Associate professor @UChicagoHistory and @UChicagoCEGU. "Egypt's Occupation: Colonial Economism and the Crises of Capitalism," out with @stanfordpress.

New York, USA
Joined January 2011
In this era of online everything, opportunities for conventional book talks are few and far between. But I've been fortunate enough to line up a series of interviews about Egypt's Occupation with some fantastic podcasts. I'll post them here as they drop. sup.org/books/title/?id=2941…
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
One of McGurk's last acts in office was to lie to Congress that the UAE was not arming the RSF in Sudan.
How did UAE become the largest global provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to UN data? Because of Lana Nussaibeh—a diplomat who knows everyone and works with them to GSD. She would be an inspired choice for this impossible job.
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner's iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts --one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli --where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money. It sounds like a slightly far-fetched episode of "Slow Horses," but it's real. And it proves just how eye-poppingly corrupt this administration was and continues to be as its "special envoy" decides the fate of tens of millions in Europe in the Middle East. Simply incredible reporting by Matthew Cole, drawn from his new book on Kushner. vanityfair.com/story/jared-k…
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AIPAC has become such a political liability that it’s shifting to a more “nimble” (read: secretive) approach to buying politicians for Israel Instead of high profile endorsements and PAC donations, it will quietly mobilize individual donors for direct contributions
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
It is hard to overstate the significance of this development. Historically, AIPAC sustained an aura of invincibility that ensured it won most battles by walkover - if you are perceived as invincible, the other side doesn't even bother to fight you. Rather than invincibility, AIPAC's name now carries such toxicity that the group doesn't want its own name on its political donations.
SCOOP: AIPAC will no longer endorse congressional candidates or earmark donations to congressional campaigns. The group's super PAC, United Democracy Project, will continue to operate and it will urge members to donate directly to pro-Israel candidates. jewishinsider.com/2026/10/ai…
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
Brett, are you ever going to agree to sit for an interview with a reporter who will challenge your version of events, or is it just going to be friendly talks with various pieces of Washington furniture?
I knew former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan from his work investigating ISIS crimes against the Yazidis. On May 19, 2024, I helped secure the access he sought in Israel. Israel agreed. The next day, he announced his application for warrants. Here’s the story. From my conversation with @IgnatiusPost on BRINK at @AtlanticCouncil.
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TOMORROW
How did cotton shape Egypt’s struggle for economic sovereignty and national liberation? Join Ahmad Shokr for a talk exploring agrarian capitalism, decolonization, and the making of postcolonial Egypt through the history of one of its most prized exports 🔗 history.utoronto.ca/events/a…
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At least 45 international activists, including Brad Lander—a proud liberal Zionist—were just rounded up by police at an olive harvest in Nehalin and put on a bus. Unclear if they’re under arrest, being deported, etc. (I’m reporting this secondhand from Taybeh, where another fascist crackdown just took place.)
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank. The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.
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A woman sued the Alpha Delta Phi national organization and its UChicago chapter on Monday, alleging that she was sexually assaulted by a member of the fraternity at its house in February and accusing the fraternity of negligence. Story to come.
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
This is what it looks like to cower before authoritarianism. You don't call out a white supremacist president even when he uses classically antisemitic language because you're afraid he'll retaliate against you. jewishcurrents.org/the-shame…
The term “Shylock” is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews and normalize language that has long been used to target the Jewish community.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Trump used “Shylock” at a Kansas rally Oct. 19 defending Sen. Marshall. ADL’s post omits naming him, unlike its 2025 statement. forbes.com/sites/siladity… x.com/Acyn/status/21… x.com/ADL/status/194…
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Is anyone surprised that the folks on here who constantly warn against the specter of anti-semitism to smear @ZohranKMamdani or anyone else opposed to genocide in Gaza have, once again, said absolutely nothing about Trump's open, repeated rehearsal of overt anti-semitic tropes?
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Ahmad Shokr returns to Toronto this Thursday the 22nd to discuss his important book Harvests of Liberation: Cotton, Capitalism, and the End of Empire in Egypt
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Socratic demolition.
This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.
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Back in the olive fields today, this time in Jalud. Settlers attacked multiple times as soldiers sat by and watched. When I approached soldiers and shouted at them to stop an attack that was unfolding in front of their eyes, they tear-gassed me.
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The IDF provided cover, with tear gas and machine guns, while the settlers beat @washingtonpost journalist Heidi Levine nearly to death. Then the IDF shot a Palestinian bystander, and aimed their guns and shoved the paramedics who were trying to treat him. All of this documented.
Earlier today, IDF and Israel Border Police forces were dispatched to an area adjacent to Khirbet Abu Falah, following a report of a violent confrontation. Foreign media personnel were present at the scene and a female journalist was injured during the confrontation. All details of the incident will be examined. Upon arriving to the scene, the forces acted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means. At another location where the confrontation took place, IDF soldiers initially fired warning shots into the air and then fired toward a suspect who ran toward them, carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them. The confrontation was dispersed. Israeli Police forces and forensic investigators from the Judea and Samaria District will enter the area with IDF security to collect findings and evidence, as well as take testimonies. Violence against innocent civilians is a grave and intolerable phenomenon that requires a coordinated, multi-agency response. The IDF will work together with the relevant authorities to eradicate this phenomenon. The IDF strongly condemns this incident. Attempts to incite friction between populations undermine security in the area.
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
Anticorruption is both a huge winning issue and imperative for protecting our democracy and Gillibrand seems to be going out of her way to make sure Democrats tank it.
I asked Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand if it bothers her that her staff trades crypto while she works on legislation that benefits the industry. “This is not a nanny state,” she said. Profiled crypto’s favorite Democrat for @NYMag: nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…
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Aaron Jakes retweeted
Very sad to hear about the passing of Anwar Shaikh [@shaikhecon], one of my beloved professors at the @TheNewSchool. He was a prolific thinker on capitalism, and always reminded us that to truly understand economics, we must go back to classical thinkers like Marx, Ricardo and Smith. The entire discipline is better off for his contributions, and he will be sorely missed!
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