We have confirmed with multiple patient reports that in the last 1-2 weeks the Israeli government has unilaterally & sneakily begun forcing patients who medically evacuating from Gaza to sign paperwork at the exiting checkpoints saying they cannot return to Gaza. None of the NGOs helping with the coordination of the medical evacs were informed by the entity or any governing body this would happen.

Ethnic cleansing aside, mothers are being forced to leave their children behind to travel with a sick child and almost every family is being forced to leave family members behind. And now they are being told that they will not be able to see them again.

Not that the Israeli government cares, but this violates international law and given the document was signed under duress it is unenforceable—meaning it is not worth the paper it was signed on.

Further this jeopardizes the entire medical evacuation enterprise in multiple ways. (1) Countries will be much more reticent to accept medical evacs from Gaza’s (2) All aiding countries will now be accused of being guilty of collaborating with Israel’s ethnic cleansing crimes. (3) This will upend Jordan’s commitment to accept 2,000 patients & be blowback against Pres. Trump.

This can stop as quickly as it started. Israel thinks we aren’t paying attention, but we are. Pressure is needed on Israel to stop this illegal & sneaky practice.

Thanks to @AbubakerAbedW and @sameerproject for sounding the alarm. 2/ To recount the chain events that led to this:

(1) Earlier this week I saw posts from the ground that patients evacuating from Gaza were reporting that they had to sign paperwork that said they would not return to Gaza. This concerned me because I have been helping with medical evacuation coordination for the last 6+ months, but after the ceasefire, NGOs have been largely cut out of the medical coordination process and the procedures for evacuation have changed.

(2) Because of the chaos of the evacuations and frankly because public health attorneys have not been involved, WHO and receiving countries have done a terrible job explaining to medical evacuees their legal status in receiving countries and what it means practically. As such, and rightfully, some evacuees were led to believe that signing documentation for asylum consideration in receiving countries, meant they were saying they will never go back to Gaza. So -- I had to educate some of the NGOs who were coordinating exit efforts so that they could better explain and assauge fears that patients were signing documents saying that they would not return.

(3) To ensure that #2 was not the cause of the reports on Twitter, we contacted 3 out of 4 of the NGOs coordinating medical evacuation and asked them if their patients had reported having to sign any new paperwork. 1 said that they had received a couple reports but that they were unclear what the paperwork said or who was having them sign it.

(4) So, because of #3, I asked a trusted medical evacuation coordinator who was working on evacuations for children (i.e. noncombatant civilian evacuations) to notify her patients that we had heard these reports and to ask them to tell us (a) what paperwork they were being asked to sign, (b) to ask for a copy of all paperwork, and (c) to tell us who was making them sign paperwork. Specifically, I wanted to know if WHO was asking patients to sign this paperwork (as WHO primarily does the coordination of transportation from Gaza to the border).

(5) #4 is how we uncovered the following:
-- NGOs were not aware that this started happening in the last 2 weeks.
-- Civilian medical evacuations are indeed being asked to sign paperwork stating they cannot return to Gaza.
-- AND -- most notably -- the Israeli government is the party requiring patients & their companions to sign this paperwork at the checkpoint and if it is not signed, they will not allow them to leave and they will send them back.
-- As this occurred at the checkpoint upon exit and was not paperwork asked for by WHO prior to exit, it is NOT WHO who is asking patients to sign this. WHO collects paperwork for the exit process from patients and calls them 1 day before the evacuation and so had this been above board, this paperwork would have been administered by WHO. BUT, it is not above board, and being dont sneakily at the border exit by Israel themselves.

I don’t know why everyone that follows me and reads my tweets was surprised by Trump’s public statements in front of Netanyahu yesterday. If you read the entire transcript, you will see that he has been saying since 1/22/25, as I tried to explain then. 👇🏽

Trump’s reveal yesterday was not him speaking off the cuff. This is part of his strategy in relation to the extension of the ceasefire. Even his change in affect shows this.

1/21/25– He was asked if he thought the ceasefire would hold. His answer intimated that he was getting significant pushback from Netanyahu and Trump seemed frustrated.

1/22/25 — He says this 👇🏽 and if you look at his face, he looks like he is keeping a secret he really wants to tell.

But— you might be thinking— this tanks the ceasefire because the resistance groups will not respond positively… and you may be right but there is evidence to suggest that Witkoff has not already communicated to Qatar that this is a performance. /1 … like I was saying… there is evidence that Witkoff on 1/27/25 —told Qatar to ignore what Trump is saying… letting them know that when Trump actually has a plan it will be delivered by Witkoff and they won’t hear it from Trump. Now, it is possible that things have changed in a week and none of this stands anymore. But, this is not outside the realm of possibilities considering Witkoff’s close ties to Qatar…x.com/el_sabawi/stat… /2

1/ I get that some folks are all in their feelings. But, I invite you to pause a moment and consider what political scientists discovered about the "Trump voter" before you go off of the deep end. The media only gives a very caricatured view and Dems immediately believe it to be true, when the reality is.... things are much more complex... let's dispel some myths, shall we? 🧵 2/ There have been hundreds of studies that have tried to unpack why people voted for Trump over Hillary in 2016. One theory is that the perceived decline in the social and economic status of white men increases their propensity to other and belittle non-white people and to also respond to politicians who do. This is nothing new.

I was going to do a long thread about the polio vaccine but I’m too tired so here is a 3 point summary. I say this as a PhD in Public Health.

(1) I’m not concerned about the quality or content of the vaccine provided by WHO & other world health organizations. They do this ALL of the time & have done it for decades in areas where there are malnourished children. Entire books have been written about it. There are reasons why, in this particular scenario, the novel oral vaccine they are using was probably the best option. Trust me when I say there are epidemiologists in the background who have run every possible infectious disease scenario, considered the current on the ground conditions (include the children’s malnourishment), need for fast deployment, stability of the vaccine itself, and the effectiveness against the particular strain of poliovirus (see #3 below).

(2) I think , however, the timing of this massive vaccination was politically-driven versus being done at the time which would have been optimal to protect lives in Gaza —in other words enough countries put pressure on Israel to vaccinate the children in Gaza because 3 children in Gaza have presented with
suspected acute flaccid paralysis (common symptom of polio) …. And this suggests we are past the outbreak stage and are in the epidemic stage — epidemics are hard to control and endanger surrounding countries. Turning into—pandemics.

(Which is why public health pushes to prevent them but many people ignore public health officials at the prevention stage sadly).

(3) Finally, important to note that the strain of the virus that is present in Gaza is actually related to a polio virus strain last found in Egypt in 2023. WHO has finished its sequencing analysis. Even if the polio strain was vaccine derived it share similarities to this other polio strain & I’m guessing that the novel oral vaccine WHO sent performed well against that strain (the vaccine is new —not the old oral vaccine— and was developed for the control of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) outbreaks (like the one in Egypt).

Since this was based on 6 samples of wastewater taken from different geographic areas in Gaza on June 23, 2024, and it is now September& we have symptoms of polio — I would say it is highly likely we have moved from outbreak or cluster to an epidemic.



who.int/news/item/16-0…
who.int/groups/global-… (4) Without contact tracing & quarantining, best we can hope for is that enough children get vaccinated so that if they do get exposed to polio they only get a mild reaction.

1/ What is “harm reduction”? And Where did Dems get that term from?

THEY CO-OPTED it. From a decades long grassroots movement. And have done so in a way that is completely & utterly disingenuous & disrespectful to that movement.

So here is a thread—From a harm reduction researcher & ally to many community activists—on what I think harm reduction is….

(Spoiler alert: it is not what they claim it is.)

DISCLAIMER: books have been written about these topics & I’m doing them an injustice with this thread, but I couldn’t take the misuse of the phrase any longer. 2/ HARM REDUCTION PRINCIPLE I: “Nothing About Us Without Us”

Harm reduction was started by a movement of people who use drugs (drug user unions) in the Netherlands, who demanded that their government officials involve people who are actively using drugs in making decisions on what policies & programs to create for people who are actively using drugs. (This was actually a pretty big deal because up until this point only people who were formerly using drugs were consulted if at all and as a result the policies enacted were not addressing the actual problems faced by people who used drugs.)

Because of the drug user unions efforts, they were able to create programs that helped keep people alive & minimized the likelihood of contracting deadly infectious diseases like HIV. They demanded that people who use drugs be treated with dignity and respect because all human beings should be treated with dignity and respect!

Note: The term “harm reduction” was later coined to describe the strategies that were developed by people who use drugs—because these strategies all reduced the harms of the criminalization of drugs, while giving the individual autonomy over their body and power back to make changes that were meaningful to them.

(For more history check out “Taking Back What is Ours: An Oral History of the Movement of People Who Use Drugs” )

1/ Because of this I’m starting a thread with updates that I can find. All Eyes on Gaza.

https://twitter.com/el_sabawi/status/1817006739662757945

2/Translation:
Urgent | #الجزيرة correspondent: Two dead and two wounded in the targeting of a house with a drone in the Mosbeh area, north of #رفح

1/ I asked ChatGPT what the internet says about shadow banning on Twitter, here is what it says…
1. Posting about fundraisers can get you flagged for spammy behavior.
2. Shadow banning happens to clusters of accounts that interact with each other. More on each of these 👇🏽 2/ General Comments about shadow banning from ChatGPT:

Users can get shadow banned on Twitter for several reasons, primarily revolving around behaviors that violate platform guidelines or are deemed spammy. Despite Twitter's public denials about the use of shadowbanning, there are documented practices and signs that suggest otherwise.

**Common reasons for shadow banning include:**

1. **Harassment and Hostile Interactions:** Engaging in aggressive or hostile conversations can lead to other users blocking or muting the account, which may flag the account as a "bad-faith actor" by Twitter's algorithms.

2. **Misuse of Hashtags and Trending Topics:** Hijacking popular hashtags or misusing them excessively can result in negative reactions, prompting the platform to reduce the visibility of the account.

3. **Spammy Behavior:** This includes excessive posting, following/unfollowing in large numbers, or overly promotional content. Such behavior is often perceived as inauthentic and can lead to reduced visibility to protect the user experience on the platform.

4. **Violating Platform Rules:** Any breach of Twitter's guidelines, such as using automated tools for interactions or posting inappropriate content, can trigger a shadow ban.

Researchers have also noted that shadowbanned users often have a network of similarly affected contacts, suggesting that the algorithm might target clusters of users who interact with each other frequently. This can create a ripple effect, where friends or followers of a shadowbanned user are more likely to experience similar restrictions【6†source】【7†source】.

**Signs of a Shadow Ban:**

- A noticeable drop in engagement and reach.
- Your profile not showing up in search results.
- Replies being hidden behind a barrier or not visible to others.

**How to Avoid or Address a Shadow Ban:**

- Follow Twitter’s community guidelines and terms of service.
- Engage respectfully and authentically with other users.
- Avoid rapid or excessive liking, commenting, following, or unfollowing.
- If you suspect a shadow ban, wait for a few days as some bans may be temporary. If the issue persists, contacting Twitter support might help resolve it【8†source】.

By adhering to these practices, users can minimize their risk of being shadow banned and maintain a healthy presence on the platform.

I’ve had at least 5 people in Ghazza message me about whether or not I think people are right to be optimistic that a ceasefire deal will be reached this time. As someone who studies American politics and who has studies the behaviors of the various interested political stakeholders with some intellectual intensity over the last 9 months— here are my rambling thoughts—what do you think will be the outcome? 1/n First, I should start off by saying earlier this week Netanyahu showed unwavering commitment (and to actions) to his plans to: (1) continue illegally “annexing” parts of Palestine into Israel, (2) continue to occupy the Philadelphi Corridor (and destroy the only Palestine/Egypt border that existed), substituting it instead for an Israeli/Egyptian border called “David’s Pass) close to Ker Shelom, and (3) to indefinitely continue to have military presence in Gaza (through control of the North/South highway 🇮🇱 built and currently operating as an IDF checkpoint and through the establishment of military law in North Gaza). —Then a Sudden PIVOT to optimism by the Israeli press for a ceasefire. Doesn’t take a genius to tell you that either there has been a major political development or this is more media propaganda. So which is it? 2/n

This is my cousin Momen’s child, Malak (“Angel”). She is 4 days old. She is one of the NICU babies in Rafah. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Let me tell you Malak’s story. 1/n
gofundme.com/f/urgent-appea…

https://twitter.com/theimeu/status/1789070932117749835

Sara, Malak’s mother, was worried the entire time she was pregnant because the doctors said she was not getting enough calcium. They had to subsist on what little food they could find in Gaza. They became especially worried with the continued threats of a Rafah invasion. They had watched Momen’s sister give birth in a classroom of a school, because the hospital was under siege and birthing persons couldn’t access the hospital. But nothing could prepare them for the night Malak was born. 2/n

Al-Jazeera Arabic is reporting that the U.S. is (finally) taking the lead on negotiations for a ceasefire. They are saying that the U.S. is indicating that they will finally pressure Israel to end the war on Gaza with a permanent ceasefire and will meet directly with Hamas leadership.

My commentary: This is interesting because the U.S. has not taken the lead in negotiations since Nov(?). if ever. If this is indeed true, then I suspect that this was driven in large part by the way Iran has played their hand in the last week. Iran refrained from retaliating against Israel, used psychological warfare to threaten retaliation but "when the time is right", sent Israel on high alert, and forced Israel to withdraw troops from Gaza in the case of a possible attack on the Israeli borders.

Note: Yes I saw that Israel is still threatening to invade Rafah, but I think this is posturing for leverage during the negotiations. It seems that the Houthis' have committed 400,000 fighters to support Iran should a full regional war break out with Israel -- further pressuring the U.S. to deliver on its ceasefire promise. /2n

Jordan should be trending right now. Protests have been blocking traffic; men have flooded the streets in such large numbers that even the repressive military force in Jordan can’t beat them into submission (something they frequently do); Protesters are chanting for Jordan to open its borders so they can march to Al-Aqsa. The political unrest in Jordan has been at a boiling point for years now.

High rates of unemployment particularly among young men; significant inflation; high housing costs; low wages; skyrocketing gas prices, electricity, groceries…hardly any industry. Repressive import taxes.

And a monarchy that pockets millions of US government aid in exchange for US military access. The monarchy is now holding on by a thread. 🧵 1/ Expect the Jordanian forces to increase their violence against protestors. Expect the U.S. to send in reinforcements in some shape or form—If the monarchy falls, it will not be a U.S. co-opted government that will organically take its place. It will not be an Israel friendly government. Expect the U.S. to meddle as they always have & to do everything they can to keep the monarchy in place. 2/n

Ok some important background/context on Fatah as a political party for those trying to make sense of what is going on…I’ll update this 🧵 if I think of any additional useful context.
1. Although this did not used to be the case, Pres. Abbas (the West Bank’s lackluster leader —of the Palestinian Authority) controls the Fatah party. They have tried to get him to step down for years & those that do are…silenced.
2. Abbas has been on the take from 🇮🇱 for years. (How else do his kids live lavishly abroad?). And Biden proposed that Abbas be the new leader of Gaza —so that should tell you all you need to know right there 🤣
3. Abbas has been known to be a 🐀 & cooperates & helps 🇮🇱 make arrests of any dissidents.
4. Abbas is extremely unpopular in the West Bank right now. Dec poll shows that 90% of those surveyed want him to retire. (see this article for explanations as to why: )
5. Abbas has refused to allow for election since he was elected in 2005. 1/nal-monitor.com/originals/2024… 6. When they had elections 20 years ago, when Hamas was elected in Gaza, the candidates from the competing party was Fatah. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Now—was it a fair election, ie not tampered with etc. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Idk.

7. Fatah doesn’t consider itself a political party…rather a “liberation movement”. But after they signed the Oslo Accord & Arafat was killed Abbas dumped the keffiyeh & put on a suit. Signing the Oslo Accord, meant giving up the armed resistance and this caused tremendous discord in Fatah & many many activists left the movement at this time. 2/n

I keep seeing politicians say that they wanted a ceasefire deal before Ramadan. Let me explain why that is -- why some politicians are afraid of the people rising up during Ramadan.

One of the central purposes of Ramadan is ask us to experience hunger and thirst and then to experience what it is like to not be able to eat or drink to quench the thirst or quell the hunger.

It is for an entire month, not just a day or a week, because it is to remind us that for some, this hardship is enduring.

It is encouraged that iftar meals, breaking of the fast every night, be shared with neighbors and friends so that no one goes hungry.

If one is unable to fast because of a medical condition, they can feed another person for a day -- the emphasis is again on remembering those who must go without food or water. 🧵1/n It is estimated that 1/4 of the world's population is Muslim, many of whom will be fasting for Ramadan. And while they are fasting, they will be thinking of the Palestinians in Gaza who are being starved.

When they cannot take a drink of water to quench their thirst, they will be thinking of the Palestinians in Gaza who cannot drink water because there is none to drink.

When they break their fast at iftar and are enjoying a meal in the evening, they will be thinking about the Palestinians in North Gaza who may be eating animal fodder to break their fasts. Not only will they be thinking about the Palestinians in Gaza, they will be experiencing just a small sliver of the hardship that Gazans are being forced to endure--and even that will feel nearly unbearable to them. Politicians are scared because shared living experience could be enough to see the toppling of Western backed regimes across the world. 2/n

Ya’ll thought I was being paranoid when I said Homeland Security was monitoring students and facultys’ personal communications. Biden literally put out a memo telling Homeland Security to do this & it was mentioned in his directive on anti-semitism. Anyone on a university campus or working for one should assume that some government contractor is reading all their texts. As I mentioned in the comments, this is push to instruct Homeland Security to spy on students & faculty at universities & colleges was from Israel’s Foreign Ministry & Diaspora Affairs Ministry that established a task force in Nov. 2023, & created “Israel's strategy against antisemitism on US campuses”. Here is their “multifaceted plan” which they made public. Remember Israel defines Anti-semitism as criticism against Israel.🧵2/n
Source: ynetnews.com/article/rk5ppr…

I’m starting a thread here of alternatives to GoFundMe for people who are just starting new campaigns to help people in 🇵🇸Palestine 🇵🇸 evacuate. GoFundMe is holding funds hostage. Use these alternatives for new campaigns. Pls get the word out.🧵 1/ LaunchGood 2/ 👇🏽

https://twitter.com/lasfarishtas/status/1760821137678721485

Spoke to Kareem’s sister today. She wanted to share more of his story. Please donate what you can. $5, $10, $20. 👇🏽 Please share widely on other social medial platforms, text messages…mobilization, small dollar donations and mutual aid is all we have left when our government fails us. 🧵 With Kareem’s story, he is suffering from severe & debilitating PTSD. 1/

gofund.me/98c41320 Kareem is only 11 & has lived through 3 wars. He suffered from PTSD from the constant bombing, but it has gotten so bad that he now blacks out when he hears the bombing & runs. His family is extremely concerned because he ran away & it took 7 hours before they found him the last time there a bombing nearby. He cannot sleep, control his urine, & has begun to self-harm. He needs psychiatric treatment & help yet there are no psychiatric hospitals left in Gaza. 2/
(Donate here: )gofund.me/98c41320

Ok let’s talk about the use of the word “martyr” to represent شهيد.

I’m not a linguist. The following is not an academic discussion, but based on my lived experience in the US & summers in Amman, Jordan.

(Many brown American kids who are first generation, summer with their grandparents to learn language, tradition & culture. And to maintain relationships with extended family.)

Gaza’s dialect of Arabic was my first language, concurrent with English. I learned both as an infant. My brain thinks in both Arabic in English.
🧵/1 A couple important premises:

1. Most words in Arabic do not have a 1 word literal translation.

2. Arabic is a figurative language. It’s poetic. We speak a lot in metaphors.

3. We don’t use a lot of adjectives & adverbs because there is so much richness in one Arabic word & the context in which it is said that we deliver more meaning with less words.

Sucks when you are to translate. I get it. But also—stop being lazy.

Arabs, stop pandering to English speakers & degrading the full meaning of the Arabic language just to pick a 1 word translation. Yes, it means that English speakers are going to have to do more thinking about what exactly a sentence means, but that is important.

Also, most 1 word to 1 word translations were strategically picked to further political agendas & stereotypes.

Ok, let’s play a game first. /2

What if I told you that I had a policy solution that would reduce the number of “drug dealers” by 90% or more and that this solution would also decrease the “prison population”? What if I said it is evidence-based and that it would nearly eliminate all overdose deaths?… /1 …this policy proposal would also significantly reduce the transmission of HIV, HEP-C, dramatically reduce healthcare costs, & hospital admissions amongst people who use drugs…the number of people in intractable pain who die by suicide & improve quality of life…/2