"Evacuating the entire population? Call it ethnic cleansing, call it transfer, call it deportation, it’s a war crime.” Originally published in @haaretzcom.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/116459/israe...

The lawyers are right, the planning, execution or enablement of this plan appears prima facie to be a war crime, and any soldier following it likely has committed a manifestly illegal order, exposing themselves to prosecution. www.wsj.com/world/middle...

My latest for Gwara Media in Kharkiv on the dangers of armchair experts on Ukraine @barrymalone.bsky.social @glushko.bsky.social @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social @brams884.bsky.social @humanrightsfirst.org gwaramedia.com/en/opinion-g...

Human Rights Defenders at the Poland-Belarus border face harassment, prosecution, & threats for aiding migrants & those seeking asylum. A new report by our Sr. advisor @dooleydooley.bsky.social urges govts, donors & NGOs to stand with HRDs & demand that #Poland restore the right to seek #asylum.

For ti år siden ble flere ansatte i FIFA arrestert mistenkt for bestikkelser og korrupsjon. Arrestasjonene utløste lovnader om reform av FIFA og førte Gianni Infantino til makten i organisasjonen. Ti år senere er det klart at ting har endret seg - til det verre. (1/2)

"The billions in military aid compared to the pennies in democracy assistance really puts into perspective the priority of US governments, not just this administration who have eliminated even the pennies," MEDC’s @sethbinder.bsky.social tells Middle East Eye. www.middleeasteye.net/news/usaid-i...

Trump is "emulating a well-developed playbook perfected by the authoritarian leaders he admires, chief among them Russian President Vladimir Putin, to the benefit of the region’s autocracies," writes @neilcihrs.bsky.social, previewing Trump's Middle East trip in DAWN's Democracy in Exile.

"Trump’s favored authoritarian rulers across the region continue to enjoy impunity for their crimes, undermining what remains of the crumbling international human rights system—a boon for their harmful policies targeting the Middle East’s human rights & democracy defenders," @neilcihrs.bsky.social.

One in five people facing starvation … This is deliberate policy, not a natural disaster www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

My piece on Trump's authoritarian foreign policy. dawnmena.org/trumps-autho...

Today marks three years since an Israeli soldier shot and killed US citizen and journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was wearing her press vest and covering the news. The IDF has continued to target journalists with impunity. No one has been held accountable for Shireen's killing.

The human rights risks associated with sporting events in the US has dramatically escalated under Donald Trump. Instead of dismissing it, Infantino should make sure FIFA continues to conduct human rights due diligence to identify and address those risks.

Our statement on Israel's latest plan to erase Gaza: cihrs.org/erasing-gaza...

“For nine weeks now, Israeli authorities have blocked all supplies from entering Gaza, no matter how vital to people’s survival. Bakeries have shut. Community kitchens have closed. Warehouses stand empty. Children have gone hungry”. www.ochaopt.org/content/stat...

After meeting with Khalil today, his story reminds us that this betrayal and experience should have never happened. We have a moral obligation to stand with and unequivocally call out the injustices Mahmoud Khalil and too many others are suffering from at the hand of this administration.

Again and again www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Not just morally wrong but terrible negotiating strategy — senseless and nihilistic.

The forensics don’t lie. Medics shot in the head, at close range, and more. Prima facia has to be considered a war crime. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/w...

"The systematic and persistent targeting of pro-democracy actors is a defining feature of Sudan’s war, exposing its deeper nature as a counterrevolution against Sudan’s democratic aspirations" A must-read by @timep.bsky.social former nonresident fellow @hamidmkk.bsky.social timep.org/2025/04/15/s...

Almost impossible to exaggerate what bad faith this administration pretending there’s a peace process is.

This is how ICE is treating Dr. Badar Khan Suri in custody. A scholar of religion and peace processes who has 3 children under 10 and who moved to the US to raise those children "in a society that values religious tolerance." ICE is torturing America's best www.acluva.org/en/press-rel...

Today marks one month since US greencard holder Mahmoud Khalil was ripped apart from his US citizen pregnant wife, forcibly disappeared, and taken into ICE custody thousands of miles away, all for exercising his constitutionally-protected rights. #FreeMahmoudKhalil

As Eid el-Fitr nears, I urge leaders of Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye & others to use traditional feast pardons based on the Islamic values of mercy & compassion to free detained human rights defenders.

I've read that Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish student at Tufts on a Fulbright. I was a Fulbright Scholar in Turkey from 2009-10. If Turkish police had disappeared me from Bogazici University for criticising Ankara's treatment of Kurds, Fulbright would've likely discontinued there for years. 🧵

Must-read 🧵 on where the Trump administration’s Middle East policy stands by one of the top experts in the field, The Economist’s MENA correspondent Gregg Carlstrom. A hawkish but disengaged DC means regional actors (primarily an unrestrained Israel, secondarily Iran & Turkey) will drive events.

A few months ago it seemed as if Gulf states might try to counterbalance Israel's influence. But Saudi mostly wants to shield itself from the fallout, the UAE is aligned with Israel and Qatar is discredited in much of DC. Arab influence will remain limited.

On Syria, there's little appetite for lifting sanctions. Sebastian Gorka (improbably) has a lot of influence on Syria policy, which is being viewed solely through a counter-terrorism lens—and the view is that Ahmed al-Sharaa and HTS are terrorists.

Trump is seen as serious about trying to remove Gazans from the territory. There have been conversations with various Arab and African states about whether they'd be willing to accept them. The Arab plan for Gaza is seen as unrealistic because it glosses over key issues.

Elon Musk is assisting Erdoğan’s efforts to move Turkey from a competitive authoritarian to a full authoritarian regime. www.politico.eu/article/musk...

“Suri has a Ph.D. in peace and conflict studies.” Nothing about this is okay. Every University, lawyer & American should be loudly protesting to protect free speech & due process.

Apartheid: My Part In Its Downfall 😂 Me in my early 20s supporting the struggle ✊🏼 by writing for the ANC’s religious dept. In 1988 Reagan & Thatcher (who called the ANC terrorists) were in power & Mandela in prison. Never forget things can be made better @cecilearchives.bsky.social

This should terrify every person in this country. The use of machine learning systems to approximate an individuals views on war and then, if they are here lawfully on a visa, tag them for deportation is about as sci-fi dystopian as it gets. www.axios.com/2025/03/06/s...

As I said

I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping very well for *checks notes* the rest of this administration. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/n...

Surprise! The Russians, who have repeatedly said they don't want a ceasefire, have once again said they don't want a ceasefire

This is a really important point--so important I'm sorry David Wallace-Wells doesn't get there until his last paragraph. What more could Columbia have done to punish the protesters? Drone strikes? (The whole piece is excellent and worth reading.) www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/o...

This is who they want to portray as an agent of Hamas.

Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem twice in a month. “The confiscated books included titles on the work of British artist Banksy, & others by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé & the US academic Noam Chomsky”. Serious crimes to sell books by world famous authors & artists.

At least one Democratic senator gets it.

"My parents came here from Syria. They believed living in the US would bring a sense of safety and stability. But here I am, 40 years after my parents immigrated and just weeks before I'm due to give birth to our first child and I feel more unsafe and unstable than I have in my entire life."

The way to avoid a repeat of this weekend's atrocities in Syria is to have a state capable of securing the country and demobilizing its myriad militias. But the state can't do that if it is starved for resources (and if Turkey continues to sponsor the SNA) www.ft.com/content/fbb2...

Please join me and @billbrowder.bsky.social and Jason Pack at the Frontline Club in London on March 21 for a panel on Ukraine-Russia now that Trump is cosying up to Putin - we'll be talking about sanctions and the future of Russia's $300 billion in frozen assets www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

For those trying to catch up the legal issues surrounding this troubling case, @stevevladeck.bsky.social’s newsletter has an invaluable breakdown here. Stay especially for the last, most consequential question Steve raises. www.stevevladeck.com/p/131-five-q...

🗳️ If you don't see your Member of Congress on this #FreeMahmoudKhalil letter, you should call them up and ask them what they're doing to ensure that free speech and due process rights are respected following this steamrolling of the constitution.

Rejection of selective empathy and, of course, of ethnic cleansing and genocidal attacks against *either* people is, Levy argued, necessary to move forward. Upholding & abiding by international law is key for everyone, Israelis & Palestinians alike. The solutions lay within it.