I ordered the book that’s been in my Amazon cart the longest. It’s been “saved for later” since 2015.

Ok, I lied @mtmcgurk.bsky.social I pre-ordered @tgpeterson.bsky.social ‘s “Revolutionary Warfare” and still haven’t read it, so I’m reading that one before I start the new one.

If I need to buy some more highlighters, I should just go ahead and get some books, too, right?

Sharing this great episode with all my BlueSky friends (and maybe some enemies who haven’t revealed themselves). Very excited to learn about @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social ‘s book, “The Price of Democracy.”

@emsetc.bsky.social do you by any chance have the syllabus for the “Protest and Repression” course that you mentioned in the July 9 episode?

JINSA USMLP - last day, pt 4. Church of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.

JINSA USMLP - last day, pt 3. Sea of Galilee.

JINSA USMLP - last day, pt 2. Capernaum.

JINSA USMLP - last day. Religious tourism is not my area of expertise, so I won't say much other than that this site is operated by a kibbutz and marketed toward Christian visitors to Israel. The site of Jesus's baptism is believed to be farther south, near Jericho.

JINSA USMLP day whatever… our last night in Israel. We had a great conversation with the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Hallett (who has been nominated to be the Ambassador to Bahrain, but not yet confirmed) followed by Shabbat dinner.

My kingdom for a KW Tailor patrol cap in OCP.💔

Above the road to the Jerusalem 9/11 Memorial are the remnants of the Palestinian village of Lifta, which was depopulated during the 1948 war. It is preserved very well—it’s on my list of things to examine more closely on a future visit to Israel.

I didn’t know anything about the City of David excavation before this trip. To be honest, it was pretty impressive. The underground excavation of the pilgrims’ walk from the pools up toward the Temple Mount/HAS is wild.

Yad Vashem.

The Western Wall.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

More Jerusalem.

Old City Jerusalem.

JINSA USMLP Day 6, pt 1. Had the opportunity to meet with Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu-Toameh. **of all the Israelis we met with, he was the only one who approached the conflict as one between Israel and the Palestinians with distinct grievances—

More Jaffa.

Jaffa.

JINSA USMLP Day 5. Met with Ron Dermer at the PM’s office. No phones allowed, but some fun graffiti outside. Also, terrible traffic due to the wildfires near Jerusalem.

JINSA USMLP Day 4 pt 3 - Finishing the day with dinner in Taybe.

JINSA USMLP Day 4 - pt 2. Down to Be’er Sheva for a briefing from the IDF Southern Command, then to another camp for a briefing from the Special Operations Engineer Unit.

JINSA USMLP Day 4. First stop, IDF Spokeperson Unit to watch the 20-minute cut of the Oct 7 footage. I’ve seen the six-minute version several times, I watched the video out of solidarity with the other trip participants.

JINSA USMLP Day 3 highlights: A visit to the IDF’s Northern Command and a briefing on Israel’s wars with Lebanon while overlooking Lebanon and Syria from the Birya Fortress.

Just got back from a little more than a week in Israel. Not sure how much I’m going to say about the trip, but I’ll probably dump a bunch of pictures from the sightseeing we did between meetings.

Ugh. Am I doing this right? open.substack.com/pub/mickorma...

💀 #Art by Ricky Romero

Finally read this article that I’ve been carrying around for a couple months. Good piece; I’m sharing it with my team, including a couple folks going to Israel with me in a couple weeks. tnsr.org/2024/10/brin...

My Weekend Reader - on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/mickorma...

The Thinker #Art by Boris Groh

“A Shéamais, déan dom,” (“Seamus, Make Me”) by Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin (Irish, 1748-1784). He was conscripted into the British military and served in the British Navy in West Indies during the American Revolutionary War. #warpoemwednesday

“I Am a Creature,” by Giuseppe Ungaretti (Italy, 1888-1970). Ungaretti's early poetry was written during his service in the Italian infantry in World War I. #warpoemwednesday

Finally finished Gelvin's The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A History (4th ed.). Some thoughts and reflections on my Substack. open.substack.com/pub/mickorma...

I Am Still Talking, by Abdul Basir Ebrat (Afghan Taliban). Written during the 1990s. #warpoemwednesday Reprinted in, "Poetry of the Taliban," a.co/d/cNpIoZJ

Finally finished this one. Been carrying it around for a while. Interesting, but fails to make an effective argument about the legitimacy of military force in unconventional or irregular conflicts. You can read some of my thoughts here: open.substack.com/pub/mickorma...

Limits I: Suddenly Becoming Talkative, by Christopher Okigbo. Okigbo (Nigeria) was a poet and teacher. He died fighting for Biafran independence. #warpoemwednesday

Wildpeace, by Yehuda Amichai. #warpoemwednesday Born in Germany, his family fled to #Palestine prior to WWII. He served with the IDF in the 1948 war/Nakba. Much of his poetry is inspired by the ongoing conflicts between Israel, the Palestinians, and their Arab neighbors.

I don’t really feel like doing Yehuda Amichai tomorrow. So can I consider Nizar Qabbani a “war poet?” He was never a soldier, but he was a career diplomat and his wife was killed in the Lebanese Civil War in 1981.

“To My Mother,” by Mahmoud Darwish. Darwish was never a fighter, but wrote this while in an Israeli prison and lived through the Nakba and occupation. If the ceasefire holds, I’ll do Yehuda Amichai next week. #warpoemwednesday (Oopsie, forgot to post it here…)

"At The Frontier," by Xu Hun (Tang Dynsaty, early Ninth Century China). Seemed appropriate for this week's cold, snowy weather. Translated from Chinese by Geoff Waters. #warpoemwednesday guernicamag.com/four_poems/

A Jisei is a traditional Japanese death poem, often composed by a dying person on their deathbed or by soldiers before going into battle. #warpoemwednesday

@mtmcgurk.bsky.social congratulations on being an IWI fellow. I dropped the ball on applying🤦‍♂️ Maybe next year!

A Merry Christmas #warpoemwednesday

Anyone have a good Christmas #warpoem recommendation?

Let’s see that holiday reading. Plus, as much of Lee Mordechai’s “Bearing Witness to the Israel-Gaza War” and the recent reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as I can get through this week. Festive.🎄🎄

Because I missed #warpoemwednesday this week, I offer you the opposite. Motto, by Langston Hughes. One of my favorites.

"The Pretty Redhead," by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918): A French poet of Italian-Polish descent, Apollinaire served as an artillery officer in the French Army during World War I. #warpoemwednesday

“Defense Against the Night,” by Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (Turkish, 1914-2008). #warpoemwednesday Dağlarca graduated from Kuleli Military High School and served in various parts of Anatolia and Thrace from 1933 to 1950. 1/