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Monica Marks

@monicamarks.bsky.social

9.8K followers 680 following 2.3K posts

Prof of Middle East Politics at NYU Abu Dhabi. Tunisia, Turkey, Gulf. PhD St Antony's College, Oxford. Rhodes, Fulbright, Harvard WCFIA. 14 years writing on Tunisia. Religion & democracy. Tango & bizarre travel enthusiast. Perpetually craving Istanbul.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 18d

For TIME Magazine, I wrote about the shaky future of the Abraham Accords after Israel bombed Qatar. The attack crossed a Rubicon, shocking leaders across the GCC.

It’s a long piece (by TIME standards!) based on 5+ years of watching the Accords in rich detail from the UAE.

time.com/7318734/futu...

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Reposted by Monica Marks

Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 22h

Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdouh, was told live on air that his wife, son, daughter and grandson had been killed in an Israeli-designated safe zone. He speaks to @imaanirfan.bsky.social.

Gazan reporters are paying a heavy price

Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief on losing his family, and why Israel is targeting journalists

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Reposted by Monica Marks

Gabriel Milland @gabrielmilland.bsky.social · 20h

The American mind cannot comprehend...

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 21h

It's so incredible how low homicide rates are in Europe. The UK, with a population of 70 million people, had fewer than 600 murders in 2023.
www.connexionfrance.com/news/double-...

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Reposted by Monica Marks

Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 15h

👻Don't be scared...👻

🎃 You can still read the NEW October issue of the Journal of Democracy for FREE through October 30! 🎃

muse.jhu.edu/issue/5...

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Reposted by Monica Marks

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 17h

Seems like if the administration had a strong legal theory for killing people in the Caribbean, they’d be willing to share it publicly.

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 18h

Good question from Senator Coons.

AG Bondi refuses to disclose what legal theory if any from DOJ justifies these premeditated killings in the Caribbean.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

COONS: How did you conclude that these strikes on boats in the open ocean are legal?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have issued

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 18h

It’s already much much more

Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 18h

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

At least 29 Americans have sought asylum in Australia since second Trump presidency began

Applications from US citizens make up less than 1% of monthly applications but have risen steadily since Trump’s inauguration

www.theguardian.com

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 18h

If a film were being made about the US de-democratising, the camera would pan over the protagonist’s shoulder, then back to their face, as they read this headline.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

Love to my friends in & beyond this group on this day of grief.

If you’re in NYC they are people you can count on to fully humanise Israelis & Palestinians, and to consistently oppose all targeting of civilians. They are good humans to grieve with & I miss them.

They’re on Instagram, too.

Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

Most importantly:

🚨 Call your Congressperson to demand that the US government release our American activists Israel is jailing, reportedly in abusive conditions.

The Americans on those aid boats are still in Israeli jails while others, inc Swedes, Greeks, Spaniards & Arab citizens are out

10/10

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

If you’ve read this far, what can you do?

Spread the word that:

🚨 Israel is jailing 21 US citizens, inc Jewish American Rhodes Scholar @davidrkadler
🚨 It’s released EU aid activists, but still holds our citizens
🚨 Ben Gvir, Israel’s Security Minister, is praising their abuse

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

Israel was created so Jewish people could find safety no matter what. Not to become an apartheid state widely accused of genocide that itself persecutes Jews who oppose that.

I thank Congresswoman Pelosi, Rep. Khanna & everyone working to bring David & all 21 American prisoners of Israel home.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

The US has enabled, & Israel has conducted, what the vast majority of genocide experts & the UN have concluded is a genocide.

Another person who calls this a genocide is Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Jewish American who protested segregation in the 60s.

David is in that tradition.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 21h

Before you chide Adler as overly earnest or impractical, consider young Americans—many of them Jewish—who sat in at southern lunch counters to break US segregation (a form of apartheid) in the 60s.

They didn’t do it to eat lunch. They did it to show the world something horrible was happening.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 22h

As a Rhodes Scholar, David Adler knows the importance of “fighting the world’s fight” to protect the most vulnerable.

And, as a Jewish American who’s watched Netanyahu’s Israel starve Gazans, this particular fight was hugely important to him personally.

www.thenation.com/article/worl...

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From the Gaza Flotilla: “I’m Here Because My Jewish Heritage Demands It”

I hope that fellow Jews will join me in redefining their approach to atonement and move toward courageous action to put an end to this horrific genocide.

www.thenation.com

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 22h

Israel’s security minister, Ben Gvir—himself convicted of supporting terrorism in Israeli courts—praised his prisons’ harsh treatment of Flotilla members.

He called them “terrorists” & boasted that he’s “proud” 🇮🇱 is treating them as such in Ketziot prison.

www.timesofisrael.com/israel-denie...

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 22h

Nelson Mandela’s grandson & the Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, were two of the humanitarian advocates onboard.

Others include sisters who say Israeli forces made them drink toilet water.

Many, many allegations of terrible treatment are emerging.

www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/O...

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 22h

Israel has released hundreds of Sumud Flotilla members from EU countries. But it’s still holding our US citizens.

Many of the activists who’ve made it home from this ordeal say that—unlike w/ the June flotilla—Ben Gvir’s Israeli security forces beat them.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 22h

🚨 My fellow Rhodes Scholar, David Adler, is being held in Israeli prison w/ 20 other Americans. Israel detained them in international waters. They were bound for Gaza onboard the Sumud Flotilla to deliver aid.

25 Congresspeople petitioned Sec. of State Rubio to demand their release.

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Reposted by Monica Marks

Lizzie Porter @lcmporter.bsky.social · 1d

My colleague Nagham is 1 of the strongest people I know. It was an honour to interview her in Istanbul - she is among the few able to leave Gaza. She spoke about grieving everything lost - her memories, her community, & her home. Film by Özgür Arslan

www.youtube.com/shorts/z-eda...

The moment a Gaza reporter watched her home being destroyed by an Israeli missile

YouTube video by The National News

www.youtube.com

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

Today is a day of grief. Absolutely.

Those who celebrate violence & suffering are edgelords. We need more people who have internalised this wisdom.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

It does indeed. Not sure if you read my whole thread 🌸🙏

Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

In Oct 2023, I wrote for TIME about how these horrors may help Hamas, & groups as or more extreme, recruit.

Hamas recruited at funerals before Oct 7, I wrote. Since then Netanyahu & his coalition have drawn out a war that’s killed 20,000+ children in Gaza alone.

time.com/6329776/hama...

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

Just yesterday, two years into this horror show—and with far better tools in place to manage my consumption of this—I saw a new image that gave me nightmares:

A baby in Gaza, decapitated through Israeli bombing, the actual bone in its neck showing. Don’t think this has stopped.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

Hamas killed 1200 Israelis on Oct 7. Since then, Israel has killed 60,000+ Palestinians in Gaza, over 20,000 of whom are children (acc to the NGO Save the Children last month) in what the vast majority of experts on genocide have concluded is a genocide.

The killing must end.

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 1d

Seeing a huge volume of violence, let alone experiencing it, is traumatising. It also tends to stir feelings that increase vulnerability to extremism, like fear, victimhood & desire for vengeance.

But this didn’t stop Hamas, or the IDF. More Gazans are being killed as we speak.

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