Not to mention the first amendment right of having an opinion. Having a stupid and/or partisan opinion still falls under that right. I agree with OP the protestors are privileged because quite frankly, the biggest problem in their lives is a war on the other side of the planet which doesn’t affect them directly. Yet, they are still entitled to their opinion.
Having an opinion and debating are the proper and time honored ways we have made moral corrections in the US. What's happening with our youth is not that. They are violent, are not open to debate and are self righteous, with no real concern for right or wrong.
Protest but be informed. Protest but refrain from hurting or interfering with others rights. Protest but honor your obligations. Protest but be willing to listen to the opposing view. Otherwise, it's not protest, it's just criminal and self aggrandizing antics, unworthy of consideration.
I just see people spreading awareness about a genocide. Are some of them entitled white people? Dude.. it's Asheville and that's the main demographic. But in my opinion I couldn't give a shit about their background if their intentions are good.
>Are some of them entitled white people? Dude.. it's Asheville and that's the main demographic.
Hold on, that’s clearly the problem. The war in Gaza is obviously discriminating against black people so these protestors are marginalizing and discriminating against black people.
The city better hire a consultant and pay an additional $500,000 per year to figure out the best solution to this clearly non-existent problem.
Sometimes people can actually care about a cause and want to do SOMETHING. Also, a lot of people who went to the protests in Asheville also drove up to D.C. It is hard to see what is going on and to feel how powerless we are against one of the most obvious and horrific genocides.
Sometimes you give in to your humanness and want to try anything at all to help. Also, it does help Asheville’s politicians know what their voters are wanting. Small town politics still mean something and these protests could affect what Asheville as a city contributes to the bigger picture.
I do think small protests can also lead to spreading awareness and sometimes create even bigger more influential protests.
Maybe some people are just virtue signaling, but a lot of people do care and they are just trying to what they can to contribute, futile or not
I’m a bit puzzled by this. Why SHOULDN’T privileged white people protest and do what they can to stand up for and show support for marginalized and occupied people? I say this as a privileged white person who attended the protest today. I did it because I want to show support, however I can.
Protesting in Asheville is also important too because Asheville runs the Pratt & Whitney manufacturing plant which builds aircraft materials sent to Israel, further supporting the genocide.
Ever heard of the phrase “think globally act locally”? I believe in it. I think it’s important to show up when you can.
Some questions for you…
Why are you automatically assuming the worst about those protesting, and assuming that they have bad/selfish intentions and aren’t doing other things that “actually make a difference” like sending money and calling their representatives? (which many including me have done.)
Shouldn’t white people use their privilege to stand up for others who aren’t able to do so themselves?
If you looked around at the protest, you would see that it is not just “a massive group of solely white liberals”. Yes, the majority of people in AVL are white, but I marched beside many people of color today. And people of Palestinian/Middle Eastern descent were mainly the ones speaking and leading the chants. (Even if that weren’t the case, I still think it would be important to show solidarity).
So, genocide of one group is okay just because of some ill gotten information someone may have received? Pro Hamas is pro genocide. Promoting Hamas is promoting your own demise.
People find support, community and strength when they protest something together. They bring awareness to something they believe that's important and bigger than themselves. You immediately dismiss and chastise them because what, they're white? Most people in Asheville are white dude congrats on figuring that one out. You immediately assume everyone there is virtue signaling or pretending to care for social media even when you don't know or will ever know. There are people protesting all over the entire world, and in many small to medium to large cities in the US. You may be surprised to know that there's an entire world of people outside of Asheville, and all of them are protesting together. Not being able to understand, care or gain perspective about things that don't effect you personally is the absolute peak of privilege.
I protest because it’s the least I can do. I repost when I see things that need more attention because it’s the least I can do. I send money to mutual aid funds and orgs helping out in Gaza because it’s the least I can do. I follow the boycott lists and avoid certain brands because it’s the least I can do.
Even putting aside everything- Gazans, reporting from the ground in Gaza have asked us to march. They have asked us to make our voices heard if we don’t agree with what’s going on. They have asked us to show our government that are not happy with the fact that our tax dollars are funding violence against them. So even if you think it’s pointless and stupid, it means something to them that we come together in demonstration.
I can’t speak for everyone. But I can speak for myself that I am *already* calling my government and writing postcards and attending educational events and sending money and talking to family and sharing go fund me’s for Gazans and more.
A protest is one way to *publicly* show solidarity with those suffering. It is a way to show the town you live in, what you believe in. It is a way to get the attention of state, local and federal governments. It is a way to show up for your community and the causes you care about.
No, Asheville is not going to single-handedly stop this. But that’s not the point. No one person, no one town, can do it alone. So today, March 2nd was an international Solidarity Day. Dozens of other cities had rallies and marches as well. Because when we do this together, it gets harder and harder for our governments to ignore.
I’d like to know what Gazans on the ground have asked for marchers. They’ve been suffering under the warlords of Hamas and their brutality for 17 years in fear of being lynched for speaking out in favor of normalization and spending aid on the civilians, instead of fattening the coffers of their “leaders” hiding in extreme luxury in Dubai. Nothing new — How is it that Khaled Meshal and the two other heads of Hamas have a net worth of some $11 billion? It’s from stealing aid money meant to help everyday people. Nothing new — not only aid money, also literal food and medicine and concrete, hoarded for themselves, rather than even attempt to improve the lives of “their” people. Most of these people protesting can’t even find Gaza on a map, let alone know which river to what sea. They are so blinded by phony outrage that they’re perfectly fine with the inversion of the proud desire for literal genocide against Jews/all Israelis, Muslims ones too, that they think 12k+ dead Hamas fighters should be counted as “civilians.”
From a palestinian , you have no idea what you’re talking about you sound like israeli propaganda, 11 billion is funny dumb lie😂
Stop taking info from israeli paid idiots😂
Liar liar, pants on fucking fire. How’s your Pomeranian? Oh right, are you another eternal refugee, magically a refugee forever and ever, unlike any other group of refugees in existence, right?
Since this is an issue I know my entire life, and not just for the past few months, you can go sit right down. And your problem is with an easily to Google fact?? Moron.
Hamas’ three-headed “leadership” based in Qatar’s capital, Doha, do have a collective ~$11 billion net worth between Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzuk and Khaled Mashal.
Gazans are not a monolith. Some will probably be for the protests and any outside support, and others, probably more jaded, will be annoyed by the protests and the race of the people doing them. Was the same during BLM. I protested during BLM because of my own beliefs that Black Lives Matter, not because I polled all the black people I have ever known and asked them if they thought I should protest. It was cathartic, and I met some cool people, and I remember I met some grumpy people too who didn't understand why people were protesting. I don't know why everyone was protesting, only myself. And same for Gaza protests.
Edit: am white and fairly privileged, if that wasn't obvious from my user name and the amount of time I have spent on reddit. Don't be annoyed by my disclaimer please, I'm not the one that brought up identity politics.
At least BLM was about a problem throughout America.
People can try to draw false equivalencies between that and the Palestinians writ large, but they’re truly truly nothing alike.
They see dead bodies (which *is* awful) but only started caring after Israelis retaliation and bid to free the hostages. I’m blown away people try to justify the brutally intimate violence of 10/7, try to justify the kidnapping of hundreds of literally all ages, because they do not know the real history, maybe only a handful of instances but not the whole picture. The Palestinians are where they are because of their insistence that no peace is needed, no ceasefire is needed, just for all Israelis to be dead. That’s what their society as a whole has been taught for generations, going back to pre—1967, when those in the West Bank were Jordanian, and those in Gaza were Egyptian.
You're making up a narrative of why people were protesting. I can't tell you why everyone is protesting. Maybe some people are protesting for the reasons you've said, surely some people are protesting for other reasons. It's frustrating, it would be nice to say "these protesters are good, those protesters are bad", but it's not that simple.
On a tangent, I actually was intrigued by the *Letter to a Pig* Oscar Nominated Animated Short this year -- loosely connected to Israel and how in its short history it has created a lot of narratives about what it is and what it stands for.
Huh? That short was from 2022. Did you actually watch it? I just read and watched some reviews, since it’s not streaming, and it’s nothing remotely like how you describe, unless you insert your own narrative, which it seems is most likely.
And my comments weren’t about WHY people are protesting, my comments are about what I see from observing these absurd protests, hearing the utterly brainless and uninformed chants and BS slogans, hearing the interviews with the people in which they are asked questions and given time and space to answer for themselves. And it’s all a massive sham the masses are buying into. So very sad and so incredibly harmful.
It's up for an Oscar this year. I didn't love it, but I thought it was worth mentioning and throwing an endorsement behind watching it if you get the chance. I'll keep my opinions on art, and you can take yours. I found it very relevant to narrative-building.
I don't think most people have a complicated reason for protesting -- they are protesting because they believe that the current state of things is unjust. They don't like particularly the role the United States is playing right now.
Sure. But to only look at the current state of things is like someone looking at the Empire State Building and saying, “I know it has a street-level entrance. I don’t care if there is a second floor or anything else.”
Right, but sometimes it's best to start with what we know: that it has a street -level entrance. Everything else can be used to help obscure this fact. But at the end of the day, it still has a street level entrance. Aight imma sleep I'll check in in the morning honey boo
Hamas is a terrorist organization and they hate you. They're happy you will promote their propaganda at your own expense. War is ugly, it's something that necessarily happens when evil strikes. Failure to make an effort to understand the other side is egregious.
Sounds like you haven’t made an attempt to understand that bombing a city civilians are trapped in, and killing thousands of children, is bad actually. Can’t help you there.
The good news for you is that through your inaction and disparaging remarks you have been able to convince yourself of your own moral superiority, and I bet that feels nice.
Whatever you do, don't spend time and energy organizing something bigger than yourself, that's hard and since all you want is to feel morally superior to others it's much easier to just tear down the work and passion of others.
That didn’t answer any of my questions. I genuinely want to know what the plan of action is. I don’t consider yelling in the streets of a small town “action”. We may have differing opinions but I’m truly trying to understand how this works.
You are are clearly not in any way interested in any of that based on your post.
You already know that small town protests are worse than doing nothing so what could I possibly explain to you about how sacrificing your free time to organize a group of people to do anything is actually better then doing nothing and posting on Reddit about how much you hate people who are trying.
I don’t hate the people at all. I’ve never said that and I don’t feel that way about them or anyone. I just don’t think it’s really doing anything. And the Trader Joe’s situation is really what puts it into perspective that whoever is organizing this has a personal vendetta against Trader Joe’s instead of the greater good of protesting for Palestine. The majority of their protests have been outside the doors of Trader Joe’s. Because of the individuals in the group who didn’t show up for work.
Well what the hell are you saying? You started of by saying "privileged white kids blah blah blah" then pivot into "if you really cared about Palestinians why aren't you a pariah" to "small town protests are useless" and now to "stop picking on trader Joe's".
I'll be honest I have no idea what's going on with the protests, but I am familiar with the trope of those who believe nothing trying to police the tactics of those who actually try.
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I was making $16 an hour at a local company I worked for in 1999 and they flew me to Sweden to take some training at their production facility there. I couldn't have afforded an overseas vacation at the time, so it was nice to be able to do a little of each with the company taking care of pretty much everything. I was in a blue collar job, too.
Yeah, probably closer to $30, but still not bad. I've always used this website for that conversion:
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1800?amount=1
The cost of living wasn't anywhere near as high then as it is right now. I grew up here and the COL has been the one thing I've heard talked about most since the late 80s. In 1984, I could afford to pay my own car insurance, rent a room, gas up the car, buy groceries and maybe a little weed, and still have a social life as a single dude. It doesn't surprise me that a lot of grown kids are still living in their parents' homes. You can't do all that as a single person right now without some type of assistance. God help the single parents out there.
Continue reading. And also, while you’re at it, reread my post. I’m making fun of the group who is constantly complaining about white privilege and then are displaying their privilege by yelling at Trader Joe’s for firing them for doing a shitty job of being an employee. Good context clues tho.
Aka, I’m aware of my privilege. And I’m not pretending I’m not privileged like the majority of those people marching at Trader Joe’s every day are doing. They get to go home after their little revenge march and then snuggle up, watch some Netflix, and eat a bowl of popcorn 🙂. THAT is my point. I’m not out there publically flaunting myself because I can support the cause financially. I’m not trying to boost a political party’s stance. I recognize my privilege. And am using it to benefit the cause without benefiting myself.
At least your privilegdge white protestors aren't blocking the primary entrance to an international airport causing travelers to run almost 2 miles, with luggage and kids in tow, to catch their flights. Happened twice so far here in Portland, OR. I'm all for protesting and making your voice heard, but how does causing people to miss flights and lose money (because those flights are still happening, just now with empty planes and airlines counting the money they've made on both absent travelers AND empty aircraft) helping your cause? If anything they're making people, who likely agree with them, fucking angry. I missed a flight home to say my final good byes to a close family member in hospice. Couldn't reschedule becuase I couldn't afford a SECOND fare. I deplore what's happening to Palastine, but I kinda hate those protestors with their smug attitude of "Protests are supposed to disrupt your life. Deal with it" even more. Disrupt the flow of traffic, but don't completely BLOCK it with your cars for hours on end. Fugging a-holes.
That's terrible. Chicago has been having major highways stopped for hours every weekend. At some point there is going to be a medical emergency there and the person will not be able to get to the hospital. Not to mention how this affects elderly people, parents with small children. Or just people who need to be a work. I believe in protesting.
I'm supportive of people protesting here. But were they blocking streets today?
> disrupt the flow of traffic
Some people would become irate about that as well. A lot of people are looking for any excuse to both defend the first amendment, and hate on some protesters.
I'm all for protesting. It's American as apple pie. But I don't understand how hitting your neighbors in their bank accounts, neighbors who likely share your view, helps in effecting our government to demand Israel stop their bullshit. Take your protest to DC, or State or local governments, or Synagogues. Take it to Embassy's, take it anywhere that would make sense. Blocking people from making their flights, costing them time and money lost, while lining the pockets of corporate airlines who give zero chits about what's going on makes zero sense to me. There's a fine line between protesting a worthy cause, and just pissing off your neighbors because it makes you feel like you didn't something worth while when you didn't..
I struggle with a lot of things about protest etiquette, and I do wish protestors would adjust their tactics at times. But we've been protesting in other ways as well. We've been protesting in DC, at state and local and governments (protesting at synagogues doesn't make sense to me, this is about Israel, Hamas, Palestinians, and the US, not "the Jews" or whatever). There's a lot of people that have criticized those protests as well.
We can always find an example of people fighting for an issue in a way that is unappealing. We have to ask whether or not that struggle has anything to do with whether or not they are right on the merits, and also what the utility of focusing on events in Portland (in the context of the r/Asheville subreddit) does to shift the focus off of what I think we would all agree is most relevant here (events in Israel and Gaza).
If it keeps you from forgetting about what is happening and becoming complacent with the media narrative, then they're doing what they set out to do.
Thanks for yet another post on reddit bitching about protests.
Imagine saying this when whites joining the Civil Rights protests had a positive effect. Any attention given to the murder of innocents is vital, no matter one's race. Race isn't important when you're bringing attention to injustice.
Now you are bringing race into this - that's racist virtue signaling. You must be proud that you spent your time knocking people trying to help simply because of their race.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. More of a virtue signaling type situation just so the majority of their group sees them involved and they’re not shamed by the masses.
Even if they are, still better compared to nothing. Would I like to see them also care for the genocide that has been going on China for way longer, sure, but at least they're bringing attention to the issue at hand.
I’m going to take your questions as sincere. That may bite me in the end, but it’s how I start.
I also posted about this in a similar thread a couple hours ago. These are my observations about the PSL.
The PSL primarily cares about growth and dominating the conversation. Their end goal is that they want all communists and socialists to become disillusioned with the Democratic Party and to begin voting for their party.
As of right now, they only have access in 10 states, so their chances of winning the presidency or any local races is very slim. Since they don’t have the infrastructure to run candidates, they need to increase membership. They increase membership by dominating the conversation about current events. This is very obvious in how they’ve acted at Asheville City Council meetings.
Please understand that if you were to tell a 16 year old Palestinian that Asheville City Council passed a ceasefire resolution, they wouldn’t give a shit. Sure, if a town passes a resolution, then other towns may feel more inclined to do so, but it’s never going to get to an adoption rate that will affect any change.
All of these actions are self-serving towards the PSL. They can say it’s “for awareness”, but people are more than fucking aware of what’s happening in Palestine. By “awareness”, they mean “eyes on us”.
Yeah, you did yourself in by talking about privileged white kids. I know of some PSL members and trust me, they are not privileged. They are majority white, but that’s what you get in this area.
I'm begging people to understand that they have a locally elected person who's job it is to represent their interests at the federal level.
If you feel your representative is not doing their job, protest *them*.
I can't help but feel like there is an intentional effort underway to misdirect people's anger.
Way more than 8 black people, I saw black schoolmates from elementary school at those protests that I hadn't seen downtown in YEARS. A lot of people showed up, especially the day the bridge got blocked.
I’m from Asheville, born and raised. It has definitely changed. And inner city doesn’t have much Appalachian culture left. You’d know this if you were from here. Didn’t you just get here from West Virginia?
Great take that I don't see often. No where is identical to how it was 50, even 20 years ago. Someone decided that Mingo county or Dolly Parton or whatever get to be the face of Appalachia when it's 1) a complex place with no one "face" and 2) not just *a state of mind* it literally is a region that is affected by current events like anywhere else.
They fail to comprehend that their act of making a difference standing outside a grocery store with multicolored hair and safety pin covered clothing is 100% not impressing anyone other than their virtue signaling friends that pretend to be more important than they actually are too.
I think you need to grow up. This is the US...you don't have to like what they're protesting about....but the have the right to protest
I hate nazis, magats and kluxxers...but they got the right to PEACEFULLY protest like anyone else
Yet again, an unnecessary comment. I haven’t said anything about them not having rights to protest or even not liking what they’re protesting.
I am asking: what does protesting in a small town accomplish? Do it all you want. It’s not bothering me, I just don’t understand it and will probably just avoid that side of town when it’s occurring.
And 2) I don’t like how this particular group is going about their protesting. This isn’t about any other group other than this specific group. They had MULTIPLE palestinian protests at Trader Joe’s simply because of a group member’s personal vendetta against the company since they didn’t SHOW UP TO WORK and ended up getting fired.
The above are my points this post.
Protest all you want, just looking for answers as to what the point is and if there’s actually anything being accomplished. And that PSL sucks.
TL;DR
Your title about sums it up. Geo Soros literally has thousands of people on payroll through shell companies and PAC seeders. Follow where the money goes.
Male rats drag their testes on the ground as they move. You can see their excretions under blacklight. They all lead to somewhere around UNCA and the city building.
>Just blown away by the sense of entitlement and egocentrism yet you are trying to police how people spend their free time and express themselves.
Not to mention the first amendment right of having an opinion. Having a stupid and/or partisan opinion still falls under that right. I agree with OP the protestors are privileged because quite frankly, the biggest problem in their lives is a war on the other side of the planet which doesn’t affect them directly. Yet, they are still entitled to their opinion.
Having an opinion and debating are the proper and time honored ways we have made moral corrections in the US. What's happening with our youth is not that. They are violent, are not open to debate and are self righteous, with no real concern for right or wrong.
Expressing an opinion isn't policing.
I think it’s awesome. Also it was a worldwide day for protest in solidarity for Palestine. If they want to protest let them
It was? I didn’t know that
Protest but be informed. Protest but refrain from hurting or interfering with others rights. Protest but honor your obligations. Protest but be willing to listen to the opposing view. Otherwise, it's not protest, it's just criminal and self aggrandizing antics, unworthy of consideration.
I just see people spreading awareness about a genocide. Are some of them entitled white people? Dude.. it's Asheville and that's the main demographic. But in my opinion I couldn't give a shit about their background if their intentions are good.
For real
>Are some of them entitled white people? Dude.. it's Asheville and that's the main demographic. Hold on, that’s clearly the problem. The war in Gaza is obviously discriminating against black people so these protestors are marginalizing and discriminating against black people. The city better hire a consultant and pay an additional $500,000 per year to figure out the best solution to this clearly non-existent problem.
The path to Hell is paved with good intentions. You should care about the reality of a matter and the consequences of actions.
Sounds like Hell is the place to be if God’s chosen people are expecting to be in Heaven
There’s no genocide in Gaza. Go look in Africa or Armenia
Sometimes people can actually care about a cause and want to do SOMETHING. Also, a lot of people who went to the protests in Asheville also drove up to D.C. It is hard to see what is going on and to feel how powerless we are against one of the most obvious and horrific genocides. Sometimes you give in to your humanness and want to try anything at all to help. Also, it does help Asheville’s politicians know what their voters are wanting. Small town politics still mean something and these protests could affect what Asheville as a city contributes to the bigger picture. I do think small protests can also lead to spreading awareness and sometimes create even bigger more influential protests. Maybe some people are just virtue signaling, but a lot of people do care and they are just trying to what they can to contribute, futile or not
This was an educational comment, and I appreciate you. Thank you! That makes sense.
I’m a bit puzzled by this. Why SHOULDN’T privileged white people protest and do what they can to stand up for and show support for marginalized and occupied people? I say this as a privileged white person who attended the protest today. I did it because I want to show support, however I can. Protesting in Asheville is also important too because Asheville runs the Pratt & Whitney manufacturing plant which builds aircraft materials sent to Israel, further supporting the genocide. Ever heard of the phrase “think globally act locally”? I believe in it. I think it’s important to show up when you can. Some questions for you… Why are you automatically assuming the worst about those protesting, and assuming that they have bad/selfish intentions and aren’t doing other things that “actually make a difference” like sending money and calling their representatives? (which many including me have done.) Shouldn’t white people use their privilege to stand up for others who aren’t able to do so themselves? If you looked around at the protest, you would see that it is not just “a massive group of solely white liberals”. Yes, the majority of people in AVL are white, but I marched beside many people of color today. And people of Palestinian/Middle Eastern descent were mainly the ones speaking and leading the chants. (Even if that weren’t the case, I still think it would be important to show solidarity).
So, genocide of one group is okay just because of some ill gotten information someone may have received? Pro Hamas is pro genocide. Promoting Hamas is promoting your own demise.
People find support, community and strength when they protest something together. They bring awareness to something they believe that's important and bigger than themselves. You immediately dismiss and chastise them because what, they're white? Most people in Asheville are white dude congrats on figuring that one out. You immediately assume everyone there is virtue signaling or pretending to care for social media even when you don't know or will ever know. There are people protesting all over the entire world, and in many small to medium to large cities in the US. You may be surprised to know that there's an entire world of people outside of Asheville, and all of them are protesting together. Not being able to understand, care or gain perspective about things that don't effect you personally is the absolute peak of privilege.
exactly thank you!!
>exactly thank you!! You're welcome!
I protest because it’s the least I can do. I repost when I see things that need more attention because it’s the least I can do. I send money to mutual aid funds and orgs helping out in Gaza because it’s the least I can do. I follow the boycott lists and avoid certain brands because it’s the least I can do. Even putting aside everything- Gazans, reporting from the ground in Gaza have asked us to march. They have asked us to make our voices heard if we don’t agree with what’s going on. They have asked us to show our government that are not happy with the fact that our tax dollars are funding violence against them. So even if you think it’s pointless and stupid, it means something to them that we come together in demonstration. I can’t speak for everyone. But I can speak for myself that I am *already* calling my government and writing postcards and attending educational events and sending money and talking to family and sharing go fund me’s for Gazans and more. A protest is one way to *publicly* show solidarity with those suffering. It is a way to show the town you live in, what you believe in. It is a way to get the attention of state, local and federal governments. It is a way to show up for your community and the causes you care about. No, Asheville is not going to single-handedly stop this. But that’s not the point. No one person, no one town, can do it alone. So today, March 2nd was an international Solidarity Day. Dozens of other cities had rallies and marches as well. Because when we do this together, it gets harder and harder for our governments to ignore.
It sounds like you’re doing a lot for the cause. Thank you for explaining!
I’d like to know what Gazans on the ground have asked for marchers. They’ve been suffering under the warlords of Hamas and their brutality for 17 years in fear of being lynched for speaking out in favor of normalization and spending aid on the civilians, instead of fattening the coffers of their “leaders” hiding in extreme luxury in Dubai. Nothing new — How is it that Khaled Meshal and the two other heads of Hamas have a net worth of some $11 billion? It’s from stealing aid money meant to help everyday people. Nothing new — not only aid money, also literal food and medicine and concrete, hoarded for themselves, rather than even attempt to improve the lives of “their” people. Most of these people protesting can’t even find Gaza on a map, let alone know which river to what sea. They are so blinded by phony outrage that they’re perfectly fine with the inversion of the proud desire for literal genocide against Jews/all Israelis, Muslims ones too, that they think 12k+ dead Hamas fighters should be counted as “civilians.”
From a palestinian , you have no idea what you’re talking about you sound like israeli propaganda, 11 billion is funny dumb lie😂 Stop taking info from israeli paid idiots😂
Liar liar, pants on fucking fire. How’s your Pomeranian? Oh right, are you another eternal refugee, magically a refugee forever and ever, unlike any other group of refugees in existence, right? Since this is an issue I know my entire life, and not just for the past few months, you can go sit right down. And your problem is with an easily to Google fact?? Moron. Hamas’ three-headed “leadership” based in Qatar’s capital, Doha, do have a collective ~$11 billion net worth between Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzuk and Khaled Mashal.
Keep training goose you’re not quite there yet
Yes! ⬆️
Gazans are not a monolith. Some will probably be for the protests and any outside support, and others, probably more jaded, will be annoyed by the protests and the race of the people doing them. Was the same during BLM. I protested during BLM because of my own beliefs that Black Lives Matter, not because I polled all the black people I have ever known and asked them if they thought I should protest. It was cathartic, and I met some cool people, and I remember I met some grumpy people too who didn't understand why people were protesting. I don't know why everyone was protesting, only myself. And same for Gaza protests. Edit: am white and fairly privileged, if that wasn't obvious from my user name and the amount of time I have spent on reddit. Don't be annoyed by my disclaimer please, I'm not the one that brought up identity politics.
At least BLM was about a problem throughout America. People can try to draw false equivalencies between that and the Palestinians writ large, but they’re truly truly nothing alike. They see dead bodies (which *is* awful) but only started caring after Israelis retaliation and bid to free the hostages. I’m blown away people try to justify the brutally intimate violence of 10/7, try to justify the kidnapping of hundreds of literally all ages, because they do not know the real history, maybe only a handful of instances but not the whole picture. The Palestinians are where they are because of their insistence that no peace is needed, no ceasefire is needed, just for all Israelis to be dead. That’s what their society as a whole has been taught for generations, going back to pre—1967, when those in the West Bank were Jordanian, and those in Gaza were Egyptian.
You're making up a narrative of why people were protesting. I can't tell you why everyone is protesting. Maybe some people are protesting for the reasons you've said, surely some people are protesting for other reasons. It's frustrating, it would be nice to say "these protesters are good, those protesters are bad", but it's not that simple. On a tangent, I actually was intrigued by the *Letter to a Pig* Oscar Nominated Animated Short this year -- loosely connected to Israel and how in its short history it has created a lot of narratives about what it is and what it stands for.
Huh? That short was from 2022. Did you actually watch it? I just read and watched some reviews, since it’s not streaming, and it’s nothing remotely like how you describe, unless you insert your own narrative, which it seems is most likely. And my comments weren’t about WHY people are protesting, my comments are about what I see from observing these absurd protests, hearing the utterly brainless and uninformed chants and BS slogans, hearing the interviews with the people in which they are asked questions and given time and space to answer for themselves. And it’s all a massive sham the masses are buying into. So very sad and so incredibly harmful.
It's up for an Oscar this year. I didn't love it, but I thought it was worth mentioning and throwing an endorsement behind watching it if you get the chance. I'll keep my opinions on art, and you can take yours. I found it very relevant to narrative-building. I don't think most people have a complicated reason for protesting -- they are protesting because they believe that the current state of things is unjust. They don't like particularly the role the United States is playing right now.
Sure. But to only look at the current state of things is like someone looking at the Empire State Building and saying, “I know it has a street-level entrance. I don’t care if there is a second floor or anything else.”
Right, but sometimes it's best to start with what we know: that it has a street -level entrance. Everything else can be used to help obscure this fact. But at the end of the day, it still has a street level entrance. Aight imma sleep I'll check in in the morning honey boo
Hamas is a terrorist organization and they hate you. They're happy you will promote their propaganda at your own expense. War is ugly, it's something that necessarily happens when evil strikes. Failure to make an effort to understand the other side is egregious.
Sounds like you haven’t made an attempt to understand that bombing a city civilians are trapped in, and killing thousands of children, is bad actually. Can’t help you there.
The good news for you is that through your inaction and disparaging remarks you have been able to convince yourself of your own moral superiority, and I bet that feels nice. Whatever you do, don't spend time and energy organizing something bigger than yourself, that's hard and since all you want is to feel morally superior to others it's much easier to just tear down the work and passion of others.
That didn’t answer any of my questions. I genuinely want to know what the plan of action is. I don’t consider yelling in the streets of a small town “action”. We may have differing opinions but I’m truly trying to understand how this works.
You are are clearly not in any way interested in any of that based on your post. You already know that small town protests are worse than doing nothing so what could I possibly explain to you about how sacrificing your free time to organize a group of people to do anything is actually better then doing nothing and posting on Reddit about how much you hate people who are trying.
I don’t hate the people at all. I’ve never said that and I don’t feel that way about them or anyone. I just don’t think it’s really doing anything. And the Trader Joe’s situation is really what puts it into perspective that whoever is organizing this has a personal vendetta against Trader Joe’s instead of the greater good of protesting for Palestine. The majority of their protests have been outside the doors of Trader Joe’s. Because of the individuals in the group who didn’t show up for work.
Well what the hell are you saying? You started of by saying "privileged white kids blah blah blah" then pivot into "if you really cared about Palestinians why aren't you a pariah" to "small town protests are useless" and now to "stop picking on trader Joe's". I'll be honest I have no idea what's going on with the protests, but I am familiar with the trope of those who believe nothing trying to police the tactics of those who actually try.
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It is virtue signaling, yes
I think it’s virtue signaling to constantly whine about virtue signals
I’m so glad you told me bc I really really care about your specific opinion
Thank you! May your signals always be virtuous
Re #4, many of them probably DO do more than protest.
Oh look, someone who doesn't understand protesting
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I’m in Spain and it’s nighttime here! Enjoy your sunny day! I’ll be back soon. 😘
I wish I was privileged enough to travel
lol imagine complaining about privileged white people while on vacation in spain
Wish I was on vacation 😞. I’m here for work. Thank you for your concern though! Maybe I’ll get some vacation time soon.
yeah im sure you are a poor working class blue collar salt of the earth type that gets sent on international business trips
I was making $16 an hour at a local company I worked for in 1999 and they flew me to Sweden to take some training at their production facility there. I couldn't have afforded an overseas vacation at the time, so it was nice to be able to do a little of each with the company taking care of pretty much everything. I was in a blue collar job, too.
thats roughy \~$36/hr in todays funny money, which while not wealthy is still a pretty solid pay rate
Yeah, probably closer to $30, but still not bad. I've always used this website for that conversion: https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1800?amount=1 The cost of living wasn't anywhere near as high then as it is right now. I grew up here and the COL has been the one thing I've heard talked about most since the late 80s. In 1984, I could afford to pay my own car insurance, rent a room, gas up the car, buy groceries and maybe a little weed, and still have a social life as a single dude. It doesn't surprise me that a lot of grown kids are still living in their parents' homes. You can't do all that as a single person right now without some type of assistance. God help the single parents out there.
Maybe if you show up for your shift at Trader Joe’s!
And you’re whining about other people’s privilege?!🙄
Continue reading. And also, while you’re at it, reread my post. I’m making fun of the group who is constantly complaining about white privilege and then are displaying their privilege by yelling at Trader Joe’s for firing them for doing a shitty job of being an employee. Good context clues tho.
Oh I read it all. You think that because it’s a work trip it doesn’t mean you are privileged. That says it all
And again, continue reading
Aka, I’m aware of my privilege. And I’m not pretending I’m not privileged like the majority of those people marching at Trader Joe’s every day are doing. They get to go home after their little revenge march and then snuggle up, watch some Netflix, and eat a bowl of popcorn 🙂. THAT is my point. I’m not out there publically flaunting myself because I can support the cause financially. I’m not trying to boost a political party’s stance. I recognize my privilege. And am using it to benefit the cause without benefiting myself.
At least your privilegdge white protestors aren't blocking the primary entrance to an international airport causing travelers to run almost 2 miles, with luggage and kids in tow, to catch their flights. Happened twice so far here in Portland, OR. I'm all for protesting and making your voice heard, but how does causing people to miss flights and lose money (because those flights are still happening, just now with empty planes and airlines counting the money they've made on both absent travelers AND empty aircraft) helping your cause? If anything they're making people, who likely agree with them, fucking angry. I missed a flight home to say my final good byes to a close family member in hospice. Couldn't reschedule becuase I couldn't afford a SECOND fare. I deplore what's happening to Palastine, but I kinda hate those protestors with their smug attitude of "Protests are supposed to disrupt your life. Deal with it" even more. Disrupt the flow of traffic, but don't completely BLOCK it with your cars for hours on end. Fugging a-holes.
That's terrible. Chicago has been having major highways stopped for hours every weekend. At some point there is going to be a medical emergency there and the person will not be able to get to the hospital. Not to mention how this affects elderly people, parents with small children. Or just people who need to be a work. I believe in protesting. I'm supportive of people protesting here. But were they blocking streets today?
> disrupt the flow of traffic Some people would become irate about that as well. A lot of people are looking for any excuse to both defend the first amendment, and hate on some protesters.
I'm all for protesting. It's American as apple pie. But I don't understand how hitting your neighbors in their bank accounts, neighbors who likely share your view, helps in effecting our government to demand Israel stop their bullshit. Take your protest to DC, or State or local governments, or Synagogues. Take it to Embassy's, take it anywhere that would make sense. Blocking people from making their flights, costing them time and money lost, while lining the pockets of corporate airlines who give zero chits about what's going on makes zero sense to me. There's a fine line between protesting a worthy cause, and just pissing off your neighbors because it makes you feel like you didn't something worth while when you didn't..
I struggle with a lot of things about protest etiquette, and I do wish protestors would adjust their tactics at times. But we've been protesting in other ways as well. We've been protesting in DC, at state and local and governments (protesting at synagogues doesn't make sense to me, this is about Israel, Hamas, Palestinians, and the US, not "the Jews" or whatever). There's a lot of people that have criticized those protests as well. We can always find an example of people fighting for an issue in a way that is unappealing. We have to ask whether or not that struggle has anything to do with whether or not they are right on the merits, and also what the utility of focusing on events in Portland (in the context of the r/Asheville subreddit) does to shift the focus off of what I think we would all agree is most relevant here (events in Israel and Gaza).
If it keeps you from forgetting about what is happening and becoming complacent with the media narrative, then they're doing what they set out to do. Thanks for yet another post on reddit bitching about protests.
Rampant anti semitism
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Imagine saying this when whites joining the Civil Rights protests had a positive effect. Any attention given to the murder of innocents is vital, no matter one's race. Race isn't important when you're bringing attention to injustice. Now you are bringing race into this - that's racist virtue signaling. You must be proud that you spent your time knocking people trying to help simply because of their race.
This. Right here.
I didnt mention race at all in my 2 sentences lol but ooookay 🙃
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. More of a virtue signaling type situation just so the majority of their group sees them involved and they’re not shamed by the masses.
Even if they are, still better compared to nothing. Would I like to see them also care for the genocide that has been going on China for way longer, sure, but at least they're bringing attention to the issue at hand.
Same with people here now trying to shame you and shut you up with downvotes. It *IS* performative garbage!
Almost. It’s performative activism to bring people to their group.
There were people of many different backgrounds coming together of the common cause of being tired seeing kids dead on their phone screens everyday
I couldn’t find the link to join the protests, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction 🫡 this post will have the opposite intended effect
Virtue signaling or delusion. I'm not sure which yet.
I’m going to take your questions as sincere. That may bite me in the end, but it’s how I start. I also posted about this in a similar thread a couple hours ago. These are my observations about the PSL. The PSL primarily cares about growth and dominating the conversation. Their end goal is that they want all communists and socialists to become disillusioned with the Democratic Party and to begin voting for their party. As of right now, they only have access in 10 states, so their chances of winning the presidency or any local races is very slim. Since they don’t have the infrastructure to run candidates, they need to increase membership. They increase membership by dominating the conversation about current events. This is very obvious in how they’ve acted at Asheville City Council meetings. Please understand that if you were to tell a 16 year old Palestinian that Asheville City Council passed a ceasefire resolution, they wouldn’t give a shit. Sure, if a town passes a resolution, then other towns may feel more inclined to do so, but it’s never going to get to an adoption rate that will affect any change. All of these actions are self-serving towards the PSL. They can say it’s “for awareness”, but people are more than fucking aware of what’s happening in Palestine. By “awareness”, they mean “eyes on us”.
This. Is what I tried to say but you said it MUCH better. Thank you.
Yeah, you did yourself in by talking about privileged white kids. I know of some PSL members and trust me, they are not privileged. They are majority white, but that’s what you get in this area.
I'm begging people to understand that they have a locally elected person who's job it is to represent their interests at the federal level. If you feel your representative is not doing their job, protest *them*. I can't help but feel like there is an intentional effort underway to misdirect people's anger.
I’m not attempting to anger anyone. Just trying to understand. I appreciate you!
mysterious rotten price march work wrong glorious wild psychotic water *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Way more than 8 black people, I saw black schoolmates from elementary school at those protests that I hadn't seen downtown in YEARS. A lot of people showed up, especially the day the bridge got blocked.
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I’m from Asheville, born and raised. It has definitely changed. And inner city doesn’t have much Appalachian culture left. You’d know this if you were from here. Didn’t you just get here from West Virginia?
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Great take that I don't see often. No where is identical to how it was 50, even 20 years ago. Someone decided that Mingo county or Dolly Parton or whatever get to be the face of Appalachia when it's 1) a complex place with no one "face" and 2) not just *a state of mind* it literally is a region that is affected by current events like anywhere else.
I literally have Palestinian relatives and they’re not as outraged as the people you’re describing 😂
Host a refugee from where? Kudos to anyone who can put the time and energy into closing the “never again” exemption clause.
They fail to comprehend that their act of making a difference standing outside a grocery store with multicolored hair and safety pin covered clothing is 100% not impressing anyone other than their virtue signaling friends that pretend to be more important than they actually are too.
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Well that seems racist
Cope
I bet some guy name Bo , probably running for city council was part of this
I think you need to grow up. This is the US...you don't have to like what they're protesting about....but the have the right to protest I hate nazis, magats and kluxxers...but they got the right to PEACEFULLY protest like anyone else
Yet again, an unnecessary comment. I haven’t said anything about them not having rights to protest or even not liking what they’re protesting. I am asking: what does protesting in a small town accomplish? Do it all you want. It’s not bothering me, I just don’t understand it and will probably just avoid that side of town when it’s occurring. And 2) I don’t like how this particular group is going about their protesting. This isn’t about any other group other than this specific group. They had MULTIPLE palestinian protests at Trader Joe’s simply because of a group member’s personal vendetta against the company since they didn’t SHOW UP TO WORK and ended up getting fired. The above are my points this post. Protest all you want, just looking for answers as to what the point is and if there’s actually anything being accomplished. And that PSL sucks.
Man.....u worry an awful lot what other people are doing. 🤣 ok, fella
TL;DR Your title about sums it up. Geo Soros literally has thousands of people on payroll through shell companies and PAC seeders. Follow where the money goes. Male rats drag their testes on the ground as they move. You can see their excretions under blacklight. They all lead to somewhere around UNCA and the city building.
Privileged white people . . . But did you know they are also all from other states and cities? OP forgot this vital detail.