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Brian Whitaker

@brianwhitaker.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.2K following 131 posts

Journalist, former Middle East editor of the Guardian newspaper. Author of 'Arabs Without God: Atheism and Freedom of Belief in the Middle East', plus several other books about the region. Website: al-bab.com

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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Deniers of chemical attacks in Syria claim employment tribunal’s ruling proves them right al-bab.com/blog/2026/05...
al-bab.com
Deniers of chemical attacks in Syria claim employment tribunal’s ruling proves them right
One of the gas cylinders implicated in the Douma chemical attack
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Satellite Imagery Reveals Strikes on Iranian Police Stations www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...
bellingcat.com
Satellite Imagery Reveals Strikes on Iranian Police Stations - bellingcat
The US has released a list of military targets in Iran, including IRGC headquarters and missile systems. But Bellingcat has reviewed strikes against another type of target inside the Islamic Republic ...
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Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
OK. Green smoke. Coloured smoke grenades have existed for decades. They are for signalling purposes. They are not meant for riot control purposes. As with any smoke, they are irritating, but they are not meant for that purpose, so use as "riot control" agents is an off-label usage.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Anyone who does translation work should take a look at Grok's posts about Hebrew (x.com/search?q=gro...). Grok (Elon?) has ideas about good/bad translation that strike me as pretty weird.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
1/3 In the last few days something odd has been happening with posts on X in Hebrew. Non-Hebrew speakers would click “translate” and, for some posts, would get a translation. Other posts, though, would trigger a message saying “Hebrew is not currently supported for translation”.
medium.com
How X got into a muddle over ‘inflammatory’ posts in Hebrew
Over the last few days something odd has been happening with posts on X in Hebrew. Non-Hebrew speakers wishing to know what they were…
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
🧵1/6 UKLFI, the pro-Israel organisation whose chief executive claimed the Gaza war could increase the life expectancy of Palestinians by reducing obesity rates, has come up with another grotesque idea ...
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Re Zelenskyy's attire: In WW2 Winston Churchill wore a one-piece "siren suit" for meetings with Roosevelt (at the White House), Eisenhower and Stalin.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
At least 365 people have been arrested at a demonstration in London in support of proscribed group Palestine Action, police say. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Palestine Action protesters arrested by police at London demo
Protesters simultaneously unveiled signs with the same message
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
1/4 Activists campaigning against Britain’s military presence in Northern Ireland faced surveillance and prosecution during the 1970s. liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/01/07/s...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
‘Seducing’ soldiers | Liverpool People's History
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
It seems very likely Bob Vylan will be prosecuted, if only to make an example of them. Worth noting, though, that it's the sort of case where juries sometimes turn bolshie and deliver the "wrong" verdict.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
@liverpoolph.bsky.social
bsky.app
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
@liverpoolph.bsky.social
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
🧵UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) is getting a lot of attention following disgusting remarks by its chief executive, Jonathan Turner. For anyone not aware of the group's activities, here's some background ...
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
🧵(1/5) The war in Gaza may be improving the health of Palestinians and increasing life expectancy, according to the head of UKLFI, a British organisation that works to stifle criticism of Israel.
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Maryam Aldossari @maryamaldossari.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Amnesty International has documented the Saudi authorities’ increasing crackdown on freedom of expression, targeting citizens and foreign nationals, many sentenced to lengthy prison terms solely for peacefully exercising their right to free expression. www.amnesty.org.uk/urgent-actio...
amnesty.org.uk
Saudi Arabia: Upcoming Hearing For Detained British National
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
‘Kennedy told reporters that there were "many, many good ways to treat measles and doctors need to know that and to know those methods.’ One problem; there is no treatment for measles. Signed, a doctor who’s been forced to deal with measles because of this stupid fraud.
cbsnews.com
RFK Jr. asks CDC for new measles treatment guidance amid his unfounded claims
Kennedy claimed that drugs like budesonide and clarithromycin "have been shown very effective" for measles, but doctors say they don't fight the infection itself.
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
The Fisher Bendix factory in Kirkby had been built with government help to ease unemployment in the area but it wasn’t a success. In 1972 when the owners tried to shut it down workers occupied the factory and later began running it themselves. liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/01/07/b...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
Under new management: the Fisher Bendix story | Liverpool People's History
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
The International Garden Festival in 1984 attracted more than three million visitors and helped to regenerate Liverpool. But what benefit did the visitors get from it? liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/04/13/i...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
The International Garden Festival: a treat for ʽcomfortable Britain’ | Liverpool People's History
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
In 1971 there were two notable court cases in Liverpool where black men accused of possessing cannabis were acquitted after claiming police had planted it – a practice known in the force as "agriculture". liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/01/07/p...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
Police, drugs and ‘agriculture’ in Toxteth | Liverpool People's History
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Litttlewoods football pools once provided jobs for thousands of Liverpool women. Former employees describe what it was like to work there. liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/03/13/l...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
Littlewoods Pools: where women ‘never had time to get bored’ | Liverpool People's History
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Liverpool People's History @liverpoolph.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Liverpool People’s History is intended as a collaborative project and public participation is strongly encouraged. liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/about-liverp...
liverpoolpeopleshistory.org
About the People’s History website | Liverpool People's History
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Alison Killing @alisonkilling.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Same story, posted same time: Bluesky - 393 reposts, 551 likes Twitter/X - 3 retweets, 7 likes
Screenshot of Bluesky skeet about FT story where Venezuelan migrants who had signed papers to go back to Venezuela were instead sent to a prison in El Salvador. It has been reposted 393 times and liked 551 times. Screenshot of tweet (on Twitter/X) about FT story where Venezuelan migrants who had signed papers to go back to Venezuela were instead sent to a prison in El Salvador. It has been viewed 357  times, retweeted 3 times and liked 7 times.
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
This is unbelievable in that way that only Trump stories can be. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/n...
nytimes.com
Decades Ago, Columbia Refused to Pay Trump $400 Million. Note That Number. (Gift Article)
A quarter century ago, the university was looking to expand. It considered, and rejected, property owned by Donald Trump. He did not forget it.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
1/4 Today the Sunday Times has begun serialising a new book about the assassination of its chief foreign correspondent, David Holden, in 1977. Holden was shot dead shortly after arriving in Cairo on an assignment. Who killed him, and why, has been a mystery ever since.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
A constructive step by the new Syrian authorities towards resolving the chemical weapons issue. #OPCW www.opcw.org/media-centre...
opcw.org
Syria’s caretaker Foreign Minister addresses OPCW’s Executive Council
In a landmark visit to OPCW’s Headquarters in The Hague, caretaker Foreign Minister al-Shaibani reaffirmed the commitment of the new Syrian authorities to cooperate with the OPCW to eliminate the chem...
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Holocaust Survivor Summoned for Police Interview Over Gaza Solidarity March – Byline Times bylinetimes.com/2025/03/04/h...
bylinetimes.com
Holocaust Survivor Summoned for Police Interview Over Gaza Solidarity March
Stephen Kapos, 87, is among dozens of activists interviewed or charged by police for their part in the January 18th pro-Palestine protest in London
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Zelensky to meet King Charles tomorrow. 🤣Trump is going to be furious.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Another of the almost uncountably pieces of very sinister news coming out of the US
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John Vibes @johnvibes.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
New Banksy
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Muhsin Hendricks, known as the world's first openly gay imam, has been shot dead in South Africa www.mambaonline.com/2025/02/15/h...
mambaonline.com
Horror as Muhsin Hendricks, "World’s First Gay Imam," Assassinated in Gqeberha
South Africa’s LGBTQ+ community is in shock after the assassination of Cape Town’s Muhsin Hendricks, known as the world’s first out gay imam.
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Charles Я. Davis @charliearchy.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
We live in a timeline where "literally Bashar al-Assad's son" is less committed to Assadism/atrocity denial (for obviously cynical reasons) than the folks at The Grayzone and Electronic Intifada: x.com/HafezALAsssa...
x.com
x.com
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Exclusive: Egyptian firm charges trucks entering Gaza $20,000 in ‘bribes’ www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-o...
middleeasteye.net
Exclusive: Egyptian firm charges trucks entering Gaza $20,000 in ‘bribes’
Powerful tribal leader Ibrahim al-Organi continues to monopolise permits to commercial and aid trucks despite ceasefire deal, adding to Palestinian woes
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Just got a surprise windfall from my bank. Can't decide what to do with the money.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Names of Syria's Preparatory Committee emerge: "Provided these names are confirmed in the coming hours, the breadth of the group represents about as good a result as might have been imagined." www.syriaweekly.com/p/new-syrias...
syriaweekly.com
NEW: Syria's Preparatory Committee is Revealed
Broad group of 7 members will prepare Syria's National Conference
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Before the Trump Plan, no reputable news channel or thinktank in Israel even dared poll the popularity of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza as a "solution". The extreme right has been advocating for this for 15 months, but it remained beyond the pale. 1/
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Gregory Koblentz @gregkoblentz.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Very useful update on state of play of Syria-OPCW relations.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
A series of meetings in Damascus last week has raised hopes that the full extent of Syria’s chemical weapons activity under the Assad regime will finally be revealed. al-bab.com/blog/2025/02...
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
OPCW chief's meeting with Syrian leader raises hopes that the full extent of chemical weapons activity under the Assad regime will finally be revealed. brian-whit.medium.com/opcw-chief-m...
brian-whit.medium.com
OPCW chief meets Syrian leader for chemical weapons talks
A series of meetings in Damascus last week has raised hopes that the full extent of Syria’s chemical weapons activity under the Assad…
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Patti Olivier 💙VOTE BLUE @patti3333.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
THIS MUST STOP
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 03/02/2025
Dear Democratic Leaders: here’s a free idea, send members of congress into the buildings where Elons people are and see what they’re doing. Dare them to stop you. Do something
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 25/01/2025
📽️ WATCH: At ProPublica, we’ll be devoting a significant part of our staff to detailing the second Trump administration. If you are a federal employee and have tips, documents, data or stories you can share that the public should know about, reach out: www.propublica.org/tips/
propub.li
Do You Work for the Federal Government? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 02/02/2025
A reporter asks Trudeau what it says about his and Trump's relationship if Trump isn't taking his calls. Trudeau says, oh, you know how busy he's been
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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 02/02/2025
Incredibly moving Justin Trudeau remarks: "We have fought and died alongside you....During your darkest hours...we were always there. Standing with you, grieving with you, the American people....Canadians are a little perplexed as to why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 02/02/2025
Draw your own conclusions, but Donald Trump is not behaving like a leader who expects democratic accountability for himself or his party next year or in 2028.
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
The entire USAID website has disappeared www.usaid.gov
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 27/01/2025
‘We were raided regularly’: with Assad gone, banned books return to Syria’s shelves
theguardian.com
‘We were raided regularly’: with Assad gone, banned books return to Syria’s shelves
Under the deposed dictator, books had to pass detailed scrutiny by government censors To print a book in the days of the Bashar al-Assad regime, one first had to think of the censors. Was the book political in nature? Off to the ministry of information.…
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded at a meeting in Damascus that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion in liquid assets held by the exiled dictator's family in Russian banks, sources told The National. www.thenationalnews.com/news/2025/01...
thenationalnews.com
Syria’s new leader tells Russia to hand over Al Assad - and his '$2 billion' | The National
Ahmad Al Shara says former president must be brought to justice in first meeting with Kremlin officials
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Brian Whitaker @brianwhitaker.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
An advertisement containing the word "genocide" has been removed from a billboard in London after pro-Israel lawyers claimed it posed a threat to public order. al-bab.com/blog/2025/02...
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