If you disagree with me and you recognize that we're toiling for the same cause I expect you to reach out and talk to me, not cancel me. About time we grow up and realize the cause is more important than our egos.
This idea that we have to be in full alignment all the time or we should cancel each other is so childish. If you're aligned with me 51% then I owe *the cause* to try to find common ground. Our egos aren't important.
And while we're at it, don't expect *any* human being to ignore or suppress their own lived reality for your sake. Their pain, their history, their dreams aren't less or more valid than yours. You cannot build coalitions premised on getting people to gaslight themselves.
When you're the side that's historically marginalized and disadvantaged, the best thing you can do for your enemy is to suck at building coalitions and finding common ground and to excel at canceling and backbiting potential allies

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More from @iyad_elbaghdadi

4 Jun
It is racist and unacceptable to constantly blame Arab hatred of Israel on "propaganda". Arabs have been watching their brethren killed, brutalized, and humiliated for 70 years. Israel hasn't exactly been spreading love and solidarity. Don't fucking gaslight us.
Fucking racists can't help be racist.
We *will* liberate it. We *will* return. We *will* replace this regime of apartheid with a regime of equality. And your hypocrisy and racism and ethnic supremacy will find their rightful place in the ash pile of history.
Read 4 tweets
3 Jun
Here's a painful topic that I've been thinking about for many years, about the lifelong state of disconnection that diaspora Palestinian refugees live in. Let me start with a story from 2014
It's the summer of 2014, I've been summarily expelled from my lifelong home in the UAE. After some time in prison and some time living in an airport under threat of further deportation, I'm in Malaysia. To set the stage, I have to explain a bit about my state at the time.
I had been allowed to temporarily enter Malaysia after a month in the airport. Right before that, I was driven from a prison in Abu Dhabi to its airport, hands and feet in chains. I had told the prison authorities to send me to Malaysia to avoid deportation to Egypt
Read 18 tweets
3 Jun
Emirati social media influencers are horrified over recent statistics showing that around ~2000 Emarati men per year marry non-Emarati women. Note that in the UAE, non-Emiratis outnumber Emiratis 9 to 1. This disparity is permanent and the UAE cannot function without it.
(You will appreciate that I spelled Emirati two different ways in one tweet)
Also note that all Emiratis are citizens and all non-Emiratis are non-citizens of the UAE. That's right, nearly 90% of the (permanent) population of the UAE are not citizens of the UAE. Paths to citizenship are limited to the very rich, and only when they're also very "loyal".
Read 4 tweets
2 Jun
I predict that the GOP will soon reach the limit of what voter suppression can politically accomplish, and their base will give up on the electoral system and resort to violence. There are enough radicalized people among Trump's base to sustain a wave of terrorism for 10-15 years
Trump's base are armed, many are trained, and there are millions of them. As US citizens they have no restrictions on their movement or funding. They can't be effectively profiled. Many are wealthy. Reminder it only takes a tiny percentage of a population to sustain an insurgency
The GOP is unable to hit the brakes or think about its future strategically. Its politicians are short-term thinkers focused narrowly on what helps their careers. The reaction of being horrified then turning around and justifying what happened (the 1/6 dance), get used to that.
Read 6 tweets
31 May
You know, using big words in lieu of actual arguments is a form of logical fallacy. But I understand that someone who uses the picture of a mass murderer as his profile pic doesn't exactly believe in nonviolence.
For the record nonviolence is not "pacifist". It's an advanced way to wage war, only without conventional weapons. It is especially useful when you face an enemy far better armed than you, because it would be stupid to fight your enemy in a way that they have an advantage
If you're fighting a chess grandmaster and you're a novice, it would be absolutely stupid to challenge them to a game of chess. If you're fighting a heavyweight boxer and you're an average dude, it would be stupid to challenge them to a boxing match.
Read 4 tweets
31 May
I find that the most difficult part of spiritual growth is daring to look where your ego really, really does not want you to look. It's having the courage to access those parts of your psyche that you've trained yourself for years to lock away and throw out the key
Here's a list of questions I ask myself from time to time, normally right before doing a spiritual retreat or extended meditation

What are you refusing to admit to yourself?
What personal truths have you been trying to push away or not acknowledge?
What scares you the most?
What is your deepest fear? What is the worst thing that can happen to you?
What do your darkest thoughts reveal to you about yourself?
What within you are you trying to hide from yourself?
What are you ashamed to admit?
Read 5 tweets

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