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heissenstat.bsky.social
Laurentian Associate Professor of History, St. Lawrence University. Non-resident scholar, Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS) Middle East History and Politics Very unlikely to argue on-line. Blocks dumb, annoying, or noisy.
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Jerusalem Quaterly is looking for an assistant editor www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1657...

If you see me posting non-stop, it almost certainly means I'm having trouble starting an essay or I have papers to grade.

A non-Jewish comedian is telling a Jewish comedian that he is being insulting to Jews, which is pretty much the logical endpoint of the way we talk about antisemitism in the US.

The rule of bros who can't be bothered with the reading

Whether in customer service or bombing campaigns, AI turns out to be very effective when you don't really care how good it is: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/t...

As an American Jew who believes firmly that Trump is bad for America and bad for the Jews (as well as most everyone else), I wish the meat of this survey was as reassuring as the headline. If anything, it points to how polarized Jews are - just like the rest of the US www.jta.org/2025/04/24/p...

One for the historians. 🗃️

📰Sunday extras: "Turkey-Kurdish Peace Talks: Regional Implications and US Policy" with @gonultol.bsky.social , @giranozcan.bsky.social and Mohammed A. Salih. [1/5] www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAL2...

This is unreservedly good and I applaud it. It would be even better if they acknowledged the moral panic that they themselves helped feed. Jewish senators accuse Trump of exploiting antisemitism to target universities www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...

Israeli military changes story, takes responsibility for attack on UN guest house in Gaza which killed 51 year old Bulgarian UN staffer Marin Marinov. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

I think I wrote one of my first public facing articles on the prosecution of Pinar Selek... in 2013. At the time, it was already a case that had gone on for many years. The attack she is accused of perpetrating was in 1998.

In the latest poll I've looked at Abbas' popularity stands at 12% Dollars to donuts they will choose a VP with just as little charisma, and just as little credibility. The most popular Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, has, of course, been jailed for more than two decades.

That's the thing about turning a blind eye to territorial conquest and ethnic cleansing. Once one kid on the block gets to do it, everybody wants in on the game.

This will be of interest to some of my follows: www.arab-reform.net/job/call-for...

Just in time for me to consider this for a seminar on the US and the Middle East next fall!

The risks of war between India and Pakistan are being oddly underreported in European and US news media. Not the fault of journalists on the ground, but an indication of lack of a sense of impending risk in media HQs.

Kurdish Conference to convene in Qamishli with nationwide representation npasyria.com/en/124878/

For folks following Turkey or the Kurds, the outcomes of the meetings being held this weekend are absolutely vital to understanding Kurdish responses to the peace process between them.

This is unreservedly good and I applaud it. It would be even better if they acknowledged the moral panic that they themselves helped feed. Jewish senators accuse Trump of exploiting antisemitism to target universities www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...

If only there was some sort of basic law which protected freedom of speech in this country

On the whole, I don't believe that most of the GOP's leadership are fascists. I think they are cowards.

Trump has spent his whole life stretching legal processes out forever. He certainly isn't going to quit now.

Do people appreciate how small Gaza is?

Me @foreignpolicy.com Washington's binary thinking on Iran obscures a better way forward...

Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova has been in ICE custody for about two months. Her colleague and friend Leon Peshkin says her case is causing some scientists to reconsider working in the U.S.

In the latest poll I've looked at Abbas' popularity stands at 12% Dollars to donuts they will choose a VP with just as little charisma, and just as little credibility. The most popular Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, has, of course, been jailed for more than two decades.

100s of foreign students in the U.S. had their visas suddenly cancelled and were asked to self-deport, supposedly due to convictions and arrests. We found many of these students had no criminal records however. www.npr.org/2025/04/22/n...

That's the thing about turning a blind eye to territorial conquest and ethnic cleansing. Once one kid on the block gets to do it, everybody wants in on the game.

As an American Jew who believes firmly that Trump is bad for America and bad for the Jews (as well as most everyone else), I wish the meat of this survey was as reassuring as the headline. If anything, it points to how polarized Jews are - just like the rest of the US www.jta.org/2025/04/24/p...

The Oscar-winning documentary NO OTHER LAND is now available for rent at supportmasaferyatta.com All rental earnings will benefit the Masafer Yatta communities depicted in the documentary, especially families who have been attacked by settlers.

On the whole, I don't believe that most of the GOP's leadership are fascists. I think they are cowards.

Erdogan, at this moment, seems incredibly strong diplomatically, and incredibly weak domestically. And, yet, I suspect that he faces greater risks in terms of foreign policy than many suspect and that he is more likely to survive his domestic weakness than not.

Part of defending higher education has to be explaining to the general public its not just an assault on these institutions but an assault, fundamentally, on the prospect of social mobility for them and their children

The Ghost of Marco Rubio’s Caring About Syrian War Crimes - the inaugural post on my new Ghost blog. I left Substack because of the Nazis and platforming some publications I find reprehensible. abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/the-ghost-of...

The Bahceli initiative is, in essence, a rapprochement with Ocalan to redesign the Kurdish political movement in line with domestic and regional interests. In my interpretation, Demirtas tried to assert itself in the process by lending support to Ocalan, Bahceli and Erdogan.

Even Plato is "DEI" these days

New critical thresholds in the solution process. While a delegation from the DEM is currently meeting justice minister Yılmaz Tunç, Ankara, via AK Party vice-president Efkan Ala, is putting pressure on Qandil to organises its congress before the end of the month. yetkinreport.com/2025/04/24/p...

Sooo, Turkey wakes up to the news that the arrested Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu’s lawyer’s lawyer has also been detained. Never a dull moment in this country!!!