Sam Heller | سام هيلر
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abujamajem.com
Sam Heller | سام هيلر
@abujamajem.com
Researcher and analyst looking at Lebanon, Syria and the wider neighborhood. Century International Fellow. Former Crisis Group. "Jamajem" means ☠️.

www.abujamajem.com
Welp
December 4, 2025 at 1:49 AM
There’s a lot of nonsense out there

@ajaltamimi.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 6:57 PM
This sounds like the half-baked pitch Tom Barrack made to the Lebanese: www.wsj.com/world/russia...
December 2, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Don’t see how either the Syrians or the Lebanese can reasonably address Israeli security concerns that are not reasonable: www.axios.com/2025/12/01/i...
December 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
But if we think through the causal logic of war: Escalation in Lebanon is basically an Israeli decision – not a choice that belongs to Hizbullah, Lebanon's national political leadership, or Lebanon's international friends ("friends").

1/2

x.com/beirutcallin...
November 30, 2025 at 4:52 PM
How are Israel's neighbors meant to address Israel's security concerns sufficiently to halt its attacks when this is the kind of stupid stuff that Israeli officials are apparently concerned about? www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
November 29, 2025 at 8:39 PM
@giorgiocafiero.bsky.social for @thenewarab.bsky.social: “Occupation and opportunity: Israel's strategy in post-Assad Syria” www.newarab.com/analysis/occ... Includes my thoughts:
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
In video from occupied southern Syria, Israeli ambassador to U.S. says that, post-October 7, Israel will no longer accept "foreign armies" on its border – highlights how Israel refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of its regional neighbors. x.com/yechielleite...
November 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
SANA: Lebanon's deputy PM and Syria's foreign and justice ministers discussed matters of mutual interest, "foremost the issue of Syrians detained in Lebanon on charges related to the Syrian revolution": sana.sy/politics/233...

On why that framing matters: tcf.org/content/comm...
November 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
In this 2023 @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social report, I wrote about how Lebanon's dependence on foreign assistance – including for its army – had compromised Lebanese sovereignty: tcf.org/content/repo...
November 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Underrated part of 2019 @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social piece on media failures on Epstein: when NYT took its reporter who had been conspiring with Epstein for years off of a 2018 Epstein-Musk story, Epstein immediately said freak stuff to the new guy: www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...
November 15, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Minutes from October 20 meeting of Food Security & Basic Needs Working Group in Jordan provide detail on cash for return program on Jordan side: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
@unhcr.org Lebanon update on Syrian refugee voluntary repatriation program, as of 31 October: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 1:58 PM
@unhcr.org Lebanon Syrian returns and movements snapshot, as of October 31: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...
November 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Trump envoy Barrack / a large language model says Syrian government will now "actively assist" U.S. in "confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks." x.com/USAMBTurkiye...
November 13, 2025 at 11:13 AM
The Tablet ethos and worldview: www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/h...
October 31, 2025 at 1:10 PM
October 28, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Borders authority chief Quteiba Badawi visits Dara'a, says agreement on rehabilitation of "old Dara'a" crossing (Ramtha) and Damascus-Dara'a highway: x.com/q_badawi/sta...
October 24, 2025 at 6:41 AM
So when Barrack responds to junk from Twitter accounts he apparently doesn't follow, is that stuff that his staff is forwarding him, or just whatever his For You feed is showing him? How algorithm-brained is he?
October 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
For reference:
October 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Let's see what kind of friend of Syria Rayburn really is if he's confirmed in the Senate and tasked with dealing with a Shara'-led Syria: x.com/MhdAGhanem/s...
October 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
On October 15, Lebanese education ministry updated instructions to schools to now allow registration of Syrian children lacking residency or UN registration; PSP took credit, for children displaced from Sweida:
www.elnashra.com/news/show/17...
October 22, 2025 at 1:35 PM
"First Lady of Rafah" 🙃
October 22, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Don’t know why people are upset about the White House, looks normal
October 21, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Tom Barrack long Twitter post on Lebanon and Syria includes Lebanon disarmament pitch that seems incoherent, insulting; also extended speculative riff on Hizbullah forcing postponement of 2026 parliamentary elections and resulting civil unrest 🤨 x.com/usambturkiye...
October 20, 2025 at 6:04 AM