Ajam Media Collective

"The night before the attack, Rafi-Nia Synagogue hosted a Passover celebration. The morning after, the community gathered again, this time to survey the rubble." Narciss M. Sohrabi reflects on the destruction of a Tehran synagogue and how its tight-knit community is recovering

"Tehran's Rafi-Nia Synagogue was destroyed by a state that claims to be their defender. In the process, it has become a testament to the history of Iran and its Jewish community." ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

On April 6th, the Jewish community of Iran gathered in the Rafi-Nia Synagogue to celebrate Passover. On April 7th, Israel bombed the synagogue. Tehran has 26 synagogues, of which 13 are active today. What a lovely piece by the @AjamMC: ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

Read our full piece about the synagogue and its community here: ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

Marjan shared these photos of the Torah scrolls recovered from the Rafi Nia Synagogue with Ajam

"Just the night before the attack, Tehran's Rafi-Nia Synagogue had hosted a Passover celebration. The morning after, the community had gathered again, my friend told me, this time to survey the rubble." ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

US and Israeli bombs don't just kill Iranians. They destroy homes, communities, and holy places. Here's just one story: a Tehran synagogue with a vibrant Jewish community, obliterated in an instant. But what Israel destroyed, Iranians plan to rebuild: ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

"In a telephone interview, one of them invoked a verse by the poet Simin Behbahani: دوباره می‌سازمت وطن اگر چه با خشت جان خویش I will rebuild you, my homeland Even if with the bricks of my own soul." Read the latest article on Ajam here: ajammc.com/2026/05/03/teh…

"The night before the attack, Rafi-Nia Synagogue hosted a Passover celebration. The morning after, the community gathered again, this time to survey the rubble." Narciss M. Sohrabi reflects on the destruction of a Tehran synagogue and how its tight-knit community is recovering

This poster is visible in this photo from May Day 1979 in Tehran's Freedom (Azadi) Square It's just to the right of the man's head in the foreground

The text in Persian reads: "Workers of the World, Unite!"

"The Iranian revolutionary period from 1979-1981 saw massive mobilization of the general populace. Worker’s Day became an ideological battleground as competing political organizations organized their constituents and articulated worker’s solidarity." ajammc.com/2013/05/01/may…

"I am free — but many remain behind bars in Kuwait and across the region for speaking the truth. Today, my sisters and I have become part of the more than 50,000 Kuwaitis who have had their citizenship revoked.” - Ahmed Shihab-Eldin cpj.org/2026/04/ahmed-… via @pressfreedom

Text reads in Persian: “Death to Imperialism, Death to Zionism, Long live the Heroic Masses of Palestine.”

"Iranian militants in the 1970s saw support for Palestinians as a way of furthering their own struggle against the Shah. They emphasized these connections in posters intended to provoke popular support and solidarity." See the collection here: ajammc.com/2023/11/22/ira…

دریغا که بی ما بسی روزگار بروید گل و بشکفد نوبهار سعدی بر سنگ قبرهای عصر صفویه جزیره قشم در کرایه های خلیج تا ابد فارس و تنگه هرمز

Professors Carlo G Cereti, Matthew Canepa and my interview on the damage done to Iran's culture and history during the 40 day war مصاحبه پرفسور کارلو چرتی و پرفسور متیو کانیپا و من درباره اثر حملات آمریکا و اسراییل به مراکز مهم تاریخی ایران humanities.uci.edu/news/heritage-…

A portrait of life on Iran’s islands in the Strait of Hormuz, where belief in “possessing winds” endures amid a global crisis. My latest for @CNNStyle: edition.cnn.com/2026/04/22/sty…

"When political hopes are divorced from movements and instead pinned on fragile fantasies, they risk collapsing at their first encounter with reality. As I watch Reza Pahlavi, the political script is eerily similar to what Afghans lived in 2001." ajammc.com/2026/04/17/afg…

"Today, when I hear members of the Iranian diaspora wax nostalgic about the Pahlavis, I sense a familiar ache. Back in 2001, at the brink of America’s war with Afghanistan, Afghans in the diaspora were caught in a similar fantasy." ajammc.com/2026/04/17/afg…

Article of the Week: Learn about Nāder Shah’s naval ambitions and his push to expand Iranian influence in the Persian Gulf. Read here: iranicaonline.org/articles/navy-…