Sam Heller | سام هيلر
@abujamajem.com
Researcher and analyst looking at Lebanon, Syria and the wider neighborhood. Century International Fellow. Former Crisis Group. "Jamajem" means ☠️.
www.abujamajem.com
www.abujamajem.com
Dietary guidance from HHS Secretary the Specter of Death
January 12, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Dietary guidance from HHS Secretary the Specter of Death
Syrian import-export committee headed by borders-customs authority chief Badawi apparently now issuing monthly circulars with prohibited agricultural imports – here ag and poultry products – to protect local producers: www.facebook.com/SyrGABC/post...
January 11, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Syrian import-export committee headed by borders-customs authority chief Badawi apparently now issuing monthly circulars with prohibited agricultural imports – here ag and poultry products – to protect local producers: www.facebook.com/SyrGABC/post...
On 29 December, Syria's new import-export committee banned the import of all motorcycles (new and used) from 1 April 2026, citing public safety: www.facebook.com/SyrGABC/post...
January 11, 2026 at 12:40 PM
On 29 December, Syria's new import-export committee banned the import of all motorcycles (new and used) from 1 April 2026, citing public safety: www.facebook.com/SyrGABC/post...
Have been getting this AI ad on Tubi
So this stuff is just for degenerate gamblers, huh?
So this stuff is just for degenerate gamblers, huh?
January 2, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Have been getting this AI ad on Tubi
So this stuff is just for degenerate gamblers, huh?
So this stuff is just for degenerate gamblers, huh?
Graham rhetoric (x.com/LindseyGraha...) and House Republican letter on sanctions relief (www.foxnews.com/politics/130...) highlight the limited extent to which Trump's new pro-Shara' position on Syria has been socialized within the Republican Party.
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December 23, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Graham rhetoric (x.com/LindseyGraha...) and House Republican letter on sanctions relief (www.foxnews.com/politics/130...) highlight the limited extent to which Trump's new pro-Shara' position on Syria has been socialized within the Republican Party.
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Maybe it was a bad idea for Lebanese leaders to make implausible promises to foreign interlocutors.
Also, previously, a bad idea to mismanage Lebanon's public finances and make the country's army dependent on external support: tcf.org/content/repo...
Also, previously, a bad idea to mismanage Lebanon's public finances and make the country's army dependent on external support: tcf.org/content/repo...
December 16, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Maybe it was a bad idea for Lebanese leaders to make implausible promises to foreign interlocutors.
Also, previously, a bad idea to mismanage Lebanon's public finances and make the country's army dependent on external support: tcf.org/content/repo...
Also, previously, a bad idea to mismanage Lebanon's public finances and make the country's army dependent on external support: tcf.org/content/repo...
Lebanese army-related provisions of 2026 National Defense Authorization Act: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
Newly specifies U.S. support for LAF is only for countering Hizbullah, mandates rubric for assessing LAF progress on disarmament and options for suspending aid if LAF "unwilling" to act.
Newly specifies U.S. support for LAF is only for countering Hizbullah, mandates rubric for assessing LAF progress on disarmament and options for suspending aid if LAF "unwilling" to act.
December 16, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Lebanese army-related provisions of 2026 National Defense Authorization Act: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
Newly specifies U.S. support for LAF is only for countering Hizbullah, mandates rubric for assessing LAF progress on disarmament and options for suspending aid if LAF "unwilling" to act.
Newly specifies U.S. support for LAF is only for countering Hizbullah, mandates rubric for assessing LAF progress on disarmament and options for suspending aid if LAF "unwilling" to act.
On prospects for Israeli-Lebanese economic cooperation, Leiter says (from 7:55) that Israel would be "more than happy" to return to occupation-era migrant labor schemes:
December 15, 2025 at 8:47 AM
On prospects for Israeli-Lebanese economic cooperation, Leiter says (from 7:55) that Israel would be "more than happy" to return to occupation-era migrant labor schemes:
Hanin Ghaddar / This Is Beirut interview with Israeli ambassador to U.S. Yechiel Leiter is cut like a promo video: thisisbeirut.com.lb/articles/133...
Leiter fondly recalls "visiting" Lebanon, presumably when he participated in 1982 Israeli invasion: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yechiel...
Leiter fondly recalls "visiting" Lebanon, presumably when he participated in 1982 Israeli invasion: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yechiel...
December 14, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Hanin Ghaddar / This Is Beirut interview with Israeli ambassador to U.S. Yechiel Leiter is cut like a promo video: thisisbeirut.com.lb/articles/133...
Leiter fondly recalls "visiting" Lebanon, presumably when he participated in 1982 Israeli invasion: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yechiel...
Leiter fondly recalls "visiting" Lebanon, presumably when he participated in 1982 Israeli invasion: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yechiel...
November 2025 update on @unhcr.org-supported voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
December 10, 2025 at 12:54 PM
November 2025 update on @unhcr.org-supported voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
Murderous Cajun on the right is style goals
December 9, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Murderous Cajun on the right is style goals
December 3, 2025 at 6:57 PM
This sounds like the half-baked pitch Tom Barrack made to the Lebanese: www.wsj.com/world/russia...
December 2, 2025 at 10:41 PM
This sounds like the half-baked pitch Tom Barrack made to the Lebanese: www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Don’t see how either the Syrians or the Lebanese can reasonably address Israeli security concerns that are not reasonable: www.axios.com/2025/12/01/i...
December 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Don’t see how either the Syrians or the Lebanese can reasonably address Israeli security concerns that are not reasonable: www.axios.com/2025/12/01/i...
But if we think through the causal logic of war: Escalation in Lebanon is basically an Israeli decision – not a choice that belongs to Hizbullah, Lebanon's national political leadership, or Lebanon's international friends ("friends").
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x.com/beirutcallin...
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x.com/beirutcallin...
November 30, 2025 at 4:52 PM
But if we think through the causal logic of war: Escalation in Lebanon is basically an Israeli decision – not a choice that belongs to Hizbullah, Lebanon's national political leadership, or Lebanon's international friends ("friends").
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x.com/beirutcallin...
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x.com/beirutcallin...
How are Israel's neighbors meant to address Israel's security concerns sufficiently to halt its attacks when this is the kind of stupid stuff that Israeli officials are apparently concerned about? www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
November 29, 2025 at 8:39 PM
How are Israel's neighbors meant to address Israel's security concerns sufficiently to halt its attacks when this is the kind of stupid stuff that Israeli officials are apparently concerned about? www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
@giorgiocafiero.bsky.social for @thenewarab.bsky.social: “Occupation and opportunity: Israel's strategy in post-Assad Syria” www.newarab.com/analysis/occ... Includes my thoughts:
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
@giorgiocafiero.bsky.social for @thenewarab.bsky.social: “Occupation and opportunity: Israel's strategy in post-Assad Syria” www.newarab.com/analysis/occ... Includes my thoughts:
In video from occupied southern Syria, Israeli ambassador to U.S. says that, post-October 7, Israel will no longer accept "foreign armies" on its border – highlights how Israel refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of its regional neighbors. x.com/yechielleite...
November 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
In video from occupied southern Syria, Israeli ambassador to U.S. says that, post-October 7, Israel will no longer accept "foreign armies" on its border – highlights how Israel refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of its regional neighbors. x.com/yechielleite...
SANA: Lebanon's deputy PM and Syria's foreign and justice ministers discussed matters of mutual interest, "foremost the issue of Syrians detained in Lebanon on charges related to the Syrian revolution": sana.sy/politics/233...
On why that framing matters: tcf.org/content/comm...
On why that framing matters: tcf.org/content/comm...
November 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
SANA: Lebanon's deputy PM and Syria's foreign and justice ministers discussed matters of mutual interest, "foremost the issue of Syrians detained in Lebanon on charges related to the Syrian revolution": sana.sy/politics/233...
On why that framing matters: tcf.org/content/comm...
On why that framing matters: tcf.org/content/comm...
In this 2023 @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social report, I wrote about how Lebanon's dependence on foreign assistance – including for its army – had compromised Lebanese sovereignty: tcf.org/content/repo...
November 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
In this 2023 @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social report, I wrote about how Lebanon's dependence on foreign assistance – including for its army – had compromised Lebanese sovereignty: tcf.org/content/repo...
Underrated part of 2019 @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social piece on media failures on Epstein: when NYT took its reporter who had been conspiring with Epstein for years off of a 2018 Epstein-Musk story, Epstein immediately said freak stuff to the new guy: www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...
November 15, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Underrated part of 2019 @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social piece on media failures on Epstein: when NYT took its reporter who had been conspiring with Epstein for years off of a 2018 Epstein-Musk story, Epstein immediately said freak stuff to the new guy: www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...
Minutes from October 20 meeting of Food Security & Basic Needs Working Group in Jordan provide detail on cash for return program on Jordan side: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Minutes from October 20 meeting of Food Security & Basic Needs Working Group in Jordan provide detail on cash for return program on Jordan side: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
@unhcr.org Lebanon update on Syrian refugee voluntary repatriation program, as of 31 October: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 1:58 PM
@unhcr.org Lebanon update on Syrian refugee voluntary repatriation program, as of 31 October: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
@unhcr.org Lebanon Syrian returns and movements snapshot, as of October 31: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
@unhcr.org Lebanon Syrian returns and movements snapshot, as of October 31: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...