“‘Soldiers! Soldiers! Soldiers!’”
The kindergartners of al–Mughayyir. The children of Palestine are striking for their curiosity and fearlessness. Small groups approached whenever I was out walking, often trailing me for several blocks, as they peppered me with questions: “Where are you from?” being…
Patrick Lawrence: ‘Brain Dead’ and Dangerous, NATO Proceeds
It is now five years since Emmanuel Macron, in one of those blunt outbursts for which he is known, told The Economist, in a reference to the collective West, “What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO.” The…
“Impunity in the West Bank.”
Israel’s seven-front war. I had been back from the West Bank one month when I called a friend in al–Bireh, a friend I cannot name. It was Friday, 14 June. I had been worrying, and it was something of a…
“Introducing: West Bank Alerts.”
Recent news from Occupied Palestine. Note to readers, I now announce the launch of a new Substack newsletter devoted to keeping readers up-to-date on events in occupied Palestine: West Bank Alerts. Since returning from the West Bank at the end of…
“Democracy or global supremacy.”
Democratic Party delegates must choose one come August. In this brief note, the novelist Peter Dimock calls upon Americans to reject Joe Biden’s desperate bid for a second presidential term by prevailing on the four thousand-plus delegates to the Democratic…
Patrick Lawrence: Power for the Sake of Power
When I awoke Saturday morning, I found my thoughts wandering back a decade, when my siblings and I plotted to get our father’s car keys out of his frail, unsteady hands. Watching Joe Biden in a television interview will do…
“In the shade of an olive tree.”
A grandmother remembers al–Nakba. Note to readers: After ruminating on this matter, and with the encouragement of various people who have written to us, we have decided to make our Palestinian Voices series freely available to everyone: There will be no paywalls…
Patrick Lawrence: 90 Minutes That Shook the Liberals Awake
Give me a sec to think. I need to make a list. Two. The genocide in Gaza, the Middle East tinderbox, Bezalel Smotrich, the lost proxy war in Ukraine, relations with Russia, the danger of nuclear war, the fate of…
“From the Service Desk.”
A note to readers. We had a welcome surprise in the mail the other day. Readers will be familiar with Guy Mettan’s recent “Report from Donbas,” a two-part series recounting his travels in the Luhansk and Donetsk republics, which voted,…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Netanyahu Goes for Broke
The Israeli prime minister has chosen this moment to mount a go-for-broke attempt to bring the U.S. into some kind of once-and-for-all conflict that would leave Israel supreme in the region. It is a matter of record that the Zionist…