Reading the excellent 'The Revolutionists' by @jasonburke2.bsky.social
and got to this bit about incidents in 1983...

The Revolutionists Immersive, globe-spanning and full of detail and drama, The Revolutionists is an unprecedented account of a seismic decade that transformed the modern world. In the 1970s, a network of radical extrem...

👍 Recommend this 🔽. Traces the left-wing terrorism of the 1970s through to the Islamist terrorism of later decades detailing continuities and ruptures. Palestine is central to the story and the sections on the Iranian revolution in 1979 are hugely relevant to now... www.penguin.co.uk/books/440432...

thank you. that's very kind. paperback out in June ....

my pleasure. I'm very pleased you enjoyed it and it makes a difference to how you see world events. thank you!

Thank you, Andrew, for the generous and perceptive review

Tangled trail probably leads from Golders Green ambulance attack to Tehran British investigators are circumspect but experts and security officials say incident has hallmarks of Iranian intelligence

British investigators are circumspect but experts and security officials say Golders Green attack has hallmarks of Iranian intelligence

my analysis etc here:

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

i have submitted precisely one report in 27 years of covering Israel to the military censor.

Initiative may be slipping away from US and Israel as Middle East crisis deepens There is little sign of imminent regime change in Iran as its blockade of strait of Hormuz shocks global economy

ICYMI

My analysis (plus others) on how the US risks winning a battle but losing a war ...

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

because they are not subject to the Military Censor

Israeli-backed Palestinian militias step up operations against Hamas in Gaza Armed groups appear to have increased their firepower as they carry out raids deep in Hamas-controlled territory

meanwhile in Gaza

Israeli-backed Palestinian militias have stepped up operations against Hamas
Evidence have increased their firepower as they carry out raids deep in Hamas-controlled territory

my report:
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

wow, i did not know that. quite glad i got mine out first! although it is rather different. i wonder what he has got that is new....

The Iranian revolution transformed global extremism, replacing left-wing radicalism with religion Left-wing radicalism dominated the 1970s – until the 1979 Iranian Revolution became a catalyst for ‘a new and different energy’.

"In his riveting The Revolutionists, Jason Burke treats the Iranian Revolution as a catalyst for “a new and different energy” that would surge through the Middle East. In its aftermath, ... older, leftist revolutionary currents were pushed to the margins."

theconversation.com/the-iranian-...

Iran-backed militias intensify attacks against US, Israel and allies Iraq emerges as key front in new and often clandestine confrontation after launching dozens of attacks

Iraq emerging as a new front in this spiralling conflict, with air strikes, militia, Kurds, Shia, proxies covert ops and more all in the mix

our report here:

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Airstrikes hit Iran-Iraq border as US and Israeli plan to mobilise Kurds gathers pace Experts say backing Iran’s ethnic communities could ‘open up a hornet’s nest’ and increase risk of chaotic civil war

our latest on these US/Israeli plans to mobilise Kurds in the north of Iraq vs Iran.
a quieter night in Jerusalem, thankfully.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

1/9. In 2020 Iran did try to interfere with the presidential election.

In jerusalem right now somewhat incongruous combination of bells from old city (sunday morning) and loud explosions as missiles from Iran aimed at central israel intercepted overhead. there's no doubt a latin tag that could be usefully deployed. Bluesky users may know. Twitter not so much.

The rise and fall of Iran’s ruthless and pragmatic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei The radical cleric took over as supreme leader in 1989 and is likely to be replaced by hardline figures

noisy night here in Jerusalem with a lot of alerts and so in and out of the shelter. all clear half an hour ago, and a stunning clear blue sky. unsurprisingly empty streets.

here's my file from last night on rise and demise of Ali Khamenei. The end of an era.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

came through quiet Ben Gurion airport at 4am this morning on one of last flights in for who knows how long. woken by alerts pinging on phone when first wave of missiles came in, since pretty much nonstop sirens, jets overhead, and explosions rattling windows here in Jerusalem.

Nobody knows what would follow regime change in Iran – but what happened in 1979 offers some pointers | Jason Burke The radical clerics benefited then – but who would prevail this time, asks the Guardian’s international security correspondent Jason Burke

so what lessons might 1979 offer for 2026 in Iran?

one is that the good guys may win but then not end up winning at all

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

very very long, careful and clever review of The Revolutionists in the New Yorker .. which is pretty amazing

"A new history charts how Palestinian militants of the nineteen-seventies made common cause with West Germany’s radical left."

t.co/mk6on0oGOz

The aforementioned book positioned with a pint of bitter.

Finally got round to starting my birthday present, @jasonburke2.bsky.social ‘s Revolutionists. 100 pages in in two days and it’s excellent.

Our Patreon supporters now have access to our latest episode with @jasonburke2.bsky.social about his remarkable book, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, and they get their extra 15 minutes with Jason!

Join us here: www.patreon.com/posts/revolu...

#booksky

THE REVOLUTIONISTS

...which is not surprising, because I loved my decade spent in the 70s. Was spending hours listening to music as research a bit over the top? Maybe .... But then again ....
Here's the play list again and thanks for listening/reading!

open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...

A huge amount missed out obviously. suggestions welcome
but this was fun....

The Human League, The Lebanon, 1984. Yup, The 80s are definitely here, synths, make up, big hair, shoulder pads and everything. Don't You Want Me a better song obviously but still New Romantics sing about civil wars?. I never knew

Rock The Casbah, The Clash, 1982. British punkrockers tackle MENA politics, the rise of Islamism, secularism and much else. Yes, you can criticise but a hell of an effort. Shareef don't like it ... indeed he didn't.

No More Heroes, The Stranglers, punk at its raw best, but an important point too. Where were the heroes by 1977? The idealism of the late 1960s long gone ... The 80s are on the way ...

This is fantastic. Liza Liza, Elias Rahbani and his Orchestra. 1978 A reminder that yes Lebanon had a horrendous civil war, with huge consequences for the region, and about six chapters in my book, but still managed to produce some great music. another disco hit for Carlos

Demis Roussos! obviously. mega hit. not such a bad tune either, if you like that kind of thing, or are just a desperate 1970s nerd ...

Boogie Nights, Heatwave, 1976. This one a disco classic obviously, and fabulous. It's the 70s, what's not to like? So this was what Carlos the Jackal would have been dancing to in nightclubs in Baghdad when he stayed there 77-79, as well as ....