Birblr - Blog Posts

fairiedance

1 year ago

Bulbul with Palestinian Flag

When I asked my friend about birds from his home the first thing that came to mind for him was the bulbul.

This little guy is the white-spectacled bulbul, a medium-sized passerine described as "conspicuous and noisy". They're common around Palestine, my friend has many fond memories of them. I have just added this drawing of one holding a Palestinian flag to my shop.

As usual ALL PROCEEDS from this design will go to my Palestinian best friend to help him afford to bring his girlfriend over to America and to help his other loved ones around the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries. You can find the design here printed on a lot of different products.

You can find all my designs here. Redbubble will display with a random product, click on it to see all product options (shirts, stickers, notebooks, etc).

Also funny story when I first looked up bulbuls my friend wasn't checking too closely what photo I had up on my phone and I spent a long time believing the red-whiskered bulbul was from Palestine (it's not, it's from south Asia). So much so that I actually drew the wrong bird at first. Oops. So, I probably won't sell this guy because he doesn't make a lot of sense as a symbol for Palestine (maybe I'll repurpose him into an unrelated design after the war) but here you go, solidarity for Palestine from this lovely little tropical frugivore:

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out so far, I really appreciate you. My friend is hunting now for a new living space to accommodate his partner when she gets here. Housing as a grad student is always a nightmare, I'm so grateful that you all are helping with the deposit. My friend is also doing his best to figure out help for his family back home (a chaotic situation, just getting in contact with some relatives has been a mess so far). I'll try to add some updates as things progress (as usual, vague to protect their privacy).

Palestine Bird Designs

One of the first times I spoke with my friend (the one I am fundraising for) about Palestine he spoke so passionately about how birds represent freedom to him, as they come and go over the walls at will. Israel has caused absolute devastation to Palestine's wildlife, cutting off migratory pathways for land animals and destroying habitats. Birds (though still hurt by habitat loss of course) can pass over the barriers. Watching them fly across the walls is a bittersweet thing for those trapped within them. The flight of birds has represented freedom to so many cultures, but there's a certain extra emotional poignancy that comes with the symbolism for people who are trapped by the same barriers that the birds traverse with ease.

Of course this is not the only reason I make so many bird designs, doves are a standard symbol for peace and I'm also absolutely obsessed with birds in general, but the way my friend told it was very touching and I wanted to share. My various bird designs have gotten a lot of attention the last few days, so I'll compile all my birds so far in one place here:

You can find all my designs here. Redbubble will show you a random product, click on it to see all product options (shirts, stickers, notebooks, etc). ALL PROCEEDS will go to my Palestinian best friend to help him afford to bring his girlfriend over to America and to help his other loved ones around the Levant who are being hurt directly and/or financially by the attacks on Gaza, the increasing Israeli raids in the West Bank and the collateral damage in surrounding countries.