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when whataboutery barges in, how do we meet her?

for paul & john's 47-words short story unofficial challenge

By aliPublished 5 days ago Updated 5 days ago 1 min read
Naarm (melbourne), 12th february 2026 / protest sign reads: I am not free until my liberation does not cost yours / photo by me

whataboutery came for me, barging boldly, bleating

if you care about this you couldn’t possibly care about that.

as if care’s capacity is capped

and contradictory concepts cannot co-exist

and advocating here equals anti there.

protesting for peace in Palestine

what about Iran? Sudan?

no. genocide. anywhere.

------------------------

find the challenge here:

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About the Creator

ali

a tangled mess of thoughts. occasionally a clear one bursts through. how about writing things in a public forum? seems wise.

she / her

unceded Wurundjeri & Boon Wurrung Lands

substack: aliwriteswords

insta / upscrolled: @aliwriteswords

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  • Paul Aaron Domenickabout 18 hours ago

    Excellent use of alliteration and so strongly voiced. Wonderful.

  • Powerful, relevant, and meaningful. You are right about what you said here. Yes so many people are very concerned about the innocent civilians in Palestine and rightfully so. But how about the innocent civilians, as you mentioned, in Iran and Sudan? What about the innocent civilians in Israel? They are all people just like you and me. They’re being killed or forced into poverty because of all these unnecessary wars. The current US president promised that he would stop all wars and that he would not start any new wars. Well I guess that’s a promise definitely not kept. He definitely is not the president of peace and we knew that he never would be. Sorry for the rant. Great job! I subscribed to you.

  • Leslie Writesa day ago

    Yes 👏

  • COOL 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

  • Tiffany Gordon4 days ago

    🔥

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