Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
banner
istanbultelaviv.bsky.social
Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
@istanbultelaviv.bsky.social
Associate Prof Brooklyn College; Jews and Palestinians in the late Ottoman era: Turkish, Israeli/Palestinian affairs; working on a book focusing on a post-Oct 7 historical narrative of Palestine/Israel. Haaretz and more; Website: https://louisfishman.com/
Pinned
For those here who didn't know me on Twitter, here is the cover of my book on Ottoman Palestine, have a look at it if you are interested in what Jews and Palestinains were thinking and writing about in the years before WWI. Hopefully a new book cover will replace this with time (in the making now).
Reposted by Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
Listening to this now... and, boy, I hope some journal asks me to review it.

I was expecting great things from @reubensilverman.bsky.social... and it sure sounds like he delivered!
December 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
Another notorious world record from Turkey: the regime is bragging about building the largest courtroom (capacity 2900!) in the Silivri Prison Complex known for housing hundreds of political detainees since 2010s
December 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
It's an honor to be part of this fabulous book project! A huge thanks to Khatchig Mouradian and Hans-Lukas Kieser for their endless work!
It’s here—all 800 pages of it!

The I.B. Tauris Handbook of the Late Ottoman Empire: History and Legacy draws on contributions from 45 established and emerging academics to explore the Ottoman Empire and its legacies (from the 18th to the early 21st century).
www.bloomsbury.com/us/ib-tauris...
December 9, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Rashid Khalidi'yi İstanbul'da görmek ve son kitabının çevrilmiş olması güzel. Ayrıca Osman Kavala'yı hatırlattığını görmek de güzel. İşte kendisiyle bir röportaj. t24.com.tr/yazarlar/can...
Filistin asıllı Amerikalı tarihçi Rashid Khalidi: ABD Kongresi’nin Türkiye’yi ilgilendiren konularda İsrail’in istediğini yapacağını düşünüyorum
“‘Osman Kavala kitabının Türkçe çevirisinin editörlüğünü yapmak' dediklerinde inanamadım, harika bir iş çıkardı, böyle birinin benim kitabıma böyle bir katkı vermesi bir onur”
t24.com.tr
November 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Tonight, we had a Harvey Milk Hope Speech moment, as Mamdani delivered exactly that: one of hope, looking towards the future. Together, we really are better.
November 5, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Mamdani to Trump: I have four words for you. Turn the volume up!
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Mamdani is great for public education, a huge shout out to PSC CUNY for showing our union early on saw how important his win will be for us, for CUNY schools, and the city! Congrats to all!
November 5, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Rightly, many are discussing Zohran Mamdani's ability to win a race despite his clear pro-Palestine agenda. However, his outreach to the Jewish community and his ability to recognize the pain of Israelis attacked on October 7 provided him with a unique balancing act that few could do.
November 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Congrats Zohran! You ran an amazing campaign; you walked the streets, talked to the people, and led outreach to those who expressed worries over some of your ideas. It's been years since a candidate built trust like you did. Let's make this work together!
November 5, 2025 at 3:13 AM
After 2 very long years, a ceasefire is here. And, me, I will continue to write a narrative of how Israelis and Palestinians reached these terrible days. For now a small sigh of relief that we can proceed forward, Israelis and Palestinians, with my sadness over all those who lost family and friends.
October 10, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Huge news. I am so happy that Elizabeth Tsurkov is free at last!
September 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Most news agencies are wrongly reporting that Turkey severed economic ties with Israel today. Turkey's FM in parliament spoke of things already done; cutting economic ties, blocking Israeli ships at its harbors...perhaps the only thing new: it is closing its airspace to Israeli planes.
August 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
The absolute worst case scenario.
August 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
It is a sad day when Rashid Khalidi cancels his class due to the simple fact that he can no longer teach it at Columbia under the current conditions. For me, this is a bitter moment; he trained and taught me as a historian, my mentor. Read below and see the link in the next post. #Palestine #Israel
August 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
A fun distraction from my work, scanning newspapers from the 1920s:

A British paper reported a girl started to chant Hebrew-a language she didn't know, when she fell into a state of "delirium." Turns out she was a servant for a Rabbi and had heard his sermons. Sounds like she was a great student!
July 30, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
The avalanche of terrible news keeps flowing in. This cannot go unnoticed, this represents the everyday life of Palestinians in the West Bank: settlers rampage and pillage as the Israeli government not only turns its face, its own ministers encourage it. Pogroms and murder with absolute impunity.
July 28, 2025 at 8:27 PM
During the 12-day war between Israel/Iran some media outlets claimed Israel was working to expand its borders from the Nile to the Euphrates, calling it "Greater Israel." With this in mind, I wrote the following piece for Al Majalla, placing it in a historical context. en.majalla.com/node/326639/...
Those who see plans for a ‘Greater Israel’ are not the first to do so
For more than a century, Jews have been accused of plotting dominion over the Middle East. Recent Israeli military success has simply restored and restoked an age-old canard.
en.majalla.com
July 28, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
There’s also something like 300-400k South Asians in New York City
"obscure south asian channel" is fuckin hilarious he did an interview with News18 which hits about 180 million people a week they get more eyeballs in a night than the NYT gets in a year
The strategy is striking. Zohran has been doing interviews w/ South Asian television, Pakistani news channel, Punjabi TV, Bangla newspaper, and more.

“We are going to heavily feature him in these places throughout the fall,” a Zohran adviser tells me. 6/

newrepublic.com/article/1984...
July 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
"Israel is committing genocide."

Israel's main human rights organization, B’Tselem, releases its most damning report ever: We never thought we'd write this report, but we also never believed this would be our reality. www.btselem.org/publications...
July 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
In my latest for Al Majalla, I provide a historical review of the term "Greater Israel," tracing its origins and antisemitic conspiracy theories from late Ottoman times to the present day. On that note, it's my pleasure to be writing for Al Majalla for the first time! en.majalla.com/node/326639/...
Those who see plans for a ‘Greater Israel’ are not the first to do so
For more than a century, Jews have been accused of plotting dominion over the Middle East. Recent Israeli military success has simply restored and restoked an age-old canard.
en.majalla.com
July 28, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Breaking: Canada is in line to recognize Palestine, within a two-state solution, alongside Israel.

Come on, Europe, keep the recognitions rolling in.

Who will be next?
July 26, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Such a shame. The French gov's recognition comes within the context of a well-worded statement that recognizes a two-state solution. It in no way emboldens extremists, but undermines extremists on both sides.
July 26, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן
Along the same lines, the release of Abdullah Ocalan in this process is more likely than the release of Selahattin Demirtas because the former legitimizes the authoritarian status-quo while the latter challenges it.
Ankara‘s release of an imprisoned PKK fighter is consistent with its repeated emphasis that the process is to end „terror“ (read: armed conflict btw the Turkish state and the PKK): no more, no less.
July 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Sad to hear about the passing of Ziad Rahbani. A revolutionary not just in his music's words but his whole style. This really came out in the music he did with his mother, the legendary Fairuz. This album was part of my own university years, when we dreamed of another world.
July 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM