Mona Harb

The Policy Initiative - Why Elections don’t Matter until Municipalities are Radically Transformed A month of voting won’t fix a thousand broken councils—Lebanon’s municipal elections will matter only after the municipalities themselves are radically transformed.

Sami Zoughaib, Sami Atallah, Rana Habr and @monaharb.bsky.social for The Policy Initiative on the limited real import of Lebanese municipal elections, absent more transformative reform: www.thepolicyinitiative.org/article/deta...

Vietnam’s Village of Moroccan Defectors Hundreds of conscripted North Africans were sent to fight France’s war in Indochina — instead they found a new life in Southeast Asia

NEW: Hundreds of Moroccan conscripts defected to join the Viet Minh during the French Indochina War, later staying and building lives in Vietnam. Basma El Atti tells their story — and that of the generation who returned to Morocco, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

newlinesmag.com/essays/vietn...

Beirut Urban Lab - Call for Applications: Winter Institute on “Urban, Ecological and Infr

Co-organizing this Winter Institute with dream team Sarah El Kazzaz, Rafeef Ziadah, Azadeh Mashayekhi & Noura Wahby.

Pls consider applying if eligible and kindly share.

beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...

For those in Barcelona, I am speaking at UPF on Monday, and the event is also streamlined --details in link: lnkd.in/dBuk9tcx

Yesterday, Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah turned 43 years old, marking his 11th birthday behind bars, away from his family and friends.

May it be the last one apart from his loved ones.

Thinking of him as he is held illegally in custody beyond the completion of his sentence.

#FreeAlaa

Okay so so far we have starter packs for

Lebanon bsky.app/starter-pack...

Palestine bsky.app/starter-pack... via @danaelkurd.bsky.social

Egypt bsky.app/starter-pack... via @maitelsadany.bsky.social

After being in the ICU in critical condition, it is now being reported that Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar has died from the head injuries sustained in the IDF strike.

Football: Lebanese National Team Player Celine Haidar Injured in Israeli Strike

thisisbeirut.com.lb/articles/130...

I did a #Lebanon #Starterpack y’all

go.bsky.app/Rh15fzv

Beirut Urban Lab - Tracking the Urbicide in Gaza This project aims to document and track the urbicide unfolding in Gaza since October 7, 2023 upon digitally constructing an updated layered map and 3D model of Gaza. It is also an act of archiving tha

Finally:
**dashboard tracking and mapping the urbicide and ecocide in Gaza:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/1...

Beirut Urban Lab - Monitoring Violence in the West Bank Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased tenfold since 2016, yet the day-to-day oppressive enactments of Israel’s unlawful occupation generally get little media attention&

**Dashboard monitoring and mapping West Bank's violence:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/1...

Beirut Urban Lab - Mapping Israeli Announced Strikes on Lebanon As Israel continues to expand its brutal war on Lebanon, more regions and localities are falling under fire. The repercussions in losses of life, homes, social and physical infrastructures, land and p

**Mapping announced strikes on Sour/Tyre since October 2024:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...

Beirut Urban Lab - Mapping One Month of Announced Strikes in South Beirut (September 27 -

**Mapping one month of announced strikes on Dahiya since October 2024:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...

Beirut Urban Lab - Israel’s Assault on Lebanon, Sept. 2024

**dashboard mapping Israel's assault on Lebanon since Oct.23,,using ACLED data, with regular visualizations--latest here:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...

Beirut Urban Lab - Government-Designated Shelters in Lebanon

As I am getting lots of new followers (hi & thanks), this is a thread amplifying the Beirut Urban Lab's team work re: Palestine and Lebanon wars:

**dashboard mapping the government-designated shelters within public schools across Lebanon:
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...

AUB's Urban Lab's latest:

36 “evacuation threats” for over 205 buildings, have targeted residential and commercial urban neighborhoods in South Beirut since the 27th of September 2024.

Here it is! A Starter Pack for Middle East News

A couple things
1) Inclusion in this list should not be taken as an endorsement, this is to crystalize the MENA ecosystem so it can grow

2) Limit's 150, so if I missed you, hit me in the replies & I'll get you in the next one
go.bsky.app/2pjNYfP

Beirut's Post-Blast Urban Recovery A Story of Nonprofits, Aid and a Dysfunctional State

Just published this story map examining nonprofits' roles in the urban recovery process after the Beirut Port Blast--with Luna Dayekh & colleagues at The Policy Initiative.
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c169...

Nonprofits are often critiqued as a professionalized & depoliticized "republic" but they also form a complex ecosystem, where some managed to advance the horizon of urban & data commons, though imperfectly, & against huge odds.

Beirut's Post-Blast Urban Recovery A Story of Nonprofits, Aid and a Dysfunctional State

Just published this story map examining nonprofits' roles in the urban recovery process after the Beirut Port Blast--with Luna Dayekh & colleagues at The Policy Initiative.
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c169...

Make sure to watch and please share widely: youtu.be/ECFpW5zoFXA?...

Screenshot of an article titled "Surveillance as a Service: The Global Impact of Israeli "Defense" Technologies on Privacy and Human Rights" by Esra'a Al Shafei, Falestine Saleh, and dated April 8, 2024

The @torproject.bsky.social just published an insightful report on how Israel's defense and surveillance industry, which is marketed as "field-proven" on Palestinians, exports to the rest of the world and threatens privacy and human rights everywhere.

Here are some examples 🧵⬇️

Considering teaching an elective on the politics of (spatial, graphic, engineering) design--any suggestions are welcome!

WORD.
mondoweiss.net/2024/04/a-fe...

A line drawing shows a person reading a book, and the text "You could change a writer's life"

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction! Anyone can nominate work for this $25,000 prize - and just one reader's nomination can make all the difference.

All the details, and the nomination form, are here: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize24

Our article on Lebanon's 3RF, the aid program put together by the WB, EU & UN-agencies after the Port blast, is just out in Disaster Prevention & Management. For a copy, DM or email me. Co-authored with Sophie Bloemeke, Sami Atallah, & Sami Zoughaib

www.emerald.com/insight/cont...

a very valuable piece on the transformation of the workforce (and society) in Lebanon five years into the multiple crises--must read.

Middle East Centre Librarian - St Antony's St Antony’s College invites applications for the post of Middle East Centre Librarian. The Middle East Centre (MEC) is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East in the Uni...

Job: Middle East Centre Librarian St Antony’s College - Middle East Centre Librarian
www.sant.ox.ac.uk/vacancies/mi...

"Palestine also brought an enduring pain, one that leads us to hold more precious the traditions and friendships that we maintain despite the distances and separation.”

An exclusive interview with renowned Palestinian artist Samia Halaby 📰 www.newarab.com/features/sam...

i've been on "x" since oct.7.
how is this platform doing on palestine?
i cannot see insightful posts on my feed. and the posts i see have very few likes/engagements. what am i missing? is it a useful learning/exchange platform? should i curate a list?

Abstract proposals | RC21 Conference 2024 Home About the Conference ↓ Key dates Conference call & Host Sessions proposals Abstract submission Conference Venues Rules for presenters & session chairs Registration & Accommodation Santiago: get...

Check CFPs of 2024 RC21 Santiago 2024--I am co-organizing panel #9 on South-South collaborations with J. Ruiz-Tagle (Uni. Católica de Chile), M. Brown-Luthango (Uni. of Cape Town), D. (Indian Institute of Human Settlements).
Pls consider applying & share. rc21conference2024.coes.cl/abstracts-pr...