Initial thoughts on the unfolding situation in Iran, I published earlier this week in @972mag.com
My thoughts about the shitshow. Thanks, @jricole.bsky.social
"the population was far from being uncommitted neutrals". This is the language of crimes against humanity
It's disappointing that WOTR publish war crimes denial.
warontherocks.com/2026/03/gaza...
Speedy recovery to Aviv. This is the story of the West Bank in a nutshell: on one side you have the pogromchiks, police, and the army. On the other, the local population and a few righteous activists. If there’s justice- let it reveal itself immediately.
My thoughts about the shitshow. Thanks, @jricole.bsky.social
I’ve said it a million times in the past, and I'll say it again: the only viable solution for peace in the Middle East is one that includes all three: Israel, Palestine, and Iran.
Initial thoughts on the unfolding situation in Iran, I published earlier this week in @972mag.com
It would be ironic if Netanyahu, who tanked Biden's presidency with Gaza, also tanks Trump's presidency with Iran.
Expect a major tantrum when certain elements discover that Trump threw Pahlavi under the bus (I don't think he has any plans for him in the future of Iran).
Of course, the most desirable outcome is the transformation into a democratic republic. Unfortunately, I also think this is the least likely scenario.
They would get to keep their business interests and tight control of resources, and the West knows how to work with that kind of regime (i.e., Egypt or Pakistan).
A third is a takeover by parts of the IRGC, turning Iran into a military dictatorship that pays lip service to the revolution, says it has run its course, and now works with the West to lift sanctions, etc.
One option is the survival of the regime with a change in personnel. Another is the survival of the regime in name, with a complete overhaul of the state apparatus (which may take time).
Khamenei's death doesn't mean the regime's collapse yet. There is a line of succession, and even within the regime, there will be contenders with different visions for the path forward.
It's far too early to predict what could come of that moment. Khamenei's death opens the door to many possibilities. Many of my Iranian friends have said they're thrilled to see him dead, but would have preferred to see him in court facing the families of his victims over many decades of his rule.
This!
The US government's first regime change was the 1953 coup in Iran. Many view this as a turning point in both countries. Iran may have lost its last opportunity to establish a democratic government. And some in US came to view covert operations to overturn foreign govts as a valid political tool.
Maybe the solution all along is to give Trump the inaugural Nobel War Prize.
I feel in my bones that it's not going to be Harris or Newsom. I don’t necessarily think it would be a progressive firebrand, but the primaries will, hopefully, give us more choices. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/o...
Wonderful new article from @danamir.bsky.social !
civil society, antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia all became official policies. Remember that Trump said we’re the laughing stock of the world, well, now we are. Because of the US, the world is less safe.
*unless you’re a billionaire and/or sociopath
Spoiler: the state of the union is shit.*
In the past year, our streets and communities became much less safe, prices continued to skyrocket, healthcare became more expensive while insurance coverage got worse, there’s an all out attack on public education,
Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist url: scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pir/art...
By exploring how secrecy shapes questions of identity, continuity, loyalty, and resistance, Makhoul situates Habiby’s work within broader debates over overt and covert forms of political agency among Palestinians in Israel.
The article examines secrecy as a response to Zionist–Israeli epistemic erasure as well as to internal Palestinian debates over forms of resistance, tracing how the novel employs secrecy as an individual, familial, and collective device under conditions of surveillance.
In this study, Makhoul analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinian literature.
We are pleased to share a new publication in Palestine/Israel Review featuring Manar Makhoul’s article, Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist.
as he pastorally speaks to Palestinian sorrow while many religious leaders remained silent in naming the horrors in public.”
scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pir/art...
