أن يُطلب من أهل صور إخلاء مدينتهم، ليس مجرٌد إعلان عسكري. بل لحظة تهزّ شيئاً أعمق بكثير. فصور ليست مجرّد مدينة على الخارطة. إنها واحدة من أقدم المدن المأهولة في تاريخ البشرية، مرفأ حيّ للحضارات، وذاكرة للبحر، والتجارة، والثقافة، والصمود، والبقاء. مدينة شهدت سقوط إمبراطوريات وقيام أخرى، لكنها بقيت واقفة عبر القرون، رغم الحروب والاجتياحات والتحوّلات. حين يُطلب من شعوب بأكملها مغادرة مدنها التاريخية، على الإنسانية أن تتوقّف قليلاً لتدرك حجم ما يحدث. لأنّ خلف السياسة والحسابات العسكرية، هناك بشر. هناك عائلات، وذكريات، وبيوت، ومدارس، وكنائس، ومساجد، وشوارع، وصيادون، وأطفال، وآباء وأمهات، وقصص، وأجيال كاملة مرتبطة بهذه الأرض. وربما الأكثر وجعاً هو هذا الشعور بعدم المعرفة، عدم معرفة ما يحدث فعلاً في الجنوب. عدم معرفة ما الذي قد يحمله الغد. وعدم معرفة إلى أي حدّ تستطيع هذه المنطقة أن تتحمّل المزيد. قلوبنا مثقلة من أجل جنوب لبنان، مثقلة من أجل صور، ومثقلة من أجل كل إنسان بريء عالق بين التاريخ والحرب. #صور #جنوب_لبنان #لبنان

This is a picture of my grandfather with his parents and siblings, taken in Jerusalem in 1934. My Christian family lived in Jerusalem continuously since the time of Jesus, and our family tree that we have today can trace our roots back to around 1400 in Palestine, though it goes much further than we can track. Until 1948, when Zionist terrorists ethnically cleansed them from their city, stole their home, personal belongings, clothes, documents, books, money, and properties… and turned them into refugees overnight. Today, NONE of my family lives in Jerusalem. ZERO. Not a single one. And that is because of Israel, not Muslims.

I went twice to Karachi, and can’t wait to visit Lahore and the northern mountains. As an Egyptian, I felt so much at home in Pakistan. All of last year I kept on telling friends; we should work more together. Paid over $100 for visa in Jan, and by Dec visa was free!

After ten years of getting away with basically everything he says and does, Trump met his match this year in two groups: the shia and the catholics

I studied in Europe thanks to being also British and I am so happy that now my son can get to have this opportunity! It’s about time after this difficult decade to start doing the right thing.

بعد أذن شباب الحزب و الاعلام الحربي عايزين الأغنية دي في الفيديو القادم 😍

صلاة الجمعة في بورسعيد 1956 المصلين كانوا بيواجهوا فرنسا و انجلترا و اسرائيل

As we proceed to *Islamabad Talks*, I wish to extend our deepest and sincere gratitude to our brotherly countries People’s Republic of China, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Türkiye, Arab Republic of Egypt and State of Qatar for extending invaluable and all out support towards reaching the ceasefire and giving peaceful diplomatic efforts a chance to seek a comprehensive and conclusive end to the conflict. I would also like to deeply appreciate and thank our brotherly countries of Gulf Cooperation Council, whose consistent support and commitment to peace and stability in the region remains quintessential for our efforts. The leadership of all our brotherly countries and United States of America demonstrated exceptional strategic foresight, sagacity and patience in giving peace a chance. I also thank all our partners and friends across the globe who have reached out and acknowledged Pakistan’s sincere efforts for the global peace. Let us all work together to forge a lasting peace in the region and beyond!

Reposting this. Pakistan's position in this conflict is the product of a rare and unrepeatable combination: a Muslim-majority nuclear state with a Shia minority large enough to give Iran cultural stakes, a Sunni majority large enough to give the Gulf states political comfort, a border with Iran, a defence pact with Saudi Arabia, a strategic partnership with China that Tehran values, a warming with Washington that Tehran cannot afford to antagonise, no American military bases on its soil, a military that proved itself in live combat less than a year ago, a competent political leadership and a foreign minister who has grown into the moment, and a diplomatic tradition of studied neutrality that every party in this conflict has at various points relied upon.

القنوات الايرانية الميادين والعالم مصر الكبرى x.com/AlMayadeenNews/status/…

اللهم بحق فاطمة وأبيها وبعلها وبنيها، والسّر الكامن فيها، لا تجعل لمصر حاجةً عند لئيمٍ من خلقك.

Re-upping my Feb conversation with @DalrympleWill @tweeter_anita on @EmpirePodUK about Iran, Hezbollah, Israel, Saudi Arabia... and how 1980's got us to where we are today. Ep. 122: more focused KSA/Iran with some personal reflections on life in war. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

The path away from war still exists, says @badralbusaidi, Oman’s foreign minister. He lays out what both America and Iran must do to engage in negotiations once again economist.com/by-invitation/…

عند السادسة من صباح أمس، كانت بيروت لا تزال نصف نائمة. بعد ليلة قاسية، ليلة من القصف، من انهيار المباني، من الخسائر، كان هناك صمت غريب على الكورنيش البحري. لا ضجيج، لا حركة، فقط مدينة تحاول أن تلتقط أنفاسها. خرجت أركض. رأيت رجالًا ونساءً يستيقظون من على الأرصفة، من داخل سياراتهم، من فوق فرشاتٍ رقيقة على الأرض الباردة. يطوون أغطيتهم بهدوء، يغسلون وجوههم بما تيسّر، ثم يرفعون رؤوسهم، يبتسمون، ويقولون: "صباح الخير". صباح الخير … في مدينة لم تنم. في مدينة اهتزّت قبل ساعات. في مدينة لديها كل الأسباب لتنكسر. ومع ذلك، لا تنكسر. في بيروت شيءٌ يرفض الهزيمة. ليس صاخباً، ولا بطولياً كما نتصوّر، بل إصرار عنيد على الحياة. صباح أمس، لم أرَ ضحايا. بل رأيت إنسانية تُقاوم. #صباح_الخير #بيروت #لبنان

I’m not sure how we became accustomed to this. How it doesn’t shake us to the bone. It’s surreal how numb we became. We are slowly becoming dehumanized! Besides the reconstruction of our cities we need the rehabilitation of our lost souls.

Monarchists are marching in the town my mom lives in Italy. They were approaching the street she lives in, while my mom was at home. She called me and said "I don't know what to do, I can't just stay here and watch them... I don't have and would not wave an IR flag... so what should I do? I don't even know what flag would represent me anymore" I said "ignore them, they're dangerous" Then she came up with "I'm going to wave a Palestine flag from the window, let me go and pick it up".

GOLESTAN PALACE !!!! SEVERELY DAMAGED IN ISRAELI / U.S. AIRSTRIKES. A historical royal residence of the 15th century in #Tehran. In 2013 it was listed by @UNESCO as a world heritage site.

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart. We had a very good month. Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace. By mid-February, we had something. Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green. That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma. Here is what they said, in the order they said it. February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday. February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive. I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach. February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses. February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters. Not happy with the pace. We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway. Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years. Not happy with the pace. February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens. I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses. February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications. February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump. Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production." Rejected. Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman. The President said they rejected it. I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed. February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment. February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school. I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that. February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning. February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse. February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement. The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined. Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.

I've just been chatting with Nick Cullinan, the excellent new director of the British Museum, and I'm very relieved to say that the story put by the Daily Telegraph about the BM cancelling the name Palestine is a complete misrepresentation of the facts: "To reassure you we are not removing mention from Palestine from our labels," Nick told me. "Indeed, we have a display on at the moment about Palestine and Gaza. "I know this is something our curators have thought long and hard about - as you can imagine. We amended two panels in our ancient Levant gallery last year during a regular gallery refresh, when some wording was amended to reflect historical terms. "To be honest, the even more frustrating and concerning thing is that I knew nothing about this until yesterday and has only been explained to me this morning. I hadn’t even seen that [UK Lawyers for Israel] letter despite asking for it until this morning. I’m disgusted by the whole thing." The question remains why the Daily Telegraph would put out such a mischief-making story without first fact checking it with the Directors office.