Lior Sternfeld
@liorsternfeld.bsky.social
Historian of modern Iran, Jewish communities of the Middle East.
Told @cnn both sides are under pressure and can't sustain this conflict indefinitely. Iran has borne greater pain, but its tolerance is higher because it sees itself as fighting a defensive war. But Americans' pain tolerance is lower because most opposed the war from the outset.
Read this story on Rabbi Gerami, the chief rabbi of Iran. Not much new here (especially if you follow this page), but beautiful images from Abirashmi synagogue and Sukkat Shalom synagogue in Yousef Abad (and a few more interesting bits). www.wsj.com/world/middle... via @WSJ
Meet the Rabbi Leading Iran’s Thousands of Jews
Yehuda Gerami walks a line between politics and religion, trying to maintain one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
wsj.com
Happy to share this new publication @pir1948.bsky.social
Palestine/Israel Review@pir1948.bsky.social · 2w ago‼️ New publication alert! ‼️ "Culinary Spaces as Sites of National (Re)Imagining in Palestine and Israel" is now out with Palestine/Israel Review. Read the full article here: doi.org/10.5325/pir....
Happy to share this new publication @pir1948.bsky.social
Palestine/Israel Review@pir1948.bsky.social · 2w ago‼️ New publication alert! ‼️ "Palestinian Cinema Days Around the World: A Film Festival’s Response to the War in Gaza" is now out in Palestine/Israel Review. Read the full article: doi.org/10.5325/pir....
Trump is preoccupied with his future legacy and how he will be remembered. I know exactly how he’s going to be remembered: like the Great Depression, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, the great plague, a national and international disaster, and a source of embarrassment.
My new article "Migration as extended negotiation: Iranian Jews across Iran, Israel, and the United States" is now out in the Journal of Modern Jewish Studies. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Migration as extended negotiation: Iranian Jews across Iran, Israel, and the United States
This article examines the migration of Iranian Jews following the 1979 Revolution, challenging conventional narratives that frame Middle Eastern Jewish emigration as a unidirectional flight from pe...
tandfonline.com
Those fireside chats are exactly the kind of politics we need to see more. Good policies explained and promoted to the constituents.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2mo agoIt might be hot outside but the rent is freezing.
New in @972mag.com my take on the MoU, Iran, the US, Israel, Lebanon, and more. www.972mag.com/us-iran-agre...
The Wiener Zeitung republished an interview I gave a couple of months ago to a Swiss outlet. I don't remember what I said, and I don't read German, so I hope there's nothing embarrassing here (though my predictions proved pretty accurate despite my reservations about making predictions in general).
„Netanjahu sieht sich als Churchill und Iran als Nazi-Deutschland“ | WZ • Wiener Zeitung
Der israelische Historiker Lior Sternfeld im Gespräch mit der WZ
wienerzeitung.at
This guy gives us a blueprint every day to fix America. If Democrats are wise enough to follow him, Republicans will be a distant memory.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2mo agoToday, I signed an Executive Order temporarily repealing bedtimes in the City of New York so that kids of all ages can watch our team in the NBA Finals. As Mayor, you’re forced to make many difficult decisions. This was not one of them. Go Knicks.
I was happy when @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social skipped the Israel parade. I’m now a million times happier when I learned that fucking Betzalel Smotrich is there.
The baby born the day Netanyahu was elected prime minister for the first time turned 30 today. Mazal tov.
My resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision now has 79 co-sponsors. You can view the full list at: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c.... I’ll keep fighting to get it across the finish line!
This is one of the stories on @forward.com. Statistics aren't my strong suit. But I believe there's a difference between "poor" and "fair" as descriptions of job performance, and bundling them together to say "most Jewish voters rate NYC mayor Mamdani poorly" is a manipulation.
The Swiss magazine Republik published this conversation I had with @solmazkhorsand.bsky.social. I can’t read any of it, but I hope it makes sense.
Lior Sternfeld: «Iran war immer auch eine Ablenkung von der Palästina-Frage»
Israel und Iran gelten als Erzfeinde. Doch das war nicht immer so.
republik.ch
Solmaz Khorsand@solmazkhorsand.bsky.social · 4mo agoIsrael und Iran gelten als Erzfeinde. Doch das war nicht immer so. Wie sich die Dynamik über die Jahrzehnte verändert hat, erklärt mir der israelische Historiker @liorsternfeld.bsky.social im Interview. @republik.ch www.republik.ch/2026/04/27/l...
“In a shocking decision that garnered praise from many corners of the academic world, the university decided to shut down all programs affiliated with the business school and the department of economics for what a Penn State source called blatant anti-
I was interviewed for this story in the NY Review of Books alongside other great scholars www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
Waiting for Day Zero | Will Alden
This past Easter Sunday the leaders of an Iranian opposition party in exile gathered for a celebratory picnic with family and friends at Lake Balboa Park
nybooks.com
One of the most striking things about the current moment in the MENA is how rarely anyone in positions of power is willing to say concretely what peace would actually look like, not as a slogan, but as a political arrangement. That silence isn't neutral. It forecloses possibilities before /1
Jewish Studies folks: Here is a reminder about the upcoming deadline to submit your abstract. This year, I'm one of the division chairs for Modern and Contemporary Jewish History, and we welcome submissions that: associationforjewishstudies.org/2026-call-fo...
Association for Jewish Studies
The Association for Jewish Studies is a learned society and professional organization whose mission is to advance research and teaching in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other instituti...
associationforjewishstudies.org
My new piece in Common Dreams suggests that we dare to imagine and face reality simultaneously. Israel will not disappear (what does it even mean?), The Palestinians should not wait. Piecemeal diplomacy will not work anymore. What can we do? And how is it connected to FIFA?
Common Dreams@commondreams.org · 4mo agoAs today's unraveling ceasefire makes clear, there is no safe region without a framework that addresses everyone's security simultaneously, writes @liorsternfeld.bsky.social.
At a time when they rail against science & expertise, fabricate myths about the struggle for racial equality, seek to reduce women to their reproductive capacity, and try to denigrate our northern neighbor, this crew traversed historic barriers & reminded us of the best of humanity. #Artemis2
Just published! I was invited to contribute to a special section of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, marking the 25th anniversary of the publication of Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet's highly influential Frontiers Fictions. In many ways, the war shows how this
Will we see any soul-searching from all those who pushed and cheered for the war to “liberate the Iranian people,” when there were always much bigger chances of the war making everything much harder for them?
We all celebrate the ceasefire and recognize the ten-point plan as a victory for the Islamic Republic, but there are two things to keep in mind: the ceasefire lasts two weeks, during which the sides must finalize the agreement. There are many moving parts (Hormuz, sanctions, Israel, Lebanon),
That they went to war based on Netanyahu’s predictions is insane.
We hear a lot about the MAGA disapproval of the war. But those are the MAGA professionals, the unelected elite. Republicans and republican voters overwhelmingly approve this war and nightmare. Their messiah cannot do wrong.
this is why we can't have nice things like Medicaid
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 5mo agoExclusive: The Pentagon asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to an administration official, a new ask that will likely run into resistance from lawmakers opposed to the conflict.
