Fascist Fantasy Meets The Strait of Hormuz Phil Wilson

 Fascism is the elevation of male violence – celebrated in war, hunting, martial arts, meat-eating, and the subjugation (via eugenics) of the weak, the disabled, and the colonized. Women are reduced to, well, Natalie Harp. This hyper-masculine ideal symbolically takes shape in the person of “the leader” – even if said ruler, a ridiculous specimen (in our case) of neglectful sloth and decay, has no objective claim to the cartoonish imagery of manliness. Thus, we have the marriage of Donald Trump and AI, with Trump’s feeble visage superimposed atop iconic photos of Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan. We also see a surreal depiction of Trump thrust into Star Wars iconography as a badass, updated version of Darth Vader. Trump’s AI world has him juxtaposed with hellish, Satanic accomplices, dark, gothic, gargoyleish, medieval – the sort of Nazi-adjacent imagery that tethers masculinism to evil.

I am looking at an AI-generated portrait of Donald Trump – his impeccably coiffed hair perched above a severely pinched, determined face. On either side of Trump’s no-nonsense stare-down, with lips so tight that you could not pry his mouth apart with a crowbar, two bald eagles mimic the orange eyes with animal hostility. Behind each eagle, we have an American Flag – cliched symmetry designed to titillate the most Pavlovian members of the MAGA sphere. Trump wields a Star Wars “lightsaber,” but the steroid-infused arms of “the leader” make your eyeballs pop out of their sockets.

His painfully revised muscles pulsate with veins and lumpy, busy sinews. Ridiculous is not the correct word. The image reminds me of Mark Leyner’s description of a woman with “the face of an elderly crone and the body of a male Olympic swimmer,” who surreptitiously raided henhouses at night to devour chickens. Yes, AI Trump unknowingly replicates Mark Leyner’s singular genius for unpredictable gags. The thigh-smacking version of Donald Trump, revised as Superman, has been cloaked in some sort of nostalgic dress from a preindustrial culture – perhaps the gladiatorial robes worn bravely in an arena dreamed up in the minds of cannabis inspired, adolescent art students.

With AI we now have the capacity for a brand new category of absurdity – we can take the fascist pastime of lying to a plateau that the Nazis could only dream of. A man poised just two Big Macs shy of a massive coronary can be remade instantly into a heroic man of disciplined action. Trump, who spends his days slumped in front of FOX News downing fries and diet cokes with absent-minded indifference to his own demise, appears before us as if he had been training to rip open the bowels of creation and reassemble the world in the manner of an angry Jehovah.

Hitler and his entourage of misshapen eugenics-obsessed ideologues – including chinless Heinrich Himmler, clubfooted Joseph Goebbels, obese Hermann Göring and mad-as-a-hatter Rudolf Hess – never could square the Nazi inner circle and the superman fantasy. Hitler depended upon the only influential woman in the Nazi hierarchy, Leni Riefenstahl, to concoct visually powerful masculine myths.

Fascism always confronts the obstacle of reality, and depends on the visual distortions of media to create subconscious connections in the minds of the viewer. Susan Sontag pointed out that Riefenstahl used Hitler as the “mediator” between the audience and eugenic perfection. In Riefenstahl’s film, “Olympia,” the camera continuously jumps from slow-motion footage of victorious athletes to interspersed images of the Führer in his role as spectator. The athletes are consecrated in the gaze of the Führer. It is as if physical accomplishments only become whole when the leader recognizes them.

Donald Trump, however, has no similar role in the pantheon of American sports ritual. Whenever Trump shows up at the Super Bowl, the World Cup, the World Series, or the NBA Finals, he is contemptuously greeted with prolonged booing. Therefore, Trump’s route to the heights of masculinism has taken a detour into the most jaw-dropping corners of narcissistic pretense. The oblique lie associating Hitler with 1936 Olympic feats, has become transparent in Trump’s version of himself. Seeing this squalid, half dead wreck of a physique decked out in bogus sinews reminds us that fascist leaders have no barrier to constrain mendacity. In the micro-phallic escape into fascist fantasies, the Flaccid States of America have been abducted into a world of fakery sustained by a trillion-dollar armaments industry and the cheap manipulation of AI.

Trump’s shallowness now takes historical shape in Iran. What is the Iranian war but a massive flex of faux US muscle exposed in real time. Ever since WW II we have been trying to reconcile ourselves – objectively a nation sprawled on couches, fattened by wings, fries and Coca-Cola- with our military image of ourselves, invincible and fierce. And who is Donald Trump but everyman stumbling grossly, nauseously from a binge on Burgers, Fries and Cokes, but unable to escape from the incongruous fantasy of himself as a representative of male perfection. American masculinism is unlike any other, stretched to the breaking point by the sheer distance between American fantasy and American reality. The space separating masculine prowess and wanton indulgence has been revealed in Iran, where no amount of military budgeting can alter the inevitable narrative. The soft underbelly of America cannot be revised by AI trick photography. The Strait of Hormuz (the abstract collapse), reified by the skyrocketing prices at the pumps and on the supermarket shelves, competes with an endless stream of lies about US military dominance.

Mid-twentieth-century fascism, with its grandiose propensity for spectacle, for Riefenstahl’s wide-angle lens depictions of blond racial ecstasy, crashed head-on with the destiny of Stalingrad. Nazism had a 12-year run of non-stop murder fueled by mass delusion. MAGA is the clown car sequel to the Third Reich – a murderous orgy applauded by the consumers of AI Trump images.

Iran, in the words of CounterPunch writer, Nicky Reid, “smokes a cigarette and cracks its knuckles.” As Leni Riefenstahl’s fans learned eighty years ago, camera tricks can only go so far.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s sisters arrested before planned PTI march

 Pakistan’s police have detained two more sisters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hours after arresting their sibling Aleema Khan from her residence in Lahore under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law.

Khan’s family and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party confirmed early on Monday that Uzma Khan and Noureen Niazi were also taken into custody along with several other family members, hours after holding a news conference to address Aleema’s arrest on Sunday.

“Punjab Police have arrested both sisters of Imran Khan, along with their children and the sons of Aleema Khan,” PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram posted on X, adding they were taken to an unknown place in an armoured vehicle.

Khan’s son Kasim condemned the detentions, stating that authorities broke into his relatives’ homes and forced them into vehicles without explanation or stated reasons for arrest.

“This is criminal behaviour. Inexcusable,” he wrote on X on Sunday.

The detentions come a week before a planned PTI protest march on September 27 to demand his release.

Aleema Khan was taken into custody on Sunday after the deputy commissioner of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, issued a 30-day preventive detention order under MPO, which allows authorities to detain individuals for public safety. The other sisters were also detained under the same law.

Aleema’s lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umer, said the detentions have been challenged in the Lahore High Court.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned the PTI against proceeding with its planned march.

“They cannot achieve anything through such drama. I will say again today that there is still time. Don’t get into a situation from which there is no turning back,” Naqvi said.

He also referred to a court order from last week stating that political parties have no right to occupy public roads, appealing to PTI to adopt a different approach.

PTI leaders denounced the arrests. Akram said Aleema Khan was targeted “because she refused to stay silent about her brother’s illegal detention, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care”.

Concerns over Imran Khan’s health

Imran Khan, 73, has been jailed since August 2023 following a series of convictions his party calls politically motivated. All but one have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.

Concerns over his health, in particular the condition of his right eye, which has required months of specialist treatment, have driven the PTI campaign to demand his release.

Kasim and his brother Sulaiman Khan told Al Jazeera recently that they are increasingly worried after hearing that their father is “agitated” and suffering from “severe anxiety”.

Last month, the country’s Supreme Court ordered Pakistani authorities to transfer the former prime minister to the privately-run Shifa International Hospital in the capital, Islamabad.

Under the order, Khan was to remain there in medical care until the case was next heard, according to his lawyer.

Officials instead took him to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a brief check-up before returning him to jail and did not give him access to his personal physician, which his party says was a breach of the top court’s orders.

US voters oppose Iran war as 71% say Trump lacks clear strategy: Poll

 A new survey has found that a record number of registered voters in the United States oppose the war on Iran and believe there is no strategy to end it.

A survey published on Thursday by Fox News found that 71 percent of voters believe the Trump administration “lacks a clear strategy” for ending the hostilities, which have helped to raise inflation and send fuel prices soaring.

Click here to read more: US voters oppose Iran war as 71% say Trump lacks clear strategy: Poll | US-Israel war on Iran News | Al Jazeera

Quadcopters: Israel's weapon of choice for indiscriminate killing in Gaza

 Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has increased its use of drones known as "quadcopters" in the Gaza Strip, after previously deploying them in eastern and border areas.

This type of drone has been used extensively and on an unprecedented scale, are of multiple types, and their use has are not limited to attacking resistance fighters.

The Israeli military has relied on quadcopters in its field operations. Some emitted disturbing sounds or sent messages to civilians about displacement and movement, while others carried weapons. Particular types were designated for assassinations, either by detonating themselves or dropping explosive munitions.

Quadcopters have played an active and significant role in the context of this war, after previously appearing during the Great March of Return protests along the Gaza Strip border, which Palestinians organised from 2018 to 2023.

60 killed

A report issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor on 12 September this year found that the Israeli army had killed at least 60 civilians with fire from these drones or with munitions they dropped since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October 2025 until early September 2026.

According to the report, Israel has used small multi-rotor quadcopters and tactical drones in the Gaza Strip, which can be equipped with daylight and thermal cameras and systems for identifying and tracking targets.

It said some models can, depending on the mission, be fitted with 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm weapons or 40 mm explosive munitions.

Palestinians recently documented a video that was widely circulated on social media and described as "terrifying". It showed a quadcopter landing in Gaza City's eastern Tuffah neighbourhood at extremely low altitudes among residents' homes, filming inside homes and taking advantage of the absence of windows.

The footage reflects one of the typical ways this drone operates. The aircraft has become part of Palestinians' daily routine in Gaza, whether through its filming operations, deliberate or random gunfire towards areas where displaced people are staying, or the occasional dropping of inciting leaflets aimed at Palestinian resistance factions.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said field monitoring had identified three main patterns in the use of these aircraft.

The first involved precise and direct gunfire at individuals whom the operator could see and identify.

The second involved dropping explosive munitions on civilian gatherings and tents housing displaced people.

The third involved imposing fire control over areas adjacent to what is known as the "yellow line" by targeting civilians as they attempted to reach their homes and land or carry out their work there.

Ramy Abdu, head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said the group had documented a rise in the Israeli army's use of quadcopters as a tool for precise killing in the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that they had not been used only to assassinate activists or people Israel claims are wanted but had also been used to target civilians, including children, directly.

He told The New Arab that the danger of using quadcopters lies in "their technical capabilities, which allow the operator to monitor the targeted person, verify their identity and track their movements before opening fire, greatly narrowing the margin for error in identifying the target and increasing the obligation to refrain from attacking when their civilian status becomes apparent, or there is any doubt about it".

He added that the repeated targeting of children, displaced people, farmers and shepherds with direct fire or munitions dropped from these aircraft, despite the clarity of their civilian status and their lack of any direct participation in hostilities or any imminent threat, collectively provides strong indications that targeting civilians was deliberate and was not the result of an error in identifying the target or an accidental attack.

He noted that these attacks are "prohibited from the outset" and cannot be justified on the grounds of military necessity or subjected to a proportionality assessment.

He further said that direct attacks on civilians are already prohibited and are not permitted by claims of military necessity or the rules of proportionality, and Israel's use of this weapon, according to the group's documentation, violates the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law, which requires parties to a conflict to distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Abdu stressed that the situation differs from weapons that may lack the ability to distinguish, as "the decision to open fire on civilians despite having the full ability to distinguish them is not related to the weapon's inability to distinguish, which means systematic, deliberate and intentional targeting".

On the ground, quadcopters are constantly present in the skies over the Gaza Strip, including areas where displaced people are staying.

Palestinians in displacement areas see these aircraft flying at different hours of the day and descending to extremely low altitudes.

Use of drones

Brigadier General and military affairs expert Naji Melaab said Israel had developed its use of small drones in the Gaza Strip, so they were no longer limited to reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions but had become a tool for carrying out precise targeting and killing operations.

Melaab told The New Arab that these drones are distinguished by their small size and ability to move in places that are difficult for soldiers to reach.

He said that they have been used inside tunnels and buildings in Gaza, where they can film the location and transmit information and images directly to the control centre.

He added that the drone can be operated by a single soldier and has advanced capabilities, including capturing sounds and transmitting them to the operator.

It can also create noise or broadcast messages depending on the mission assigned to it.

Melaab also said the most significant development was equipping the drone with a machine gun that allows the operator to control gunfire with precision.

He explained that it can also destroy itself if it crashes or reaches a designated location, and that Israel has used these drones in the Gaza Strip, particularly for reconnaissance operations, as well as for assassinations. The use represents a shift from drones designed for surveillance to systems capable of carrying out direct offensive missions.

This development reflects an advanced use of artificial intelligence and military technology in the war on Gaza, as the drone now combines reconnaissance, target identification and the ability to carry out strikes, thereby allowing killings to be conducted from a distance without soldiers entering the targeted location, according to Melaab.

He warned of the danger of this type of operation, particularly when relying on inaccurate intelligence.

Targeting a building or home with a drone can result in civilian deaths amid the difficulty of verifying information on the ground before carrying out the strike.

The article was translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here. 

Trump was ‘shocked’ that Iran fought back. He shouldn’t have been. - By Stephen Kinzer

 Stephen Kinzer is a senior fellow at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

Future historians may tell the story of the Iran war through a quote from President Trump that perfectly encapsulates it. “We were shocked,” Trump said after the first US-Israeli attack failed to destroy Iran’s government. “They fought back.”

The president, fresh from an easy triumph in Venezuela, thought Iran would fall just as easily. But instead of success, he hit a brick wall.

Only by ignoring every serious scholar and intelligence analyst was it possible for Trump to delude himself into thinking that Iran was a soft target. In fact, the opposite is true. History, religious tradition, and political culture combine to give Iranians extraordinary resilience.

Iran has one of the richest histories of any country on earth. It is 10 times as old as the United States, tracing its roots back to Persian emperors like Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. Iranians consider themselves part of something that is grand and magnificent. Their attachment to their country is profoundly emotional.

One reason Iranians resist foreign intervention so fiercely is that they have had so much practice. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane ravaged their land. Arabs invaded and imposed Islam. In the 19th century, Russia seized large swaths of Iran’s territory.

The name of one of the treaties by which Iran lost that territory — Turkmenchay — has become a curse word in Iran. Any Iranian who supports a deal with the United States risks being accused of accepting “another Turkmenchay.” That is the equivalent of banishment from Iranian politics. This intense historical sensitivity makes any US-Iran accord difficult.

Another obstacle is the sorry record of relations between the two countries. Iran was an incipient democracy after World War II, but its government challenged the economic order imposed by the United States and Britain by nationalizing its oil industry. In 1953 President Dwight Eisenhower used the CIA to depose Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had led the drive for oil nationalization. That led to a quarter-century of royal dictatorship, followed by the 1978-9 hostage crisis and nearly a half-century of religious rule. The one seeming breakthrough, President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal, evaporated after Trump withdrew from it. Americans may see Iran as malign and untrustworthy, but the feeling is mutual.

The binding effect of Shia Islam, which most Iranians profess, also gives them inspiration to resist. Its two most revered figures, Ali and Hussein, were 7th-century martyrs who the Shia believe died defending justice against tyranny. This legacy, enriched over centuries, has given Iranians a sense that suffering oppression at the hands of evildoers is pleasing to God. Even many unbelievers have absorbed the Shia principle that it is morally wrong to capitulate to iniquitous power.

Shia believers do not have a “martyr complex,” as is sometimes asserted, but neither do they succumb easily. Trump’s recently announced economic sanctions — a “crushing economic operation,” he called it — will undoubtedly hurt many Iranians. It is unlikely, however, to drive them to demand that their leaders make a deal with Americans or Israelis.

Domestic Iranian politics combines with history and tradition to stiffen the country’s resistance. The country’s new leaders are decidedly more militant than those who were killed in the first wave of US-Israeli attacks. They see this war as a gift because it gives them a historic chance to kick the United States out of the Middle East. That gives them an incentive to fight on and to reject compromise or cease-fire.

Iranians do not cheer for their government. Many and perhaps most of them wish for a different kind of society. At this moment, though, the Revolutionary Guard and its allies are the ones defending Iran against an enemy that seems to want to end its existence as a sovereign nation. People naturally support their leaders when their country is attacked. President George W. Bush’s popularity rating soared to 90 percent after the 9/11 bombings. Iran’s government is benefiting from that same rally-round-the-flag impulse.

For years the United States has pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran. Its defenders have a simple explanation for why it has failed: It hasn’t been maximum enough. Just keep turning up the pressure, they insist, and at some point Iran will collapse into America’s lap. Trump’s new sanctions, which he called “an economic D-Day” for Iran, are the latest iteration of “maximum pressure.”

Iran’s great weapon in this war is its resilience and ability to absorb pain. Americans are unhappy to read that more than a dozen US service members have been killed since this war began. Iran, by contrast, absorbed hundreds of thousands of casualties in its war with Iraq in the 1980s. While Americans grumble about rising gas prices, Iranians have endured economic devastation wrought by decades of US-sponsored sanctions. It’s clear which country is better girded for a long conflict.

Trump launched this war with the same combination of arrogance and ignorance that shaped his predecessors’ interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. All of his tactical gambits have foundered on the shoals of Iranian resistance. This war has shown the world more than tragedy. It is also a reminder that 25 centuries of Iranian history have forged a remarkably tenacious nation.

Israeli Attacks in Gaza Kill at Least Seven Palestinians Over Three Days

 

Since the so-called ceasefire deal was signed in October 2025, the IDF has killed 1,393 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry

by Dave DeCamp 

Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least seven Palestinians and injured 38, according to numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry, as the IDF continues its constant violations of the so-called ceasefire deal that was signed in October 2025.

The Health Ministry said on Saturday that over the previous 48-hour period, the IDF had killed at least four Palestinians and injured 17. On Sunday, the ministry said that Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours killed three Palestinians and wounded 21.

Israeli attacks over the weekend included a Saturday strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza, that killed Basir al-Bursh, the eldest son of the Gaza Health Ministry’s Director General, Munir al-Bursh.

Palestinians carry the body of Basir al-Bursh, son of Munir al-Bursh, Director General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to medics, in Gaza City, September 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

“We were together side by side,” al-Bursh said while mourning his son, according to Al Jazeera. “He [Basir] told me, ‘The Israelis are targeting both of us’. I replied, ‘Good, at least we will go to heaven together’ … As soon as he stepped out of the tent, he was killed.”

Israeli attacks continued in Gaza on Sunday, with the Palestinian news agency WAFA reporting that a woman and two children were wounded by Israeli gunfire in separate incidents in different parts of the Strip. Three other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire and drone attacks near Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

According to the Health Ministry’s latest numbers, since the US-backed ceasefire deal was signed nearly a year ago, the IDF has killed at least 1,393 Palestinians and wounded 4,822.

The Trump administration has continued to back Israel’s attacks in Gaza despite the US and the so-called Board of Peace announcing in July that Hamas had agreed to a US-proposed disarmament deal. President Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 17, and the two agreed that Israel would continue bombing the Strip.

Antonio Guterres: Can the UN still meet today’s global crises?

 In this episode of On the Record, Al Jazeera’s James Bays sits down with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, ahead of his final UN General Assembly before stepping down in December 2026. They discuss the situation in the Middle East and its global consequences, whether the UN is still relevant in addressing today’s challenges and why Guterres believes the UN Security Council must be reformed.

Listen to the video by clicking here: Antonio Guterres: Can the UN still meet today’s global crises? | US-Israel war on Iran | Al Jazeera

The pro-Israel censors are starting to lose

 For decades, Israel’s greatest advantage in the West was not simply military or political support. It was narrative power.

Israel and its supporters enjoyed enormous influence over the boundaries of acceptable discussion about Palestine: which violent incident received attention, whose security mattered the most, which historical context was relevant and, crucially, what criticism of Israel could be allowed in public.

That power has not disappeared. But the extraordinary controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s US tour shows how rapidly it is eroding.

The fact that the American rapper was dropped from the tour after he spoke about Palestine on stage meant that the old system worked. A powerful billionaire objected. Venues applied pressure. The artist disappeared from the stage.

What was different this time was the backlash.

In response to the censorship, every remaining support act on Sheeran’s tour walked away. Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga all withdrew. Meanwhile, ticket prices for Sheeran’s remaining concerts plunged, in some cases losing 50 percent of their value, as many fans felt outraged.

Macklemore stood his ground and pledged the $1m he had earned from his appearances to six organisations supporting Palestinians. Subsequently, the media reported Sheeran would donate $2m towards humanitarian relief in the region.

All of this has helped generate further donations and attention for Palestinian aid organisations, including a $1m pledge from children’s educator Ms Rachel.

Consider what happened.

An attempt to push “Free Palestine” off the stage resulted in Palestine receiving vastly more attention, artists abandoning one of the world’s biggest tours and more funds being donated to Palestinian organisations.

The attempt to control the message amplified the message itself. And that tells us something much bigger than how controversy is handled in the music industry.

Amid its genocide in Gaza, Israel is facing a crisis not simply of public opinion, but of narrative control.

For almost three years, the world has watched Palestinians killed, displaced and starved. It has seen neighbourhoods flattened, hospitals overwhelmed and families repeatedly driven from one place to another. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The old narrative increasingly struggles against a force Israel cannot easily control: people can see what is happening themselves.

Palestinian journalists, doctors, parents and ordinary citizens no longer depend entirely on Western governments or established media organisations to narrate their lives. Images, testimony and documentation travel directly from Gaza to millions of phones around the world.

There are limits to propaganda when people can witness the consequences of power for themselves. Public opinion increasingly reflects that rupture.

A Pew Research Center survey across 36 countries this year found a median of 67 percent of respondents held an unfavourable view of Israel. In the United Kingdom, it was 69 percent, Germany – 73 percent, Italy – 75 percent and Australia – 79 percent. Even in the United States, Israel’s most important ally, 60 percent viewed Israel unfavourably.

Among younger people, the transformation is more dramatic still. Seventy-four percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 surveyed by Pew viewed Israel unfavourably, as did 78 percent of young Britons and 87 percent of young Australians.

This does not mean everyone supports Palestine or agrees on what a political settlement should look like. It means that the cost of speaking up for Palestine is falling.

For years, the implied question confronting artists, academics and other public figures openly supporting Palestine was: what are you prepared to lose? Your booking? Your sponsorship? Your reputation? Your career?

The purpose of such consequences was larger than the individual. Punish one person publicly and hundreds of others would understand the warning and keep silent.

But deterrence only works when people are deterred.

This time, they weren’t. And that put pressure on the censors and those who complied.

The backlash forced Sheeran to speak up publicly about Palestine. On Saturday, during his concert in Philadelphia, where he had to play solo, he called what is happening in Gaza “unjustifiable”.

The equation has clearly changed.

Speaking for Palestine can still carry a professional cost. Macklemore has just demonstrated that. But increasingly, censors may discover that silencing pro-Palestine voices carries a cost, too.

That is why the Israeli narrative crisis runs deeper than falling approval ratings.

The old power was not merely the ability to silence Palestinians and those who stood with them. It was the ability to determine which account of Palestine the world would hear. That monopoly is breaking.

They succeeded in removing the man who said “Free Palestine” from the stage. But “Free Palestine” became louder.

And that may be the clearest indication yet that Israel is not simply losing an argument. It is losing its grip on the story.

• 
  Ahmed Najar

Elif Eralp: A leftist leader with Turkish roots dubbed ‘Germany’s Mamdani’

 When Elif Eralp was 10, she rallied her friends to make hand-painted posters in her family’s garage, calling for the protection of the environment.

It was the early nineties in Germany and this was one of her first forays into activism. Her parents also inspired her by taking her along to political demonstrations.

Now, 35 years later, Eralp is taking her social justice advocacy to new heights.

On Sunday, her The Left party (Die Linke) won first place in Berlin’s state election – putting her on course to potentially become the next governing mayor of Germany’s gritty, creative capital.

Born in Munich to Turkish socialists and trade unionists who fled the 1980 military coup in Turkiye, Eralp’s victory could mark several firsts. She would be the first The Left party candidate to lead Berlin since German reunification in 1990, the city’s first mayor of Turkish descent – and its first woman of colour to hold the office.

Victory signals ‘strong desire for disruption’

Eralp’s campaign promises of affordable housing, rent controls and more political inclusion for immigrants and refugees contrasted with her rivals, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Two weeks ago, the AfD triumphed in Saxony-Anhalt. But on Sunday, they came third in Berlin.

Eralp’s party nabbed the most votes, but it now needs allies to take control of the mayor’s office.

As Germans look beyond traditional political candidates, her appeal may have grown, experts say.

“There was a strong desire for disruption and radical political change,” Martin Fuchs, a German political and digital consultant, told Al Jazeera.

Additionally, Eralp’s win after the AfD’s “shows that, in 2026, Germany is not only witnessing a rise in far-right parties, but [that] there continues to be a colourful, diverse, open and liberal Germany,” he added.