Mostafa Al-A'sar | مصطفى الأعصر

What Does Trump Want from Tehran? Reflections on Escalating Tensions in the Middle East Some U.S officials argue that this conflict could shape the Middle East for decades. That assessment is hardly exaggerated—particularly if the violence is not contained soon.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

I'll be part of Qissa Festival: Celebrating Newcomer and Refugee Writers on March 29 at Small World Music Centre in Toronto.

Join us for a day of powerful storytelling and community.

Free to attend. Registration required.
bit.ly/4l22igk

The Tumbler Ridge Shooting and the Challenges of AI Safety Months before the incident, the suspect had held conversations with ChatGPT about scenarios resembling the attack.

mostafaalasar.substack.com/p/the-tumble...

A state of silence... and everyone seems absent-minded, thinking of his family.

#FreeThemAll
#Egyptian_hell
@mostafaalasar.bsky.social

From Protest to Peril: Cellebrite Used Against Jordanian Civil Society - The Citizen Lab Through a multi-year investigation, we find that the Jordanian security apparatus has deployed forensic extraction products manufactured by Cellebrite against civil society devices. We release these f...

I'm glad to have had the opportunity to work with the amazing team at the Citizen Lab to translate this important report into Arabic: “From Protest to Peril: Cellebrite Used Against Jordanian Civil Society.”

Misusing of the Israeli software products from Cellebrite.

citizenlab.ca/research/fro...

The wrong people are being asked to pay for Canada’s crisis in health care Forcing refugees and asylum seekers to pay puts an additional burden on already marginalized people.

My latest article for The Star:

Any approach to supporting this marginalized group must account for their specific circumstances. What is considered supplemental for the general population may be indispensable for refugees.

When it comes to regional security and peace, can such matters be meaningfully discussed with a foreign minister whose government incites against its own citizens abroad and practices transnational repression targeting activists, journalists, and HRDs in exile?

redword.ca/can-canada-c...

صدر كتابي "عن الدولة والسجن والمنفى"، عن دار "جسور للترجمة والنشر”.
الكتاب متوفر باللغة العربية في مكتبات الشبكة العربية في بيروت وإسطنبول، ومتاح الآن للشراء عبر الانترنت من خلال موقع نيل وفرات.

www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.asp...

If You Think We Have Press Freedom, Try Sharing This Story on Instagram | The Walrus Growing up in Egypt, I knew access to news could be fragile. I didn’t expect to lose it again in Canada

“Though it’s been two years since Bill C-18 came into effect, it’s unacceptable to normalize a situation where Canadians are unable to access or share news on Meta platforms, @mostafaalasar.bsky.social writes on @thewalrus.ca.

If You Think We Have Press Freedom, Try Sharing This Story on Instagram | The Walrus Growing up in Egypt, I knew access to news could be fragile. I didn’t expect to lose it again in Canada

Growing up in Egypt, @mostafaalasar.bsky.social ‬ knew access to news could be fragile. He didn’t expect to lose it again in Canada. But that's what has happened with the Meta news ban. thewalrus.ca/if-you-think...

When Mostafa Al A’sar, Journalists for Human Rights and The Walrus contributing writer, moved to Canada from Egypt in 2024, he was shocked to discover that he couldn’t access news on Meta. He was no stranger to government censorship, but this felt different. thewalrus.ca/if-you-think-we-...

If You Think We Have Press Freedom, Try Sharing This Story on Instagram | The Walrus Growing up in Egypt, I knew access to news could be fragile. I didn’t expect to lose it again in Canada

We technically have freedom of expression, and there are no official site bans or state censorship. But in reality, the government cannot broker a resolution with Meta. What are our alternatives?

Read my latest piece with @thewalrus.ca
@pressefreiheit.bsky.social

thewalrus.ca/if-you-think...

U.S. funding cuts to MBN lay off hundreds of journalists, putting some at risk of deportation MBN was created for Arabic-speaking audiences in the Middle East and North Africa after 9/11 and the Iraq War

For the MBN journalists seeking asylum, a long road of hardship lies ahead – and trust in U.S. media institutions in the region may never recover.

Read my latest story with The Globe And Mail:

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Perilously Close to Death, a Mother Continues Her Hunger Strike The Egyptian government may let Laila Soueif die as she protests the treatment of her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah — just to prove that it does not change course

My latest article with New Lines magazine is about Alaa Abdel Fattah and Laila Soueif's hunger strike. I apologize for the harsh language, but Soueif's life is in danger and at risk of death.

#FreeAlaa #SaveLaila #FreeThemAll

My short film "Car; When Can I Have It?" will be available for virtual screening starting tomorrow for seven days, featuring a remarkable lineup of international short films officially selected for the 2025 Oakville Festival of Film and Arts (OFFA).

watch.eventive.org/offa2025/pla...

My contribution letter to Alaa Abdelfattah with @pencanada.bsky.social 2024/2025 annual report. #FreeAlaa #SaveLaila

The Holocaust in Exile In exile, writers, poets, intellectuals, and artists become bartenders, receptionists, construction workers, factory laborers, cab drivers. They let go dreams of change to chase minimum wages...

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In Toronto… Sun is God, God is Sun! I used to wonder why ancient civilizations worshipped the sun—until I moved to Toronto and came to understand the wisdom and clarity they possessed.

open.substack.com/pub/mostafaa...

First Time Elections in Canada… What Does It Mean? When people don’t choose their own destiny, it gets chosen for them—by killers and criminals.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Following in the footsteps of my friend Solafa Magdy, I’m starting today to create my own blog on Substack to publish my writings—those that often lose their way and struggle to find a platform to be shared. I'll do my best to publish in both English and Arabic and to keep in touch with my readers.

"When people don’t choose their own destiny, it gets chosen for them—by killers and criminals".

My first article is about the recent Canadian federal elections, titled: “First Time Elections in Canada... What Does It Mean?”

My short film CAR; When Can I Have it! has been officially selected to participate in the 12th edition of the Oakville Festival of Film and Art (OFFA). The festival will take place 18-25th June in Oakville and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I’ll share more details as soon as they are announced.

The 35th anniversary of the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF).
‘As journalism goes, so goes democracy’.

What pride and what sadness!
The William Southam Journalism Fellowship concludes.
Ready for my next journey.

Trump is a Gemini...that explains a lot.

I am honored to have contributed a chapter to the newly published book Imprisoning a Revolution: Writings from Egypt's Incarcerated, released by the University of California Press.

The letter has been signed by notable literary and human rights figures, including Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, Turkish author Elif Shafak, and Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla.

#FreeAlaa

As a leader of Redword for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression, I join a group of journalists, writers, and human rights organization leaders in a letter and urgent appeal to the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, calling for a presidential pardon for writer Alaa Abdel Fattah.

#FreeAlaa

أول يوم فطار في المعتقل بيكون صعب، حالة من الصمت، وكله سرحان بيفكر في عيلته.. رمضان في المعتقل أصعب 100 مرة.. في كرسي ناقص على السفرة.. الحرية للمعتقلين