Simon Mabon

Exciting workshop by @maricalc.bsky.social & @profmabon.bsky.social for @europeanisa.bsky.social 's EWIS in Izmir this year: "Empire without Hegemony:
The unmasking of US dominium over the Middle East and beyond" eisa-net.org/wp-content/u...

Will Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territories? Talks to implement Donald Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza are under way.

This was a good watch, with @victorkattan.bsky.social and @profmabon.bsky.social not being shy about blasting the stupid idea of having Blair run Gaza. Who ever thought of that one should read some history books. It's hardly a secret why that's a terrible idea. www.aljazeera.com/video/inside...

Schism by Simon Mabon | Waterstones Buy Schism by Simon Mabon from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Please excuse the self promotion but Waterstones have selected my new book Schism for a 25% preorder discount. It doesn't run for long (& I know it's not out until May) but apparently pre-orders are important. If you could spread the word I'd hugely appreciate it www.waterstones.com/book/schism/...

The two years of fighting since October 7 have transformed the Middle East The impact of the October 7 attacks and Israel’s response will reverberate for decades to come.

The two years of fighting since October 7 have transformed the Middle East: MIddle East expert Simon Mabon @profmabon.bsky.social looks into the aftermath of the Hamas attacks and Israel's war on Gaza
theconversation.com/the-two-year...

The two years of fighting since October 7 have transformed the Middle East The impact of the October 7 attacks and Israel’s response will reverberate for decades to come.

The impact of the October 7 attacks and Israel’s response will reverberate for decades to come.

🇸🇾 🎉Thank you to all who joined us in Parliament for our roundtable on Syria’s transition nine months on.

Our expert panel reflected on interim governance, legal reform & the prospects for meaningful accountability.

📝 A takeaway report will be out soon: fpc.org.uk/join/

The quiet war: What’s fueling Israel’s surge of settler violence – and the lack of state response Violence in the West Bank has intensified since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

As U.S. aid flows to Israel, settler violence in the West Bank is surging – with little state restraint. Experts say it’s part of a larger strategy to forcibly reshape the region. buff.ly/CpMDami
By @aperliger.bsky.social, UMass Lowell

Much deserved!

I’ll get you a celebratory coffee next time you’re around. (Catch up long overdue).

The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza Israel controls the flow of food into Gaza. It has calculated how many calories Palestinians need to stay alive. Its data shows only a fraction has been allowed in

The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza.
Israel controls the flow of food into Gaza. It has calculated how many calories Palestinians need to stay alive. Its data shows only a fraction has been allowed in.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

John Simpson
“The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights warns that countries are becoming bolder in attacking dissidents in the UK. Russia, China & Iran are the worst, but Bahrain, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, & the UAE have all attacked people here.”

The Trump administration believes it has the legal authority to abduct any individual-citizen or immigrant, documented or not-and illegally deport them to another country without due process. It further claims that it can extinguish all of that person's constitutional rights by imprisoning them in a foreign nation. And it asserts that once that person has been locked away abroad, the U.S. government has no power or responsibility to bring them home, even if they were indisputably deported in error.

Trump’s Justice Department is currently asking the Supreme Court for permission to build a deportation machine that can disappear anyone, citizen and immigrant alike, to a foreign prison forever, permanently extinguishing their constitutional rights with zero due process. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Gaza is starving – how Israel’s allies can go beyond words and take meaningful action Israel’s allies should look at what was done to isolate South Africa during the apartheid years.

"There are other more incendiary options. One would be for the UK and others to properly adhere to their obligations under international law." @profmabon.bsky.social on the Gaza genocide.
theconversation.com/gaza-is-star...

Gaza is starving – how Israel’s allies can go beyond words and take meaningful action Israel’s allies should look at what was done to isolate South Africa during the apartheid years.

Israel’s allies should look at what was done to isolate South Africa during the apartheid years.

And how this sits alongside what is happening in Syria.

Neoliberal pragmatism in operation again?

Trump and Miller are intent on building an unaccountable domestic secret police force that would be the world's third-biggest security force by funding levels, after the US and China's *militaries*.

That kind of funding dwarfs its stated purpose, which tells you what its real purpose will be.

‘Humanitarian city’ would be concentration camp for Palestinians, says former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says forcing people into camp would be ethnic cleansing, and anger at Israel is not all down to antisemitism

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Insane that the British Foreign Secretary can meet with the former leader of Al Qaeda in Syria while, at home, on the same day, his government arrested 20 people on 'terrorism offenses' for supporting a non-violent pro-Palestine protest group.

Indiana Jones will be played by a rotating cast of three adjuncts who answer to two different associate deans

Judge Rules Training AI on Authors' Books Is Legal But Pirating Them Is Not A judge rules that Anthropic's training on copyrighted works without authors' permission was a legal fair use, but that stealing the books in the first place is illegal.

A judge ruled Anthropic training AI on books without permission was legal, but pirating the books was not. This is ultimately a very damaging decision but there are many other cases working their way through the legal system that have worse facts

www.404media.co/judge-rules-...

This is such an important day for New Yorkers. Rooting for Mamdani! www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

“So, bottom line – all of these arguments are really trying to dress up purely preventative action into something more legally respectable. These arguments are not just weak, they are fatally weak.”

Peak Marko.

Hang it in the Louvre.

The EU's pathetic response to Trump's Iran attack Europe jettisoned its principles to suck up to a president that doesn't even know they exist

The EU's pathetic response to Trump's Iran attack: Europe jettisoned its principles to suck up to a president that doesn't even know they exist

responsiblestatecraft.org/us-strikes-i...

US joins Israel in attack on Iran and ushers in a new era of impunity The US president’s decision to join israel’s air campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme is the death knell of the old rules-based order.

The US president’s decision to join israel’s air campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme is the death knell of the old rules-based order.

“Donald Trump has guaranteed that Iran will be a nuclear weapons state in 5 to 10 years from now.”

Iranian writer @tparsi.bsky.social tells @mehdirhasan.bsky.social that US bombing of Iran would push Tehran toward developing nuclear weapons.

Watch the full conversation:
zeteo.com/p/breaking-t...

If you want to understand the background in the Iran-Israel war, and where it could lead us, you really need to listen to this week’s Why Curve, with Simon Mabon from Lancaster University, Listen to the full episode here: whycurve.com/episode/worl...

“When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back at you.”

Stark regime change message from Netanyahu here. “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom. The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag and its historic legacy”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...

A wonderful thread.

US vetoes Security Council resolution demanding permanent ceasefire in Gaza A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backe...

All alone in the world: The US vetoes a UN Security Council resolution demanding permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which was supported by all 14 other Security Council members. news.un.org/en/story/202...

Too many were too impressed by David Lammy's recent statement on Gaza and the accompanying (feeble) measures against Israel. Lammy & Starmer's priority isn't stopping the genocide. It's limiting the domestic political fallout resulting from their complicity.