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Hafsa Halawa

@hafsahalawa.bsky.social

2K followers 100 following 670 posts

Egyptian/Iraqi Brit. Political analyst and mediation specialist, working across MENA/Horn of Africa. Views here my own. RT ≠ endorsement.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · Dec 13

Today, 2011 doesn’t feel like a distant memory for any of us.

It feels like yesterday.

It feels like it can still be tomorrow.

Nedal Al-Amari @nedalalamari.bsky.social · Dec 13

Wow 😮 😍
The most beautiful video you will see today: is Damascus now. People are celebrating, full of joy. We deserve it! 💚

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 9h

Bassem Youssef is back on Egypt’s airwaves, writing again in Shorouk.

Plus ça change…

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 1d

Hundreds of Israelis lost their lives in the years before 7Oct. Tens of thousands of Palestinians lost their lives in the years before 7Oct. What is about today specifically? What are “peace talks” for if we continue to divide? If you struggle w the concept it’s because this date is not a sole event

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 1d

There can be no reconciliation without understanding and real reflection on how we got here, how we have reached this point. To grieve and respond to it all equally. If anything, to not do so buys directly into the narratives of the anti-semites, and the anti-Arab/Palestinian racism.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 1d

Why does this have to be “us or them”? Why does it have to be one prioritised over another? True empathy, real empathy is to understand and acknowledge all pain and grief as one and the same. Today and every day, is a day to acknowledge, empathise, and grieve all crimes committed against humanity.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 1d

Keir Starmer calls us “un British” because we can acknowledge all victims are the same victims of the same brutality, same occupation - one original sin. Being anti-violence, being anti-war, being anti-occupation is an absolute principle. Real Principle can never be selective. @mrjamesob.bsky.social

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 1d

Ali Kushayb, former senior leader of the Janjaweed - who ravaged and killed hundreds of thousands of people - convicted of war crimes in Darfur

bbc.com/news/article...

Ali Kushayb: Sudan militia leader convicted of war crimes in Darfur

Ali Kushayb led the Janjaweed, a group whose campaign of terror led to hundreds and thousands of deaths.

bbc.com

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 2d

Let it breathe.

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 2d

When you live in a world - however big or small, on the biggest or smallest scale - without accountability, your memory becomes the only form of accountability. Storing & locking away everything ever said or written. Your value judgment the only control or power you have to hold someone accountable.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 2d

EVERRRRR 🔥

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 2d

Van Jones’ “joke” has gone so viral is headline news in Arabic mainstream media, not just social media. Silly to underestimate how much Arabs follow and see from the West, and it’s always been a surprise to me how much Westerners don’t understand or internalise how long and deep memories can be.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 2d

Nesrine is just so, so good. @nesrinemalik.bsky.social always brilliant reading.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Don’t despair, Tories: look upon Reform and see your rightful and fitting legacy | Nesrine Malik

If Kemi Badenoch wonders why her party conference looks and feels like a sideshow, perhaps she should reflect on the Conservatives’ 14 years in power, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 3d

Shabana Mahmoud now bringing in amendments to the law that effectively work only to specifically target ongoing pro-Palestine marches. The fundamental right to protest - freedom of expression - being curtailed and conditioned beyond what is just.

What does it even mean to be British anymore?

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 3d

Priti Patel made us second class citizens in our own country with the Borders Bill. Suella Braverman called protestors “terrorists”. Nadhim Zahawi stood on the docks in Sunderland calling for Brexit to “keep the migrants out”, David Lammy helped entrench anti-Palestinian bias and racism

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 3d

And the current Home Secretary introducing these measures? A British woman of Kashmiri descent.

Just like Priti Patel, Suella Braverman, Nadhim Zahawi, Kwesi Kwarteng, David Lammy before her - officials from ethnic minorities promote policy that dehumanises & disenfranchises ethnic minorities.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 3d

A labour government wants to make amendments to our laws to bring in conditions, and possible outright ban on protests in the UK because the Palestine movement got too big for them to continue to ignore.

A Labour government. Not Tory, not reform, but Labour.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 4d

10 months into this administration, and this will be the first trip for the US Middle East envoy to Cairo (Witkoff) for discussions on Gaza. It is difficult to underplay or exaggerate the level of isolation Egypt is experiencing in Washington since Sisi’s diplomatic “middle finger” to Trump in Feb.

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 4d

Trump will push, and Israel - Netanyahu - is somewhat squeezed, but ultimately if we get any sort of deal it will be a days, maximum few weeks reprieve for hostage exchange, little to nothing more. No withdrawal = no disarmament = no end to the war.

Groundhog Day in Gaza “diplomacy”.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 4d

This will be sold as Hamas belligerence, but it’s really just very similar diplomacy and about face seen during the May 2024 ceasefire “negotiations”. The amendments to the deal make it a virtually impossible task to convince Hamas it’s a ceasefire deal when it’s basically surrender.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 4d

Hamas’ statement is not acceptance of the new Trump plan. It’s an agreement to end the war & reach terms of agreement “upon further negotiations”. The momentum created by the Trump/Arab States meeting in NY has largely dissipated through Netanyahu’s efforts. I don’t think we’re going to get a deal.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 10d

I genuinely have absolutely zero desire to ever visit the United States ever again

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 10d

A fascinating, brilliant, and engaging 3-episode mini-series from the Empire podcast on the history of Gaza. A Must-listen @willdalrymple.bsky.social @empirepoduk.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

291. Ancient Gaza: The Philistines (Part 1)

Podcast Episode · Empire · 17/09/2025 · 45m

podcasts.apple.com

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 10d

This is a really good interview, deeply intellectual and thought-provoking. Leo Varadkar is a fascinating politician.

Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 11d

NEW: Weekend @TheNewsAgents

Extended conversation with former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Fascinating reflections on his political life, working with Trump, May, Johnson- advice for Keir Starmer and why liberalism is losing the battle of ideas.

Listen now

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Leo Varadkar on Trump, Starmer and the death of liberalism

Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 26/09/2025 · 51m

podcasts.apple.com

Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 12d

Tony Blair.

Unbelievable. Of all the people, of all the names, of all the possible “ideas” for the Middle East, effin white people come up with this man.

I feel too exhausted to be livid. But I’m also livid.

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 13d

Read every word. A harrowing, ugly, disturbing account of the last few months of the 500+ day siege on El Fasher, North Darfur in Sudan.

‘We will never, ever escape’: inside the ever-tightening siege of the Sudanese city of El Fasher: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘We will never, ever escape’: inside the ever-tightening siege of the Sudanese city of El Fasher

For 500 days, 260,000 people have been trapped by the paramilitary RSF. While political progress stalls, those who attempt escape are killed and those who remain inside are starving. Experts believe t...

www.theguardian.com

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Hafsa Halawa @hafsahalawa.bsky.social · 14d

I can only imagine what Alaa might think or feel about the Cairo he has stepped into upon his release from prison. What he will see in today’s Egypt as he sets his eyes, heart, mind on our country for the first time in years.

Alaa is home. Alaa has been rightfully pardoned. None of us are yet free.