A Hill to Die On

New Story in The Paris Review

Hi all—ICYMI, I have a new piece in The Paris Review: A Hill to Die On. In it, I document three rainy days in September I spent embedded with the families of Americans killed and abducted by Israeli settlers and soldiers, following them as they walked the halls of power in DC, demanding justice from a government that hardly registers their existence.

Fellow Substacker

Haley Nahman

highlighted it in her newsletter this past week, calling it “A disturbing close-up look into the cold dysfunction of our government.”

I’ll have more for you soon from the ground in the West Bank—including from Al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, the village I describe in this piece as “the Miami of the West Bank, if Miami were hemmed in by masked marauders who terrorized its outskirts and hunted residents for sport.” But for now, please take twelve minutes of the 3.5 hours you typically budget for my weekly news roundup to read this story instead.

Hafeth and me.

PS — forgive me for repeating the same plea I made yesterday:

With this trip, I’ve taken the plunge into full-time writing and reporting, leaving behind the work that’s paid my bills for the past fifteen years. It’s both exciting and unnerving—journalism isn’t exactly a gold mine these days, and every bit of my reporting, including this trip, is self-funded. But, at risk of sounding sentimental, I’ve never felt more sure of my purpose, so in the end, this feels less like a decision than an inevitability.

To make this sustainable, I’ll be introducing a paywall soon. If you’d like to lock in the lowest rate, I’m offering 20% off this week—$64 for the year, or $6.40 month-to-month.

It’s tough out here for independent journalists—especially those committed to holding power to account and covering what the mainstream won’t—so your support truly means the world. And as always, I’m grateful when you share this newsletter with others who you think should be reading it.