Alex Shams

Iran Israel Reporting

Quiet Solidarity: The Underground Networks that Defied Israel’s War on Iran

August 14, 2025 by Alex Shams

Originally published on The Public Source on August 14, 2025. On the morning of Thursday, June 12, Tehran moved to its familiar rhythms. Students crammed for finals in packed cafés and

Iran Israel Reporting

Our Man For Tehran

August 5, 2025 by Alex Shams

Originally published in The Boston Review on August 6, 2025. Translated to Persian for Political and Economic Critique and Spanish for Nexos. When Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran

Iran Israel Reporting

Israel’s Bombs Have Stopped Falling, But Iranians Still Face an Uncertain Future

July 2, 2025 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Truthout on July 2, 2025. Translated to Spanish for Nexos. Iranians are waking up from what feels like a nightmare. For 12 days, Israel bombarded their country

Iran Palestine

A Persian Christmas Story: How A Jewish Shrine in Qazvin Connects Palestine and Iran

December 24, 2024 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ajam Media Collective on Dec. 24, 2024. In Qazvin, a few hours west of Tehran, there is a turquoise-blue shrine locals know as Peyghambarieh, “the place of

Iran Opinion

Iran Braces for Uncertainty After President Raisi’s Death

July 16, 2024 by Alex Shams

Published on June 9, 2024 on Truthout. Besides crushing dissent, the former leader did little of note. Could a new president be different? When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went

Opinion Palestine USA

Universities should defend students’ right to free speech, not aid their repression

May 1, 2024 by Alex Shams

Originally published in the Chicago Tribune on May 1, 2024. In mid-April, the University of Southern California banned the school valedictorian from giving a commencement address for the first time in its

Palestine Reporting

How Jesus’s Hometown Is Coping With War at Christmas

December 24, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published on The New Republic on Dec. 24, 2023. Bethlehem is usually brimming with cheer—and tourists—this time of year. But the war in Gaza has turned it into a

Israel Opinion Palestine

Israel Needs a Plan in Gaza. Don’t Look to the West Bank for Ideas

November 22, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published in Newsweek on Nov. 20, 2023. One of Elias Deis’ first childhood memories is running from soldiers opening fire on his neighbors. It was 1989. The First Intifada

Arab World Palestine Reporting

‘They Don’t Want People to Know We Exist’: Palestinians across the West Bank describe what life has been like since October 7

November 10, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published in New York Magazine on Nov. 10, 2023. Over the last month, Israel launched an assault across the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack, in

Iran Reporting

How Bazaar: The surprising way a Japanese soap opera shaped the Iranian secondhand economy

September 1, 2023 by Alex Shams

Originally published in Mildew Magazine, Sep 2023, based on an article in Ajam Media Collective.

Quiet Solidarity: The Underground Networks that Defied Israel’s War on Iran

Our Man For Tehran

Israel’s Bombs Have Stopped Falling, But Iranians Still Face an Uncertain Future

A Persian Christmas Story: How A Jewish Shrine in Qazvin Connects Palestine and Iran

Iran Braces for Uncertainty After President Raisi’s Death

Universities should defend students’ right to free speech, not aid their repression

How Jesus’s Hometown Is Coping With War at Christmas

Israel Needs a Plan in Gaza. Don’t Look to the West Bank for Ideas

‘They Don’t Want People to Know We Exist’: Palestinians across the West Bank describe what life has been like since October 7

How Bazaar: The surprising way a Japanese soap opera shaped the Iranian secondhand economy

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