The Exploding Head

You might have seen both pieces of news of very unequal importance this week: Israeli soldiers doing yoga (a video released on Yoga Day), and the findings of the UN inquiry, concluding that the genocide in Gaza continues as the Israeli army is deliberately targeting children. Here are my comments on how to make sense of it.

This is not your regular trial. This is not your usual court. Because this is not a normal country. In my video, I invite you to zoom out and remember what we're actually seeing when Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, is being represented by his lawyer: we're seeing Palestinian sumud. We're seeing an attempt to go against a fascist court of an apartheid state; we're seeing an attempt to appeal for justice in the court of the occupier. Why? Because our governments have done nothing to prevent this. And some of our governments - like mine - have even supported Israel's ability to continue torturing medics in its prisons with complete impunity. Please sign the following petitions: https://www.codepink.org/freeabusafiya https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/release-dr-hussam-abu-safiya/ #gaza #GazaGenocide #HussamAbuSafiya #FreeDoctorHussamAbuSafiya

You might have noticed how the words of condemnation by our leaders towards Israeli treatment, not even necessarily kidnapping, of the Global Sumud Flotilla participants carry zero weight. These are the words that mean absolutely nothing, as they are backed by no action (with the exception of governments we can count on our fingers). What these words with no meaning represent is exactly what is left for Israel and its supporters to use as their last hasbara tool: to simply repeat the words that have no equivalent in reality. Here, like in some political dystopia, the words become both the representation and the represented. I write about it in my article that was also published in Common Dreams: https://wp.me/pc6sQr-1vw

The kidnapping from international waters of Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek from the Global Sumud Flotilla by Israeli forces, as well as their illegal detention in Israel, is yet another example of the horrors that the world has allowed. And this is only one example of what the world of Israel looks like. To exist in this world - to physically be and function in such a world - can be hard on our nervous systems. My video is a reminder of both what that world has been, why it is absolutely OK for our hearts and minds to be heavy, and what we have to work towards in our lifetime. #Israel #globalsumudflotilla #ThiagoAvila #Gaza #GazaGenocide

Choosing to interview someone like Germany's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, who history - and, hopefully, the International Court of Justice - will remember as a war criminal and a genocide enabler is very much not cool. And, ironically, there's also the missed opportunity to point to the satire of it all: how someone both represents a certain organisation (the UN) and has shown support to a regime (Israel) that has been destroying the very premises (and the people, and buildings) of that organisation. #JonStewart #TheUN #Israel #ICJ #FreePalestine

The fall of my government into a moral abyss, together with Israel, is, indeed, endless. I've been documenting it for two and a half years now, with no lack of shameful instances to comment on. My video is an example of how that fall looks and why the rage it generates might seem familiar to you, too. It's also a reminder to use it wisely ✊🏽 -- Also, if you have been thinking of taking your speaking-out efforts beyond LinkedIn posts (no matter how important), let's connect on May 26th. Find my workshop here: https://justinaposkeviciute.com/start-your-own-podcast/ It's also one of my ways to collect funds for humanitarian relief efforts in Lebanon ♥️ #Gaza #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine #Lebanon

The new scale of Israel's destruction of Lebanon should have shocked and shaken everyone. And in a world where morals play a role in politics, we would have seen outrage, condemnation, and the cutting of ties - years too late, I know - with Israel. Now, what we're seeing is not just ("just") Israel's disregard for human lives, but even for the U.S.-Iranian ceasefire. I think it says a lot about how much Israel respects U.S. interests, and whether there's anything that would make it give up its colonial expansionist ambitions. In my video, I also remind us who, in the end, is showing up for the people of Lebanon. I also invite you to do it by showing solidarity with your friends in Lebanon in these increasingly horrific times. #Israel #Iran #Lebanon

My video is a reflection on what and who have been presented to us as 'rational' and 'irrational' for decades. I invite you to see through this constructed narrative, as we know now that it is being used by those who have no issues to actively support an ongoing genocide. #Iran #Israel #IranIsraelWar #antiwar

We shouldn't be surprised: Those who can't condemn the mass murder of brown children now can't do it when it comes to the pain of an unseen magnitude unleashed onto black people in the past (an injustice that's nowhere near being undone). We shouldn't be surprised -- but we should be enraged. We should be able to see who the ones in power are, and how much our anticolonial and antiwar work is needed. #decolonise #TheUN #Israel

If you can't recognize the war propaganda now, you might never be able to. See how blatant it is, how uniform, how predictable (and then, how destructive - just look at Iran and Lebanon now). In this short episode, I invite you to amplify the voices that deconstruct it, and see how important it is to BE that voice yourself.

We're being led by psychopaths, and they're not leading us to anywhere great. What we need are more countries like Spain and Italy (former allies), saying they won't be part of the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran. What we need more of are strong antiwar voices. What we need more are all hands on deck - before those psychopaths lead us to global destruction. #Iran #Israel #IranIsraelWar #trump #Netanyahu

No one is here to defend the Iranian regime and how it treats youth or children. But to stay silent when international law is being violated, and children are being targeted, again, by Israel, would be enabling its impunity in its mass murder of children around the whole region even further. Because one doesn't liberate children by choosing - consciously, knowing exactly what will happen to them - to bomb them. #Iran #iranisraelwar #Israel #Trump #Gaza

What we're seeing in Cuba is an intensification of imperial violence by those who have been unleashing it on Palestine, too. The parallels here are many, including how the mentality of a coloniser cannot be more on display here. But the helpers are here, too. This is both who we can focus on and who we can be ourselves. Find the Cuba convoy information here: www.nuestraamericaconvoy.org Support my independent political commentary by inviting me for a coffee here: www.justinaposkeviciute.com/support-my-work #gaza #gazagenocide #cuba #CubaEstáFirme

If you watched the U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi contemptuously deflect questions about the Epstein files in a recent hearing, you might have had a strong reaction to it in your nervous system. I had it -- for two scary reasons, one of which can be explained by political science. That's what I talk about in my video. -- Join me in our antifascist community on Substack: https://substack.com/@theexplodinghead #epstein #epsteinfiles #pambondi #trump

n addition to the more obvious parallels between Israel's destruction of Gaza, the violence described in the Epstein files, and Epstein's direct connection to Israel, there's yet another parallel I want to draw your attention to here: the one of collective amnesia. Or - it depends on us - the one of our continuous, active, and unwavering demands for justice. -- Join me in our antifascist community on Substack: https://substack.com/@theexplodinghead #epstein#epsteinfiles#Trump #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine

I think it can't be clearer that polite self-silencing, smallness, and not being unapologetically anti-fascist aren't serving us. Because even if you choose to engage with reality less, it remains the same: International law is left irrelevant because of our governments' bowing down to empires; fascism is on the rise globally (and very much present in the U.S); Israel is allowed to annihilate Gaza with complete impunity. The question is, how do you choose to show up in this reality? #AbolishICE #NicolasMaduro h#Venezuela #Trump #GazaGenocide

As the year is ending, I wanted to comment on a video with you that I think is the perfect summary of what Israel has done - or what our spineless governments have allowed Israel to do - to international law in the most recent years.I also invite you to use that rage in 2026, too. ---Find all my work on Palestine on my website: www.justinaposkeviciute.com Find all my videos on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_exploding_head #Palestine #Gaza #FreePalestine #Israel #GazaGenocide

My episode is my quick holiday message for you: for all those whose worlds have crumbled and hearts have broken in recent years, and for those who have refused to choose apathy over solidarity and compassion ❤️💔 --- I invite you to give a gift of solidarity this holiday season. Please contribute and share my and Mahmoud's fundraiser here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/together-we-can-bring-hope-back-again Thank you all so much! Happy Holidays and Free Palestine ❤️

In short, Israel will be allowed to compete at Eurovision this year. What it shows is nothing shocking: that there is nothing - morals, legal consequences, human rights of European citizens themselves - that is above Europe's desire to maintain its relationship with Israel. Interestingly, what this decision created is an opportunity for Eurovision fans to show if THEY have any spine. And if there's anything above their love for Eurovision itself.

I think we've all had enough with a 'fragile ceasefire': a state in which Israel's crimes continue with impunity. In short, Israel's fascist regime can continue doing literally anything it wants -- and still control the narrative about what and who breaks a ceasefire.

Two football games took place almost simultaneously recently. And my goodness, how clearly did they show that they were not just from different teams but from different worlds. In one, in Bilbao, tens of thousands of football fans showed solidarity with the people being oppressed and undergoing a genocide. In the second one, in Lithuania, a match was played with a team of an occupier, a genocidal fascist regime -- behind closed doors, to minimise the risk of disruptions. These two friendly matches, one with Palestine and one with Israel, represent two different worlds. They are also reminders that we all have a choice in which world we want to be actively contributing to.

The destruction of the environment inevitably IS the destruction of human life, too. And to describe what Israel has reduced Gaza to, we have yet another word: ecocide. It doesn't diminish the horrors of the mass atrocities committed. It actually expands the description of the formats, objects, and the very level itself of Israel's annihilation of Gaza.

Israel is bombing Gaza again -- that is in addition to now hundreds of its ceasefire violations. What does it show? Nothing new, although each new horror should be perceived as such. It only confirms that if one thinks peace can be made with a coloniser who hasn't given up its colonial ambitions; that the occupier wants to create wellbeing for the people it's occupying; and that a fascist regime - stemming from a predominantly fascist society - suddenly wants peace with the people it has been mass-murdering for two years straight, I don't know in which universe one lives. #Gaza #GazaCeasefire #Israel #FreePalestine #Palestine #غزة

If someone thinks that Trump's Gaza Peace Plan is a roadmap to actual lasting peace - meaning, absence of oppression, and presence of justice, equality, and accountability - they are very very mistaken. And they might be mistaken about what "peacetime" has looked like in Palestine before October 7. What is unfolding in Palestine - both Gaza and the West Bank - right now, in the past weeks, is a reminder of those "peacetime" elements that the media and our leaders would look away from. #Gaza #gazagenocide #FreePalestine #Palestine #GazaPeacePlan

Have you ever seen the world governments await an act of international terrorism to happen to their citizens and do absolutely nothing? This is what we're witnessing as the Global Sumud Flotilla is being intercepted by Israeli forces. Please continue amplifying their efforts by taking any action you can.

Palestine has reminded us that we have nothing without collective action. Through, by, and because of the people: how much more obvious can it be that this is always how change happens. Maybe we're just not used to being in the middle (in the movement) of it. #globalsumudflotilla #Gaza #gazagenocide #freepalestine #Palestine

Will anything happen after the International Association of Genocide Scholars released their declaration calling Israel's actions in Gaza as constituting genocide? The grotesque "So what now?" question reveals how our governments - with the exception of a small number of countries - have been treating this genocide until now. For them, the annihilation of a people has been one big inconvenience.

It's time to admit that, in the end, the descriptors Zionists tend to use for the Israeli army might as well be true. The uniqueness of the Israeli army should definitely be acknowledged and exemplified -- just not exactly how Zionists do it.

Germany just announced it would suspend its arms to Israel - what does it mean? In short, it means the mass murder of children, journalists, health workers, and every single demographic of Gaza wasn't enough for Germany. A genocide wasn't a red line. But something that Netanyahu has now more officially stated - something that was so clear from the start - became a red line, it seems. Let's not forget how despicable this is.

These are just some of the horrors of this genocide and of Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank. This is what supremacy, fascism, and complete impunity look like on the bodies of Palestinian children.

My "recommendation" is very pragmatic and just as simple: we repeat, we repeat, we repeat.We amplify again and again informed voices of conscience ✊🏽 We talk about the same horrors all over again -- because they're still happening. And remember: Zionist propagandists aren't ashamed of repeating their propaganda points aimed at justifying this genocide. #Gaza #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine #Palestine #Palestina #Israel #IsraeliCrimes

When it comes to warmongering, manufacturing concent, and using racist colonial narratives to justify aggression against a country that the West wants to make "obedient", we don't need to look for examples in history -- we can see what's happening to Iran. In my short episode, I invite you to notice, call out, condemn, and ridicule three important phenomena you've probably noticed.

The profound shame surrounding witnessing an extermination of a people is very real, and - I claim - has different levels (layers, if you will). This, and the continuous heartbreak, is what I address in my episode, illustrating one of those shame levels with the stance of my own country, Lithuania. I do hope this episode is more than an essay-like recording; I hope it will remind you that inaction is not an antidote to anything here. #Gaza #GazaGenocide

We have seen enough. We have seen too much, in fact. We have seen enough to show zero tolerance for those who still declare their loyalty to an ideology that has turned Gaza into a mass grave of children. They are out of touch with reality; they are unwell. And just like, I would assume, you show zero tolerance to anyone who self-identifies as a Nazi, it is high time treat Zionists in the same way.

Have you accepted the media silence surrounding a Fascist regime, a coloniser, keeping an entire population under siege? Are you OK with a people being intentionally starved to death by a country that your country might be friends with? Have you normalised seeing country leaders with arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity being treated just like any other politician? Do you think it's acceptable for an entire people to be ethnically cleansed in front of our screens? ---- "This is what our ruling class has decided to be normal" wrote Aaron Bushnell before he lit himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy. Do you agree with what's been decided? Do you accept it politely, just like 'good citizens' do in Fascist societies? ---- Israel is continuing its siege on Gaza. Starvation as a weapon of war is being used again, all in the open, proudly announced. Do you accept it?

There are the bodies who torture others. There are the bodies who support the torture and extermination of people. There are the bodies being tortured. And then there's you. There's your body. What will YOU do? How will YOU use your body --- hopefully, in ways that are good for your soul? Here's my video on Hussam Abu Safiya, Fascism, and what it does to our bodies.

It seems Antony Blinken's closing press conference was a microcosm in itself: a binary between those with a moral compass and courage and those for whom this combination is unknown. My eternal gratitude and respect for Max Blumenthal and Sam Husseini. My eternal gratitude, respect, and apologies on behalf of the world to Palestinian journalists.

My wish for you and me came to me unexpectedly, on a graffiti tour in Oaxaca, Mexico -- in a mural that wasn't even part of the tour. It's a message that resonated deeply. A message I immediately wanted to share with you. I hope it resonates, too, and maybe it's something you've been needing to hear.

Assad's regime has fallen and there's an incredibly difficult task ahead for the people of Syria: to rebuild the country. In my episode, I'm inviting you to fight the potential cynicism surrounding this incredible news and not to dehumanise your Syrian friends by telling them what to think and - my goodness - what to feel.

I've had it wrong all those years - and not just the colonial/white feminist language for which I apologise. I've had it wrong in terms of in what direction humanity was flowing. And I didn't realise what our collective struggle - to see a free Palestine one day - has given us.

It is the same indoctrination, the same lens, the same dehumanising rhetoric that is mass murdering people for over five centuries: a colonised mind. A mind of a coloniser. This is what my slightly rant-like episode is about. It's about seeing the humanity of others and removing - actively, aggressively, unapologetically - the obstacles that prevent you from seeing others as connected to yourself. If we don't engage in a figurative and literal decolonisation now, seeing Gaza completely destroyed, I can't imagine what else is needed to get everyone mobilised.

There are words that can be thrown around in a misleading way, diluting, obscuring, or completely misrepresenting what they mean. The same words can be used reluctantly - knowingly - when they fit certain situations perfectly. It was high time I did an episode on terrorism, also talking about war crimes and other concepts that I hope will be useful additions to your toolbox of concepts to use to describe what, among other countries, Israel (yes) has been doing for decades.

If you think the title of this podcast episode is an exaggeration, I invite you to answer a simple question: What and who has any influence on the unconditional support that the Biden-Harris administration has been showing to Israel? --- Welcome to the fifth season of my podcast. Thank you for sticking around or, if it's new to you, for giving it a go! Find the resources that I mention on my website: www.justinaposkeviciute.com

Why would you be a member state of an organisation whose agencies you accuse of terrorism, whose schools you bomb, whose employees you murder at historic rates, and whose court orders you don't listen to? And why should this organisation welcome you as a "normal" member? Israel is a rogue state that has only shown disregard and contempt for everything the UN aims to represent. It's time to suspend it. In my episode, I talk about how it could be done.

To see people who describe themselves as progressive cheer for a presidential candidate whose current administration has been literally supporting a genocide has been one continuous exploding head moment for me. This is what my episode is on, with a simple deconstruction of what we need to remember about Kamala Harris.