@majdal@social.coop cover
@majdal@social.coop avatar

majdal

@[email protected]

Technologist turned urban planner turned academic. Interested in climate action and pan-Syrian futures.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

Gaza mon amour is perhaps my favourite Palestinian film of the past decade.

It's time capsule of Gaza in the late 2010s, full of tenderness, love, and dark comedy. A few scenes are prescient of the destruction yet to come.

I really appreciated that Israeli occupation was only present as a distant background, on the news on TV, the hum of the surveillance drone, the Israeli army shooting warning shots to stop the fishermen from getting farther than 3 miles off shore, or a distant airstrike.

If you haven't seen it, please watch it. It's available on Kanopy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_mon_amour

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

What does this emoji mean? ❤️‍🩹

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

Last night's full moon, shot on an iPhone with 8x zoom. It's shocking how quickly the moon moves in the sky. It was only there for a few moments, then it hid behind the tall building.

The tallest building to the right is at Yonge and Bloor, the shorter buildings closer to me are Honest Ed's at Bathurst and Bloor. The pigeons are the permanent residents of my street corner.

Skyline of Toronto, many skyscrapers and cranes. The sky behind is clear, coloured deep pink at the top and gradually turning to greyish blue at the bottom. The glass towers are reflecting the colour of the sunset, which is a firey orange. The moon a perfect full circle, rising between two skyscrapers. In the foreground is the silhouette of a flock of birds flying in formation towards the left of the frame.
ALT
@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

You start a company called «Factotum della città». What does the company do?

(factotum = do everything, della città = of the city)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ipb9xbXSAY

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

I just visited Damascus for the first time since 2006. I grew up there, so the trip was a LOT of emotions.

A few photos from the trip.

  1. One the major streets of Damascus, Nasr Street
  2. A community centre in the old city. Film directing students are gathered in the courtyard for a lesson. Very neglected treasure of a building.
  3. The Hamadieh market in the old town
  4. Sunrise/moon set in the edge of the city. Solar panels everywhere.

A gathering at a community centre in the courtyard of an old building. Classical Damascene architecture, black and white tiling on the walls, arched windows.
One of the covered markets of the old city, the roof is arched, made of metal, with bands of LED lights along it. Shops line both sides of the street, and people everywhere.
Sunrise/moon set on one of the mountains that hug the city. A full moon is in the background, the foreground is lots of trees. Medium-rise buildings in the middle, with lots of solar panels on their roofs.

Sunrise/moon set on one of the mountains that hug the city. A full moon is in the background, the foreground is lots of trees. Medium-rise buildings in the middle, with lots of solar panels on their roofs.
ALT
@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

I grew up in Damascus, in Yarmouk Camp for Palestine refugees.

My brother is visiting now. He visited our home there, or what remains of it. I know that the building was destroyed back in 2012, but had never seen the aftermath. It was just rubble, barely recognizable. He sent a video to the family group of him digging through, and dug up a distinctive green porcelain tile that was in our bathroom.

There are no words that could contain the emotions of this moment.

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to AcademicChatter group

My department at is sending announcements to grad students and faculty members who are going to the in Detroit in a couple of weeks to ask us to register with the safety abroad office, because the USA is a dangerous hostile zone now.

If I end up going, this will likely be the very last time I go to the US in the foreseeable future.

academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group

majdal OP ,
@majdal@social.coop avatar

US Fascism has academia in its crosshairs now. The whole point is to terrorize us into silence. I'm still considering going to the in Detroit, but considering if my financial, intellectual, and emotional labour is better spent elsewhere (e.g. ). In any case, and I have a call with an immigration US lawyer later today and will decide last-minute. Thankfully I can defer the decision because I don't have expensive flights to rebook.

academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group

@majdal@social.coop avatar majdal , to random

One feature that I really wish I had is for my live feeds and lists to be filterable by language.

e.g. I want to see posts only in Arabic

I'm almost surprised that it doesn't exist already. Maybe @FediTips knows something about how to do it?

majdal OP ,
@majdal@social.coop avatar

@FediTips Thanks for the quick response! I knew that part, but I wanted to create lists for each of my preferred languages that I easily navigate, without having to change my general mastodon settings. i.e. per-list filters