Isaac Scher
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isaacscher.bsky.social
Isaac Scher
@isaacscher.bsky.social
writing in Jewish Currents, The Guardian, The Intercept, New York Times / research NYT Opinion

reach me at isaac.scher@nytimes.com, or signal (520.389.7709)
He's not to my taste but Vollmann is among the finest in American letters today, so it's gratifying to see him represented in such an ethically/aesthetically void forum as the mainstream press: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Essay | The Last Untamed Writer in America
Despite losing his publisher and struggling with cancer, William T. Vollmann is still writing novels that are brilliant, provocative and very, very long.
www.wsj.com
September 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Isaac Scher
NEW: Dr. Mimi Syed, a U.S. emergency physician who has been outspoken about Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health system, was denied entry today as she tried to begin her third medical mission.
August 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
An Israeli security source monitored the aftermath of an airstrike in which children were burned alive: "Her daughter was still alive, she was begging for someone to come and save her. You could hear the ambulances trying to get in, and you don’t let them enter."
July 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
A new investigation in @972mag.com adds yet further evidence that Israel intentionally targets Palestinian civilians and aims to maximize casualties: www.972mag.com/double-tap-i...
‘Double tap’ airstrikes: How Israel targets Gaza rescue efforts
In the aftermath of bombings, the Israeli army routinely fires on Palestinian rescue workers to prevent them from saving the wounded.
www.972mag.com
July 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Isaac Scher
"...officials said the GHF system would attempt to screen people for involvement with Hamas by using facial recognition or biometric technology"

I tried writing this in an article I wrote recently, citing palestinian sources, and was told "it hadn't been reliably reported anywhere"
July 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
"There are those who refused to believe, or believed only for brief moments. . . . We pretend it all happened only once, at a given time and place." The French poet Jean Cayrol, seven decades ago:
July 23, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"The liberal American intelligentsia seems to have relaxed too cozily into imperial cultures of exaggerated self-esteem and self-satisfaction." harpers.org/archive/2025...
Speaking Reassurance to Power, by Pankaj Mishra
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harpers.org
July 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
"In the past few months, I’ve met with many former Biden administration officials . . . . Most of them . . . acknowledge that Israel was deliberately harming civilians and that the administration knew this at every level," writes @mattduss.bsky.social.
Biden’s Team Lied About Gaza. It’s Time to Hold Them Accountable.
Impunity for abetting war crimes weakens U.S. democracy.
foreignpolicy.com
July 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Compare the Washington Post's "fact checking" with the below facts: therevealer.org/suffer-the-c...
July 18, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Isaac Scher
NEW: Yale University is the subject of a complaint filed this morning w the Connecticut AG alleging that the university violated state law & its own guidelines by maintaining investments in weapons manufacturers tied to Israel. This is the first complaint of its kind theintercept.com/2025/03/26/y...
Yale Investments in Companies Selling Arms to Israel Violate State Law, Says an Official Complaint
A complaint to Connecticut’s attorney general says Yale University’s endowment is also violating its own investment ethics policies.
theintercept.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
In an otherwise fine column, Edward Luce contends that U.S. liberal democracy now depends upon "the courage of individual Americans."

If a social arrangement existentially depends on the whims of mere individuals, the arrangement has failed. www.ft.com/content/bcd3...
Je suis Khalil
The fate of the detained Columbia University graduate is a test of how easily Trump can slide into lawlessness
www.ft.com
March 15, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Israel's targeted killing of World Central Kitchen workers in April prompted calls for conditions on U.S. aid from former CIA chief Leon Panetta, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and former president of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas. apnews.com/article/isra...
An Israeli strike in Gaza kills World Central Kitchen workers. Israel says 1 was an Oct. 7 attacker
An Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people including employees of World Central Kitchen.
apnews.com
November 30, 2024 at 7:25 PM
Oxford Union, by a vote of 278 to 59: Israel is an apartheid state that is committing genocide www.middleeasteye.net/news/oxford-...
Oxford Union declares Israel an 'apartheid state responsible for genocide'
Union president denounces Israel's war on Gaza as a 'holocaust' at a fiery event where pro-Israel speaker was ejected for harassing Palestinian student
www.middleeasteye.net
November 30, 2024 at 7:24 PM
When there is talk of Trump's "recess appointment" strategy — confirming cabinet picks thanks to a provision from the days of horse-and-buggy, when Senators could not travel swiftly to the Hill — it should be noted that SCOTUS deemed Obama's use of the strategy unconstitutional.
November 21, 2024 at 5:35 PM
An insight of Fredric Jameson's (1996) helps cast the notion of "culture war" in a completely different light.
November 21, 2024 at 4:33 PM
Seymour Hersh: "I was told this week by a well-informed Washington official that the Israeli leadership will formally annex the West Bank in the very near future—perhaps in two weeks." seymourhersh.substack.com/p/force-evac...
November 20, 2024 at 10:30 PM
Abdullah al-Haj recounted being trapped in a hospital under Israeli siege. "I reached the point where I was talking to the corpses." www.nytimes.com/card/2024/11...
November 20, 2024 at 7:06 PM
The Israeli military has repeatedly used quadcopter drones to target civilians, according to the head surgeon at Nasser Hospital, in central Gaza. "They used to shoot at the displaced people inside the hospital, and they killed many people." www.npr.org/2024/11/19/n...
Witnesses say Israel is using sniper drones in Gaza and they're shooting civilians
Eyewitnesses in Gaza say that Israel's military is using guns attached to drones to carry out attacks
www.npr.org
November 20, 2024 at 3:29 AM
Missed this report from February: "The Biden administration asked Israel to stop targeting members of the Hamas-run civilian police force who escort aid trucks in Gaza." www.axios.com/2024/02/24/g...
U.S. officials warn: Gaza "is turning into Mogadishu"
U.S. officials say they are increasingly concerned "that Gaza is turning into Mogadishu."
www.axios.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Isaac Scher
grateful to be part of this team.

i cover corporate greed & political corruption, with particular interest right now on profiteering in our immigration & criminal legal systems.

send tips, ideas, gossip, etc. to kschwenk@levernews.com or 413-658-4677 (text or Signal)
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November 17, 2024 at 4:11 PM
"Along with Jewish gangsters and their rabbis, the document waxes nostalgic about the House of Representative’s Committee on Un-American Activities."

Dahlia Krutkovich writes about an extreme proposal recently published by the Heritage Foundation: www.nybooks.com/online/2024/...
The Return of Trump—VII | Dahlia Krutkovich, Omer Bartov, Catherine Coleman Flowers, Joshua Craze
Dahlia Krutkovich • Omer Bartov • Catherine Coleman Flowers • Joshua Craze Dahlia Krutkovich Bad-faith accusations of antisemitism on American campuses
www.nybooks.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:27 PM
"We had so much money it was hard to get it out the door," said one of Harris's allies. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/u...
How Kamala Harris Burned Through $1.5 Billion in 15 Weeks
Her frenzied spending has led to second-guessing among some Democrats and questions as she has pressed for more cash since the election.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:27 PM
"In contrast to the 1930s, when fascist street violence flourished, the contemporary far right thrives on demobilization, both electorally and non-electorally." www.rosalux.de/en/news?tx_n...
Unpacking Working-Class Reaction - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
Across Europe, far-right parties are winning elections thanks to growing working-class support. But how deep does that support go?
www.rosalux.de
November 19, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, was accused of sexual assault in 2017. www.military.com/daily-news/2...
Police Records Show Defense Secretary Nominee Was Involved in Alleged Sexual Assault in 2017
Hegseth's personal lawyer since 2017, told Military.com on Friday that "as confirmed by the Monterey Police Department, there was an allegation that was fully investigated, and he was cleared of any w...
www.military.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:27 PM