This was a fascinating read, by @moveincircles. I know I said I did not want to talk about it, but I've been (unwillingly) musing on why I am so morally horrified by this story—and was only physically grossed out by @Aella_Girl's similar antics. 1/

louiseperry.co.uk/p/the-myth-of-… @moveincircles @Aella_Girl Aella seems like a genuine psychological outlier who *could* take pleasure in something like this. And she seems both more mentally robust and to have a MUCH higher IQ than Lilly Phillips, who is either an excellent actress or very naive and childlike. 2/

I've just been watching the doco "Folau." Having an argument about it at home. I think Israel Folau's comments should have been, frankly, no big deal. It's surely a question of free speech and diversity of opinion. The important thing should be the sport. 1/ cc @ClydeRathbone @ClydeRathbone But my housemate points out that famous sportsmen are role models—whether they like it or not—and also that the big money you're paid is not just for playing but for being a representative off the field of the values that sponsors like Qantas want associated with their brand. 2/

New followers, welcome! Some more about me.

1) I'm multiethnic and -national. Born in Scotland, but spent my early years in Pakistan & came to the UK in late childhood. My mother was Scottish, my father Parsi (Indian Zorostrian, born in Bombay) ... 2) In addition to Pakistan and the UK, I lived in Germany, the US, India and Argentina. I'm a naturalised Argentine citizen and a citizen of the UK by birth. I now live in Sydney, Australia.

Germany has outlawed the chant "From the River to the Sea." I think this is deeply misguided and, in my alcohol- and food-coma induced Christmas insomnia (it's 3am here), I want to tell you why. 🧵1/ First of all, yes, I think the chant is inherently genocidal, since it presupposes the obliteration of Israel from the map (though I don't think all of those chanting it realise this). I'm a strong supporter of Israel. Let me first detail why. 2/

I was ambivalent about Israel a d fairly supportive of the Palestinian cause before 7 October. But the events then & the response to them from the Muslim world, the aid agencies, many academics & journalists, many Palestinians themselves ... it's changed my mind. Completely.

https://twitter.com/HenMazzig/status/1732455757583409194

I'm not Jewish. I've never been to Israel. I'm not a fan of the Israeli right & I want the West Bank settlements dismantled. But I cannot be on the side of people who minimise, relativise, condone & reward (by trying to secure a victory for Hamas) 7 October.

Expelled from ancestral lands?

You can wallow in your victimhood for generations; enthusiastically support murderers & rapists if they'll help you get revenge on the usurpers
OR embrace your new diaspora home & make extraordinary contributions to its art, culture, science. Obviously, this is not a choice you can make as an individual. History, culture, politics, perhaps even genetics, will nudge people in one direction or the other. World events are contingent; history can turn on a dime. I'm just saying, there are two alternatives.

A gracious explanation, but wrongheaded in 4 respects. Thread. (1) The idea that we need a strong welfare state to combat economic equality & that we should use people's economic status, not their skin colour when deciding who needs that help: that is NOT "right-wing." 1/

https://twitter.com/TEDchris/status/1707817509905187143

The idea that we cannot have a multicultural (by which I think he means multiethnic) society without positive discrimination, quotas, identity politics & race consciousness is wrong. In fact, such things mitigate against multicultural harmony. 2/