Author: Mark A. Ashwill

Selective Humanitarian Messaging in Children’s Media

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Exploring Narrative Imbalance, Victimhood, and Anti-Semitic Erasure in the Case of Ms. Rachel (Source: St. John's University) This flyer was created by St. John's University for this "study." Instead of "Help Us Study Ms. Rachel" the request should be "Help Us Slander Ms. Rachel." This is the title of an IRB-approved research study conducted by … Continue reading Selective Humanitarian Messaging in Children’s Media

#223. Research into Child Psychology is Largely the Study of Effects of Captivity

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I've followed Peter Gray for many years. He's a US psychology researcher and scholar, a research professor of psychology at Boston College, and the author of an introductory psychology textbook. Gray's research explores the relationship between neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology and education. Peter's also a great role model for all of us. At 82, he's … Continue reading #223. Research into Child Psychology is Largely the Study of Effects of Captivity

GazaIndex: Tracking Gaza

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Here's a description of this project: If you need a number on Gaza that you can defend, it should be here. That is the whole purpose of GazaIndex: a sourced, continuous record of the genocide, the killed, the destroyed, the displaced, the price of bread, the trucks that made it through. The numbers have always … Continue reading GazaIndex: Tracking Gaza

Standing Up for Justice

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This is the original version of a video that's been making rounds on social media. I created the transcript below followed by a short essay that complements the video and a link to an article entitled Erasure, resistance and agency: lessons on solidarity from Palestinian higher education (August 2026). How do you feel watching this … Continue reading Standing Up for Justice

Israel Exposed-War Crimes Archive/Live Map of Humanitarian Conflict

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We have an incurable malady: hope. — Mahmoud Darwish Screenshot This is new site that is archiving war crimes footage from Gaza and the West Bank. Warning: Below is content from the Israel Exposed - War Crimes Archive website. Warning: The images are highly graphic. Click on this link to enter this site. Thank you, … Continue reading Israel Exposed-War Crimes Archive/Live Map of Humanitarian Conflict

How to Kill a Passionate Intellectual Life

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This quote from the great Palestinian and American academic, literary critic, and political activist Edward Said reminds me of many people, intellectuals and others, whose silence surrounding the ongoing Israeli-executed genocide in Gaza is complicity. What he advocates is an uncompromising position of moral clarity and commitment that I embraced as a graduate student, one that … Continue reading How to Kill a Passionate Intellectual Life

Digital Advice for People in Gaza/نصائح رقمية لسكان غزة

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This is something I think about, especially since I'm in touch with so many people in Gaza via email and chat apps. One obvious issue is that most are using the Israeli telecommunications system (+972), which makes it easier for that country's government to track them. Here are tips from one of my digital friends, … Continue reading Digital Advice for People in Gaza/نصائح رقمية لسكان غزة

It’s Jackfruit Season!

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The specimen above is 11 kg (24.25 pounds). You can tell it's ripe because of the browning. Jackfruit ("mít" in Vietnamese) is one of my favorite tropical fruits. The Malayalam word for jackfruit is chakka (ചക്ക) from Kerala, India. Portuguese traders called it jaca and it was later anglicized to "jackfruit" by European writers first … Continue reading It’s Jackfruit Season!