Ro (Phoenix) Bersten
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phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Ro (Phoenix) Bersten
@phoenix-ember.bsky.social
130 followers 180 following 93 posts
mad poet spinning sky-fire; cranky autistic parent (get off my lawn); social justice firebrand & educator; queer & disabled & jewish. founder of intertwine. living on stolen woi wurrung lands. no one is free until we’re all free. xe/xyr.
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phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Commemorating the Naksa #FreePalestine
Me and V, and a sign that says Jews for Liberation with the Aboriginal flag and the Palestinian flag. D, with the Loud Jews, wearing a fabulous beret and wrap, with Greens in the background holding purple signs that say End the Occupation. A person holding a sign that says Jews in Solidarity The Loud Jews crew from behind. S wearing her distinctive burgundy and red that was less distinctive today
June 8, 2025 at 10:11 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Enjoying the graffiti wall at T-Gen Gyms today, especially the exhortation to have a cute day resisting empire and savouring joy. So here for that.
A chalkboard wall covered in colourful joyous phrases written by trans gym participants including “gain mass, don’t pass”, “the kids at school told me to grow a pair — so I did!” and “my pronouns are he/slay”.
May 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Needed BDS-compliant gluten-free matzah. Decided to make my own! Chag sameach, everyone. Next year in a free Palestine!
Uncooked matzah dough on a tray lined with baking paper Delicious-looking home-made gluten-free matzah squares on a navy blue plate
April 12, 2025 at 9:03 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
I haven’t played pool in 10 years but thanks to Basem Kerbage being an aggressive wingman, I just played against an incredibly stylish opponent and managed not to embarrass myself.
Me, a white-passing person in a blue t-shirt with dark hair and teal glasses, leaning over a pool table with a pool cue trying to look like I know what I’m doing.
March 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
I’m zooming in to Rabbi Richard Lampert’s minyan (one of my early mentors in social justice). I was thinking I didn’t have a book to follow along and then remembered I do indeed have my childhood siddur from NSTE. During the amidah, I randomly opened it and encountered this. Feels appropriate.
Lord our God and God of ages past, grant that none may hate us, and let hatred for others never enter our hearts. Unite us in the reverence of Your name; keep us far from the things You hate, and draw us near to the things You love; and treat us with compassion for Your name's sake. The same words appear in Hebrew but the iPhone won’t let me select that text to paste here.
March 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Guess I had a busy Sunday! Stop 1: Loud Jew Collective at the Naarm Palestine rally Stop 2: Jewish Greens door knock Balaclava in support of Sonya Semmens for Macnamara 💚 #FreePalestine #YourVoteIsPowerful #OutfitChange
Me with a bunch of fabulous Loud Jew Collective folks and the “Jews in Solidarity: Palestine will be free” banner Me with a bunch of fabulous Jewish Greens folks after a door knock for Sonya Semmens.
March 23, 2025 at 1:08 PM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Defending the right to dissent!
Protest at the Victorian Parliament Signs at the protest defending the right to dissent including “the right to protest is not negotiable” and “social cohesion uber alles”. Refugee Action Collective sign held by two people including a man with a Jews for a Free Palestine shirt A sign at the protest defending the right to dissent that reads “nothing says social cohesion like suppressing dissent during a genocide”
March 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Congratulations Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham on this incredible film, No Other Land, & this brave speech.

No one is free until we’re all free #FreePalestine #Oscars2025

[reposting because I slightly misquoted Yuval the first time. Apologies for my poor Canva skills. I still want this on a T-shirt!
“Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people are truly safe when Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way.” — Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham accepting the Academy Award for Best Documentary alongside his co-director, Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra
March 3, 2025 at 5:15 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
I want this on a T-shirt. (Apologies for my terrible Canva skills).

Congratulations Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham on this incredible film and brave speech. No one is free until we’re all free. #FreePalestine
An image of Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham accepting the Academy Award for Best Documentary for No Other Land. The text reads: “My people are not truly safe until his people are truly free.” — Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham accepting the Academy Award for Best Documentary alongside his co-director, Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra
March 3, 2025 at 2:49 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Proud to be one of more than 500+ Jewish Australians standing up against ethnic cleansing in the SMH and The Age today. #OzJewsSayNO #No2ethniccleansing #NO2TrumpsGazaPlan

(I’m fourth from the bottom in column one.)
February 25, 2025 at 2:30 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
February 11, 2025 at 10:19 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Seriously, the weirdest timeline. #EndTimes #Gaza #wtf
A screenshot from the New York Times that shows Trump and Netanyahu in front of their countries’ flags. The text says: Trump, Hosting Israel's Leader, Proposes the U.S. Take Over Gaza At a news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Trump said he wanted the United States to take over Gaza in an "ownership position," and declared that all Palestinians there - some two million people - should leave.
February 5, 2025 at 1:28 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
I live on stolen Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung lands. Sovereignty was never ceded. #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #AboriginalLand #InvasionDay2025
Aboriginal flag flying over the Victorian parliament Loud Jews Collective members holding a hand-painted banner that reads “Jews Against Settler-Colonialism. Treaty now!” The aboriginal flag is in the left-hand corner. The Torres Strait Islander flag is in the right-hand corner. Another sign to the side says “Jews for liberation” and has an Aboriginal flag and a Palestinian flag. Protest sign that reads “camp sovereignty, land back” Protest sign that reads “indigenous lands in indigenous hands. Land back now. Displacement is genocide. Condemn the eviction of BKI.”
January 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Dear @australianopen.bsky.social, please get a human captioner again. This is supposed to say “game, Sonega”. No idea what “noodles” is supposed to be. #a11y #disability #LiveCaptioning #AIFail
January 22, 2025 at 6:55 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
This is 54.

Happy birthday to me!

#AusOpen #AO25
January 22, 2025 at 5:44 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Happy Midsumma! No one is free until we’re all free. #QueerLiberation not rainbow capitalism. #FreePalestine #EndTheOccupation
January 19, 2025 at 3:23 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Gee, thanks, poetry app. Have you been listening in to my thoughts?

(This was the result of my first random spin for 2025, I swear… happy new year, I guess?)

#poetry #random #boredom #aging
January 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM
phoenix-ember.bsky.social
Instructions on Living in a Broken World lean into community seek out love applaud the good you see keep paying attention talk to your neighbors dance to the music and embrace art look for love and small joys take breaks and relish in nourishing your body donate what you can linger at the dinner table with friends check in with your people let yourself grieve love one another as deeply as you can the storm is upon us and we must hold on don't give up, we're here together. still we rise
November 11, 2024 at 11:52 AM