Steven Heydemann

Syria interim president accuses Israel of fighting ‘ghosts’ and exporting crises Ahmed al-Sharaa says Israel justifies aggression in the name of security amid airstrikes on southern Syria

Syria interim president accuses Israel of fighting ‘ghosts’ and exporting crises www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Why should we treat as serious Trump's gaslighting about "dangerous criminals." He and his lickspittle toadies have been entirely clear. Their aim is mass deportation, as they've been telling us for two years.

Trump Names Government Building After His Favorite President Trump has been gutting the U.S. Institute of Peace since he took office.

USIP is not a fucking government building. It was stolen by this administration. Get it right @dailybeast.bsky.social

www.thedailybeast.com/trump-names-...

One year after Assad: Syria’s struggle for security, recovery and reform Ellie Geranmayeh speaks with Syrian minister Hind Kabawat about the country’s turbulent first year after Assad, the challenges ahead, and her push to bring more women into leadership during Syria’s…

ecfr.eu/podcasts/epi...

Syria's growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return, central bank chief says Syria's economy is growing much faster than the World Bank's 1% estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country's currency a...

www.reuters.com/world/middle...

His brother was disappeared by the Assad regime. 13 years later, leaked photos confirm how he died | CBC News Thousands of Syrian government records have been leaked documenting widespread torture and killing under the Assad regime, and an analysis of hundreds of photographs underscores the scale of the bruta...

Similar to the gruesome Caesar revelations, a forensic photographer has released a massive cache of documents on victims of Assad regime torture. It contains 70,000 images and 64,000 documents, including many death certificates.

www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

Most of Syria's Neighbors See Assad's Ouster as Good Thing A year after Assad's ouster, many of Syria's neighbors say the change will improve Syrians' lives but are less sure it will bring security to their own country.

news.gallup.com/poll/699248/...

Government Discloses Identity and Motive of Zeidel Murderer; Announces Arrest of 120 Suspects in Subsequent Rioting - The Syrian Observer Noureddine al-Baba stressed that the act was purely criminal in nature and devoid of any sectarian motive, according to Syria TV.

syrianobserver.com/syrian-actor...

Trump's sycophants have had his name added to the signage of the US Institute of Peace. A sick, obscene parody. The desperate, pathetic grovelling to support his delusional demand for a Nobel. Sick.

From Israel to ICE, MESA’s academic freedom is under attack The issue of academic freedom, particularly related to Israel and Palestine studies, has become a daily concern for students and professors.

You might not be in Middle East Studies. But whether you picked this fight or not, if you work at a university, this fight is picking you.

You are responsible for standing with colleagues. You are responsible for failing to stand up too. We're all in it now.

www.newarab.com/news/israel-...

Elon Musk's "foundation" gives $370 million to an elementary school run by a crony of his in Bastrup, TX, population 12,700. That was almost 80% of its total "philanthropy" last year.

Trump warns Israel not to 'interfere' in Syria after deadly raid Trump’s post came days after the Israeli military raided the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria overnight Thursday to capture two members of Lebanese Islamist group Jama’a Islamiya.

www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

"Bibi sees ghosts everywhere": U.S. alarmed by Israel's Syria strikes "He has to stop this because if it continues he will self-destruct."

Put this account together with Trump’s meandering post lauding Syria and it seems we’re in for another round of WH Bibi fatigue.

www.axios.com/2025/12/01/i...

MBS’ Vanity Projects Are Bleeding Saudi Arabia Dry Saudi Arabia can’t even afford Mohammed bin Salman’s follies, let alone the investment into the U.S. he promised Donald Trump.

"For all their utopian dreams, the megaprojects championed by MBS don’t signal the future, but the trap represented by Saudi Arabia’s political economy."

My @wpr.bsky.social column on MBS and the staggering waste of his development "vision." Gift link: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/mbs-trump-sa...

White House says second strike on vessel was legal and conducted in ‘self defense’ amid scrutiny – live Karoline Leavitt defends second strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat; Trump says he believes Pete Hegseth’s statement ‘100%’ that defense secretary didn’t ordered the attack

Self defense? Aircraft carrier and fighter jets attack surviving crew of a boat that’s been blown out of the water and its self defense? Gaslighting on a whole nother level.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

Bringing Iran into a regional security framework to constrain Israel could be a good move under the right conditions. But these ain’t them.

The administration would certainly not be happy.
This is classic balancing behavior by second tier powers against an aggressive and more powerful revisionist state. after the Iran strike, I wrote a short bit for Brookings about the Arab world’s Israel problem.

If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.

If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.

It’s that simple.

If true, shockingly reckless guidance from KSA and Turkey. Can’t think of a single thing that would do more to prompt much more aggressive Israeli intervention.

According to both Israeli and Arab press, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey want the Syrian government and Iran to reach an understanding with one another as part of a counterbalance against Israeli incursions and aggression.

Obeying in advance. Terrible.

Thou shalt not pretend that you're at war with drug traffickers while pardoning drug traffickers.

Alina Habba’s parents emigrated to the US from Iraq citing persecution.

Yup.

Is there any chance he’ll be replaced by someone sane?? Doubtful.

Corruption on an unprecedented scale.

Pentagon Pete in Legal Peril Over ‘Kill Them All’ Orders A follow-up missile allegedly killed survivors of a U.S. strike on a drug boat.

How low we have sunk as a country. The US Department of Defense is now run by a rabid war criminal.

Ordering the execution of helpless survivors of an attack is ALWAYS a war crime, whether they civilian or military.

Pure, mindless, barbarism.
www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pet...

Israeli raid on Syrian town kills 13, including children, residents say Israel’s military said it conducted the raid in Beit Jinn in southern Syria to apprehend several people it accused of planning attacks.

"An Israeli military assault on this town in southern Syria early Friday killed at least 13 residents, including several children..The episode was one of the deadliest since Israel began occupying and carrying out regular military operations in parts of Syria last year."

War crimes in Syria: The starvation of Yarmouk on trial | Qantara.de A new trial of Syrian suspects has opened in Koblenz, Germany — the first to begin since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, and the first ever to charge starvation as a war crime.

qantara.de/en/article/s...

Putin Defends Witkoff Against Accusations of Pro-Russia Bias

NYT previews its next April 1 headline.

Putin Defends Witkoff Against Accusations of Pro-Russia Bias www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/w...