Decolonisation - Blog Posts

The watermelon first emerged as a symbol of Palestine after the six day war in 1967. Israel made public displays of the Palestinian flag illegal so Palestinians would try to circumvent the ban by using the watermelon, which has the same four colors. I just added a second watermelon design (left) to my shop (just a simple combination of open source assets, map made by Anditii Creative). Watermelons are also basically my best friend's favorite food, he gets SO excited for them in the summer, it's adorable. One of my favorite memories with him is when we impulsively bought a watermelon on our way out on a hike and ate the whole thing with our bare hands in a hollow in a tree. I didn't know then that the watermelon was also a symbol of his home. I'm glad it is, since it already makes me think of him.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for this Palestinian friend, to help him support his girlfriend in remaining safely in America until things calm down and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy this design on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here (Redbubble will display them on a random product, click on each to see more product options). Edit: collections cap out at 100 products apparently, so from now on see my full range of designs here on my main page (I have temporarily removed all designs not related to Palestine).

Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

ALL PROCEEDS from my designs go to my Palestinian best friend to help him support his girlfriend in remaining safely in America until things calm down and to help his other loved ones around the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. He plans on donating anything his family doesn't need to the Palestinian charities he works with. You can find the design above here printed on stickers, notebooks, shirts and many other products.

You can find all my designs here. Redbubble will display with a random product, click on it to see all product options (shirts, stickers, notebooks, etc).

Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

Masks for Protest Safety

I have seen a lot of people out protesting without masks. I want to point out that masks are not just for safety from illness! If you're at a protest that seems at risk of turning violent or being extra controversial in some way (being held in a hostile conservative area, for example) it is a very good idea to have a mask on you to avoid facial recognition software. Even if you don't do anything wrong there is always a chance law enforcement could give you a hard time for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time (particularly if you are a minority).

Other useful tips: Keep your phone turned off or carry a burner, wear long clothes to protect from chemical agents (and cover identifying tattoos), bring water (to wash eyes and drink), don't post photos of people without their consent, avoid contact lenses and eye makeup (due to pepper spray), don't carry anything you wouldn't want to get arrested with (drugs, valuables, etc), avoid loose hair and jewelry that can get caught or grabbed, write down (maybe on your skin) or memorize contact info for people you are with.

This post was prompted because I noticed throughout my fundraising that I have not sold any masks. This is totally fine, I've made plenty of other sales and stickers usually have the highest margins anyway. I do hope this means most of you are using keffiyehs or masks you have left over from Covid though! It's good to be safe (I'm always nagging the friend I'm raising money for to take more safety precautions at his protests, haha).

Here is a small sample of some of the masks I have:

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from these are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options such as masks, stickers, shirts, mugs, etc). I'm still adding new ones nearly daily.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out so far!

The watermelon first emerged as a symbol of Palestine after the six day war in 1967. Israel made public displays of the Palestinian flag illegal so Palestinians would circumvent the ban by using the watermelon, which has the same four colors. I figured it was about time I added a watermelon to my collection, it seems like every shop in this niche has their own version of it. Also the friend I am fundraising for absolutely adores watermelon, he'll eat a whole big one a day during the summer. We grabbed one last second for a hike one time and ate the whole thing with our bare hands out in the woods, it's a really nice memory. So this seems extra fitting.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for this Palestinian friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy this designs on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options).

I would also like to continue to advertise this poppy and this keffiyeh wearing kitten, since they have rapidly become some of my best sellers:

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out so far!

These stickers are edited photos of the keffiyeh my best friend gave me soon after things started up back in October.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for this Palestinian friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy this designs on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here and here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options).

I would also like to advertise this poppy and this keffiyeh wearing kitten again, since they have had really great sticker sales this week:

My friend is such a sweet person and it's been heartbreaking seeing him so constantly stressed out and sad these past couple of months. It's been really nice to be able to at least help with the financial burden. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out so far!

This poem, If We Must Die by Claude McKay was written during the Red Summer, 1919. It has since been adopted to represent many groups facing persecution. I pair it here with a field of poppies and a faint keffiyeh pattern, emblematic of the Palestinian struggle. I may make a more elaborate version in the future, I have some ideas. For now, this is available on stickers, shirts, prints, etc.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. You can find this design here. All designs here. By the way you can change the color on the shirts if you don't like the white background.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

Trying something a little different here, at the recommendation of a friend. Some people use stickering as a form of activism, you've probably seen it for one cause or another if you live in a big city. Most of my stickers are mainly meant to look nice, but I thought I would change it up a bit and make an informational one, with that use case in mind.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. You can find this design here.

A few more typical sticker designs if that's more your thing:

All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options).

A minimal poppy design, just an open source image with some lettering I thought would make for a nice water bottle sticker. This flower is common in Palestine and is often used as a symbol, representing the colors of the flag and blood shed upon the land.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy this designs on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options). Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

Cats Wearing Keffiyehs

These designs are edits of two vintage Julie de Graag prints.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from these designs are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

For now his girlfriend is safe, plans are underway and we hope to see her here in not too long. His immediate family is safe for now. Some of his extended family are not doing so well unfortunately. We likely won't know the extent of the harm until things calm down a little. I will keep posts vague to respect his privacy, but the stuff in the West Bank has hit them quite hard. They've also lost some friends in Gaza.

You can buy the designs above on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here and here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options). Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

Sticker Designs for Palestine

For those who haven't seen my posts yet, I am raising money for my Palestinian best friend. ALL PROCEEDS will go to help his loved ones through this war and to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America. He is the sweetest person in the world (and a truly brilliant scientist, like an actual genius) and he deserves so much better than this. All designs found here.

I'd like to point out now that my stickers generally have the highest profit margin, and if you buy 10+ you get half off all of them but I still receive the same amount (edit: nevermind, I think I still get a flat percentage but also the 50% sale is less than 50% if Redbubble is running another sale at the same time. Still, bulk always costs you less and I make a high percentage on stickers!). Here is a small sample of my stickers (including 3 I haven't posted here before):

All 66 and counting of my designs are available on stickers (among many other things) so check out the collection! Click on whatever product Redbubble shows you to see more product options. Thank you so much to the people who made purchases yesterday, and to everyone who helped share my work around! It was exciting seeing the shop get so much attention!

Honestly I am stressing the fuck out worrying about my friend and you all make me feel like I'm being useful so thank you, sincerely.

This is an edit of L'Heure du silence, an 1897 work by Henri Georges J. I. Meunier. I took a photo of my keffiyeh (a present from the same friend I am raising money for) and edited it to match the print. I also gave her a vintage key, a common symbol in the Palestinian struggle for the right of return (حق العودة), the principle that refugees have the right to return to the property they were forced off of.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

For now his girlfriend is safe, plans are underway and we hope to see her here in not too long. His immediate family is safe for now. His extended family not so much unfortunately. We likely won't know the extent of how bad it is until things calm down a little. I will note that a lot of his loved ones who have been hurt are in the West Bank, not Gaza. If you have not been paying attention to the situation in the West Bank you should take a look, it's getting pretty bleak there too. I will keep things vague to respect his privacy.

You can buy the design above on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options). Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

A woodcut style dove wearing a keffiyeh over a poppy. The official national flower of Palestine as of 2016 actually seems to be the Faqqu’a iris, but many people will tell you that it's the poppy. Regardless of how official it is (often a vague thing when it comes to national symbols anyway) the poppy is an important national emblem for Palestine. It features the four colors of the flag (black, white, red and green) and is also said to represent blood shed on the land. Honestly I see it used a lot more than the iris (though both are lovely plants).

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy the design above on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here (Redbubble will show you a random product, click on each to see more product options). Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

A collage I made. The pictures are a sunbird, keffiyehs, poppies, a man with a flag (and another flag), a key, oranges, the Dome of the Rock from the Al-Aqsa compound, a woman in a traditional outfit and some olives.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy the design above on various products (shirts, mugs, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here. Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

The phrase "the whole world is watching" is most famous for being chanted by Vietnam war protestors in 1968 as they were beaten and arrested outside the DNC. It's an older phrase without a clear origin, but it quickly became iconic after the protests. It is commonplace now in leftist protests and movements. It certainly seems fitting for the current crisis in Palestine.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from this design are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.

You can buy the design above on various products (shirts, stickers, etc) here. All designs found here. Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

New Dove Design

I am absolutely in love with the Reem Kufi font (on the left), it's a beautiful blend of historical and modern design (though a little hard to read if you're still new to Arabic, haha). The Arabic characters were designed by Khaled Hosny if you want to check out the artist. I've used it for a bunch of simpler designs as well on my Redbubble recently.

As usual, ALL PROCEEDS from these designs are for my Palestinian best friend, to help his girlfriend afford to join him safely in America and to help his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. He is a brilliant scientist and the kindest man I have ever known, I hate seeing him suffer like this and want to help in whatever small way I can.

The designs above (and a bunch more) can be found here. Available on stickers, shirts, pins, notebooks, etc (click on each to see more product options).

Also check out my most popular designs so far (also doves):

Thank you to everyone who has helped so far!

Keffiyeh Doves - New Versions

I wanted to post these little guys again since it turned out my account was not working/not showing in any tags when I made the previous post.

These are the new variants:

My best friend (the best person I have EVER known) is Palestinian, and a lot of his friends and family in Palestine and around the rest of the Levant are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. ALL PROCEEDS from these designs will go to helping his girlfriend afford to join him in America safely and helping his other loved ones weather this war.

These doves and all my other designs can be found here. Click on each design to see more product options (shirts, stickers, notebooks, etc). Thank you to the person who bought the original on a sticker this morning, and to everyone who has been buying stickers the last few days!

We're slightly hopeful that the ceasefire will mitigate the harm being done to my friend's family going forward. He's already had some loved ones hurt that this money can help so for now I will continue the fundraising (plus we are not optimistic about the ceasefire continuing to be extended, unfortunately). For now his girlfriend has remained safe and financial planning for her trip here is going okay. Most of his immediate family is okay (extended family and friends not entirely so unfortunately). I will keep these updates somewhat vague to protect their privacy. We greatly appreciate all your help!

Here are the three different dove designs I have so far. They are available on a wide variety of products, including stickers, magnets, shirts, pins, etc.

ALL PROCEEDS from Palestine related sales through my Redbubble shop will go to my Palestinian best friend to help him bring his girlfriend over to America. Any left over will be used to help his family/other loved ones affected by the war.

He is hands down the best person I have ever met, it is heartbreaking watching him suffer through this. I know this isn’t much help but I really don’t know what else I can do.

Full collection linked below, updating daily. There are a couple key of return designs too that don’t seem to be showing in the collection yet as of the time I’m posting this, they should be accessible through the main artist page.

(Palestine Collection by FairieDance)

Thank you so much to whoever purchased a sticker with this design! It is my favorite so far as well.

ANY AND ALL PROCEEDS from Palestine related sales through my Redbubble shop will go to my Palestinian best friend to help him bring his girlfriend over to America. Any left over will be used to help his family/other loved ones affected by the war.

(via "Palestine Dove Wearing Keffiyeh" Magnet for Sale by FairieDance)

New Palestine Designs

My best friend (an absolutely brilliant scientist and compassionate social activist, seriously the best person ever) is Palestinian, and a lot of his friends and family all around the Levant are being affected by the war. I have recently started adding Palestine related designs to my shop and I will continue to do so. Any and all money from those will go first and foremost to making sure his girlfriend gets to America safely, and after that helping his other loved ones weather this.

Shop here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/fairiedance/shop