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@TomiLahren

@TomiLahren

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Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Apr 14

1/ With Iran in the news, I'm going to do a brief educational thread on their history since the 1979 "Revolution" where they moved from a flawed monarchy with democratic principles to a theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini.

Here's a picture of life in Iran before the revolution. She's cutting a piece of cake and showing her legs.

Religious clerics were put in charge of the government, and women's rights were severely curtailed. This included enforced wearing of a hijab in public, destroying women's rights to divorce, custody and inheritance, limiting women's ability to work in many fields and designing society where they were forced to be homemakers.

After the revolution, women were segregated from public spaces like theaters and sports arenas. It's difficult to advocate for your human rights when you are not allowed access to the public commons in the way men are.

2/ The Iran-Iraq war of 1980 had devastating effects on the country. Saddam Hussein tried to take advantage of the chaos and invade. Civilians on both sides were displaced, and Iraq used chemical weapons leading to long-term health impacts on the civilian population.

This fear solidified the control of the theocratic government and expanded the role of the Revolutionary Guard Core (IRGC) in public life, allowing fine religious control over aspects of public life.

The eight-year war also led to a culture where political dissent was quashed, often violently.

3/ The modern fight for women's rights in Iran deserves its own thread, but I strongly suggest following @elicalebon, who is brilliant.

The enforcement of wearing a hijab in public is still in place, as are the restrictions on divorce and inheritance. And although women are allowed to attend universities, there are strong restrictions on which offices women can run for.

Women's rights activists regularly face imprisonment, violence and organized harassment by the government.

Read 4 tweets

Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Feb 20

1/ Why should Israel exist? It’s a “settler-colonialist” atrocity, right? Didn’t they just steal the Palestinians' land in 1948?

No. The truth is, no one knows more about getting genocided and kicked out of their homes than the Jews. I’m not a historian, but with all the heated Twitter conversation, I thought I’d read a book or two to have an informed opinion about Israel/Palestine and whose home the region is. Is Twitter’s portrayal of Jews as warmongers who stole the Palestinian’s land accurate? Or is this a selective, one-sided history?

It is wildly one-sided and ahistoric.

If you truly care about people living in peace and safety and not getting “settler-colonized” you should STRONGLY support the existence of Israel. This thread will educate you on the 2,500 years of history BEFORE 1948. It will explain how the land of Israel is the historic home of Jews, how they were slaughtered and evicted repeatedly in an event called the Jewish Diaspora. And as long as this thread is, it’s going to be a FRACTION of a FRACTION of the atrocities.

The original Jewish presence in the region dates to around 2000 BCE with the 12 tribes. About 700 years later, Egypt saw them as a threat, then came in and enslaved them. Moses led a slave revolt (based) with the help of divine intervention, escaped, and after 40 years of exile they eventually conquered what we call Israel today. Pretty traumatic, right? Lol, we are just getting started.

So, after the Exodus, the Assyrians came in and conquered Israel. This is around the 8th century, who wanted the land for economic control and part of a wider effort of expansion and control. In 722, they seized a city called Samaria and exiled massive amounts of the Jewish population. (Important to note this is Biblical history, and modern historians do not have clear documentation)

By 538, the Babylonians let the Jews return to their homeland and try to rebuild their society. And after about 500 years of difficult work, the Romans set their sights on Jerusalem. Over a million Jews are slaughtered, a staggering number for this time period when the world population was so much lower. Jews are enslaved. Jews are raped. Their homes are pillaged, and 1,878 years of horror start. This is called the fall of the second temple.

The name Palestine comes from the aftermath of all the Roman genocide, raping and pillaging. After the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132, most Jews are exiled from their homeland - though some remain. The Romans wanted to erase the Jews from history and renamed the region, taking it from what some called “Syria Palaestina.” Settler-colonialism, if you will. Many Jews escaped to Galilee. But, there was no one home - Jews begin to disperse all around the globe. Some go to Babylonia. Some go to Egypt (their original oppressors). Greece, Italy, Northern Africa, Europe. It’s uncertain if Jews will survive at all.

By the 7th century, Islam is born and Islamic conquests start. In some ways, Jews are able to adapt and thrive in the midst of all the war. Their existence is given a special tax, and the Caliphates take over the major centers of Jewish life. Sometimes, there is tolerance and flourishing of culture, sometimes Jews are targeted for expulsion, rape and genocide. Their safety is at the whim of whoever is in charge.

Then the Crusades start. This is around 1096, and it utterly devastating for Jews. It’s now Europeans specifically targeting Jewish communities. Envious of Jewish economic success, and spurred by antisemitic propaganda (sound familiar?) they do mass killings. They force religious conversions. And to survive, Jewish people disperse even further around the globe.

Read 6 tweets

Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Dec 29, 2023

I want to show everyone the face of antisemitism on Twitter.

The Times has a deeply reported story this morning on the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.

Here is a 🧵 of my mentions, with the names attached, of the people justifying, cheerleading and denying it.

“It’s all made up.”

“Israel is harvesting organs.”

Read 35 tweets

Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Sep 25, 2023

Long 🧵: Worried about Biden’s poll numbers? Here are some concrete things Biden can do to improve them.

A. Invest less in television ads and more in field. There are a lot of financial incentives to invest heavily in TV. And they do work with a certain subset of voters.

2/ But, I have been worried for a REALLY LONG TIME about the limits of our data and technology in the Democratic Party. The way it approaches field 1. Assumes elections are won like they were won in 1990, and 2. Makes new strategies like relational organizing difficult.

3/ There is an entire generation of potential voters, overwhelmingly Young that we just do not have data on. They watch YouTube politics and no one from our party talks to them.

Any strategy for the next decade MUST include them.

B. Biden cannot just do cable news.

Read 10 tweets

Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Sep 20, 2023

RANT INCOMING:

One of my jobs this cycle is to get the Democratic party to take the streaming space seriously.

Data shows younger people won midterms, and if we can’t get them to show up in 2024 we are just fucked. They don’t watch cable, but they do watch Destiny and Hasan.

2/ And let’s be really clear, the right does not give a shit about edgy statements anyone has made. Trump went on Alex Jones for God’s sakes.

What makes my job SO MUCH HARDER is the endless efforts by our own side to tear down our strongest voices by controversialing them.

3/ The online left is always talking about “How to win” by not giving up say, non-binary people when they are politically inconvenient. And fair enough.

But you were unwilling to extend ANY OF THE SAME SOLIDARITY to our own media superstars.

Read 5 tweets

Brianna Wu

@BriannaWu

Sep 13, 2023

There’s a huge schism growing on the left I’ve struggled to understand.

And, I think I’ve figured out how to put words to it, please tell me if this rings true to you.

There are Policy Leftists and Infinite Leftists.

2/ I am a Policy Leftist. There are specific policies I want with a beginning and end. I can argue them from a rational basis without calling you names if you disagree.

Single payer healthcare. Lowering housing costs. Civil rights for LGBT people.

3/ This frustratingly brings me into conflict with the Infinite Leftists. They see all these issues in terms of a purity test that spirals into infinity.

You start with one issue, and you have to ride it ever leftwards and if you ever stop, you are a moral monster.

Read 10 tweets

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