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1. Embed this notice
   Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Aug-2026 16:50:35 JST Aral Balkan

   • Codeberg

   RE: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117036096486689894

   Dear @Codeberg,

   According to the anonymous Linux-Is-Best account, I am scammer and Gaza Verified (https://gaza-verified.org), which I made and help run, is a scam and every Gazan we verified using video calls is also a scammer.¹

   This presents a problem because I am also a part of Codeberg as an active member.

   And the Gaza Verified source code is hosted on Codeberg:
   https://codeberg.org/small-web/gaza-verified.org

   (We’re clearly a very transparent scam operation that believes in FOSS, etc.)

   So, if Linux-Is-Best is right, you are harbouring a known scammer in your organisation. Furthermore, by allowing the source code of the scam on your site, you could be held liable if you know of the scam but do nothing about it.

   So, please:

   1. Either remove me as an active member (and give me notice so I can cancel my direct debit and have time to migrate my account and projects elsewhere), or
   2. Take down the libellous claims by this anonymous troll who is causing real harm to people facing genocide in Gaza (and who is thus, himself, complicit in genocide).

   So I’m either a scammer and I should not be allowed to be part of the Codeberg organisation or the anonymous Linux-Is-Best is a libellous, genocide-complicit troll and should not be welcome at Codeberg. Because both of these cannot be true at the same time.

   I’ll leave it to you to decide who you would rather want associated with Codeberg.

   It shouldn’t be a very difficult decision to make.

   #Gaza #GazaVerified #genocide #libel #LinuxIsBest #fediverse #mastodon #Codeberg

   ¹ https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/Community/issues/2971

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Aug-2026 18:04:00 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • o

     @Olbird I’m sorry, I really don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you having a go at me?

   • Embed this notice
     o (olbird@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Aug-2026 18:04:02 JST o

     in reply to

     @aral - Scammer isn't much better, not yet verified. What happened to you? For now i've to kick you out, sorry. ❌

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 00:24:02 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     It appears that Linux-Is-Best’s libellous blocklist of “Gaza Verified scam accounts” has been removed from Codeberg.

     I appreciate your taking action @Codeberg; thank you.

     #Gaza #GazaVerified #genocide #libel #LinuxIsBest #fediverse #mastodon #Codeberg

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 00:28:28 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Rania rizq

     @Rania @Codeberg 💕

   • Embed this notice
     Rania rizq (rania@freesewing.social)'s status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 00:28:29 JST Rania rizq

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg
     Thank you, Aral, for standing up for truth and for standing against those who target and defame families from Gaza. Your support and your voice mean a great deal to us during these difficult times. We truly appreciate your solidarity. 🤍🇵🇸

   • Embed this notice
     Elena Rossini 🌈 (_elena@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 06:24:00 JST Elena Rossini 🌈

     in reply to

     @aral I had completely missed this and I’m so sorry Aral!

     Glad that Codeberg took swift action.

     I think it’s the same person who harassed me 2 years ago when I was taking too long to write an article about Sharkey and he made up crazy conspiracy theories about me

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 06:24:00 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Elena Rossini 🌈

     @_elena Thanks so much, Elena. 💕

     And I’m so sorry he targeted you too. Unbelievable, really. What’s wrong with these people?

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 07-Aug-2026 20:52:13 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Daphne Preston-Kendal

     @Codeberg I just received this email, titled “Your recent Mastodon post” from @dpk on behalf of the Codeberg “Presidium”:

     ***
     Dear Aral Balkan

     In your Mastodon post at <https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117041803584140945> you publically criticized a repository that was hosted on Codeberg, despite linking to an issue thread in which it was made clear that the content should be reported through our usual internal channels for moderation. The repository in question was reviewed by the moderation team and removed. We understand that you suffered reputational damage as a result of this repository’s content, but this does not justify damaging the reputation of Codeberg e.V. in turn. The moderation team is still a volunteer operation and sometimes it takes a few hours for someone to be available to deal with reports or to ensure that consensus exists.

     We therefore warn you not to make posts of this kind that could damage the association’s reputation in future. Acting against the interests of the association can be grounds for exclusion from the membership (§5 (5) of the by-laws). If you have issues with content posted on our site in future, please report it to our moderation team at abuse@codeberg.org. In general, reports sent to that email address will usually receive a reply describing what action was taken once the moderation team has considered how to deal with the reported content.

     Kind regards
     Presidium
     ***

     So, I have a problem with this.

     My post in no way damaged the reputation of Codeberg. It publicly asked them to do something about it and to state, publicly, where they stand on an issue. An issue, may I add, that has to do with real people facing actual genocide as we speak. Not to mention I thanked them for making the right decision (https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117043586669877395). If anything, until this email, it made the organisation look better. Unless, of course, opposing certain genocides is something that damages reputations in Germany.

     I do not agree with the public issue being closed either. An issue was reported and the response was not “oh, this is serious, we’ll look into it”. It was, rather, “you reported it wrong. Report the same thing at this other place instead.”

     And that other place is an entirely opaque internal system where no one gets to see what decision-making process is employed.

     This is not the transparency that should exist in a member-run organisation.

     So at the end of the day, I am the one being threatened with being removed from membership while the person who is actively trying to harm genocide victims (https://codeberg.org/Linux-Is-Best/) is still welcome on Codeberg?

     This is a very insidious form of bothsidesism and, I can only imagine, is to ensure that I keep quiet in the future and to create a chilling effect where we cannot discuss certain things publicly for fear of reprisals.

     Well, that won’t be happening.

     I am sick and tired of people who cannot provide a proportional response when we asked to choose between people harming genocide victims on the one hand and those trying to protect them on the other.

     If this means I cannot be a member of Codeberg, so be it.

     Let me know if I’m not welcome there and I will leave.

     And you can show the world that Linux-Is-Best is welcome and I am not. If that’s who you are.

     #codeberg #israel #germany #zionism #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #fediverse #mastodon #transparency #ethics #morals

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 07-Aug-2026 22:25:40 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Daphne Preston-Kendal

     @dpk @Codeberg I claimed no such thing. I thanked you for making the right decision so people were updated on the outcome.

     On the issue of public shaming (which this wasn’t, it was a public call for accountability and raising awareness of someone who is actively harming genocide victims), this you?

     Have you received an email from the Scheme steering committee yet?

     So I guess in my defence I was trying to protect genocide victims, not my own chair.

     Maybe we should take a class together in whatever it is we apparently need to learn.

   • Embed this notice
     Daphne Preston-Kendal (dpk@chaos.social)'s status on Friday, 07-Aug-2026 22:25:44 JST Daphne Preston-Kendal

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg We could not accept the situation where you claimed you had got the moderation team to remove content by public shaming, while as an association member you have other options to raise the issue within the membership, even besides the usual moderation report channels which are open to everyone (and which you cannot deny that you knew of, since you linked to an issue thread explicitly pointing to them). Unfortunately this lesson seems to be hard for you to learn.

   • Embed this notice
     Daphne Preston-Kendal (dpk@chaos.social)'s status on Friday, 07-Aug-2026 22:26:01 JST Daphne Preston-Kendal

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg You were warned concerning your membership of the association, not your ability to use the site. Linux-is-Best is not a member of the association, they just have an account on the site. They were informed of the action we took in removing their content and the reason for it.

   • Embed this notice
     Heyam Yousef 🍉 (heyamgaza@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 02:14:54 JST Heyam Yousef 🍉

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg
     I'm sorry you're feeling so bad about this.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 02:14:54 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Heyam Yousef 🍉

     @heyamgaza @Codeberg Heyam, please don’t worry yourself. It’s nothing.

     My love to you and your family.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 02:18:31 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Hilal

     @Hilalgazayafa @Codeberg Thank you, Hilal. Think nothing of it. The whole world should be hanging its head in shame at what we’re letting happen before our own eyes. Lots of love 💕

   • Embed this notice
     Hilal (hilalgazayafa@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 02:18:32 JST Hilal

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg Dear Aral,
     You are a truly kind and compassionate person. Thank you for everything you have done for Gaza. Please stay by our side—we need honorable people like you now more than ever. Your support gives us hope. 🍉❤️🙏

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 06:12:20 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Hilal

     @Hilalgazayafa @Codeberg Dear Hilal, please, just call me Aral. And here’s to a future where we can take them beyond words together.

   • Embed this notice
     Hilal (hilalgazayafa@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Aug-2026 06:12:21 JST Hilal

     in reply to

     • Codeberg

     @aral @Codeberg Thank you, dear sir. I follow your posts with great admiration and appreciate your humanity.
     I was a human rights education teacher in Gaza for years and helped develop those curricula. Sadly, I witnessed a painful contradiction: we taught justice and dignity, yet we became people seeking help in a world of silence and indifference. After three years of suffering in Gaza, the reality has shown that many human rights promises remain only words. 💔🍉

   • Embed this notice
     Daphne Preston-Kendal (dpk@chaos.social)'s status on Sunday, 09-Aug-2026 01:31:13 JST Daphne Preston-Kendal

     in reply to

     @aral By the way, if you do want to leave the membership of Codeberg e.V., the place to do that is not here, but in a clear, unambiguous email to codeberg@codeberg.org.

     Aral Balkan repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Sunday, 09-Aug-2026 01:32:01 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Codeberg
     • Daphne Preston-Kendal

     @dpk I’ve been supporting @Codeberg by both unreservedly recommending it and financially supporting it since the beginning. Are you telling me to stop doing so? If so, I can.