This one is totally new for me as someone who holds a peace professorship: Bragging about achieving peace between countries that are already at peace with each other.

'Arab bus drivers in Jerusalem face violent hate crimes, but Israeli lawmakers only care about Mamdani' www.haaretz.com/opinion/edit...

Attempts to conflate the two issues are not only profoundly wrong but also extremely dangerous.

Good for the soul: Mandatory meditation on a lovely autumn day

Wow!

Pathetic man he is, though he is also right about the grassroots enthusiasm for both Mamdani and AOC, presidency aside.

Satellite images suggest evidence of mass burials ongoing in Sudan's el-Fasher apnews.com/article/suda...

What a major breakthrough! Ending another disastrous conflict between two warring nations :)

YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...

"Only about 100 aid trucks are entering the war-ravaged Gaza Strip daily – a figure “wholly insufficient” for the desperate population with NGOs effectively “blocked” by Israel from distribution efforts" www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

Mandatory garden break: Crisp autumn morning

Deep down, Israeli leaders likely know that Mamdani won not DESPITE his support for Palestinian rights but partly BECAUSE of it. Yet, they have gotten so used to dominating the US public narrative that they seem to think they simply have to be a bit more clever. Don't expect real introspection.

Haaretz article today: "Israel's Right Wing Bet the Country's Future on American Christians. That Has Backfired." In 2021, I wrote this poll-based article about the likely direction: www.brookings.edu/articles/as-...

YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...

Haaretz article today: "Israel's Right Wing Bet the Country's Future on American Christians. That Has Backfired." In 2021, I wrote this poll-based article about the likely direction: www.brookings.edu/articles/as-...

Deep down, Israeli leaders likely know that Mamdani won not DESPITE his support for Palestinian rights but partly BECAUSE of it. Yet, they have gotten so used to dominating the US public narrative that they seem to think they simply have to be a bit more clever. Don't expect real introspection.

Must read by @djrothkopf.bsky.social:

His magic has evaporated. Reality has hit home for all to feel.

UN chief says Gaza needs UN mandate for security force aje.io/5demmj

'Profound problem for old-school Jewish establishment: Mamdani is vastly better aligned than they are on critical issues with majority of Jews, is in closer step with young Jews, and will be vitally important in Jewish politics even as their influence fades' open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

The lesson that some Israeli politicians are drawing is that Israel simply needs a more effective propaganda campaign - certainly not change it's behavior: "Israel must wake up and implement a comprehensive plan to rebrand ourselves in the United States."

True, as Pew and our UMD polls have shown. But it's bigger than that, including the shift among young Republicans. If one sets aside Fox News, whose viewers have much more favorable views of Israel, there is no difference between the views of those getting their news from social media and the rest.

'Profound problem for old-school Jewish establishment: Mamdani is vastly better aligned than they are on critical issues with majority of Jews, is in closer step with young Jews, and will be vitally important in Jewish politics even as their influence fades' open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

'Profound problem old-school Jewish establishment: Mamdani is vastly better aligned than they are on critical issues with majority of Jews, is in closer step with young Jews, and will be vitally important in Jewish politics even as their influence fades' open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

The Backlash Has Arrived: Democrats, furious about President Trump’s remaking of American government and society, turned out in extraordinary numbers for an off-year election to sweep virtually every competitive election on the map. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/u...

After New Yorkers emphatically elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social mayor, Israel's diaspora minister says "the city is walking with open eyes into the abyss," and urges NYC Jews "to seriously consider making their new home in the Land of Israel.”https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-05-2025/

“I am of you and for you,” says ⁦@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social on his stunning victory night - in Arabic.

I have often liked what Lawrence O’Donnell had to say, but he never sounded more pathetic than tonight trying to defend Chuck Schumer and the Democratic establishment. Changing the name will do MSNBC no good unless they start reading the audience they desire to capture.

Mabrouk!

Now Democrats are projected to win both Governor and Lt. Governor of Virginians. Hashmi also makes history for Muslim Americans.

“The prison guards uniform changed, with a tag on the chest written on it the word ‘fighters’, or ‘warriors’, and they started acting like they were in a war and this was another front, and they started beating, torturing, killing like warriors” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

I once asked Colin Powell why Cheney had turned neocon from his stint as SecDef to his stint as VP. He said Cheney had always had same instinct but was contained as SecDef by more moderate G.H.W. Bush, Baker, and others. He said the difference was G.W. Bush who thought more like Cheney.

True, as Pew and our UMD polls have shown. But it's bigger than that, including the shift among young Republicans. If one sets aside Fox News, whose viewers have much more favorable views of Israel, there is no difference between the views of those getting their news from social media and the rest.

"There is no clear evidence to show that Christians are attacked more frequently than any other religious group in Nigeria, much less an attempt at “genocide,” analysts say." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/w...

The Nobel Prize committee avoided humiliation of awarding the peace prize to Donald Trump, but not without embarrassing itself still: Venezuela’s Peace Prize-winning opposition leader backs Trump’s boat strikes. How do you get peace without a good war? thehill.com/policy/inter...

“The prison guards uniform changed, with a tag on the chest written on it the word ‘fighters’, or ‘warriors’, and they started acting like they were in a war and this was another front, and they started beating, torturing, killing like warriors” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

I once asked Colin Powell why Cheney had turned neocon from his stint as SecDef to his stint as VP. He said Cheney had always had same instinct but was contained as SecDef by more moderate G.H.W. Bush, Baker, and others. He said the difference was G.W. Bush who thought more like Cheney.

"Plea" www.timesofisrael.com/with-ceasefi...

"Eye on Gazans: How the IDF Legal Chief Drama Overshadows the Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners" www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Escaping my desk for a moment of autumn colors

The Nobel Prize committee avoided humiliation of awarding the peace prize to Donald Trump, but not without embarrassing itself still: Venezuela’s Peace Prize-winning opposition leader backs Trump’s boat strikes. How do you get peace without a good war? thehill.com/policy/inter...

For the Israeli PM, the grave problem is not the horrific, documented abuse but the leak of the abuse. This naked episode sheds further light, for those who need more, on Israel's assault on journalists and humanitarian organizations reporting Gaza horrors. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

A heavy drag on his party: Trump's popularity in key election states today:

"Beware the Slide Toward Regime Change in Venezuela" www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...

"The United States military is upgrading a long-abandoned former Cold War naval base in the Caribbean, a Reuters visual investigation has found, suggesting preparations for sustained operations that could help support possible actions inside Venezuela." www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...

Poll finds most Americans, including 68% of independents, say Trump is not committed to free speech wapo.st/4nwGysj

Autumn Morning, Silver Spring, Maryland

NYC early voting: 'Highest early in-person turnout ever for a non-presidential election (735,000). Sunday, the final day of early voting, saw about 151,000 early voters, the most of any day since the polls opened, and more voters under 35 than in the first weekend combined'

‘Olives are everything for us’ - which is precisely why Israeli settlers in the West Bank, backed by government ministers, target them. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Question: [Saudi Crown Prince] MbS has said they won't join the Abraham Accords without a two state solution. Do you believe that? Trump: No. I think he is going to join. I think we are going to have a solution but I don't know if it's going to be two states.