Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

17 associations et 200 avocats envoient une lettre de non-recommandation à l’ONU concernant la candidature de Nicole de Moor au poste de Haut-Commissaire aux Réfugiés - Bienvenue sur le site de la Lig...

Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

Tristan Wibault @tristanwibault.bsky.social · 1d

Lawyers and NGO's are calling for Nicole de Moor's candidacy for the position of UN High Commissioner for Refugees to be rejected. After having significantly weakened refugee rights in Belgium during her term of office, it is inconceivable to allow her to lead
@unhcr.org

tinyurl.com/yx5jp257

Peut-on défendre les droits des réfugié·es à l’échelle mondiale quand on les a délibérément bafoués à l’échelle nationale ? A priori, la réponse semble évidente. Et pourtant, Nicole de Moor, ancienne ...

tinyurl.com

Is there a better way to choose the new UNHCR High Commissioner? — Refugee History.

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 1d

📣 New post on RefugeeHistory.org!

As UNHCR prepares to appoint a new High Commissioner, @jfcrisp.bsky.social looks back on how the process played out 25 years ago and asks: has anything changed?

⬇️

refugeehistory.org/blog/2025/10...

The search to find a new high commissioner for UNHCR happens in a process described as "arcane and Machiavellian." Is there a better way?

Key issues in global refugee policy: analysis, commentary and advocacy 2015 - 2025 Jeff Crisp Refugee Studies Centre University of Oxford September 2025 [email protected] @jfcrisp @jfcrisp.b...

Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

Jeff Crisp @jfcrisp.bsky.social · 3d

'Key Isssues in Global Refugee Policy:
Analysis, Commentary and Advocacy, 2015-2025'.
A compilation of e-links to around 80 articles I've published over the past decade, most of them brief and easily readable!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Crisp2015-25

docs.google.com

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 2d

(Original here.)

Screenshot of original news story headlined 'Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai wins Nobel Literature Prize', with a photo of a mature man quite closely resembling 'Hide the pain Harold' (who is actually a Hungarian man named András Arató), in roughly the same position to the right of the picture.

Rescuing the UNRWA Archive: Saving Palestinian History amidst the Gaza Genocide

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 2d

I can't be the only person to have thought of this.

Screenshot of news story headlined 'Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai wins Nobel Literature Prize accompanied by an image (closely resembling that on the original story) of 'Hide the pain Harold', an internet personality – a widely circulated stock photo showing a mature man sitting at a laptop, holding a mug, and giving a rather pained smile.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 9d

It is almost impossible to describe the bravery of the Palestinians who have worked to save these archives— crucial documents for Palestinian history, and therefore a key target for Israel—in the midst of a genocidal war against them.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 9d

I very highly recommend this article on genocide, historicide, and the archives of UNRWA.

doi.org/10.1093/hwj/...

Abstract. Israel’s genocide in Gaza has entailed extensive attacks on Palestinian heritage and history, including institutional archives which preserve his

doi.org

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Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 18d

How can trans history facilitate knowledge and solidarity beyond the 'existence' of trans people?

Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo argues for trans history as a tool of political education, through the history of access to healthcare:

Imagining Trans Futures

Sam Rutherford reflects on how trans histories and historians can work towards building power in the trans community.

Christian anti-communism and the history of refugee relief — Refugee History.

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Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 12d

A first post of the new academic year for RefugeeHistory.org:

refugeehistory.org/blog/2025/9/...

The history of post-World War II refugee relief is often presented as part of the triumph of modern ideas about human rights and the spread of humanitarian values. A closer examination of some of the ...

Christian anti-communism and the history of refugee relief — Refugee History.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 12d

A first post of the new academic year for RefugeeHistory.org:

refugeehistory.org/blog/2025/9/...

The history of post-World War II refugee relief is often presented as part of the triumph of modern ideas about human rights and the spread of humanitarian values. A closer examination of some of the ...

3 4

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 29d

A final repost for this:

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

I've written a piece about the bomber's view of the past: how aerial archaeologists of the Middle East have looked at the region's past through the eyes (and lenses) of people who bomb it in the present. In fact they're sometimes the same people.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 29d

For the evening crowd.

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

I've written a piece about the bomber's view of the past: how aerial archaeologists of the Middle East have looked at the region's past through the eyes (and lenses) of people who bomb it in the present. In fact they're sometimes the same people.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Sep 11

Archaeology’s tools were forged in war: from spy planes to satellites, the line between research and militarisation has always been thin.

Benjamin Thomas White (@btwhite.bsky.social) considers the role of Antoine Poidebard in pioneering aerial archaeology.

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

Thank you, Matt!

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

🙏🏼

Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Sep 11

I’ve heard much about this project as it develops, and it is amazing! A preview of the bigger story here.

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Sep 11

From spy planes to satellites, archaeology has long shared a sky with empire. What does that mean for the knowledge it produces?

Benjamin Thomas White (@btwhite.bsky.social) considers the colonial history of aerial archaeology.

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

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Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Sep 11

From spy planes to satellites, archaeology has long shared a sky with empire. What does that mean for the knowledge it produces?

Benjamin Thomas White (@btwhite.bsky.social) considers the colonial history of aerial archaeology.

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

1 7 14

Reposted by Benjamin Thomas White

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

I've written a piece about the bomber's view of the past: how aerial archaeologists of the Middle East have looked at the region's past through the eyes (and lenses) of people who bomb it in the present. In fact they're sometimes the same people.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

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Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

🙏🏼

A. Poidebard, La trace de Rome dans le désert syrien (Bibiothèque archéologique et historique, 1934)

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

(I studied Arabic there before I started my masters, and was based there for a good chunk of my PhD research.)

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

And the title page of his book comes from the Flickr of the Institut français du Proche-Orient, the descendant of the colonial-era French archaeological institute in Damascus.

www.flickr.com/photos/ifpo/...

A. Poidebard. La trace de Rome dans le désert de Syrie. Le Limes de Trajan à la conquête arabe, recherches aériennes 1925-1932. Texte. Introduction de France Cumont. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, ouvrage publié avec le concours de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres et du Ministère de l'Air, 1934.

www.flickr.com

Site Internet de l'USJ - Exposition "Antoine Poidebard" - Musée virtuel

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

The additional photos in this thread are from a virtual exhibition at the Université St-Joseph in Beirut, the Jesuit university where Poidebard's papers are held:

www.usj.edu.lb/poidebard/s2...

www.usj.edu.lb

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

More here!

⬇️

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

...which is how I unexpectedly found myself reading up on the American CORONA spy satellite programme of the 1960s, a good long way from the French mandate in Syria, but not so far away as all that.