Elia Ayoub reads from his newsletter piece “Merry Christmas Homs: Tribute to Bassel Shehadeh’s Last City” which is available for free. It is a reference to a short film directed by Bassel during Christmas 2011 in Homs under heavy shelling by the Assad regime. You can watch it on YouTube.

Trigger warning: this audio features some sounds from the original film, including airstrikes. They come right after Elia says ‘at times getting closer’ at around 1:25 seconds. Skip to 1:59 to avoid them.

As this is time sensitive, it will be released on the public feed shortly after the Patreon.

Follow Wafa Moustafa on Instagram to get updates on her ongoing search for her father, Ali Moustafa.

Elia’s Links

Support: You can support my work with a one-off or monthly donation on Ko-fi.

Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: Registration is now open for August 2026.

Newsletter: Subscribe to Hauntologies

Social Media: I’m on Bluesky and Instagram.

Contact: To collaborate, reach out on ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com / Signal @ Ayoub.02

The Fire These Times

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Social Media: TFTT is on Bluesky and Instagram.⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

Transcription: You can help ⁠Antidote Zine⁠ transcribe TFTT episodes here.

Recent Articles

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Recent Interviews

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Highlighted Hauntologies articles

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From The Periphery

TFTT is a proud member of ⁠From The Periphery Media Collective⁠⁠, which you can support on Patreon and follow on Bluesky⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ and⁠ Instagram.

Check out other projects: Politically Depressed⁠ | Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution | From The Periphery Podcast | The Mutual Aid Podcast⁠