✨ A Sunday Short Read ✨ In a Village in the West Bank by Naomi Shihab Nye One little boy writing a book, “making pictures for it too,” he said over Zoom, proud face bright as an apple in my screen. “It’s about a problem,” he smiled shyly in that occupied land where soldiers sneak around at night breaking into houses, chopping olive trees, smashing lamps. “A problem between spiders and ants.” Well, this sounded refreshing, a problem not made by humans. He said spiders and ants each want to dominate their corners, not letting other species have space. I didn’t quite understand, since spiders spin high-up webs and ants tunnel in the ground, but he insisted on friction, something about vicinity. They want the whole space. I could see stone walls behind him. Hear his parents speaking Arabic in the background, a spoon clinking a bowl. I felt homesick for my whole life. Now he was whispering, other kids listening in, scattered in villages around the West Bank where my grandma once lived. I knew exactly what their world looked and smelled like, and wished to be with them on that ground, stirring smoky coals in a taboon. “But there’s something the ants can do,” he went on softly. “So they don’t all get killed. The spiders are stronger than the ants, you know. So the ants pretend to be spiders!” What? How does an ant pretend to be a spider? He showed reluctance to tell, being still immersed in the making of his story, but gave a clue. “It’s an expression on the face. An ant makes his face look like a spider’s face. For safety. Then they won’t attack. It’s not that hard.” (fb)

🧐 A Saturday Long Read Wondering how to start connecting the requirements under the EU's Digital Services Act to the digital harms from recommender systems that peacebuilders observe? This article is a good place to start (and connects to a larger study on algorithmic design for better feeds). "The DSA’s expectations have transformative potential. However, more specificity is needed if the DSA is going to inform the design of more transparent and accountable recommender systems that effectively mitigate systemic risks." (fb)