archivesandaccess

This is not a detainment camp in World War II, nor a prison in the Holocaust, this is Gaza. A chilling reminder that history repeats. A holocaust is happening right before our eyes and the world is silent

A brave model during Copenhagen fashion week pulls out a Palestinian flag from her dress to unveil a message for the world: “ACT NOW AGAINST GENOCIDE.”

This is the greatest and bravest woman you will ever see in your life Dr. Amira from Gaza. Under the siege of the hospital, in front of the snipers’ bullets, she ran forward without hesitation, pulled out the stranded patient, and saved his life. This video will be remembered by generations to come…forever.

We invite abstracts for Review of Urban Affairs 2026 on the theme “Cities on an Ecological Edge.” The full concept note is available via the link below. Abstracts of 600–800 words are due by 20 April 2026. epw.in/call-papers-re…

In 1971, India tried translating Census data into friendly volumes with some beautiful, hand-drawn graphics. But how does an overpopulation panic fit into this? We traced the history, catalogued ~700 graphics, and built an explorer full of comics & interactives. 🔗Link below!

Subscribe to Article 14 article14.substack.com/?r=39737&utm_c…

My new publication in Contemporary South Asia examines the transition of ethno-religious violence beyond episodic or spontaneous, toward a broader ethnocratic order. #abstract" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

How will Pakistan deal with the fallout from war on Iran? | Inside Story aljazeera.com/video/inside-s…

Himal Southasian is hiring! We're looking for two editors to join our remote editorial team : an Assistant Editor and an Associate Editor. If you care deeply about Southasian politics, society and culture - and want to be part of a publication that has been asking hard questions across the region for over three decades, we would like to hear from you. We welcome applications from candidates who belong to marginalised social groups. Both roles are full-time, remote and on a two-year contract. Application reviews begin 25 March 2026. To apply, send your CV and cover letter to editorial@himalmag.com #EditorialJobs #JournalismJobs #RemoteJobs #WeAreHiring

The Vatican's top diplomat warned that the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran undermine international law and ​said nations do not have a right to launch "preventive wars", ‌in an unusually direct criticism of the military campaign. For @Reuters: reuters.com/world/top-vati…

“By the time we arrived, the entire school had collapsed on top of the children,” the mother told NBC News. “People were pulling out children’s arms and legs. People were pulling out severed heads.” nbcnews.com/world/iran/kno…

India’s relationship with Iran predates the existence of Israel and the United States. So many Iranians, and people of Iranian origin, call India home. If Narendra Modi had a spine or even a shred of national self-respect he’d condemn Israel today. He’s a coward: so he won’t.

A JNU students’ constitution from 1980 publicarchives.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/jnu…

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart. We had a very good month. Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace. By mid-February, we had something. Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green. That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma. Here is what they said, in the order they said it. February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday. February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive. I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach. February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses. February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters. Not happy with the pace. We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway. Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years. Not happy with the pace. February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens. I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses. February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications. February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump. Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production." Rejected. Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman. The President said they rejected it. I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed. February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment. February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school. I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that. February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning. February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse. February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement. The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

His own wife refuses to engage with Bill Gates. He is accused of being part is a pedophile ring but is being garlanded in India coz this is the land where sexual predators are garlanded. Appointed to high office. Laanat.

The British Museum has removed the word “Palestine” from its Ancient Middle East displays — despite the term appearing in Herodotus, Roman records, medieval maps, Ottoman sources, and even Shakespeare. Erasing a word erases a people. I’ve written about why this matters, and what we can do next. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/1taghrid/p… #HistoryIncludesPalestine @21WIRE @AsaWinstanley @s_m_marandi @alon_mizrahi @FranceskAlbs @guychristensen_

@nehavermani Yes! I've worked in the Maharashtra state archives, but more notably all around the branches of the Gujarat state archives where the local staff were the most helpful.

Appreciation post for the unsung, rare, erudite archivists at regional archives. Came across these handwritten references frm 2010 that late Punam Joiya at Bikaner archive copied for me when he learned of my research on feasting practices. He also taught me to read old Marwari.