• 141 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • I didn’t know anything about the history of the Cocos Islands:

    The archipelago was discovered in 1609 by Captain William Keeling of the East India Company, on a return voyage from the East Indies. North Keeling was sketched by Ekeberg, a Swedish captain, in 1749, showing the presence of coconut palms. It also appears on a 1789 chart produced by British hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple.[20]

    In 1825, Scottish merchant seaman Captain John Clunies-Ross stopped briefly at the islands on a trip to India, nailing up a Union Jack and planning to return and settle on the islands with his family in the future.[21] Wealthy Englishman Alexander Hare had similar plans, and hired a captain – coincidentally, Clunies-Ross’s brother – to bring him and a volunteer harem of 40 Malay women to the islands, where he hoped to establish his private residence.[22] Hare had previously served as resident of Banjarmasin, a town in Borneo, and found that “he could not confine himself to the tame life that civilisation affords”.[22]

    Clunies-Ross returned two years later with his wife, children and mother-in-law, and found Hare already established on the island and living with the private harem. A feud grew between the two.[22] Clunies-Ross’s eight sailors “began at once the invasion of the new kingdom to take possession of it, women and all”.[22]

    After some time, Hare’s women began deserting him, and instead finding themselves partners amongst Clunies-Ross’s sailors.[23] Disheartened, Hare left the island. He died in Bencoolen in 1834.[24] Encouraged by members of the former harem, Clunies-Ross then recruited Malays to come to the island for work and wives.

    Clunies-Ross’s workers were paid in a currency called the Cocos rupee, a currency John Clunies-Ross minted himself that could only be redeemed at the company store.[25]

































  • Hold up, can we start over?

    Just so you know I haven’t downvoted any of your comments.

    I don’t think I have implied that anything isn’t a ‘big deal’ or that this is ‘100% positive’ or that I’m engaging in ‘black-and-white thinking’.

    I did point out that Israeli settlers have been doing the things you suggest they do such as organising in opposition for decades without much success. This includes protests, campaigns, conscription and military refusal, opposition political parties and so on.

    I do think if more people emigrate from Israel it will better and I linked to a piece by someone who renounced their citizenship that goes into detail about why this is the case. Perhaps if you disagree with this sentiment you could check this article out and let me know which parts you have issue with.

    I don’t think I’ve taken anything you said out of context and I’d appreciate if you could pay me the same courtesy.