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johnlyndon.bsky.social
Executive Director at the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), the largest network of Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders
172 posts 1,164 followers 507 following
Prolific Poster

In the stated operational order of priorities presented to commanders ahead of today’s huge IDF ground operation in Gaza, the objective "Concentration and movement of the population," appears before "Return of the hostages." Which is in last place… www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

I’m old enough to recall 2012’s “Pillar of Defence.” It was awful enough to be considered an official Israel-Gaza “war”, in the quaint metric we all used. It was a big deal. Led the news. Demanded int reaction. But it claimed fewer lives than lost in last 24hrs in Gaza.

As loudly and clearly as he can, Trump is telling Netanyahu that he is no longer No 1 - and that might just be the best hope for an end to Gaza’s nightmare. Latest column www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

At least 93 humans as real as you and me were killed today by Israeli air strikes in Gaza. Hundreds more injured. Those not killed or maimed are hungry. With no food entering Strip for 75 days now. No strategic goal was furthered. Of course. And something similar will likely happen tomorrow. Again.

Full text of @kajakallas.bsky.social video address to It’s Time last week. Standing in full solidarity with peacebuilders, announcing €18m in new funding for civil society, and opposing legislation “used as tool to reduce this space.” Thank you HRVP Kallas and EU 🙏 t.co/7n5ly3oaB7

Spent day with dozens of ALLMEP member orgs coming together— Jews & Palestinians— to say IT’S TIME to end war and launch diplo process to deliver peace and equality for all. Tomorrow thousands gather at Binyanei HaUma. Join us! Either in person or online timeisnow.co.il/english

Attacking a synagogue where people are mourning Israeli and Palestinian victims of this war is a new low. These outrageous attacks on civil society in general— and peacebuilders in particular— must be condemned and countered by all. Civil society is here to stay… www.allmep.org/allmep-resou...

Happening now: ALLMEP Co-hosted screenings of Joint Memorial. In Berlin, London, Paris, Marseille. Israelis and Palestinians who’ve paid the heaviest price, in a war that MUST be ended, calling for a just and lasting peace and equality for all. Watch live here: www.youtube.com/live/cIW-9Xa...

For the next three weeks No Other Land is available to stream online with a donation!! supportmasaferyatta.com

Another under-reported issue is disappearance of oceans of data, research & knowledge due to USAID & USIP both being killed off. I’ve searched for 3 important/unique docs in recent weeks on Israel-Palestine related to either entity. All are now unfindable anywhere on net. As tho they never existed

Almost every paragraph in this story has another additional detail that breaks your heart again…

After 18 months, and a ceasefire deliberately abandoned: everyone knows by now that this war *only* delivers more of this. Not hostages. Not security. Not peace. This. Many times. Every day. With no end in sight.

3/3 To conclude our series on Ireland & Empire, Anita and William are joined by the brilliant @fotoole.bsky.social , author of We Don’t Know Ourselves, to reflect on how Irish society has transformed since the 1950s, and how the country’s colonial past informs its future. @empirepoduk.bsky.social

Checks out

The Trump administration proposed to cut the budget of the State Department and what remains of the U.S. Agency for International Development by almost half, according to an internal memo.

🇮🇱🕊️🇵🇸 There is another way 🤍 www.cfpeace.org “We went out to plant olive trees in the Bethlehem area – to work the land together – Israelis and Palestinians 🌿🤝, to give it new life, and to plant trees that will grow and bear fruit 🌱🫒 🧵

Listen to Adam Akad, one of our organizers in Haifa, share a personal speech about building hope and the political power to create change. Peace on this land cannot be simply an idea, it must be a call to action for all of us.

Study MENA Politics with me in Barcelona! I'm teaching a 3-day course w/ a crack team of top experts from June 30. Everyone (men, all ages, etc!): yalla! We’ll delve into a handful of gripping, hotly debated Qs that illuminate major ongoing developments in Tunisia 🇹🇳, Saudi 🇸🇦, Oct. 7 🇮🇱🇵🇸 & beyond ⬇️📚

📺 #Macron calls for "immediate #ceasefire" in #Gaza during visit to #Egypt. 🗨️"The only power that has the ability to stop of the war in Gaza is the #USA." 👉H. A. Hellyer, Senior Fellow in Geopolitics at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies ⤵️ @en.france24.com

I’m about the fire up the substack that I created a little while back - and after all those years at the BBC am very much looking forward to unfiltered blogging on all my usual topics- please subscribe, it’s free! Https://substack.com/@markurban

The details— and scale— both significantly worse than the WCK incident. Which led news agenda and elicited condemnation from POTUS and world leaders almost exactly a year ago. Quite a datapoint to notice how little attention this has received by comparison… www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

fuck I've just realised that I, a 33 year old, will finally be able to vote in my first French presidential election where Marine Le Pen isn't a candidate

Happy 40th (😱) birthday to this middle-aged masterpiece. Still sounds like it’s from the future. And still says important stuff about our present

“In 2018, 55% of Israeli Jews thought the country was in a good situation. Today just 11% do.” Trust in govt also at an all time low. No wonder, when 73% of Israelis said they wanted to implement second stage of the Gaza ceasefire/hostage deal. But govt preferred return to war…

Israel judicial overhaul: The Knesset is getting ready to vote on a change in composition of judicial appointment committee that would heavily politicize it. The bill will almost certainly pass but only go into effect as of next Knesset. Opposition parties will join protests outside the Knesset.

Doron Steinbrecher, held hostage by Hamas for 471 days, speaking at tonight’s rally: "I'm angry at those who think it's okay to resume fighting. How are you not listening to us? I have the fear that [hostages] will be forgotten. That we'll learn to live alongside war, that it'll become normal."

I think what's making the present geopolitical moment so difficult to make sense of is the simultaneity of various trends that would seem to make more sense sequentially. So instead of G1 ➡️ G20 ➡️ G8 ➡️ G7 ➡️ G7 + BRICS ➡️ G2, we have all of these operating simultaneously, with a G6 now thrown in. 🧵

“the world map will not change if all the people of Gaza vanish. No one will feel for you, and no one will ask about you. You are left alone to face your inevitable fate.” There can be justification for this. Nor for return to this hellish war, that 7 in 10 Israelis oppose, yet proceeds regardless

Last night’s article in the Washington Post about D.C. police responding to a 911 call by illegally letting DOGE onto private property is unlike any news story I have ever read. Every single person should read this article and think about where our society is going.

We need broad/ambitious outside-in diplomacy, *and* determined/scaled bottom-up activism if we’re to move away from this terrible return to war in Gaza. And toward a diplomatic horizon that can deliver peace, security, equality— and hope for the future—to two shattered peoples

Re: Ben Gvir return, and what he’s hoping that’ll achieve: org he’s closely linked to, Nachala, issued this statement: “From here on, the path to decisive victory is clear and unambiguous — occupation, expulsion, settlement. The time has come for a full Jewish return to the Gaza Strip.”

Reminder: in Feb poll of Israelis by ALLMEP member aChord: ✅Israelis support completion of *second* phase of ceasefire (inc IDF withdrawal) by > 3:1 margin ✅ 68% support deal ending war/releasing *all* hostages. Overwhelming majority of Israelis (and Pals, obv) DO 👏 NOT 👏 WANT 👏 RETURN 👏 TO 👏WAR 👏

~300 killed in Gaza, with some of worst scenes in months of child victims. Hostages also in great peril, with whiff of archly political (Ben Gvir rejoining govt, Bibi day in court cancelled, budget deadline) around shabby justification for shattering of ceasefire that should now be into second phase

“At the Woolton fête when Paul reached across to take John's guitar the 20th century tilted on its axis.” www.thetimes.com/article/d99e...

www.bbc.com/news/article... That would be one out of 20 Serbians

Budapest today. People are demanding that PM Orban resign.

We watch these stories from across the pond, sharing in the outrage at this callous cruelty, but this is exactly where our own migration policies are heading. Better, more competent, and more humane migration policies are available, and if our outrage is real we should push for them while we can

They were careless people… They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

Nice empire. One that has allocated over €44 billion in fiscal transfers to Hungary over 2021-27. Maybe tell your electorate that?

#Hama celebrates the 14th anniversary of the #Syrian revolution

This week, the UK reaffirmed its commitment to the Int Fund for I-P Peace, with broad support across Parliament. Civil society is where you find strongest opposition to annexation & most determined support for peace. Radically scaling this work is urgent priority www.allmep.org/allmep-resou...

Fun fact: sparkling wine only being allowed to be called “champagne” if from the French region was a clause in the Treaty of Versailles (yes, really. Cos: France 🇫🇷 …) While US signed the treaty, the Senate never ratified it. So this, weirdly, has more factual grounding than 99% of what Trump says..

My aunt lives in a village in the north West Bank. About five years ago, an Israeli settlement was built just up the hill from her home. Settlers regularly come down the hill to harass them. A few night ago, she awoke to Israeli soldiers right under their window.

Good thread. Esp on the urgent steps now needed to take place to stop Hungary spoiling settled will of 98% of people in European Union to avoid existential calamity. Passerelle Clause could prob fix in the moment? But longer term solution (QMV, sanction, or expulsion) also needed

55% of Americans favor the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 76% of Democrats, 53% of independents, and 41% of Republicans. Opposition to a Palestinian state (31%) is the lowest since 2009. news.gallup.com/poll/657404/...