Chris El-kholy 🧿

Cracking Down on the Right To Love in Palestine New rules requiring that relationships be reported to the Israeli military are only the latest of countless restrictions on romance in the occupied West Bank

From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social archives:
@annalekasmiller.bsky.social  reports on how Israel controls romance — and demographics — in Palestine with Byzantine bureaucracy and arbitrary rulings.

A ‘Ghazal’ Sensibility on Valentine’s Day How a poet finds solace in the ebb and flow of a classical literary genre

Departure and return, variation and repetition — movements that the “ghazal” poem makes with immense longing — have come to qualify all of Zeina Hashem Beck's loves, writes the poet in a Valentine's Day musing.

Developers have dismantled part of the ancient Roman walls in central Beirut to pave a parking lot. Activists say it’s part of a bigger problem as Lebanon loses its ancient past, report Madeline Edwards and João Sousa
https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/beiruts-history-is-being-repaved/

I want to be just like you

Hind Rajab and the Dying Light Kaouther Ben Hania’s film retells the story of the 5-year-old’s final hours and amplifies her voice to indict the world’s silence over Gaza’s children

Hind Rajab was afraid of the dark. After killing her family & wounding her, Israel prevented her rescue & left her to die alone in the dark. I write about those critical hours & the film that brings back her voice to induct the world’s silence @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/review/hind-...

Washington Post layoffs disproportionately affected union members of color, preliminary Guild data shows "We cannot ignore what this means for equity, representation, and the future of this organization."

The @washingtonpost.com layoffs disproportionately affected union members of color, per data from the @postguild.bsky.social.

50% of Hispanic/Latino guild members,​ 45% of Black members, and​ 43% of Asian members were laid off, compared to 37% of white members.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/wash...

If you read one thing today, let it be this:

An Engineer Was Fired After Speaking Out for Palestine. Now He’s Suing His Former Employer Palestinian-Canadian Amjad Ramadan is seeking nearly $400,000 in damages after he was abruptly terminated by NTN Canada, the manufacturing company he’d worked at for 15 years. He was fired soon after…

New story in The Grind.

Amjad Ramadan, a 52-year-old Palestinian-Canadian, is suing his former employer for wrongful dismissal after he was abruptly terminated for speaking out for Palestine.

"There is a campaign to silence us," he told me.

@thegrindto.bsky.social

Adorable!

Global Thought Archives

What cities around the world have really interesting, dynamic intellectual “scenes”? Want to tell the story/paint a portrait of such a “scene” — especially in the Global South — for @newlinesmag.bsky.social’s Global Thought series? Pitch me: dpostel@newlinesmag.com

newlinesmag.com/topic/global...

This is well done! @hannahel711.bsky.social

Preserving Iraqi Memories Through Immersive Virtual Reality Basil Al-Rawi’s ‘House of Memory’ allows the diaspora to share personal stories and reclaim their cultural heritage

From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social  archives:
The virtual reality “House of Memory” created by the artist Basil Al-Rawi allows viewers to explore Iraq’s past, and the diaspora to share personal stories and reclaim their cultural heritage, writes @chriselkholy.bsky.social 

Appropriating the death count: Manufacturing consent for an attack on Iran Protest death toll speculations are used to rally support for an attack on Iran and downplay the genocide in Gaza.

“An arduous verification process of the recent deaths is crucial not only for the sake of accountability, but also to expose the media manipulation that is once again preparing the ground for a unilateral US-led act of aggression in the Middle East.”

www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

Carney has spent the past year subtweeting Trump.

At a certain point, these words mean nothing if he won't actually come out and say what he's criticizing.

NEW: Far-right Zionist group Betar US will disband following an investigation by NY State Attorney General Letitia James into the group's "violence against and harassment of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish activists" and failure to register as a charity in NY despite soliciting donations.

‘Peace’ on paper, but catastrophe continues on the ground in Gaza - The Take In the three months since the US unveiled a 20-point Gaza plan, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured in near-daily Israeli attacks. Gaza has been fragmented, with Israel c...

Joined Al Jazeera’s The Take to discuss the latest developments in Gaza, why the peace plan has stalled, and what's coming next. Tune in for a listen here - or wherever you get your podcasts! omny.fm/shows/the-ta...

A 35 year old letter to the editor, written by a very ballsy 15 year old, about the Rodney King verdict.

Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.

Another one down in the books!
thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes and gestures 🎈

"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"

Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s tweets were wrong, but he is no ‘anti-white Islamist’. Why does the British right want you to believe he is? | Naomi Klein I have no interest in defending his social media posts, but calls to strip the newly freed activist of British citizenship pile torment on top of torture, says Naomi Klein, Guardian US columnist and c...

Calls to strip pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah of his British citizenship pile torment on top of torture.

New piece by me on a dangerous and manufactured storm:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘The Course of Empire’ Reimagined in Middle Eastern Graffiti Across the region, street artists are claiming space and painting themselves back into the landscape

NEW: Across the Middle East, graffiti artists are claiming space and painting themselves back into the landscape, writes Ibrahim Absar for @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/essays/the-c...

YouTube video by TVO Docs Coexistence, My Ass! | TVO Docs

Yessss. I was so skeptical but it was so good. You can also stream for free here:

youtu.be/TTNq_W85hgE?...

jack skellington from the nightmare before christmas is holding a string of lights . ALT: jack skellington from the nightmare before christmas is holding a string of lights .

gn :)

@kxraja.bsky.social: “Immigrant journalists face the double threat of trying to stay safe while running headlong into unsafe situations in order to do their jobs.”

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/prot...

Shame will haunt New York Times leadership "How the Times covers individual stories, whose deaths it chooses to prioritize, and whose voices it centers, are worth scrutinizing."

Shame will haunt New York Times leadership » @gabemschneider.bsky.social for @niemanlab.org

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/sham...

The Afterlives of Assad’s Prisoners A year after the Syrian dictator’s fall, three former detainees trace the uneven road of life after captivity

NEW: A year after Assad’s prisons collapsed, three Syrians are still struggling to reclaim lives hollowed out by experiences of torture, reports Paloma de Dinechin, with photos by Alexandra Henry.

newlinesmag.com/spotlight/th...

I have a friend who literally teaches a whole soc course about this haha

‘They’re trying to get rich off it’: US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ team in the lead Exclusive: group behind notorious Florida immigration detention center created bid for reconstruction deal Trump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Guardian. With three-quarters of Gaza’s structures damaged or destroyed by two years of Israeli strikes, the rebuilding effort to come – estimated at $70bn by the United Nations – could be a rich prize for companies that specialize in construction, demolition, transportation and logistics. Continue reading...

‘They’re trying to get rich off it’: US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ team in the lead

happy anniversary!

The ethnic cleansing of the US will destroy it | Heba Gowayed Trump’s racist remarks on Ilhan Omar and Somali immigrants reveals his vision for the US as a white Christian nation

The goal of the Trump administration is an ethnic cleansing that is actively being enacted, and that promises to destroy the diversity & freedoms that were ever the strength of this imperfect nation.

My latest in @theguardian.com.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...