Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 11m

“A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness:
Reports on Israel’s Genocide in Palestine”

All royalties from sales of the book will be donated to UNRWA.

www.plutobooks.com/product/a-mo...

Reposted by Sumi Madhok

lsegender @lsegender.bsky.social · 2d

Our brilliant graduate Annetta Jackson is highlighted in Antigua News for her achievement of the MSc Gender, Policy and Inequalities! 🎓🇦🇬

antigua.news/2025/10/03/j...

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

lsegender @lsegender.bsky.social · 1d

New Alumni Spotlight!

Everyone say hi to Megan, an MSc Gender, Development and Globalisation 2017 alum! 👋🏻

Including a very special shoutout to @sumimadhok.bsky.social 🥰

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · 2d

Alex de Waal: "The global consensus against the starvation weapon took decades to achieve. Now, international apathy risks letting it collapse at the moment it is most needed."

www.foreignaffairs.com/sudan/return...

The Return of the Starvation Weapon

The collapse of global norms fueling the catastrophes in Gaza and Sudan.

www.foreignaffairs.com

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 3d

Being accountable to an international court means our Government has to answer to them if it tries to undermine your human rights. Be very suspicious of any UK politician who wants to remove that check on their powers.

Share this and speak up for your freedoms.

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 3d

I'm Jewish. I'm also Mancunian.

Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg during their conference.

Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine - I had nothing to say?

Let's keep growing: join.greenparty.org.uk

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 3d

A point of sorrow in all we’re witnessing is the systematic shredding of hard won democratic freedoms. All of these gained through protest and political action, of course.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office

Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 7d

I have organised an amazing roster of *virtual* presentations for the Centre for Gulf Studies at Exeter. Check out these incredible superstars, and register for the events (Tuesdays 17-18.30 London time) here: www.exeter.ac.uk/research/cen...

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 4d

Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.

2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services

Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Nathan K. Hensley @nathankhensley.bsky.social · 4d

yet another way that the war on academic knowledge is a war on the past & a violent thinning out of historical experience — you’re taking years & often decades of slow-building expertise (& the investments that made it possible) and just tossing it in the bin

Rob Hawkes @robbhawkes.bsky.social · 5d

As more of my valued colleagues face the threat of redundancy, here’s a quick reminder that it takes years and years of public investment to train an academic. Cutting someone with this wealth of experience loose isn’t “saving” anything. It is a massive waste of our collective resources.

UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance

by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…

moneyontheleft.org

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 7d

Prof Conor Gearty on the UK Supreme Court’s legal tactics for erasing the Human Rights Act.

“The current members of the Supreme Court, ten men and two women, all of them white, seem to regard the Human Rights Act as an unwelcome remnant of a past era”.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act

The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 4d

No Pasarán!

“Many antifascists who took part in the Battle of Cable Street donated money or travelled to Spain to join the International Brigade to fight fascism… The strong links between the movements can be seen in the adoption of the “They Shall Not Pass” slogan from the “No Pasarán!”

History Daily - This Many Years Ago @thismanyyearsago.bsky.social · 4d

89 years ago, on the 4th of October 1936, antifascist counter protesters stopped a British Union of Fascists march through London’s East End. The Metropolitan Police tried to clear the way for the fascists resulting in violent clashes known as the Battle of Cable Street. #otd #history 🗃️

The mounted police conduct a charge against the dense crowd to clear the way to Cable Street.

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6d

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone.

We will not let hate or those who spread it win.

We stand with you.

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 7d

Prof Conor Gearty on the UK Supreme Court’s legal tactics for erasing the Human Rights Act.

“The current members of the Supreme Court, ten men and two women, all of them white, seem to regard the Human Rights Act as an unwelcome remnant of a past era”.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act

The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 8d

“…Labour risks a migration politics that divides society into the fully entitled and the permanently probationary. In this hierarchical system of belonging, migrants are kept on extended probation and judged by standards never applied to British nationals”.

Nando Sigona @nandosigona.bsky.social · 8d

Labour’s plan to make migrants earn permanent residency by doubling the wait to 10 years & adding new tests turns belonging into an endless exam.
🔗 theconversation.com/labours-plan...
#ShabanaMahmood
#LabourConference

Labour’s plan for migrants to ‘earn’ permanent residency turns belonging into an endless exam

In this hierarchical system, migrants are kept on extended probation and judged by standards never applied to British nationals.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 9d

"There is a war on children"

A clarion call for action and accountability from Dr. Thaer Ahmad who served in Gaza.

He reads the 'will' of a 10-year-old girl who Israel killed, as a way to honour her.

open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...

Doctor Who Served in Gaza Reads the ‘Will’ of a 10-Year-Old Girl Who Was Killed

Dr. Thaer Ahmad gives an emotional statement at a high-level UN event about Israel's war on children in Gaza.

open.substack.com

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 9d

This lot are to use Stiig Larsson’s words : ‘Men who hate women’.

“Earlier this month they removed books written by women from the country's university teaching system as part of a new ban which has also outlawed the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment”.

Unofficial BBCNews (World) Bot @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social · 9d

Afghanistan hit by internet blackout as Taliban cuts fibre optic cables

Phone and internet connections are down nationwide after the Taliban cut fibre-optic connections to prevent "immorality".

www.bbc.com

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 9d

Strange convoluted logic of her speech that blames immigrants for the racism on the streets. Racism needs to be checked by limiting immigration, she says.

Ah, OK.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/29/shabana-mahmood-calls-nigel-farage-worse-than-racist-over-dog-whistle-politics

Shabana Mahmood calls Nigel Farage ‘worse than racist’ over ‘dog-whistle politics’

Home secretary also tells Labour conference fringe event of the abuse her family have been subjected to recently

www.theguardian.com

Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 10d

“It’s just same old, same old. I wish the media would stop talking about this as an unprecedented movement. There’s nothing unprecedented about it. Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of 20th-century history should know that.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Something inside so wrong: Labi Siffre tells Tommy Robinson to stop using anti-apartheid anthem

Exclusive: UK singer, 80, says it is ‘absurd’ as a ‘positive atheist, homosexual black artist’ for far right to claim his work

www.theguardian.com

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 11d

The feminist historian Joan W. Scott tells a personal story of resistance against authoritarianism.

And, of the imperative of fighting for a democratic education system.

www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...

A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review

The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.

www.bostonreview.net

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 11d

“The alleged abuses by British forces range from murder, torture, expulsion and collective punishment which the submission says repressed the Arab Palestinian population amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Victor Kattan @victorkattan.bsky.social · 11d

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK urged to act on colonial-era case after recognising Palestinian state

A legal petition alleges colonial-era war crimes by the UK in historical Palestine in 1917-48.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 12d

The ICC is not perfect but the proposed US sanctions present a dangerous turn for international law and its institutions.

The US sanctions would “transform[ing] a system designed to hold the most powerful accountable for atrocity crimes into one that instead shields the powerful”.

REDRESS Trust @redress.org · 16d

🚨 Joint Global Call to #SaveTheICC

The US is expected to sanction the ICC. Civil society urges States Parties to stop these sanctions before it’s too late.

📄 Read and endorse the joint statement here: redress.org/news/save-th...

#ICC #RuleOfLaw #HumanRights #JusticeForVictims

Joint Statement: Save the ICC and the Rule of Law

Global call to defend the ICC from US sanctions that threaten international justice, accountability, and victims of war crimes and atrocities.

redress.org

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 13d

Lots of good writing in the @lrb.co.uk

“Recognition is not an endpoint. It cannot, by itself, end violence...
But recognition remains the necessary first step – an acknowledgment that Palestinians will remain on our land. We cannot, and will not, disappear”.

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 13d

‘Recognition enables co-operative security architectures, not as an abstract promise but as enforceable compacts that channel behaviour and clarify obligations.’

Leila Sansour on the recongition of Palestinian statehood, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/se...

Leila Sansour | Recognition: A First Step

Recognition of Palestinian statehood is an act not of concession, but of discipline and clarity. It formalises the...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Sumi Madhok @sumimadhok.bsky.social · 13d

“The deepfakes proliferating across far-right social media…are fascistic dream machines”.

They are a product of fascist desire and not of bad information ( or so much, at any rate).

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 13d

‘A Londoner spreading deepfakes of white women saying they don’t feel safe “because of migrants” told me impatiently that everyone knows the videos aren’t real, but I was missing the point: “It’s about us showing everyone what’s really happening.”’

Claire Wilmot: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/se...

Claire Wilmot | Fascistic Dream Machines

Part of the misunderstanding of the deepfake threat stems from the idea that it is a problem of bad information, rather...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Reposted by Sumi Madhok

lsegender @lsegender.bsky.social · 14d

@rkdasgupta.bsky.social speaking on South Asian Diasporic Cultural Production and Queer Organising for this year‘s Welcome Lecture chaired by @sumimadhok.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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