A Journalist’s Arrest Points to Diminishing Freedoms in Kuwait and the Gulf Prize-winning, high-profile international journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been in prison in Kuwait for the past six weeks, with limited access to his lawyer. Charges are yet to be brought, but it is feared that he, and others detained with him, will be tried under new national security laws for posting footage and photos relating to […]

Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait for six weeks without charge amid broader criminalization of speech and a denaturalization campaign | @lsmwilson.bsky.social 

Long a Cause of the American Right, the Holy Land's Christians Face Israeli Restrictions Alone Politicians on the American right have remained mum about Israel’s cancellation of a Palm Sunday mass in Jerusalem, even after U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a staunch Christian Zionist, issued a rare rebuke.

As many Orthodox Christians mark the holiest day of the year, politicians on the American right have remained silent on Israel’s restrictions in Jerusalem — even after a rare rebuke from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, writes @lsmwilson.bsky.social .

Gone to Waste: The 'CVE' Industry After 9/11 After the rise of the Islamic State, I was part of this race for cash, working on CVE projects from media messaging to radicalization research, and it slowly dawned on me how flawed the industry is. N...

@lsmwilson.bsky.social has written (and is writing!) a ton of brilliant stuff on this - eg newlinesmag.com/argument/und...

From 'Woman, Life, Freedom' to 'Anyone Is Better Than These' An open letter to Saeed Madani, an Iranian sociologist and journalist currently imprisoned in Iran

Asef Bayat is a leading theorist of revolution and social movements. In a powerful open letter to imprisoned Iranian scholar Saeed Madani published by @newlinesmag.bsky.social, he reflects on the December-January uprising and what it might portend for Iran's future.

newlinesmag.com/argument/fro...

This Artemis moon mission is a truly unifying international project, one of the few we have left | Christopher Riley For the first time in over 50 years, astronauts will see Earth from distant space. Let’s hope the images they send back of our fragile home bring some much-needed unity, says author Christopher Riley

A beautiful read on seeing the earth from space again, in its fragile, beautiful whole. Almost 60 years ago it brought the world together - could this happen again? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Long a Cause of the American Right, the Holy Land's Christians Face Israeli Restrictions Alone Politicians on the American right have remained mum about Israel’s cancellation of a Palm Sunday mass in Jerusalem, even after U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a staunch Christian Zionist, issued a rare rebuke.

Recent Israeli restrictions on Palestinian Christian worship "drew criticism from across the Christian world, achieving the astonishing feat of uniting previously fractured communities — nowhere more divided than in Jerusalem itself." | @lsmwilson.bsky.social  

Lebanon’s Heritage Is Disappearing Under Israel’s Bombardment The war has already damaged many lesser-known antiquities and poses a threat to sites of global importance

From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social  archives:
As war escalates between Israel and Lebanon, @lsmwilson.bsky.social  reports on how Israel’s ongoing bombardment has destroyed Lebanese heritage.

The Academic Justification for Male Supremacy From Noam Chomsky to Larry Summers, elite intellectuals shared more than they want to admit with Jeffrey Epstein

In this provocative essay, @lsmwilson.bsky.social turns the lens on the academic world, showing how respected scholars in Epstein's orbit didn’t just tolerate but actively legitimized ideas underpinning male supremacy.

Edge on the Atlas list

I was reading that stuff over the years. Fitting it all into the Epstein phenomenon is fascinating and terrifying. We know money pushes study directions but the idea that this small group of people shaped so much about our lives is mindboggling.

And the Edge is Atlas Network (Kochtopus).

"It is clear, now, that Epstein and his associates engineered much of the backlash against the #MeToo movement. Based on what I know of academia, I have no doubt that, despite the high-level resignations, these networks will remain intact for a long while yet."- @lsmwilson.bsky.social
#academicsky🗃

Epstein’s Obsession with Evolutionary Psychology New Lines’ Culture Editor Lydia Wilson revisits the Epstein files and focuses on one revealing thread: the role of evolutionary psychology in shaping and leg...

📽️ @lsmwilson.bsky.social revisits the Epstein files, tracing how evolutionary psychology helped shape and legitimize his views on women and race, and how funding $20M a year in research lent a veneer of respectability to his “proclivities.”

When I saw Chomsky was in the Epstein files, I knew there'd be people I'd worked with - and I was right. As I dug into it, a horrifying picture of academia emerged. I wrote it up, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

🚨 Dear @newlinesmag.bsky.social readers,

A letter from our Middle East and Newsletters Editor, @kshaheen.bsky.social :
newlinesmag.com/become-a-mem...

My new project - because who doesn't want a deep dive into pre-Islamic poetry or the esotericism of the mysterious Brethren of Purity? Take a break from the world and learn more about classical Arabic literature - from wherever you get your podcasts

Watch the Royal Institution CHRISTMAS LECTURES archive Watch all the Royal Institution CHRISTMAS LECTURES back to 1966, when the lectures were first televised.

An amazing collection of primary sources on how science is represented and how these representations evolved #histsci #philsci #hps

Gaza Notes • EQUATOR Scenes from the destruction of a people

Take 13 minutes to watch this Nan Goldin documentary on Gaza www.equator.org/articles/nan...

Text: Israels' Yellow Line - The Ongoing Silent Genocide Image of large yellow block in the ground with shell of a building in background

Since the so-called “ceasefire” announced in October 2025—violated by Israel more than 1,000 times—there remains a false impression that Israel’s genocide in Gaza has ended. In reality, alongside its ongoing illegal siege, the Israeli government has intensified its theft of Palestinian land not only in the West Bank but also in Gaza, through the so-called “Yellow Line,” which functions as an expanding zone of de facto annexation.

Over half of the Gaza Strip is still under Israeli control. Map of Gaza and the Yellow Line.

The Yellow Line remains largely unmarked on the ground, and prohibits or restricts Palestinians' access to humanitarian facilities and assets, public infrastructure, agricultural land, and homes - implemented with deadly force. Many Palestinians, including young children, have been shot and killed by the Israeli military simply for approaching these areas. Hundreds of others have been killed and over 1,000 injured by Israeli forces since October 10.

Instead of withdrawing from Gaza, Israel has imposed a so-called "Yellow-Line," leaving its military occupying 58% of Gaza and forcibly confining Palestinians to the remaining 42 percent. This largely unmarked and lethal boundary functions as de facto annexation... 1/3

Christmas Celebrations Are Returning to Bethlehem But behind the still-muted festivities lies the shadow of Gaza

Festivities have returned to the place of Jesus’ birth after a two-year pause, but the shadow of Gaza, occupation and genocide was never far from the muted celebrations. @lsmwilson.bsky.social  reports from Bethlehem.

Powerful. Christmas in Bethlehem last month “felt particularly joyful — welcoming back the spirit of the festival that is all about rebirth, goodwill and peace — even though the constant threat of violence, small and large, is never far from the surface,” my colleague @lsmwilson.bsky.social writes ⤵️

Christmas Celebrations Are Returning to Bethlehem But behind the still-muted festivities lies the shadow of Gaza

NEW: Christmas festivities have returned to Bethlehem after a two-year pause, but the shadow of Gaza, occupation and genocide was never far from the celebrations, reports @lsmwilson.bsky.social from the ground in @newlinesmag.bsky.social . newlinesmag.com/essays/chris...

Christmas Celebrations Are Returning to Bethlehem But behind the still-muted festivities lies the shadow of Gaza

I wrote about the Christmas I just spent in Bethlehem - the joy was palpable after 2 years of cancelled festivities, although the violence, occupation and genocide remain. For @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/chris...

Israel is bombing southern Lebanon again

This is what the Israelis call ceasefire: you cease, we fire

It’s brilliant - no thanks needed!

Remember earlier when they were literally calling it a blood libel to suggest Israel would ever bomb a hospital and now the only ambiguity is how many times they bombed one

Historicide in Gaza Israel’s destruction of official and personal archives is changing how Palestine’s story can be told

The number of “cides” in Gaza is growing, but beyond its destruction of schools, hospitals, farmland and entire family lineages, Israel is also engaging in historicide — the destruction of history itself — argues @lsmwilson.bsky.social in @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/essays/histo...

How German media outlets helped pave the way for Israel’s murder of journalists in Gaza | Hanno Hauenstein In the run-up to this week’s deadly attacks, stories linking Palestinian reporters to Hamas gained currency, says Berlin-based journalist Hanno Hauenstein

How German media outlets helped pave the way for Israel’s murder of journalists in Gaza - my latest @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ft. articles by @trillingual.bsky.social for @theguardian.com, @joshuatait.bsky.social, Joe Betts & @lsmwilson.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social, @nescio13.bsky.social, and @lastpositivist.bsky.social...

The Toxic Blowback of Israel’s Bombs How military action in Gaza is polluting the land, air and water far beyond the enclave’s bounds

The pollution of Gaza’s air and water will not respect political boundaries. From birth defects to increased rates of cancer, people across the region, including in Israel, will pay a price for years to come, argues Lesley Joseph for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/argument/the...