Sophia Babai

Immediate frothing-at-the-mouth hunger my lord

How are you? They ask, and they’re not asking if I had a nice day, if I was productive or clogged with ideas, wheels spinning. They’re asking are you gonna be okay? and I can’t very well say I don’t know. How’s your family? They ask, and they’re not asking if Mama’s cancer is still in remission, if my dad ever beat that one crossword that he’s been stuck on, pen between teeth, side of mouth forever splattered in ink. They’re asking, Is your family alive? Of course, I don’t know how they would react If they said, How’s your family, and I said, Dead. (You know, I feel like I’m casting a curse Just by typing that out Because the answer, again: I don’t know) No power, that was the demand, no oil for China only for us, No nuclear for you only for us No solar — that’s mostly implied But this is a poem, not a screed against sanctions (You know, we’re so hungry we sell our kidneys to feed our stomach? You know, Dubai chocolate, that was about us. Your pistachios are choking your water supply. Katayfi is Palestinian. But this is a poem, not a screed against genocidal TikTok trends.) The point is: I don’t know. I haven’t heard. No news is No news. Not yet.

A poem, I guess.

Someone somewhere should do a psychological study on the chicken-egg of this thing where their entire national mythos / rationale for their constant vicious cruelty is that everyone hates them, and also their actions seem stunningly calculated to horrify and infuriate as many people as possible.

@thenation.com Hello! I'm trying to submit an article on the targeting of Iranian and Palestinian leadership, focused on Mohammed Mosaddegh and Marwan Barghouti as well as the attempted assassinations of Iranian leftists, but the submission form isn't working. Is there an alternate way to submit?

It's actually a much more complicated issue. The history of that region is complicated and nuanced It's just so much more complicated (Complicated thoughts) "nuanced" Look, I studied abroad for a semester I understand the nuance

They did also try a lot harder with the nuclear propaganda than they did this time, but plenty of people even then were like "what the fuck are you talking about"

Comparable in terms of sheer stupidity but (swaths of) the public were more effectively hoodwinked because of post-9/11 malice and paranoia, and because of a general shortage of awareness of the evils we were doing.

I worked with her in 2022. For all I know these have always been her opinions and she just wasn't making wild late-night videos about it?

Yeah as a Sufi I do believe everyone is a facet of God, but so is my water bottle.

When did you sneak into my house to take a picture of me and why did you not stay for iftar?

Honestly the most surprising thing was the argument that Saudi has "deradicalized its population" and "they're just normal people" which is a WILD thing to say in the same breaths as "Islamists are anti-life anti-woman anti-music demon-worshippers."

Just watched a woman I used to work with and respect argue that

a) The pro-Palestine movement is a "synthetic cause" manufactured to prevent Jews from getting power (boring, normal)
b) Islam is a "synthetic religion" and Allah is a demon (okayyy?)
c) Trump and Netanyahu are faces of God (excuse me)

Saying a lot of prayers for a lot of places today, but particular prayers for Bahrain, a tiny nation that has been battling brutal suppression for decades. The people of Bahrain can't even access their own beaches, because the sight of brown people on the beach might "deter (Western) investors"

For those who aren't sure what I'm talking about, Bahrain 101:

Bahrain is an archipelago in the Persian Gulf. When I say it's tiny, the entire population is 1.5 million people, about half of whom are Arab. The rest consist of (mostly) South Asians and (a teeny bit) Africans and Americans.

In the Bronze Age, Bahrain was one of the world's most important trade hubs, linking Mesopotamia to South and Central Asia. It was also a major center of pearl trade. It's been controlled at various points by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Iranians, Portuguese, and British.

One time a group took over Bahrain being like "we shall create a utopia! Property shall be redistributed! Also we shall SACK MECCA AND TAKE THE BLACK STONE." (A sacred stone in the wall of the Ka'aba.) And that's why the black stone is in seven pieces!

...that's not relevant I just think it's wild.

ANYHOW. Bahrain, like most of the world, was eventually taken over by the British. At the time, it was considered one of the loveliest places in the world, renowned for aforementioned fisheries. And then oil was discovered, and the Brits promptly decided to take as much oil as possible.

Some Bahrainis protested British occupation and got exiled to South Asia. Some Bahrainis protested British occupation and got exiled to Saudi Arabia. Some Bahrainis protested British occupation and got straight-up murdered.

Somewhere in the midst of this, the Shah of Iran was like "actually we should rule Bahrain" and the Brits were like FUCK THAT SHIT, and they did what the Brits do second-best (the best is cause a famine, of course) and started to encourage sectarian conflicts, notably between Sunnis and Shias.

Charles Belgrave, the guy in charge, was also like, "we should rename the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf!" and the British government was like "that's fucking stupid" and no one ever had this stupid idea ever again, not even once.

Bahrainis continued to demand independence, but of course we can't simply LET THE BROWN PEOPLE RULE THEMSELVES, we must instead install a DICTATOR, because we LOVE dictators, as long as the dictators let us (by which I mean the US & UK) still exploit the oil. And the beaches. And the pearl industry.

Bahrain is majority Shia, but its leaders are Sunni, which is not inherently the worst thing in the world except for the bit where the Sunni leaders keep detaining / disappearing / torturing / murdering Shias.

Bahrain keeps trying. They tried to rebel in 1981, following the Iranian Revolution. They tried to rebel in the 90s (that was particularly striking because the fundamentalists and leftists joined forces, which should tell you just how bad the regime is.) They tried to rebel during the Arab Spring.

And every time, suppression gets harsher, punishments get crueler, and civil society gets more and more strangled. Bahrain's leaders are beholden to the US, the UAE, and the Saudis. They are not, as far as they are concerned, beholden to the actual human beings they are leading.

People are jailed for social media posts. Citizens are expelled with their citizenship revoked, rendering them stateless. Protestors are sentenced to death for crimes they almost certainly didn't commit. And, again, the torture.

Meanwhile, US military bases dot the country. Meanwhile, Bahrain touts itself as a luxury tourism hub for rich Westerners and Saudi. Meanwhile, oil spills ravage the oceans and reefs.

This is why Bahrainis celebrate Iranian strikes on US military bases. This is why Bahrainis are once again rising up throughout the country, trying to shake off the shackles of dictatorship. This is why they are in my prayers tonight, and hopefully in yours.

Please do some research before spreading this incredibly dangerous misinformation. They have the most sophisticated targeting capacities in the entire world, and also they have bombed many many schools in many many places. And please unfollow me if you’re going to try spreading lies in my comments.

Every single school in Iran has been closed down and moved to remote learning, because the US and Israel intentionally target schools. I feel sick.

This is why Bahrainis celebrate Iranian strikes on US military bases. This is why Bahrainis are once again rising up throughout the country, trying to shake off the shackles of dictatorship. This is why they are in my prayers tonight, and hopefully in yours.