Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sam Heller | سام هيلر

@abujamajem.com

4.7K followers 390 following 2.9K posts

Researcher and analyst looking at Lebanon, Syria and the wider neighborhood. Century International Fellow. Former Crisis Group. "Jamajem" means ☠️. www.abujamajem.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 14d

My latest for @time.com: On Syrian president Ahmad al-Shara's appearance at the UN General Assembly, and how UN members now welcoming him in New York need to be careful not to encourage him to impose control on a still divided country: time.com/7319571/syri...

The Meaning of Ahmed al-Sharaa's U.N. Debut

It will solidify global recognition of the Syrian president's government. Yet the situation back in Syria is shaky, writes Sam Heller.

time.com

6 6

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2h

In valedictory @financialtimes.com interview, outgoing UN envoy Pedersen very critical on state of Syrian transition and Shara's management of process: www.ft.com/content/0af9...

Syria on ‘knife-edge’ in wake of sectarian clashes, warns UN envoy

Slow place of reform adds to pressure on Ahmed al-Sharaa’s fragile new government

www.ft.com

3 3

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 4h

@centuryintl.bsky.social colleague @sajadjiyad.bsky.social on competing visions for politics and armed action among Iraq's Shi'ite political and military factions: tcf.org/content/repo...

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq

Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

tcf.org

1 2

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 5h

@hrw.org's @michellerandhawa.bsky.social on continued Lebanese government restrictions on Syrian children's access to education: www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Lebanon Restricts Education Access for Many Refugees

The new government in Lebanon, formed this February under Prime Minster Nawaf Salam, has emphasized the importance of quality education for students in Lebanon and committed to providing all children ...

www.hrw.org

1 2

Reposted by Sam Heller | سام هيلر

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 8h

The same day that Frum submitted his pitch to the Atlantic to profile the Israeli ambassador, Frum also was forced to publicly apologize to the New York Times and Reuters for falsely accusing a Palestinian photographer of faking a series of photographs of bereaved Palestinians in Gaza.

7/30/2014

3 72 260

Reposted by Sam Heller | سام هيلر

Century International @centuryintl.bsky.social · 21h

22 years after Saddam’s fall, Iraq is being pulled toward two starkly different possible futures: a central government that serves its populace—or state capture by armed groups and special interests. (1/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq

Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

tcf.org

1 1

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 1d

@unhcr.org update on voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, as of September 30: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...

• 17,291 have gone through voluntary returns process;
• A further 118,764 (not including people whose return was facilitated) have expressed interest.

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 1d

FPM leader Gebran Bassil also apparently did not understand indirect process: today.lorientlejour.com/article/1480...

Bassil urges Lebanon to block return of Syrians who left to vote

BEIRUT — As the new Syrian parliament members were chosen on Monday through indirect suffrage in the first legislative elections since Assad, Gebran Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) called on...

today.lorientlejour.com

Reposted by Sam Heller | سام هيلر

Nick Brumfield @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 2d

Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.

Aki Ross, voiced by Ming-Na in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, who was expected to be the first digital actress to appear in multiple unrelated films but the project failed

1 16

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2d

@syriadirect.bsky.social @natachadanon.bsky.social on local reaction to Syria's elections; many interviewees evidently don't understand indirect process: syriadirect.org/mixed-reacti...

Mixed reactions as Syria holds indirect vote for first post-Assad parliament

As Syria holds its first post-Assad parliamentary elections, some express support for the indirect electoral process, while others criticize its lack of transparency.

syriadirect.org

1 5

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2d

@apnews.com's @sewella.bsky.social and Abdulrahman Shaheen on minority representation in Syria's weekend elections: apnews.com/article/syri...

Minorities had hoped to break into Syria's new political order in the weekend vote but few succeeded

Syria's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of former President Bashar Assad have revealed deep divisions among the country's minority communities.

apnews.com

2 7

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2d

@syriadirect.bsky.social's @walid-alnofal.bsky.social on the multiple intersecting reasons behind Dara'a's water crisis: syriadirect.org/drought-dril...

Drought, drilling, diversion: Daraa’s deepening water crisis

Historic drought, degraded infrastructure and unregulated well drilling drain Daraa’s water as authorities struggle to respond to the country’s worst water crisis in decades.

syriadirect.org

1 4

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2d

And the situation for Lebanese – with the key exception people affected/displaced by the last war – doesn't seem to be deteriorating appreciably. Situation seems stable, for the time being.

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 2d

I dunno, half of that food insecure population is Syrian and Palestinian, and the rate among Lebanese nationals is less extreme (if still not especially good). I think there are support mechanisms for Lebanese, at least, that we don't fully understand, and that don't figure into many analyses…

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 3d

The country may have arrived at a new stable (worse, obviously) economic equilibrium, though.

The crisis's effects on the underclass have also been blunted, maybe by dynamics in the informal economy – seems we've avoided the extremes of privation that would be really system-threatening.

1 3

Reposted by Sam Heller | سام هيلر

Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 3d

Syria announces that March 18 will be its official Revolution Day:

sana.sy/en/presidenc...

For years, celebrations were held on March 15, despite the fact that the Deraa uprising happened on March 18, 2011.

Here’s my 2021 essay on how that came to be:

tcf.org/content/comm...

The Politics of Memory: Ten Years of War in Syria

The crisis that began in Syria in 2011, first as a peaceful uprising but then spiraling into civil war, has been among the most tragic and destructive

tcf.org

3 10

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 4d

Good Nada Homsi @thenationalnews.com on negotiations over repatriation of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons: www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

'Punish us or honour us': Syrian prisoners in Lebanon demand justice through repatriation | The National

Fate of Syrians in Lebanon’s prisons is at the heart of efforts by both countries to re-establish relations for the first time in decades

www.thenationalnews.com

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 4d

On eve of Bari Weiss's reported installation as editor-in-chief of CBS News, her Free Press continues to collaborate with Center for Peace Communications on information operation promoting Israeli-backed Gazan militias:

1 3

Reposted by Sam Heller | سام هيلر

Jason Renker @jasonrenker.bsky.social · 4d

Double whammy unemployment day for feds. Government shutdown, and the end of Musk's fork-in-the road deferred resignation program. Here's an updated list of 12 things feds should know before filing UI benefits, from Andrew Stettner at @tcfdotorg.bsky.social

See more here: tcf.org/content/repo...

10 Things Federal Workers Should Know About Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE)
1. File in your last duty station, and that state will determine your benefit amount.
2. File with your SF-50 and SF-8, but don’t wait.
3. File for UI even if you are challenging your termination.
4. Don’t panic if you get a $0 monetary determination.
5. The process may take twenty-one days or more.
6. Your home agency must verify your wage.
7. If your claim is delayed, request a wage affidavit.
8. Check your portal, email and mail frequently—you may need to respond to requests for information.
9. Certify and report your work search while you wait.
10. Rules limit how much extra earnings you can receive while collecting UCFE.
11. If you apply for benefits during a furlough in this shutdown, you'll have to refun d the state when you get your back pay.
12. If you are an excepted and required to work without pay, you cannot file but DC and MD have alternate aid.

1 1

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 5d

PSP says it secured exceptional approvals for Syrians displaced from Suweida, Rif Dimashq and Jabal al-Summaq to enroll in Lebanese schools: anbaaonline.com/news/302070

"التقدمي" على خط معالجة تبعات أزمة السويداء.. تسجيل للطلبة النازحين لاستكمال تحصيلهم العلمي بلبنان - جريدة الأنباء الإلكترونية

بيان صادر عن مفوضية الإعلام في "التقدمي"

anbaaonline.com

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 5d

@apnews.com's @chehayebk.bsky.social on how Syrian government forces' attack on Suweida's Druze this past July reoriented the province's politics: apnews.com/article/syri...

Druze seek Sweida autonomy and turn toward Israel, adding new twist to Syria's tensions

When Syrian government forces entered the minority Druze enclave of Sweida this summer, it backfired.

apnews.com

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 5d

Asharq al-Awsat account of Syrian judicial delegation's visit to Beirut yesterday: aawsat.com/node/5192606

لبنان يطلب من سوريا معلومات عن الاغتيالات السياسية

كشف مسؤول لـ«الشرق الأوسط»، عن أن الجانب اللبناني طلب من دمشق «تقديم معلومات حول الاغتيالات التي طالت قيادات لبنانية خلال حقبة الوجود السوري في لبنان».

aawsat.com

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 6d

👀

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 7d

@hrw.org report on Syria coastal massacres raises question of command responsibility, given top military leadership's role mobilizing forces and coordinating operation characterized by clear, widespread abuses of Alawite civilians: www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

“Are you Alawi?”

The 51-page report, “‘Are you Alawi?’ Identity-Based Killings During Syria’s Transition,” documents widespread abuses by government forces, government-aligned armed groups, and armed volunteers, inclu...

www.hrw.org

1 5

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 7d

Unsurprisingly, McGurk supports Trump announcement that counterprograms international recognition of Palestinian state and jams Israeli deal terms on Hamas, helping legitimize continued war if Hamas resists:

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 7d

L'Orient-Le Jour's @emmanuelhaddad.bsky.social on divided Hadath: today.lorientlejour.com/article/1478...

In Hadath, the invisible border of a divided Lebanon

A look into Hadath, Beirut's divided suburb, highlighting the invisible border, demographic shifts, and the social and political dynamics shaping Lebanon's fractured communities.

today.lorientlejour.com

1 2