The Death Penalty and the Future of Law in Israel On March 30, 2026, the Knesset passed the “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law.” Anne Rethmann, a researcher in the history and theory of human rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem…

My article "The Death Penalty and the Future of Law in Israel" has been published in "K. – Jews, Europe, the 21st Century" and is also available in French and Italian. Many thanks to the editors and translators.
k-larevue.com/en/2026/04/1...

U.S. Rescues Downed Air Force Officer Deep Inside Iran, Trump Says

Interesting detail:
“The F-15E fighter jet was shot down in a region of Iran where there is significant opposition to the Iranian government. As a result, the airman may have been able to rely on locals for shelter and assistance.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/u...

This is a really lovely insight into the indeed very famous Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. No hip party scene, but people from the neighborhood and volunteers who did an amazing job cleaning up the space. Video by unpacked.media

Photo by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv, taken in Tel Aviv on Monday morning.

‘You Want to Leave Us Alone With Mojtaba?’ I’ve spoken with more than a dozen Iranians since the start of the war. Most are terrified, and some are losing faith in America.

It is important that any discussion about how this war is unfolding includes these voices. Arash Azizi spoke with several Iranians about how they see the war and what they fear.
t.ly/kYT8e

While we were sitting in the shelter in #Jerusalem last night, I was reading news from #Tehran. I don’t have an answer. But it is difficult to speak about this war without also thinking of the mostly very young Iranians whose lives are at stake.

Something nice for a change today: alongside this image, Paul Celan's voice in Jerusalem, 1969:
www.dichterlesen.net/veranstaltun...

Millionen neue Puzzleteile: Die HASAG in den Karteien der NSDAP Vor kurzem hat die US-Amerikanische National Archives and Records Administration eine vollständige digitale Kopie der mikroverfilmten NSDAP-Zentralkartei sowie -Ortsgruppenkartei veröffentlicht. Damit...

Blick in die Forschungswerkstatt:
Im neuen Blogbeitrag habe ich umrissen, welche Erkenntnisse die Veröffentlichung der #NSDAP -Karteien in den National Archives für das #HASAG- Projekt mit sich bringt. Es geht um Parteimitglieder in der "Betriebsgemeinschaft", neue Daten und Fotos zu NS-Tätern. ⬇️

Iranische Oppositionelle im Interview | Iran-Krieg, Diaspora, Berlin YouTube video by Tagesspiegel

Since the 1970s, Schohreh Baddii has campaigned for a free Iran. In 1992, her husband was murdered in Berlin by the mullah regime. In the video, she shares her—and many Iranians'—view on the current war. Full interview (in German): archive.md/1GoyD
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SMp...

Ruthless leader, brilliant philosopher: Ali Larijani, Iran's most powerful man He Orchestrated Iran's Massacre of Protesters. He Is Also a Philosopher Who Has Written Books on Kant. The Writings of Ali Larijani, the Islamic Republic's Top Security Official, Reveal an Elusive and...

So the humanities, and philosophy in particular, are back—not on the sidelines, but as another battlefield. In this case, the battle can be won. It may take a few rounds, but Larijani isn't the first to try to enlist Kant in the service of an antihumanist philosophy. A great article. t.ly/QjBgU

In 2012, Jürgen Habermas delivered the first Martin Buber Memorial Lecture at the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities: "A Philosophy of Dialogue." He died today at 96, one of the last representatives of a generation that sought to rethink Germany's intellectual life after 1945. t.ly/uwQBT

Luftanschläge im Iran-Krieg: Zu viele Tote Winkel Ständig erreichen einen neue Nachrichten auf dem Handy, was seit den amerikanischen Luftangriffen auf Iran passiert. Der Blick der Welt konzentriert sich aber nur auf einen Bruchteil der betroffenen R...

Wie immer klug, Ronya Othmann.

www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Broad Jumper is still one of my favorite pictures for March 8. #InternationalWomensDay

Kritik an Ausschluss von Buchhandlungspreis: „Wir würden gerne wissen, welche Erkenntnisse der Verfassungsschutz angeblich hat“ Kulturstaatsminister Wolfram Weimer hat den „Buchladen zur schwankenden Weltkugel“ in Prenzlauer Berg vom Deutschen Buchhandlungspreis ausgeschlossen. Die Buchbranche reagiert mit Unverständnis.

"Sein Begriff von Kultur und Geschichtsverständnis weist darauf hin, dass er der falsche Mann am falschen Platz ist. Um es gelinde zu sagen." (Jürgen Kaube über Wolfram Weimer am 27.04.2025, FAZ)

www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/bezir...

Alongside Reza Mosayebi's article that I posted two days ago, I would also recommend a very worthwhile piece by Resa Memarnia, which places the question of human rights at the center of the debate around the war in Iran and critically questions a rigid, formalistic reliance on international law.

Walter Grab – Exil, Rückkehr und eine geistige Heimat Flucht, Exil und Neubeginn: Walter Grabs Weg von Wien nach Palästina.

1938 beginnt für Walter Grab das Exil. Jahrzehnte später wird er Professor für Deutsche Geschichte in Tel Aviv.

Im #MON_Mag erzählt Shelly Kupferberg seine Geschichte.

Beitrag zur Ausstellung #LiteraturHaltung, ab 20. Mai.

@alfredlandecker.bsky.social​

Bringing Human Rights Theory Back In: A highly recommendable interview with @r-mosayebi.bsky.social on the current war against the Iranian regime and on whether the allegations of breaches of international law by the U.S. and Israel are as legally unambiguous as many claim.

in deaster, nor that it will be a great success culminating in a free Iran and sweeping changes across the region. I read a moving comment yesterday. In a few almost stenographic lines, he captures the present moment for many Iranians: the stark coexistence of facts, emotions, and histories. (2/2)

The sky over Jerusalem is beautifully blue this morning after a short night. News keeps arriving without pause: images of a destroyed building in Tel Aviv, an endless stream of commentary about what may come next. I do not know. And I cannot bring myself to say that this will inevitably end (1/2)

more comfortable narratives. News like this from Poland is therefore a reminder that the rule of law and institutional independence protect scholarship from turning into convenient stories that serve only one's own group narratives. (2/2)

Poland’s Jewish museum director returns, 7 years after being pushed out by nationalist politics - Jewish Telegraphic Agency Dariusz Stola called his return to the Polin Museum "a victory of justice and rule of law."

The relativization and marginalization of both the Holocaust and antisemitism are recurring phenomena across different countries and political milieus, in the past as well as today. Of course, Germany has its own history of subsuming distinct historical experiences under broader, (1/2)
t.ly/fR4Lz

#Iran

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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For those who are on Mount Scopus once in a while.

Jonathan Guggenberger traces these allegations in detail: who funds whom, and who gets to speak where. Here too, an English version of the text would be good. (2/2)
SZ article: t.ly/1nNLJ
Photo above: Taken from the website Reisevergnügen: "11 Fairy-tale places in Germany you should visit."

Germany has never lacked narratives about itself. One of the newest – shared by the domestic far right and by transnational activist milieus – is that Germany has become a country of censorship. Yet many of the same actors still seek institutional support. Everyone wants to be an underdog. (1/2)

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about this event on HaGalil (www.hagalil.com/2025/12/mich...). The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities has published a short reel today showing the beginning of Michael Walzer's talk. A full recording is available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=urSB...

Opinion | What’s Max Weber Doing in the Columbia Antisemitism Report? The great sociologist knew that activism can be a threat to scholarship — and so can government.

Interesting take, and a thought-provoking reflection by Len Gutkin in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

www.chronicle.com/article/what...

Buchmesse in Damaskus: Warum so euphorisch? Während Minderheiten in Syrien weiter um ihr Überleben fürchten müssen, wissen westliche Orientreisende nach ihrem Buchmessenbesuch in Damaskus gar nicht mehr wohin mit ihrer Euphorie.

Eine lesenswerte Intervention von @ronyaothmann.bsky.social, die der allzu euphorischen Begeisterung für die Damaskus-Buchmesse widerspricht. Sie kritisiert v.a. die romantisierende, orientalisierende Perspektive, mit der manche im Westen auf die Region blicken.
www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

It was #Zelensky who found the right words – concrete and unambiguous. This stood in sharp contrast to Merz's speech on Friday (and not only because he quoted Sloterdijk). If I'm not mistaken, he didn't even mention the Iranian protests. (2/2)