Neil Vickers

Professor of English Literature and the Health Humanities at King’s College London. Codirector of the Centre for the Humanities and Health.
Dubliner
Europhile

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@Nikolas_S_Rose Dear Nikolas, I am so sorry to hear this. Such a distinguished woman. Thinking of you.

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

Immigration makes Britain brilliant.

[Have I Got News For You @haveigotnews]

After losing over 400 seats (and counting) in the local elections, Kemi Badenoch has declared the Conservative Party "back", to levels of delusion not seen since the days of Liz Truss

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

I sympathise strongly with your frustration but I'd like to know how you know that "an IRGC cut out is recruiting disaffected Islamist-radicalised men... to conduct a targeted intifada against the London Jewish community." Did the IRGC also order the stabbing of a Muslim man?

[Ben Judah @b_judah]

I am, like most British Jews, growing really frustrated with this vague talk about “division and unity and hate.”

We have a very specific problem here. An IRGC cut out is recruiting disaffected Islamist-radicalised men, many long known to the police and negligently left ambling about, to a conduct a targeted intifada against the London Jewish community. And both our counter intelligence and counter terror forces are failing to intercept them.

I don’t need a mass London rally of well wishers or cultural luminaires to post their wishes — nice as that is — I need an actual security strategy to clamp down on this so my community can go about our lives in peace as is our absolute minimum right. And I need politicians to call the problem for what it is — not good vibes.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@NewtonEmerson @williamcrawley Quite right. It's only 8% of GDP.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@melfrar @simon_schama There's nothing symbolic about stabbings.

[Vali Nasr @vali_nasr]

Sharif University of Technology (founded as Arya Mehr University in 1966) is an icon of modernization and progress in Iran. Its alumni include the first woman to win the Field Medal in Mathematics, Maryam Mirzakhani. It has been a national symbol of achievement, gaining international recognition for the quality of its graduates, large number who have been admitted into the very best engineering programs in the West. The aim of this kind of wonton destruction could only be the nation of Iran itself.

[Dalia @DaliaNewYork]

Isreali soldiers beating up Christians who are trying to visit Church of the Holy Sepulchre

[Dominique de Villepin @Villepin]

L’annonce de bombardements israéliens massifs sur Beyrouth-Sud et d’une nouvelle invasion terrestre fait planer sur le Liban le retour aux heures les plus sombres. Elle s’inscrit dans une conception illimitée des intérêts de sécurité qui, sous prétexte de protection, prive un pays déjà exsangue de toute chance de stabilité politique, sociale et économique, clé d’une démilitarisation indispensable du Hezbollah.

Car il faut aussi le dire : la logique d’escalade du Hezbollah, aventureuse et irresponsable, enferme le Liban dans une guerre qui n’est pas la sienne. Elle transforme tout un peuple en bouclier et en monnaie d’échange, et compromet la possibilité même d’un État souverain.

Le Liban n’a pas besoin d’une guerre de plus. Il a besoin d’un État, d’institutions, d’un horizon. À force de traiter ce territoire comme une zone grise où tout serait permis, on fabrique l’inverse de la sécurité : on fabrique la revanche, la radicalisation, le chaos.

La France ne peut pas trahir l’esprit de son amitié ancienne et profonde pour le Liban en se réfugiant dans le silence ou dans des formules d’équilibre qui ne nomment pas les choses. Être l’ami d’un peuple, ce n’est pas l’abandonner au fait accompli. C’est défendre le droit, la protection des civils, et une voie de désescalade.

« Non à la guerre. » Oui à la souveraineté du Liban. Oui au droit, partout, sans deux poids deux mesures.

Dominique de Villepin

Credit photo: Banlieue Sud de Beyrouth, le 2 mars après un bombardement israélien. Mohammad Yassine / L’Orient-Le Jour.

[La France Humaniste @LFHumaniste]

Ni les États-Unis, ni Israël, ne soutiennent le peuple iranien.

Alors où est la voix de l’Europe ? Où est la voix de la France ?

Comme en 2003, il y a deux chemins. Celui de la poursuite des négociations, du droit international, ou celui de la force.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@montie /2 There is a single usage by Orwell in 1939. But the term really only caught on after WW2, largely I suspect as a way of circumventing Christian guilt over the Shoah.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@montie /1 According to OED, the term first appeared in the 1820s to refer to Jews who had converted to Christianity. Then, in the 1880s, it began to be used by the learned to designate "those religious, ethical, or cultural values or beliefs ... common to both Judaism and Christianity"

[JD Vance @JDVance]

Twenty years ago we invaded Iraq. The war killed many innocent Iraqis and Americans. It destroyed the oldest Christian populations in the world. It cost over $1 trillion, and turned Iraq into a satellite of Iran. It was an unforced disaster, and I pray that we learn its lessons.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@dolphinsands Yes definitely, once he stopped writing in the style of Hermann Broch (Kepler, Copernicus etc) and embraced his inner sociopath he became the great writer he is.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@MaryKenny4 @Baddiel It’s a masterpiece. Mary, hang in there. There’s a wonderfully well-drawn Irishman in the final chapter. The sense of the weight of experience is extraordinary. What a pity that EJH ceased to be an experimental novelist once she got together with Kingsley Amis.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@ajlees @UCLBrainScience @Brain1878 Do put a link up, Andrew. I'd love to read this.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

@ArmandDAngour So sorry to hear this Armand. Lying flat for 5 days won’t be fun but the payoff sounds worth it.

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

https://t.co/00jZVHPKsD

[Neil Vickers @NeilVickers2]

Delighted that the paper I cowrote with Céline Lefève and Patrick ffrench comparing the history of the medical humanities in France and the USA is out now and available to download. Link in the next tweet.