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1000 results for “it_is_soup_time”
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Both are web sites accessible using #TheEverythingApp a #webbrowser .
Ignoring the pop ups or even better blocking the element that pops up is an option also. You can also just refresh the web site and move on when a popup comes up, like on Twitter or other ' just web sites ' that try to force ' app based front ends ' on you the end user. Don't fall for the AppTrap since they do not have your interests in mind. Especially if you are just browsing and commenting, right?
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I just finished The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, and it was really good. My only complaint is that you had to constantly switch items because the Game Boy had a small amount of buttons. I’ve been told that the Link’s Awakening remake on Switch fixes that, but the Oracle games never got that treatment unfortunately.
I love a good 2D Zelda, so it’s a shame that the Breath of the Wild formula is the future of the series from here on out. I’m sure that BOTW and TOTK are good games, but they’re not the same as traditional Zelda.
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Every few months, I see a really well-made video on Super Smash Brothers Melee and think “it’s such a legendary game, I should get into it” and then I play one game on Slippi and immediately remember why I play P+ instead: it’s the lack of support for controller remapping. It’s a shame, because I really want to get into SSBM, but I wish it had the quality of life improvements that the later games brought.
#smashbros #ssbm #melee #fightinggames -
Every few months, I see a really well-made video on Super Smash Brothers Melee and think “it’s such a legendary game, I should get into it” and then I play one game on Slippi and immediately remember why I play P+ instead: it’s the lack of support for controller remapping. It’s a shame, because I really want to get into SSBM, but I wish it had the quality of life improvements that the later games brought.
#smashbros #ssbm #melee #fightinggames -
Every few months, I see a really well-made video on Super Smash Brothers Melee and think “it’s such a legendary game, I should get into it” and then I play one game on Slippi and immediately remember why I play P+ instead: it’s the lack of support for controller remapping. It’s a shame, because I really want to get into SSBM, but I wish it had the quality of life improvements that the later games brought.
#smashbros #ssbm #melee #fightinggames -
Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 – Internet Archive Blogs
Posted on January 1, 2026 by Sterling Dudley
Montage of materials entering the public domain in 2026, created by Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.Internet Archive Blogs, Updates from the Internet Archive
Celebrate the public domain with the Internet Archive in the following ways:
- Register for our Public Domain Day celebrations on January 21 – both virtual and in-person.
- Submit a short film to our Public Domain Film Remix contest. Deadline January 7, 2026 @11:59 PM Pacific.
- Explore the works that have entered the public domain in 2026, below.
On January 1, 2026, we celebrate published works from 1930 and published sound recordings from 1925 entering the public domain! Their arrival marks another chapter in our shared cultural heritage: the freedom to breathe new life into overlooked works, remix enduring classics, and circulate the oddities we discover in thrift stores, family attics, and forgotten corners of the internet.
For the first time since the 1970s, works from a new decade have entered the public domain after their long copyright term. This milestone builds on the momentum that began when the public domain reopened in 2019. The works of 1930 reflect a world grappling with enormous change: the early years of the Great Depression, anxieties about banks and tariffs (sound familiar?), and a cultural landscape still humming with the last heartbeats of the 1920s.
The Jazz Age and flapper style persisted through Nancy Drew’s illustrations and Betty Boop’s design; Buster Keaton’s first talkie signaled the twilight of the silent era; and the Gershwins continued to shake-up musical culture with “I Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You”. The Interwar period left its mark, too—the first filmed adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front won Best Picture. Audiences sought escapism in the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, in 19 new Disney cartoons, and in the gender-bending glamour of the pre-Hays Code film Morocco.
Culture was everywhere—and now, it belongs to everyone.
Musical Compositions
1930 saw the introduction of many standards into the Great American Songbook including the wistful “Dream A Little Dream of Me”, “Georgia on My Mind”, and “It Happened in Monterey”. The latter of those songs being a cultural curiosity as the spelling reflects the California city while the song is about the Mexican city. Hoagy Charmichael’s loving refrain for the state of Georgia with Georgia on My Mind would become the state’s official song in 1979.
Even inspiration for later 20th Century works bubbled up with “Beyond the Blue Horizon” which would serve as inspiration for the original Star Trek theme. At the Internet Archive the song reminds us of the blinking blue lights that help to power the 1 Trillion webpages saved.
Check out this list of more musical compositions from the year.
- On the Sunny Side of the Street lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh
- Just A Gigolo (first English translation), original German lyrics by Julius Brammer, English translation by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci
- You’re Driving Me Crazy! What Did I Do?, lyrics and music by Walter Donaldson
- Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight lyrics by Al Sherman, music by Al Lewis
- Body and Soul lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, music by John W. Green
- I’ve Got a Crush on You; But Not for Me, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
Literature
If we thought that detectives had a field day in 1929 then we just hadn’t seen what 1930 had to offer yet. Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Harriet Vane, and Sam Spade all featured in iconic works of the year respectively: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, The Secret of the Old Clock, Strong Poison, and the published novel edition of The Maltese Falcon. Nancy Drew appeared in four different stories this year giving readers and creatives plenty of stories and mysteries to dig into. But be careful and make sure you’re reading the original editions from 1930 and not the rewrites from the late 1950s. Luckily the Archive has the 1930 editions ready for you here in our collections!
While detective fiction dominated we also got bold works from other authors including As I Lay Dyingby William Faulkner which blends multiple perspectives and bold narrative experimentation to chronicle a family’s turbulent journey to honor their mother’s final request. Groundwork was also laid for another Best Picture winner with Edna Farber’s Cimarron. Children had works to entertain themselves with Dick and Jane’s introduction in Elson Basic Readers and a 1930 retelling of the folktale, The Little Engine That Could.
Dive into Archive’s literary collection to unearth more classics from 1930.
Film
A favorite film of this author is the King of Jazz, astunning Technicolor musical revue featuring Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and elaborate song and dance numbers.
It wasn’t the only musical of the year as the Marx Brothers adapted their stage show Animal Crackersto the big screen in a film of the same name. Their comedic antics would absurdly riff on the culture of the time with Groucho directly parodying a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s 1928 play, Strange Interlude.
While past the heyday of his filmic output, Buster Keaton was still on the scene with his first talkie, Free and Easy, entering the public domain this year. If you’ve never heard his voice before then it might surprise you! Another iconic comedy is Soup to Nuts, a vehicle for Rube Goldberg to share crazy contraptions on screen. It was also the debut of actors that would form The Three Stooges group a few years later.
In another reminder of how copyright expires on a yearly basis we’re talking about All Quiet on the Western Front for the third year in a row, but this time as the adaptation that won the 3rd Academy Award for Best Picture. The film is a sobering reminder and depiction of the horrors of war, and showcased how audiences in 1930 were still reeling from the first World War. It is also a very engaging and well rounded film that is still great cinema nearly 100 years later.
Even more icons made headway in 1930 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder!, John Wayne’s first leading role in The Big Trail, and Greta Garbo’s moving performance in Anna Christie.
Check out more films from the year here:
- Hell’s Angels (dir. Howard Hughes & James Whale)
- Holiday (the first adaptation of the Philip Barry play)
- Monte Carlo (An early Lubitsch)
- The Divorcee (Norma Shearer’s Academy Award winning performance)
- The Unholy Three (Lon Chaney’s final film and only talkie)
Our film remix contest is ongoing until January 7, 2026, so please upload your submissions! Read more here.
Comics and Cartoons
Only a year removed from the 1920s, culture didn’t change overnight. Debuting on September 8, 1930, the Blondie comic strip by Chic Young was steeped in flapper style. Originally named Blondie Boopadoop, she drew on the singing persona of Helen Kane—who also inspired aspects of Betty Boop. For more on Betty Boop, read Jennifer Jenkins’ write-up at Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
Mickey Mouse expanded from the screen to the page with 303 daily comic strips, sending him on western adventures, robber-chasing escapades, and more.
In 2026, we now have another 19 Disney shorts (9 Mickey, 10 Silly Symphonies) to help fill out this creative world. The Silly Symphonies rounded out their celebration of the seasons by following up 1929’s Springtime with Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Meanwhile, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—Mickey’s older brother—continued his prolific output even after Disney lost the rights to him in 1928. Under Walter Lantz, Oswald starred in 24 shorts this year, nearly 2.5 times Mickey’s total. Two of these, My Pal Paul and Africa, cross-promoted the film King of Jazz, proving that cinematic tie-ins have long been part of studio strategy.
Recap
The arrival of these works into the public domain is a reminder of our shared cultural heritage—of the stories, sounds, and images that shaped earlier generations and now become fair game for creative reuse. Many of these works have already been reimagined under copyright: Nancy Drew’s rewrites, the many adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front, Mickey Mouse’s leap into comics, and more.
Now, in 2026, these works pass into a space where everyone can study them, remix them, preserve them, and carry them forward.
The public domain belongs to all of us. Let’s explore it together.
Additional resources
- Learn more about what’s moving into the public domain in 2026 from Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle of Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
- Public Domain Review highlights the materials moving into the public domain in 2026.
- Read the recaps from John Mark Ockerbloom’s Everybody’s Libraries of works that have joined the public domain.
- Check out the Public Domain Game Jam from Techdirt.
Posted in News | Tagged public domain day | 15 Replies
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 | Internet Archive Blogs
#1926 #2026 #BettyBoop #Films #InternetArchive #InternetArchiveBlog #MickeyMouse #Music #PublicDomain -
Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 – Internet Archive Blogs
Posted on January 1, 2026 by Sterling Dudley
Montage of materials entering the public domain in 2026, created by Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.Internet Archive Blogs, Updates from the Internet Archive
Celebrate the public domain with the Internet Archive in the following ways:
- Register for our Public Domain Day celebrations on January 21 – both virtual and in-person.
- Submit a short film to our Public Domain Film Remix contest. Deadline January 7, 2026 @11:59 PM Pacific.
- Explore the works that have entered the public domain in 2026, below.
On January 1, 2026, we celebrate published works from 1930 and published sound recordings from 1925 entering the public domain! Their arrival marks another chapter in our shared cultural heritage: the freedom to breathe new life into overlooked works, remix enduring classics, and circulate the oddities we discover in thrift stores, family attics, and forgotten corners of the internet.
For the first time since the 1970s, works from a new decade have entered the public domain after their long copyright term. This milestone builds on the momentum that began when the public domain reopened in 2019. The works of 1930 reflect a world grappling with enormous change: the early years of the Great Depression, anxieties about banks and tariffs (sound familiar?), and a cultural landscape still humming with the last heartbeats of the 1920s.
The Jazz Age and flapper style persisted through Nancy Drew’s illustrations and Betty Boop’s design; Buster Keaton’s first talkie signaled the twilight of the silent era; and the Gershwins continued to shake-up musical culture with “I Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You”. The Interwar period left its mark, too—the first filmed adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front won Best Picture. Audiences sought escapism in the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, in 19 new Disney cartoons, and in the gender-bending glamour of the pre-Hays Code film Morocco.
Culture was everywhere—and now, it belongs to everyone.
Musical Compositions
1930 saw the introduction of many standards into the Great American Songbook including the wistful “Dream A Little Dream of Me”, “Georgia on My Mind”, and “It Happened in Monterey”. The latter of those songs being a cultural curiosity as the spelling reflects the California city while the song is about the Mexican city. Hoagy Charmichael’s loving refrain for the state of Georgia with Georgia on My Mind would become the state’s official song in 1979.
Even inspiration for later 20th Century works bubbled up with “Beyond the Blue Horizon” which would serve as inspiration for the original Star Trek theme. At the Internet Archive the song reminds us of the blinking blue lights that help to power the 1 Trillion webpages saved.
Check out this list of more musical compositions from the year.
- On the Sunny Side of the Street lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh
- Just A Gigolo (first English translation), original German lyrics by Julius Brammer, English translation by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci
- You’re Driving Me Crazy! What Did I Do?, lyrics and music by Walter Donaldson
- Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight lyrics by Al Sherman, music by Al Lewis
- Body and Soul lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, music by John W. Green
- I’ve Got a Crush on You; But Not for Me, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin
Literature
If we thought that detectives had a field day in 1929 then we just hadn’t seen what 1930 had to offer yet. Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Harriet Vane, and Sam Spade all featured in iconic works of the year respectively: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, The Secret of the Old Clock, Strong Poison, and the published novel edition of The Maltese Falcon. Nancy Drew appeared in four different stories this year giving readers and creatives plenty of stories and mysteries to dig into. But be careful and make sure you’re reading the original editions from 1930 and not the rewrites from the late 1950s. Luckily the Archive has the 1930 editions ready for you here in our collections!
While detective fiction dominated we also got bold works from other authors including As I Lay Dyingby William Faulkner which blends multiple perspectives and bold narrative experimentation to chronicle a family’s turbulent journey to honor their mother’s final request. Groundwork was also laid for another Best Picture winner with Edna Farber’s Cimarron. Children had works to entertain themselves with Dick and Jane’s introduction in Elson Basic Readers and a 1930 retelling of the folktale, The Little Engine That Could.
Dive into Archive’s literary collection to unearth more classics from 1930.
Film
A favorite film of this author is the King of Jazz, astunning Technicolor musical revue featuring Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and elaborate song and dance numbers.
It wasn’t the only musical of the year as the Marx Brothers adapted their stage show Animal Crackersto the big screen in a film of the same name. Their comedic antics would absurdly riff on the culture of the time with Groucho directly parodying a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s 1928 play, Strange Interlude.
While past the heyday of his filmic output, Buster Keaton was still on the scene with his first talkie, Free and Easy, entering the public domain this year. If you’ve never heard his voice before then it might surprise you! Another iconic comedy is Soup to Nuts, a vehicle for Rube Goldberg to share crazy contraptions on screen. It was also the debut of actors that would form The Three Stooges group a few years later.
In another reminder of how copyright expires on a yearly basis we’re talking about All Quiet on the Western Front for the third year in a row, but this time as the adaptation that won the 3rd Academy Award for Best Picture. The film is a sobering reminder and depiction of the horrors of war, and showcased how audiences in 1930 were still reeling from the first World War. It is also a very engaging and well rounded film that is still great cinema nearly 100 years later.
Even more icons made headway in 1930 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder!, John Wayne’s first leading role in The Big Trail, and Greta Garbo’s moving performance in Anna Christie.
Check out more films from the year here:
- Hell’s Angels (dir. Howard Hughes & James Whale)
- Holiday (the first adaptation of the Philip Barry play)
- Monte Carlo (An early Lubitsch)
- The Divorcee (Norma Shearer’s Academy Award winning performance)
- The Unholy Three (Lon Chaney’s final film and only talkie)
Our film remix contest is ongoing until January 7, 2026, so please upload your submissions! Read more here.
Comics and Cartoons
Only a year removed from the 1920s, culture didn’t change overnight. Debuting on September 8, 1930, the Blondie comic strip by Chic Young was steeped in flapper style. Originally named Blondie Boopadoop, she drew on the singing persona of Helen Kane—who also inspired aspects of Betty Boop. For more on Betty Boop, read Jennifer Jenkins’ write-up at Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
Mickey Mouse expanded from the screen to the page with 303 daily comic strips, sending him on western adventures, robber-chasing escapades, and more.
In 2026, we now have another 19 Disney shorts (9 Mickey, 10 Silly Symphonies) to help fill out this creative world. The Silly Symphonies rounded out their celebration of the seasons by following up 1929’s Springtime with Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Meanwhile, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—Mickey’s older brother—continued his prolific output even after Disney lost the rights to him in 1928. Under Walter Lantz, Oswald starred in 24 shorts this year, nearly 2.5 times Mickey’s total. Two of these, My Pal Paul and Africa, cross-promoted the film King of Jazz, proving that cinematic tie-ins have long been part of studio strategy.
Recap
The arrival of these works into the public domain is a reminder of our shared cultural heritage—of the stories, sounds, and images that shaped earlier generations and now become fair game for creative reuse. Many of these works have already been reimagined under copyright: Nancy Drew’s rewrites, the many adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front, Mickey Mouse’s leap into comics, and more.
Now, in 2026, these works pass into a space where everyone can study them, remix them, preserve them, and carry them forward.
The public domain belongs to all of us. Let’s explore it together.
Additional resources
- Learn more about what’s moving into the public domain in 2026 from Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle of Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
- Public Domain Review highlights the materials moving into the public domain in 2026.
- Read the recaps from John Mark Ockerbloom’s Everybody’s Libraries of works that have joined the public domain.
- Check out the Public Domain Game Jam from Techdirt.
Posted in News | Tagged public domain day | 15 Replies
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 | Internet Archive Blogs
#1926 #2026 #BettyBoop #Films #InternetArchive #InternetArchiveBlog #MickeyMouse #Music #PublicDomain -
Entirely serious pole time! I have a lot of work to do, so naturally my brain gets distracted with the questions that really matter.
Like is #coffee #tea or is it #soup? Time to ask the #fedivers for #fediadvice to solve this age old mystery!
-
Entirely serious pole time! I have a lot of work to do, so naturally my brain gets distracted with the questions that really matter.
Like is #coffee #tea or is it #soup? Time to ask the #fedivers for #fediadvice to solve this age old mystery!
-
Entirely serious pole time! I have a lot of work to do, so naturally my brain gets distracted with the questions that really matter.
Like is #coffee #tea or is it #soup? Time to ask the #fedivers for #fediadvice to solve this age old mystery!
-
Entirely serious pole time! I have a lot of work to do, so naturally my brain gets distracted with the questions that really matter.
Like is #coffee #tea or is it #soup? Time to ask the #fedivers for #fediadvice to solve this age old mystery!
-
Good morning 🌄
I slept in & Mom made some #CanhChuaCá 😊
It is a #Vietnamese #SourFishSoup. Mom's been making this traditional comfort dish since her childhood years. In South #Vietnam she used mostly catfish because that's the main river fish that her brothers caught, back in her village life times.Mom used cod for this - we don't get much catfish here. We love adding lots of #okra & #beansprouts. There's celery & pineapple underneath the bean sprouts, not visible.
This #SourSoup dish originated from the #MekongDelta & is a popular entree across #SouthVietnam. Canh Chua literally translates to sour soup - this is the #fish version. We have a chicken version that we make too.
#AsianMastodon #Soup #CulturalFood #VietnameseFood #AsianFood #SoupLovers #SoupSeason #ComfortFood #TraditionalFood #EthnicEats #iLoveSoup #SouthEastAsianFood #Food #homemade #homecooked #HeartyMeals #SourFoods #CanhChua #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA
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Good morning 🌄
I slept in & Mom made some #CanhChuaCá 😊
It is a #Vietnamese #SourFishSoup. Mom's been making this traditional comfort dish since her childhood years. In South #Vietnam she used mostly catfish because that's the main river fish that her brothers caught, back in her village life times.Mom used cod for this - we don't get much catfish here. We love adding lots of #okra & #beansprouts. There's celery & pineapple underneath the bean sprouts, not visible.
This #SourSoup dish originated from the #MekongDelta & is a popular entree across #SouthVietnam. Canh Chua literally translates to sour soup - this is the #fish version. We have a chicken version that we make too.
#AsianMastodon #Soup #CulturalFood #VietnameseFood #AsianFood #SoupLovers #SoupSeason #ComfortFood #TraditionalFood #EthnicEats #iLoveSoup #SouthEastAsianFood #Food #homemade #homecooked #HeartyMeals #SourFoods #CanhChua #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA
-
Good morning 🌄
I slept in & Mom made some #CanhChuaCá 😊
It is a #Vietnamese #SourFishSoup. Mom's been making this traditional comfort dish since her childhood years. In South #Vietnam she used mostly catfish because that's the main river fish that her brothers caught, back in her village life times.Mom used cod for this - we don't get much catfish here. We love adding lots of #okra & #beansprouts. There's celery & pineapple underneath the bean sprouts, not visible.
This #SourSoup dish originated from the #MekongDelta & is a popular entree across #SouthVietnam. Canh Chua literally translates to sour soup - this is the #fish version. We have a chicken version that we make too.
#AsianMastodon #Soup #CulturalFood #VietnameseFood #AsianFood #SoupLovers #SoupSeason #ComfortFood #TraditionalFood #EthnicEats #iLoveSoup #SouthEastAsianFood #Food #homemade #homecooked #HeartyMeals #SourFoods #CanhChua #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA
-
Good morning 🌄
I slept in & Mom made some #CanhChuaCá 😊
It is a #Vietnamese #SourFishSoup. Mom's been making this traditional comfort dish since her childhood years. In South #Vietnam she used mostly catfish because that's the main river fish that her brothers caught, back in her village life times.Mom used cod for this - we don't get much catfish here. We love adding lots of #okra & #beansprouts. There's celery & pineapple underneath the bean sprouts, not visible.
This #SourSoup dish originated from the #MekongDelta & is a popular entree across #SouthVietnam. Canh Chua literally translates to sour soup - this is the #fish version. We have a chicken version that we make too.
#AsianMastodon #Soup #CulturalFood #VietnameseFood #AsianFood #SoupLovers #SoupSeason #ComfortFood #TraditionalFood #EthnicEats #iLoveSoup #SouthEastAsianFood #Food #homemade #homecooked #HeartyMeals #SourFoods #CanhChua #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA
-
Good morning 🌄
I slept in & Mom made some #CanhChuaCá 😊
It is a #Vietnamese #SourFishSoup. Mom's been making this traditional comfort dish since her childhood years. In South #Vietnam she used mostly catfish because that's the main river fish that her brothers caught, back in her village life times.Mom used cod for this - we don't get much catfish here. We love adding lots of #okra & #beansprouts. There's celery & pineapple underneath the bean sprouts, not visible.
This #SourSoup dish originated from the #MekongDelta & is a popular entree across #SouthVietnam. Canh Chua literally translates to sour soup - this is the #fish version. We have a chicken version that we make too.
#AsianMastodon #Soup #CulturalFood #VietnameseFood #AsianFood #SoupLovers #SoupSeason #ComfortFood #TraditionalFood #EthnicEats #iLoveSoup #SouthEastAsianFood #Food #homemade #homecooked #HeartyMeals #SourFoods #CanhChua #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA
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Family’s top 3 favorite meals
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
There’s so many…
It’s hard to think only 3. Especially since my mom is professional chef and then there is her grandmother’s Lyyli centuries old family recipes to choose. And my own recipes. So to find only three isn’t easy. But I decided to choose top one from all of us three recipes.
Top 3
- Karelian salmon soup That is my mom’s grandmother’s family recipe being in the family generations and generations. It is best eaten when weather is bad. Raining or snowing outside and have the hot soup with rye bread just butter on a top.
- Oven Salmon This on is my mom’s own secret recipe that she come up with. Especially what is in the filling is the secret. It is easy, simple and quick to make. And fills stomach so well that doesn’t need anything on the side. At least me and my mom don’t need more than that salmon and stomach is full.
- Honey-Chilli Chicken and all 16 ways to cook it So far… Because it is so versatile especially for a store bought chicken in marinade to make different ways. I’m still not bored to eat it. Probably because there is 16 ways to cook it. It is something I eat couple times a week at least.
There are so many super delicious foods but unfortunately this writing prompt is for 3 only. So that is the 3 that I choose today. Even though the Honey-Chilli Chicken is already little bit cheating since I said all 16 ways to cook it. But I could not choose only one way over the rest. I love them all. Lol It is just too good and versatile.
With love C.F. Grönroos
Creator of the Mysteries by Rose
#cFGronroos #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2129 #food #mysteriesByRose
-
Family’s top 3 favorite meals
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
There’s so many…
It’s hard to think only 3. Especially since my mom is professional chef and then there is her grandmother’s Lyyli centuries old family recipes to choose. And my own recipes. So to find only three isn’t easy. But I decided to choose top one from all of us three recipes.
Top 3
- Karelian salmon soup That is my mom’s grandmother’s family recipe being in the family generations and generations. It is best eaten when weather is bad. Raining or snowing outside and have the hot soup with rye bread just butter on a top.
- Oven Salmon This on is my mom’s own secret recipe that she come up with. Especially what is in the filling is the secret. It is easy, simple and quick to make. And fills stomach so well that doesn’t need anything on the side. At least me and my mom don’t need more than that salmon and stomach is full.
- Honey-Chilli Chicken and all 16 ways to cook it So far… Because it is so versatile especially for a store bought chicken in marinade to make different ways. I’m still not bored to eat it. Probably because there is 16 ways to cook it. It is something I eat couple times a week at least.
There are so many super delicious foods but unfortunately this writing prompt is for 3 only. So that is the 3 that I choose today. Even though the Honey-Chilli Chicken is already little bit cheating since I said all 16 ways to cook it. But I could not choose only one way over the rest. I love them all. Lol It is just too good and versatile.
With love C.F. Grönroos
Creator of the Mysteries by Rose
#cFGronroos #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2129 #food #mysteriesByRose
-
Family’s top 3 favorite meals
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
There’s so many…
It’s hard to think only 3. Especially since my mom is professional chef and then there is her grandmother’s Lyyli centuries old family recipes to choose. And my own recipes. So to find only three isn’t easy. But I decided to choose top one from all of us three recipes.
Top 3
- Karelian salmon soup That is my mom’s grandmother’s family recipe being in the family generations and generations. It is best eaten when weather is bad. Raining or snowing outside and have the hot soup with rye bread just butter on a top.
- Oven Salmon This on is my mom’s own secret recipe that she come up with. Especially what is in the filling is the secret. It is easy, simple and quick to make. And fills stomach so well that doesn’t need anything on the side. At least me and my mom don’t need more than that salmon and stomach is full.
- Honey-Chilli Chicken and all 16 ways to cook it So far… Because it is so versatile especially for a store bought chicken in marinade to make different ways. I’m still not bored to eat it. Probably because there is 16 ways to cook it. It is something I eat couple times a week at least.
There are so many super delicious foods but unfortunately this writing prompt is for 3 only. So that is the 3 that I choose today. Even though the Honey-Chilli Chicken is already little bit cheating since I said all 16 ways to cook it. But I could not choose only one way over the rest. I love them all. Lol It is just too good and versatile.
With love C.F. Grönroos
Creator of the Mysteries by Rose
#cFGronroos #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2129 #food #mysteriesByRose
-
Family’s top 3 favorite meals
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
There’s so many…
It’s hard to think only 3. Especially since my mom is professional chef and then there is her grandmother’s Lyyli centuries old family recipes to choose. And my own recipes. So to find only three isn’t easy. But I decided to choose top one from all of us three recipes.
Top 3
- Karelian salmon soup That is my mom’s grandmother’s family recipe being in the family generations and generations. It is best eaten when weather is bad. Raining or snowing outside and have the hot soup with rye bread just butter on a top.
- Oven Salmon This on is my mom’s own secret recipe that she come up with. Especially what is in the filling is the secret. It is easy, simple and quick to make. And fills stomach so well that doesn’t need anything on the side. At least me and my mom don’t need more than that salmon and stomach is full.
- Honey-Chilli Chicken and all 16 ways to cook it So far… Because it is so versatile especially for a store bought chicken in marinade to make different ways. I’m still not bored to eat it. Probably because there is 16 ways to cook it. It is something I eat couple times a week at least.
There are so many super delicious foods but unfortunately this writing prompt is for 3 only. So that is the 3 that I choose today. Even though the Honey-Chilli Chicken is already little bit cheating since I said all 16 ways to cook it. But I could not choose only one way over the rest. I love them all. Lol It is just too good and versatile.
With love C.F. Grönroos
Creator of the Mysteries by Rose
#cFGronroos #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2129 #food #mysteriesByRose
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Family’s top 3 favorite meals
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
There’s so many…
It’s hard to think only 3. Especially since my mom is professional chef and then there is her grandmother’s Lyyli centuries old family recipes to choose. And my own recipes. So to find only three isn’t easy. But I decided to choose top one from all of us three recipes.
Top 3
- Karelian salmon soup That is my mom’s grandmother’s family recipe being in the family generations and generations. It is best eaten when weather is bad. Raining or snowing outside and have the hot soup with rye bread just butter on a top.
- Oven Salmon This on is my mom’s own secret recipe that she come up with. Especially what is in the filling is the secret. It is easy, simple and quick to make. And fills stomach so well that doesn’t need anything on the side. At least me and my mom don’t need more than that salmon and stomach is full.
- Honey-Chilli Chicken and all 16 ways to cook it So far… Because it is so versatile especially for a store bought chicken in marinade to make different ways. I’m still not bored to eat it. Probably because there is 16 ways to cook it. It is something I eat couple times a week at least.
There are so many super delicious foods but unfortunately this writing prompt is for 3 only. So that is the 3 that I choose today. Even though the Honey-Chilli Chicken is already little bit cheating since I said all 16 ways to cook it. But I could not choose only one way over the rest. I love them all. Lol It is just too good and versatile.
With love C.F. Grönroos
Creator of the Mysteries by Rose
#cFGronroos #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2129 #food #mysteriesByRose
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The Bittersweet Taste of Freedom: an Interview with a Former Palestinian Prisoner
As part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Amir Abu Raddaha was freed from Israeli prison after 23 years. He spoke to Mondoweiss about his time behind bars, and the horrific conditions of Palestinian prisoners since October 7.On the cold morning of February 15, 2025, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Ramallah Cultural Palace to receive the sixth batch of released prisoners as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. This group was the smallest of the prisoner exchanges, as only nine Palestinians were released into the West Bank. At noon, the white minibus marked with the Red Cross logo approached the entrance of the municipal building, and the crowd began to press forward to get closer to the vehicle.
The door opened, and a thin figure emerged. Wearing a light gray sweatshirt, head shaven, and with a light white beard, the man exiting the bus took his first breath of freedom in 23 years. His name was Amir Abu Raddaha. He was arrested by the Israeli army in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
Before he touched the ground, the released prisoner was lifted on the shoulders of people in the crowds. He was soon wrapped in a jacket and carried toward the inner courtyard. Hands reached out to touch him, and chants resonated as the next released prisoner came out of the bus and was carried through the crowd.
During his time in Israeli prison, Raddaha went through it all; search raids, restrictions on living conditions, hunger strikes, denial of family visitation, deliberate medical neglect, and much more that he prefers to keep to himself -especially regarding the period following October 7, 2023.
At one point, Abu Raddaha coincided with his two other brothers, Amin and Mousa, in Israeli detention, although they were separated most of the time. He lost both his parents while in prison, and his mother never got to visit him.
Freed Palestinian prisoners greeted by relatives as they arrive in Ramallah’s Cultural Palace after being released from Israeli prison, February 15, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi/Mondoweiss)While most of the media coverage of the prisoner exchanges focused on Israeli captives, their names, their stories, their testimonies, and their health conditions, very little media attention has been given to Palestinian prisoners emerging from conditions that have never been worse in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Detention, imprisonment, and release is almost a rite of passage in Palestine, making up one of the most important collective experiences in Palestinian society. Palestinian prisoners appear in Palestinian art, literature, and everyday language, and they have devised special rituals of community support, celebration of release, and coping through anguish.
Since 1967, more than a million Palestinians have been detained — almost half of the male population of Palestine. A common saying in Palestine is that not a single household doesn’t have a member that was imprisoned at one point in their lives.
This is why the current prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel marks one of the most important episodes of the long story of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Mondoweiss sat with Amir Abu Raddaha after his release in his home in al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah to listen to this part of the story.
Mondoweiss: How was your life before your first detention in 1990?
Amir Abu Raddaha: I was a regular child growing up in the camp. People were very close to each other, and everybody was like family. In my house, nobody was allowed to eat unless we were all at the table. I played in the streets and began to see the difference between the refugee camp and the rest of the city. As a teenager, I worked with my brother in his metalworking shop. I first realized what the occupation was at the age of 14 during the First Intifada, and I became active in the Intifada. I was first arrested at the age of 17 and was released in 1999 at the age of 27 as part of [the wave of pardons that were part of] the Oslo Accords.
How were you arrested the second time?
Amir Abu Raddaha: In the Second Intifada, I was working in the Palestinian security forces, and I joined a cell belonging to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. In 2002, during the Israeli invasion of Ramallah, I was besieged alongside a group of fellow fighters at the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Forces in Beitunia in southern Ramallah. We were besieged for three days while Israeli Apache helicopters opened fire at us. I prepared to die because I didn’t think that we would come out alive. But then the Israeli army threatened to bomb the building if we didn’t give ourselves up, and since there were employees and civilians in the building, we decided to surrender. Later, I was given a life sentence for taking up arms against the occupation.
How did you rethink your own life when you have a life sentence?
Amir Abu Raddaha: It is difficult to survive prison while thinking of the life you left outside, so you need to adapt. Prisoners have created their own society in jail. We had our own library, which we built through books that prisoners at the time could receive during family visits, and we had courses and classes. I used my time and continued my studies until I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in political sciences and a Master’s degree in sociology.
How were your years in prison before October 2023?
Amir Abu Raddaha: For the first three years, I wasn’t allowed to receive any visitors. I lost my mother during this period before she could visit me. A prisoner one day came from a family visit and he was whispering something to other prisoners, so I asked him what had happened, and then he told me that my mother had died. My father kept visiting me until 2008. He was losing his hearing and had a lot of difficulties visiting me, so I told him to stop coming. My sisters were the ones who visited me after that. One day, another prisoner came from a visit and brought me the news that my father had died.
In the last two years before October 7, prison conditions were deteriorating. The prison service cut off many food items, replaced the daily bread with low-quality and leftover bread, and reduced water time. Room raids were increasing, with increasingly more violent search sessions. They would take us out of the room and spend up to six hours searching every detail, including our personal things, in a room 7 meters by 4 meters.
There were administrative detainees with me in prison, and I remember Bahaa Sharawneh from Dura, near Hebron, who is still under administrative detention for the fourth or fifth renewal in a row. We had won many rights throughout the years, including our right to study in prison, to have books, to self-organize, and to have collective representation through hard struggle. There was the big mass hunger strike of 2004, then those of 2012 and 2017, and many rounds of confrontation in between. We felt that the occupation was trying to take those hard-won rights away. We felt that a big attack on prisoners was on the way, and had actually begun, and we were preparing to face it.
How did things change after October 7?
Amir Abu Raddaha: On October 7, there was news that an attack happened from Gaza and that Israeli soldiers were captured. The first thing I thought was that there was finally hope for a prisoner exchange that could get us released. Then the news began to report increasing numbers of Israelis captured; 30, then 60, and it kept going up. Then I understood that we were heading towards war.
The next day, and it was a Sunday, we began to face the reaction of the occupation’s prison services. They raided the rooms and confiscated all electronic devices. They also took all the books that we had gathered for years and threw them in the garbage, only leaving us copies of the Quran. They also suspended the yard time we previously had, and for six months after October 7, we had no yard time at all. We spent the entire time inside the rooms. They also informed us that they were not going to recognize any collective organization or prisoner representation and that each prisoner spoke only for himself.
They closed the “cantine,” or the prison store where we bought our food with the balance that our families topped up in our names to make up for the lack of food items in the prison system. It was all gone. In my cell block, we were lucky because the officer in charge allowed us to take the remaining food in the cantine before closing it for good, and that food helped us get through the first months of the war. Other cell blocks didn’t have that chance.
“I saw prisoners fainting in front of me because they hadn’t eaten enough.”
Food quality in the meals given to us dropped immediately. For breakfast, they began to bring one spoon of yogurt of less than 100 grams and a piece of bread for each person. At noon, they bring lunch for each room. The quantity is so small that every prisoner gets a share of three to four spoons of rice, and the same quantity of soup. The soup itself is just boiled water with some vegetables in it, without any flavor. It was only enough to keep us alive. I saw prisoners fainting in front of me because they hadn’t eaten enough.
The cells began to become overcrowded. In the beginning, we were six people in a 7×4 meter room [23×13 feet]. Then more detainees were brought in, and the number kept rising until we were 14 people in the same room. Fourteen men in 7 meters by 4, without being allowed out for a single minute, for six months straight. We took turns standing and walking.
We weren’t given clean clothes either, and I spent these six months with the same underwear, washing it manually. Some prisoners got scabies, and it was a horrible thing to witness. One prisoner couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain, and his skin was in such bad condition that it looked perforated. He couldn’t stand up or walk properly.
After the first six months, they began to allow us to have some yard time, and we were able to shower. However, because there was only one shower for the entire cell block, we took turns by day, so each day, six of us would shower. We also began to be given changes of clothes.
Did you know what was happening outside, especially in Gaza?
Amir Abu Raddaha: We were completely cut off from the world. We had no radio, television, or newspaper. Our source of information about what was happening outside was the prisoners who had court hearings and could talk to the lawyers, and then came back and told us the news. After the first six months, we began to be allowed to receive lawyer visits, but not family visits, and then we received more news. That’s how we learned about the raid on al-Shifa hospital or the invasion of Rafah, for example, and that’s how we knew that the number of dead in Gaza had reached 10, then 20, then 30 thousand.
How did you learn about the ceasefire?
Amir Abu Raddaha: The day of the ceasefire I was summoned for an interrogation session, and I asked the Israeli intelligence officer what the news was, and if the war was ever going to end. He told me that he didn’t know anything, and then he received a message which was obviously important news, because he reacted as such, but he didn’t tell me anything. Shortly after I was back in the cell, the news arrived in another cell and then spread that there was a ceasefire agreement. We all felt a huge relief and celebrated. Many kneeled to the floor thanking God.
We had no information about the names of those who were going to be released. There was a first round of prisoners being exchanged, and we all had high expectations. A week later, the officer in my cell block came to our room and told me to gather my things. I asked him if I was being transferred to another prison. He said no and then asked me not to ask any more questions. There were five more in the same cell block who were informed in the same way, and we all understood we were the next batch of released prisoners. I said goodbye to my roommates, gathered the little clothes I had, and left with the guard.
How did you feel in that moment?
Amir Abu Raddaha: I didn’t feel the way I thought I would. My sadness and anguish for leaving the others behind in these conditions was much greater than my joy of leaving prison. They all told me to keep advocating for them, at least to ease the conditions of their detention.
What was the release process like?
Amir Abu Raddaha: First, we were taken to the Rimon prison in the south. There, we were strip-searched. They took all our clothes and gave us jail overalls. Then they put us in a waiting room where I met prisoners from other jails, and we chatted a little before we were led to a bus. Neither I nor anyone else from the prisoners knew for sure that we were being released, so we began to take guesses. I have been transferred many times to and from the Rimon prison, so I knew the way almost by heart. I told the other prisoners that if the bus turned left, then it was taking us to the Naqab desert to the prison there. But if it turns right, then we’re going to Ramallah. Fortunately, it went right.
“The interrogator showed me video footage of the destruction of Gaza and told me that it all was our fault, we, the prisoners. I asked how it could be my fault if I was in prison for twenty years, and he replied that all those people died just so that we could be released.”
As we approached Ramallah, the weather became increasingly cold, and we had nothing on us but the jail overalls, and as we approached Ramallah it got colder, and we began to shake. Then we arrived at the Ofer prison, outside of Ramallah. I was interrogated again there, and the interrogator showed me video footage of the destruction of Gaza and told me that it all was our fault, we, the prisoners. I asked how it could be my fault if I was in prison for twenty years, and he replied that all those people died just so that we could be released. I told him that I didn’t kill those people and that his government did.
Then I was taken to a medical check-up and was put in a room, which was my final station before being released. I stayed there for 18 days, from January 29 to February 15, waiting for my turn. Two other batches were released before me, and we began to worry that the ceasefire deal might have collapsed, but a prison guard told us that we shouldn’t worry and that if we made it this far we would be released.
“Before leaving, the prison guards gave us gray sweatshirts with an inscription on it that said, ‘We do not forget, we do not forgive.’”
Finally, one morning, the deputy director of the Ofer prison came and called on the names of seven of us, and we were taken to another waiting room for several hours until the Red Cross employees came. Then the guards brought us breakfast. The Red Cross took all our personal information, and from that moment on, we were no longer in the custody of the occupation army, but in that of the Red Cross. Before leaving, the prison guards gave us gray sweatshirts with an inscription on them that said, “We do not forget, we do not forgive,” and took off our handcuffs. I told the prisoners with me that these were the last handcuffs we would wear. Then we got on the Red Cross bus, which began to drive us to Ramallah.
Amir Abu Raddaha greeted by relatives upon arriving at Ramallah’s Cultural Palace following his release from Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, February 15, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi/Mondoweiss)What was the atmosphere on the bus?
Amir Abu Raddaha: In the bus we felt like little boys on a school trip, excited and almost in disbelief. I was counting the seconds, and everybody was talking at the same time. When we arrived at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, I was the first one to leave the bus. I was free for the first time in more than twenty years. My family didn’t recognize me, and my sister fainted when she saw me because she didn’t recognize me.
How are you adapting to your new life so far?
Amir Abu Raddaha: The first night at home, I didn’t sleep. I stayed awake, trying to fathom the fact that I was not in jail. I couldn’t believe that I had my head on a pillow, which I had been deprived of for a year and a half. It was a strange feeling to be able to shower freely the next morning, not to have to stand for count, and to see my little nephews instead of jailers.
I still struggle to get accustomed to it. I also think of the prisoners that I left behind. Not a day goes by without me thinking of them, and of what they are going through right now.
The bittersweet taste of freedom: an interview with a former Palestinian prisoner
https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17526
#ceasefire #palestine #PoliticalPrisoners #prisonStruggle #westAsia
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The Bittersweet Taste of Freedom: an Interview with a Former Palestinian Prisoner
As part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Amir Abu Raddaha was freed from Israeli prison after 23 years. He spoke to Mondoweiss about his time behind bars, and the horrific conditions of Palestinian prisoners since October 7.On the cold morning of February 15, 2025, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Ramallah Cultural Palace to receive the sixth batch of released prisoners as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. This group was the smallest of the prisoner exchanges, as only nine Palestinians were released into the West Bank. At noon, the white minibus marked with the Red Cross logo approached the entrance of the municipal building, and the crowd began to press forward to get closer to the vehicle.
The door opened, and a thin figure emerged. Wearing a light gray sweatshirt, head shaven, and with a light white beard, the man exiting the bus took his first breath of freedom in 23 years. His name was Amir Abu Raddaha. He was arrested by the Israeli army in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
Before he touched the ground, the released prisoner was lifted on the shoulders of people in the crowds. He was soon wrapped in a jacket and carried toward the inner courtyard. Hands reached out to touch him, and chants resonated as the next released prisoner came out of the bus and was carried through the crowd.
During his time in Israeli prison, Raddaha went through it all; search raids, restrictions on living conditions, hunger strikes, denial of family visitation, deliberate medical neglect, and much more that he prefers to keep to himself -especially regarding the period following October 7, 2023.
At one point, Abu Raddaha coincided with his two other brothers, Amin and Mousa, in Israeli detention, although they were separated most of the time. He lost both his parents while in prison, and his mother never got to visit him.
Freed Palestinian prisoners greeted by relatives as they arrive in Ramallah’s Cultural Palace after being released from Israeli prison, February 15, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi/Mondoweiss)While most of the media coverage of the prisoner exchanges focused on Israeli captives, their names, their stories, their testimonies, and their health conditions, very little media attention has been given to Palestinian prisoners emerging from conditions that have never been worse in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Detention, imprisonment, and release is almost a rite of passage in Palestine, making up one of the most important collective experiences in Palestinian society. Palestinian prisoners appear in Palestinian art, literature, and everyday language, and they have devised special rituals of community support, celebration of release, and coping through anguish.
Since 1967, more than a million Palestinians have been detained — almost half of the male population of Palestine. A common saying in Palestine is that not a single household doesn’t have a member that was imprisoned at one point in their lives.
This is why the current prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel marks one of the most important episodes of the long story of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Mondoweiss sat with Amir Abu Raddaha after his release in his home in al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah to listen to this part of the story.
Mondoweiss: How was your life before your first detention in 1990?
Amir Abu Raddaha: I was a regular child growing up in the camp. People were very close to each other, and everybody was like family. In my house, nobody was allowed to eat unless we were all at the table. I played in the streets and began to see the difference between the refugee camp and the rest of the city. As a teenager, I worked with my brother in his metalworking shop. I first realized what the occupation was at the age of 14 during the First Intifada, and I became active in the Intifada. I was first arrested at the age of 17 and was released in 1999 at the age of 27 as part of [the wave of pardons that were part of] the Oslo Accords.
How were you arrested the second time?
Amir Abu Raddaha: In the Second Intifada, I was working in the Palestinian security forces, and I joined a cell belonging to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. In 2002, during the Israeli invasion of Ramallah, I was besieged alongside a group of fellow fighters at the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Forces in Beitunia in southern Ramallah. We were besieged for three days while Israeli Apache helicopters opened fire at us. I prepared to die because I didn’t think that we would come out alive. But then the Israeli army threatened to bomb the building if we didn’t give ourselves up, and since there were employees and civilians in the building, we decided to surrender. Later, I was given a life sentence for taking up arms against the occupation.
How did you rethink your own life when you have a life sentence?
Amir Abu Raddaha: It is difficult to survive prison while thinking of the life you left outside, so you need to adapt. Prisoners have created their own society in jail. We had our own library, which we built through books that prisoners at the time could receive during family visits, and we had courses and classes. I used my time and continued my studies until I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in political sciences and a Master’s degree in sociology.
How were your years in prison before October 2023?
Amir Abu Raddaha: For the first three years, I wasn’t allowed to receive any visitors. I lost my mother during this period before she could visit me. A prisoner one day came from a family visit and he was whispering something to other prisoners, so I asked him what had happened, and then he told me that my mother had died. My father kept visiting me until 2008. He was losing his hearing and had a lot of difficulties visiting me, so I told him to stop coming. My sisters were the ones who visited me after that. One day, another prisoner came from a visit and brought me the news that my father had died.
In the last two years before October 7, prison conditions were deteriorating. The prison service cut off many food items, replaced the daily bread with low-quality and leftover bread, and reduced water time. Room raids were increasing, with increasingly more violent search sessions. They would take us out of the room and spend up to six hours searching every detail, including our personal things, in a room 7 meters by 4 meters.
There were administrative detainees with me in prison, and I remember Bahaa Sharawneh from Dura, near Hebron, who is still under administrative detention for the fourth or fifth renewal in a row. We had won many rights throughout the years, including our right to study in prison, to have books, to self-organize, and to have collective representation through hard struggle. There was the big mass hunger strike of 2004, then those of 2012 and 2017, and many rounds of confrontation in between. We felt that the occupation was trying to take those hard-won rights away. We felt that a big attack on prisoners was on the way, and had actually begun, and we were preparing to face it.
How did things change after October 7?
Amir Abu Raddaha: On October 7, there was news that an attack happened from Gaza and that Israeli soldiers were captured. The first thing I thought was that there was finally hope for a prisoner exchange that could get us released. Then the news began to report increasing numbers of Israelis captured; 30, then 60, and it kept going up. Then I understood that we were heading towards war.
The next day, and it was a Sunday, we began to face the reaction of the occupation’s prison services. They raided the rooms and confiscated all electronic devices. They also took all the books that we had gathered for years and threw them in the garbage, only leaving us copies of the Quran. They also suspended the yard time we previously had, and for six months after October 7, we had no yard time at all. We spent the entire time inside the rooms. They also informed us that they were not going to recognize any collective organization or prisoner representation and that each prisoner spoke only for himself.
They closed the “cantine,” or the prison store where we bought our food with the balance that our families topped up in our names to make up for the lack of food items in the prison system. It was all gone. In my cell block, we were lucky because the officer in charge allowed us to take the remaining food in the cantine before closing it for good, and that food helped us get through the first months of the war. Other cell blocks didn’t have that chance.
“I saw prisoners fainting in front of me because they hadn’t eaten enough.”
Food quality in the meals given to us dropped immediately. For breakfast, they began to bring one spoon of yogurt of less than 100 grams and a piece of bread for each person. At noon, they bring lunch for each room. The quantity is so small that every prisoner gets a share of three to four spoons of rice, and the same quantity of soup. The soup itself is just boiled water with some vegetables in it, without any flavor. It was only enough to keep us alive. I saw prisoners fainting in front of me because they hadn’t eaten enough.
The cells began to become overcrowded. In the beginning, we were six people in a 7×4 meter room [23×13 feet]. Then more detainees were brought in, and the number kept rising until we were 14 people in the same room. Fourteen men in 7 meters by 4, without being allowed out for a single minute, for six months straight. We took turns standing and walking.
We weren’t given clean clothes either, and I spent these six months with the same underwear, washing it manually. Some prisoners got scabies, and it was a horrible thing to witness. One prisoner couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain, and his skin was in such bad condition that it looked perforated. He couldn’t stand up or walk properly.
After the first six months, they began to allow us to have some yard time, and we were able to shower. However, because there was only one shower for the entire cell block, we took turns by day, so each day, six of us would shower. We also began to be given changes of clothes.
Did you know what was happening outside, especially in Gaza?
Amir Abu Raddaha: We were completely cut off from the world. We had no radio, television, or newspaper. Our source of information about what was happening outside was the prisoners who had court hearings and could talk to the lawyers, and then came back and told us the news. After the first six months, we began to be allowed to receive lawyer visits, but not family visits, and then we received more news. That’s how we learned about the raid on al-Shifa hospital or the invasion of Rafah, for example, and that’s how we knew that the number of dead in Gaza had reached 10, then 20, then 30 thousand.
How did you learn about the ceasefire?
Amir Abu Raddaha: The day of the ceasefire I was summoned for an interrogation session, and I asked the Israeli intelligence officer what the news was, and if the war was ever going to end. He told me that he didn’t know anything, and then he received a message which was obviously important news, because he reacted as such, but he didn’t tell me anything. Shortly after I was back in the cell, the news arrived in another cell and then spread that there was a ceasefire agreement. We all felt a huge relief and celebrated. Many kneeled to the floor thanking God.
We had no information about the names of those who were going to be released. There was a first round of prisoners being exchanged, and we all had high expectations. A week later, the officer in my cell block came to our room and told me to gather my things. I asked him if I was being transferred to another prison. He said no and then asked me not to ask any more questions. There were five more in the same cell block who were informed in the same way, and we all understood we were the next batch of released prisoners. I said goodbye to my roommates, gathered the little clothes I had, and left with the guard.
How did you feel in that moment?
Amir Abu Raddaha: I didn’t feel the way I thought I would. My sadness and anguish for leaving the others behind in these conditions was much greater than my joy of leaving prison. They all told me to keep advocating for them, at least to ease the conditions of their detention.
What was the release process like?
Amir Abu Raddaha: First, we were taken to the Rimon prison in the south. There, we were strip-searched. They took all our clothes and gave us jail overalls. Then they put us in a waiting room where I met prisoners from other jails, and we chatted a little before we were led to a bus. Neither I nor anyone else from the prisoners knew for sure that we were being released, so we began to take guesses. I have been transferred many times to and from the Rimon prison, so I knew the way almost by heart. I told the other prisoners that if the bus turned left, then it was taking us to the Naqab desert to the prison there. But if it turns right, then we’re going to Ramallah. Fortunately, it went right.
“The interrogator showed me video footage of the destruction of Gaza and told me that it all was our fault, we, the prisoners. I asked how it could be my fault if I was in prison for twenty years, and he replied that all those people died just so that we could be released.”
As we approached Ramallah, the weather became increasingly cold, and we had nothing on us but the jail overalls, and as we approached Ramallah it got colder, and we began to shake. Then we arrived at the Ofer prison, outside of Ramallah. I was interrogated again there, and the interrogator showed me video footage of the destruction of Gaza and told me that it all was our fault, we, the prisoners. I asked how it could be my fault if I was in prison for twenty years, and he replied that all those people died just so that we could be released. I told him that I didn’t kill those people and that his government did.
Then I was taken to a medical check-up and was put in a room, which was my final station before being released. I stayed there for 18 days, from January 29 to February 15, waiting for my turn. Two other batches were released before me, and we began to worry that the ceasefire deal might have collapsed, but a prison guard told us that we shouldn’t worry and that if we made it this far we would be released.
“Before leaving, the prison guards gave us gray sweatshirts with an inscription on it that said, ‘We do not forget, we do not forgive.’”
Finally, one morning, the deputy director of the Ofer prison came and called on the names of seven of us, and we were taken to another waiting room for several hours until the Red Cross employees came. Then the guards brought us breakfast. The Red Cross took all our personal information, and from that moment on, we were no longer in the custody of the occupation army, but in that of the Red Cross. Before leaving, the prison guards gave us gray sweatshirts with an inscription on them that said, “We do not forget, we do not forgive,” and took off our handcuffs. I told the prisoners with me that these were the last handcuffs we would wear. Then we got on the Red Cross bus, which began to drive us to Ramallah.
Amir Abu Raddaha greeted by relatives upon arriving at Ramallah’s Cultural Palace following his release from Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, February 15, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi/Mondoweiss)What was the atmosphere on the bus?
Amir Abu Raddaha: In the bus we felt like little boys on a school trip, excited and almost in disbelief. I was counting the seconds, and everybody was talking at the same time. When we arrived at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, I was the first one to leave the bus. I was free for the first time in more than twenty years. My family didn’t recognize me, and my sister fainted when she saw me because she didn’t recognize me.
How are you adapting to your new life so far?
Amir Abu Raddaha: The first night at home, I didn’t sleep. I stayed awake, trying to fathom the fact that I was not in jail. I couldn’t believe that I had my head on a pillow, which I had been deprived of for a year and a half. It was a strange feeling to be able to shower freely the next morning, not to have to stand for count, and to see my little nephews instead of jailers.
I still struggle to get accustomed to it. I also think of the prisoners that I left behind. Not a day goes by without me thinking of them, and of what they are going through right now.
The bittersweet taste of freedom: an interview with a former Palestinian prisoner
https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17526
#ceasefire #palestine #PoliticalPrisoners #prisonStruggle #westAsia
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It is No Spend January on the homestead.
This means-- aside from the obvious of not spending money-- that it is time to get creative with what we have in the freezers and pantries.
There is very minimal spending allowed, and it is really only if necessary for fresh produce. This is fine.
I made a batch of potato and onion soup that I have been eating through, as well as having eaten a small piece of the family's pot roast last night. Tonight, they had sausage and potatoes.
While looking through what we have, I decided to make butter with the heavy cream we had leftover from another project... which lead to the next plan of making a crusty Italian bread tomorrow that can be eaten with the soup, dipped in oil, or slathered in butter.
Not one to be known to take on an appropriate amount of projects simultaneously... homemade beef jerky is also on the menu for tomorrow. I figure the jerky is a good protein packed snack that will last for a bit, and even longer if I vacuum-pack it.
Wish me luck!
#cooking #baking #homemadebread #homemadefood #beefjerky #homemadejerky #homemadebeefjerky #homemadebutter #getcreative #nospendjanuary #gardemanger #keeperofthefood #keeperofthepantry #garmo #homestead #homesteading #pantryparty #pantryraid #selfreliant #selfsufficient #fediverse #federated
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A rainy afternoon off means it is time to trifle with an #atk recipe. Today it is celeriac, fennel, and apple chowder.! I got to say hello to some uncommon kitchen vegetable visitors, celeriac and fennel and the test kitchen promised a creamy and delicious veggie chowder! It is indeed creamy and delicious! #food #cooking #soup #chowder #vegetariancooking #vegetarian #vegetariansoup #veggiechowder #creamy #delicious #americastestkitchen #americastestkitchenrecipe #americastestkitchenvegetarian
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A rainy afternoon off means it is time to trifle with an #atk recipe. Today it is celeriac, fennel, and apple chowder.! I got to say hello to some uncommon kitchen vegetable visitors, celeriac and fennel and the test kitchen promised a creamy and delicious veggie chowder! It is indeed creamy and delicious! #food #cooking #soup #chowder #vegetariancooking #vegetarian #vegetariansoup #veggiechowder #creamy #delicious #americastestkitchen #americastestkitchenrecipe #americastestkitchenvegetarian
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A rainy afternoon off means it is time to trifle with an #atk recipe. Today it is celeriac, fennel, and apple chowder.! I got to say hello to some uncommon kitchen vegetable visitors, celeriac and fennel and the test kitchen promised a creamy and delicious veggie chowder! It is indeed creamy and delicious! #food #cooking #soup #chowder #vegetariancooking #vegetarian #vegetariansoup #veggiechowder #creamy #delicious #americastestkitchen #americastestkitchenrecipe #americastestkitchenvegetarian
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The Final Prize is Soup turned out to be awesome last week. The horror mostly happens off-screen, so I'm not struggling with it at all. Actually enjoying the atmosphere and mystery a lot. Excited to continue playing it!
🕹️ The Final Prize is Soup: https://4noki.itch.io/the-final-prize-is-soup
🧛♀️ Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaG3CA7oJ4
⏰ Time: 9 AM PDT, 12 PM EDT, 4 PM UTC -
I'm going to play The Final Prize is Soup for the seasonal spooks. It's a survival-horror yuri visual novel about participating to a life game of some sort in order to not die. Sounds rather dire, but it should be tame enough for me to handle.
🕹️ The Final Prize is Soup: https://4noki.itch.io/the-final-prize-is-soup
🧛♀️ Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdemW8u8W0g
⏰ Time: 9 AM PDT, 12 PM EDT, 4 PM UTC -
It's good to have someone appreciate my cooking, even if it is the "I will eat anything" Mellie.
Made a soup with some turkey wings, gave her the skin, joints and bones of one with her usual mix of dog food, carrots, cucumber and sausage.
She loved it so much, she licked her bowl clean.
Then it was time for some new treats (normal procedure after dinner).