Ariel Zellman

#polrel on a topic that doesn't get nearly enough attention, the John Birch Society as a progenitor of contemporary American Christian nationalism.

Important new work by Zeynep Taydas, Laura Olson, and Jeffrey Fine on the nuanced intersection of religion and ethnicity on approval for presidential policies. #polisky #polrel

Liminal Minorities by Günes Murat Tezcür | Paperback | Cornell University Press Winner of the Religion and International Relations Book Award of the Religion and International Relations Section of the International Studies Association. Winner of the American Political Science Ass...

and check out the award winning book itself here:
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

#polisky, #conflictsky, and #polrel folks, check out this excellent review by Nilay Saiya of Güneş Murat Tezcür's outstanding new book from 2024, Liminal Minorities: Religious Difference and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies.

Happy to announce the third pub from Round 4 of the Religion and State project #RAS4, from Jonathan Fox and me on Western Democracies, 1990-2023, part of a special issue on the Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism in the West at the Review of Faith and International Affairs
#polisky #polrel

Government Religion Policy and Religious Freedom in Post-Communist Eastern Europe and Central Asia 1990 to 2023 This study uses the Religion and State round 4 (RAS4) dataset to provide an overview of government religion policy, including freedom of religion and belief, as well as government support for relig...

Happy to announce the second publication from Round 4 data collection for the Religion and State project #RAS4, from Jonathan Fox, Marko Vekovic, and me. Here we summarize general findings for post-Communist states, 1990-2023.
Even more regional data coming down the pipeline soon!
#polisky #polrel

Image from film Borat: "My country... now best friends with Israel! Very nice!"

From the bad place, but keeping it classy.

#polrel

#polrel

#polrel

#polrel

Ofir Tzarfati’s family: We saw video of Hamas burying his remains in ‘despicable’ fake retrieval * * *

Here is the story in English.

Ofir Tzarfati's family: We saw video of Hamas burying his remains in 'despicable' fake retrieval

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

רחפן צה"ל תיעד: חמאס הוציא גופת חלל חטוף מדירה, קבר בבור - והזמין את הצלב האדום עדויות אנשי מילואים: רחפן שפעל באזור דרג'-תופאח בעיר עזה, שם נעשו חפירות בחיפוש אחר חטופים חללים, תיעד את המחבלים טומנים בבור גופת חלל חטוף שהוצאה מדירה סמוכה. המחבלים צולמו לאורך כל האירוע - אבל צה"ל...

Hamas continues to violate the #gazaceasefire while playing cruel games with bodies of murdered hostages.
Yesterday they returned body parts of a hostage Israel already received & buried
Today an IDF drone filmed them removing a body from an apartment, burying it, then staging a "recovery" photo op.

#polrel

#polrel

And I should have added, agricultural sciences student who was studying citrus farming at Kibbutz Alumim.

The family of Bipin Joshi has asked to share the following message: "A week ago, we shared proof of life of our beloved son, Bipin. It was filmed in Hamas tunnels about a month after October 7th, showing our son speaking to the camera, healthy and strong. We held on to that video with faith and hope, believing we would see our beautiful boy smile again and return home. With immense pain, we received today the most devastating news. Our dear son, Bipin, the brother and soul companion of our daughter Pushpa, was murdered in Hamas captivity. The ground has fallen beneath our feet; words cannot describe the void left within us—a void that first opened two years ago and has now deepened forever. Bipin left us with excitement, setting out for a year-long learning experience in Israel. We never imagined that the hug we gave him that day would be the last. Today we can say out loud: Bipin, you are a hero! The grenade you deflected before being brutally abducted saved the lives of your friends. We were so afraid they would discover you were a hero and hurt you; we only prayed you would survive. Before you were taken, you wrote to your cousin, asking him to stay strong and always look to the future. It is hard to imagine the future without you, Bipin. Every flower in the garden we planted for you will remind us of you, every orchard, every field. You are part of Nepal's landscape, and now also part of Israel's. We wish to thank President Trump, the government of the United States, and the governments of Israel and Nepal, as well as all those who helped bring our son back and complete the circle. Bipin, our hearts ache knowing you will never know how hard we fought for you, that the people of Israel and Nepal fought for you, that the IDF soldiers fought for you. We fought with all our strength, believing that one day we would return home together. Soon, you will return home to your eternal rest, and we will continue to fight—this time for sanity, for the strength to wake …

A message from the family of Bipin Joshi, the Nepalese worker who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and then murdered by them in captivity.

A model for democratic activism for political scientists, by my colleague at #barilanuniversity, Liron Lavi and distinguished coauthors.
#polisky #contentiousky

Remarkably, as with every previous ceasefire in this war, Hamas is working hard via continued blatant violations, to encourage Israel to "break" its side of the agreement. 3/3

Meanwhile, Hamas continues summary executions across Gaza, w numerous reports of sending civilians into IDF closed military zones, kept as part of ceasefire agreement. 2/3

1 of 4 bodies returned by Hamas this AM was a Palestinian man they dressed in an IDF uniform. Already a violation of ceasefire for not returning all bodies. 1/3

The last 13 living Israeli hostages have reportedly been transferred to the ICRC.

Meanwhile, videos of Hamas beating & executions of Gazan "collaborators" keep pouring out of the Strip.

Unless Hamas is permenantly defanged as req by the ceasefire agreement, this will remain the norm.

Hamas has transferred 7 hostages to the ICRC, who are now finally on their way home to Israel. 13 more living hostages, who have spent 2 years in hell, still awaiting release.🎗

Multidimensional Identity Cleavages and Religious Discrimination - Nikola Mirilovic, Ariel Zellman, Jonathan Fox, 2025 To what extent does minority distinctiveness from the majority mitigate or exacerbate discrimination? Similarities between majority and minority groups may redu...

Want to know more about how the overlap of religious, ethnic, geographic, and economic identities contribute to religious discrimination? This piece I wrote with Nikola Mirilovic and Jonathan Fox now has been assigned to a "print" issue.
#polisky #polrel

Behind the veil of ignorance, we are all John Rawls (potentially)

@avishaybsg.bsky.social hits it out of the park.

#polrel

No, really my hope was that you would repost what you wrote on Facebook for readers here. No matter. Bluesky is a... particular audience.

Far too modest, but thank you

But that requires a level of coordination and understanding between Israel and intl stakeholders that neither end seems particularly interested in committing to. But it is our responsibility to open up this possibility.