Don't Mourn--Organize!

Middle East almost seems like a lost cause. With Iraq's past and the new ISIS brutality, with Syria, with tyrants and leaders who can't do a thing for fear of attack.
 My friend posted a video of Egypt's supposed aid to Gaza; it was mouldy rotten food. [EDIT: a reliable charity for emergency supplies, food parcels, etc.]
 It sounds hopeless.

I believe that boycott, letters to politicians, protests and rallies, and other types of active campaigning, may effectively help Palestinians. 'Drops of water can wear through a stone.'

 With enough voices, if we are stirred from passivity, justice is achievable.

I read 10 points Hamas put across to Israel, for a 10 year truce. Not one point was illogical, impractical, or inhumane. In fact, it's a pretty decent outline for any beginnings for peace in the region.

This was rejected in favour of a ground invasion, tanks and all. (Phosphorus bombs, same stuff UK and USA have used on the Iraqi population, and another type of bomb which nobody is sure about but suspected to be radioactive material).
 If Israel sincerely wishes for peace, why would they reject this?

Then there are videos of little kids getting arrested (Israeli supporters will deflect blame and suggest that the little kid was carrying a b-word--though none was found--there are 100+ Palestinian kids in jail right now). Hamas only requested these innocent people be released. That was one of the points for truce.

Israel talks about Hamas 'using human shields' when, hypocritically, it is the IDF which carries out this heinous practice. They also pull disgusting sh!t like this which gets largely ignored by mainstream news.
Then there's the disproportionate number of deaths which is disregarded...this isn't even false equivalence, it's plain BS and thanks to social media it's getting more scrutiny. Not that there's much to scrutinize, it's all pretty clear.

Boycotting is not useless. This article puts across good points. It is from 2009; it is a shame that it's still relevant.

(Here are some counter-points from Noam Chomsky though)

From the UN Economic and Social Council:

“business
enterprises shall not engage in nor benefit from war crimes,
crimes against humanity… other violations of humanitarian
law and other international crimes against the human
person as defined by international law, in particular human
rights and humanitarian law.”

I hope if you think you are up for boycotting, you will spread the word. It's easy to stick to a goal when people around you are doing the same.

Today we had to buy more diapers for Child of Gumption and Delight.
instead of Pampers or Huggies, we went for a Costco brand. Now I read that Costco is 'accepting, legitimizing and profiting from the occupation'--among other things--makes it all seem a bit hopeless.
I will try and search for alternatives in Canada, and update if I find them.

http://www.cjpme.org/TabbedEnhancedItemList.aspx?EITID=5&MNITEM=1000000366 <<in summation: almost everything! time to buy from the little guys.

There is an app called 'Buycott' linked here, which allows you to scan barcodes, for whichever cause you support (Free Palestine), it traces ownership so you can boycott Israel and stop financing the occupation, with greater ease.

 As for makeup, it is my hobby and indulgence.
 It's become a means of artsy-fartsy escapism, with instant gratification.

For something purely pleasurable, where I have so many alternatives at my disposal--why should I purchase from corporations that time and time again show support for the Israeli occupation, Israeli military research, etc?

And boycotts of cosmetic companies don't go unnoticed; Zionists have shown alarm over a boycott of Coty conducted in the U.A.E, according to a Bloomberg report.
They've vehemently called for their own boycott of LUSH Cosmetics.

Even if we can't personally persuade them to put down their guns, shove off their tanks, release the thousands of Palestinian children currently in prison without trial, and exterminate the sick, murderous, racist ideology they were brainwashed to uphold, why not do what they're willing to do and talk with our wallets?

If you agree with my admittedly rambling thoughts, I encourage you to share my posts that show alternative cosmetic brands to purchase from. You can just copy-paste the brand names, instead of linking the post, I really don't care one way or another for 'traffic.'

Or at the very least, give up Starbucks.