Juan Cole
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Juan Cole
@jricole.bsky.social

Historian, essayist: Middle East, South Asia, Islam, Social History, Foreign Policy, Environment, Culture, Progressive Politics;
Signal: Juan Cole

John Ricardo Irfan "Juan" Cole is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Since 2002, he has written a weblog, Informed Comment (juancole.com). .. more

Political science 68%
Sociology 17%

The world is preparing to rebuild Gaza but Few are ready for the Climate Cost
The world is preparing to rebuild Gaza but Few are ready for the Climate Cost
Making Gaza livable again will require a global effort on an unprecedented scale
dlvr.it

A Roman emperor grovelling to a Persian King: A new Statue in Tehran
A Roman emperor grovelling to a Persian King: A new Statue in Tehran
Within a few years, the first Sasanian king, Ardashir I, threatened Roman territory in Mesopotamia
dlvr.it
MoveOn, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and 6 Democrats have called on Chuck Schumer to step aside as leader.

So we asked all 40 Democratic senators who didn’t cave to Republicans if they still think Schumer is the right leader.

Here's what they said.

@andrewperez.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social
Furious Liberals Call for Schumer to Step Aside, Senate Dems Mostly Quiet
After their shutdown surrender, liberal lawmakers are begging their base to unite behind them anyway – as Trumpland celebrates that their opposition is a bunch of 'p*ssies.'
zeteo.com

US highlights Gaza aid surge; Palestinians allege ‘engineered starvation’ flip.it/DMZslL
US highlights Gaza aid surge; Palestinians allege ‘engineered starvation’
White House says nearly 700 aid trucks entering Gaza each day, a figure disputed by Palestinians and aid organisations.
flip.it

The Sudanese who told the world what happened in El-Fasher flip.it/.aBk0S
The news hub
As a leading global news agency, AFP offers quality multimedia content in video, text, photo and graphics in six languages and now reaches North American audiences
flip.it

China rolls out its version of the H-1B visa to attract foreign tech workers flip.it/mFzoGb
China rolls out its version of the H-1B visa to attract foreign tech workers
It coincides with uncertainties over the U.S.'s H-1B program under tightened immigrations policies implemented by President Donald Trump.
flip.it

Video. Gaza struggles to recover 10,000 bodies buried under rubble flip.it/cNF5Im
Video. Gaza struggles to recover 10,000 bodies buried under rubble
Video. Authorities in Gaza say they are struggling to recover the bodies of around 10,000 people still buried under rubble.
flip.it

Reposted by Juan Cole

The fact that the NYT even entertains such an outlandish, agenda-driven accusation isn’t just bad journalism.

It’s how establishment outlets police the boundaries of “acceptable” debate and manufacture controversy over positions & people they want to keep on the margins.

Reposted by Juan Cole

For a century, Damascus pushed a single Syrian identity while the margins asked for recognition. After Assad fell, that argument resurfaced again. How it’s settled will make or break the country, argues Hussain Jummo for @newlinesmag.bsky.social
Kurds Could Hold Syria Together or Pull It Apart
The country’s choice is between a single identity defined from the capital or a national pact that makes room for many
newlinesmag.com

Reposted by Juan Cole

BBC Middle East editor at centre of 'bias' row said Mossad made him 'proud'
<article data-history-node-id="431314" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/bbc-middle-east-editor-centre-bias-row-said-mossad-made-him-proud" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/bbc-middle-east-editor-centre-bias-row-said-mossad-made-him-proud" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">BBC Middle East editor at centre of 'bias' row said Mossad made him 'proud'</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/bbc" target="_blank">BBC's&nbsp;</a>online Middle East editor said in 2020 that it was "wonderful" to be in a "circle of trust"&nbsp;with current and former&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/mossad-opposed-israels-strike-doha-washington-post-reports" target="_blank">Mossad&nbsp;</a>agents while writing a book, and that the agency's "fantastic&nbsp;operations" make him "tremendously proud".</p> <p>The comments made by Raffi Berg&nbsp;have surfaced following the revelation last week that he is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/06/raffi-berg-bbc-editor-sues-owen-jones-israel-bias/" target="_blank">suing</a>&nbsp;prominent journalist Owen Jones over an article alleging Berg is biased towards&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Berg's book&nbsp;<a href="https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/red-sea-spies/" target="_blank"><em>Red Sea Spies</em></a>&nbsp;was published in 2020 and details the 1980s secret Mossad operation to transport thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.</p> <p>Its blurb says it was "written in collaboration with operatives involved in the mission, endorsed as the definitive account and including an afterword from the commander who went on to become the head of the Mossad".</p> <p>In an October 2020&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=a9NxO9jWew4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Vilna Shul, which describes itself as "Boston's Center for Jewish Culture", Berg was asked what he learnt most from writing the book.</p> <p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/bbc" target="_blank">BBC's&nbsp;</a>online Middle East editor said in 2020 that it was "wonderful" to be in a "circle of trust"&nbsp;with current and former&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/mossad-opposed-israels-strike-doha-washington-post-reports" target="_blank">Mossad&nbsp;</a>agents while writing a book, and that the agency's "fantastic&nbsp;operations" make him "tremendously proud".</p> <p>The comments made by Raffi Berg&nbsp;have surfaced following the revelation last week that he is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/06/raffi-berg-bbc-editor-sues-owen-jones-israel-bias/" target="_blank">suing</a>&nbsp;prominent journalist Owen Jones over an article alleging Berg is biased towards&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Berg's book&nbsp;<a href="https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/red-sea-spies/" target="_blank"><em>Red Sea Spies</em></a>&nbsp;was published in 2020 and details the 1980s secret Mossad operation to transport thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.</p> <p>Its blurb says it was "written in collaboration with operatives involved in the mission, endorsed as the definitive account and including an afterword from the commander who went on to become the head of the Mossad".</p> <p>In an October 2020&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=a9NxO9jWew4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Vilna Shul, which describes itself as "Boston's Center for Jewish Culture", Berg was asked what he learnt most from writing the book.</p> <h3>Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bbc-middle-east-editor-suing-said-mossad-made-him-proud">BBC Middle East editor at centre of 'bias' row said Mossad made him 'proud'</a></h3> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="A man walks by the entrance to the BBC in London on 10 November (AFP)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1373ed0e-3e4e-458e-b5b3-5a7a3cac7e1f" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/000_83k726v%20%281%29.jpeg" width="1400" height="788" alt="A man walks by the entrance to the BBC in London on 10 November (AFP)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>A man walks by the entrance to the BBC in London on 10 November (AFP)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p> <section>&nbsp;</section> </div> </div> </article>
www.middleeasteye.net

Reposted by Juan Cole

UNRWA @unrwa.org · 14h
“Wrote in @theguardian.com that UNRWA has the capacity and expertise to support the long journey of people in postwar Gaza.”

Full article by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Sphinx and Giza Pyramids during the Arab Spring revolts (no tourists) http://dlvr.it/TPBBH3

the New York Times is not on our side; they also thought invading Iraq was a dandy idea
“New York Times conducts hostile interview with children’s education influencer questioning her recognition of comprehensively documented war crimes” is not a sentence I could have imagined a few years ago

Reposted by Juan Cole

Centrist Dems aren’t built for moments like this. They rose in a politics designed to preserve status quo institutions of power, not challenge them.

This is why they'll crumble even when "democracy" is on the line.

Their instincts simply aren't fit for this Trump-era authoritarian moment.

Reposted by Juan Cole

(Also, obviously, slavery was legal in NYC until 1827. I’m just assuming that these people don’t care about that, but even by their own standards they are being ludicrous here.)

Reposted by Juan Cole

The Boston Globe just filed a motion for access to the still-sealed materials that Judge William Young relied on to hold that Rubio and Noem violated the First Amendment by arresting and threatening to deport students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. www.courtlistener.com/docket/69784...
Canada has just lost measles elimination status. The U.S. will undoubtedly follow shortly.

Elimination means that there is no continuous spreading of measles within the country for a year or longer.

Canada and the U.S. have blown it, and it’s largely the fault of the anti-vaccination movement.
Canada loses measles elimination status after three decades, health agency says
Canada has lost its measles elimination status after nearly three decades due to its failure to curb a year-long outbreak, the country's public health agency said on Monday.
www.reuters.com

Reposted by Juan Cole

(He lost the petition because the DEIC wanted Jewish trade. So they said Jews could settle and trade, but not hold public office, do retail, or open synagogues. Big win for the years of greatness!)

Reposted by Juan Cole

As I said last night on MSNBC as the news broke that eight Senate Democrats were joining the GOP: This must be the end for Chuck Schumer as Senate Democratic leader.

Reposted by Juan Cole

Thanks to Elon Musk's changes to X, no one shares links to stories anymore.

Instead, they're more likely to post pictures of headlines or exciting paragraphs from articles — creating "a far stupider discourse," @daveweigel.bsky.social says.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider
We don’t know the minute when X started throttling links to news,...
talkingpointsmemo.com

Reposted by Juan Cole

the people who made this are such clowns that they included the time Peter Stuyvesant seized Jewish property, had it sold at auction, and petitioned the Dutch East India Company to expel the Jews in the years of “greatness”

Reposted by Juan Cole

“New York Times conducts hostile interview with children’s education influencer questioning her recognition of comprehensively documented war crimes” is not a sentence I could have imagined a few years ago

Reposted by Juan Cole

To Trump, the illegality of his unilaterally imposed tariffs seems to be a feature not a bug — part of a concerted effort to barrel through the remaining checks being placed on executive power by Congress and the Supreme Court. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Trump's Tariffs Are Illegal
Will the Supreme Court finally stand up to the president?
www.brennancenter.org

No, ancient Hebrew Slaves didn’t Build the Giza Pyramids
No, ancient Hebrew Slaves didn’t Build the Giza Pyramids
As for Israelites, there is no archeological evidence of them being in Egypt, much less being enslaved.
dlvr.it

Climate Tipping Points Close In: Scientists urge radical Action before it’s too Late
Climate Tipping Points Close In: Scientists urge radical Action before it’s too Late
The world has reached the first of many Earth system tipping points. These will cause catastrophic harm
dlvr.it

Veterans Day, Moral Injury and the the Guinea Worm Parable
Veterans Day, Moral Injury and the the Guinea Worm Parable
A few months into recovery, I was invited to attend a day-retreat organized by a local veterans' moral leadership group.
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Landmark Paris Agreement set a path to slow warming. The world hasn't stayed on it flip.it/obZtMm
Landmark Paris Agreement set a path to slow warming. The world hasn't stayed on it
The world has seen faster climate change than expected since the Paris Agreement a decade ago. Scientists say Earth's warming has outpaced efforts to reduce fossil fuel pollution that came out of the ...
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Reposted by Juan Cole

Italian journalist Gabriele Nunziati was fired after asking the European Commission whether Israel should pay to rebuild Gaza, just as the EU says Russia must rebuild Ukraine. His outlet, Agenzia Nova, dismissed him weeks later, calling the question “out of place.”

Today, Euronews’ Vincenzo...