Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 1d

Aycin Kantoglu, Turkish citizen kidnapped by the IOF while at sea in the Sumud Flotilla, when Ben-Gvir was declaring all the flotilla participants as ‘terrorists’: “Shut your mouth, you genocidal filth.”

3 8

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 7d

They turned Gaza into a death camp and call it a kindness.

1 2

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Zach Samalin @zachsamalin.bsky.social · 8d

Enormous victory for @aaup.org in aaup v Rubio
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Judge rules Trump policy to deport students over pro-Palestinian views is unconstitutional

Judge ruled that non-citizens have the same free speech rights as US citizens under the first amendment

www.theguardian.com

2 16 46

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

الكسندرا ميراي @lexialex.bsky.social · 8d

Also...don't bring it up with Palestinians unless they bring it up first.

2 6 85

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 8d

from your lips, etc

1

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 8d

I am trying to finish something like a book manuscript for my workshop in December while navigating the survivor’s guilt all diaspora Palestinians live with amid nearly 2 years of genocide…. Alan Dershowitz getting banned from every pierogi shop in Martha’s Vineyard is basically what keeps me going

10

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 17d

bruh I know folks in Vietnam have to be cackling over USians blasting “Hanoi Hannah” (Trịnh Thị Ngọ, may she RIP) recordings at US military personnel occupying cities IN the US bc I surely am

5

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Workshops4Gaza @workshops4gaza.bsky.social · 18d

“But we don’t abandon hope. We keep going. We believe.”

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 18d

We are matching 1500 to rescue Mai & her family as their beloved home of Gaza City literally falls around them

But we don’t abandon hope. We keep going. We believe. 3257/4000 by tomorrow night.

Keep Hope Alive: a Gaza Giving Circle

We are a team of volunteers in the US and UK, led by two sisters passionate about helping our friends on the ground keep their families and neighbors alive with food, water, & shelter. We saw that…

chuffed.org

18 21

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Aaliyah 🇮🇪🇵🇸 ‼️SAVE GAZA‼️ @aaliyahxx.bsky.social · 18d

Amid Israel’s man-made famine in Gaza, a young Palestinian boy scours the streets for fallen pasta from an aid truck, a stark reminder of the severe hunger and suffering that is still gripping the strip.

4 20 19

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 20d

But if I set my account to private what would my racist colleagues email my chair or dean to complain about

Kevin Reuning @reuning.bsky.social · 20d

The @aaup.org just shared guidance for academic workers on how to protect themselves online www.aaup.org/news/advisor...

Advisory to Academic Workers

In a moment when it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the consequences of our online speech and choices, the AAUP and Faculty First Responders are issuing guidance to AAUP members and othe...

www.aaup.org

1 7

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Erik Hane @erikhane.bsky.social · 20d

a key reason they see an opening for such a blatant speech crackdown is that they already did one to Palestinian and anti-genocide activists and it got enthusiastic bipartisan approval

3 1.5K 4.7K

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 20d

lmfao that it’s jimmy kimmel of all people. not exactly a boundary pusher.

6

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Ayman Makarem @aymanmak.bsky.social · 25d

i cannot comprehend what this means

picture of gazans gathering for food aid. text superimposed written: 680,000 Dead. Based on all the data collected, the death toll in gaza is at least 680,000 and 380,000 are infants under five years of age. on september 3, 2025, Dr. Gideon Polya and Professor richard Hill calculated the total death toll for gaza since october 7.

6 130 200

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · 26d

A new scholarship fund for Palestinian students, led by university faculty and staff here in the U.S. Please share widely and encourage colleagues to give generously 🇵🇸

leonardeducation.org/the-palestin...

The Palestinian Futures Fund - Leonard Education Organization

The Palestinian Futures Fund is a higher education scholarship initiative led by university faculty and staff across the United States who stand in unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people in...

leonardeducation.org

1 9 11

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Sage Divinorum 🏳️‍⚧️ @trans.bsky.social · 27d

Charlie Kirk died doing what he loved: being racist & advocating for mass shootings

a description of the shooting

Kirk talked about gun violence moments before he was shot, video shows

Warning: This post contains graphic descriptions of the shooting some readers may find distressing.
In videos circulating on social media of the event, Charlie Kirk can be seen sitting in a white gazebo addressing a crowd gathered at an event at Utah Valley University.

The tent features the words "The American Comeback Tour" - the name of his current speaking tour.

In one video, an audience member can be heard asking Kirk about mass shootings in America:
"Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?"

Holding a microphone, Kirk responds: "Counting or not counting gang violence?"

A loud gunshot is heard and Kirk appears to jolt backwards in his seat. Blood can be seen on his neck.

People in the crowd scream and start running from the area.

27 210 950

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 27d

Charlie Kirk spent his life‘s work and all of his energy and time targeting out-groups while arguing for a world in which gun massacres would be easy to enact, plentiful, and inevitable, and he became famous and wealthy doing it, and we’re now not supposed to mention that because it’s not polite.

1.3K 13K 50K

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Darrell Owens @idothethinking.bsky.social · Sep 5

Maybe Newsom really is just tweeting all day and his social media staff isnt because the dude's been absent from governing these last few months or advancing key legislation to make our state better. Its just Trump mockery and then some anti-homeless task force or photo-op.

sick public transit, gloria @seung.bsky.social · Sep 5

picked the wrong week to stop smoking

OFF THE RAILS — A $750 million budget deal designed to prevent steep cuts to Bay Area rail and bus service may be on the verge of imploding.

State lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a plan earlier this summer to loan the money to BART, Muni and other transit agencies in the region that have struggled to recover from their pandemic-era slump.

But the terms of the loan were never resolved, and some transit advocates are now accusing the Newsom administration of reneging on the deal days before a Tuesday deadline to put it in print.

“At the end of the day, it’s the governor,” said Carter Lavin, co-founder of the Transbay Coalition, an advocacy group. “He could fix this today — all he has to do is follow through on the promise he made in July.”

Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor told Playbook, in an email, that the governor’s administration “supports our local transit agencies and remains open to reviewing proposals as we finalize the remaining budget items.”

But talks to finalize the loan terms have apparently stalled, sparking panic among transit advocates over projections that BART could reduce service by up to 80 percent.

The $750 million loan was proposed as a bridge to help transit systems maintain service through November 2026 — when Bay Area leaders expect to put a sales-tax hike on the ballot for voters to fund transit.

“The clock is running out,” said Laura Tolkoff, transportation policy director at SPUR, an urban-planning think tank. “We are doing our part, now we need them to do theirs.”

Without state assistance, BART estimates that the number of trains it operates could be reduced from 4,200 to roughly 500 per week. Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit have also projected steep cuts.

2 30 120

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · Sep 5

Not yet, but I do know of several Palestinian translators working on it (and there have been a few excerpts translated here and there)

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Jamal abu hashem🇵🇸 @jamalzuhir.bsky.social · Sep 3

700 days of gencide in gaza

I don't know but all I can say is I'm going to lose my mind

2 27 41

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Dylan Flesch @dylanflesch.bsky.social · Sep 3

mondoweiss.net/2025/09/cuny...

CUNY students win landmark legal case demanding the school disclose investments linked to Gaza genocide

In a landmark victory for student activists, the Supreme Court of New York ruled that CUNY must disclose the school’s financial portfolio, specifically contracts with businesses connected to the genoc...

mondoweiss.net

1 22 95

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Stacy Fahrenthold @sfahrenthold.bsky.social · Sep 2

If you work on any @UofCalifornia give this one your time. Uni leadership is belatedly asking us to "Stand Up For UC" while repeatedly revising faculty disciplinary policy to make standing up impossible. This essay asks, how did we get here? What now?

utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/09/why-...

Why Should We “Stand Up for the UC?” (Guest Post)

Paris on September 1, 2016 By Sean L. Malloy, Professor of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES), University of California...

utotherescue.blogspot.com

1 19 34

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · Sep 1

What a far-too-late, absolutely bare minimum resolution. Its only concession is that Israel has met the LEGAL threshold for genocide. And as @zsamudzi.bsky.social has asserted, “That genocide is a crime is probably the least important thing about it.”

Dylan Williams @dylanwilliams.bsky.social · Sep 1

NEW: The world’s largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide just voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution declaring that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

apnews.com/article/geno...

Leading genocide scholars organization says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

The largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide says that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

apnews.com

14 32

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Farmer Mohamed @farmermohamed.nyc · Aug 27

Good morning brothers / I send you greetings from Gaza / Today I will publish pictures of the girls of the zucchini that is very small a week old / that a fast-growing plant will bear fruit after 40 days / Please publish and donate if you can
bit.ly/help-mohamed

(𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 —𝘔)

a bright green zucchini sprout with three leaves, two smooth and one curly, have pushed themselves out of a clearing the sand, with the sticks and stones and other plant and beach detritus having been pushed aside to make room for the zucchini to grow.

13 21

sophia / صوفيا @brownisthecolor.bsky.social · Aug 27

Even a stopped clock, amirite

Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · Aug 27

Breakfast Club host Charlamagne says of Hakeem Jeffries: "I call him AIPAC Shakur."

"I just don't think he stands for anything."

2

Reposted by sophia / صوفيا

Jamal abu hashem🇵🇸 @jamalzuhir.bsky.social · Aug 11

Why all this? Why does this never end? Why????

14 32