1/14 ⚠ TW: Sexual Violence. The most detailed report on the sexual crimes committed during & after the Oct 7 massacre is out. The Dinah Project reveals Hamas terrorists used rape, gang rape & sexual torture systematically. This is hard to read, but vital. 🧵

Imagine Being Born Into a Status You Can Never Escape Picture this: You’re born into a world where you can’t build your house higher than your neighbor’s, you have to pay a special tax just to exist, and if you walk down the wrong street, you’re forced to go barefoot so everyone knows you’re “less than.” Even if someone attacks you, fighting back isn’t an option, the law is never on your side. That was real life for Jews in Yemen for centuries, thanks to the dhimmi system Wherever it was enforced, minorities faced restrictions on their movement, worship, and legal rights, serving as a constant reminder of their subordinate place in society. And it wasn’t just Yemen. Across the Muslim world, Jews, Christians, and other minorities were all stuck in the same rigged game. No matter how smart, creative, or hardworking you were, the rules made sure you could never truly belong or be equal. It’s a part of history that’s rarely talked about, but it shaped millions of lives. Jews of Sanaa in 1907 (c) Hermann Burkhardt

Beni Dadosh was just five years old when his life in Tripoli, Libya, changed forever. His family, father Yosef, mother Rachel, little brother Moshe, and baby sister Wassina, had lived in the city for generations. In April 1941, during Shabbat candle-lighting, a bomb hit their home. It was the Germans. Beni’s brother and sister were killed instantly. He and his mother were wounded and fled in a donkey cart, only to watch his mother die in another bombing days later. Beni survived by hiding with relatives, sometimes rolled up in a mat to escape Nazi searches. After the war, things did not get better for Libya’s Jews. Riots in 1945 and 1948 destroyed homes and synagogues, and new laws stripped Jews of their rights. By 1949, Beni and his father had no choice but to leave. Arab countries closed their doors, and Europe offered no refuge. Only Israel opened its gates, and Beni arrived in Jerusalem with nothing but memories and scars. He grew up to help build some of the city’s most iconic buildings, raising a family and honoring the loved ones he lost. Photo credit: Yad Vashem

The Forgotten Pogrom: When Baghdad Burned Imagine waking up in your hometown, a place your family has lived for centuries, only to find your neighbors turning against you overnight. That’s what happened to the Jewish community of Baghdad during the Farhud, a violent pogrom that erupted on June 1, 1941. Over two days, mobs swept through the city, killing around 200 Jews, injuring hundreds more, and destroying homes, businesses, and synagogues. The violence was so intense that it marked a turning point, shattering any sense of security Jews had in Iraq and setting off a mass exodus that would soon empty the country of nearly all its Jewish citizens. The Farhud wasn’t just a random outburst. It was fueled by years of rising antisemitism, Nazi propaganda, and political instability. The Jewish community, which had contributed to Iraqi society for over 2,500 years, suddenly found itself targeted as outsiders. In the aftermath, survivors spoke of lifelong friends who turned into attackers overnight, and of a city that never felt like home again. Scanning of a page from the book 'Iraq' (edited by Haim Saadoun), published by the Ministry of Education and the Ben - Zvi, Jerusalem, (5762, 2002) page 17.

Iran before 1979. video via nivaldocarvalhooficial

Iran before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution Video via @eranshahrari

Dying in ancient Egypt came with homework. The Book of the Dead was not one book. It was a personalised collection of spells and illustrated instructions commissioned during your lifetime and buried with you when you died. Archaeologists have found versions on papyrus scrolls, tomb walls, coffins, and linen wrappings dating from 1550 BCE to 50 BCE. The spells were practical. One told you exactly what to say when your heart was weighed before the gods. Others protected your name, because losing your name in the underworld meant you ceased to exist entirely. The wealthier you were, the longer your scroll and the more spells you carried into death. Image credit: Met Museum

The double crown. Before Egypt was one civilization, it was two separate kingdoms. Upper Egypt ruled the south. Lower Egypt ruled the north. Two cultures, two capitals, two crowns. The White Crown belonged to the south. The Red Crown belonged to the north. Around 3100 BCE, King Narmer unified them. Archaeologists know this because of the Narmer Palette, where he is carved wearing each crown on opposite sides. His solution to ruling two kingdoms was not to erase one. Image credit: Wikipedia

The Country That Donates to Harvard Also Hosts Hamas. Qatar invests billions in Western universities and positions itself as a global diplomat. Yet it has reportedly also channeled funds to extremist groups and openly hosted their leaders in its capital. Image credit: Zachor Legal Institute

Rare footage of Dubai in the 90s. Video via @historyphotographed

The World's Oldest School Was Hidden Under a Desert Hill. In 1974, archaeologist Paolo Matthiae uncovered something extraordinary after 13 years of digging through a Syrian desert hill called Tell Mardikh, and what he found changed everything we thought we knew about early civilization. Over 17,000 clay tablets were discovered still organized on their shelves, spread across two rooms, one dedicated to economic records and the other to law and literature, with a writing room next door that still had reed styluses inside. This was 2400 BCE. Ebla was already tracking grain shipments, drafting diplomatic treaties, conducting legal trials, and trading with Egypt, Iran, and more than 200 cities across the ancient Near East. The scribes even left behind bilingual dictionaries and student exercises, proof that this wasn't just a city. It was a school. Image credit: Visit Damascus Syria

Rare footage of Egypt filmed by tourists back in 1925. Video via @history_piece