“I used to see Tracy Chapman performing in Harvard Square a lot. I took this shot in 1985. There were many talented performers competing for attention, but Tracy stood out. I wasn't terribly surprised when she got a recording contract a few years later.”

Senior Hamas leader and politburo member Ismail Radwan said that Hamas does not want to exclusively rule Gaza and that it would accept a Palestinian “national consensus” on the governing body that would rule over the strip.

Israel has publicly stated that one of its prerequisites for a permanent end of its war on Gaza is the complete disarmament of Hamas and for it to no longer rule in the strip. But Radwan stressed that while Hamas is not interested in governing, its right to resist the occupation remains a “red line.”

“We are not keen on ruling the Gaza Strip,” Radwan told Mondoweiss in a phone interview on Wednesday. “We are with any national consensus on how to manage Palestinian affairs, whether in the West Bank or Gaza — because Gaza is part of historic Palestine.”

Radwan stressed that Israel would not dictate the terms of how Palestinians would decide to rule themselves, and that this was an internal Palestinian matter. “We reject any external interference led by the Zionist entity,” he explained. “Therefore, the weapons of the resistance are a red line that is not up for discussion.”

Radwan asserted that armed resistance is a legitimate right of any occupied people to defend itself, and that “it is the Zionist entity that should be disarmed. It has committed war crimes and genocide, according to international courts.”

In Karaj, Iran, a young boy lights a candle in observance of Mehregan, a Zoroastrian festival also known as the Persian Festival of Autumn. The festival honors the religion's divine being responsible for friendship and love.

i’ve never met one

Night Sky - Dan McCarthy , 2024.

American , b. 1962 -