Rasha Elass
@RashaElass
Editorial Director @newlinesmag. Covered the Middle East in peace & war. @Reuters @NPR @columbiajourn. Former blue check. Usual disclaimers. Pitch me!
A pair of MUST reads at @newlinesmag — @shane_burley1 on Laura Loomer and Jewish MAGA's danse macabre, @BenLorber8 on the antisemitic core of MAGA's obsession with Epstein and why progressives have no business jumping on the bandwagon. Illuminating exercises in ideology critique.
Druze leader in Lebanon Sheikh Sami Abi Al-Muna, on Sweida: What happened is not what we hoped for. Everyone bears responsibility, including Sheikh Al-Hijri. There must be flexibility. I’m ready to mediate and am in contact with Druze Sheikhs Jarbou, Hanawi and Hikmat.
Top Syrian Druze leader with important remarks on Sweida. He says his guesthouse was burned & his father’s grave desecrated by Israel-backed Sheikh Hikmat Hajri thugs for rejecting violence & foreign agendas. Accuses them of lies, disinfo, betrayal & pushing sectarian deals.
Important call from Israel’s Druze leader Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif: Separating from Syria isn't good for us. Don’t be blinded by 'victory' or online rhetoric. Alienating 2B Muslims will backfire. Abide by the ceasefire. Hope Syrians of all sects preserve coexistence & peace.
Our exclusive coverage includes a first person account of the frail Druze elder whose beard was cut during the recent sectarian violence in Sweidi, @CP__Ward reports for @newlinesmag . newlinesmag.com/spotlight/esca…
For decades, Israel’s Druze citizens have unsuccessfully lobbied for equality based on their loyal service to the state. Now domestic and regional developments have made them increasingly fearful for their future, explains @RaslanIb for @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/argument/the-b…
Iraq’s sectarian political system, which emerged after the U.S. invasion in 2003, threatens to normalize child marriage, writes Minatullah Alobaidi in @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/argument/the-c…
The dam of Gaza genocide denial has well and truly broken. While Israel’s supporters in the West still reject the charge, many media outlets are coming off the fence. Genocide scholar @martinshawx reflects on the shift for @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/argument/the-d…
A growing number of Nigerians are returning home after years abroad, but they are often met with skepticism, culture shock and hard realities. In this essay for @newlinesmag, @Charleskins explores the “japada” trend. newlinesmag.com/reportage/nige…
The amount of lies spread about Syria is astounding. In reality, much of the recent savagery has been carried out by Israel-backed rebels in Sweida. But Twitter counts on people’s ignorance & sectarianism to sell a different story.
I just watched a horrific video of a Syrian terrorist cutting the heart out of a Druze civilian as he was alive and defenseless! I’m not going to link it here. It made me sick to my stomach. What’s being done to these people is unimaginable. Meanwhile, our envoy, Barrack,…
The dam of Gaza genocide denial has well and truly broken. While Israel’s supporters in the West still reject the charge, many media outlets are coming off the fence. Genocide scholar @martinshawx reflects on the shift for @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/argument/the-d…
Huge: the deal with Sweida's Druze, agreed by Israel, is a dream deal for Damascus: Government forces to enter all of the province, along with security & military institutions. The dissolution of all factions, handover of heavy weapons & integrating individuals into the state.
The collapse of the Assad regime has turned Syria's Sweida province into a dangerous flash point. @Santiagomontag and @HussamHamoud report for @newlinesmag on how sectarian fears, local militias and outside powers are colliding. newlinesmag.com/spotlight/desp…
“We’re standing perhaps on the precipice of something really bad.” @ChristopherJM and @Amie_FR join @FaisalAlYafai on the @newlinesmag podcast to discuss exhaustion in Ukraine and why Putin won’t take Trump’s threats seriously. newlinesmag.com/podcast/ukrain…
Calls for national unity & promises for justice for massacred Druze. Syria's al-Sharaa warns against Israel's shenanigans (which have already backfired against Netanyahu). Credits US, Turkey & Arab allies for being the adults in the room. Violence in Sweida continues.
A statement just made by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the attacks by “the Israeli entity” & Israel-backed Druze rebels in Sweida. “You may be able to start a war but it’s not easy to control its consequences.” “We won’t give them a chance to start a war in our land.”
Israel’s Druze keep lobbying for equality based on their loyal service to the state, but in Israel they remain second-class citizens. In Syria they feel increasingly vulnerable and face sectarian violence. Insight by @RaslanIb for @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/argument/the-b…
🚨 You recall the elderly Druze man whose beard was shaved by pro-government thugs in Sweida? @CP__Ward met him recently. Crucial reporting, including on who he is and how he couldn’t have been mistaken for a combatant or aa hostile. For @newlinesmag newlinesmag.com/spotlight/esca…
The mountain of the Druze is burning. @CP__Ward reports for @newlinesmag on the violence in Sweida, Syria, and the region's descent into catastrophe. newlinesmag.com/spotlight/esca…
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, historical revisionism is rife, with the wars of the 1990s increasingly up for debate and reinterpretation, report Tatjana Dordevic and Joshua Evangelista for @newlinesmag. newlinesmag.com/essays/srebren…
