SAVE THE DATE: I'll be joining Lara Vergnaud & Jadd Hilal at the Comédie du Livre, Montpellier, for this public conversation (en français). Fri 22 May, 15:30: themarkaz.org/event/quelle-p…

To those asking.

To commemorate the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, we interviewed Kurdish poet İlhan Sami Çomak, who was incarcerated for thirty years. themarkaz.org/ilhan-sami-com…

What should we do when every last possible good feeling we have has turned to ash. In her upcoming "Dear Souseh" column, TMR Senior Editor Lina Mounzer gives voice to the feelings so many of us hold close. Out this Friday. Got a question for Souseh? Write to dearsouseh@themarkaz.org and it may appear (anonymously) in a future column. #TheMarkazReview #DearSouseh #AdviceColumn #ExistentialAdvice #MonthlyColumn #LinaMounzer

🚨BREAKING🚨Israeli forces are now issuing direct death threats to Lebanese journalists on WhatsApp as well as besieging them. Al-Akhbar correspondent @AmalKhalil83, who has been documenting the devastation across southern Lebanon, received these messages from an Israeli number ( 972 54-869-5113): “We know where you are… we will reach you… leave if you want to keep your head on your shoulders.” First message: “Alright, my lady, you are moving from one village to another, but you still haven’t gone to enough funerals or hospitals. There is a lot of grief & sorrow behind that smile you try to show on Twitter. Let’s see what your answer will be… Is your house still standing, Anisa (Miss)? I hope so?” Second message: “We know where you are & we will reach you when the time comes. Even though you are not important to us, in the end we will take everything into account. I suggest you flee to Qatar or somewhere else if you want to keep your head connected to your shoulders :)” This is not intimidation. This is the IDF issuing an explicit death threat to a journalist for covering their crimes. At the same time, Israeli forces besieged Amal al-Khalil & journalist Zeinab Faraj in al-Tayri, blocking the Red Cross & Lebanese Army from reaching them. They were in a delegate vehicle when a drone strike hit a vehicle behind them, killing two people. Both journalists were trapped at the scene. Amal contacted the Red Cross before her phone died. Her last message confirmed she was still safe. Rescue teams still cannot reach the two besieged journalists, Amal al-Khalil & Zeinab Faraj. They are just 500 meters away, but the road has been cut off by an Israeli strike, according to Red Cross paramedics. This is targeting journalists in real time. This is a crime. Pure state terrorism against the press.

In his latest interview for TMR 58 • Mother Tongue , TMR Editor-in-chief Jordan Elgrably (@JordanElgrably) asked a group of writers and artists how they negotiate identity between a mother tongue and other languages. 🔗 Read the full interview: bit.ly/three-artists-five-wr… #MotherTongue #Multilingual #LanguageAndIdentity #LifeInTranslation #LeilaAboulela #SalarAbdoh #JanaTraboulsi #ArabLiterature #DiasporaLit #SWANAArt #TheMarkazReview #TMR58

From 'James Baldwin, The Art of Fiction No. 78', interviewed by Jordan Elgrably, Paris Review [no. 91, Spring 1984]

Another bloody day in Lebanon. Israel killed 86 people & injured 159 today alone across Lebanon. Since March 2: 773 killed & 1,993 injured. Women, children, medics & entire families are among the victims. Today, Israel committed two massacres: 12 civilians were killed when a residential building was struck in Sidon, & in Nabatiyeh the entire Basma family - father, mother, & four children - were also killed. These are some of their faces.

Insightful essay by #IasonAthanasiadis, reveals #ArtificialIntelligence’s running amok in #wars present & future: #Al struggle for Middle Earth in #US-#Israel War on #Iran ⁦@TheMarkazReview⁩ themarkaz.org/ai-in-the-u-s-…

Meet Saleem Haddad, our new fiction editor and author of Guapa (2016) and floodlines (2026), a multigenerational tale of art, exile, memory, and the enduring legacies of war. Supported by institutions such as The Corporation of Yaddo and the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, Saleem joins TMR to encourage writers to experiment with genre, including crime, thriller, spy fiction, speculative and science fiction, romance, and hybrid forms. #TheMarkazReview #TMRteam #SaleemHaddad #SWANALit

Former British diplomat Alastair Crooke says that America was not prepared for Iran's sophisticated military response. They did not think this through, and the subsequent strategic blunder demonstrates this. Watch my full conversation with Alastair at the link below.

Why stop there. Abolish the Security Council. Democratize the UN.

Who made this 😭😂🤣

Can we get this shared 10,000 times? "War crimes don't hide sex crimes!"

YEP!

Gulf states are realizing the US military bases on their soil just make them sitting targets for Iran. The US sent all its air defense systems to Israel and left its Arab allies completely defenseless. A massive strategic betrayal.

It’s not just Iran. It’s Lebanon. In less than 2 weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000 — over 10% of the entire country. Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning. The U.S. cannot continue to be complicit in Netanyahu’s wars.

Good mourning. Operation Epstein Fury continues apace. At least 150 US soldiers have been killed or injured that we know of. Massive numbers of Iranian civilians, including children, have been murdered. All to distract from the fact that Donald trump is a child-raping pedophile.

LET'S FUCKING DO THIS!