Category: 6. Opinion

The Roman Emperor Caracalla was known as one of the cruelest and most unstable of Rome’s leaders. His reputation was based not only on his treatment of his own people, but also on his travels to the eastern margins of the empire, where he led a series of massacres against the Parthians, an ancient people of the Persian Gulf who Caracalla sought to subdue. 

It didn’t end well for Rome. The Parthians defeated the Roman legions, Rome was forced to pay reparations, and Caracalla…

In October, I bled for ten days without access to a proper bathroom.

The house we fled to — like most shelters in Gaza — had no privacy. Forty people slept in two rooms. The bathroom had no door, only a torn curtain. I remember waiting for everyone to sleep so I could clean myself with a bottle of water and scraps of cloth. I remember praying I wouldn’t stain the mattress I shared with three cousins. I remember the shame — not of my body, but of being unable to care for…

At first glance, the assault on Mahmoud Khalil and other pro-Palestine organizers may seem like a terrifying rupture—something unprecedented. But to those who have studied the U.S. government’s response to dissent, particularly in Arab and Muslim communities, it is chillingly familiar. This is not a new phenomenon. It is the resurrection of the post-9/11 “War on Terror” playbook, this time aimed not at a constructed foreign enemy, but at the growing, domestic movement for…

After 17 years at Emerson College, I was fired for my activism in support of Palestinian liberation. My last day was October 11, 2024, just over one year into the genocide in Gaza and ongoing ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine. 

Over my time at Emerson, I established my professional home, weathering the financial crash and the pandemic. During my time, I helped organize the professional staff with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and served my peers as a…

Every time someone asks, “How are you?”—whether it’s my siblings, my closest friends, or anyone who still cares to ask—I feel a sharp twist inside. That simple question does not just echo in my ears; it drags me back into a place I desperately try to avoid. Because the truth is, I am not fine. I am far from well. And neither is anyone else in Gaza. 

The weight of my loss, the loss of a whole community, sits heavy on my chest every single day. No amount of love or care…

Louis Theroux is perhaps the UK’s most renowned documentarian. His newest film, “The Settlers,” is a deep dive into the religious ultra-nationalist Zionist settler movement in the West Bank, and is primarily comprised of interviews with said settlers. The interviewees’ candidness is the film’s main hook, which has consequently stirred up quite the commotion. Reception has ranged from adoration of the interview techniques to tired accusations of bias. 

Yet controversy…

Donald Trump has completed his brief tour of Middle East states, the first of his second term in office. It was a headline-grabbing tour, with scandals, important announcements, and events happening alongside the President’s appearances. It was equally notable for what was missing: Palestine.

The issue of the genocide in Gaza could not be relegated to complete invisibility, of course. It’s too important to the host countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, all of whom have…

Growing up, we used to seize the rare opportunities when the Lebanese army granted us permits to “visit Palestine” — which, in reality, meant visiting South Lebanon just beyond the Khardaly checkpoint, which Palestinian refugees are not allowed to go beyond further due to “security concerns”. 

I remember the first time I saw Palestine — it was through Fatima’s Gate, in the village of Kfar Kila, one of the closest points to the border. Behind me was a small café, and…

I woke up with news that I had hoped, maybe naively, would never come. At 7 a.m. yesterday, my wife woke me up to tell me that my colleague and renowned Gaza journalist, Hassan Eslayeh, was killed in an Israeli attack on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. She tried to break the news to me gently; she knew Hassan and I had worked together during the genocide, and that he was one of the people I relied on for testimonies and updates throughout the war.  

But it was like a bullet…

Three years ago, on May 11, 2022, Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the Jenin refugee camp, by a bullet that was neither the first fired at Palestinian journalists, nor the last. 

On that terrible day, we were a group of journalists — Shireen, Ali al-Samoudi, Mujahid al-Saadi, and I. We were doing our job, clearly marked as press. Then the shooting started. Ali was shot in the shoulder. Mujahid, in a moment, jumped over a wall and stood above us, shouting…