a recent poll showed that among German voters, only 25 percent answered in the affirmative when asked if they believe Israel’s attacks on Gaza are justified; 61 percent believe they are not. The latter cohort was clearly represented at the demonstration.
After about an hour, I came into contact with a representative of the 25 percent of that poll. An older German man with an aggressive expression approached me, stopped in front of me and half-shouted, “So what do you think the #similarities are #between the #AfD and #Israel?” I could tell he had no intention of engaging in a reasonable conversation but nonetheless began trying to explain. After a few words, he rolled his eyes and spat at me.
It is hard to describe the particular shade of red I saw, the sourness of the blood pumping to my head, the bitterness of the fury on my tongue. It looked like the lifeless faces of my great-grandparents at the mercy of #Nazis, deported and murdered in the #Warsaw #Ghetto as they have appeared in my dreams since I was a child. It felt like the fierceness with which I will unconditionally defend the Palestinian resistance, the right of every people to resist their oppressor in any single form, until my last breath. It tasted like the rage and incredulity that have boiled in the corners of all of our mouths as we scream at the top of our lungs, watching the world passively observe the slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children for more than four and a half months – silent, complicit and accompanied by the relentless echo of more than #75 #years of #occupation, #apartheid, #theft, #ethnicCleansing, #lies, #dehumanisation and unforgivable #injustice.
I ran after the man, shouting at him that my family was murdered because of fascism during a genocide – in response to which he spat at me again.
He goaded me: “What do you know? The AfD is a fascist party. What does that have to do with Israel?” I began to state the obvious – “Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza as we speak …” – but didn’t finish my sentence before he spat in my face for a third time.
As I was shaking, incensed and disgusted, my final comment was, “You are clearly an anti-Semite.” Up to this point in the interaction, he had been condescending and full of contempt, but (as I knew it would) this final shot sent him into a blind rage. As I turned and walked away, he shrieked: “WHAT did you say to me?”
A friend of mine recently said to me, “The #Germans will #never #forgive the #Jews for the #Holocaust.” These words have rung in my ears and sat in my chest with nowhere in particular to go, a hard, ugly truth at the core of German society that precisely reflects my experience living in it. It is bewildering, it is comical, and it is accurate.
From the neo-Nazis of the AfD to “anti-Deutsche” leftists who claim to be combatting German anti-Semitism by obsessively and unconditionally supporting Zionism, many of today’s Germans are brimming with repressed rage towards Jews. Whether they are aware of it or not, this is resoundingly apparent in the deep, hysterical hypocrisy of a reaction such as that of the man at the demonstration – spitting in a Jewish person’s face for standing against fascism and genocide on the basis of her personal, generational relationship to fascism and genocide and becoming enraged at being identified as an anti-Semite accordingly.
This fury is seemingly a reaction to the “injustice” of Germans having to repent for the actions of their ancestors, something they have been widely celebrated for on the global stage. The #resentment takes the form of #narrowmindedness and #bigotry: The only acceptable concepts of #Judaism, #Jewish people and “Jewish life” are those they themselves, #non-Jewish Germans, explicitly sign off on. (Refer to the “anti-Semitism commissioners” claiming to represent the interests of Jewish people in Germany – not a single one of whom is Jewish or an expert in any relevant or related field.) For many Germans, the only palatable Judaism is Zionism, which in fact is no kind of Judaism at all. When forced to contend with perspectives in conflict with this toxic narrative or with Jewishness that doesn’t align with their understanding of it, their anger surfaces violently, explosively. “Anti-Deutsche” weaponise the fetishisation of Jews through their obsessive Zionism to an extreme degree, spearheading aggressive hate and smear campaigns against those who do not share their views (including anti-Zionist Jewish people). How dare anyone, most of all Jews, call into question the authority of Germans in defining and relating to Judaism, anti-Semitism and genocide.
The sick, decades-long collaboration between Israel and Germany and the widespread assertion that Israel’s security is “Germany’s reason of state”(“Staatsraeson”), which upholds Zionist socialisation in the interests of political, racist ends, has created an atmosphere of fear, shame, guilt and ultimately self-righteousness that permeates much of German society. It punishes questions, dissuades education and quashes the necessary understanding of Judaism as a broad, differentiated and historically diasporic culture that existed long before Zionism – and will exist long after.
This designation of all Jews and all Judaism as a single uniform entity, necessarily speaking the same language (modern Hebrew), holding the same values (Zionism) and sharing an identical culture (which in Germany, must be determined by Germans), is, in fact, the precise definition of #anti-Semitic, #Nazistic #racial #segregation and the othering, dehumanising rhetoric they employed in its service. The rigid and inherently anti-Semitic conception of Jews as an undifferentiated people “native” to one land, characterised by the nationalist settler-colonial Zionist movement, has merely served as a #continuation of #Hitler’s #work. It has erased secular Judaism in Europe. It has #eradicated the #Yiddish, #Ladino, #Judeo-Arabic, #Judeo-Persian and #other #Hebraic #languages. Eighty years after the Holocaust, it has succeeded in upholding the view of Jews as a monolith, a foreign nuisance separate from German society, the attempted annihilation of whom can now be exploited to justify the annihilation of another group.
The #tradition of #policing #Jewishness has been passed down in Germany for generations now, which, as in the case of the man at the anti-AfD demonstration, revolves not just around an established, homogenous definition of Jews but, crucially, also the exclusive right and obligation of the Germans to dictate it.
So what are we left with? I believe we can see it in our aforementioned statistic. The majority of Germans know, despite what they have been raised and conditioned to believe, that at the very least, what is going on in Gaza is wrong. Many can see that there is something significant and conspicuous missing in the mainstream narrative around anti-Semitism, Israel and Palestine. I would venture that the majority of those in the streets marching against the AfD are doing it because they genuinely want to stand on the right side of history. Meanwhile, what is in reality a minority is simply louder, angrier and more visible in propagating their anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Semitism and pro-genocide views and, in being so, intimidate the rest into docile silence.
#No #one in the mainstream German #media has reported on my experience at the anti-AfD protest. Given the cultural context, this is not a surprise. But highlighting this hypocrisy and the prevailing, ever-more destructive narratives illustrated by such an incident represents a powerful opportunity for education and empowerment. Calling out the root causes and social backdrop of this moment make them available and necessary for all to grapple with. As so many are stepping into the streets, it is our responsibility to arm them with the facts as fuel, to enable every single person to raise their voice and know decisively what they speak for and what they speak against. We will continue – with more resolve than ever – in the fight for a free Palestine and in mobilising in this way against racism, Zionism, (actual) anti-Semitism, fascism and genocide. We will repeat it again and again until the rhythm of our words becomes the heartbeat of a society that attempts to snuff out our resistance but will ultimately fail at doing so: Never again means never again for anybody.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
#music #civil #rights
So great..
Peter, Paul & Mary - If I Had A Hammer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKgm9ARmOMM
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2024-state-court-races
#State Supreme #Court Races Could Make or Break 'Firewall for Our #Democracy'
JULIA CONLEY
Jan 04, 2024
..."In Wisconsin, Justice Janet Protasiewicz won her state supreme court seat last April in an election that inspired the state's highest-ever turnout for an off-election year #judicial race. Supporters of the #Democratic judge highlighted her strong backing of #abortion #rights, voting access, and worker protections, and noted that a Democratic majority on the state's high court could decide whether former President Donald Trump would be able to challenge the 2024 election results, as he attempted to in 2020.
Voters in Ohio and Michigan are among those who face similarly high stakes this year, Harris said. In the former state, two Democratic judges and one Republican are up for reelection to a court that currently has a 4-3 majority favoring the GOP.
...
In Michigan, where the high court has a 4-3 Democratic majority and two judges on the 2024 ballot—one from each party—victories for the GOP could also allow a new conservative majority to reverse several pro-abortion rights laws passed in 2023.
"After Roe v. Wade was overturned, we had to turn to state courts and state constitutions as the critical backstop to protecting access to abortion," Brigitte Amiri, deputy director at the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, told the AP. "And the stakes are unbelievably high in each of these cases in each of these states."
The results of this year's state court races could also have implications for redistricting efforts, which the Republican State Leadership Committee told the AP it is focusing on heavily, calling the state supreme courts the "last line of defense against far-left national groups."...
#shortstory #women #rights #responsibility #tragedy #metoo #politics #herstory #health #violence
Please #Share! short #story about #rape #abortion #political insanity
https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2681
#fiction
not fallen
Israeli soldier ‘brought baby back to Israel’ from Gaza | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
An Israeli army captain took a Palestinian baby girl from her home in Gaza back with him to Israel, according to an interview with a friend. Rights groups ar...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #Gaza #Israel #Israeli #Rights #alJazeera #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #army #baby #babys #back #captain #friend #groups #identity #interview #investigation #latestnews #newsheadlines #soldier #took #unknown #war #whereabouts #wounds
Israeli soldier ‘brought baby back to Israel’ from Gaza | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
Zum zweiten Mal geflohen
Mob verjagt Rohingya-Boat-People
Von Sven Hansen
In Indonesiens Provinz Aceh erzwingt ein studentischer Mob die sofortige Umsiedlung von Flüchtlingen, die erst vor wenigen Tagen angekommen sind.
#taz #tageszeitung #Rohingya #Indonesien #Aceh #Flüchtlinge #Boat #People #Bangladesch #Australien #Malaysia #Thailand #Joko #Widodo #UNHCR #Human #Rights #Watch
#shortstory #women #rights #responsibility #tragedy #metoo #politics #herstory #health #violence
Please #Share! short #story about #rape #abortion #political insanity
https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2681
#fiction
not fallen
A statement on social media policy - CARTOONISTS RIGHTS
Effective immediately, CARTOONISTS RIGHTS will cease posting content to Twitter, now known as “X”, until such time as there is a change in ownership and a marked improvement in the website’s policies and functionality.
Following recent changes in policy and performance on the Twitter/’X' social media platform, and the public actions of its owner, Cartoonist Rights shall stop using his site as a means of outward communication with immediate effect.
Theses issues include:
- Greater exposure to the processes of training proprietary artificial intelligence, and the removal of titles or headlines from web links posted to the site
- Disrupting searches and benefiting false and misleading posts
- Elon Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic disinformation immediately after the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7th and of a racist conspiracy theory on November 15th
- A statement that this supposed free-speech absolutist would be banning expressions of Palestinian solidarity from the platform on the grounds of alleged genocidal intent
- His repeated validation of the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory, and his tacit endorsement of numerous peddlers of hatred including defamer of bereaved parents Alex Jones and alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate
- The news that he would sue independent watchdog Media Matters
- Most recently, evidence that “X” is turning a blind eye to racism, homophobia and sexual harassment on their platform as a matter of policy.
https://cartoonistsrights.org/a-statement-on-social-media-policy/
#SocialMedia #cartoons #rights #CartoonistsRights #HumanRights #Twitter #Musk #ElonMusk #AI #misinformation #disinformation #Hamas #Israel #ConspiracyTheory #hate #racism #PizzaGate #trafficking #HumanTrafficking #MediaMatters #homophobia #harassment
https://www.commoncause.org/our-work/constitution-courts-and-democracy-issues/article-v-convention/
TOPPING A DANGEROUS #ARTICLEV CONVENTION
Wealthy special interests are pushing for a #constitutional convention that could put everyone in #America’s #rights up for grabs. It's on us to stop them.
..."Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, Congress is required to hold a constitutional convention if two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) call for one.
But here’s the catch: there are absolutely no rules for an Article V Convention outlined in the Constitution.
That means the group of people convening to rewrite our Constitution could be totally unelected and unaccountable. There is nothing that could limit the convention to a single issue, so the delegates could write amendments that revoke any of our most cherished rights – like our right to peaceful protest, our freedom of religion, or our right to privacy. There are also no rules preventing corporations from pouring money into the convention to ensure they get their way.
...
Right now, there are four major campaigns for an Article V Convention: the Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) campaign, the Convention of States (COS) campaign, the Wolf-PAC campaign, and the term limits campaign.
Each has different goals, but together, they have convinced 28 states to call for a convention. That means they have just six states to go.
...
Check out and share the resources below – then visit our Defend Our Constitution website. https://defendourconstitution.org/
Let's test the best democracies in the #world to see whether they even meet the simplest basic principles of #democracy.
Today I start with the respectable democracy of the United Kingdom.
I only check a single criteria and that is equality before the law.
The British take a lot of pride in their Magna Carta, but they don't even have a constitution. The lack of a constitution is one of the biggest problems with the British legal system, as you can easily invoke in court a law passed in 1518 by some random bastard who had a bit of power at the time. The biggest problem, however, is that you cannot be an archaic monarchy and a modern democracy at the same time.
Based on history, the royal family is above the law. Scotland Yard is not allowed to investigate any crime on the King's estate without his consent. So if a crime is committed at the royal salmon farm, the police must first ask the king if they can enter the crime scene.
This made Trump hesitate to enter the royal palace, as bad things could have happened to him there.
No equality before the law, so no democracy. Great Britain has failed the democracy check.
What supposed democracy should I review next? Write it in the comments ...
#politics #rights #law #justice #equality #HumanRights #ethics #moral #test #check
#shortstory #women #rights #responsibility #tragedy #metoo #politics #herstory #health #violence
https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2681
#fiction
any suggestions for places to post where this will be seen?
and, Please #Share!
#shortstory #women #rights #responsibility #tragedy #metoo #politics #herstory #health #violence
Please #Share! short #story about #rape #abortion #political insanity which I am trying to get seen
could you offer suggestions as to where/who/how to further this effort.
https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2681
#fiction
not fallen
Pushing, always about pushing.
Pushing his weight off me too late,
exhausted, spent, his rage into me,
breaking, bruising, pain and shame
and devastation.
Him, a sudden force, pushing me into that
alley, so near my home I had no thought
of danger. So routine, my walk from the
subway after my work day, even though, late
Fall, well past twilight. I expected just another
evening of my uneventful life since I came to
this city to pursue my career.
I didn’t know the attacker who pushed me
from behind, covered my face with a huge,
hard hand so I wouldn’t scream, or see him,
too close to count on darkness. After,
released to drag myself home, I drank
sloppy mugs of red wine and cried, on my
way to blessed unconsciousness.
The morning alarm brought me back, to
understand my desperate need for
normalcy to push this whole melodramatic
mess out, out, out! Keep moving, one foot
at a time, eyes forward, focused on each
next chore. Somehow my face, my body,
lied for me, kept to my habitual script.
I very much didn’t want to talk about it,
to seek comforting or support. I wanted it
to go away — to never be.
I found a new route home, discovered
along it that I had become hypervigilant
while walking alone through city streets.
This city of strangers that I had hoped
would be my home had become a hostile
place to push away in self defense.
Pushed into an unwanted future where
the test comes up “Pregnant” after those
ugly symptoms could no longer be ignored.
Pushed now to find a way to take care
of my needs, to confront politics, that
whole divisive headache I had believed
not part of my life.
Suddenly I’ve become a victim of
multiple powerful men — the power
of physical force and the power of
unjust law pushed through by cynical,
deceitful misogynists using pumped
up hate to get ahead.
Much as I desperately try to normalize
these agonizing days, weeks, this
nightmare escalates. Those nonignorable
symptoms keep getting more and worse.
Pushed to accept, take in, this unacceptable
situation because these symptoms
seem serious. I have heard of high risk
pregnancies that require constant
monitoring, even sometimes termination
to save the vessel for future use. Surely I
would not be forced to continue having
this thing growing in me if it would kill me.
Barely holding my multiply suffering
body and mind together, I push myself
to take control and get to the closest ER.
Look! I yell into me, trying to center,
to find refuge in rationality. I am a
normal person, leading a narrow,
normal life. These health crisis
professionals will know what to do,
will make everything alright!
I have made it to what I have built up
in my anxious imagination as the blessed
temple of healing. Unfortunately, it is
more like Purgatory — the endless
waiting. I do understand the many more
needy of immediate care. I submerge
my fear and pain in silent singing, measured
breathing, hearing again my father’s wrath
when he had been drinking or sometimes
when he hadn’t but was feeling bitter honestly.
Family, memories, never consoling.
Certainly no one I can call for help or advice
or anything but judgement of an unkind kin.
I had been so happy to get so far away, to
reframe my life to be mine, hopeful with possibilities.
Yes, possibilities unanticipated. So many
sick days out, fallen (failing) performance,
there goes my once so bright, golden
promising job and its perks, like health insurance.
Pushed to realize my life is meaningless
beyond my private sphere. Pushed to understand
that my fragile forming friendships here are
far from strong enough to be burdened with
what has become my Truth.
At long last it is my turn to be seen. I have
become so weak, barely aware of being
lifted onto a gurney, hooked up to a fetal
monitor and IV, prodded, needle poked to
take my blood. The hands and voices are
concerned that the baby is in distress.
“Take it out of me!” I scream, crying snot
and tears and fear and rage. They inject a
fluid to induce labor, ready me to push
at their command.
Finally! It’s out, my nemesis expelled,
pushed from its unwelcome lodging.
I feel only pure exhaustion, running blood.
Fading, I hear from above:
“Yay! We saved the baby.”
Apparently too far gone for further
ministration, I am left with
the agony of life falling out of me. Faintly,
plaintively, I hear a sober retort:
“Yes, we saved this child to live, while it
does, with severe health issues requiring
extensive expensive care. It enters this
tragic life alone, parentless. Who will take
on this responsibility?
Letting the mother choose, to have the
chance to live, maybe have future healthy
children, would have been responsible, and humane.”
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS
https://youtu.be/QlRaaqIdkAs?si=eKoz0zlNw85hTH2f
#Gaza #Palestina #Israel #Appel #UN #Human #Rights #videos #ceasefire
any suggestions for places to post where this will be seen?
and, Please #Share! [and don't forget to #vote]
#fiction
#shortstory #women #rights #responsibility #tragedy #metoo #politics #herstory #health #violence
not fallen
https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2681
Pushing, always about pushing.
Pushing his weight off me too late,
exhausted, spent, his rage into me,
breaking, bruising, pain and shame
and devastation.
Him, a sudden force, pushing me into that
alley, so near my home I had no thought
of danger. So routine, my walk from the
subway after my work day, even though, late
Fall, well past twilight. I expected just another
evening of my uneventful life since I came to
this city to pursue my career.
I didn’t know the attacker who pushed me
from behind, covered my face with a huge,
hard hand so I wouldn’t scream, or see him,
too close to count on darkness. After,
released to drag myself home, I drank
sloppy mugs of red wine and cried, on my
way to blessed unconsciousness.
The morning alarm brought me back, to
understand my desperate need for
normalcy to push this whole melodramatic
mess out, out, out! Keep moving, one foot
at a time, eyes forward, focused on each
next chore. Somehow my face, my body,
lied for me, kept to my habitual script.
I very much didn’t want to talk about it,
to seek comforting or support. I wanted it
to go away — to never be.
I found a new route home, discovered
along it that I had become hypervigilant
while walking alone through city streets.
This city of strangers that I had hoped
would be my home had become a hostile
place to push away in self defense.
Pushed into an unwanted future where
the test comes up “Pregnant” after those
ugly symptoms could no longer be ignored.
Pushed now to find a way to take care
of my needs, to confront politics, that
whole divisive headache I had believed
not part of my life.
Suddenly I’ve become a victim of
multiple powerful men — the power
of physical force and the power of
unjust law pushed through by cynical,
deceitful misogynists using pumped
up hate to get ahead.
Much as I desperately try to normalize
these agonizing days, weeks, this
nightmare escalates. Those nonignorable
symptoms keep getting more and worse.
Pushed to accept, take in, this unacceptable
situation because these symptoms
seem serious. I have heard of high risk
pregnancies that require constant
monitoring, even sometimes termination
to save the vessel for future use. Surely I
would not be forced to continue having
this thing growing in me if it would kill me.
Barely holding my multiply suffering
body and mind together, I push myself
to take control and get to the closest ER.
Look! I yell into me, trying to center,
to find refuge in rationality. I am a
normal person, leading a narrow,
normal life. These health crisis
professionals will know what to do,
will make everything alright!
I have made it to what I have built up
in my anxious imagination as the blessed
temple of healing. Unfortunately, it is
more like Purgatory — the endless
waiting. I do understand the many more
needy of immediate care. I submerge
my fear and pain in silent singing, measured
breathing, hearing again my father’s wrath
when he had been drinking or sometimes
when he hadn’t but was feeling bitter honestly.
Family, memories, never consoling.
Certainly no one I can call for help or advice
or anything but judgement of an unkind kin.
I had been so happy to get so far away, to
reframe my life to be mine, hopeful with possibilities.
Yes, possibilities unanticipated. So many
sick days out, fallen (failing) performance,
there goes my once so bright, golden
promising job and its perks, like health insurance.
Pushed to realize my life is meaningless
beyond my private sphere. Pushed to understand
that my fragile forming friendships here are
far from strong enough to be burdened with
what has become my Truth.
At long last it is my turn to be seen. I have
become so weak, barely aware of being
lifted onto a gurney, hooked up to a fetal
monitor and IV, prodded, needle poked to
take my blood. The hands and voices are
concerned that the baby is in distress.
“Take it out of me!” I scream, crying snot
and tears and fear and rage. They inject a
fluid to induce labor, ready me to push
at their command.
Finally! It’s out, my nemesis expelled,
pushed from its unwelcome lodging.
I feel only pure exhaustion, running blood.
Fading, I hear from above:
“Yay! We saved the baby.”
Apparently too far gone for further
ministration, I am left with
the agony of life falling out of me. Faintly,
plaintively, I hear a sober retort:
“Yes, we saved this child to live, while it
does, with severe health issues requiring
extensive expensive care. It enters this
tragic life alone, parentless. Who will take
on this responsibility?
Letting the mother choose, to have the
chance to live, maybe have future healthy
children, would have been responsible, and humane.”
Antisemitismus in Großbritannien
London will BDS-Aktionen verbieten
Von Dominic Johnson
Ein neues Gesetz soll verhindern, dass britische Kommunen oder Universitäten Israel-Boykotte beschließen können. Das ist zu weitgehend, sagen Kritiker.
#taz #tageszeitung #Großbritannien #BDS-Movement #Israel #Sanktionen #Human #Rights #Watch
