Jos Betts

🎉Today we launch Running Notes, short-form commentary and dispatches from the Middle East and beyond. The pieces offer fast, sharp analysis alongside our long-form essays, giving our readers another way to engage with the stories that matter.
READ HERE:
newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Hind Rajab and the Dying Light Kaouther Ben Hania’s film retells the story of the 5-year-old’s final hours and amplifies her voice to indict the world’s silence over Gaza’s children

NEW: Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab” retells the story of the 5-year-old’s final hours and amplifies her voice to indict the world’s silence over Gaza’s children. @idreesahmad.bsky.social reviews the film for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/review/hind-...

🚨 Dear @newlinesmag.bsky.social readers,

A letter from our Middle East and Newsletters Editor, @kshaheen.bsky.social :
newlinesmag.com/become-a-mem...

Vietnam’s Village of Moroccan Defectors Hundreds of conscripted North Africans were sent to fight France’s war in Indochina — instead they found a new life in Southeast Asia

Hundreds of Moroccan conscripts defected to join the Viet Minh during the French Indochina War, later staying and building lives in Vietnam. Basma El Atti tells their story, in this essay that was recently nominated for a True Story Award.

The Magic of Egypt in Interwar Britain The land of Osiris and Set was hugely important to two of the period’s occultists, though in very different ways

A history essay I wrote for Halloween about ancient Egypt, Aleister Crowley, the Black occultist Rollo Ahmed, and what practitioners thought magic was really for in early C20 Britain, in @newlinesmag.bsky.social : newlinesmag.com/essays/the-m...

The UK’s Fragmenting Politics The launch of a new party on the left is another sign that the country is entering uncharted territory

NEW: The launch of a new left-wing party in the U.K. shows political fragmentation may not be quickly reversed, & comes at a time when small electoral changes could have outsize effects, argue @josbetts.bsky.social & @lsmwilson.bsky.social in @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/spotlight/th...

Beyond Glastonbury’s Gaza Controversy Chants against the Israeli military led by the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have drawn outrage, but the underlying story is one of mounting horror at the war from artists and the public

NEW: Chants at the Glastonbury festival protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza have drawn the outrage of Britain’s media and politicians. Still, a turning point has been reached for artists and the public, argues @idreesahmad.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

newlinesmag.com/argument/bey...

Bombarded by Propaganda, the Iranian People Are Uniting Behind an Anti-War Message A public mood is coalescing as narratives from both Israel and the regime of the Islamic Republic jostle for position across networks and airwaves

If you read one thing about Iran and Israel today, have it be this @newlinesmag.bsky.social essay on propaganda by Nahid Siamdoust. newlinesmag.com/argument/bom...

Michael Ledger-Lomas · Hairy Teutons: What William Morris Wanted William Morris wrote with appalling fluency. Composing verse on trains or while sat at the loom, he could turn out a...

‘He read voraciously but fitfully, often preferring shlock from railway stalls to the Great Books he claimed to revere.’

@michaelledgerlomas.bsky.social on the prolific writings of WIlliam Morris: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Badar’s fellowship is partially subsidized by the Scholars at Risk program, which works with U.S. universities to host international scholars facing threats in their countries. He never imagined that a country with a Scholars at Risk program would one day pose a risk to scholars.

A powerful essay ⤵️

The Case Against a Carbon Credit Farm in Madagascar The Italian multinational Tozzi Green has begun planting trees on land that local residents claim was stolen from them

NEW: What could be wrong with planting trees? In Madagascar, one region is fighting an Italian multinational’s attempts to turn its grazing grounds into carbon offsets, write Daniela Sala, Sara Manisera and Andrianaivomanana Lova for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...

Syria Needs a Strong Society, Not a Strongman The Islamism vs. secularism debate misses the point — the real struggle for the post-Assad state is democracy vs. authoritarianism

The world is worried about the jihadism of Syria’s new leaders, but the world may be missing the point, argues Robin Yassin-Kassab @qunfuz.bsky.social in this powerful intervention in the Islamism/secularism debate in post-Assad Syria, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

newlinesmag.com/argument/syr...

The thing about chaos is that the end result is always unpredictable, and Elon Musk's brand of chaos is no exception. By myself and @josbetts.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

Liberation in Syria Is a Victory Worth Embracing The country is now free, yet some remain trapped in the past

There is no better place on the internet to read deep, humane coverage of Syria than @newlinesmag.bsky.social. Just this week we published 6 different Syrian authors. Here's a thread of some of our best writing on Syria, starting here: newlinesmag.com/argument/lib...

Lebanon’s Heritage Is Disappearing Under Israel’s Bombardment The war has already damaged many lesser-known antiquities and poses a threat to sites of global importance

My 5th archaeology story for @newlinesmag.bsky.social but this time it's a story of destruction, not excavation. We don't even know what's being destroyed by Israeli bombs in Lebanon- but here's what we do know. History as well as lives are being destroyed. newlinesmag.com/reportage/le...