Executive Director of @AAFutures. Immigrant rights + social justice advocate. Lover of literature and good vegetarian food. Posts are my own.
Joined October 2008
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Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act.
It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
No, Mr. Netanyahu. It is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in a little over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – 70% of whom are women and children.
You will not distract us from this immoral war.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
I’m proud to join UCLA’s most prominent scholars of social & racial justice, law, history, global studies, health sciences & more for academic freedom in relation to the Palestine exception (liberals defend academic freedom except in case of Palestine): tinyurl.com/academicfreedoma…
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Listen to every word by Congress member Rashida Tlaib here and tell me she’s not holding the voice of Palestinians, Jews, everyday Americans and all people of conscience?
As most Democrats fail us, it is @RashidaTlaib who is our moral leader. Which is why she’s a target.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
A story of Olives and Cactus:
“Wherever you see cactus, know there was a Palestinian village in that place ” . That’s what they tell you if you ever visit the West Bank. Israel has been removing, bulldozing , erasing villages and cities for decades to terraform the land . But the problem is , Cactus keeps growing back . No matter how they try to destroy the land and the soil and build their settlements , cactus keep coming back.
A friend of mine just came back from there carrying a gift for me : Locally squeezed olive oil from a her village in the West Bank . “Forget the commercial stuff you buy from stores. We squeeze oil in our own villages.”
They squeeze the olives on the stone mills, use clean dedicated straw bags to squeeze it on the extruding machines . Same process that has been done for 100,200, 400 maybe 600 years . As old as these trees. You take a product of the land , squeeze it to its limits and you get that pure green gold.
A healing potion of life .
“Just put some oil” is the answer for everything in Palestine. Hungry ? Add oil. A bit sick ? Rub oil. Want to feel better about the world? Oil as old as the earth is there for you. They are not just olive trees. They are family . They are there to feed you , heal you and take care of you. How can you uproot a member of the family and call this land yours ? I have no idea . The trees don’t agree with that . And cactus definitely don’t agree with that. Maybe we got it all wrong! Maybe olive trees are not just an extension of Palestinian heritage. Maybe, Palestinians themselves are an extension of the land . They are like the trees . You can beat them , you can pressure them , you can squeeze them and push them beyond any human limits. But they don’t die . Like crushed olives that produce green gold. And from death, a million lives will be born. And their pain will eventually be the healing potion for all of us.
And if you try to uproot them , they won’t go away . You think they will. But they come back. Like cactus . To defy you , to stand up for you , take your abuse and prick you back. They are there , to stay . Forever
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Never unsee this photo, world. Never forget that in the moment when Israel was slaughtering 136 children a day in Gaza,
not
one
single
white
U.S.
Congressperson
not
ONE
could bring themselves to call for a ceasefire.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
It’s sickening to hear Rep. Michelle Salzman dehumanize Palestinian people in such a cruel way. This rhetoric endangers lives here & abroad. In the past month, 10,000+ Palestinians have been killed & @CAIRNational has tracked 1,200+ acts of anti-Arab hate & Islamophobia in the US
In tears, Florida State Rep @AngieNixon begs for a ceasefire and asks how many dead Palestinians will be enough.
Republican @michellesalzman (@FLHouseRep) shouts out, "All of them."
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Grateful for Representatives:
Tlaib
Carson
Summer Lee
Ramirez
Bowman
Watson Coleman
Chuy Garcia
Jackson
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pressley
Velázquez
Barbara Lee
Jayapal
Casar
Adams
Frost
Our #CeasefireNow Resolution is pro-peace & pro-humanity. Who'll sign on next?
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Attention is obviously now focused on the crisis in Gaza, but West Bank violence has also increased. The UN reports 170 settler attacks in the West Bank, and 121 Palestinians have been killed since October 7. Israel must end this violence.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Jews calling for #ceasefirenow have taken over NYC’s grand central station in the name of Palestinians of Gaza we say not in our name.
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Asians - we need you to show up now.
We're taking the streets to demand ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. Join us for a local actions in the Bay Area, D.C. and more. #AsiansforPalestine Find your local action here: uscpr.org/oct-2023-protests/
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
We mourn the death of Jasmer Singh, a Sikh elder who recently died after being assaulted in an apparent hate-motivated attack in Queens, NYC. As we witnessed after 9/11, intensifying anti-Muslim & anti-Arab rhetoric is harming South Asians, Sikhs, Arabs and Muslims across the US
“He just remarks about my father’s appearance,” the grieving son said.
“Attacking … pointing on his turban ... some kind of hate on his mind.”
People saw Singh try to call cops on the 30-year-old, who had a suspended license: “No police!”
nydailynews.com/2023/10/23/f…
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Our friends at @CAIRNational are facing a torrent of violent, Islamophobic threats. We echo their condemnation of such bigotry & again demand our leaders and the media stop using hate-mongering rhetoric that's actively harming Muslim, Arab, Jewish, and Palestinian communities.
Important community update: over the past 24 hours, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian extremists have made dozens of violent threats to the Marriott hotel hosting our upcoming annual banquet.
Due to the specific nature of the threats--planting a bomb in hotel parking and threats to kill specific hotel managers by name--and the lack of additional law enforcement to act as security, the Crystal Gateway Marriot Hotel was forced to cancel the event.
We strongly condemn these threats and the broader surge in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. Insha Allah, we will not be stopped by bigotry or cowardly threats. We will hold our banquet on Oct. 21 as planned at an alternate private location with heightened security. Details tomorrow, God willing.
Now is the time for our community, friends and political leaders to stand together and reject this wave of hate. We will continue standing with Palestine and we will continue fighting for justice.
Click below for details. cair.com/press_releases/brea…
Reshma Shamasunder retweeted
Happy Filipino American History Month 2023!
After nearly 5 centuries, FilAms are one of the largest #AsianAmerican groups in the nation, and make countless contributions to our country every day.
#FAHM2023 #FilipinoAmerican #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
