Can Aciksoz

The US and Israeli War on the Middle East Our recent work understanding the dynamics

Interested in following reliable news and credible analyses on the Iran war, but don't know where to start?

Here's "The US and Israeli War on the Middle East" from our friends @jdryan08.bsky.social and @merip.bsky.social:

www.merip.org/2026/03/the-...

Iran After Khamenei An interview with sociologist Asef Bayat on the U.S.-Israeli war, democratic opposition to the Islamic Republic, and the country’s uncertain future.

Another good interview on Iran with sociologist Asaf Bayat: www.bostonreview.net/articles/ira...

Ervand Abrahamian, Iran Under Fire, NLR 157, January–February 2026 One of modern Iran’s leading historians provides a critical anatomy of the power structures of the Islamic Republic, on the eve of war—and a scathing denunciation of the long-incubated American-Israel...

A very good interview on Iran with the CUNY history professor Ervand Abrahamian
newleftreview.org/issues/ii157...

One of my students brought me a cookie!

It was beautiful. My guess is around 5-7000 at least.

Sorry, I wrote a long thread before seeing your response. In the thread, I explain why I use the term.

I agree that the SDF leadership and more broadly the Kurdish movement made grave mistakes- though I think their biggest historical mistakes are not the ones indicated in this article. But does that mean they were naïve? Not 100 percent sure.

Which they were until recently. He was seen as a fanatic terrorist rather than a pragmatist until he was chosen as the future leader through a US-Israel-Turkey-Saudi+ consensus. and now Saudi and Turkish outlets like this one are whitewashing and sugarcoating him.

and project today’s results onto the past decisions without contextualizing them in their possibility of universe. When exactly was Jolani pragmatic? His al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, HTS, Alawite and Druze massacres days could all be interpreted in the exact opposite way.

Just look at the adjectives he uses to describe the respective actors; Jolani is cast as a “pragmatic” rather than “adventurist“ leader whereas the SDF leaders are belittled as “naive.” it’s always a mistake to read political history retrospectively+

I‘m actually surprised to hear that. I read it as an unapologetically pro-Jolani one hiding behind a thin facade of objectivity.

I’m curious as to what you particularly liked about this piece.

AAUP President on the Killing of Alex Pretti: “This Moment Demands A Powerful Response from the Labor Movement” AAUP President Todd Wolfson issued the following statement in response to the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 24.

AAUP President Todd Wolfson on the killing of Alex Pretti:

"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."

Full statement:

Finally!

Bsky is like a bottomless well. Throw a post into it and you’ll never hear a thump. I never thought I would ever miss twitter.

Has the Dream Become a Nightmare? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s insightful interview on the state of Black America in 1967 reveals challenges and realities that persist today.

Apparently MLK himself suggested- back in 1967- that his dream had turned into a nightmare. www.washingtoninformer.com/dr-martin-lu...

Banner on an LA overpass: “MLK had a dream. We live in a nightmare.”

There is so much loss, fear, and suffering. But this is not a moment of defeat. It’s a moment of organizing.

The Nobel peace prize is a who’s who of hawks, hypocrites and war criminals Aung San Suu Kyi is the latest Nobel peace prize laureate to bring the award into disrepute. But people misunderstand what it stands for: absolutely nothing

Nothing changed since this was written a decade ago. Nobel Peace Prize is still an Orwelian machination.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

DHS Used Neo-Nazi Anthem for Recruitment After Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting The federal government is openly embracing white nationalist online content — including in a recent recruitment post.

Yet another ”awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm”?
theintercept.com/2026/01/13/d...

Applications for the Keyman Early-Career Scholars Article Workshop Spring 2026 are open until February 20. For more information, please visit: keyman.buffett.northwestern.edu/.../early-ca....

Ice Out For Good Los Angeles · Mobilize Wednesday, January 7th, an American citizen was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This killing is part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence, impunity...

www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...

Fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis reflects pattern of armed confrontations nationwide A 37-year-old woman was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis Wednesday, the most recent armed confrontation between immigration agents and civilians across the country.

“Armed confrontation”? LA Times descends to a new low!

From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Back to campus after a long time. No cops, no white supremacist gang looking private security. Everything’s back to normal as if hundreds of students were not beaten and arrested here just recently. All that violence that goes into the creation of the facade of the ordinary.

I saw Lisa Reihana’s 'in Pursuit of Venus [infected]' at LACMA today. It was one of the most moving art pieces that I‘ve recently seen, even more so in the context of the imperialist assault on Venezuela. Btw, if you have a kid, you can get free tickets for both of you through nextgen LA program.

2025: A Year of Resistance, Solidarity and Resolve CONTACT:  Brian L. Evans, PhD, President, Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), aaup.texas@gmai...

🤠 Hey, Texas faculty! As you prep for the spring semester check out our blog for tips + advice. 👇

1) Don’t self-censor, know your rights! 2) Report censorship of your teaching, research, or expression.
3) Organize your department. We are stronger together!

aaup-texas.org/blog/f/2025-...

And we’re back to pirate capitalism of the conquistador era!

Christmas is not a Western story – it is a Palestinian one Christmas is a story of empire, injustice and the vulnerability of ordinary people caught in its path.

“Christmas…is the proclamation of a God who confronts the logic of empire…It is a radical statement about where God chooses to dwell: in vulnerability, in poverty, among the occupied, among those with no power except the power of hope. Christmas is a Palestinian story par excellence.”