#syrian lit

[soracities]

Maram al-Massri, from A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor (trans. Khaled Mattawa) [ID'd]

[quotelr]

It’s not a bad thing, if you’re responsible about it. Just don’t start having boyfriends. Wait until you’ve found your husband.” “And how am I supposed to find a husband if I can’t have a boyfriend until then?” I asked ironically.

Zack Love, The Syrian Virgin

[hogsnout]

Comrades Murdoc, Russell, 2D, and Noodle 🫡

[jarviskingston]

🏀⛹🏿⛹🏿‍♂️

[dragon-in-a-fez]

I keep posting about the weird electronic contraptions I build and neglecting to mention possibly my favourite: a few years ago I volunteered to teach some electronics skills to a group of Syrian refugees (shoutout to super cool Edinburgh charity Science Ceilidh for setting that up btw) and at one point I helped a guy design and build a Quran holder with RGB lighting. I wish I'd taken photos because the fusion of traditional Islamic design with over-the-top gamer aesthetic was truly a sight to behold. at one point I was like "gotta check in, this isn't like, sacrilege right?" and the guy goes "if it nourishes my soul it is holy" and again, when he says that, understand that he's talking about a book stand for his holy text that's lit up like this:

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Hanukkah-Related Vocabulary

Hanukkah

In Judaism, the Hanukkah holiday is the “festival of lights.” Lasting eight days, the holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BCE. Once the Temple was won, the Jews found only enough oil to keep the eternal flame of the menorah lit for one day.

According to legend, the miracle of Hanukkah occurred when that small amount sustained the menorah’s light for eight days, in order for more oil to be made. Fittingly, hanukkah literally means “a dedication” in Hebrew.

As is the case with many languages, there are certain sounds in Hebrew that just don’t exist in English. The first letter of Chanukah, the modern Hebrew letter chet, makes a sound called a “voiceless velar fricative,” a ch in the back of the throat similar to the Scottish pronunciation of loch. The classical Hebrew pronunciation had a softer ch sound, represented by the H instead of Ch in Hanukkah. Today, both spellings exist side by side.

Menorah

The Hanukkah menorah (also called the hanukiah) is a candelabrum with nine branches. Eight of the candles represent each night of Hanukkah, while the ninth (the shammes) is used to light the others.

The original menorah in the biblical Temple of Jerusalem had only seven branches, representing the seven branches of human knowledge and the seven days of biblical creation. The Hanukkah menorah has a more specific purpose, representing the eight nights of the holiday. Translated from the Hebrew, menorah means “lamp.”

Shammes

From the Hebrew word shamash meaning “to serve,” shammes (or shames) means “attendant.” The shammes is the ninth candle on the Hanukkah menorah, used to light the candles representing each night.

The Hanukkah candles are traditionally placed in the menorah from right to left, though they’re lit using the shammes from left to right each night. On the first night of Hanukkah, the menorah will have only two candles, the shammes and the right-most candle. On the last night, a menorah will display all nine.Previous

Maccabees

In Jewish history, the celebration of Hanukkah and the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem are the work of the Maccabees, an ancient family of Jewish leaders who rebelled against their colonizers. After years of oppression under King Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas Maccabaeus led a rebel army against Antiochus and reclaimed not only the Temple but Jewish freedom.

It is possible the name Maccabee is derived from the Hebrew maqqabh meaning “hammer.” It was given to Judas and the rebels in honor of their fortitude.

Antiochus

The “baddie” in the Hannukah story is the Greek-Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. But what you may not know is that there are a lot of people named Antiochus in history, particularly kings. The one in the Hannukah story is believed to be Antiochus IV.  

Yet the meaning of Antiochus in Greek is a bit confusing. Antí– means “against,” and ékhō means “to have, to own.” Taken together, his name means “one who is against owning.”

Dreidel

The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top bearing the Hebrew letters (nun, gimel, hei, shin). Children spin the dreidel and win or lose based on the letter facing up when the top stops spinning. The letters on the faces of the dreidel form an acronym for the phrase Nes Gadol Hayah Sham meaning “a great miracle happened there,” referring to Israel and the Temple of Jerusalem.

In Israel, the letters on the top are nun, gimmel, hey, pey, representing “a great miracle happened here.” A dreidel is also known as a sevivol in Hebrew. Observances vary, and some use the Hebrew terms when celebrating Hannukah.

Gelt

A piece of Hanukkah gelt is a chocolate coin usually wrapped in gold foil, designed for children to gamble with during a game of dreidel. 

Gelt is Yiddish, derived from the Old High German, for “money.”

Latke

One of the Jewish traditions of Hanukkah is to make foods made in oil to celebrate the oil lasting for eight days.

A latke is a potato pancake made from shredded potato and fried in oil, often served with applesauce or sour cream. Like gelt, latke is a Yiddish word derived from the Russian latka meaning “pastry.” The oil in which latkes are fried represents the oil that kept the menorah burning.

Sufganiyot

Another popular dish at Hannukah is sufganiyot, small jelly-filled donuts.  

The origin of the name sufganiyot is debated, and as with other terms described here, its spelling can vary. It’s said to come from the ancient Hebrew word sofgan which means a kind of spongy dough.

However, a popular story claims that God gave Adam and Eve sufganiyot to cheer them up after they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden—the name, then, comes from the Hebrew spelling of Garden of Eden.  

Apocrypha

Speaking of things that are apocryphal, the story of Hanukkah is not found in the Jewish Bible, known as the Torah. Instead, the story of the Maccabees and the Temple is found in a collection of later writings known as the Apocrypha. 

The word apocrypha comes from the Greek for “hidden, obscure.” This collection of writings, including the stories of the Maccabees, is known as the Apocrypha because their authors are “hidden” or unknown (or they weren’t written in Hebrew). 

It wasn’t until 1735 that apocrypha came to be used in reference to all kinds of marginal tales or those with unknown authors, not just Biblical ones.  

Kislev

It might seem like the holiday of Channukah changes dates every single year. But actually, the dates are the same every year—just on a different calendar. Most of the world uses what’s known as the Gregorian calendar. But Jewish holidays are set according to the Hebrew calendar, so they appear to change dates every year on the Gregorian calendar. 

Hanukkah starts at sundown on 25 Kislev every year and lasts for eight nights. Kislev is the name of the ninth month in the Hebrew calendar. The name Kislev comes from ancient Assyrian or Akkadian names for the same time period.  

Chag Sameach

How you say “Happy holidays” in Hebrew. 

Chag means “holiday,” and sameach means “happy.”

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[mythomaniia]

starting @batmanisagatewaydrug ‘s 2025 book bingo!

lit fiction: fire exit by morgan talty

read this on recommendation from a coworker and boy was it a way to start my year! it was so beautiful and deeply sad.

‘24 award winner: kareem between by shifa saltagi safadi

another rec from a coworker (this will be a theme) this won the national book award for middle grade fiction. a novel in verse about a syrian-american boy who loves football, this book was delightful and heartfelt and funny and stressful in all the best ways.

reread a childhood fav: graceling by kristin cashore

loved this book as a preteen, liked it second time around. the fabric of the story is definitely…flimsier reading it as an adult, but it was still a fun and engaging reading experience.

bookseller rec: giovanni’s room by james baldwin

cheating a little bit here (i am a bookseller so any of my coworker’s recommendations count for this square lol) but going with this one as this was chosen by my coworker to be our store’s next book club pick. it was my first time reading baldwin’s fiction (which is crazy) and it did not let me down. what an incredibly moving story. the last sentence blew me away and i love when a book can do that to me.

anyway pretty good start looking forward to completing as much as i can!

[whencyclopedia]

Ptolemaic Dynasty

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Macedonian royal family that ruled Ptolemaic Egypt from 323 to 30 BCE. It was founded by Ptolemy I, a general and successor of Alexander the Great. They built Alexandria, including the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Great Library of Alexandria. The dynasty ended when Rome conquered Egypt in the reign of Cleopatra VII.

The dynasty presented themselves as both Greek kings and Egyptian pharaohs. They never assimilated into Egyptian culture, and their reign began a process of Greek immigration and acculturation in Egypt. The dynasty practiced incestuous marriage, with most rulers marrying close relatives.

The Ptolemaic Empire expanded rapidly before civil wars, territorial losses, and natural disasters weakened it in the 2nd century BCE. The final generations of Ptolemies were reliant on the Roman Republic for military support.

Origins

The Ptolemaic dynasty was founded by Ptolemy I (336-282 BCE), son of Macedonian nobles Lagos and Arsinoe. Ptolemy was one of Alexander's somatophylakes, trusted bodyguards and generals. The dynasty later encouraged a myth that Ptolemy was really the illegitimate son of Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BCE), making him Alexander the Great's half-brother.

Ptolemy was present during Alexander's conquest of Egypt (332 BCE), which was under the oppressive rule of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander was welcomed by the Egyptian people and proclaimed pharaoh in Memphis. He made offerings to the Egyptian gods, demonstrating his desire to uphold Egyptian tradition, a policy that the Ptolemies would imitate. He also founded Alexandria, a classical Greek city on the coast of Egypt.

visited the oracle of Ammon. But perhaps more significant for the future was Alexander's assumption of the religious titles and honors of the Egyptian king, especially upholding the kingship's linkage to the god Ptah, which ensured the lasting support of his priesthood, a significant factor that continued into the time of Cleopatra.

(Chauveau, chapter 2)

The death of Alexander the Great in Babylon in 323 BCE created a dispute over who would inherit his empire. His half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus was eventually named king, and Alexander and Roxanne's son Alexander IV of Macedon became co-ruler after his birth. Perdiccas took the role of regent, making him effectively its ruler. Alexander's generals, called the Diadochi (lit. "successors" in Greek), became satraps of its provinces. Ptolemy was made satrap of Egypt, the wealthiest and most desirable province.

The Diadochi, including Ptolemy, Seleucus I Nicator, Lysimachus, Crateros, and Antipater, resisted Perdiccas' attempts to control them. In 321 BCE, Ptolemy stole Alexander's mummified body from Perdiccas, who was attempting to bring it back to Macedon. Ptolemy buried Alexander in Memphis, later moving the body to Alexandria, to strengthen his connection to Alexander's legacy. This theft escalated the tension between Ptolemy and Perdiccas, who unsuccessfully attempted to invade Egypt and was killed by his own mutinying troops.

Ptolemy I Soter

Marie-Lan Nguyen (Public Domain)

Philip Arrhidaeus was murdered in 317 BCE, followed by Alexander IV in 310 BCE. The Diadochi finally proclaimed themselves autonomous kings in 306 BCE. This act formally established the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled for another 300 years. The Wars of the Diadochi and their descendants fighting over territory resulted in the Syrian Wars (274-168 BCE) fought between the Ptolemies and the Seleucid Empire. Ptolemy I conquered Cyprus, Cyrene, Coele-Syria, and Phoenicia, forming the basis of the Ptolemaic Empire.

Continue reading...

[soracities]

Maram al-Massri, from A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor (trans. Khaled Mattawa) [ID'd]

[darkmaga-returns]

Zelensky apologized to Trump. Ukraine will have to give up territory. China Is Preparing For War. Syrian Christians Slaughtered and Crucified. InfoWars Reporter Brutally Murdered

Lioness of Judah Ministry

Mar 11, 2025

Zelensky has apologized to Trump – US envoy

Ukraine’s leader has sent a letter to the US president to offer an apology over the White House debacle, Steve Witkoff says

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has apologized to US President Donald Trump over the White House scandal, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, has said. The senior official made the remarks on Monday in an interview with Fox News, ahead of a meeting between US and Ukrainian delegations scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia this week. Washington expects to make “substantial progress” and hopes to ink a critical materials deal with Kiev, Witkoff said.

Trump wants Zelensky to quit – NBC

The US president has reportedly insisted that the Ukrainian leader should hold an election and possibly step down

US President Donald Trump has privately made it clear to his aides that Vladimir Zelensky should quit as the Ukrainian leader, NBC has reported, citing an administration source. The report comes ahead of negotiations between senior US officials and Zelensky’s chief of staff in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will discuss a resolution to the three-year conflict with a Ukrainian delegation headed by Andrey Yermak.

Ukraine will have to give up territory – Rubio

Moscow has long insisted that any potential peace deal should recognize the “realities on the ground”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that Ukraine will have to relinquish its goal of reclaiming former territories to facilitate peace negotiations with Russia. The senior official made the remarks on Monday, ahead of a meeting between US and Ukrainian delegations set to take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier outlined Washington’s expectations and warned Kiev against making maximalist territorial demands.

Secretary Rubio in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Tomorrow’s ‘Make or Break’ Peace Talks With Ukraine

Far away, under the exotic Arabian skies, a pivotal series of negotiations will take place tomorrow between the United States and Ukraine—talks that will establish whether the US will still be helping Kiev settle a war that it’s losing badly.

Saudi Arabia will host talks between the Donald J. Trump administration’s team and the members of the Kiev regime, in the Red Sea coastal town of Jeddah. Besides addressing the winding down of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, it is expected also to mend strained US-Ukraine relations after Volodymyr Zelensky lit himself on fire in the Oval Office on February 28.

Elon Musk says a massive cyberattack tried to take down X—and the IPs trace back to Ukraine

Trump's Middle East envoy plans to meet with Putin in Moscow, Bloomberg reports

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, is planning to visit Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Bloomberg news reporter said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Putin said Russia does not plan to attack NATO countries because it would go against common sense

Putin says Russia does not plan to attack NATO countries because it would go against common sense**

In a recent interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed growing international concerns about a potential Russian invasion of NATO countries, stating that such a scenario would be completely irrational. According to Putin, Russia has no interest in expanding its borders into Poland, Latvia, or any other NATO member, despite constant speculation and media warnings fueling the narrative of an imminent Russian threat.

[see-arcane]

Aside from the premise of the novel by osmosis being about a lesbian vampire targeting a young woman called Laura in Styria, I'm going in blind. First thing that I wasn't expecting was that Laura lives with her father, in a castle (I shouldn't be surprised, this is typical Gothic setting), and that she's only half Syrian because her father is English.

A picturesque setting, very dark fairy tale

I won't drop any spoilers here, but there will be a Lot of surprises going into the story proper. All that most folks who know the name 'Carmilla' know is

Lesbian Vampire Lit, Came Out Pre-Dracula

Has her name tacked onto vampire characters who have literally nothing to do with Sheridan le Fanu's Carmilla. (Looking at you, Vampire Hunter D and Castlevania)

But as a mini heads up: All of the ribald risque horror-romantic vampire tropes you've seen in a bajillion gothic vampire dramas, often Dracula spinoffs, have their bones in this novella. Good stuff ahead

[lesbianboyfriend]

can i ask for lesbian book recommendations 🥹🕺

yeassss ofc my love <3

erm and obligatory disclaimer for any who might read that i don’t think “queer” or “lesbian” is a necessarily coherent category of books or adequate descriptor for a novel which is why i’ve also provided the actual genres here (sorted into which ever one i felt best fit) and descriptions. and these books have much more going on than just being about lesbians. however all books are undeniably awesomer with lesbians so yayyyyy

FANTASY:

-the salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw: fantasy horror; murderous mermaid and plague doctor come across a cult of children (could be read as not lesbians bc one character is nonbinary but i choose to read as. lesbians)

-the empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unravels the tale of exiled empress’ rise to power

-when the the tigers came down the mountain by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unwinds the tale of a tiger and her scholar lover to prevent other tigers from eating them (stand alone sequel to empress of salt and fortune)

-ship of smoke and steel by django wexler: ya fantasy; girl has to steal a ghost ship to save her sister’s life

-the mermaid, the witch, and the sea by maggie tokuda-hall: ya fantasy; pirate falls in love with one of the ship’s hostages, a girl being sent to an arranged marriage against her will

-tremontaine created by ellen kushner: political fantasy; there’s a lot going on in this one okay just trust me that it’s really good esp if you love political intrigue (this was released serially and is easiest to acquire an electronic version)

-the deep by rivers solomon: fantasy/spec fic; African slave women thrown overboard gave birth to mermaid-esque descendants. one holds these traumatic memories for her whole people and must grapple with that pressure

-wild beauty by anna-marie mclemore: ya magical realism/fantasy; a family of women who can create flowers and whose lovers always tragically vanish fight to keep their land and to unravel the mystery of a strange boy who appeared

-siren queen by nghi vo: historical magical realism/fantasy; girl’s rise to stardom amidst the monsters of hollywood back in the days of the studio system

-gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir: sff; um. how to explain briefly. gideon wants nothing more than to leave the ninth house, but her nemesis harrowhark needs her sword skills to pass the emperors trial and become immortal. sure. (caleb i know you’ve read this just adding for any other viewers yayyy)

HORROR:

-white is for witching by helen oyeyemi: horror fantasy/magical realism; a house with women in its walls calls to miranda silver while the people she leaves behind struggle to make sense of what happened to her

-plain bad heroines by emily a. danforth: historical horror; when filming a movie about the macabre history of a boarding school, its past starts to become the reality for the stars and author of the novel it’s based on

LITFIC:

-girl woman other: contemporary litfic; the intersecting stories of Black british women told in verse

-nightwood: classic literary; i feel like i can’t describe this one well but nora and jenny are obsessed with robin, whose penchant for wandering and inability to commit drives them crazy. toxic dyke drama at its best

-the thirty names of night: lit fic; transmasc syrian american unravels the history of artist laila z who encountered the same rare bird his mother saw right before her death and realizes their pasts are intertwined

-under the udala trees: historical lit fic; coming of age set against the backdrop of civil war in Nigeria, two girls from different ethnic communities fall in love

-everyone in this room will someday be dead: contemporary lit fic; that moment when your ocd lands you a job at the catholic church even though you’re an atheist and also your relationship is falling apart

-stone butch blues: historical lit fic; butch lesbian realizing and grappling with her identity throughout the 40s-70s

-the color purple: classic lit fic; story of two sisters separated in their youth—one is forced into an abusive marriage and falls in love with her husbands mistress, wondering what became of her sister

-oranges are not the only fruit: semi-autobiography with slight fantasy elements; exploring growing up lesbian in a deeply religious pentecostal sect

SCI-FI:

-the weight of the stars: ya sf romance; aspiring astronaut is forced into friendship with a girl who waits on the roof every night for radio signals from her mother in space

-the seep: sci-fi/spec fic; what if aliens invaded and formed a hive mind of everyone and also your girlfriend turned into a baby again. wouldn’t that be fucked up

-the stars are legion: political science fiction; an awakes with no memory amid a group of people calling themself her family who claim she is the only one who can save their world

-not your sidekick: ya sci-fi; superheroes are real and they fucking suck

SHORT STORIES:

-sarahland: contemporary/spec fic short story collection; various stories about people named sarah

[girlactionfigure]

🟦 Latest Updates from Israel  

✡️ Tonight is SUKKOT.. Sukkot celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the miraculous protection G‑d provided for the children of Israel when they left Egypt. We celebrate Sukkot by dwelling in a foliage-covered booth (known as a sukkah) and by taking the “Four Kinds” (arba minim), four special species of vegetation.   https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4784/jewish/What-Is-Sukkot.htm

⚠️HOME FRONT COMMAND NOTICE.. Staying in the Sukkah during the holiday? The sukkah is not a protected space (from rockets)! If a warning is received, you should leave the sukkah and enter a protected space or a shelter in a nearby building. 

.. It is important to leave the access to the protected space LIT and clear of obstacles, so that it can reached it in a calm and safe manner. 

♦️INTERROGATION of captured Hezbollah Rawan invasion force terrorist, English subtitles:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yrj0bjqw_PqTpZm1EOnCRvcULcR9hqAx/view?usp=sharing

“Everyone fled, the commander of the area and his deputy, from the beginning, they already fled.  Lack of faith, people without religion, came to receive money and that’s it, they were afraid [of Israel]... they wanted to respond to an attack, advance into the Galilee, but after the assassination of Hassan (Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader), no one has seen any of them.”

♦️BEIRUT.. The IDF confirms: after six days, an attack was carried out in Dahiya, Hezbollah’s Beirut neighborhood, on an underground weapons warehouse.  The IDF is calling on the residents to evacuate the Da'ahia.

♦️ASSASSIN!  Iranian assassin caught.. thwarting of Iran's attempts to recruit Israelis continues: the Shin Bet and Yahbal Lahav 433 arrested a resident of Petah Tikva, who agreed to carry out an assassination in Israel for $100,000 and had already acquired a gun and ammunition.

♦️IDF ATTACKS.. A wave of attacks by the IDF in Beirut this morning.

♦️IDF CAPTURES.. its 5th Hezbollah Radwan invasion force terrorist.  From a soldier in the field: most of the Hezbollah terrorists fled and did not fight against our soldiers - and some also surrendered.

.. And Israeli flag spotted flying over Meiss El Jabal, south Lebanon.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR.. (Enemy report) Significant IDF forces moved from Kiryat Arba into Hebron overnight.

.. IDF security forces foiled two terrorist attacks, entering Jenin to kill a terrorist who was planning to carry out an attack in the immediate time frame, and the IDF captured a terrorist armed with weapons near the border fence seam-line area.

⭕HEZBOLLAH ROCKET HIT civilian home in SAFED overnight, 2 lightly injured - damage to the house.

🔹THE INTL POLITICS.. Iran informed the UN Secretary General last night of its intention to respond firmly if Israel attacks it.

🔹SYRIAN REBELS ON THE MOVE.. Intense gun fire reported on Aleppo front line between Syrian Army forces and Syrian Rebels.

🔸GAZA HOSTAGE DEAL NEWS.. The American administration: Hamas leader Sinwar shows zero interest in continuing the talks, so there is no negotiation taking place.  The Qatari’s however blame Israel: The Prime Minister of Qatar, on the deal for the release of the kidnapped-  "An agreement cannot be reached when one of the parties is not interested in it," he added, “especially in recent times, the side that failed was the Israeli.”

▪️HEALTH.. In the last decade and a half, decrease in the incidence of prostate cancer in Israel with survival rate increase.  Based on age and per 100,000 people, the incidence rate of invasive prostate cancer is 45.  From 2006-2021, a decrease of 7.5%.  

The main incidence of prostate cancer is at the age of 50 and over, with the majority age 70-74.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Dan Morrison

Published: Sep 28, 2024

WASHINGTON − Hassan Nasrallah, the revered and reviled longtime leader of Hezbollah, was killed Friday in an Israeli airstrike, the Israeli Defense Forces said.

Nasrallah, "the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and one of its founders, was eliminated by the IDF," the Israeli military said in a statement Saturday.

"Following precise intelligence," the statement said, fighter jets "conducted a targeted strike on the Central Headquarters of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which was located underground embedded under a residential building in the area of Dahieh in Beirut."

Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah's death, saying it would continue its battle against Israel "in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people."

An underground meeting, and a massive crater

The decapitation attack on Israel's strongest neighboring foe was a political earthquake for the region, threatening an armed response against Israeli and U.S. targets from Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

"It’s huge," said Mohamad Bazzi, director of the Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies at New York University. "It’s a tremendous blow to Hezbollah. It's a blow to Iran."

Nasrallah was among the most important leaders in the Middle East, commanding tens of thousands of fighters and armed with missiles supplied by the Shia Islamist movement's patron, Iran. Hezbollah governs southern Lebanon and its nearly 1 million residents independent of the weak Lebanese government.

"The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel," the Israeli statement said.

Friday's airstrike on Dahiyeh shook Beirut. A security source in Lebanon told Reuters the attack − a quick succession of massively powerful blasts − had left a crater more than 20 yards deep. It was unclear how many people were killed.

It was followed on Saturday by further airstrikes on Dahiyeh and other parts of Lebanon. Huge explosions lit up the night sky, and more strikes hit the area Saturday morning. Smoke rose over the city.

The death of the militant movement's longtime leader came after a week of Israeli attacks that Tel Aviv said were meant to neuter Hezbollah's military capabilities and allow 60,000 residents of northern Israel to return to homes evacuated due to months of rocket fire from over the Lebanon border.

For almost a year, the Iran-backed militant group has intensified firing of rockets into northern Israel. Tensions on that border have increased since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Israel responded by launching military strikes on Gaza that have killed about 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry. 

U.S. officials are concerned that a ratcheting up of tensions could lead to a broader regional conflict in the Middle East and have been trying to negotiate a cease-fire.  

More than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon in the last week, and more than 90,000 displaced, on top of 100,000 forced to flee since October.

A key figure in the 'Axis of resistance'

Among supporters, Nasrallah has been lauded for standing up to Israel and defying the United States. To enemies, he was head of a terrorist organization and a proxy for Iran's Shia Islamist theocracy in its tussle for influence in the Middle East.

"No doubt, he is a particularly important figure," Bazzi told USA TODAY. "He’s very charismatic, an excellent orator."

Still, Bazzi said, "His star has fallen in the Middle East since Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war," when Hezbollah fighters were key to the survival of Bashar al Assad's brutal government.

Nasrallah's regional influence has been on display over nearly a year of conflict ignited by the Gaza war, as Hezbollah entered the fray by firing on Israel from southern Lebanon in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, and Yemeni and Iraqi groups followed suit, operating under the umbrella of an Iran-led "Axis of Resistance."

"We are facing a great battle," Nasrallah said in an Aug. 1 speech at the funeral of Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr, who had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Pager blasts and a change in fortune

Yet when thousands of Hezbollah members were injured and dozens killed, when their pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in an apparent Israeli attack last week, that battle began to turn against his group.

Responding to the attacks on Hezbollah's communications network in a Sept. 19 speech, Nasrallah vowed to punish Israel.

"This is a reckoning that will come, its nature, its size, how and where? This is certainly what we will keep to ourselves and in the narrowest circle even within ourselves," he said.

He has not given a broadcast address since then.

Israel has meanwhile dramatically escalated its attacks, killing several senior Hezbollah commanders in targeted strikes and unleashing a massive bombardment in Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon, which has killed hundreds of people.

Israel said Friday's strike also killed Ali Karki, who it identified as the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, and other leaders.

Iran on Friday accused Israel of using U.S.-made "bunker buster" bombs in the attack.

'Serious security breaches'

"There have clearly been serious security breaches in Hezbollah," Bazzi said. "It begs the question of how and why he was moving around at this point."

"This is severe, decapitating in some ways." Still, Bazzi added, "They are also set up − Nasrallah has made this point himself − as an organization that will continue as leaders get killed."

Recognized even by his enemies as a charismatic orator, Nasrallah's speeches were followed by friend and foe alike.

Wearing the black turban of a sayyed, or a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad, Nasrallah used his addresses to rally Hezbollah's base but also to deliver carefully calibrated threats, often wagging his finger as he did so.

--

Life comes at you fast.

🤣😆😂

Time to finish off both Hezbollah and Hamas.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

This video made me homesick ?? 😢💓 As a Greek, my culture includes Orthodoxy since it's our ethnoreligion, and suddenly I feel that I have so much in common with so many people around the world!

I was also excited because some of the Christian communities shown here are ancient, and have persisted despite centuries-long prosecutions and pressures! (When talking about the "first" and the "ancient" Christianity we're talking about Orthodoxy or dogmas linked to Orthodoxy.)

I'm referring to the era before the Western European colonization. It was when people came to it freely and what we today call "Catholicism" wasn't what they came into. The Christians in these areas were culturally linked more to the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and to the Orthodox creed.

Christianity's home is the Middle East. Starting from Jerusalem, it spread to the whole Levant region. Assyrian, Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian, and Armenian people came to Christianity in large numbers from the 1st century already. Antioch has been a stronghold of Christianity, and a producer of the brightest Orthodox minds.

The West Arabian Peninsula (Hejaz region) held the majority of Christian Arabs. Christians lived around Mecca and Yathrib before the advent of Islam. One of the earliest Christian church buildings ever, known as Jubail Church, is located in Saudi Arabia and it was built around the 4th century.

Christianity in Africa first arrived in Egypt in approximately 50 AD. By the end of the 2nd century it had reached the region around Carthage. In the 4th century, it arrived to modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea (the Aksumite empire), and the region was one of the first in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia followed two centuries later. From the late 5th and early 6th century, the region included several Christian Berber kingdoms.

This is the chant, in Arabic (with subs in many languages). There's a Greek version too but on youtube I only found the singing version (lit. "ψαλτοτράγουδο"):

[zaranthropy]

I've been looking at Suzumi star pages (particularly the arabic ones) and getting some Symbolism Revelations™ this evening that people may enjoy as food for thought.

Starting with the most lore-related one, Benny's name is often theorized to come from Benetnasch, the first star in the Big Dipper constellation. What nobody tells you however is that benny's star is originally called Alkaid, "the leader". Benetnasch comes from banaatunna'ash (Arabic; "بنات نعش", "the mourning maidens" lit. "Daughters of the bier") and is the arabic name of the big dipper constellation. A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave. This relates to the original myth of Banaatunna'ash.

for the Bedouins of the Syrian desert, the Daughters of Nash accuse al-Jaday, i.e. Polaris, to have killed their father. But al-Farqadân [Ursa Minor] deem that the killer is not al-Jaday but Suhayl, and interpose between them and the North star. That is the reason why they are called al Hawâjzîn, “the Interposers”: they prevent the daughters from slaking their thirst for vengeance, and condemn them to turn indefinitely around the Pole.

From Our Arabic Heritage in the Celestial Vault.

Why this is interesting is because not only is Benny depicted to be the "leader" of the Suzumi collective– in the same constellation's naming origins (which influenced the names of Alkaid and Benetnasch), not only is Suzumi as a whole a being who seeks to sate their bloodlust for vengeance on Tsubakura, there also exists a Hamal among Alkaid's two companion stars, the other two mourning maidens.

The daughters of the bier, i.e. the mourning maidens, are the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth; while the four stars of the bowl, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe, are the bier.

From Medieval Islamic Astronomy.

Considering how Hamee often refers to themself as a maiden, this could point to a potential explanation as to why they do this.

Moving onto Hamee's star, Hamal – the current name of the star – (arabic; "حَمْل") refers to a little year-old lamb originally and not the ram as one may envision when looking at its relationship to Aries, this was an interpertation later introduced by the Greek. The star itself also is originally called "the horns of the lamb", specifically in reference to the tiny nubs you'd see on the head of a first-year fat tailed sheep, and is a similar case as with Benetnasch [name of constellation becomes the name of star because "wah arabic complicated" or something]. This exact type of sheep is also the one that would've been there for Jesus times if biblical allegories are your thing (parable of the lost sheep comes to mind). Also, in modern usage, the star is called "the headbutter/the headstrong", (Arabic; الناطح), so do with that what you will.

Arde has to have had the coolest one by far methinks, as Aldebaran is the only Suzumi star name that doesn't originally belong to a constellation and retains its original Arabic form plus it's the one with the most well-rounded mythology and cultural significance that just so happens to fit Arde well. To start, let's talk about the constellation right next to Aldebaran. Al-Thuriyya (Pleiades) has to be THE most famous constellation in Arab star mythology, being also related to Suhail (remember that guy?), and is also the reason of the name Aldebaran (Arabic; الدِبَران (full historical name; "الهادي الدِبَران")), meaning "The Follower" or "The Pursuing One", being given to the star right on its northwestern side.

According to an Arab legend from some point in the 7th century, Aldebaran was a poor and destitute person, while Al-Thuriyya was a beautiful and young girl. She impressed Aldebaran, so he decided to propose to her. He wanted someone to accompany him to the engagement ceremony, but he did not find anyone. So he went to the moon and asked him to try as much as he could to marry him to her, and the moon complied and went to her. But she refused, and after the moon pressed her, she said: “What should I do with this runt who has no money?”. The moon returned and told Aldebaran what had happened, but Aldebaran insisted on marrying her. He only owned sheep, so he took them all to Al-Thuriyya so that she would agree to marry him. The twenty sheep that Aldebaran led to the Pleiades are what came to be called “The Hyades,” which became the name of a star cluster that appears close to Aldebaran in the sky. The two stars near Aldebaran are his dogs, which he took with him and the sheep. As such, Aldebaran began to guide (follow) the Pleiades in the sky forever, along with his sheep, guiding them wherever they went. Thus, Aldebaran became a symbol of loyalty, while the Pleiades became a symbol of treachery. This loyalty was even mentioned in some Arabic proverbs: “More loyal than Al-Hadi (Al-Hadi Al-Dabran (Aldebaran)) and more treacherous than Al-Thuriyya (the Pleiades).”

Aldebaran also takes onto some mythology of its own as well, being a star whose rising is known to signal the beginning of the harshest periods of summer– Aldebaran became a star of ill omen to the Arabs of ancient times, even earning its own threatening rhymed prose;

اذا طلع الدبران, توقدت الحزان, وكرهت النيران, واستعرت الذبان, ويبست الغدران, ورمت بأنفسها حيث شاءت الصبيان.

When Aldebaran [the Follower] rises, the rugged lands abounding in jagged rocks burn, the fires are hated, the flies spread like fire, the pools of water left by torrents dry up, and the young children throw themselves wherever they desire.

From When the Follower Rises.

Seeing as Arde is the Suzumi who often keeps Hamee in check, holding them on a proverbial leash, them being "the follower" makes a lot of sense when you consider their canonical position (as one who herds sheep (Hamee) while following the leader (Benny)). They also share similarities with Benetnasch, having two lesser stars associated with them (the "dogs") and being the brightest star of their respective constellations. Hamee is the only one who only has one lesser star, poor hambone.

Tl;dr I'm just sharing my silly region-locked star lore for everyone else to enjoy 😊 hope this unlocks as much Suzumi headcanons in your brain as it did mine