أيه أهم أولويات السياسات التي تواجه الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا في 2026؟ إجابات من هايلي شولر-مكوين, ياسمين ليليان دياب, إياد حمادي, دينا كامل, سارة حمزة, @justinsalhani.bsky.social, جاد الديلاتي, شهرزاد الحجار, علي نور الدين, جان قصير, أحمد حلمي, لينا غوتوق, سامي عقيل, ماهيتاب محجوب, لينا مروان.

With my colleague Nils Adler, we tried to gather an idea of what happened in al Hol camp and what will happen next. Eyes on al Roj and Idlib - where many of the families, particularly the foreign families - went. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

With my colleague Nils Adler, we tried to gather an idea of what happened in al Hol camp and what will happen next. Eyes on al Roj and Idlib - where many of the families, particularly the foreign families - went. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

"It is unimaginable to me to see France side with the Israeli authorities' propaganda against the UN special rapporteur. #France's credibility is at stake here." My reaction on @aljazeera.com to @jnbarrot.bsky.social’s call on Francesca Albanese to resign www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

“It is unimaginable to me to see France side with the Israeli authorities’ propaganda against the UN special rapporteur,” Schams El Ghoneimi told Al Jazeera.

UN staffers & a former advisor for Macron's party in EU parliament told me they condemn the a misinformation campaign against Francesca Albanese, that has led to European officials calling for her resignation. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

Look I have thick skin, and I know we are hated, and yet this statement still makes my breath catch. What kind of society allows for this sort of thing to be said

Fifteen years ago, Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation set in motion a series of events that continue to change the region and its people even today. In 2026, we invite you to join us as we platform our stories, reflect on what has unfolded, and reimagine what may come next.

“I am an unimportant mammal who has lived for a moment on Earth.” - Mircea Cārtārescu

Now we see it with Iranians. Instead of viewing this as people struggling against different forms of power, some self-described leftists continue to side with a regime that uses anti-imperialist rhetoric while exploiting workers, plundering resources, and repressing people.

One of the saddest things I’ve heard from Syrian and Lebanese friends is how painful it felt when supporters of Palestinian liberation dismissed their own legitimate grievances under the so-called Axis of Resistance. As if Beirut and Damascus exist only as supply lines for that.

A bit about my recent stay in Aleppo in this piece by @justinsalhani.bsky.social.

2025 Arab Opinion Index: 87% oppose normalization with Israel, 80% believe Palestine is a collective Arab issue, 87% say Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon impacts them personally, 76% rate US policy as bad (seems low). Lots more in this new report: arabcenterdc.org/wp-content/u...

I visited Raqqah for four days last week... wrote up some notes on the current situation, DAANES rule, events of Jan 17/18, the new administration, and more... akmckeever.substack.com/p/raqqah-dis...

TIMEP's @justinsalhani.bsky.social and @syriapodcast.bsky.social's host @leilashami.bsky.social are joined by Razan Rashidi to discuss transitional justice in Syria and what's being done to hold perpetrators to account and achieve justice for victims. Tune in here: open.spotify.com/episode/3V3A...

Are you an early or mid-career advocate keen on engaging in the MENA policy space? Applications for our 2026-2027 Nonresident Fellowships are now open! Apply by 2/27 and don't miss this opportunity to build the skills and tools you need to do this work: timep.org/2026/02/02/o...

What will make Aleppo natives return to the city? Unfortunately, my deployment proposal was turned down, so had to write this one from afar. I hope to make it back to Aleppo one day soon... www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

I am not worried about AI replacing me or taking my job. What I am worried about is the debate in my industry shifting from moral to economic. Aggregation used to be looked down upon before it become an industry standard.

Lindsey Graham's cancelling of his meeting with LAF commander Haykal after one question about if Haykal considers Hezbollah a terrorist group was a silly performative act. Haykal is the commander of a national institution. Graham knows this. It's not Haykal's place to decide on designations solo

Israeli drone strike on a car, geolocated in the town of Yanouh, Tyre District, southern Lebanon, 33.260240, 35.303782.

cohosted a podcast with the great Leila Shami. We spoke to Razan Rashidi from The Syria Campaign about a lot but particularly about how acts of justice build trust in the state and how without it a culture of impunity takes over that can spiral off into retaliatory violence and acts of vengeance.

My latest: Without anti-authoritarianism, 'anti-imperialism' is just conservatism with left-wing aesthetics www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-pr...

"The point of placing Minnesota alongside Gaza is not to collapse contexts or draw equivalences. It is to trace a dangerously traveling logic and to name a rupture the world is now witnessing."

What happens once the destruction of hospitals can be argued for—rationalized, narrated, managed—as legally and morally sanctioned “necessity”? @joelleabirached.bsky.social on healthocide, from Gaza to Minneapolis:

Every now and then, I see people who are disappointed that Gaza is out of the headlines. However, I want them to know that the likes of @annonemo.bsky.social, @fdov21.bsky.social, @easybakeovensz.bsky.social, and myself, continue to do open-source reporting in Gaza, as well as in Lebanon.

Books i’ve read this year so far… The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk A slow burn horror story.The slow drum of fear builds until the twist in the end, though it asks wider questions of western canon.

oh wow tilting towards the right and sucking up to billionaires didn't bring the subscribers flooding in, huh?

This is a hard day for journalists at the Washington Post, as they reduce their sports/books and international teams. It also impacts us all as journalists. The ecosystem is being whittled down, paying jobs with benefits are disappearing, we're all scrambling or holding on for life to our jobs

More than a year after the Nov 2024 ceasefire, there are still 64,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon, according to the IOM. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

More than a year after the Nov 2024 ceasefire, there are still 64,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon, according to the IOM. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Israel bombed tents in Gaza today, killed at least 30 people including children, and the death toll is likely to rise www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

This is a key reason why officials'/politicians' statements should always be double checked against experts. Even when Biden was saying this, international organisations and experts were saying that Biden's claims were not true and that Gaza's Health Ministry is historically reliable.

Drop Site claims that an Arab government was informed that attacks on Iran could commence as soon as Sunday, local time, and "would not be limited to nuclear or missile sites but also target regime change"

In Syria and Lebanon, there are high levels of misinformation and disinformation. The rapid advancements in AI may also result in an "increase in bad faith actors using technology to undermine their political opponents," warns @justinsalhani.bsky.social: timep.org/2026/01/26/m...

Two more Syrian families travelled from Lebanon to Ireland this week but nine are still waiting, years after they were promised resettlement. A mother messaged me just now saying her regular panic attacks have returned & her children's suffering is unbearable. www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

Tragedy of epic proportions being voluntarily enacted by WaPo management- audiences want to read quality journalism, not AI brain-rot or random blogs. This is damage with no aim. “It’s like someone who slices your Achilles and then asks you why you’re limping,” one reporter said.”

I wrote about the difficult position Lebanon's president is in and how the next 6 weeks could determine a lot for the country. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Unfortunately, pro-Palestinian activism in North America is still fraught with voices of infamous tankies known for mocking the suffering of people in Bosnia, Syria, Xinjiang, Tigray, Ukraine & apparently now Iran. Being a Palestinian run app doesn't suffice if there are no values & ethics upheld.

I downloaded the Upscrolled app. Just saw that the official accounts of the founder & even the app itself follow Greyzone "journalists" infamous for war crimes denialism everywhere that isn't Gaza. Hard pass. Another app that tells me African lives don't matter. That's just Meta with a 🇵🇸 flag.

This same period has seen an unprecedented reproachment btw the rivaling wings of the Syrian Kurdish political sphere (crudely put PYD vs ENKS), though this seems to stem more from a strategic reevaluation of new context by the ENKS parties than internal change w/in DAANES system

As seen over the past year and especially the two weeks, this approach failed to develop loyalty to some sort of new identity within Arab areas (lacking a pre-existing PYD constituency, incorporated via anti-IS campaign) that could compete with that offered by post-Asad Damascus.

DAANES etc was not built on equality nor on Kurdish supremacy, rather was an attempt by a party to implement a revolution from above, and to some extent from below in a quite controlled manner. This involved empowering those loyal and aligned to it and disempowering those not.

I wrote about how the Syrian Army offensive in the northeast has impacted people there. I spoke to Syrians in Deir ez Zor, Kobani and Qamishli, as well as analysts and a government official for this one. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

"There is also a recognition that while America is the avant-garde of reaction, taking a form as garish as the gold fixtures in the new Lincoln bathroom, it has plenty of company. Washington is not unique in its malevolence, even if its power to do harm is unequalled." www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

We're getting started in just 10 minutes! Join us: timep.org/2026/01/21/e...

Have been in a few parts of the world recently where the treatment of black people is particularly shocking, and it leaves a mark on you. Especially when I think of the wealthy white supremacists who are actively and happily making their lives worse.

TODAY: 16:00 Brussels, 17:00 Cairo, 10:00 Washington I'm joining @selhussieny.bsky.social, @nancyokail.bsky.social & @maitelsadany.bsky.social to discuss what's ahead in 2026 for Egypt given domestic, regional & global challenges, looking at political & economic conditions. RSVP here 👉🏽 rb.gy/k3znc0

I wrote about how the Syrian Army offensive in the northeast has impacted people there. I spoke to Syrians in Deir ez Zor, Kobani and Qamishli, as well as analysts and a government official for this one. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

What's the outlook for Egypt in politics, the economy, and foreign affairs in 2026? Join us tomorrow @ 10 AM EST for an online event featuring @selhussieny.bsky.social, @nancyokail.bsky.social, and @tekaldas.bsky.social. Register here: timep.org/2026/01/21/e... 🧵 Scroll down and meet the speakers!

we cannot despair we cannot despair we cannot despair.