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Oliver Mizzi

@ollymizzi99.bsky.social
474 followers 1.2K following 124 posts

Journalist at The New Arab covering the MENA. Sussex and St Andrews alum. Finally got round to substack writing here: substack.com/@ollymizzi99

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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This week I was at Labour's conference in Liverpool. Among the pieces I wrote, arguably the most interesting had been the reception of Muslim and minority organisations to the conference. You can read about it here: www.newarab.com/news/uk-musl...
newarab.com
UK Muslims look to Labour’s Burnham devolution to tackle hate
British Muslim groups welcome Labour’s shift on Islamophobia but demand action, with devolution offering hope for marginalised communities.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Latest Substack from me. Reflecting on Hobsbawm's 'Long Nineteenth Century', the relevance of the period for today, and what we can take from it.
ollymizzi99.substack.com
On Hobsbawm’s ‘Long Nineteenth Century’
In reading the trilogy, perhaps we can understand both ourselves and our trajectory.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Forecasts are getting harder to do it seems. At least, JP Morgan admitted on Thursday that is can't forecast an end to the US-Iran. You can read more about it below www.newarab.com/news/jp-morg...
newarab.com
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As fighting rages in Yemen, aid agencies we spoke to warned that, despite mobilising to alleviate the situation, fighting is only set to deepen the country's dire humanitarian crisis. From me for @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/yemen-w...
newarab.com
’Yemen was already suffering’, NGOs tell TNA as crisis deepens
Renewed fighting in Yemen has displaced around 100,000 people, with aid groups warning TNA that severe funding cuts are hampering the humanitarian response.
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The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy @timep.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
TIMEP's Leena Badri speaks to @thenewarab.bsky.social's @ollymizzi99.bsky.social to weigh in on Sudanese civil society's response to the African Union Commission's endorsement of a dialogue initiative led by the country's military. www.newarab.com/news/civil-s...
newarab.com
Civil society opposition to Sudan’s Burhan-led dialogue mounts
Sudan’s anti-military and anti-war opposition has condemned the African Union Commission’s endorsement of a dialogue initiative by the country’s military.
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The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy @timep.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
"What decides whether that integration deepens, and whether investment actually flows in, has far more to do with the quality of economic governance [...]," Jad Baghdadi speaks to @ollymizzi99.bsky.social about the arrival of Visa and Mastercard in Syria. www.newarab.com/news/visa-ma...
newarab.com
Visa, Mastercard arrive in Syria. Will this help the economy?
Analysts have said Syria faces several challenges in the widespread adoption of digital payment systems, including limited infrastructure.
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The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy @timep.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"Above all, Syrians need to feel safe in the presence of the military, rather than threatened by it," TIMEP's Kholoud Helmi tells @thenewarab.bsky.social's @ollymizzi99.bsky.social, as she weighs in on the institutionalization and professionalization of Syria's army. www.newarab.com/analysis/syr...
newarab.com
Syria’s new army: Can Damascus build a truly national force?
Syria’s army is undergoing a process of unification and professionalisation, but factional dynamics forged during the war still linger
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Syria's army is undergoing a process of unification and professionalisation, but factional dynamics forged during the war still linger. With comments from Qussai Jukhadar, Kholoud Helmi and Khedder Khaddour for @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/analysis/syr...
newarab.com
Syria’s new army: Can Damascus build a truly national force?
Syria’s army is undergoing a process of unification and professionalisation, but factional dynamics forged during the war still linger
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Since Sunday, Israeli settlers have been besieging the houses of Palestinian families in Qusra. Labelled terroristic, the army has now launched an operation to remove settler outposts, displacing Palestinian families and raising fears of their permanence. My report: www.newarab.com/news/after-d...
newarab.com
After days enabling settler terror, Israel acts in Qusra
Israeli forces evicted Palestinian families and imposed a military zone in Qusra as troops moved to dismantle an illegal settler outpost after days of terror.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
As Israel continues to withhold tax revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the occupied West Bank's health system is nearing collapse. Aid agencies and rights groups warned to @thenewarab.bsky.social that the territory is seeing a "systematic erosion" of it's healthcare.
newarab.com
Israel ’systematically eroding’ West Bank health system
Around 75% of the Palestinian Health Ministry’s 590 service branches are now only functioning one or two days a week, straining health services in the West Bank
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The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy @timep.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
"Unless genuine civilians are[at] the table, it will be another cake-sharing deal to award war criminals and warlords." Former TIMEP Nonresident Fellow Mohaned Elnour describes to The New Arab's @ollymizzi99.bsky.social how Sudanese civilians have been sidelined. www.newarab.com/news/sudanes...
newarab.com
Sudanese army claim to end war by December met with dismissal
Yasser al-Atta made the claims in remarks to defected RSF fighters, though analysts say he has made outlandish claims since the start of the war.
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The New Arab @thenewarab.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The Sudanese army's capture of a key road between El-Obeid and Omdurman has sparked claims from a top army official that the war will be over by the year's end, though analysts told The New Arab that the prediction lacks credibility. Read more by Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
In the early hours of Tuesday morning in Isfahan, residents of the city embarked on a rare act of public defiance: they attempted to stop the execution of two protesters, revealing a sentiment that is bubbling just under the surface of the country www.newarab.com/news/attempt...
newarab.com
Attempt to stop executions exposes simmering unrest in Iran
Iranians tried to stop the public execution of two protesters, a rare act of defiance despite Tehran’s widening crackdown.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ollymizz...
open.substack.com
Vladimir Burnham's rise to power
Told through the media's analogies
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
New scoop from me for @thenewarab.bsky.social The EU is aiming to open an Erasmus+ National Office in Syria for 2027, with preparations already underway:
newarab.com
’Syria is back’: EU to open Erasmus+ office in Damascus in 2027
The EU plans to open a national Erasmus+ office in Syria in 2027 and has begun recruitment preparations, TNA has learned.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
From me for @thenewarab.bsky.social: Everything we know about the recently announced US-Iran deal 👇
newarab.com
Everything we know so far about the US-Iran peace deal
The US and Iran have agreed a framework peace deal, but major questions remain over Lebanon, Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear programme.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Amnesty says Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinian Bedouins and herding communities from the West Bank's Area C You can read my write-up of their report at the link below, with comments from Amnesty's Budour Hassan You can also find the full report here: www.amnesty.org/en/latest/re...
newarab.com
Amnesty says Israel ethnically cleansing West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty says that Israel has forcibly displaced thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank’s Area C, calling for sanctions on Netanyahu and other ministers
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Since the start of the war between the US, Israel and Iran, nuclear has been a focal point, but has since expanded beyond Iran into the UAE and Israel. So, what's the history of nuclear in the region? Which states have programmes, which are getting one, and what are the dangers? Read in my piece ⬇️
newarab.com
Which Middle East, North Africa countries are ’nuclear capable’?
An attack on the UAE’s Barakah plant has renewed scrutiny of nuclear facilities across a Middle East increasingly reliant on atomic energy.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Another substack post, this time my reflections on reading The Captive Mind, and what it meant to me.
open.substack.com
Reflections on Czesław Miłosz's 'The Captive Mind'
A classic book on totalitarianism, that's also a reckoning with the loss of interwar Poland.
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
US strategic analysis of Iran:
Wait for them to calm down -> They're not calming down
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
The BAFTAs are tomorrow, and what a great opportunity it is to talk about war films, specifically about those nominated, and how important realism is when it comes to the genre ⬇️
open.substack.com
War films, realism, and meaning
Capturing the reality of combat should not be an end in itself
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
With the expiration of New START and warnings about nuclear proliferation... I figured it'd be worth restarting a very topical piece I wrote about the subject late last year ⬇️ (it's been a while but I have something in the works which should come out soon too 🤞)
open.substack.com
The return of the nuclear zeitgeist
M.A.Dness has re-entered the public consciousness
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Iran's internet shutdown is now in its eighth day and is expected to continue. The regime has said its intranet service is open, but what exactly does this mean and how are Iranians attempting to circumvent this? My coverage of the blackout for @thenewarab.bsky.social below
newarab.com
Iran edges towards North Korea model internet amid protests
The network is said to allow access to domestic websites and messaging platforms, despite continued restrictions on websites and services outside Iran
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Was NATO collapsing by years end on anyone's 2026 predictions? Anyone's?
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Jared 🔶 @quantumjared.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
It’s worth mentioning, though it’s been said repeatedly: the Lizzie Line carries 1/6th of UK daily rail passengers (not including the Tube) and has already paid off its entire costs. And if HS2 had been committed to, without plans being tweaked every 5 minutes, Phase 1 would be opening next year.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
We've always had these dead-eyed socipaths around. It's just a few years ago they were ignored and now they're "senior fellow" at places funded by evil millionaires + going on podcasts with a brain-rotted ex-PM.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
It's that time of the year again for @newarab.bsky.social year in review. Myself, Hugo Goodridge and Karim Traboulsi breakdown the biggest stories we covered this year, and reveal what we're keeping an eye on for next, so take note! You can listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts.
newarab.com
2025 in Review
The year is drawing to a close and it’s time for The New Arab Voice’s customary review of the year. Join us to look over the biggest stories of 2026.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 05/12/2025
The headline, the main takeaway from a European viewpoint is this: The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Nuclear war is back on the big screen, a marker of the increasing tension brought about by unprecedented changes underway in international politics. We've once again been enveloped by a nuclear zeitgeist - and it's anxiety inducing ⬇️
open.substack.com
The return of the nuclear zeitgeist
M.A.Dness has re-entered the public consciousness
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Took me long enough, but finally published my companion critique (below) to my review of Kropotkin. If you have a heart, read and sub. ollymizzi99.substack.com/p/kropotkins...
ollymizzi99.substack.com
Kropotkin's vision: Too good to be true
Why Anarcho-Communism is merely a dream, and could only remain so
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The proliferation of watching people get killed on the internet, from murder to warfare and all the in-betweens, is having a deep psychological impact on our society and psyche (myself included) and NOBODY is addressing it.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Time to buy shares in ALL the domestic competitors
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social thoughts? 🤔https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/military-preparing-attacks-on-mexican
kenklippenstein.com
Military Preparing Attacks on Mexican Cartels
Secret orders target cartels as the new terrorists
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Hello! If anyone who follows me knows anyone, or is, in the Maltese community in the UK (especially old timers) please do let me know! Am looking to write about it (as a fellow member of course). Feel free to share :)
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Just saw missile hit the middle of Tel Aviv (via live cam)
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Centre for Science & Security Studies @cssskings.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Book launch event: War in the Smartphone Age. Panel discussion on how smart tech & civilian comms reshape warfare. In collaboration with @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social 🗓️ 2 July 2025, 18:00 BST 📍 Nash Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus, KCL 🎟️ shorturl.at/QC8bE #WarStudies #KCL #DigitalWarfare
shorturl.at
Panel Discussion and Book Launch for War in the Smartphone Age
Join us for a lively discussion about war in the smartphone age.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Since the resumption of Israel's assault on Gaza, the country's anti-war movement has gained significant momentum. Yet it is plagued by divided motivations, and on Gaza's future. My new article for @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/not-so-...
newarab.com
Not-so-united anti-war movement in Israel shows Gaza differences
Since PM Netanyahu restarted the bombardment of Gaza, thousands in Israel have taken to the streets demanding a ceasefire, but for very different reasons.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Another way the world has got worse. Despair everywhere.
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Chris Osieck @chrisosieck.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Media are making mistakes in their reporting on recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. In this example, @vrtnws.be, writes that it's the Nasser Hospital while it happened at the European Hospital. People could just ask researchers who have been working on this for years. www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20...
vrt.be
Een klap die dood en vernieling zaait: beelden tonen moment dat raket inslaat aan ingang ziekenhuis in Gaza | VRT NWS: nieuws
Op geverifieerde bewakingsbeelden is de enorme impact te zien van een raket tijdens de Israëlische luchtaanval van gisteren op het Nasser-ziekenhuis in het zuiden van de Gazastrook. De beelden tonen h...
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Hundreds of thousands of people have sought refuge in the town of Tawila following an RSF attack on the Zamzam refugee camp in #Darfur. I spoke to MSF and UN teams on the ground in the region to discuss the situation, which was described to me as "desperate". New from me for @thenewarab.bsky.social
newarab.com
RSF forced exodus from Sudan’s Zamzam leaves Tawila ’desperate’
Tawila has seen a dramatic influx of internally displaced persons following the storming of the Zamzam refugee camp by the RSF.
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Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution @syriapodcast.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution is out! In Episode 1, @leilashami.bsky.social @ayoub.bsky.social go through what the STIR podcast is about, and why Syria? Available for free on Patreon and wherever you get your podcasts www.patreon.com/posts/128666... Part of @fromtheperiphery.com
Illustration by Hisham Rifai
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
It's 'Victory' Day this week, when we celebrate that initial defeat of fascism of the 1940s, when ideas like annexing land through genocide were deemed too barbaric. International law, the UN - all of those nice ideas cheapened by both Russia in Ukraine and Israel in Palestine.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Europe's time?
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
A step may have been taken in determining the fate of hundreds of thousands of Syria's disappeared after a UN agency handed a plan on the issue to the government at a meeting on the sidelines of Monday's aid conference in Brussels. From me for @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/un-agen...
newarab.com
UN agency hands over project to find missing Syrians to new govt
The Independent Institution on Missing Persons was established in 2023 to determine the fate of hundreds of thousands of missing people in Syria.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
New from me: on the pressures faced by the Syrian government and newly formed committee tasked with investigating the sectarian killings on Syria's coast for @thenewarab.bsky.social with comment from @fadel-abdulghany.bsky.social Haian Dukhan and Razan Rashidi www.newarab.com/news/syria-p...
newarab.com
Syria probes coastal killings amid fears of ’cycle of violence’
Syria has set up a new committee to investigate the sectarian killings on the coast which killed over 800 people, including unarmed civilians
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Rather than being a security guarantor, a force multiplier, the US has become a liability that can infringe on our sovereignty. The sooner the UK realises this the better. But is it really going to take an invasion of Canada for it to sink in? By that point it'll be too late.
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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
The US has decided to destroy the system it has created and benefitted from over the last 80 years. Europe should take that as a literal statement of fact and act accordingly.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Aid agencies have condemned Israel's blockade of Gaza as "collective punishment", with an UNRWA spokesperson telling me that Israel's comments on Gaza's aid situation is a "mischaracterisation" of the situation. My latest for @thenewarab.bsky.social below: www.newarab.com/news/aid-age...
newarab.com
Aid agencies blast Israel’s Ramadan aid block of Gaza
Israel's decision to block the entry of aid into Gaza comes amid the beginning of Ramadan, which began on Saturday.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Syria's long-awaited national dialogue conference ended yesterday. Mired by disappointment but also opportunities, my report for @thenewarab.bsky.social takes a look at how the conference was received, and what it means for the country's ongoing political transition. www.newarab.com/news/was-syr...
newarab.com
Was Syria's National Dialogue Conference a 'missed opportunity'?
The rushed organisation and exclusive nature of Syria's National Dialogue Conference have left many Syrians feeling disappointed, despite its unity roadmap.
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Oliver Mizzi @ollymizzi99.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
International law cannot alone keep the peace, so instead of applying it in full, with force, we must undermine it when it doesn't suit us, and validate the above! First class logic 🥳
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