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Mona Eltahawy

26 May, 13 tweets, 5 min read

Rep. Rashda Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. And it shows! She and Rep. Ilhan Omar are the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. And it shows! feministgiant.com/p/the-disrupto…

It shows in the ways they have challenged the sacrosanct U.S, support for Israel, creating a “tectonic” shift among Democrats towards a country accustomed to unquestioned bipartisan support.

https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1392982831995961344?s=20

It shows in the way they express support for Palestinians as an expression of both their identities and also their progressive politics. Neither was in Congress during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014, and the difference their presence makes shows

https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1392982831995961344?s=20

@RashidaTlaib

Rep. @RashidaTlaib and @IlhanMN are disruptors who signal that if there was a way to do things before they arrived, that way was not their destination. Read and share my new essay. feministgiant.com/p/the-disrupto…

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feministgiant.com

“This is so personal for me. I am a reminder to colleagues that Palestinians do indeed exist; that we are human; that we are allowed to dream. We are mothers, daughters, granddaughters," Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Tlaib was born in the United States but her grandmother—sity (my grandmother)—and extended family live in the Palestinian village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa in the occupied West Bank.

It matters that Rep. Ilhan Omar survived a war and is the first Muslim refugee elected to Congress because she can so movingly connect her lived experience with that of Palestinians, whose pain and dispossession are rarely acknowledged in the U.S. political and media landscapes.

Omar and Tlaib matter because their very existence so incarnates the nightmares of fascist fucks: Muslim women, one Black, the other Palestinian, both loudly disrupting smug supremacists.

So much so, that in 2019, at the behest of Trump, Netanyahu blocked entry to Omar and Tlaib. It was the first time a U.S. president urged another country to bar entry to representatives of one of the three branches of the U.S. government. zora.medium.com/trumps-incitem…

Whether Israel barred them entry because of their support for BDS or because Trump pushed for them to be barred, it matters that they so disturbed these two fascist fucks who appeal to a racist, misogynist, and bigoted base for support. feministgiant.com/p/the-disrupto…

@IlhanMN

During her first campaign for Congress, @IlhanMN famously said, “I am America’s hope and the president’s nightmare.”

From disrupting Trump to confronting Biden, from disrupting the sacrosanct to confronting the smug, it is thrilling to see Tlaib & Omar are still that nightmare.

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More from @monaeltahawy

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

25 May

@IlhanMN

My latest for FEMINIST GIANT’s The Disruptors Series.

This week I look at how Rep. @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib are helping to change unquestioned and sacrosanct U.S. support for Israel.

feministgiant.com/p/the-disrupto…

Omar and Tlaib were not in Congress during Israel's 6-week bombardment of Gaza in 2014. During Israel's bombardment of Gaza earlier this month, the 2 congresswomen--first 2 Muslim women and first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress--their presence was vital.

@IlhanMN

It is thrilling to hear Rep. @IlhanMN call a fascist what he is: a far-right ethno-nationalist

Read 8 tweets

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

24 May

@rerutled

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, the first woman elected prime minister of Samoa showed up for her swearing-in ceremony on Monday to find her opponents had locked the doors to prevent her from taking office. h/t @rerutled

washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… #Samoa

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her followers pitched a tent on the statehouse lawn, where she took the oath of office instead.

“This is an illegal takeover of government. Because it’s a bloodless coup, people aren’t so concerned or disturbed by it.” #Samoa

Fiame was previously the deputy PM and defected last year from HRPP, which has ruled Samoa for 39yrs. She took on her former leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who is the world’s 2nd-longest serving PM and has been in the role for more than 22yrs. theguardian.com/world/2021/may…

Read 5 tweets

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

23 May

https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/1396470021937840135

The danger, always, is that someone as vile as Marjorie Greene is normalized by the U.S. media. White, blonde, Christian women--even the dangerous ideologues--are afforded the privilege of default and the audacity of innocence.

https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/1396470021937840135

The GOP has long been a party of white supremacy, misogyny, Islamophobia, etc. GOP women understand the specific role they play to maintain it. They've learned that to succeed against the boys, they must outdo the boys in hate--enter Marjorie Taylor Greene
feministgiant.com/p/a-white-supr…

MTG was vile long before she was elected but because much of her vileness was directed at Muslims, Black people, and Jews, Republicans shrugged and carried on being the craven shits they are, happy to throw their weight behind anyone who brings them votes. feministgiant.com/p/if-marjorie-…

Read 5 tweets

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

23 May

If Marjorie Taylor Greene was a Muslim, she would be in Guantanamo Bay and in shackles. feministgiant.com/p/if-marjorie-…

Greene is a reminder that while the U.S. has obsessively focused its “War on Terror” on brown Muslim men inside and outside its borders, this white, blonde, Christian woman inside its Capitol is the face of terror at home.

White supremacist and increasingly evangelical patriarchy has an army of willing white women serving as its footsoldiers: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are just two feministgiant.com/p/a-white-supr…

Read 6 tweets

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

22 May

Is there an essay about how those of us who fought tooth and nail to own our sexuality and are now going through perimenopause are cursing “purity culture” of all backgrounds because it robbed us of years of sex with people other than ourselves?

Because if there isn’t, I have to fucking write it and it’s going to be fucking hard.

No puns were hurt in the writing of these tweets.

It would effectively be a letter of apology to 20-something Mona, who I denied pleasure of sex with a person other than herself because I refused to get married.

And it would exhort people in their 20s who want to have sex w/others to not wait because every decade is different.

Read 6 tweets

Mona Eltahawy

@monaeltahawy

21 May

I woke up at 3:30 am and could not go back to sleep. So, of course, I scrolled through IG and, lo and behold! An article that I feel I have willed into being: The 16 Best Colorful Eyeliners For Bold, Creative Looks. allure.com/gallery/best-c… 👇🏽

It is why I wrote: "The pandemic and perimenopause--the right and the left speaker that give stereo to my life--have fucked up my sleep. Accustomed now to waking up every two hours or so,I have a comfort routine at the ready: I soothe myself with eyeliner" feministgiant.com/p/deliberate-b…

My tools! I used to be a pencil eyeliner person until my sister recommended gel eye liners and wow do I love them - the colours available, how much longer they last, the challenge of painting them on with the brush, everything!