Wednesday, May 27, 2026

"The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end? Suspected war crimes happen almost daily as Israel continues its bombardment, which Unicef estimates is killing nearly 14 children a day. We cannot write this off as just another war in a war-torn region"

‘Lebanese people may have more experience of war, but they do not get used to having their houses bombed.’

Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

Wed 27 May 2026

There are various reasons why, at 43, I still don’t know how to drive a car. Clumsiness is one. I can’t even walk straight half the time, so I don’t think it’s a good idea that I take control of a 2-tonne vehicle.

Another reason is that my first driving lesson was in Beirut and the experience scarred me for life. The car was falling apart, Lebanese drivers ignore traffic rules and the lesson was in Arabic, which I barely speak. After I had veered on to a busy road the wrong way, my teacher made me get out of the car and yelled at me. I didn’t understand exactly what he was yelling, but it wasn’t good.

Despite that unfortunate incident, Lebanon – chaotic, beautiful, unique Lebanon – has a special place in my heart. When I was 18, my parents moved to Beirut for several years and I visited regularly. We’d go to the ancient ruins in Baalbek; drop by wineries in the Bekaa valley; eat man’oushe in the mountains. We’d do organised hikes, on which there would always be a glamorous woman in heels, full makeup and a designer nose (the Lebanese take grooming and cosmetic surgery very seriously).

Things were never completely calm. Coming home from a swim one summer, my mum narrowly escaped a car bomb intended for a politician. In 2006, my parents were stranded overseas for months because Lebanon and Israel were at war. In 2008, there were a couple of days of clashes that meant my mum and sister couldn’t leave the house.

Still, this was a relatively good time; there was investment, tourism, hope. In January 2009, the New York Times named Beirut its No 1 place to visit that year. With luxury hotels and restaurants opening, the Times said “the capital of Lebanon is poised to reclaim its title as the Paris of the Middle East”.

You may have heard that stupid phrase before: whenever a writer wants to convey to a western audience that Beirut is not some backwater, but a real place full of real people, they reach for it. It’s cringe and orientalist, but it’s also an effective shorthand. And maybe I should have adopted it myself, because what I’m trying to say here, with my walks down memory lane, is that Beirut is not fundamentally different from Paris. People who live in Lebanon, or the Middle East more broadly, are not born with thicker skin. They do not grieve their children less than Europeans do. They may have more experience of war, but they do not get used to having their houses bombed.

Many people seem to think otherwise... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2026/may/27/chaotic-unique-beautiful-lebanon-reduced-rubble-israel-bombardment

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

"The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name..." Nesrine Malik

Palestinian musician Saint Levant performing at Les Francofolies, Paris, July 2025.

Photograph: Sadaka Edmond/SIPA/Shutterstock

Saint Levant: the pop star from Gaza caught between passionate fandom and bitter disapproval

His detractors say he shouldn’t be making pop music in times of war and destruction. His millions of fans say he has given them permission to celebrate their culture and their cause

By Nesrine Malik

Tue 26 May 2026 00.00 EDT

The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name; Saint Levant, a play on Saint Laurent – the icon of western style had been Arabised in homage to the Middle East’s Levant region.

I began to see the same song all over my social media. In the video, Saint Levant, then 22, is in a white vest and brown trousers. A gold pendant chain dangles on his chest, a tattoo encircles his left arm. He starts by rapping in English, telling the woman he is wooing that “he’s not toxic, he’s broken baby”. And then, the twist, as he switches to Arabic, then French, then English again. Like a wholesome boy next door, he tells her to send his regards to her grandmother and her brother. Then says that he wants to make her forget about her ex, he wants her overthinking all her texts... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/may/26/saint-levant-the-pop-star-from-gaza-caught-between-passionate-fandom-and-bitter-disapproval

A network of fake academic journals masquerading as legitimate publications has published more than a hundred AI-generated papers in recent months, in some cases using the names of real professors at top universities without their knowledge- Online academic journals falsely attributed articles, likely written by AI, to several professors, who say the fiasco is a warning about the future of scientific knowledge.

NBC News

@NBCNews

A network of fake academic journals masquerading as legitimate publications has published more than a hundred AI-generated papers in recent months, in some cases using the names of real professors at top universities without their knowledge.

Online academic journals falsely attributed articles, likely written by AI, to several professors, who say the fiasco is a warning about the future of scientific knowledge.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/fake-journals-using-real-professors-names-ai-generated-papers-rcna265479?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=6a161c9bcd9b3d000140faaa

Monday, May 25, 2026

Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt's 1948 letter to the New York Times: They saw the creation of a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine at the expense of its indigenous Muslim and Christian population as a profound injustice and moral catastrophe. Einstein and the other signatories explicitly compared Begin’s Herut (Freedom Party), born from the Irgun, to Nazis and Fascists, warning that their ideology of racial superiority and violent ethnic nationalism posed a grave danger to the moral and political future of the new state.

https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/2058596779835469875/photo/1

https://archive.org/details/AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948/page/n2/mode/1up

Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt's letter to the New York Times: December 2, 1948

Signed by Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook, Rabbi Jessurun Cardozo, Irma Lindheim, and 22 other Jewish scholars, writers, and public figures. (Published December 4, 1948, in The New York Times.)

Ongoing Nakba in Gaza, Palestine: People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike... Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip

People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike

Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/may/24/protests-parades-and-an-erupting-geyser-photos-of-the-weekend?CMP=share_btn_url#img-8

Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting on us

Olfat al-Kurd

I survived months of bombardment before escaping. The systematic dismantling of our home has harmed every aspect of women’s lives

Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023, I have lost my father, my brother, his wife and their daughter. They are still buried under the rubble. My house, where we lived with my husband’s family, was destroyed by Israeli bombing. In 2024, after months of bombardments, flight and displacement, I managed to escape with my family to Egypt. I’ve been living here ever since, but the memories of life in Gaza are always with me. What happened to me reflects the reality that Palestinian women in Gaza continue to face during the genocide.

Since the start of the war, many women in Gaza have become sole providers. Countless numbers have been left with no protection or home, and many have lost children or their entire families. A recent UN report showed that Israel has killed more than 38,000 women and girls in Gaza during this war. A further 11,000 have sustained injuries causing lifelong disabilities.

I used to live in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood of Gaza City with my family of six. Life under Israeli occupation was defined by violence, fear, and constant uncertainty. Yet within this reality, we built a life of dignity and continuity, with moments of joy. Remaining steadfast in the face of relentless violence became our form of resistance.

For me, that resistance was working as a field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, documenting human-rights violations in Gaza long before the genocide... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/25/stories-gaza-women-horrors-israel

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

"At a moment when Islam is framed as a source of division, it is worth recalling that on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X encountered Muslims of all races, worshipping as equals together, an experience that transformed his understanding of race and human dignity. It revealed an Islam grounded not in fear, but universality, exposing the poverty of racial hierarchies and the distortions that sustain them." Kenneth Mohammed in The Guardian

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Muslim worshippers perform dawn prayers at the Grand Mosque before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage Photograph: Saudi Press Agency/APAImages/Shutterstock

The real danger of Islamophobia? It rarely announces itself as hatred yet shapes how millions think

Kenneth Mohammed

The difference in framing around antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred distorts public understanding, inflames tensions and makes both Jewish and Muslim communities less safe

The horrific terrorist attack on the Islamic Centre of San Diego in California has been reported by many news outlets over the past few days. Yet as the story travelled across screens and news feeds, something more subtle unfolded: the language of reporting. Some outlets spoke of “teen suspects” and “three deceased” rather than murdered worshippers or a terrorist attack on a mosque. Words matter. They shape sympathy, urgency, and influence how violence is understood. Too often, the vocabulary of terror and extremism appears unevenly distributed; sharpened for some perpetrators but softened for others.

There is a growing sense that the world is slipping backwards – not through dramatic rupture, but through the steady normalisation of hate, the coarsening of public discourse and politicians increasingly fuelling division and racism.

Across the world... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/may/25/danger-islamophobia-antisemitism-hatred-anti-muslim-abuse

"...More troubling still is how sections of the media shape perception through selective framing and omission. A recent arson attack was widely reported as targeting a “former synagogue”, implying antisemitism while omitting that it was the subject of a fundraising effort by local young Muslims, who had already put down a hefty deposit to tranform the building into a mosque and community centre.

The problem is not whether antisemitism or anti-Muslim hatred exist – both plainly do. It is that selective framing distorts public understanding, inflames tensions and ultimately makes both Jewish and Muslim communities less safe. Today, where perception increasingly shapes reality, omission can be as powerful as misinformation itself..."

Monday, May 18, 2026

Dear Governor Shapiro- The word 'antisemitism' excludes Arabs and Muslims, and has come to mean criticizing Zionism which is a political movement that is shaping horrifically cruel policies and actions here and in Israel and Palestine. So maybe find a better word or phrase to use- like 'bigotry' or 'racist hate' or 'mental illness' to describe hate mongering violations and violence.

Dear Governor Shapiro,

Please don’t reward greed, corruption & the many lies told by con-artists who want our money and support, but not our democratic ideals.

We don't need bombs. We don't need Ballrooms... and we don't need more Data Centers.

Taxpayers' money should be funding peoples' actual needs, not religious fantasies or CEO schemes & false advertising.

Don’t accept bribes, propaganda & bad advice from billionaires OR a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws. Bigotry and injustice are wrong: All forms of bigotry, injustice, racist hate, and violence are wrong.

The word 'antisemitism' excludes Arabs and Muslims, and has come to mean criticizing Zionism. Zionism is a political movement that shapes horrifically cruel policies and actions here and in Israel and Palestine.

So maybe find a better word or phrase to use- like 'bigotry' or 'racist hate' or 'mental illness' to describe hate mongering violations and violence.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

What is Fringe ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

"Reducing inequality was “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet”" .......Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds- Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%

Pentagon quietly shut legally required program to prevent civilian deaths by military, watchdog finds Trump administration accused of cutting military’s civilian harm program in light of US strike on girls school in Iran

Asia's oldest living organism, the ancient Abarkuh cypress tree - at least 4500 years old - is rooted in land that was already known as Iran at the time.

"Given the way things are going in the US, corporations seem to have more freedom of speech than university students. And it might not be long before datacenters have more rights than women." The Week in Patriarchy AI (artificial intelligence)

How a New Israeli Policy Cuts Off Humanitarian Aid in Gaza- Months into the ceasefire ["ceasefire"], Israeli officials barred thirty-seven international N.G.O.s. A Doctors Without Borders clinic is carrying on without antibiotics, or even chairs for patients

The True Story of Israel's Creation: Debunking Israel's Foundational Lies from Their Leaders' Mouths

Historical reckoning: The push for the US to acknowledge the Nakba... On the 78th anniversary of the mass expulsion of Palestinians, experts say US ‘political amnesia’ continues.

From the [first] Nakba to Gaza’s ruins: One man’s lifetime of displacement. Nakba survivor in Gaza recounts displacement after 1948 and 2023 and his unwavering attachment to his homeland.

Nakba: Jewish voices are challenging the stories Israel tells about itself A film director, historian and Holocaust survivor speak to Al Jazeera as opinions shift.

6 Things to Know About the Palestinian Nakba by the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) - May 12, 2026

"Living for decades in crowded refugee camps in the West Bank, the elderly survivors who MEE met spoke of their steadfast yearning to return to their former homes. Some said they still have dreams at night of working in the fields. Azza, who now lives in al-Amari camp near the city of Ramallah, recalls how Tell al-Safi used to be a self-sufficient village with an abundance of various crops - fields growing wheat, barley, corn, sesame, tomato and okra, while trees bore olives, apples, figs and almonds. "At the edge of the village, there was a water well and, using animals, water was pumped from the well to water tanks,” she recalled. “We didn’t need anything from outside the village.""

Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe, explained Middle East Eye breaks down the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, which continues to define events in Israel-Palestine today

"What they could not do in 1948, they are doing now...." From Nakba to genocide: A Gaza grandmother’s lifetime of loss and resilience. At 95, Fatema Obaid has survived two massive Israeli assaults, lost 70 family members and endured starvation and repeated forced flight - but still refuses to leave her homeland

TIME: The Solemn History Behind Nakba Day ... From 1947 to 1949, 531 towns were destroyed by Israeli militias- Of the 1.4 million-strong Palestinian population at the time, 800,000 were displaced; the massacres of families and towns left enduring scars on the survivors.

May 15th, 2026 marked 78 years since the beginning of the Nakba ethnic cleansing of Palestine: Zionists displaced more than 750000, including 90000 Christians. Many churches and villages were destroyed to establish the Jewish state of Israel on these ruins

“The past two and a half years have been one of daily horror and fear as Palestinians have watched our families and friends massacred, starved and tortured,” she said, describing this period as the darkest chapter in Palestinian history since 1948: British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist

"It was like being given the choice between suicide or being murdered" Palestinians forced to demolish own homes to make way for Israeli theme park. Residents of al-Bustan district told to make way for Kings Garden, with knocking down own houses cheaper option

The secret mission to rescue the UN’s vital Palestinian refugee archive- Millions of documents chronicling generations of trauma saved from Gaza and East Jerusalem in 10-month Unrwa operation

Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank - United Nations news 12 May 2026 ... Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming a growing number of Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.

Act now: Fund People, Not Bombs .... from Jewish Voice for Peace "This week, the Senate will vote on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the sale of U.S. weapons to the Israeli military. In the coming months, it will also vote on a supplemental request by the Trump administration to fund the war on Iran that may be as large as $80-100 billion. Congress must vote to block these bombs to Israel and oppose any funding for the war. "

Abby Martin exposes the media's role in normalizing genocide.... & The Empire Files premiered its highly anticipated film about the devastating impact our environment and planet are experiencing due to the United States military-industrial complex. Titled “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,”

Know Her Name: Shireen Abu Akleh [a prominent Palestinian-American Journalist] spent 25 years making sure people could not claim they did not know what was happening. Then she was killed by Israeli military fire doing exactly that.

FOUR YEAR AGO Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian Christian journalist, was assassinated by an Israeli sniper while covering the events taking place in the Jenin. Shireen was, and still is, an icon of the free Palestinian voice. May she rest in peace, and may her memory live forever. شيرين أبو عاقلة، شهيدة الحق.

"The moral and political degradation of Israel is the subject of this remarkable book. The author, Omer Bartov, has impeccable credentials for writing it: he was born on a kibbutz, he served as an officer in the IDF, and is currently professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University in the US." Avi Shlaim in The Guardian

“I continue to speak out because the kids are counting on us,” she said. “I continue because I would want people to speak out if it were my kids. It’s my calling to care about all children. It’s just who I am and I can’t not care.”

My Sister Najah (AY) By Mike Odetalla of Beit Hanina, Palestine

Aunt Jameela's Bread. A Story of Food, Family, and Love..... A beautiful new book by Palestinian-American Mike Odetalla about childhood and baking bread in his homeland

" “I think [Palestine] is the moral issue of our time and I believe it’s been used to undermine democratic institutions in the US,” Elghandour said. He referred to the cancelled invitation as a sign or “erosion of free speech and the first amendment”. “We’ve seen a livestreamed genocide,” he added. “And we’re supposed to worry about the feelings of the people who support that.” " Rami Elghandour

Jonathan Pollard, a former US navy intelligence analyst jailed for 30 years for spying for Israel, has said he will stand for election to the Knesset this year on a platform of ethnic cleansing.

DEAR AMERICA

STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Along the way we learned that slavery is wrong. We learned that domestic violence is wrong. We learned that racist hate is wrong. SO WHY are we funding Israel and why are we bombing Iran for Israel!!!

Violence is a problem- not the answer

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties. https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..." https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

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