lb
@lbhungalia.bsky.social
Author of Elastic Empire | Assistant Professor of Geography and International Studies @ UW-Madison
https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/elastic-empire?tab=1
https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/elastic-empire?tab=1
Reposted by lb
If you've ever found your name on a list, or feared landing there, you're not alone. Today, doxxing is imbued with terrifying state powers, but it's an old strategy of deputization that has terrorized people for centuries. The power of lists is division, but we can draw from histories of refusal.
From runaway slave lists to Canary Mission, the state has long deputized citizens to enforce its will.
New from Shiri Pasternak:
New from Shiri Pasternak:
A Theory of the List - Boston Review
From runaway slave lists to Canary Mission, the state has long deputized citizens to enforce its will.
www.bostonreview.net
September 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you've ever found your name on a list, or feared landing there, you're not alone. Today, doxxing is imbued with terrifying state powers, but it's an old strategy of deputization that has terrorized people for centuries. The power of lists is division, but we can draw from histories of refusal.
Reposted by lb
A statement from university presidents in Gaza: "Constant bombardment, starvation, restrictions on internet access, unstable electricity, and the ongoing horrors of genocide have not broken our will. We are still here, still teaching, and still committed to the future of education in Gaza."
July 16, 2025 at 9:17 PM
A statement from university presidents in Gaza: "Constant bombardment, starvation, restrictions on internet access, unstable electricity, and the ongoing horrors of genocide have not broken our will. We are still here, still teaching, and still committed to the future of education in Gaza."
The ‘alphabet soup’ of databases on which CBP is drawing in airports to secondary search, detain and deport
The airport panopticon is getting people deported and detained
One lawyer called it a ‘feedback loop’ of surveillance.
www.theverge.com
March 21, 2025 at 11:13 PM
The ‘alphabet soup’ of databases on which CBP is drawing in airports to secondary search, detain and deport
Reposted by lb
NEW — Per Homeland Security & State Department sources, the Trump administration is staking its entire case to deport Mahmoud Kahlil not on whether he broke a law, but on Secretary of State Marco Rubio “personally” deciding Khalil would “compromise” US foreign policy.
Marco Rubio Personally Signed Off to Detain Mahmoud Khalil on 'Foreign Policy Grounds,' Sources Confirm
The government is staking its entire case to deport Khalil on whether Rubio “personally” thinks the Columbia student protest negotiator would “compromise” US foreign policy.
zeteo.com
March 11, 2025 at 6:39 PM
NEW — Per Homeland Security & State Department sources, the Trump administration is staking its entire case to deport Mahmoud Kahlil not on whether he broke a law, but on Secretary of State Marco Rubio “personally” deciding Khalil would “compromise” US foreign policy.
Reposted by lb
(Recent graduate, but the legality point stands)
It’s illegal to deport people for political speech, but that’s exactly what ICE is trying to do to this Palestinian Columbia student. interc.pt/3Dvhxgk
If Trump Can Deport Mahmoud Khalil, Freedom of Speech Is Dead
It’s illegal to deport people for political speech, but that’s exactly what ICE is trying to do to this Palestinian Columbia student.
interc.pt
March 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
(Recent graduate, but the legality point stands)
Reposted by lb
The Elastic Empire framework can also allow us to avoid the traps set by the flaming dumpster fire of bipartisan politics & navigate the harms caused by the US as one that’s moves through various iterations/performances of imperialism.
March 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The Elastic Empire framework can also allow us to avoid the traps set by the flaming dumpster fire of bipartisan politics & navigate the harms caused by the US as one that’s moves through various iterations/performances of imperialism.
Reposted by lb
Activism/academia: Not sure continuing to issue public statements, as if political conditions haven't shifted, is a great idea. US leftists have something to learn from activists operating in authoritarian and other openly violent spaces. (Photo: Eject resistance symbol. Artist: Asim Butt
February 8, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Activism/academia: Not sure continuing to issue public statements, as if political conditions haven't shifted, is a great idea. US leftists have something to learn from activists operating in authoritarian and other openly violent spaces. (Photo: Eject resistance symbol. Artist: Asim Butt
this is gutting
The Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem was raided today, and its owners, Mahmoud and Ahmed Mona, were arrested.
The bookstore is one of the premier Palestinian cultural institutions of East Jerusalem; Mahmoud Mona is among the most inspiring figures in the city.
via @nirhasson.bsky.social
The bookstore is one of the premier Palestinian cultural institutions of East Jerusalem; Mahmoud Mona is among the most inspiring figures in the city.
via @nirhasson.bsky.social
February 10, 2025 at 6:17 AM
this is gutting
Reposted by lb
The NYT asked me to write an op-ed on Musk and the Treasury and then took a pass. I hope it will still get read.
Personal Discretion Over the Treasury's Payments System Means the End of Democracy
If the Court and federal workers fail to stop Elon Musk, we are heading for authoritarianism.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 4, 2025 at 8:48 PM
The NYT asked me to write an op-ed on Musk and the Treasury and then took a pass. I hope it will still get read.
Reposted by lb
Trump is calling for ethnic cleansing—“clean out that whole thing” was his phrase!—but the NYT manages to make him sound like a humanitarian.
January 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Trump is calling for ethnic cleansing—“clean out that whole thing” was his phrase!—but the NYT manages to make him sound like a humanitarian.
Reposted by lb
Starting to hear news of human rights NGOs from a bit everywhere losing much if not all of their fundings due to the Trump cuts. I can’t legally share yet but I suspect the news will come out soon if it hasn’t already. This includes groups that investigate crimes against humanity
January 25, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Starting to hear news of human rights NGOs from a bit everywhere losing much if not all of their fundings due to the Trump cuts. I can’t legally share yet but I suspect the news will come out soon if it hasn’t already. This includes groups that investigate crimes against humanity
Reposted by lb
So excited - congratulations, @lbhungalia.bsky.social! I think this might have been the very first book for which I was part of the acquisitions discussion at @stanfordpress.bsky.social; it knocked my socks off then, and knocks my socks off still. So pleased to see it gain this recognition.
The #MESA2024 Albert Hourani Book Award Winner is Lisa Bhungalia for “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine” (Stanford University Press).
Read More [https://mesana.org/awards/awardee/mesa-book-awards/lisa-bhungalia]
Read More [https://mesana.org/awards/awardee/mesa-book-awards/lisa-bhungalia]
December 12, 2024 at 12:47 AM
So excited - congratulations, @lbhungalia.bsky.social! I think this might have been the very first book for which I was part of the acquisitions discussion at @stanfordpress.bsky.social; it knocked my socks off then, and knocks my socks off still. So pleased to see it gain this recognition.
Reposted by lb
Sednaya prison outside of Damascus is called the human slaughterhouse. The things that I read happened there will never leave me. Just the absolute most twisted things a human can come up with.
The fact that we’re counting down the minutes to it being obliterated is beyond. Just incredible.
The fact that we’re counting down the minutes to it being obliterated is beyond. Just incredible.
December 8, 2024 at 1:06 AM
Sednaya prison outside of Damascus is called the human slaughterhouse. The things that I read happened there will never leave me. Just the absolute most twisted things a human can come up with.
The fact that we’re counting down the minutes to it being obliterated is beyond. Just incredible.
The fact that we’re counting down the minutes to it being obliterated is beyond. Just incredible.
Reposted by lb
A book I’m very much looking forward to reading, “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War Through Aid in Palestine,” which recently received both the 2024 Albert Hourani Book Award and the 2024 Palestine Book Awards.
December 2, 2024 at 1:34 AM
A book I’m very much looking forward to reading, “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War Through Aid in Palestine,” which recently received both the 2024 Albert Hourani Book Award and the 2024 Palestine Book Awards.
Reposted by lb
I made a starter pack of a motley crew of folks I enjoy. Let me know if you’d like to be added to this list (or taken off)!
go.bsky.app/9yxgizB
go.bsky.app/9yxgizB
November 29, 2024 at 11:06 PM
I made a starter pack of a motley crew of folks I enjoy. Let me know if you’d like to be added to this list (or taken off)!
go.bsky.app/9yxgizB
go.bsky.app/9yxgizB
Today the US vetoed a UNSC res calling for a ceasefire in Gaza marking the 49th time it has wielded its veto power against Israel-related UNSC draft resolutions & the 4th time in the past year
The UNSC voted 14-1 in favor, the US being the only opposed
www.middleeasteye.net/news/49-time...
The UNSC voted 14-1 in favor, the US being the only opposed
www.middleeasteye.net/news/49-time...
November 21, 2024 at 6:17 AM
Today the US vetoed a UNSC res calling for a ceasefire in Gaza marking the 49th time it has wielded its veto power against Israel-related UNSC draft resolutions & the 4th time in the past year
The UNSC voted 14-1 in favor, the US being the only opposed
www.middleeasteye.net/news/49-time...
The UNSC voted 14-1 in favor, the US being the only opposed
www.middleeasteye.net/news/49-time...
Reposted by lb
This is an excellent interview with @lbhungalia.bsky.social on Israel’s war on UNRWA, and the weaponisation of aid as “asphyxiatory violence”. I also highly recommend the book Elastic Empire to anyone interested in humanitarianism and the politics of sanctions www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/l...
Weaponizing Aid | Jack Gross & Dylan Saba
An interview with Lisa Bhungalia on UNRWA
www.phenomenalworld.org
November 21, 2024 at 5:45 AM
This is an excellent interview with @lbhungalia.bsky.social on Israel’s war on UNRWA, and the weaponisation of aid as “asphyxiatory violence”. I also highly recommend the book Elastic Empire to anyone interested in humanitarianism and the politics of sanctions www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/l...
Reposted by lb
The Knesset designating the UNRWA and the Biden admin entirely defunding it constitute asphyxiatory violence, a master class on the decisions and their horrific impact by @lbhungalia.bsky.social for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/l...
Weaponizing Aid | Jack Gross & Dylan Saba
An interview with Lisa Bhungalia on UNRWA
www.phenomenalworld.org
November 17, 2024 at 3:39 PM
The Knesset designating the UNRWA and the Biden admin entirely defunding it constitute asphyxiatory violence, a master class on the decisions and their horrific impact by @lbhungalia.bsky.social for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/l...
Reposted by lb
It is not only with weapons and vetoes at the UN Security Council, but also through aid, that the US inscribes its imperial influence on Palestine. I review Lisa Bhungalia's “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine” for Informed Comment. www.juancole.com/2024/08/refa...
Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine - Elastic Empire
Review of Lisa Bhungalia, “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine” (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023). Munich, Germany (Special …
www.juancole.com
August 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM
It is not only with weapons and vetoes at the UN Security Council, but also through aid, that the US inscribes its imperial influence on Palestine. I review Lisa Bhungalia's “Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine” for Informed Comment. www.juancole.com/2024/08/refa...
Reposted by lb
For the history books
December 9, 2023 at 12:29 AM
For the history books
and, in lockstep, it did
An actual statement released the day the Biden administration opposed (and may soon veto) a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations.
December 9, 2023 at 12:19 AM
and, in lockstep, it did