Members of the Iranian Jewish community inspect what is left of their synagogue in Tehran after Israel bombed it. On Passover...

I love @jdryan08.bsky.social's description of it as the Heroditus Trap

💢 THREAD: Iranians form human chains around power plants and bridges as Trump warns “a whole civilization will die tonight” As Trump issued his most explicit threat yet, vids circulating online show civilians gathering around power stations & key infrastructure across Iran in acts of solidarity...

The Herodotus Trap, if you will.

These are orders given "under a black flag," and US military personnel should refuse to carry them out.

Gunmen attack building housing Israeli consulate in Istanbul, sparking fight that leaves one assailant dead. This post replaces an earlier one that erroneously reported two attackers were killed, following initial Turkish media reports.

Gunmen attack the Israeli consulate in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş neighborhood.

Huge respect and thanks to @diplomatofnight.com for boosting this (and matching a few donations! We’re now over $1,500 raised from 30 donations!

$15 + processing fee

I did it wrong but thanks for the posts

I donated $15.00 a few days ago so this will bring my total up to $90.00 USD.

Donate to @merip.bsky.social

I will match the first 5 people who donate exactly $15.00 USD and screenshot their receipt / confirmation in a reply to me below.

A new piece from grantee @merip.bsky.social—a personal exploration & analysis by Susann Kassem on "Israel's Ongoing War in South Lebanon" ⬇️ https://loom.ly/gVhwbTY

SUPPORT MERIP: We've raised over $1,100 so far from 19 donors in our Delco Gives fundraiser. Every donation of $10 or more between now and May 7 helps us unlock bonus funds -- this is the best time of year to make a donation, do it today!

❝ Susann Kassem tells of the struggles her extended family has faced as their homes and villages in the south of Lebanon and in Dahiyeh have been destroyed and terrorized by the IDF. ❞ @merip.bsky.social

AOC got a multiday press beating for her Taiwan answer at Munich - meanwhile the same outlets are sanewashing Trump's post into Our Glorious Leader Pursues Innovative War Strategy

The Inqy has my hometown dead to rights in this piece. share.inquirer.com/j7LamW

BBC Persian: Beheshti University’s women’s dorm & plasma/laser department were bombed by Israel/US. The university’s engineering dept was hit in an earlier strike.

Ahead of Easter this year, I mourn Father Pierre al-Rahi, the Maronite Catholic parish priest of Qlayaa in Marjayoun (South Lebanon) who stayed behind to support his parishioners only to be killed by Israel on March 9 in a double tap attack. May his memory be a blessing.

at the risk of going full reddit atheist even in the context of all the more directly horrible stuff they're doing, i find this stuff coming from government accounts absolutely stomach churning

Read it here www.merip.org/2026/04/our-...

Susann Kassem's account of life for displaced southern Lebanese during the one-sided ceasefire in @merip.bsky.social is a sensitive record of the interregnum between two Israeli invasions. The state & much of society sacrificed a whole community to Israeli fire & de facto occupation. Link ⤵️

The US reportedly waited to strike the bridge in Iran a second time until rescue workers and others in the area gathered to help the wounded, which then killed at least eight people. Authorities in Iran are describing it as an act of terrorism.

Now more than ever, MERIP’s coverage of the Middle East by scholars, journalists & activists is essential. Join me in donating.

This is an utterly bracing read.

Irony, it turns out, is also a victim of genocide.

Your donation to MERIP can help sustain vital work like that of the MERIP podcast, and also help the Project expand their operations. See more information from their Executive Director James Ryan below.

I donated $15 dollars today from my first paycheck at my new position, thus giving them a qualified donation. Please post your screenshot below and tell me how much you donated :).

MERIP is one of the most enriching English-language resources in the world when it comes to understanding the Middle East, and in particular the still yet unresolved Palestinian question. Every donation over $10 before May 7th nets them more money, and every dollar counts. Please donate today.

Friends — it is always a good time to give to MERIP, but the next month is the *best* time to give to MERIP! The more people who give at least $10, the more bonus money we get from our friends at the Foundation for Delaware County!

Reports about the UAE cancelling visas of resident Iranians are true. There are no official numbers, but it is estimated that half a million Iranians live in the UAE. Even those with properties, businesses and Golden Visas have had their residencies revoked. This happened to Qataris before.

The world may be succumbing to the paroxysms of a declining imperial order and rising fascism but at least I finally get to enjoy Andrew Painter make art from the pitcher’s mound.

Absolutely appalling

Yet another case of "where are the Harper's Letter signers?"

The University of Arkansas is moving ahead with terminating Shirin Saeidi, a scholar who literally wrote the book on Women and Politics in Iran, over tweets critical of Israel. Just colossally stupid in this moment. arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...

The church will never make up for the blood on its hands, but having an ex-bouncer throw elbows to say God is with, y'know, the sort of people Jesus actually hung out with, then a nice baseball fan from Chicago who will gladly smack you in the head if you choose Mammon is... a lot

Israeli police blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Custos Francesco Ielpo from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for Palm Sunday Mass, forcing them to turn back. The Latin Patriarchate called it a serious violation of religious freedom during Holy Week.

As a historian and someone who has followed Turkey’s protest movements and opposition for quite a while now, what I have to say to both people who are optimistic and those skeptical of No Kings is — you don’t know.

There are legitimate criticisms of be made of protest as a mechanism for change, namely the somewhat paradoxical nature of protest where it can oftentimes actually legitimate the narrative of the state, but 1) protest is still a major conduit for agitation and, 2) reflects already extant frustration

US/Israel now bombing university campuses — the same places that were the sites of anti-regime protests a few weeks ago. And I wonder what provosts and deans of US universities on Qatar and the UAE are thinking this morning

The difference between these two is racism

This War Will Stabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Pro-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

This is horrific www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/n...

ICYMI: The latest episode of the MERIP Podcast, covering Israel's expanded war on Lebanon and the state of resistance, was released yesterday. Check it out on our website, or your podcast service of chocie!

850 Tomahawks fired puts the Iran war just ahead of the March-April 2003 Iraq invasion, during which the military fired 802 Tomahawks. Somewhere between 3,000 and 4,500 Tomahawk in the arsenal before the war…curious whether that’s more or less than in 2003 (when no one was expecting a China war).

I wish no credit to the neocon goons of the Bush years, but the knuckle dragging illiteracy of Hegseth makes Don Rumsfeld look like Shakespeare.

FDD thinks this is a bad idea…