Zomia Center

The Zomia Center supports people living in non-state spaces. An initiative of @Future_of_War and @newamerica.

[Zomia Center @CenterZomia]

A new @cooperhewitt exhibit on destruction of homes with US weapons memorializes the home of @CenterZomia Syria country director Mohamad Osman.

We thank @MonaChalabi @situ_research for working with Osman and Zomia colleagues Hussein Samawi & @joanna_nm.

https://t.co/y4CVuQhaBK

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

At this heavy time in the world, @MonaChalabi and @situ_research have created something beautiful & urgent at @cooperhewitt.

The new exhibit "Patterns of Life" involves scale models of three civilian homes destroyed by US weapons in Gaza, Iraq & Syria.

https://t.co/gqdWJ1OZBD

[CIVIC @CivCenter]

CIVIC through its Marla Project led by @joanna_nm + partners incl. @CenterZomia  are pursuing amends from the US for more than a dozen families harmed by coalition airstrikes in Mosul between 2015–2017.

Some cases have been pending since 2022.

https://t.co/LR6ud1XlRS

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

I am thrilled to share that I've joined @CivCenter to lead the Marla Ruzicka Project for Amends and Redress.

The project will pursue justice for civilians harmed in US military operations in partnership with @CenterZomia.

https://t.co/f1tzGRZUHn

[CIVIC @CivCenter]

Today, CIVIC launched the Marla Ruzicka Project for Amends & Redress to strengthen support for civilians impacted by US military actions.

In partnership with @CenterZomia, this project offers a hub for advocacy, field work & representation.

Learn more: https://t.co/3OpfpUgdZ1

[Zomia Center @CenterZomia]

A @cooperhewitt exhibit by @MonaChalabi & @situ_research memorializes their homes destroyed in Coalition strikes in Syria & Iraq from 2015-2016, as well as the home of an unnamed family in Gaza, destroyed in 2023.

The exhibit is open through August 10.

https://t.co/Acs8O3nPBo

[Zomia Center @CenterZomia]

"You cannot erase memories," @zomiacenter Syria country director Mohammed Osman told @hyperallergic's @MeghnadBose93 & Janine AlHadidi.

“My house was my kingdom,” said @basimrazzo, @CivCenter board member and Zomia partner.

https://t.co/WmEFzG62Oq

[Meghnad Bose @MeghnadBose93]

How Do You Remember a Home Reduced to Rubble?

As Israel’s assault on Gaza rages on and residences across the 140-square-mile strip continue to be bombed and razed to the ground, a museum installation in New York City combines journalism, oral history, art, and architecture to pay an immensely personal tribute to homes destroyed in Palestine, Iraq, and Syria by weapons manufactured in the United States.

Through interviews with the survivors of the airstrikes, images and videos they provided of their homes, and archival satellite imagery, data journalist @MonaChalabi and visual investigators at @situ_research collaborated to create architectural models of the homes that were.

“These places are represented in the Western media through the lens of destruction, rubble, and tragedy,” Gauri Bahuguna, a visual investigator and open source researcher at SITU who worked on the project, told us. “But these were homes full of very normal lives. That very mundane core humanity gets washed out in most representations.”

Reported this with Janine AlHadidi for @hyperallergic. Read the full piece here: https://t.co/bxjL0RkTG4

[Meghnad Bose @MeghnadBose93]

How Do You Remember a Home Reduced to Rubble?

As Israel’s assault on Gaza rages on and residences across the 140-square-mile strip continue to be bombed and razed to the ground, a museum installation in New York City combines journalism, oral history, art, and architecture to pay an immensely personal tribute to homes destroyed in Palestine, Iraq, and Syria by weapons manufactured in the United States.

Through interviews with the survivors of the airstrikes, images and videos they provided of their homes, and archival satellite imagery, data journalist @MonaChalabi and visual investigators at @situ_research collaborated to create architectural models of the homes that were.

“These places are represented in the Western media through the lens of destruction, rubble, and tragedy,” Gauri Bahuguna, a visual investigator and open source researcher at SITU who worked on the project, told us. “But these were homes full of very normal lives. That very mundane core humanity gets washed out in most representations.”

Reported this with Janine AlHadidi for @hyperallergic. Read the full piece here: https://t.co/bxjL0RkTG4

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

Thank you @mmkelly22 @missy_ryan @Mustafa_salimb @washingtonpost for reporting on the struggles of civilians harmed in U.S. operations.

These include 2 families represented by @CenterZomia whose stories were first covered in 2021 by @AzmatZahra @nytimes.

https://t.co/BphQITUQE3

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

I am awed that these families were willing to share something so personal and painful to prevent such destruction in the future.

The exhibit is open through August 10, 2025. I encourage all to visit.

https://t.co/bIdX4L1adW

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

Too often the only public images Americans see of homes destroyed are of rubble - an erasure of the lives that unfolded in the space before.

This exhibit inverts that understanding, paying tribute to what was lost.

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

These include the homes of my @CenterZomia colleague Mohamad Osman in Manbij, Syria; @CivCenter board member @basimrazzo in Mosul, Iraq; and an unnamed family in Gaza, Palestine.

My @CenterZomia colleague Hussein Mohammad Samawi also supported the exhibit behind the scenes.

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

At this heavy time in the world, @MonaChalabi and @situ_research have created something beautiful & urgent at @cooperhewitt.

The new exhibit "Patterns of Life" involves scale models of three civilian homes destroyed by US weapons in Gaza, Iraq & Syria.

https://t.co/gqdWJ1OZBD

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

I love that @AggieWill00 and Kate have created a space for honest, difficult, and healing conversations across the civil/military divide about the human costs of U.S. wars.

Other ways to listen:

https://t.co/zo77CuJPbt

https://t.co/VPsptbgQRa

https://t.co/KyJG5fJ25h

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

We compared reflections from my work with @CenterZomia's Redress Program and theirs on Afghanistan evacuations.

@AggieWill00 shared his as a combat veteran who made condolence payments in Afghanistan.

Kate shared hers as an attorney who works with U.S. veterans.

[Joanna Naples-Mitchell @joanna_nm]

Grateful to @Shouldr2Shouldr @gcvfriends @AggieWill00 & Kate Kovarovic for this frank conversation about civilian harm in U.S. operations.

We spoke at length about compensation advocacy, civil society engagement with DOD, and work with trauma survivors.

https://t.co/vovsQRIIvD

[Airwars @airwars]

Huge result - the Pentagon is reinvestigating one of the highest profile strikes under the Trump administration.

This comes after sustained reporting from @NPR + pressure from @CivCenter and @CenterZomia

https://t.co/t63lZ6lsyZ

[Annie Shiel @annieshiel]

Read more about Barakat's case, what DoD got wrong, and what that has meant for Barakat and his family, via @joanna_nm @CenterZomia: https://t.co/KctfHKHvKg

[Annie Shiel @annieshiel]

The Pentagon has long denied civilian casualties in the 2019 al-Baghdadi raid, despite reports from @NPR and others.

@CenterZomia & @CivCenter asked DoD to reopen the case. Today, NPR reports that the case is being re-investigated ⬇️🧵

[Zomia Center @CenterZomia]

"The @CenterZomia said it provided the Defense Department with documentation it says attests to the civilian status of the airstrike survivor, including receipts showing he was transporting olives to an olive press in the days before the airstrikes."

[Zomia Center @CenterZomia]

“I think it's extremely significant that, given how much the Baghdadi raid was celebrated, that the Pentagon is now taking this step to do a new investigation,” said @joanna_nm, a New York-based lawyer with
@CenterZomia."

https://t.co/LI9VzYhPOH