In the 1960s, the Beirut River was a vital natural resource that shaped the daily life of nearby neighborhoods. Today, it's a polluted, stagnant channel.

Dana Hourany traces its history through archival research and firsthand testimony.
🔗 https://thepublicsource.org/beirut-river-history

Reimagining Reconstruction How can we address the consequences of war and build spatial justice for our communities? by Public Works Studio translated by Basyma Saad

Israel’s latest war on Lebanon was a spatially targeted assault on people, land, and the environments that sustain life.

Public Works Studio has documented the destruction and mapped the patterns of violence that continue to unfold.
🔗https://thepublicsource.org/reconstruction-beirut-south

The American Historical Association, Scholasticide, and the Inherent Politics of History BY ALAN PARKES History is always political. Last month, the American Historical Association’s (AHA) leadership chose to override its own members for a second year, again vetoing a resolution on sch…

In this important new post in the AAUP blog, Alan Parkes points to how @historians.org has deployed a false idea that acting in support of Palestine and Palestinian history is "political," whereas its other advocacy is (somehow?) not.

academeblog.org/2026/02/10/t...

Sudan w/ Khalid Medani | Connections with Mouin Rabbani #113 YouTube video by Jadaliyya

#Sudan update with Khalid Medani

www.youtube.com/live/ULPUsKW...

Historians Must Reclaim AHA (opinion) Two recent vetoes by the association’s governing council raise the question of who defines what counts as “history.”

A really important intervention by Stacy D. Fahrenthold into the @historians.org silencing of its membership and cowardice in the face of current political realities.

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

How Human Rights Watch Killed a Report Calling Israel’s Denial of Palestinians’ Right of Return a Crime Against Humanity The Israel-Palestine director at Human Rights Watch resigned over the decision to spike the report, which had been approved by HRW’s legal team.

www.dropsitenews.com/p/human-righ...

Israel-Palestine head of Human Rights Watch quits over ‘blocked’ report Omar Shakir, who has worked for the rights group for more than 10 years, says he has lost faith in the organisation.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

Human Rights Watch researchers resign after report on Palestinian right of return blocked The organization claims the report, which finds Israel’s denial of the right of return is a crime against humanity, is ‘paused pending further analysis and research’

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Researchers at Human Rights Watch Resign Over Blocked Report on… The departures have roiled the prominent watchdog group over a decision one staffer called “unprincipled and cowardly.”

jewishcurrents.org/researchers-...

Really important development in research and advocacy for #Palestinian human rights and human rights advocacy more generally. Omar Shakir and Milena Ansari have resigned from @hrw.org. See various media stories below.

A Retrospective on Iran with Behrooz Ghamari (28 January) The Long War on Iran: A Retrospective with Behrooz Ghamari explores Iranian politics over the past half century through the career publications of a leading scholar in the field. Taking Behrooz Ghamar...

Bassam Haddad and Arash Davari interview Behrooz Ghamar on the long arch of history and politics in #Iran since 1979.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, Scylla and Charybdis — Sidecar On the protests in Iran.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi as always is a must-read on #Iran and so much else!

newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

We Refuse to be Silenced: The Palestinian Historians Group Responds to the AHA Council Vetoes We, the Palestinian Historians Group, are outraged by the American Historical Association Council’s decision to veto two resolutions that members passed by 78 and 79 percent at the AHA Annual Business...

We Refuse to be Silenced: The Palestinian Historians Group Responds to the AHA ( @historians.org ) Council Vetoes

www.jadaliyya.com/Details/47115

Image: Hassan Fneish/The Public Source Occupation From Above Families in southern Lebanon describe life under Israeli drone occupation and recurring violence. By Dana Hourany

Israeli drones & military posts dominate the skies over South Lebanon. Every movement is monitored & gunfire punctuates daily routines.

Dana Hourany spoke with residents across South Lebanon who described fear and exhaustion.
🔗https://thepublicsource.org/south-lebanon-drone-occupation

"The 1979 revolution didn’t succeed because Iranians were angry. They had been angry for years."

"The contemporary political landscape in #Iran is fundamentally different."

Iran Toppled the Shah in 1979. Why This Time Isn’t Quite Like That "The conditions in Iran today are not comparable to those that precipitated the downfall of the Shah and the triumph of the revolution of 1979," writes Narges Bajoghli

Excellent comparative analysis between conditions, dynamics, and potential trajectories in 1979 and 2025-26 re #Iran from Narges Bajoghli.

time.com/7345623/iran...

#USA is neither in “support of Iranian people” nor in “support for the protestors.” It is against the regime in #Iran and in service of its own imperial interests. Those interests will trump anything else in terms of guiding decision-making, always (and pun intended).

As folks debate nature of #Iran protests, regime responses, potential trajectories, & what #US is doing or might do, there can be no room for any pretense US (whether Trump or any predecessor) has interests/wellbeing of “Iranian people” as an objective or on their radar.

Sina Toossi on X: "I think ignoring pro-government mobilization in Iran weakens ability to provide realistic analysis. The key is to separate: -regime capacity from regime legitimacy -short-term survival from long-term stability -protest movement setback from protest movement defeat A key part https://t.co/BXSnLx5bYY" / X I think ignoring pro-government mobilization in Iran weakens ability to provide realistic analysis. The key is to separate: -regime capacity from regime legitimacy -short-term survival from long-term stability -protest movement setback from protest movement defeat A key part https://t.co/BXSnLx5bYY

Full thread from X available here: x.com/SinaToossi/s...

Sina Toosi on pro-government protests in #Iran today and how it matters.

What to Watch in Iran’s Latest Protests The latest round of protests in Iran began on Sunday (December 28), sparked by a group of mobile phone and technology merchants in Tehran going on strike.

Sina Toosi's initial take on #Iran. As noted on X, "What matters most isn’t what trends online, but how far protests spread, who participates & whether cracks appear within the state."

He compares this moment (1/1/26) to protests in Iran 2009–present.

www.dissidentforeignpolicy.com/p/what-to-wa...

The Economic Roots of Iran’s Protests Djavad Salehi-Isfahani sees a society caught between internal reform it does not trust and external pressure it increasingly fears.

Insightful analysis by economist Djavad Salehi-Isfahani on the economic roots of #Iran protests.

www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/i...

Incredible work by Marc identifying and breaking down pro- #RSF and pro- #STC botnet's work re #Sudan, detailing how they are aligned w/ #UAE and anti #KSA, with a focus on whitewashed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) violence in #ElFasher.

List of aid groups working in Gaza that Israel is suspending Israel says it's suspending humanitarian organizations that have failed to meet its new rules to vet international groups working in Gaza.

Among orgs #Israel banning from #Gaza as of 1/1/2026:

Action Against Hunger
AFSC
CARE
Caritas
Danish Refugee Council
Defense for Children Intl
Intl Rescue Committee
MSF
Mercy Corps
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam
Relief Intl

apnews.com/article/gaza...

The World Radicalized by the Gaza Genocide | Al-Shabaka Tareq Baconi argues in this commentary how the Israeli genocidal campaign in Gaza has radicalized the world.

The World Radicalized by the #Gaza #Genocide

via @alshabaka.bsky.social

al-shabaka.org/commentaries...

Watched, Tracked, and Targeted in Gaza Life under Israel’s all-encompassing surveillance regime.

I spent sixteen months reporting this story. It follows how surveillance tech is rewriting Gaza in real time — and what it’s doing to the people inside it. Reported in partnership with @justvision.org's Palestine Reporting Lab and published in @nymag.com

‘What other silences filled my childhood?’: Tareq Baconi on excavating his queer and Palestinian identities In his memoir, the author recalls the boy he loved while growing up in Jordan – and weaves the tale with his family’s history of dispossession

Beautiful interview with Tareq Baconi on his memoir,
"Fire in Every Direction"

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

Seed Saving and Food Sovereignty in Lebanon By linking seed sovereignty to food sovereignty, a handful of seed saving initiatives in Lebanon are participating in a bottom-up attempt to center the daily practices, struggles, and knowledge of agr...

A draft law in Lebanon seeks to regulate seed trade, adding to mounting pressures on farmers. In 2022, Christina Cavalcanti & Chris Trinh (@christhaotrinh.bsky.social) documented how farmers practiced seed saving to resist corporate monopolies.
thepublicsource.org/seed-saving-...

The story of Lebanon’s seven lost villages is one of colonial greed & forced displacement. From Tarbikha to Salha, generations of families were stripped of citizenship, land, & identity.

Dana Hourany documents their history: https://thepublicsource.org/lebanon-lost-stolen-villages

A must-read breakdown and analysis, and we are all the wiser for it!