Decolonize - Blog Posts
Palestine Designs
My Palestinian best friend is an absolutely brilliant scientist and all around amazing person. He genuinely tries to help everyone he meets. It is heartbreaking seeing my dearest friend in so much pain. I wish there was more I could do to help.
A lot of his friends and family all around the Levant are being hurt directly and/or financially by the war. ALL PROCEEDS from the Palestine designs I have been selling will go first and foremost to helping his girlfriend afford to join him in America safely, and after that helping his other loved ones weather this war.
I know it's not much but my hope is to at least ease the financial toll this will take on him, grad students don't have much to begin with and having to stretch what he does have to protect those he loves is going to be really tough as this conflict drags on. I don't want him to have to leave his research, I can't tell you much for his privacy but I assure you it is brilliant work and he loves it so much. No scientist should have to choose between their passion and the safety of their family.
Above is the latest design, found here. Mostly made with stickers in mind, though you can also find it on shirts, notebooks, hats, etc. There are 5 more versions of a map with a keffiyeh pattern waiting for Redbubble's approval now. Full collection can be found here, with new designs being added pretty much daily in a variety of styles.
This has been the favorite and best seller so far:
Thank you to everyone who has helped out.
Palestine Designs
My best friend is an absolutely brilliant scientist and all around amazing person. He genuinely tries to help everyone he meets. He'll interrupt a lunch to go buy lunch for the homeless people too. He's been involved in activism for more causes than I can count, often for things (like LGBTQ+ issues) that don't affect him personally, just because it's the right thing to do. He takes care of everyone else even when he doesn't have much for himself.
He is Palestinian, and a lot of his friends and family all around the Levant are being hurt either directly or financially by the war. Those of you who have been following this account know that for a little over a week now I have been adding Palestine related designs to my Redbubble shop. ALL PROCEEDS from these will go first and foremost to helping his girlfriend afford to join him in America safely, and after that helping his other loved ones weather this war.
Thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!
Click Here to See All Designs
(available on shirts, bags, stickers, pins, etc.)
Pinkwashing Palestine
The pinkwashing of the genocide in Palestine is ridiculous. First of all gay rights is not an excuse for killing little kids, at all. Beyond that though, opinions on homosexuality are far from a monolith in the region. My Palestinian best friend and his very traditional, religious family are not homophobic in the slightest. My own white American family took decades longer to come around on gay rights than they did. Would it have been okay to bomb a large portion of the south in the 90s? Should my husband have been killed as a child for being born into a very standard (and very homophobic) sect of Christianity around then? Large swaths of Palestine are roughly where America was not so long ago. Laws are ambiguous (because occupation), some people are cool with gay people, some aren't, many don't really have an opinion. Some areas have a visible queer subculture, some don't. It varies, just like everywhere.
NONE OF THIS could justify the current violence (and PLENTY of queer Palestinians are being killed right now), but I think it's particularly absurd because Palestine really isn't that different than we were not so long ago, and most of us can agree the indiscriminate slaughter of Texans a few decades back would have been bad. Israeli propaganda would have you believe every Arab wants all gay people dead. This is ridiculous.
For more on gay rights in Palestine look at Al Qaws.
In light of this I have added this simple design to my shop (click here), I've seen a few people here expressing they want something like this for protests.
ANY AND ALL PROCEEDS from Palestine related sales through my Redbubble shop will go to my Palestinian best friend (same one mentioned above) 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.
“Free Palestine” shirts and other products styled like an old black metal album. The friend I am raising this for loves that music. The photo is from a protest in Jerusalem.
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.
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/154436126
Just got another design approved! A little dove wrapped in a keffiyeh.
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’s an incredible person. Kind, altruistic, a genius scientist, passionate activist and all around the best person I have ever met. He deserves so much better than all the horrible things happening right now.
Find the design here (sorry the mugs look a little weird in the previews, not sure if the company will print them right):
(via "Dove Wrapped in Keffiyeh Scarf" for Sale by FairieDance)
Thank you so much to whoever just bought 3 tops and a print! You're amazing!!!
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.
I have a couple more new designs waiting for verification, products on controversial topics are getting checked pretty slowly by Redbubble at the moment. For now I have 7 designs available for printing on a wide range of products (well sort of 6, one has an English and Arabic variant). Hopefully more to come in the next day or two!
Collection found here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/fairiedance/shop?artistUserName=FairieDance&collections=3770065
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’s an incredible, kind, brilliant person and he deserves so much better than all the horrible things happening right now.
I filled in the flag with open source NASA photos. For sale here:
("Palestinian Flag Made of NASA Space Photos" Sticker for Sale by FairieDance)