Robert Nicholson
@rwnicholson_
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founder @philosproject | host of The Deep Map
NYC | Syracuse
Joined November 2012
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People in the streets yelling about colonialism, unaware that Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq were created by the same process that created Israel
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[LAST VIDEO WAS CUT OFF] Just recorded this in Ashkelon, ten miles away from Gaza, as Israeli missiles intercept Hamas rockets overhead. Pardon the alarms. One of the more surreal experiences I've ever had here
@philosproject
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Absurd. If the Holy Family was in southern Israel on 10/7 they would have been butchered by Hamas. Because they were Jewish
Christ in the Rubble - an icon by Kelly Latimore
المسيح مولودًا تحت الأنقاض - أيقونة لكيلي لاتيمور.
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Love when people appropriate my religion to make political points
If Christmas is "canceled" it's because 3,000 Muslim killers raped and slaughtered 1,200 Jews, Christians, and Muslims based on an apocalyptic Islamist theology
ITV:
Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem - the very place it began
“In place of its traditional nativity scene, there is simply a baby lying in rubble”
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Azerbaijan's attack on
#NagornoKarabakh
, some background:
1. The attack was unprovoked, despite Azerbaijan's claims to the contrary, and comes after a 9-month siege intended to weaken and starve the 120,000 Armenian Christians who live in what Armenians call
#Artsakh
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Hamas forced Palestinian civilians to stay in the war zone to die in large numbers and augment the PR strategy. Israel, once in control, dismantled Hamas's blockade and started evacuating them to the south.
The world: ah, ethnic cleansing.
Thousands of Palestinian civilians are finally able to evacuate south after Israeli forces opened up humanitarian routes that were closed by Hamas for weeks with the hopes of using them as human shields.
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Emotional visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial this afternoon. Laid flowers at the eternal fire. Toured the museum. Just horrible.
Hitler in 1939: "...Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Me in 2022: "We all must"
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Follow someone on Twitter that you totally disagree with, and not just to troll them. Listen to what they're saying and try to understand their perspective. It's a useful exercise
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Watching today's angsty reactions to the Soleimani hit reminded me once again why Americans keep failing in the Middle East.
Let me explain.
(thread)
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"We congratulate Azerbaijan for its victory in the battles and regaining the occupied territory,” Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said, referring to to conquest and displacement of 120,000 Armenian Christians. "This is a natural end of any occupation."
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Right now 120,000 Armenian Christians are blockaded inside Nagorno Karabakh and cut off from gas supplies with temps in the 30s. The culprit? Azerbaijan
RT to tell
@presidentaz
and
@Bayramov_Jeyhun
to
#endtheblockade
Background
(photo: Al Jazeera)
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Just recorded this in Ashkelon, ten miles away from Gaza, as Israeli missiles intercept Hamas rockets overhead. Pardon the alarms. One of the more surreal experiences I've ever had here
@philosproject
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"There is no doubt that Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey, the instigators of the siege now crushing Armenians, benefit from substantial weaponry and aid from the US. The only matter up for discussion is what obligation that places on us to stop them."
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Appears to be official: Azerbaijan has finally launched the war intended to erase Armenians from
#NagornoKarabakh
-- and with Russian and Turkish permission.
Read this powerful essay from
@SohrabAhmari
, "If Artsakh Falls"
BREAKING: Azerbaijan declares military operation on ethnically Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh
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People who opposed a Mideast policy that showed special concern for beleaguered Christian communities now suddenly care about Christians in Syria because it happens to line up against Donald Trump. I see you.
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There's a strange thing happening in Jerusalem these days in which (what seem to be) religious Jews are attacking Christians and Christian sites.
Every religious Jew I talk to is surprised, unaware of who could be behind it. But it's time to get to the bottom of it -- and I will
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What's happening in Israel?
Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group based in the Gaza Strip, launched a full-scale surprise attack on Israel this morning.
Hamas fighters have killed dozens, wounded hundreds, and are going house to house to kill men, women, and children in grisly…
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If you drive 45 min west from Yerevan you'll find Quba Mêrê Dîwanê, the largest Yazidi temple in the world.
But why are Yazidis, followers of a non-Abrahamic religion, living in this Christian country where they make up 2% of the population?
Good question...
(thread)
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"Our research verifies their claims: Turkey’s Armenian, Greek and Assyrian (or Syriac) communities disappeared as a result of a staggered campaign of genocide beginning in 1894, perpetrated against them by their Muslim neighbors."
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Family of slain Israeli Christian police officer Amir Khoury denounces politician who calls on Arabs in Israeli military/police to desert their posts: "Start working for coexistence and reconciliation and less for encouraging terrorism and evasion."
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Decades of religious freedom advocacy has failed to save Christians of the Near East. It's time for a new approach. My latest
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The country of Azerbaijan is citing "Armenian aggression" as the pretext for new military action against
#NagornoKarabakh
and
#Armenia
. But is it true?
I thought it worth explaining why it's not only false but completely absurd to think that Armenians want war...
(thread)
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Lead singer for
@systemofadown
goes hard on Azerbaijan for its ongoing aggression against tiny Armenia -- and the world, for looking the other way
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In the shadow of Ukraine, Azerbaijan is imposing collective punishment on the Armenians of the small enclave of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh by withholding gas supplies -- in the mountains, in the winter
#Azerbaijan
must prevent a humanitarian crisis by restoring unhindered gas supplies to the people of
#NagornoKarabakh
, who have endured weeks of freezing temps without heat or hot water.
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The Bible is the most important and influential collection of texts ever published. It is the foundation of Western culture. Teaching young Americans the gist of its contents is the only way to get this country back on track.
A wave of “Bible literacy” bills emerging in state legislatures would allow more students in public high schools to study the Old and New Testaments
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"If Armenia is a Russian puppet as some lobbyists claim, then it is a strange one: It exercises with the U.S. Army, joined a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo and stood up to Vladimir Putin by cancelling Russian military exercises on its own soil."
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2. To think the US can come up with (and impose) a comprehensive strategy to stop a multifaceted regional war is the height of ignorance and hubris. The Middle East will be plagued by conflict for the foreseeable future regardless of our well-laid plans. That's for starters.
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Prediction: Not a single Western Christian leader will condemn this attack because it wasn't perpetrated by Jews
Hezbollah attacked the St. Mary’s Greek-Orthodox Church of Iqrit in northern Israel.
An anti-tank missile from Lebanon directly hit the church, injuring a civilian.
This attack is not only a clear violation of
@UN
Security Council Resolution 1701, but also a violation of the…
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There's a very real chance in the coming weeks that
#Azerbaijan
will seize the rest of
#NagornoKarabakh
and continue on to southern
#Armenia
. Russia, Turkey, and Iran will have signed off on it. And unless something changes, the US will watch it all happen
Where are our leaders?
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DAY 17 of Azerbaijan's blockade of Armenian Christians in
#NagornoKarabakh
or
#Artsakh
.
Why is this happening? And why isn't Russia, the 'peacekeeper' in Karabakh, doing anything to open the
#LachinCorridor
?
Not surprisingly it's all tied up with Putin's war in Ukraine (thread)
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12. We pride ourselves on grand strategy but fail at basic tactics. In the chaotic and unpredictable Middle East, mastery of "cycle of violence" tactics is unfortunately the starting point for any successful strategy.
It's also weirdly the best way to break the cycle.
(end)
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Two of America's allies have been doing their best to annihilate a tiny Christian enclave in the area around Mount Ararat. Finally, America seems ready to do something
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The best way to understand Armenia is to understand its national church, which is based in a town called Echmiadzin.
Some Armenians are evangelical or Catholic, but most belong to the Armenian Orthodox Church, which makes it the beating heart of the nation.
(thread)
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Religious freedom is good but not enough. Erdogan needs to respect borders of Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Greece, and Cyprus and stop funding/harboring jihadis from all over the region. Worst ally ever.
Wheels down in Istanbul. While here, I will discuss religious freedom in the region and promote our strong stance on advancing religious freedom around the world.
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In a letter to
@POTUS
, I urge the admin to take action concerning the growing crisis in
#NagornoKarabakh
that threatens the lives of 120,000 Armenians and 1,700 years of Christian culture
See this by
@FoxNews
@ArmenVS
@Lara
@bulutuzay_
@sfrantzman
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"The Armenians we met...were quite minimal in their demands. They want to live in their homeland, and they want to do so securely."
Good summary of my press briefing yesterday with
@SamuelBrownback
re: our
@philosproject
fact-finding trip to Armenia
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So thankful Pastor Brunson is out but let's not forget about indigenous Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities who face discrimination every day in Turkey
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This is Amir Khoury, an Israeli citizen.
Until yesterday Amir was an Arab Christian police officer, born and raised in the Galilee. Yesterday he responded to a terrorist attack and took out the killer before giving his life to save civilians.
May his memory be for a blessing.
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"Around 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children, live in the enclave, and the alleged road closure has isolated them from the world and deprived them of food, medicine, and basic necessities."
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My local supermarket trying to tell everyone "thank you very much" but misspelling the Hebrew to say "thanks fatso" in the feminine
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The US has immense influence over Azerbaijan and can use any number of carrots and sticks to stop the starvation of 120,000 people inside
#NagornoKarabakh
. Instead,
@POTUS
has done nothing.
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Wholeheartedly support the Armenians of Artsakh as they defend themselves against the violence of Turkish-backed Azerbaijan.
American leadership needed. What's right is right.
@statedeptspox
@MessageFromLen
@ANCA_DC
@ANCA_WR
@philosproject
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Researchers at Cornell/Purdue publish shocking new evidence that Azerbaijan has destroyed 108 Armenian Christian sites in a “striking portrait of cultural erasure that, in its surgical precision, totality, and surreptitiousness, has few parallels.”
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To the Jewish people: Congrats on outliving Haman and pretty much everyone else for the last few thousand years. Barukh ha-Shem ve-Purim sameach
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We can say this with clarity: Iranian provocations in the Middle East have increased, not decreased, since the nuclear deal was signed. That's just a fact.
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DAY 22 of Azerbaijan's siege of Armenians in
#NagornoKarabakh
Why is
@presidentaz
doing this, you ask? Read about his plans for a "Great Return" to Armenian lands in his New Year speech, linked here
(key phrase: "whether Armenia wants it or not...")
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Today Armenians are Christian, but that wasn't always the case. This is the Temple of Garni, a Greco-Roman structure dedicated to the worship of the sun-god Mihr.
Twenty centuries later it's still in the same place under the same sun, a witness to the transformation of a nation
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New Harvard-Harris poll finds American people squarely behind Israel in the war against Hamas and the Iran-led resistance axis:
- 84% think US should increase strikes against Houthis if they keep attacking foreign vessels
- 83% say 10/7 a terrorist attack
- 80% support Israel…
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Way to go devil dog
Marine veteran saved shooting victims by stealing a truck, loading dozens of people in, and speeding to the hospital
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Not surprised that a lot of the same people cheering for Turkey and Azerbaijan's combined assault on Armenia for "strategic reasons" thought that invading Iraq was a good idea. Just zero understanding of history, culture, and religion in world affairs.
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While the world reels in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, Turkey's president -- a well known supporter of Hamas -- quietly continues his own campaign of death against Kurds, Armenians, and Assyrians on his borders
Erdogan says Turkey has concluded the first phase of its operations in Syria and Iraq following the Ankara bombing, while insisting he will not forget the US shooting down a Turkish drone last week.
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Sunday mass at Geghard Monastery, built in the 4th century by St Gregory the Illuminator and famous for its sacred spring, is literally carved into a mountain. One of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen
They're singing the "Song of Repentance"
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8. Between withdrawal and invasion is the preferred path of limited engagement: neither leave the Middle East to its own devices nor try to shape it in our image. Deploy power against power to restrain the worst actors, mitigate outbreak of total war, and protect our allies.
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3. It's possible -- now hang on folks -- there will be no peace in the Middle East for awhile. Americans eager for a grand settlement that puts every man at ease beneath his own vine and fig tree need to manage their expectations. We want justice, but it's not really up to us.
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"The noose now tightens. Azerbaijan has cut its gas pipelines and even internet. Artsakh cannot access food or medicine. Azerbaijani snipers shoot at farmers in Artsakh to prevent cultivation. Artsakh’s Christian community starves."
@mrubin1971
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Super proud of our partner
@ANCA_DC
for all their hard work pushing for tonight's historic House vote to recognize the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocide. A huge win for justice
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9. Absent shared values, power prevails. Competing narratives cannot reason from common principles. You can try to change the other's narrative but good luck. Better to obey the logic of limits: strike a balance, define boundaries, and enjoy the silence that stalemate brings.
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The tiny burned-out Syriac chapel at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher perfectly symbolizes the current state of Syriac Christianity: forgotten, bare, and neglected by the global church.
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"Ah, but the Iranians!" say Azerbaijanis. "The Armenians work with Iran. They love Iran!"
Reality: Armenia works hard to keep up good relations with Iran because Azerbaijan and Turkey have blockaded its two longest borders since the early 1990s, giving Armenia no other option.
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"The situation is extremely urgent and existential," Robert Nicholson...said in June. "This is the oldest Christian nation facing again for the second time in only about a century the possibility of a genocide."
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4. Armenians are Christians; Azeris are Turkish Muslims. And while this isn't a religious war per se, Azeri and Turkish attacks repeatedly invoke Islamic themes, often with reference to the previous Turkish genocide of Christians
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7. Of course we could decide to withdraw from this mess altogether. But that's an ethical decision too. Conflict will occur whether we're engaged or not. Is it better to wield our power toward better (if imperfect) outcomes, or let nature take its course? Hard question.
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4. There is no strategy for peace, only tactics of power. "Cycle of violence" is just the way things work. Groups compete in low-intensity, tit-for-tat skirmishes rather than large conventional wars. You kill my guy, I kill yours. Stronger side wins, other side settles.
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It's been 9 long days since the
#HamasMassacre
in southern Israel. A lot has happened since then, and a lot will happen, so let me take a moment to lay out the situation as I see it:
- This war was started by Hamas, an Islamic terror organization founded on the idea that Israel…
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It's increasingly clear that the global protests against Israel aren't really about Israel -- they're about dismantling a moral and political order, of which Israel is merely a symbol
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What lessons can we learn from Azerbaijan's 1-day war against the Armenians of
#NagornoKarabakh
?
@EVKontorovich
gives a list:
1. International law is no substitute for morality
2. Ethnic and religious hatred is alive and well
3. International lawyers apply the law selectively
4.…
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Armenia is a tiny Christian country wedged between two powerful Turkish states that want to destroy it. Americans stood up for Armenians during the genocide -- it's time we do so again.
#Americans4Armenians
@StateDept
@usembarmenia
@statedeptspox
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Historic day as 2 Assyrian Church of the East priests ordained in Jerusalem for the first time in 800 years. Thanks
@DrFaydra
for pictures!
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5. Americans like me want to break the cycle but, again, that's not really an option. Rather than try to break the cycle we should master it, but in the context of our own values. This means balance of power politics. It means building alliances. It means ground game.
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Few people I know are speaking out about the situation in
#Armenia
and
#NagornoKarabakh
more loudly, and at a higher level, than my friend
@SohrabAhmari
Unfortunately this is paywalled, but it's fire
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But why, you ask, are Turkey and Azerbaijan blockading Armenia?
They would say "Armenian terrorism." But listen to them closely and you'll find they both hope to establish a massive, pan-Turkic confederation across Central Asia.
Armenia is the one thing getting in the way.
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The alliance between America and Israel is not about the Benjamins -- it's about the Bible. Historically the world's most biblical country, America was moved when the Bible's authors returned to their homeland in the mid-20th century.
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Father Boulos is a Syriac monk living above St. Mark's Syriac Orthodox Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. He graciously wrote the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic on a piece of leather for me. Amazing guy!
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11. Ultimately this requires the occasional use of overwhelming violence. Wise statesman will be careful when and where they use it, but even the wisest cannot predict how the other side will react or when the cycle will end. Their wisdom lies in knowing the rules of the game.
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Great rundown of the existential plight of Armenian Christians in
#NagornoKarabakh
, from
@philosproject
fellow
@bulutuzay_
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I'll be talking with
@MarkMovsesian
@ArmenVS
and
@dermegerdichian
this Friday at 13:00 EST about what's happening in Armenia. Stay tuned for details
@philosproject
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Read this with the knowledge that Azerbaijan is currently, today, blockading the little Armenian enclave of Artsakh AND cutting off its gas supply with temperatures dropping. Inhumane.
@StateDeptSpox
@bulutuzay_
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No. Asking civilians to leave a conflict zone is called compliance with the laws of war
The mass expulsion of over 1 million people in a day is ethnic cleansing.
The UN has already said this is “impossible” and will have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
We have to stop ignoring the thousands of Palestinian lives lost and millions at stake! We must use all…
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No act of antisemitism will go unanswered! Thanks to
@philosproject
advisory board member
@ArmenVSahakyan
for visiting the Mordechai Navi synagogue in Yerevan, Armenia, for the
#PhilosActionLeague
.
The rabbi thanked him and invited him for tea in his sukkah. This is the way.
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The real reason I came to Sinai was to visit the mountain -- the place where God first broke through and revealed himself to man. Here is the Orthodox St Catherine's Monastery at the foot of the mountain, dating back to early 4th century
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6. Addressing root causes is attractive but it kind of requires curbing human nature and "West-splaining" to Muslims why we understand Islam better than they do. Invest (way) more in education. Give religious leaders a role. But know that it won't solve problems in the near term.
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Hanukkah commemorates a small band of Jews who saved the Hebraic tradition from Hellenic universalism 2,100 years ago. Imagine a world where the Maccabees didn't win: No Jews. No Bible. No equality, freedom, or justice. And of course no Christmas.
Happy Hanukkah!
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And there you have it: Hamas war against Israel was intended to *prevent* peace in the region
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"Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has left it with few friends, but Azerbaijan is an important exception. In fact, Moscow and Baku are effectively allies now."
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"Grocery store shelves are completely empty, even basic food items like bread are rationed, and there is so little fuel that the entire public transportation system has been shut down. Miscarriages have spiked threefold..."
#NagornoKarabakh
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Great convo indeed. Thanks to
@EylonALevy
for taking time to explain this moment through Jewish eyes. Very sobering
America’s Jews are feeling isolated and betrayed after 10/7. On campuses, nobody is standing up to the bullies with them. They need friendships and alliances, and I hope Christian communities will be among them. Great convo with
@rwnicholson_
at
@philosproject
.
#EyloNYC
🇮🇱🇺🇸
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10. It may seem counterintuitive that smarter use of power is the best path to peace but I can say from experience on the ground that somehow it works. I could make the Christian argument for why but maybe another day. Basically power equilibrium breeds stability and pluralism.
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My latest.
Joe Biden is eager to roll back Trump-era policies, but he’d be wise to continue championing the Arab-Israeli peace movement that swept the region in 2020 – via
@rwnicholson_
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2. Azerbaijan claims
#NagornoKarabakh
based on Soviet gerrymandering, saying Armenians are really "Caucasian Albanians" with no national/territorial rights (Armenians have been there for 2,500 years)
Typical narrative of Armenia as "Western Azerbaijan"-->
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Great piece from
@Bre_payton
and
@sperrazzaa
on the little known world that lies in the shadow of Gaza
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Armenia -- a country of genocide survivors -- has no geographic, demographic, or economic interest in "aggressing" against Azerbaijan. Armenia wants peace, and here's its PM saying so a few days ago.
The accusation is just a pretext: Azerbaijan is lying.
There will be a
#peace
treaty between
#Armenia
and
#Azerbaijan
, and it will be based on the joint official statements adopted at the highest level. There won’t be а new escalation! The international community must strongly support this narrative.
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Honored today to meet the legendary Natan Sharansky who spent almost a decade inside Soviet prisons for reasons of conscience. Fascinated to hear him humbly describe how he also defended the religious liberty rights of Russian evangelicals. Hero!
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Muslim soccer star donates 3 million pounds to Coptic victims of church fire in Egypt. Big respect for this
تبرع النجم المصري محمد صلاح، قائد منتخب مصر ونادي ليفربول الإنجليزي بمبلغ 3 مليون جنيه لضحايا حادث كنيسة أبو سيفين بمنطقة إمبابة بمحافظة الجيزة والتي ذهب ضحيتها 41 شخص بالإضافة إلى وفاة العشرات.
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6. While Turkey and Russia are the primary beneficiaries of this attack, the US and other Western democracies have given Aliyev an implicit green light. Shameful but true.
It's time to reverse course.
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"Friends of Armenia, Democratic and Republican, must make it clear to the Biden administration that the safety and autonomy of the Karabakhi Armenians, and their preferences, can’t be sacrificed in any push for negotiated settlement to the conflict."
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