Sarah Parkinson
@separkinson.bsky.social
Political scientist at Johns Hopkins. MENA/SWANA, disasters, political violence, ethics, humanitarian crises, & qual methods. Wrote a book about Palestinian org evolution & social change in wartime Lebanon: http://bit.ly/3VEw64B. EMT. Opinions my own.
Le Due Torri going a little hard with the Minas Morgul cosplay tonight
November 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Le Due Torri going a little hard with the Minas Morgul cosplay tonight
Timeline cleanse: Austria isn’t real
(No filter, no editing, taken out of a train window)
(No filter, no editing, taken out of a train window)
November 4, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Timeline cleanse: Austria isn’t real
(No filter, no editing, taken out of a train window)
(No filter, no editing, taken out of a train window)
“…national average participation in the general strike stood at around 60%, halting all the main services in key sectors including transportation and schools.”
When they say national, they mean national. Took this photo hiking through the tiny hillside hamlet of Botteghino di Zocca today.
When they say national, they mean national. Took this photo hiking through the tiny hillside hamlet of Botteghino di Zocca today.
October 4, 2025 at 3:56 PM
“…national average participation in the general strike stood at around 60%, halting all the main services in key sectors including transportation and schools.”
When they say national, they mean national. Took this photo hiking through the tiny hillside hamlet of Botteghino di Zocca today.
When they say national, they mean national. Took this photo hiking through the tiny hillside hamlet of Botteghino di Zocca today.
If UEFA doesn’t ban Israel, there are already protests planned for the day of the Italy-Israel World Cup qualifier in Udine (northeastern Italy). These would follow large Gaza solidarity protests this past Monday, which shut down public transport & major thoroughfares in several Italian cities.
September 26, 2025 at 10:12 PM
If UEFA doesn’t ban Israel, there are already protests planned for the day of the Italy-Israel World Cup qualifier in Udine (northeastern Italy). These would follow large Gaza solidarity protests this past Monday, which shut down public transport & major thoroughfares in several Italian cities.
One of my fav games to play w/ DC protests is “will I see that image later?”
This felt like one of the shots of the day; people involved & photogs knew it. People holding African American, DC, Mexican, upside-down US flag w/ “We are not ok,” Palestinian, & indigenous flags as church bells rang out.
This felt like one of the shots of the day; people involved & photogs knew it. People holding African American, DC, Mexican, upside-down US flag w/ “We are not ok,” Palestinian, & indigenous flags as church bells rang out.
September 6, 2025 at 11:31 PM
One of my fav games to play w/ DC protests is “will I see that image later?”
This felt like one of the shots of the day; people involved & photogs knew it. People holding African American, DC, Mexican, upside-down US flag w/ “We are not ok,” Palestinian, & indigenous flags as church bells rang out.
This felt like one of the shots of the day; people involved & photogs knew it. People holding African American, DC, Mexican, upside-down US flag w/ “We are not ok,” Palestinian, & indigenous flags as church bells rang out.
Short version of my part: after my "media is ignoring soccer protests in DC" thread last week, I decided to do some applied political science.
Huge credit to the Spirit Squadron (Sprit's supporters' group; their president Meredith Bartley is quoted in article) & to FreeDC for their incredible work.
Huge credit to the Spirit Squadron (Sprit's supporters' group; their president Meredith Bartley is quoted in article) & to FreeDC for their incredible work.
![Screenshot of text from the 51st's article "Washington Spirit games provide a field for Trump resistance":
"When Sarah Parkinson walked through security at Audi Field on Sunday, she came prepared to cheer on the Washington Spirit – and protest President Trump’s takeover of D.C.
The 43-year-old brought along a pile of D.C. flags with the two bars replaced by images of sandwiches, an unsubtle reference to the former federal employee who became a local folk hero after he threw an uneaten sub at a Customs and Border Protection officer in early August.
Parkinson sits in an area that has a lot of fellow season ticket holders. “It’s a passionate section that has frequent opinions about play and about the quality of officiating. It was clear [at an earlier game] that people also strongly opposed the federal takeover of D.C.,” she says, recounting that another fan jokingly yelled “I’ve got a sandwich for you!” at a referee over a contested call.
So she decided to make a bunch of the protest flags ahead of last weekend’s game against the Chicago Stars, which ended in a tie. “That’s what fans in Scotland would do, or fans all over the world would do if there was a major political incident in their country at the time of an internationally televised match,” Parkinson says."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cd7kzsqed5cucxfgfyqxhqq4/bafkreia32f5tz3h66rtrfvj27h2bkmzd4ux6kjmpfxv5ydq6nqrpz7xjhy@jpeg)
September 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Short version of my part: after my "media is ignoring soccer protests in DC" thread last week, I decided to do some applied political science.
Huge credit to the Spirit Squadron (Sprit's supporters' group; their president Meredith Bartley is quoted in article) & to FreeDC for their incredible work.
Huge credit to the Spirit Squadron (Sprit's supporters' group; their president Meredith Bartley is quoted in article) & to FreeDC for their incredible work.
At pub trivia competing as team “We Need a Gyro”
August 31, 2025 at 11:53 PM
At pub trivia competing as team “We Need a Gyro”
Solidarity Season/Free DC March leaving Dupont Circle.
I was walking through the neighborhood with a friend. When MPD blocked the roads, people didn’t necessarily know there was a protest. Seeing some people take themselves elsewhere & some instinctively whip out cameras was…a feeling
I was walking through the neighborhood with a friend. When MPD blocked the roads, people didn’t necessarily know there was a protest. Seeing some people take themselves elsewhere & some instinctively whip out cameras was…a feeling
August 28, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Solidarity Season/Free DC March leaving Dupont Circle.
I was walking through the neighborhood with a friend. When MPD blocked the roads, people didn’t necessarily know there was a protest. Seeing some people take themselves elsewhere & some instinctively whip out cameras was…a feeling
I was walking through the neighborhood with a friend. When MPD blocked the roads, people didn’t necessarily know there was a protest. Seeing some people take themselves elsewhere & some instinctively whip out cameras was…a feeling
Call for applications! APSA-MENA Workshop on Engaged Scholarship in the Middle East and North Africa, hosted at the Doha Institute Jan 5-8 2026 & convened by @ammars.bsky.social, @philbrickyadav.bsky.social, Lara Khattab, & myself. See below.
Link to application: apsa.wufoo.com/forms/z14bkm...
Link to application: apsa.wufoo.com/forms/z14bkm...
July 31, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Call for applications! APSA-MENA Workshop on Engaged Scholarship in the Middle East and North Africa, hosted at the Doha Institute Jan 5-8 2026 & convened by @ammars.bsky.social, @philbrickyadav.bsky.social, Lara Khattab, & myself. See below.
Link to application: apsa.wufoo.com/forms/z14bkm...
Link to application: apsa.wufoo.com/forms/z14bkm...
Get out the Philadelphia confetti
July 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Get out the Philadelphia confetti
Friend in disaster response world texted me the below a/b the Trump admin's messaging on FEMA & Texas.
They ID'ed a pattern in the lack of pattern: the authoritarian tactic of "cluttering" the news cycle. This messaging is a/b deliberate ambiguity & confusion. The aim is to exhaust people.
They ID'ed a pattern in the lack of pattern: the authoritarian tactic of "cluttering" the news cycle. This messaging is a/b deliberate ambiguity & confusion. The aim is to exhaust people.
July 13, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Friend in disaster response world texted me the below a/b the Trump admin's messaging on FEMA & Texas.
They ID'ed a pattern in the lack of pattern: the authoritarian tactic of "cluttering" the news cycle. This messaging is a/b deliberate ambiguity & confusion. The aim is to exhaust people.
They ID'ed a pattern in the lack of pattern: the authoritarian tactic of "cluttering" the news cycle. This messaging is a/b deliberate ambiguity & confusion. The aim is to exhaust people.
Current forecast in DC for Saturday is likely nonviolent resistance with a chance of Thor’s wrath
June 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Current forecast in DC for Saturday is likely nonviolent resistance with a chance of Thor’s wrath
If you’re at World Pride, come get some Johns Hopkins Swag! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
June 7, 2025 at 5:27 PM
If you’re at World Pride, come get some Johns Hopkins Swag! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Grace Jones repeatedly announced that she was going to take those heels off and instead proceeded to hula hoop in them for approximately ten minutes uninterrupted while singing “Slave to the Rhythm” and thanking the band.
Turns out some things can still get a DC crowd’s uninterrupted attention.
Turns out some things can still get a DC crowd’s uninterrupted attention.
June 6, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Grace Jones repeatedly announced that she was going to take those heels off and instead proceeded to hula hoop in them for approximately ten minutes uninterrupted while singing “Slave to the Rhythm” and thanking the band.
Turns out some things can still get a DC crowd’s uninterrupted attention.
Turns out some things can still get a DC crowd’s uninterrupted attention.
It's not like any of this was hidden then, either. Aid groups & journalists reported it, as well as the horrific violence these collaborators caused (which was the point). Below: report on a collaborator gang's attack on UNRWA aid workers in March 1983, from the archives that I used for my research.
![(Image of typed archival document)
Monday, March 21
Rashidiye Camp near Sour (Tyre)
The following incident took place to two members of an international organization in Lebanon
Background
Rashidiye Camp has been the site of much destruction and war for at least the last 5 year s and much of the population hs been gone for that period of time. Unlike most of the Palestinian camps, this one is agriculturally based with most of its people either picking fruit for Lebanese land owners or renting a piece of the surrounding land from the government. At this point around 12-15,000 people live there and are busy rebuilding or working the land.
The Israeli have a small headquarters in the camp with a few vehicles and around a dozen soldiers who do periodic patrols through the camp and have a vantage point over the area. The IDF also had various person within the camp who are Palestinians but who work for the Israelis in information gathering and have a certain control over the people as shown by the continuing reality of arrests.
The IDF's main contact in Rashidiye is a man named Abu [redacted], who with two or three other men are feared for what they might do and are generally de-spised. Two handgrenades have been thrown in Abu [redacted]'s direction, one injuring his wife and one debilitating a fellow collaborator.
Abu [redacted]'s notoriety apreads further than the camp, exemplified by a physical attack by him and some cohorts on the UNRWA Area officer for Tyre, Mr. Jean Rouseleu. After a fight in which some UNRWA staff came to his rescue, Mr. Rousseleu closed the office. The grievance was described as UNRWA paying compensation to the refugees in the form of cheques-Abu [redacted] wanted it in cash to make easier his job of taking an amount from each recipient.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cd7kzsqed5cucxfgfyqxhqq4/bafkreialayos5ug3hkpstp2xr73fe4kug5g24a6mwgywomvh724rclarsa@jpeg)
June 5, 2025 at 3:55 PM
It's not like any of this was hidden then, either. Aid groups & journalists reported it, as well as the horrific violence these collaborators caused (which was the point). Below: report on a collaborator gang's attack on UNRWA aid workers in March 1983, from the archives that I used for my research.
Let me tell you about the best tater tots I have consumed in my entire life. Batata harra style, made for the Shababi x Hill East Burger Palestinian brunch collab.
Crispy, spicy, savory, complete with hot peppers. I am afraid to do anything else today because I don’t want to ruin this feeling.
Crispy, spicy, savory, complete with hot peppers. I am afraid to do anything else today because I don’t want to ruin this feeling.
March 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Let me tell you about the best tater tots I have consumed in my entire life. Batata harra style, made for the Shababi x Hill East Burger Palestinian brunch collab.
Crispy, spicy, savory, complete with hot peppers. I am afraid to do anything else today because I don’t want to ruin this feeling.
Crispy, spicy, savory, complete with hot peppers. I am afraid to do anything else today because I don’t want to ruin this feeling.
"One has to ask why JAG leadership was singled out for replacement. This is part of a much larger pattern of disrespect, even disdain, for the rule of law. We do not need JAG leaders who fit this pattern."-Frank Kendall, former secretary of the Air Force.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/o...
February 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
"One has to ask why JAG leadership was singled out for replacement. This is part of a much larger pattern of disrespect, even disdain, for the rule of law. We do not need JAG leaders who fit this pattern."-Frank Kendall, former secretary of the Air Force.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/o...
Key work on Israeli use of white phosphorous in S. Lebanon. For those unfamiliar, parts of the Lebanon/Israel border looked like this before the war (Israel on left, Lebanon on right). Old landmines remained in areas of the Lebanese side. Some kibbutzes have farmland right up to the fence.
December 5, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Key work on Israeli use of white phosphorous in S. Lebanon. For those unfamiliar, parts of the Lebanon/Israel border looked like this before the war (Israel on left, Lebanon on right). Old landmines remained in areas of the Lebanese side. Some kibbutzes have farmland right up to the fence.
Five hours ago in Delaware, when everyone involved still found this road trip fun and interesting.
November 26, 2024 at 2:13 AM
Five hours ago in Delaware, when everyone involved still found this road trip fun and interesting.
Similar practices of anticipatory obedience as we see in journalism and higher ed. But it's also worth noting the arrogant & sinister dismissal of historical & archival expertise by a non-expert administrator to pacify a very specific segment of the US population.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
October 31, 2024 at 5:06 PM
Similar practices of anticipatory obedience as we see in journalism and higher ed. But it's also worth noting the arrogant & sinister dismissal of historical & archival expertise by a non-expert administrator to pacify a very specific segment of the US population.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Of note: The Belmont Report, which guides US-based human subjects research, emphasizes the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence, & justice. Justice is literally central to the ethical pursuit of human-subjects based science. Scientific research is *supposed* to benefit humanity.
September 19, 2024 at 5:29 PM
Of note: The Belmont Report, which guides US-based human subjects research, emphasizes the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence, & justice. Justice is literally central to the ethical pursuit of human-subjects based science. Scientific research is *supposed* to benefit humanity.
They are dancing to “Drop it Like it’s Hot” around a tower of macarons.
August 4, 2024 at 6:57 PM
They are dancing to “Drop it Like it’s Hot” around a tower of macarons.