Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 4m

There is nowhere he can go w/out bringing himself.
A fate worse than hell.

Citing fear of Democratic ‘vengeance,’ Curtis Yarvin says he may flee the U.S.

The far-right blogger doesn’t think the Trump admin has done enough to dismantle democratic institutions.

sfstandard.com/2025/10/07/c...

Citing fear of Democratic ‘vengeance,’ Curtis Yarvin says he may flee the U.S.

The far-right blogger doesn’t think the Trump administration has done enough to dismantle democratic institutions.

sfstandard.com

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 3h

We also discussed @omerbartov.bsky.social's cover essay for the latest issue of @prospectmagazine.co.uk on this week's episode of the Prospect pod, where he addresses the arguments against calling Israel's atrocities in Gaza a genocide >>> www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/podcasts/pro...

Israeli genocide scholar: My country is in denial

Most Israelis refuse to see what their army is doing to Gazan people. This denialism has its roots in history

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 11m

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 3h

Our latest edition is out, with @omerbartov.bsky.social's magisterial essay on the history of genocide denial and how Israeli denialism over atrocities in Gaza has roots in the country's own history
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/israel...

Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 2h

"In two years everything can break. All norms, all decency. In two years you can take a big idea, like shared humanity or international law, and empty it of all meaning"

My attempt at articulating what has happened to us since 7th October

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/israel...

Two years that broke our world

Since the Hamas attack of 7th October, what remains of big ideals such as our shared humanity?

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 19m

No paywall:

archive.md/2025.10.08-0...

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 20m

Hamas says it submitted list of prisoners it demands Israel release as top negotiators arrive in Egypt for Gaza talks

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Hamas: Submitted list of prisoners we demand Israel release; top negotiators land in Egypt

Israel's Ron Dermer, U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Qatar's PM Have Arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh for Gaza Talks. Hamas Is Reportedly Demanding the Release of the Bodies of Its Former Leader...

www.haaretz.com

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Josie Glausiusz @josiegz.bsky.social · 24m

“It’s a horrible reality that humanitarian crises make people vulnerable in many ways — increased sexual violence is often a consequence,” said Heather Barr, at Human Rights Watch. “The situation in Gaza today is unspeakable, especially for women and girls.”

www.ap.org/news-highlig...

Women in Gaza say they were promised food, money or work in exchange for sexual interactions | The Associated Press

After weeks of scraping by to feed her six children in Gaza, the 38-year-old woman thought she’d found a lifeline. At a shelter, a friend told her

www.ap.org

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 24m

Yes.

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 25m

Putting the Taliban on notice:

UN launches probe into human rights violations in Afghanistan

The scope of the investigation notably includes violations and abuses against women and girls. It will also prepare files to facilitate independent criminal proceedings.

www.lemonde.fr/en/global-is...

UN launches probe into human rights violations in Afghanistan

The scope of the investigation notably includes violations and abuses against women and girls. It will also prepare files to facilitate independent criminal proceedings.

www.lemonde.fr

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1h

“Bucking tradition and legal precedent.” Lol.

I guess according to the sanitizing standards of mainstream media’s neutrality-theater journalism, you can “buck tradition and legal precedent” so hard that you end democratic self-government and the constitutional order altogether.

NPR @npr.org · 1d

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

n.pr

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 29m

“Caldwell has migrated towards the rabidly Trumpist Claremont Institute orbit – but is widely seen as one of the most respectable/least unserious intellectual representatives of the Right. And he is! Which only hammers home how much of a radically anti-pluralistic consensus there is on the Right”
🧵👇🏼

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 43m

Let's note that Christopher Caldwell, who gets to defend Hegseth’s rabidly bigoted, sexist speech in the New York Times, wrote a whole book about how the Civil Rights Act constitutes an illegitimate departure from the Constitution.

So, of course he is on board with imposing white male domination.

Opinion | That Hegseth Speech Was Actually Pretty Good

www.nytimes.com

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 49m

It goes both ways, too—-not really subject matter one wants to wake up an delve right into, but alas, an ongoing set of practices.

Palestinians and Israelis are now fighting over corpses

www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle...

Palestinians and Israelis are now fighting over corpses

Both sides decry the practice as inhumane and a violation of international law.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 54m

So much has been written and adjudicated on this macabre subject but ultimately

High Court okays withholding bodies of Palestinian terrorists for leverage

Decision reverses a 2017 ruling that suspended the practice until it was anchored in law

www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-o...

High Court okays withholding bodies of Palestinian terrorists for leverage | The Times of Israel

www.timesofisrael.com

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 56m

This long standing practice has been highly scrutinized. This is just one joint report by B’Tselem and HaMoked.

Captive Corpses

www.btselem.org/publications...

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 1h

“Do Democrats, broadly speaking, have a theory of this moment that’s consciously matched to MAGA’s authoritarian politics? They need one. Because guess who does have a theory of the moment? Miller does.”
🧵

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 2h

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule

He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.

newrepublic.com

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 4h

📌

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 4h

“The Warsaw book heist was not an isolated incident but one of the final stops on an unprecedented grand tour of bibliophilic crime, which snaked its way from north-east to south-west Europe between spring 2022 and winter 2023”

Mike Eckel @mikeeckel.bsky.social · 7h

an incredible story about a Georgian crime gang that stole scores of rare and valuable editions of Russian classics (Pushkin, Gogol, etc.) from libraries across Europe.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist

The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Alon Pinkas @alonpinkas.bsky.social · 5h

I question the premise of distinguishing between Netanyahu and “his extremists”.
1. He has appointed, empowered and backed them all along.
2. They say out loud what he believes and does. He is an extremist, not some right-centrist
3. He isn’t “on board”, so them not being on board is redundant

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 4h

חמוד 😆❤️

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

AskNoSwiss 🍋🍋🍋 @asknoswiss.bsky.social · 5h

"Less than a month after the day Omer Leshem hid for hours at the Nova parking lot until he escaped, he enlisted for reserve duty in the West Bank. 'This allowed me to get back some of the confidence that got shattered,' he says."
That’s beyond messed up….
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

They survived the Nova party massacre. Two years on, they are still hiding

The State Expects Survivors of the Nova Festival to Recover, but With Hostages Still in Gaza and the War Dragging On, the Personal Tragedy Persists. 'I Knew We Had an Army, We Hade a Police Force; I B...

www.haaretz.com

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 5h

A handprint of blood from Nir Oz. One in every four residents of the kibbutz was murdered or taken hostage on October 7, 2023.

📸 Chaim Goldberg

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 5h

I’m going to quote you in a repost, if that’s ok with you? I think it’s important.

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 5h

As do I, of course and have other questions about this reporting.

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 5h

One mantra that’s kept me from completely collapsing this past 48 hours is, and it probably won’t surprise you, “We will dance again.” It’s the most beautiful and resilient reminder to not give in to total despair.

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Reposted by Rima I Anabtawi

Josie Glausiusz @josiegz.bsky.social · 5h

Some of the saddest stories are the ongoing trauma suffered by survivors of the Nova Festival.

Arad Katz fled the festival in a car with friends. He saw Eden Ben Rubi standing with police officers at a junction, so didn't offer her a ride. She was later shot dead.

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

They survived the Nova party massacre. Two years on, they are still hiding

The State Expects Survivors of the Nova Festival to Recover, but With Hostages Still in Gaza and the War Dragging On, the Personal Tragedy Persists. 'I Knew We Had an Army, We Hade a Police Force; I B...

www.haaretz.com

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