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Lior Sternfeld

@liorsternfeld

Historian of modern Iran, Jewish communities of the Middle East.

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13.11.2024
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Latest posts by Lior Sternfeld @liorsternfeld

My thoughts about the shitshow. Thanks, @jricole.bsky.social

11.03.2026 11:46 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’ve said it a million times in the past, and I'll say it again: the only viable solution for peace in the Middle East is one that includes all three: Israel, Palestine, and Iran.

07.03.2026 18:20 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Initial thoughts on the unfolding situation in Iran, I published earlier this week in @972mag.com

06.03.2026 18:31 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

It would be ironic if Netanyahu, who tanked Biden's presidency with Gaza, also tanks Trump's presidency with Iran.

06.03.2026 18:29 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Expect a major tantrum when certain elements discover that Trump threw Pahlavi under the bus (I don't think he has any plans for him in the future of Iran).

28.02.2026 22:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Of course, the most desirable outcome is the transformation into a democratic republic. Unfortunately, I also think this is the least likely scenario.

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They would get to keep their business interests and tight control of resources, and the West knows how to work with that kind of regime (i.e., Egypt or Pakistan).

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

A third is a takeover by parts of the IRGC, turning Iran into a military dictatorship that pays lip service to the revolution, says it has run its course, and now works with the West to lift sanctions, etc.

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

One option is the survival of the regime with a change in personnel. Another is the survival of the regime in name, with a complete overhaul of the state apparatus (which may take time).

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Khamenei's death doesn't mean the regime's collapse yet. There is a line of succession, and even within the regime, there will be contenders with different visions for the path forward.

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It's far too early to predict what could come of that moment. Khamenei's death opens the door to many possibilities. Many of my Iranian friends have said they're thrilled to see him dead, but would have preferred to see him in court facing the families of his victims over many decades of his rule.

28.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This!

28.02.2026 20:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The US government's first regime change was the 1953 coup in Iran. Many view this as a turning point in both countries. Iran may have lost its last opportunity to establish a democratic government. And some in US came to view covert operations to overturn foreign govts as a valid political tool.

28.02.2026 20:44 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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28.02.2026 13:39 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Maybe the solution all along is to give Trump the inaugural Nobel War Prize.

28.02.2026 13:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I feel in my bones that it's not going to be Harris or Newsom. I don’t necessarily think it would be a progressive firebrand, but the primaries will, hopefully, give us more choices. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/o...

27.02.2026 17:43 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Wonderful new article from @danamir.bsky.social !

27.02.2026 16:32 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

civil society, antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia all became official policies. Remember that Trump said we’re the laughing stock of the world, well, now we are. Because of the US, the world is less safe.

*unless you’re a billionaire and/or sociopath

24.02.2026 15:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Spoiler: the state of the union is shit.*

In the past year, our streets and communities became much less safe, prices continued to skyrocket, healthcare became more expensive while insurance coverage got worse, there’s an all out attack on public education,

24.02.2026 15:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist Abstract. This article analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinia...

Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist url: scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pir/art...

24.02.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist Abstract. This article analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinia...

By exploring how secrecy shapes questions of identity, continuity, loyalty, and resistance, Makhoul situates Habiby’s work within broader debates over overt and covert forms of political agency among Palestinians in Israel.

24.02.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist Abstract. This article analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinia...

The article examines secrecy as a response to Zionist–Israeli epistemic erasure as well as to internal Palestinian debates over forms of resistance, tracing how the novel employs secrecy as an individual, familial, and collective device under conditions of surveillance.

24.02.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist Abstract. This article analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinia...

In this study, Makhoul analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinian literature.

24.02.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist Abstract. This article analyzes how Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Sa’id, the Ill-fated Pessoptimist deploys secrecy as a political and narrative strategy within the context of post-1967 Palestinia...

We are pleased to share a new publication in Palestine/Israel Review featuring Manar Makhoul’s article, Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Esoteric Resistance in Emile Habiby’s The Pessoptimist.

24.02.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Isaac, Munther. 2025. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza On October 22, 2023, two days after the Israeli attack on St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac, seeking to comfort his congregation for the death of loved...

as he pastorally speaks to Palestinian sorrow while many religious leaders remained silent in naming the horrors in public.”
scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pir/art...

24.02.2026 13:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Isaac, Munther. 2025. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza On October 22, 2023, two days after the Israeli attack on St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac, seeking to comfort his congregation for the death of loved...

As Sarji notes, β€œIsaac contributes to Palestinian decolonial efforts in asserting Palestinian agency on narrative telling, by recounting the story from Palestinian eyes while not compromising on his ethical nonviolent stances. He does well in asserting original Palestinian theological interpretation

24.02.2026 13:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Isaac, Munther. 2025. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza On October 22, 2023, two days after the Israeli attack on St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac, seeking to comfort his congregation for the death of loved...

saac challenges readings of Scripture that have been mobilized to legitimize colonialism, dispossession, war, and even genocide, advancing instead a contextual and liberationist theology that locates Christ amid the suffering and destruction experienced by Palestinians.

24.02.2026 13:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Isaac, Munther. 2025. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza On October 22, 2023, two days after the Israeli attack on St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac, seeking to comfort his congregation for the death of loved...

In her review, Sarji presents Isaac’s work as a powerful theological intervention that confronts the moral and interpretive frameworks through which many Western Christians have engaged the genocidal violence in Gaza. Writing from his position as a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, I

24.02.2026 13:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Isaac, Munther. 2025. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza On October 22, 2023, two days after the Israeli attack on St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza, the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac, seeking to comfort his congregation for the death of loved...

We are pleased to share a new publication in Palestine/Israel Review featuring Marah Sarji’s review of Munther Isaac’s 2025 book Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza.

24.02.2026 13:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Heute Abend um 7 Uhr im @kreiskyforum.bsky.social
moderiere ich eine historische Veranstaltung zwischen iranischen und israelischen Intellektuellen:
@liorsternfeld.bsky.social: Hillel Schenker, Mehrangiz Kar, Mehrzad Borujerdi, Susie Becher, Touraj Atabaki.
www.kreisky-forum.org/category/eve...

12.02.2026 10:10 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0