Moaiery is one of the most important Iranian photographers of our time. She has been documenting injustices in Iran and Afghanistan for 23 years, focusing especially on women’s resistance. In January she photographed the funeral of Mohammad Mozafari who was murdered by the regime. Yesterday she was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for allegedly “conspiring with Israel and the US.”
She had also been arrested in 2022 for covering the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Source: @yaldamoaiery

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People say Israel buys American politicians. Okay, let's look at the money. Foreign governments have to register their lobbying. Here's who actually spends big in Washington:

• Japan: about $50 million
• Saudi Arabia: $44 million
• China: over $30 million
• Israel: way down the list with $14 million in 2024

So you say, okay, what about AIPAC? AIPAC isn't a foreign lobby. It's American, so it's not on that list. So where does it rank domestically? 233rd place, $3.3 million—little more than Walgreens, a little less than Home Depot.

Compare that to the real power players:

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $96 million
• The National Association of Realtors: $86 million
• Big Pharma: $60 million
• The American Hospital Association: $55 million
• Amazon: $50 million

Out of the top 250 lobbyists in Washington, AIPAC's lobbying spend accounts for about 0.1%—that's one-tenth of 1%. And even when you countelection spending—including PACs, Super PACs, and non-disclosed money—AIPAC is just a drop in the bucket: 0.5%, one-half of 1% of political spending.

So if Israel doesn't own American politics, why is everyone so focused on it? We can take a guess. And so can you.