Simon Waldman

Visiting Lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies, @KingsCollegeLon fmr Mercator-IPC Fellow, Istanbul Policy Center, MSt Creative Writing @UniofOxford

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) was once spoken by hundreds of thousands of Jews. Many of these Sephardic Jews lived in Turkey or other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Today, Ladino is barely spoken. Some say this is a case of linguicide (linguistic genocide). I investigate the sad decline of Ladino in Turkey and talk to those who seek to revive it in my book, Looking For Elsewhere: The Jews of Turkey Then and Now.
#Turkey #Jews #JewishHistory #antisemitism #Ladino #linguicide
Links to pre-order:
UK: https://t.co/b7Xv5N7Vuu
USA: https://t.co/m7oCdVAzpZ
Canada: https://t.co/qsTaPu453e

[Sinan Ciddi @SinanCiddi]

"There is a comfortable assumption, even among Turks who dislike [Erdogan's] domestic rule, that his foreign policy makes Turkey stronger.

I am here to argue the opposite. There is a difference between wanting one’s country to be strong...1/2

@TLHumanRights @FDD

[Elizabeth Tsurkov @LizHurra]

Where is the name tent for the most important speaker?!

[World XP Podcast @worldxppodcast]

@SimonWaldman1 live now! https://t.co/qLNssYLy6l

[World XP Podcast @worldxppodcast]

LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST https://t.co/qLNssYLy6l @SimonWaldman1

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

Oh dear

[The Jewish Chronicle @JewishChron]

Wikipedia bans co-founder indefinitely for promoting ‘anti-bias initiative’

https://t.co/HPuqKVMlcG

[Gönül Tol @gonultol]

At our recent event on Turkey–NATO ties, I asked General Breedlove whether NATO should care about the democratic standards of its members. NATO has now provided its own answer by denying accreditation to Turkish journalists who are not on the Turkish government’s payroll. Shame on you @NATOpress

[Kara Jesella @karajesella]

My book, Feminist Antisemitism: An Intellectual History, is out today. It is for you if you are interested in understanding:

How Angela Davis and Betty Friedan battled for the hearts and minds of feminists—and, as we unfortunately saw on election night last night, Davis won.

Third Wordlism in its highly successful feminist iteration.

Why radical Black feminists chose alliances with Palestinians over Jewish women at least as far back as the 1980s—and how this powerful relationship unfolded.

Neo-Bundism and how feminists developed it as a counter to a supposedly patriarchal Judaism several decades before Molly Crabapple.

How and why the kind of socialist feminism that today’s DSA members like Mamdani explicitly espouse supplanted mainstream feminism.

Why the very Jewish Betty Friedan is not the racist she is made out to be.

How Judith Butler’s theories around sex and gender and Jews and Zionism are the same.

How 9/11 transformed queer and feminist theory.

New theories around rape that encouraged feminists to say it didn’t occur on October 7th despite all the evidence.

Why BDS supporters can’t accuse anyone of suppressing their free speech when their movement aims to control speech.

Why saying that antizionism “is a cult” has some truth to it, not just because it has become the organizing principle of an entire leftist subculture, or because of its litmus tests, but because feminism’s emphasis on feelings made it particularly vulnerable to ‘60s pseudo-therapeutic practices, like Re-Evaluation Counseling.

How Women’s Studies, a discipline which began with the noble goal of restoring women to history, evacuated the importance of truth from history.

How DEI evolved from 1980s feminist speech codes that were revived by the internet and Black Lives Matter.

Even more reasons to hate the United Nations, including because terrorist Leila Khaled once led the delegation harassing Jewish women at a feminist conference.

Why antizionism is not just bad for Jewish women, or Jews in general, but all women.

And much more.

[Nicole Lampert @nicolelampert]

Yesterday there was an antisemitic debate in the Houses of Parliament.

As @simonmontefiore describes below, the idea that Jews or Israelis have a secret desire to rule the world comes from the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion which was debunked nearly a century ago but continues to be a popular text across the Middle East.
Parliament is infested with people who believe it. Many of them spoke at the debate.
Thank goodness there were MPs such as @DavidTaylor85 to push back at their malign ideas.

‘The idea that any of us are having any of our strings pulled is an absolute disgrace.’

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

This is the worst part of last week's Iran "deal": Article 2 which the US agreed to not interfere with Iran's internal affairs. Tragically, this means more executions. #IranWar‌

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

As war with the U.S. ends, Iran steps up hangings of dissidents https://t.co/0byOcOdzLZ

[Gönül Tol @gonultol]

🇹🇷 #TurkeyLastWeek

1️⃣ Erdoğan adviser lays out path for another presidential term

Presidential Chief Adviser Mehmet Uçum proposed April 16, 2028, as the date for an early election and argued that President Erdoğan could run again without a constitutional referendum. According to Uçum, if parliament calls early elections in February 2028, Erdoğan would be eligible to seek another term despite constitutional term limits.

2️⃣ New arrests deepen pressure on the opposition

Turkish authorities carried out fresh operations targeting CHP-run municipalities, detaining elected officials in Istanbul’s Islands district and southern Turkey on allegations including corruption and fraud. The arrests come amid an ongoing crackdown on the opposition.

3️⃣ Özgür Özel rejects pressure to step aside

The CHP leader Özgür Özel dismissed suggestions that he should compromise in response to legal pressure on the party. Referring to discussions about forming a new party and concerns over parliamentary immunity, Özel described such proposals as “political blackmail” and vowed not to yield to government pressure.

4️⃣ European Parliament calls for possible sanctions on Turkish officials

Turkey rejected a European Parliament report that urged the EU to consider sanctions against Turkish officials accused of human rights violations. The report specifically mentioned Justice Minister Akın Gürlek and called on the EU to consider measures including asset freezes.

5️⃣ Turkey rejects extending Iraq oil pipeline deal under current terms

Ankara signaled that it does not want to extend the current Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline agreement under existing conditions after Baghdad requested a one-year extension. The decades-old agreement governing Iraqi oil exports through Turkey is set to expire on July 27, with negotiations on a new framework still ongoing.

6️⃣ Hakan Fidan meets Russia’s top security official ahead of NATO summit

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu in Moscow during a two-day visit to Russia. The meeting comes just weeks before the NATO summit in Turkey.

7️⃣ Italy completes deployment of SAMP/T air defense system in Turkey

Italy completed the deployment of its SAMP/T air and missile defense system in Konya as part of NATO’s defense plans. The move further expands NATO’s air defense footprint in Turkey and highlights the alliance’s efforts to strengthen protection against missile and aerial threats.

8️⃣ Erdoğan orders renewed talks on reopening Halki Seminary

President Erdoğan instructed officials to resume discussions on reopening the Halki Seminary, the historic Orthodox theological school closed by the Turkish state in 1971. The issue was raised by President Trump, who is expected to visit Turkey next month for NATO summit.

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

President Trump’s Iran “deal” is bad for Israel but even worse for Iranians https://t.co/humM107UuT #IranWar‌ #Iran #Trump #Israel

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

President Trump’s Iran “deal” is bad for Israel but even worse for Iranians https://t.co/humM107UuT #IranWar‌ #Iran #Trump #Israel

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

If the left wants to maintain an authentic commitment to human rights, “it must oppose the movement that seeks the elimination of Israel and the purging from civil society of those marked as Zionists,” @adam_louis52328 argues. https://t.co/n8SIfq91kX

[Bloomberg @business]

Turkey plans to reopen the long-shuttered Halki seminary as a university, reviving an institution central to Orthodox Christianity and addressing a longstanding demand from the US and the EU https://t.co/QWdRwefZ2d

[Malka Simkovich @Malka_Simkovich]

This is exactly why The Jewish Publication Society was founded in the late 19th century - to platform proud Jewish voices and take control of Jewish narratives through self-definition. We're more committed than ever to doing this work, and are so glad that other Jewish leaders and organizations are doing the same.

[Steven A. Cook @stevenacook]

Me @ForeignPolicy ...

"Over the weekend, Trump stated that if Iran did not honor its commitments in the MOU, the United States would be the “guardian of the Middle East.” In fact, Trump’s failure in Iran is likely to trigger something else altogether: a U.S. withdrawal."

[Kara Jesella @karajesella]

My book, Feminist Antisemitism, is out next week! In the meantime, please enjoy this conversation between me and @BovyMaltz, who definitely brought as much to the conversation—with her questions about my past as an editor at Teen Vogue, how a famous Mizrahi fashion blogger could be criticized for her whiteness, and what “Not gay as in happy, but queer as in free Palestine” really means—as I did.

(Also please enjoy the recommendation below.)

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

I'm planning to read Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding Home in the 21st Century by @ETemelkuran this summer. Interview here:
https://t.co/DcCQYJ6vzg

[The Jewish Chronicle @JewishChron]

What do the preoccupations of our novelists say about Anglo-Jewry and wider society?

https://t.co/zlMIxRHycL

[Simon Waldman @SimonWaldman1]

This is an important point by @mishtal - the double standards towards Jews in the UK is by its very nature an attack on the community.
The Squeezing of Jewish Life in Britain https://t.co/9zXBRNMvth #Antisemitism