Occupied Thoughts: Recent Episodes
Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
FMEP staff, fellows, and guests take a deep dive into issues related to Israel, Palestine, and occupation.
This podcast is a project of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP.org)
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Swedish author Göran Rosenberg. They discuss messianism in Jewish history, the continuity from 1950s Tel Aviv to the settler movement Gush Emunim to the manifestation of the settlement movement today. They also look at questions of collective rights, framed in terms of 'peoplehood,' versus individual rights.Göran Rosenberg is the author most recently of Israel, a Personal History (Penguin Random House 2025). His other books include A Brief Stop on the Road From Auschwitz (2017) and Another Zionism, Another Judaism (2025). See more on his personal website. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Hani Almadhoun, Vice President of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA and co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, an initiative that Hani and his family in Gaza started to feed people in Gaza during the Israeli genocide. Hani and Ahmed speak about Hani's family in Gaza and the work of the Gaza Soup Kitchen from its founding until today. They discuss the mission and work of UNRWA and the role that UNRWA USA plays in supporting it. And they talk about accountability, justice, and ways forward. Hani Almadhoun is the Vice President of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA and co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen. Born in the Emirates, Hani’s family fled to the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. It was tough adjusting to the harsh conditions in Gaza during the First Intifada, but his family was made whole again when his dad got a job at an UNRWA school teaching English to refugees. A child of an educator, Hani was raised with the mantra of school being the top priority, and in this pursuit, he eventually found his way to the United States, thanks to a university scholarship from the LDS Church. After earning both his Masters in Public Administration and his BA in International Studies and Latin American studies from Brigham Young University, Hani settled in Washington, DC where he fell into the world of fundraising for various causes that spoke to him, including civil rights and social justice groups for Muslim and Arab Americans and charities that serve the Palestinian people and other marginalized communities in the Middle East.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this conversation, FMEP non-resident Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Seth Ackerman (Jacobin Magazine) about the latter's recent article on a speech by Rahm Emanuel (former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama), and what it might say about current political thinking in the the Democratic Party. They also discuss what opportunities exist in the U.S. to exert pressure on Israel and pursue accountable.For resources and biographies, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/reeling-israel-in-a-conversation-with-seth-ackerman/Original music by Jalal Yacoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Abed Abou Shhadeh, a community organizer based in Jaffa who served as a City Council representative of the Palestinian community in Jaffa-Tel Aviv from 2018 to 2024. The discussion centered on an essay Abed published June 18, 2026 at +972 Magazine: The Palestine movement must seek power over purity - https://www.972mag.com/palestine-bds-power-purity/
In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Anan Quzmar, a Palestinian researcher focused on the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists and the broader destruction of Gaza's documentation ecosystem; and Zo Brown (an alias), the founder of Databases for Palestine about Israel's assault on Palestinian journalism – starting even before 10/7/23 – and the failures of international organizations ostensibly devoted to defend journalists, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). You can follow the work of Databases for Palestine on X at @databases4pal, and Anan at @QuzmarAnan. See the show notes on FMEP's website for resources related to this podcast -- https://fmep.org/resource/the-betrayal-of-gazas-journalists/.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor does a deep-dive with award-winning foreign affairs journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed into the backstory of and some key themes in his new (and eagerly awaited) book: Crossing the Red Line (release date: 9/22/26; available now for pre-order - https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324118190).
They discuss how the campaign came about, how it has developed, and the criticisms they've received for its work. They also discuss the role of dark money in politics more generally.Cory Archibald and Casey Kennedy are the co-founders of TrackAIPAC. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Naji Abbas is Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Follow PHRIAhmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Eid Suleiman, a resident of the village of Umm al Khair in Masafer Yatta in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Andrey X, a journalist and solidarity activist who is an Israeli citizen. They discuss settlers attacks and expansionism, who the so-called Hilltop Youth are, and the fact that the settler apparatus for dispossessing Palestinian people and confiscating their land operates as Israeli state policy. They also discuss Palestinian efforts to sustain their families and communities, the solidarity activists who offer support, and the concrete differences in how Palestinians and non-Palestinian solidarity activists are treated by the Israeli army and Israeli police. Eid Suleman is a human rights activist and member of the Umm al Khair community in the Israeli-occupied southern West Bank.Andrey X is a journalist and solidarity activist. You can follow him in these places: https://www.instagram.com/the.andrey.x/ or https://x.com/the_andrey_x.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem. Their conversation covers a wide range of topics as Yuli addresses why it matters to understand the Israeli system from the inside. They discuss how Israelis were mobilized so quickly into supporting and committing genocide; the meaning and impact of the Zionist movement producing the Israeli apartheid state; and the expectation that Israeli violence and repression will continue to increase. Yuli states her belief that positive change is not coming soon, but the Israeli Jewish population has both the responsibility and ability to act to dismantle the paradigms of Jewish supremacy and militarism and work for both justice and equality.Yuli Novak is the Executive Director of B’Tselem. From 2012-2017, she was Executive Director of Breaking the Silence. In 2022, she published (in Hebrew) the memoir Who Do You Think You Are?, which will be published in English in 2026.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
The Quincy Institute and Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) co-hosted this webinar that examined how the war on Iran — which was conducted by the Americans and Israelis with an unprecedented degree of coordination — may accelerate the divergence of American and Israeli policy conduct in the Middle East. As the costs continue to accumulate for the Americans, and the Israelis continue to dig in, the question of whether a policy break which corresponds to each state’s different interests has gained new importance. And if that break ultimately develops, how will the process of extricating Israeli policy-making from Washington unfold? This webinar/podcast features Trita Parsi (Quincy Institute), Barbara Slavin (Stimson Center), Lara Friedman (FMEP), and was moderated by FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor. Trita Parsi is co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. He is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East.Barbara Slavin is a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center and a lecturer in international affairs at GWU. Prior to joining Stimson, she founded and directed the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council and led a bi-partisan task force on Iran. She is the author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (2007)Lara Friedman is the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. Previously, she was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis, and Beirut. Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Ahmed Moor is a writer and fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of “After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine” (2012, Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
why Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reacting differently to Iran and Israel, and why American hegemony remains in the Middle East. Dana El Kurd is an associate professor at the University of Richmond in the Department of Political Science, and a senior nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington.Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
and his August 2024 interview with FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart about Harrison's decision to resign and why government officials continue to implement policies they consider immoral.Harrison Mann is a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest at his office's support for Israel's war in Gaza. He is currently with the group Win Without War and is a contributor at Zeteo.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Omar Shakir, Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), about DAWN's new report on the revolving door between AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and U.S. and Israeli governmental institutions and the roles AIPAC plays in U.S. politics and public discourse. They also look at instances of conflation between Jewish people and AIPAC (including, for instance, by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro), as well as new and growing toxicity of the AIPAC brand and how that toxicity affects other political groups, such as J Street. See the new DAWN report, New Data Highlights AIPAC Ties to the U.S., Israeli Governments (5/20/26).Omar Shakir is the Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), the organization founded by the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that seeks to change US policy in the Middle East and hold human rights abusers in the region accountable. Prior to his current role, Omar served for nearly a decade as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
(Religion Dispatches, April 2026, by Kate Bitz, Elianna Boskoff, and Ben Lorber); Ben Lorber works as a Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates a progressive thinktank focusing on antisemitism and white nationalism. He is also the co-author of Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism (2024).Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Matt Duss and Zuri Linetsky about the destabilizing nature of the Abraham Accords; the evolution of the security dilemma and how integration may drive destabilization by fostering aggressive behavior; and whether the Abraham Accords undermined the reinstatement of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - the Iran nuclear deal) by the Biden Administration.Also see:How the Abraham Accords Fueled A New Era of Conflict (Foreign Policy, May 2026), by Matt Duss and Zuri Linetsky;The End of the Axis of Abraham (Foreign Affairs, May 2026), by H. A. Hellyer.Matt Duss is the Executive VP at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.Zuri Linetsky is head of research and analytics for Dandelion Works and an expert on geopolitics and international security.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.
(March 2021); Maya Rosen an assistant editor at Jewish Currents.Natasha Soffer-Roth (formerly Roth-Rowland) is director of research and analysis at Diaspora Alliance. She has a PhD in History from the University of Virginia, where she wrote her dissertation on the Israeli- and American-Jewish far rightAhmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Wired Magazine (March 2026);Obada Shtaya is Co-Founder and CEO of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Palestinian journalist and researcher from Gaza, and the author of Sobrevivir al genocidio en Gaza (“Surviving the Genocide in Gaza”), his first book, published in Spanish. Their partnership is a product of the Palestine Reporting Lab.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/.Ziad Abu-Rish is Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies and Director, MA Program in Human Rights and the Arts at Bard College. He is a scholar of the modern Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. His research centers around state formation, economic development, and popular mobilizations, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan. His teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses in human rights; comparative state formation; various themes in Middle East studies; and research methodologies. Abu-Rish is the author of The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence (Stanford University Press, 2026). He co-created (with artist Tania El Khoury) The Search for Power, a touring lecture performance and sound installation exploring the history of electricity in Beirut. Abu-Rish is also coeditor of The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (2012) and Critical Voices: A Collection of Interviews from and on the Middle East (2015). Abu-Rish has also authored several articles appearing in Middle East Report and Review of Middle East Studies and chapters in edited volumes on the political economy of the Middle East, the Arab uprisings, and teaching Middle East history. Abu-Rish also serves as coeditor of Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya e-zine, and codirector of the Lebanese Dissertation Summer Institute.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman is joined by political analyst/commentator Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), for a far-ranging conversation about Europe's equities, concerns, and options with respect to current events in the Middle East (the US/Israel war on Iran, Israel's wars on Lebanon and Gaza, and Israel's escalation in the West Bank) including with respect to US-Europe relations. Follow Daniel's work on Substack - https://substack.com/@daniellevy2
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Middle East policy journalist, analyst, and author Omar Rahman about the Iran War and its impacts in the region. Their conversation explores:Iran-U.S. diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and challenges to ending this war.The Trump Administration's blockade of Iran's blockade of the Straits of HormuzThe impact of the Iran War on the policies/interests/unity of Gulf statesIsrael's war on Lebanon and its impacts for the regionThe rapidly expanding/shifting Overton window with respect to support for Israel in the U.S.Also see Omar's articles referenced in the podcast:His 4/7/26 article in Foreign Policy: The Gulf’s Wartime Unity Is Unraveling: https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/07/iran-united-states-gulf-uae-qatar-bahrain-saudi-oman-war/His 4/15/26 article in the National Interest: In Blockading Iran, the US Forgot About China: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/in-blockading-iran-the-us-forgot-about-chinaHis 3/4/26 co-authored piece in Foreign Policy: Security Alliances With the U.S. Have Made Gulf States More Vulnerable: https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/04/iran-united-states-war-gulf-states-alliances/
, and undo the withdrawal from Lebanon; and the question of whether Israel considers Turkey to be a peer competitor.Lara Friedman is FMEP’s president. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, She is a leading authority on the Middle East, with particular expertise on U.S. foreign policy in the region, on Israel/Palestine, and on the way Middle East and Israel/Palestine-related issues play out in Congress and in U.S. domestic politics, policies, and legislation. Lara is also a preeminent subject-matter expert in the area of anti-Palestinian legislation and “lawfare,” including the weaponization and instrumentalization of the definition of and concerns about antisemitism. Lara’s research on lawfare and antisemitism-related topics – which she makes available to the public – is widely cited and widely recognized as the authoritative data in the field. Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with foreign policy analyst Matt Duss about whether the US has lost the war on Iran and whether the Israelis drove the US's entry into the war. They talk about prospects for Democratic party intervention on the war and the ways in which US policy towards Israel may be changed over time, looking at party politics as well as elections.Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
the two discuss the realities of the war with Iran and the challenges of reporting on it inside of Israel amidst direct government censorship and harassment of journalists and activists by police as well as deputized, armed vigilantes. They talk about the ways that the the Israeli administration normalizes permanent war with Iran and Hezbollah for the Jewish Israeli public, similar to the ways that permanent war with Palestinians has been normalized. They discuss how different sectors of Jewish Israeli society relate to information about the genocide in Gaza and abuse of Palestinians more broadly, including what some choose not to know, what some celebrate, and what others are coming to accept. They also look at the trend of both leftwing and more mainstream Israelis who are emigrating from Israel, noting that the numbers are as yet unknown but seem to be growing. Finally, they talk about solidarity activism and organizing among Israelis, including how they approach more mainstream Israeli society. Oren Ziv is a photojournalist, reporter for Local Call and +972 Magazine, and a founding member of the Activestills photography collective.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Monitoring at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC). The ELSC is the first and only independent organization defending and empowering the Palestine solidarity movement across Europe through legal, research, and advocacy support. Check out the ELSC online at https://elsc.support/ and on X at https://x.com/elsclegalLara and Amira talked about the ELSC, it's work challenging anti-Palestinian repression in the UK and Europe, and about the recently launched database, Britain’s Index of Repression and the previously launched database, Germany's Index of Repression [check out both databases at https://www.index-of-repression.org/ -- developed/published in partnership with Forensic Architecture (https://forensic-architecture.org/( and Forensis (https://counter-investigations.org/)], as well as ELSC's recent report: On All Fronts: The Multi-Sited Repression of Palestine Solidarity in Britain -- https://elsc.support/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/On-All-Fronts-The-Multi-Sited-Repression-of-Palestine-Solidarity-in-Britain.pdf.
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Sawsan Zaher, an independent Palestinian human rights lawyer based in Haifa [full bio below]. Their conversation includes:- The background of Israel's recently-passed Death Penalty law- The way in which the Israeli judiciary supports the regime there- The role of the Supreme Court, incl whether it may strike down the law, and how the Court has evolved in the past twenty five yearsFull bio: Sawsan Zaher is an independent Palestinian human rights lawyer based in Haifa. She serves as a legal advisor for several Palestinian human rights and feminist organizations, specializing in both Israeli domestic law and International law. Sawsan has extensive experience in constitutional strategic litigation on behalf of Palestinians before Israeli courts; notably, she recently represented the Palestinian Authority in a constitutional petition before the Israeli Supreme Court regarding the freezing of Palestinian tax revenues. She also serves as a co-supervisor at the human rights clinic in Tel Aviv University.Since October 2023, Sawsan has focused her practice on representing Palestinian citizens in cases of political persecution. She is a frequent public speaker on Israel's violations of international law, specifically examining how the Israeli genocide of Gaza is supported by the Israeli constitutional and legal regime.Previously, Sawsan served as the Deputy General Director and Senior Lawyer at Adalah, where she practiced for 16 years. Her work has earned her prestigious global recognition, including fellowships as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Yale World Fellow, and a Public Interest Law Fellow at Columbia University.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Mara Kronenfeld, Executive Director of UNRWA USA. They discuss the role of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in the lives of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon and especially in the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA has 12,000 staff on the ground in Gaza now and continues to offer essential humanitarian support as well as schooling, despite attacks from Israel, which has destroyed more than 90% of UNRWA schools, refused to allow UNRWA-designated aid into Gaza and refuses to permit international UNRWA staff from entering Gaza and the West Bank, and the challenge of lost funding from many funder states including the United States. Peter and Mara discuss the content and success of UNRWA schooling, including addressing the accusations of antisemitism in UNRWA curricula, as well as the unsubstantiated allegations that some UNRWA staff participated in the October 7th, 2023 attacks inside of Israel. Finally, they discuss the enormous growth in funding support for UNRWA via UNRWA USA, which has sent $83 million dollars of raised funds to Gaza over the past 2.5 years.For more on UNRWA and UNRWA USA, see Israel has crushed Unrwa in Gaza – and the rest of the world has done nothing by Phillipe Lazzarini in The Guardian 3/21/26 and UNRWA is Still In Gaza by Mara Kronenfeld in December 2025 in the Washington Post (an UNRWA USA ad and op-ed). Mara Kronenfeld is the Executive Director of UNRWA USA, where she leads the strategic vision, operations, and fundraising efforts of the nonprofit organization that supports the humanitarian and human development work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Middle East. With over 20 years of experience in international development, Mara is a Fulbright Scholar and an expert in designing, implementing, and leading public private partnerships supporting youth development programming in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
about being fired from Artforum in the wake of October 7th. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP non resident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Sari Bashi (Executive Director, Public Committee Against Torture in Israeli) to discuss the dismissal of charges against five Israeli soldiers who were filmed violently abusing and raping Palestinian detainees in the Sde Teiman facility - as well as the torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody more generally.For resources please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/sde-teiman-permission-to-rape/Music by Jalal Yaqoub
(April 2024). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist/analyst/commentator Nour Odeh. Nour is an independent media professional and communications consultant with 20 years of experience as a distinguished journalist. In 2012, Ms. Odeh became Palestine’s first female government spokesperson and she served in various capacities as a senior communications and public diplomacy advisor to the Palestinian leadership. She writes opinion and analysis in English and Arabic and is a regular guest in international news outlets. In this far-ranging conversation, Lara and Nour discuss the situation in the West Bank today; trends in West Bank settler and IDF terror and ethnic cleansing dating from before 10/7/23, escalating through 2.5 years of genocide, and now escalating again during the Israeli-U.S. war on Iran; the situation in Jerusalem and the Harm al-Sharif; the implementation of Israel's Gaza playbook in Lebanon and Iran; the role of the international community; the state of Palestinian domestic politics and the national movement for Palestinian rights and self-determination; and how all of this is playing out with respect to grassroots attitudes and activism around the globe.
looking at the idea of American exceptionalism, the need for and absence of accountability in American wars, and the ways that American coercive behavior overseas -- including narratives, technology, tactics, and even equipment -- is currently being deployed on the domestic population of the US.Ben Rhodes is a writer, political commentator, and national security analyst. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, and The World As It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House. He is currently co-host of Pod Save the World; a contributor for MS NOW; a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama; and chair of National Security Action, which he co-founded with Jake Sullivan in 2018. From 2009-2017, Ben served as a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with author and scholar Dr. Nathan J. Brown about his recent article, For Younger Palestinians, Crisis Has Become a Way of Life. -Dr. Brown's bio: https://carnegieendowment.org/people/nathan-j-brown-the article: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2026/02/youth-palestine-west-bank-crisis
Israel launched the recent war.Dr. Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, and the Director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll. He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Lara Friedman is FMEP’s president. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. Original music by Jalal Yaquob.
in +972 Magazine where she takes a deep dive into this issue.For resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/ice-gaza-the-flow-of-surveillance-technology-to-fuel-repression/Music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with human rights attorney and writer Sari Bashi about her new memoir, Upside-Down Love: A Memoir in Two Voices, came out in English in January. Upside-Down Love tells the story of how Sari, an Israeli-American human rights attorney, created a shared life with her husband, a Palestinian professor from Gaza who is based in the West Bank. Ahmed and Sari discuss Sari's experience of building and raising her Jewish-Palestinian family in the West Bank and the process of writing and publishing the memoir, which originally came out in Hebrew. They also talk about the moral and individual culpability of Jewish Israelis for genocide/warm crimes, the future of Israel/Palestine, and the state of human rights more broadly. Sari is a long-distance runner -- her relationship to freedom of movement is core to her human rights advocacy and a theme throughout the memoir -- and she and Ahmed, who is also a marathoner, discuss Sari's ultramarathons and the importance of running. Sari Bashi is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer, the former program director of Human Rights Watch, the cofounder of the Israeli human rights organization Gisha, and the executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture-Israel (PCATI). She is a graduate of Yale Law School and has previously clerked on the Israeli Supreme Court. She has taught international humanitarian law at Yale Law School and Tel Aviv University. She has also been a Jerusalem correspondent for The Associated Press and has appeared on, and been interviewed by, major English-language outlets. She and Osama (a pseudonym) are married and living in the West Bank.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Myssana Morany, a lawyer and coordinator of the Land and Planning Rights Unit of Adalah, the legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel, and Sarit Michaeli, the International Advocacy Director at the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem. They discuss forcible transfer and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and the Naqab/Negev, looking at shared patterns of policy and action that supports Jewish control over land, enacting and entrenching the regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea. They look at specific mechanisms of displacement and dispossession of Palestinian communities, particularly rural herding and farming communities, and the dozens of communities - including tens of thousands of Palestinians - made homeless or vulnerable by this regime. Patterns include: increased home demolitions, segregationist urban planning processes, the refusal of the Supreme Court to protect or defend Palestinian land rights, and the increase in political support for crowding Palestinians into urban areas or removing them from their land altogether. Additionally, the last two-plus years has seen a massive acceleration of settler violence and terror against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, which is backed by every arm of the Israeli state.Speakers: Myssana Morany joined Adalah as a lawyer in 2014. In 2019, she was appointed coordinator of the Land and Planning Rights Unit. Myssana's work in the Naqab includes representing several Bedouin communities facing displacement and challenging state intiatives and master plans that induce displacement.Sarit Michaeli is International Advocacy Director at B’Tselem. She joined B’Tselem in 2004 as its media spokesperson and director of public outreach. Sarit has an MA (Distinction) in Gender Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London, and a BA in graphic design from Camberwell College of Art, the London Institute.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
if I strip him from his right to tell his story, that does not make me more just, but will make me less human.”Jaser Abu Mousa is a Yale Peace Fellow examining how Gaza's postwar reconstruction can reflect Palestinians' priorities while repairing the social fabric of society. Most recently, he was a Program Officer working for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Gaza, Palestine until the breakout of the current war in October 2023. During the war, Jaser lost his wife, Heba, and two children, Hmaid (18) and Abdulrahman (8), and left Gaza with his remaining two children, Abdallah and Sham, for treatment in the United Arab Emirates.Prior to his work with Swiss, Jaser served in the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), working under immense pressure during the 2014 war to report incidents, coordinated and communicate movements and follow intense political developments. Prior to that, Jaser worked as a social worker for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the aftermath of the 2009 war, including leading a team of 50 social workers to run the poverty survey for UNRWA in the area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. He also led a team of engineers to verify the work of a European contribution 30 million Euros known as the Private Sector Reconstruction in Gaza (PSRG). Between 2006-2009, he worked extensively as a political researcher in a Gaza-based think tank; during this period he reported on and analyzed Hamas’ rise to power in the Strip.Jaser holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Islamic University of Gaza and a Master of Science degree in Project Management. In addition to his work as an analyst and a development/humanitarian practitioner, he has worked as a civil engineer at private construction companies and UN agencies.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, 2025 FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with filmmaker and activist Jen Marlowe about the film Severed, which Jen directed. The film, released in late 2025, tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, a teenager from Gaza who has endured five major Israeli assaults, lost his home, close family members, his best friends, and—at the age of 12—his leg. Hilary and Jen discuss disablement, disability justice, and Gaza, which now has the largest cohort of child amputees in the world. Jen Marlowe is the founder of Donkeysaddle Projects and a Consulting Producer for Just Vision. She is an independent filmmaker, journalist, author, playwright and human rights activist. Her books include I Am Troy Davis (Haymarket Books, 2013), The Hour of Sunlight (2011, Bold Type Books) and Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival (2006, Bold Type Books). Her films include Severed, There Is A Field, and Remembering the Gaza War.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She was a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
(submitted October 2025 and republished in November 2025). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com.
The Guardian, 12/31/25Liz Allcock is the former head of humanitarian protection at Medical Aid for Palestinians, an FMEP grantee. She has been working in and out of Gaza for the past ten years, and has worked in emergency relief around the world for two decades.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
in the magazine Equator. His next book, Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History, will be published by published in September 2026. Benjamin Moser is the author of a biography of Susan Sontag titled, Sontag: Her life and Work, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 2020. He the author of a forthcoming book, AntiZionism: A Jewish History (Doubleday in Sept. 2026)Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com.
from February 2024. Yousef Munayyer is Head of the Palestine/Israel Program and Senior Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC. He also serves as a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Palestine Studies and was previously Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Dr. Munayyer holds a PhD in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Maryland.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.comOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
North Africa. They discuss the recently-published book that Whitson and Omer-Man co-authored, From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine. Practically, the book acts as a blueprint for ameliorating the conditions in Palestine-Israel today, such that the residents of the country may decide through democratic means how to organize society in the future. See more about the organization here: https://dawnmena.org/ and about the book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/from-apartheid-to-democracy/paper.Michael Omer-Man is Israel-Palestine Director at DAWN and former Editor in Chief of +972 Magazine. Sarah Leah Whitson is Executive Director of DAWN and former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.comOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Read the Kairos II document here.Dr. Yousef Kamal AlKhouri (Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is a Christian Arab Palestinian theologian from Gaza. He serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College. He is a member of the steering committee of Christ at the Checkpoint and the board of Kairos Palestine. His research and publications, in Arabic and English, center on Palestinian theology, contextual biblical interpretation, and the witness of Christianity within the Palestinian experience.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
(published in the Equator, 11/26/25), and the questions of whether we need new institutions, what happens next in Palestine, the meaning of fascism and what resistance to it can and may look like.Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and the international bestselling author of nine books published in over 35 languages including No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, This Changes Everything, No Is Not Enough, On Fire, and Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World which won the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction in 2024. A columnist for The Guardian, and contributor to Zeteo, her writing has appeared in leading publications around the world. She is the honorary professor of Media and Climate at Rutgers University and is Associate Professor in Geography at the University of British Columbia where she is founding co-director of UBC's Centre for Climate Justice.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.comOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Peter Beinart (also an FMEP fellow) about Peter's decision to speak at Tel Aviv University, his apology for doing so, and criticisms of both.
For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/queerness-and-li…ith-tareq-baconi/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Arielle Angel and Alissa Wise about Jewish navel-gazing, Jewish institutions, and growing the anti-Zionist movement.For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/jewish_institutions_anti_zionism/
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Zo Brown (an alias), the founder of Databases for Palestine about the project, and about why actively working to preserve evidence and memory of Israel's genocide of Gaza -- and actively working to fight the erasure of both -- is central to the achievement of accountability and justice. You can follow the work of Databases for Palestine on X (https://x.com/databases4pal) and at https://databasesforpalestine.org/, and you can support it via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/databases4pal).
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute about Jordan, the Gulf and US policy on Palestine. They also discuss the Biden administration's complicity in genocide, who is profiting from the mass killing, and what careerism means for those who have chosen to continue to serve in the State Dept.Resources and bios at: https://fmep.org/resource/jordan-the-gulf-and-american-policy-in-palestine/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with civil rights attorney and activist Huweida Arraf about Huweida's work to co-found the International Solidarity Movement as well as the different flotilla efforts, including the 2008 Freedom Flotilla, which arrived in Gaza; the 2010 Mavi Marmara, which was stormed by Israeli troops, who killed and injured participants; and the latest attempts to enter Gaza by sea to break the blockade.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Mondoweiss editor Adam Horowitz about the role that Mondoweiss, an independent news organization, has played in the struggle for Palestinian rights over the past 25 years. They also discuss the moral case for the cultural boycott of Israel and what constitutes justice after genocide. Adam Horowitz is the Executive Editor of Mondoweiss, where he has worked since 2008. He is the former Director of the Israel/Palestine Program for the American Friends Service Committee and holds a master’s degree in Near Eastern Studies from New York University.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with human rights attorney Sari Bashi and policy expert Bushra Khalidi about the current state of humanitarian aid in Gaza, the bureaucracy of restrictions -- including the stated purpose of restricting aid -- and whether international law continues to carry meaning after two years of genocide. Recorded on October 14, 2025.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Sari Bashi is a human rights lawyer, writer, analyst, senior leader and public speaker with 20 years of experience advocating for human rights, litigating international humanitarian duties, leading multidisciplinary teams in complex and dynamic situations, creating systems to enhance organizational effectiveness, forging strategic partnerships based on shared values, fundraising and managing risk. She is the co-founder and former executive director of Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement (www.gisha.org), the Israeli human rights organization promoting the right to freedom of movement for Palestinians, especially residents of the Gaza Strip. She served as Program Director for Human Rights Watch and as a member of its Executive Committee, leading the organization’s global research and supervising a staff of 270 people in 80 countries working on 16 regional and thematic human rights issues. She is an award-winning author of Maqluba: Upside-Down Love, a memoir-love story published in Hebrew, Italian and Dutch (forthcoming). She has also served as the Israel/Palestine country director at Human Rights Watch and research director at Democracy for the Arab World Now. She is currently working as an independent consultant and human rights lawyer, writing expert legal opinions, conducting mapping, research and analysis for international organizations, lecturing publicly and writing short and long form narrative pieces. Bushra Khalidi is the Policy Lead for the Occupied Territories at Oxfam, where she leads advocacy, campaigns, and humanitarian policy to address pressing global challenges. At Oxfam, Bushra prioritizes collaborative efforts to influence policy reforms and drive impactful campaigns that support vulnerable communities worldwide. Her work reflects a deep commitment to advancing equitable policies and fostering sustainable development. Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders. They discuss the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the new ceasefire; changes in public assessments of Israel's standing in the U.S. and political relationships with Israel, including changing relationships with Israel among prominent Trump supporters as well as Bernie Sanders's late recognition of genocide; and what accountability looks like for the genocide, including for members of the Biden administration.Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
and scholar Emmaia Gelman about the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), including the history and current activities of the ADL and the ADL's approach to advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of the state of Israel. They also discuss the ADL's relationship with the U.S. government, including including the ADL surveilling Americans and FBI Director Kash Patel's recent decision to suspend the ADL's longstanding partnership with the ADL.Mari Cohen is an associate editor at Jewish Currents, a.magazine committed to the rich tradition of thought, activism, and culture of the Jewish left, where she reports, edits, and contributes to shaping the magazine's editorial direction. See Mari's reporting on the ADL in Jewish Currents:"Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO’s Praise of Elon Musk," January 2024 (with Alex Kane);"The ADL’s Antisemitism Findings, Explained," April 2023;"ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals," March 2023 (with Alex Kane);"The ADL Doubles Down on Opposing the Anti-Zionist Left," May 2022 (with Isaac Scher);"The Numbers Game," April 2022.Emmaia Gelman is the founding Director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, which examines the political and ideological work of Zionist institutions beyond their direct advocacy for Israel. Her research and writing investigate the history of ideas about race, queerness, safety, and rights, and their production as political levers in the realm of hate crimes policy, surveillance, anti-terror measures, and war. Her teaching has spanned NYU, Sarah Lawrence College, freedom schools, encampments, and many other community spaces. Emmaia is at work on a critical history of the Anti-Defamation League (1913-1990) as a Cold War neoconservative institution, as well as an edited volume of social justice movement writings and academic research on resistance to the ADL. She is the co-chair of the American Studies Association Caucus on Academic and Community Activism, and a longtime activist in New York City. See these publications by Emmaia Gelman:"It’s Time to Break With the ADL as a Source for News and Research on Extremism," Truthout December 2023;"The Anti-Democratic Origins of the ADL and AJC," Jewish Currents March 2021;"The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems," Boston Review May 2019.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about political and diplomatic developments relating to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. They discuss the "20 Point Plan" that President Donald Trump released today, as well as his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking about actual provisions to limit Israel's genocidal behavior and noting the colonial structure of the internationally-headed "Board of Peace" that will rule Gaza, according to the proposal. They discuss the symbolic measure of many countries recognizing Palestinian statehood at the UN last week; Mouin notes that this recognition is the first time that Western governments have taken steps for Palestinians in response to pressure from their own constituencies, and suggests that this action demonstrates that popular pressure can affect policy. Finally, Hilary and Mouin look at current initiatives, including the "United for Peace" proposal and the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, that aim to intervene directly in the genocide. Mouin Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary Middle East issues. Among other previous positions, Rabbani served as principal political affairs officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, head of the Middle East unit with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and senior Middle East analyst and special advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He was also a researcher with Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, where he also hosts the Connections podcast and edits its Quick Thoughts feature. He is also the managing editor and associate editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a contributing editor of Middle East Report. In addition, Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) and at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was recently informed that UC Berkeley shared his name, along with those of 159 other Berkeley faculty & students, with the federal government for "alleged incidents of antisemitism." Peter & Ussama discuss the absurdity of experience -- the accused have not been informed of any details of the allegations against them -- while looking at why UC Berkeley is not defending its faculty and students, how the Berkeley experience compares with how other universities have capitulated to the Trump administration, and whether academic freedom on campus will survive. Most urgently, they discuss how the attacks on universities are meant to distract from the genocide Israel is carrying out right now against Palestinians. Resources on this topic include"UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move," The Guardian 9/12/25;"UC Berkeley professor warns of 'unprecedented crackdown' on academic freedom." NPR interview with Ussama Makdisi on 9/18/25"When Universities Become Informants," by Judith Butler, 9/13/25"Kafka-land at UC Berkeley," by Judith Butler, The Nation, 9/16/25Dr. Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press. He is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellows Ahmed Moor and Peter Beinart speak about the new developments with Palestinian statehood and their meaning and implications. They also discuss American politics and culture, discussing the shifts on the Right regarding Israel and looking ahead at the 2026 midterms.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with zehra imam, who launched Poetry of the Camps, a poetry program in Gaza with young writers. Basman Aldirawi and Duha Hassan Al Shaqaqi, former participants in the program who have become co-leaders of it, joined in the conversation. Basman and Duha shared what it meant for each of them to be writing poetry in Gaza during the genocide. They discussed the process of bringing students together virtually from all over the Gaza Strip, with different backgrounds and experiences, to write poetry. The themes of their sessions were miracles, homeland, the concept of colorism, love letters to Palestine, and freedom. They share a poem titled “Balsam” written by a student participant about her friend who was killed in the Israeli assault and discuss their experiences during the genocide: Basman, who was in Egypt on 10/7/23 and could not return to Gaza and Duha, who survived the genocide and was evacuated from Gaza just a few weeks ago.Basman Aldirawi (also published as Basman Derawi) is a physiotherapist and a graduate of Al-Azhar University in Gaza in 2010. Inspired by an interest in music, movies, and people with special needs, he contributes dozens of stories/poems to the online platform We Are Not Numbers and other platforms including Vivamost, Mondoweiss, ArabLit, and Written Revolution. He has contributed to the Arabic poetry anthology, Gaza: Land of Poetry, 2021 and to the English anthology, Light in Gaza: Writing Born in Fire, 2022. Basman was Illuminated Cities’ inaugural Fall 2024 Poetry of the Camps-Gaza fellow. He is now part of the Illuminated Cities program team. Duha Hassan Al Shaqaqi is a Palestinian writer, student, and storyteller who finds power in words, resilience in education, and purpose in advocacy. She was a 2024 inaugural Poetry of the Camps-Gaza fellow. Duha is now part of the Illuminated Cities program team, and her poem was featured in the 2025 Harvard Divinity School commencement speech. Raised in Gaza, she has experienced firsthand the challenges of war, displacement, and interrupted education — but also the strength of community, the value of knowledge, and the hope that creativity brings. With a background in English literature and a passion for humanitarian work, Duha writes about survival, identity, and the silent strength found in everyday moments. She has worked as a social worker during wartime and continues to pursue global education opportunities to amplify her voice and the voices of others.zehra imam is the founder of Illuminated Cities, an education organization that works on creative expression with communities impacted by systemic violence such as war or occupation. She designed Poetry of the Camps in 2024 for students in Gaza, Rohingya refugee camps, Harvard, and MIT and it continues to this day in Gaza and Rohingya refugee camps.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, who is currently on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian convoy currently on its way to Gaza. They discuss the remarkable cross-section of people who have joined the flotilla and what they hope to achieve by it while also looking at different ways Israel works to discredit and undermine this effort. Because David joined the podcast from the boat in the Mediterranean and lost access to the internet while he and Peter were speaking, this conversation happens in two parts. You'll hear the transition about halfway through the podcast. David Adler is a political economist and the Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, founded in May 2020 to unite, organize, and mobilize progressive forces around the world. His research and writing have been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs, among others. You can read more about him at https://davidrkadler.info/. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). They discuss Levy's argument that the way that Israel withdrew Israeli settlements from Gaza in 2005 set the stage for today's genocide; as Levy put it in a recent +972 Magazine piece, the current Israeli paradigm is "not just separating from the Palestinians, relegated to shrinking Bantustans, but annihilating and erasing them." Moor and Levy also discuss the impact of Israel's attacks in Qatar this week both in the near and longterm, the need for Netanyahu to formally deny Israeli involvement in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and shifting political approaches to Israel/Palestine. Daniel Levy is the President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), which emphasizes the Palestine-Israel issue alongside regional conflicts, trends and geopolitics. From 2012 to 2016, Levy was Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to that he was a senior Fellow and Director of the New America Foundation’s Middle East Taskforce in Washington D.C. and a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation in New York. Levy was a Senior Advisor in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and to Justice Minister Yossi Beilin during the Government of Ehud Barak (1999-2001). He was a member of the official Israeli delegation to the Israel/Palestine peace talks at Taba under Barak and at Oslo B under Yitzhak Rabin (1994-95). Levy is a founder and Advisory Board member of Diaspora Alliance (combatting antisemitism and its conflation), a Council Member of the ECFR, and serves on the board of the European Middle East Project. He is a former Trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York and of the New Israel Fund, a co-founder of J Street, and a founding Editor of the Middle East Channel at foreignpolicy.com. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Marianne Hirsch, Professor emerita of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Professor Hirsch made news recently when she withdrew from classroom teaching because Columbia instituted the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, telling the Associated Press that “‘A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry…I just don’t see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.”’ In this podcast, Ahmed Moor and Professor Hirsch discuss the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its impact on teaching and learning as well as the changes in academia and the changing balance of influence and power between administrators and scholars. Digging into Prof. Hirsch’s areas of expertise, they discuss genocide scholarship and Germany, looking at the achievements and failures of German “memory culture” and comparing the Holocaust, the Nakba, and the genocide in Palestine today. Through a look at the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network, which Prof. Hirsch helped to found, they discuss how scholars are trying to use their expertise in fascism, mass atrocities, and political violence to name, explain, and counter the rise in authoritarianism and ethnonationalism around the world. Marianne Hirsch is William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Professor in the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former President of the Modern Language Association of America. She was born in Romania and educated at Brown University, where she received her BA/MA and Ph.D. degrees. Hirsch’s work combines feminist theory with memory studies, particularly the transmission of memories of violence across generations. Her recent books include School Photos in Liquid Time: Reframing Difference, co-authored with Leo Spitzer (University of Washington Press, 2020), and the co-edited volumes Imagining Everyday Life: Engagements with Vernacular Photography (Steidl, 2020) and Women Mobilizing Memory (Columbia University Press, 2019). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Laila Al-Arian, the executive producer for Fault Lines, an award-winning current affairs program on Al Jazeera English. They discuss what it's like to be a journalist in Gaza and how Western journalists have failed their Palestinian colleagues. They also talk about remembering the journalists Israel has killed. On August 25, 2025, the day Peter & Laila spoke, Israel killed at least five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, including an Al Jazeera cameraman. Israel has killed nearly 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since 10/7/23. Laila Al-Arian is a Washington DC-based journalist, journalist, and executive producer for Fault Lines, an award-winning current affairs program on Al Jazeera English. She has produced documentaries on subjects ranging from the Trump administration’s Muslim ban to the impact of the heroin epidemic on children and an investigation into factory conditions in Bangladesh. For her work, she has been honored with a News and Documentary Emmy, Peabody Award, Robert F. Kennedy Award in journalism, National Headliner Award, and has been nominated for 15 News and Documentary Emmys. Prior to joining Fault Lines, Laila worked for Al Jazeera English for four years, covering everything from Guantanamo Bay’s youngest detainee to the re-settlement of Iraqi refugees in the U.S. She received a BA in English literature from Georgetown University and an M.S. from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, The Independent, and other publications, and she is co-author of the book Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with researcher Randa Wahbe about the Israeli policy and practice of holding Palestinian corpses as part of the broader Israeli regime of control over Palestinians. At present, Israel holds more than 740 Palestinian bodies. Randa describes this practice of control, which can be defined as "necropolitics" and/or "necroviolence," and which includes desecration of burial sites and cemeteries. She also describes Palestinian practices of defiance and dignity that aim to counter the impact that this particular form of violence has on Palestinian families and communities. FMEP initiated this conversation after FMEP's partner and friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered on 7/28/25 by an Israeli settler who invaded Awdah's village, Umm al Khair in Masafer Yatta, and Israel then held Awdah's body, refusing to return it to his family for burial. Women in Umm al Khair, including Awdah's mother, widow, and extended family, launched a hunger strike to demand that Israel return his body for burial without conditions. 10 days after the murder, Israel returned Awdah's body and allowed his family to bury him.Read more about Awdah Hathaleen and the events surrounding his murder, Israel withholding his body, and his village's response here: "Awdah Hathaleen laid to rest after Israel withheld body for 10 days" (Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine, 8/7/25) and "Israel is holding Awdah Hathaleen’s body. His killer roams freely through his village" (Sahar Vardi and Basel Adra, +972 Magazine, 8/5/25) Also see this 2021 conversation FMEP hosted, "Palestinian Bodies Held Hostage by Israel," with human rights advocate & researcher Budour Hassan and Professor Noura Erakat about Israel’s policy of holding hostage the bodies of slain Palestinians. This conversation drew on Israeli authorities holding the body of Ahmad Erekat, Noura's cousin. Randa May Wahbe earned her PhD in anthropology from Harvard University. Her dissertation is titled “The Politics of Karameh: Palestinian Dignity and Defiance Against the Necrocarceral State” in which she investigates Israel’s exploitation of the Palestinian dead. Randa currently works in movement advocacy to support progressive groups elevate their voices in the media and is an Adjunct Professor at University of San Francisco. Previously, she served as head of international advocacy for a leading human rights organization in Palestine that defends political prisoners rights, where she led global campaigns during hunger strikes and moments of escalating violence.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, former FMEP President Matt Duss speaks with professor & author Brian Barber, who recently published No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip. The book tells the stories of day-t0-day life under decades of military occupation, building on the close relationships Brian built there through many years of academic research. Brian maintains close contact with the families and finishes the book with a section on each family's harrowing efforts to survive the current genocide in Gaza. Brian and Matt discuss the book -- how Brian came to write it, the contents of it, and the challenge of publishing it -- as well as Brian's experience of encountering Palestinian communities, overcoming unconscious biases, and withstanding direct challenges to the legitimacy of Palestinian voices in order to fulfill a promise and share Palestinian stories. Brian K. Barber is Professor Emeritus, University of Tennessee and the author of No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip. He currently lives in Washington, DC. His work has addressed how context—from parenting to political systems—impact individual and social development. Among other books, he is editor of Intrusive Parenting: How Psychological Control Affects Children and Adolescents (2002, American Psychological Association), and Adolescents and War: How Youth Deal with Political Conflict (2008, Oxford University Press).Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu. They discuss Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have long navigated Israeli racism and have faced accelerated repression over the last 22 months that has included arrests, threats, and efforts to impeach Palestinian Knesset Member Ayman Odeh and undermine Palestinian political participation inside of Israel. They talk about responses to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, including recent protests and hunger strikes led by Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as growing numbers of Jewish Israelis who are naming Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. They also look at the new diplomatic wave led by many Western states promising to recognize a Palestinian state and, specifically, how that state recognition is juxtaposed against the International Court of Justice's rulings on Israeli occupation. Finally, Diana reflects on the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the reckoning on those agreements that has never occurred. Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, analyst, and writer. She is also the Communications Director in Palestine for the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Previously, she served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Aseel Aburass, Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel and one of the authors of PHRI’s newest report: “Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide.” Peter and Aseel discuss PHRI's Israel's genocide in Gaza, focusing on Israel's destruction of Gaza's healthcare system and Israel's "deliberate destruction of conditions under which life cannot continue." They discuss the emergency need to flood Gaza with aid disbursed by the professional aid organizations with the expertise to properly distribute it, the need to hold the perpetrators of this genocide accountable, and the Israeli medical sector's complicity with the destruction of Palestinian healthcare. Aseel Aburass is a humanitarian professional with non-profit experience, specializing in human rights and health in conflict settings. She currently serves as Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, where she leads legal and humanitarian interventions, documents violations, and advocates for systemic change and accountability.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Rania Elias, former director of the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival. They speak about Palestinian culture in Jerusalem, both the powerful potential for activities like dance and music to revive Palestinian society as well as the challenges of maintaining culture under occupation. They discuss Israeli efforts to repress Palestinian culture, including through arrests, detention, and other forms of control, including against children. They look at the experience of child incarceration and the impact of repression on personal and collective levels. Rania Elias is a Palestinian cultural advocate who has dedicated her career to promoting the arts, cultural development, and artistic events. For over two decades, she led the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival, transforming Yabous from an abandoned cinema into the largest cultural hub in Jerusalem. Elias has managed and coordinated numerous cultural events, festivals, and art exhibitions, while advocating for gender equality and women's rights. She has contributed to various cultural organizations and is deeply involved in defending the social and political rights of Palestinian women. In addition to her leadership roles, she has been recognized internationally for her contributions to cultural preservation and activism, earning prestigious honors such as a nomination for the Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur of France in 2021.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, about how and why B'Tselem has concluded that Israel is now and has been committing genocide in Gaza for nearly two years. Yuli describes Israeli leaders' statements of intent, Israeli military officers' orders and actions, and the catastrophic results on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Yuli and Peter discuss the urgency for international intervention to stop Israel's brutal actions in Gaza, how Israeli Jewish society justifies the genocide, and the dangers that Palestinians face without protection from the Israeli regime, including the danger that Israel may apply its genocidal policy to other areas under its control, including the West Bank. Read B'Tselem's new report, "Our Genocide," on their website: https://www.btselem.org/publications/202507_our_genocideFrom the report: “For nearly two years, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, acting in a systematic, deliberate way to destroy Palestinian society there through mass killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm and creating catastrophic conditions that prevent its continued existence in Gaza. Israel is openly promoting ethnic cleansing and the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure for individuals and the group, with 2 million people starved, displaced, bombed and left by the world to die. The genocide must be stopped.”Yuli Novak is the Executive Director of B'Tselem. From 2012-2017, she was Executive Director of Breaking the Silence. In 2022, she published (in Hebrew) the memoir Who Do You Think You Are?, which will be published in English in 2025. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley History Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was personally named and targeted by Members of Congress in the recent House of Representatives hearing ostensibly on antisemitism in higher education. Beinart and Makdisi discuss the "surreal" experience of being denounced in Congress as well as the truth and power of the widespread mobilization of people from a wide range of backgrounds, faiths, and generations calling for justice and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They also discuss the long and relatively under-researched history of interconnections among Muslims, Christians, and Jewish communities in the Middle East, the importance of reading history, and the shocking brutality of the genocide in Gaza. As they close their conversation, Makdisi asserts that the urgent and essential task is to make sense of the world in terms that "humanize rather than dehumanize, historicize rather than dehistoricize, advocate for justice and equality rather than ethno-religious supremacy of any sort." Dr. Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press. He is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Executive Director Stefanie Fox about the evolution of JVP as a Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the US, strategies for growing the movement, and navigating uncomfortable coalition partners, including on the political far-right. They also discuss how JVP thinks thinks about accountability to Palestinian partners, how it approaches electoral work and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), and how to counter the ubiquitous claim that US bases its support for Israel on a commitment to protecting Jewish people rather than on U.S. geopolitical and corporate interests. Stefanie Fox, MPH (she/her) is the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a U.S. based, grassroots membership organization mobilizing Jewish communities into the movement for Palestinian rights and freedom and towards a vision of Judaism beyond Zionism. Prior to her 16 years at JVP JVP, Stefanie spent a decade doing racial and economic justice work as a grassroots community organizer, public health practitioner, and policy researcher and analyst. She has written extensively for print media with publications in outlets like Time, Boston Review, The Nation, and has appeared on MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and more.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Palestinian political analyst Iyad El-Baghdadi about Israel's regional military campaigns, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and how it's current aggressive posture reflects the attitudes of Israel's founders. Looking forward, the two discuss how the bigger picture provides a framework to suggest what might come next.Iyad El-Baghdadi is a Palestinian political analyst and director of the research center of Kawaakibi Foundation. Peter Beinart is an author, Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New YorkFor more information and resources, see: https://fmep.org/resource/iyad-el-baghdadi-on-late-stage-zionism-what-might-it-suggest-for-israels-future/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Palestinian American journalist and writer Jennifer Zaccharia about the treatment of Palestinian journalists and reporting by Israel and Western media, building on Jen’s recent Boston Review piece,”Can Anyone Hear Me? Palestinians are only allowed to exist if we don’t cause discomfort for those who seek to erase us.” They discuss the lack of accountability for Israel killing Jen’s cousin, Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022; how Western media elides truth and suppresses information in reporting on Palestine; and the choices of words, including descriptors for sexual violence, that Western media uses to describe some victims.Jennifer Zacharia is a lawyer and writer who holds a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MIA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, she has worked as a journalist and with various human and civil rights organizations. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, psychiatrist and Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), Gaza's leading mental health organization. They discuss the how GCMHP has continued to serve Gazans, train mental health providers, and offer critical services and knowledge even in these genocidal conditions. They discuss what it means to "cope" with the horrors and deprivations of genocide, as well as the hope for a ceasefire and what outsiders can do to support the survivors in Gaza. For more on the GCMHP's work, see their website; Dr. Yasser's June 2025 article, "Living Through the Unimaginable: a Testament from Gaza;" GCMHP's report "Caring for survivors: New report reveals mental health Impact on Gaza" (August 2024); the website & resources of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation; Yasser Abu-Jamei is a Palestinian psychiatrist who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), the leading independent Palestinian non-governmental organization providing mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and training for mental health professionals. He became Director General of GCMHP in January 2014, following the death of its founder, Dr. Eyad El Sarraj. In 2012, he obtained a MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry (with distinction) from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Dr. Abu-Jamei is a member of the Task Force which developed the National Mental Health Strategy 2015-2019 in Palestine. He co-led the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Technical Working Group in Gaza Strip and in 2020 co-founded the Palestine Global Mental Health Network. His interests include capacity building, neuropsychiatry, and advocacy. In addition to his research and authorship or co-authorship of some twenty academic papers, he has been certified as a Trainer of Trainers in the field of supervision and care for caregivers by the Free University of Berlin. Dr. Abu-Jamei has received several honors, including the Best Alumnus Award from the Said Foundation (2015), the Alumnus of the Year award from the University of Birmingham (2016) and the Community Resilience Award from the Rebuilding Alliance (2021). Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. She has been involved with community leadership efforts and served on many boards to build multifaceted support for Palestinian rights and a more nuanced understanding of people’s lives in the Middle East region. Among them are The Gaza Mental Health Foundation, LE.O Foundation, Friends of Mada al-Carmel, Tawassul Palestinian Art and Culture Society, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University. She has also served as a Board Trustee at Aurora University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with author & architect Suad Amiry and film & TV director/actor/producer Cherien Dabis. They discuss Cherien's latest film, All That's Left of You, an intergenerational story that goes back to the 1948 Nakba and arrives at the present and premiered at Sundance in early 2025. They talk about one of Suad's most famous books, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, about life under Israeli occupation on the West Bank, and its upcoming adaptation to the screen, which Cherien will direct. Along the way, they discuss the effect of humor in storytelling, the role of diaspora Palestinians and relationship to the broader Palestinian collective, and the urgency of telling Palestinian stories. Suad Amiry is an award-winning conservation architect and writer. She is Professor of Architecture at Jordan University and Birzeit University, Palestine and a cultural heritage specialist focusing on conservation of historic buildings and revitalization of historic centers. Amiry is the founding director of Riwaq, which endeavors to protect and develop architectural heritage in Palestine and took a major role in the revitalization of the most significant 50 historic centers in rural Palestine. She is widely published and has authored many architectural books and other non-fiction books, including Sharon and My Mother-in-Law (2003, translated into 18 languages); If this is a Life? (2005); Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18 Hour Journey with Murad (2010); Golda Slept Here (2014); My Damascus (2016); and Mother of Strangers (2022). On Cherien Dabis is a trailblazing Palestinian American filmmaker and actress who has established herself as a creative force across a variety of mediums. She forged a new genre of Arab American storytelling with her critically acclaimed first feature “Amreeka.” The film world-premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the coveted FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Dabis wrote, directed and starred in her highly anticipated third feature film “All That’s Left of You,” which world-premiered to critical acclaim at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Dabis has directed standout episodes of hit television series such as Hulu’s “Ramy” and Netflix’s “Ozark." In 2022, she became the first Palestinian Emmy nominee for her groundbreaking, dialogue-free episode of Hulu’s comedy “Only Murders in the Building.” Her acting credits include Netflix’s “Mo,” Amazon Prime’s “Fallout” and Tarek Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic,” which was in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. Original music by Jalal Yaquob.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with author Benjamin Balthaser about the history of Jewish anti-Zionism, its current forms in the US - whether it emerges from a more religious Jewish tradition or a more socialist, internationalist tradition - and what it means for the emerging Democratic socialist coalition in the US.Benjamin Balthaser is Associate Professor of Multi-Ethnic U.S. Literature at Indiana University, South Bend. His newest book, Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left, will be released in July 2025 by Verso Press. He recently published "The Outcasts of Zion" (Boston Review Spring 2025) about how "[t]he manufacturing of Jewish Zionist consensus lies at the heart of American liberalism’s identity crisis." Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist Negar Mortazavi about Iranian reactions to the recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. They discuss how Iranians rallied around the nation, not the regime; Iranian anger at Israel; and the level and manner of control that the Iranian regime maintains.Negar Mortazavi is an award-winning journalist and commentator, editor and host of the Iran Podcast, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy (CIP), based in Washington DC. She has been covering Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs as well as US foreign policy towards the Middle East for over a decade and was previously a television anchor for Voice of America, where she hosted a Persian talk show on current affairs and an English news segment on US elections. Negar grew up in Iran and Germany, immigrated to the United States in 2002, and has been living in exile since 2009.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with sociologist Assaf Bondy and human rights researcher and historian Adam Raz about what they call the "lexicon of brutality," drawing from a recent book the pair published in Hebrew on the language that Israelis use to discuss Palestinians and, specifically, the Israeli war on Gaza. The trio also talk about whether Israel has ever been a democracy and what people in Israel who oppose the genocide can do to resist it. Ha'aretz newspaper published this interview with Bondy in Raz in May 2025: "'Depopulation,' 'Kill Zone,' and 'Second Nakba': The Lexicon of Brutality Exposes How Israelis Talk About the War." Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Dr. Assaf Bondy is a Labour Sociologist at the University of Bristol who studies the political-economy of employment relations in advanced economies. Bondy’s work has been so far dedicated to the study of changing conditions for collective actions and its changing forms and effects – on workers’ rights, on inequality, on the structure of employment relations and on the political economy. Adam Raz is a human rights researcher and historian whose field of research is the political history of the twentieth century and Marxist thought. In recent years Raz has written several books on the history of nuclear weapons in Israel and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Among his books in Hebrew are: The Struggle for the Bomb (2015), Herzl: The Conflicts of Zionism’s Founder with Supporters and Opponents (2017), Kafr Qassem Massacre: A Political Biography (2018), The Military Rule 1948-1966 (2021). In English, he has published The Demagogue – the Mechanics of Political Power (2023) and Loot: How Israel Stole Palestinian Property (2024). Raz works at Akevot: Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, who recently returned from spending the month of March, 2025, in Gaza as a trauma and critical care surgeon. The March trip was Feroze's second medical mission to Gaza in the last year. Peter and Feroze discuss why children in Gaza are shot in the head, why Gaza's medical workers expect to die, and what it's like to try to bring medical supplies into Gaza.Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He is also a humanitarian surgeon, having worked most extensively in Palestine, but also in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. He most recently volunteered at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza from March 25-April 8, 2024 with the World Health Organization, and again from March 3-April 1, 2025 with American NGO MedGlobal. Feroze has written and spoken extensively about surgical humanitarian work, the United States’ role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the political consequences of medical relief work. He approaches the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a secular American and as a humanitarian physician. Feroze can be followed on Twitter/X @FerozeSidhwa and Instagram/Threads @FSidhwa.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Dr. Lara Jirmanus and Professor Atalia Omer about the Harvard University's two new reports, one on Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias and the other on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias. They discuss the quality of the reports, how the antisemitism report erases Jews who are critical of Israel, and what the potential impact is for a report on Islamophobia, anti-Arab and Anti-Palestinian bigotry. For more, see the two Harvard reports: Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias" and "Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias." Dr. Lara Jirmanus is a family physician and a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Lara has been involved in grassroots organizing, advocacy and research for many years, addressing worker and immigrant rights in the US, infectious diseases in Brazil and the impact of conflict and displacement in the Middle East. She recently published "Harvard talks free speech but silences Palestine" (Al Jazeera May 7, 2025). Atalia Omer, PhD is professor of religion, conflict, and peace studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and a core faculty member of the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Her research focuses on religion, violence, and peacebuilding as well as theories and methods in the study of religion and Palestine/Israel. Atalia earned her PhD in religion, ethics, and politics from the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University and she was, until recently, a senior fellow at Harvard Divinity School’s Religion and Public Life’s Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative. Atalia is also on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. She recently published "I’m an Israeli professor. Why is my work in Harvard’s antisemitism report?" (The Guardian, May 9, 2025.)Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with analyst Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute about Iran and the U.S. Their conversation spans from exploring decision-making authority and processes in Iran to the impact that U.S. sanctions have on ordinary people in Iran, where poverty has risen dramatically. They speak in depth about the regional and economic dynamics that may have primed Iran for a deal with the United States, including a growing recognition about both the potential and limits on what Russia and China can provide, and the possibility that President Trump will break with DC orthodoxy to make a deal.Trita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. He is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. His first book, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States (Yale University Press, 2007), won the silver medal winner of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations. His second book, A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran (Yale University Press, 2012) and was selected by Foreign Affairs as the Best Book of 2012 on the Middle East. Parsi’s latest book – Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017) – reveals the behind the scenes story to the nuclear deal with Iran. Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies where he received his PhD under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor and author Ben Ehrenreich cover a range topics reflecting Ben's reporting and analysis on Israel/Palestine and U.S. policy, including West Bank Palestinians' relationships to affecting change through nonviolent action, the Biden Administration and Democratic Party's approaches to Palestine and Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, Zionism, and media complicity in genocide. They draw from Ben's recent essays "After Nonviolence" (Harper's, May 2025); "You Don't Get Trump Without Gaza" (The Nation, April 2025); and his 2009 op-ed, Zionism is the Problem (LA Times). Ben Ehrenreich is the author of two books of nonfiction, Desert Notebooks and The Way to the Spring, based on his reporting from the West Bank; two novels, Ether and The Suitors; and many articles, stories, and essays. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with writer and activist Ali Awad about life in Masafer Yatta, the part of the West Bank where he lives, which is subject to ongoing and escalating state-backed Israeli settler attacks. Ali describes life in his rural village, Tuba, on "a good day," a day without settler attacks, and also looks at the history of Masafer Yatta under Israeli occupation, including decades of being unsettled and facing forcible transfer and the threat of continued expulsion. Ali describes the escalations in attacks and threats against these communities since October 7th, 2023, including recent attacks targeting his village and family. Looking at the multi-pronged Israeli efforts to force Palestinians out of Masafer Yatta, Ali talks about the loss of any sense of security, hope, or the possibility of a future on the land he and his families have inhabited for many generations. And he speaks about efforts to support children traumatized by settler/soldier violence, to connect with human rights activists fighting these injustices, and to achieve the security and freedom needed for more "good days" in Masafer Yatta.Ali Awad is a human rights activist and writer from Tuba in the South Hebron Hills. He has a degree in English literature. Read more of Ali's work here:Starving Palestine: Israeli colonialism and the struggle for food sovereignty in Masafer Yatta. Words by Manal Shqair. Photographs by Ali Awad. Vittles, 2/10/25: https://www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/starving-palestineAli Awad: “Many West Bank Palestinians Are Being Forced Out of Their Villages. Is My Family Next?” New York Times 11/20/25: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/opinion/israel-west-bank-palestinians.htmlAli's many articles on +972 Magazine: https://www.972mag.com/writer/ali-awad/Ali Awad in Haaretz: https://www.haaretz.com/ty-WRITER/0000017f-da25-d432-a77f-df3fa13f0000Humans of Masafer Yatta: https://humansofmasaferyatta.substack.com/For more on the attacks in Jinba, Susya, and Tuba, see:Israeli settlers attacked Jinba — then came back in army uniform (Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine, 4/2/25): https://www.972mag.com/jinba-pogrom-israeli-settlers-soldiers/In Masafer Yatta, we need more than awards — we need protection (Ahmad Nawajah, +972 Magazine, 4/8/25): https://www.972mag.com/susiya-masafer-yatta-oscars-protection/On the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land and ongoing attacks in Masafer Yatta, see https://www.972mag.com/search/?q=no%20other%20landFor more on Masafer Yatta: https://savemasaferyatta.com/To watch the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land: https://nootherland.com/Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that Jewish Americans approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. A graduate of Yale University, Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with German journalist Hanno Hauenstein about Germany's memory culture and the treatment of the Holocaust as a unique historical event, as compared to the genocide of the Herero and Nama people and others. They discuss the idea of Germany's Staatrason - or reason for being - which has been characterized as protecting Israel, right or wrong as well as and Hanno's work in the Guardian which highlights the criminalization of Palestine-related speech and the unprecedented effort to deport EU citizens for their Palestine advocacy.Read Hanno's new piece in the Guardian, "Germany is now deporting pro-Palestine EU citizens. This is a chilling new step" (4/3/25) and in +972 Magazine, "Germany moves to deport four foreign residents for pro-Palestine activism," (4/1/25).Hanno Hauenstein is a Berlin-based independent journalist and author. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Intercept, and Berliner Zeitung.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor about child amputees in Gaza, now estimated to number 3,000-4,000, the highest number of child amputees per inhabitant in the world. They discuss how Israel’s denial of medical supplies leads to amputation and what it's like to be a doctor in Gaza, and they analyze the effect these devastating injuries will have on Palestinian society. Ahmed recently published a detailed piece on this topic in the Guardian (3/27/25): There are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere else in the world. What can the future hold for them?Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, about the many human rights - including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and the right to education - that have been both invoked and repressed as part of the protests against Israel's war in Gaza on college campuses in many countries and the reactions to them. Gina Romero authored a comprehensive report that covers these protests, human rights, and campus repression, and includes recommendations for the protection of students, rights, and democracy itself. The report is entitled:"Recommendations for universities worldwide for the second semester of 2024: Safeguarding the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association on campuses in the context of international solidarity with the Palestinian people and victims."For more, see https://fmep.org/resource/protect-students-dont-repress-them-the-hostile-environment-for-human-rights-on-college-campuses/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Josh Paul, former State Department official who resigned in October 2023 in protest against the Biden Administration's military support for Israel. They discuss Josh's decision to resign as well as how defense and foreign lobbying work in the United States. They also speak about US and European policy towards Palestine and what it will take to create shifts towards Palestinian self-determination. Josh Paul is co-founder of A New Policy, which advocates for U.S. policies toward the Middle East that advance American national interests and values. He resigned from the State Department in October, 2023 due to his disagreement with the Biden Administration’s decision to rush lethal military assistance to Israel in the context of its war on Gaza. He had previously spent over 11 years working as a Director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which is responsible for U.S. defense diplomacy, security assistance, and arms transfers. He previously worked on security sector reform in both Iraq and the West Bank, with additional roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Army Staff, and as a Military Legislative Assistant for a Member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Josh grew up between London and New York, and holds Masters degrees from the Universities of Georgetown and St Andrews, Scotland. He is a recipient of the 2023 Callaway Award for Civic Courage and 2024 MedGlobal Award for Courage.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Tahani Mustafa, Senior Palestine Analyst for the International Crisis Group, about Palestinian politics and the challenging predicament of cooperation or confrontation with Israel. The two discuss the evolution of the Palestinian Authority and its legitimacy today, including the role of Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the growth of militancy in the face of expanded Israeli military activity in the West Bank. They draw from Tahani's recent policy brief, "Israel’s West Bank Incursions Highlight the Dilemmas of Palestinian Politics."Tahani Mustafa is the International Crisis Group’s Senior Palestine Analyst, where she works on issues including security and socio-political and legal governance in the West bank. She has a background in development and security governance in the Middle East, and has worked in academia and policy advocacy. Based between the UK, Jordan and Israel/Palestine, she holds a Ph.D in Politics and International Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Naji Abbas, Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department for Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), about Israel targeting medical workers in Gaza for arrest and detention inside of Israel, an effort that is part of the overall destruction of the infrastructure for community and life in Gaza. In Israeli detention, health care workers have been subjected to multiple methods of torture, including beatings, sexual abuse, the withholding of medical care and insufficient nutrition. Drawing on direct testimonies from detained medical workers, PHRI details this cruel and illegal treatment in their new report: Torture of Medical Workers in Israel - A Call for Urgent Action. Naji Abbas is Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department for Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). He has been working and advocating for prisoners' rights in Israeli prisons for the past six years, with a focus on the right to healthcare in detention. His work has included providing individual assistance to hundreds of detainees and prisoners. Additionally, he has been involved in promoting policy changes regarding the healthcare system within Israeli prisons, including publishing position papers, engaging in legal work, giving lectures, and lobbying. Since the start of the war in October 2023, together with the PHRI team, Naji has worked extensively to expose the horrific conditions in which Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israeli detention facilities. This includes publishing the first report (February 2024) which analysed the systematic violations of Palestinian human rights in Israeli prisons, as well as the first report that revealed to the world the atrocities at Sde Teman military camp (April 2024). Most recently, we published a report on the unlawful detention and torture of Palestinian medical workers in Israeli detention facilities. PHRI's work has also involved exposing numerous deaths of Palestinian prisoners.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with political strategist and former FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice together with Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, and Margaret Zaknoen DeReus, Executive Director of the IMEU Policy Project. They discuss the role of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and the U.S.’s facilitation of it through weapons and political support – in the 2024 elections, drawing from newly available data, including the IMEU Policy Project's January 2025 poll, which shows that "Gaza was a top issue for Biden 2020 Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Someone Besides Harris." They look at voter behavior among Arab Americans and in many other communities, at relationships between the Democratic Party and grassroots activists, and at the ways in which Arab Americans have been blamed for the Democratic loss.Key Resources:New Poll Shows Gaza Was A Top Issue For Biden 2020 Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Someone Besides Harris, from the IMEU: https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-pollingDepressing the Vote: Genocide and 2024 US Presidential Race, Halah Ahmad, Al Shabaka: https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/depressing-the-vote-genocide-and-2024-us-presidential-race/Rania Batrice is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. Rania has worked as a Democratic operative for over twenty years, lending her expertise across political, non-profit, legislative strategy and crisis management both in the United States and around the world. For Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run for president, she served as Iowa Communications Director, the National Director of Surrogates and as Deputy Campaign Manager. In addition to Rania’s expertise in strategy, policy and communications, her portfolio includes over 15 years of experience in conflict resolution, mediation, and organizational development. Her firm, Batrice and Associates, has worked for social justice through a variety of avenues, collaborating with organizations including Human Rights Watch, the Arab American Institute, March for Our Lives, Color of Change, March For Science, Sunrise Movement, and NDN Collective and more. Rania has been a featured speaker for a wide range of events, including addressing climate change at the Social Good Summit, the UN Youth Climate Summit and the UN General Assembly.Maya Berry is Executive Director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a non-profit, nonpartisan, national civil rights advocacy organization founded to nurture and encourage direct participation in our political and civic life to mobilize a strong, educated, and empowered Arab American community. She previously worked at AAI, establishing its first government relations department, which she led for five years before becoming Legislative Director for House Minority Whip David Bonior, where she managed the Congressman's legislative strategy and developed policies on international relations, human rights, immigration, civil rights and liberties, and trade.Margaret Zaknoen DeReus is the Executive Director of the IMEU Policy Project, which is affiliated with the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Assal Rad and Professor Marc Owen Jones -- two of the most prominent voices and most astute analysts of the role that media and disinformation have played post Oct 7, 2023 -- and continue to play through the present day, in manufacturing consent for Israel’s war on Gaza as well as its wider military campaigns and territorial expansion in Lebanon and Syria. The conversation centered on Dr. Rad's article, "How Western Media Has Manufactured Consent for Atrocities", From Iraq to Gaza ( published by DAWN on 3/4/25); and Professor Jones's peer-reviewed analysis in Third World Quarterly, "Evidencing alethocide: Israel’s war on truth in Gaza" (published 3/1/25).
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about the current state of affairs, including: the potential for Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Palestinian political dynamics and possibilities, Israeli aspirations and actions in Syria and the Syrian regime's response, and the Trump administration's "unpredictable and erratic" policymaking.Mouin Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary Middle East issues. Among other previous positions, Rabbani served as principal political affairs officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, head of the Middle East unit with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and senior Middle East analyst and special advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He was also a researcher with Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, where he also hosts the Connections podcast and edits its Quick Thoughts feature. He is also the managing editor and associate editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a contributing editor of Middle East Report. In addition, Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) and at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart talks with two Harvard professors - Dr. Eman Ansari & Dr. Aaron Shakow - about censorship on college/university campuses and how scholars can respond.For more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/harvard-professors-on-censorship-repression-and-opportunities-for-speaking-up-on-palestine/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with human rights attorney Professor Noura Erakat about her relationship to Palestine, the movement for Palestinian freedom, and the how she sees the ties among different and overlapping movements for justice and liberation. Drawing upon Noura's recent article in the Boston Review, "The Boomerang Comes Back," the two look at the ways in which state violence in the U.S. and Palestine reflect each other, the efforts to desensitize Americans to violence against Palestinians in both the U.S. and Palestine, and the political movement and mass mobilization that will guide us forward.For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-boomerang-effect-power-and-resistance-in-the-u-s-and-palestine/And see Noura Erakat's article, "The Boomerang Comes Back," in the Boston Review here: https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-boomerang-comes-back/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal, the leading organization defending the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. speaking out for Palestinian freedom. They discuss the different mechanisms that the Trump administration uses criminalize, censor, and repress people who speak out for Palestinian rights, including surveilling social media and applying racketeering and anti-terror laws to speech activity related to Israel. They also look at the historical context of repression over the last ten years plus, the concrete application and impact of labeling Palestinian advocacy as antisemitism, and how the effort to crush the Palestine movement opens the door to crushing all dissent in the United States.For resources and more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/criminalize-censor-surveil-escalating-repression-against-advocates-for-palestinian-rights/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jay Ulfelder, a political scientist and former Program Director of the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The two discuss Jay's decision to resign from Harvard Kennedy School after the school adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which would cause Jay to, as he wrote in his resignation letter, "risk running afoul of the university’s anti-discrimination policies and harming the work of the Lab and the Ash Center" if he were to continue to speak publicly about Israel, Gaza, and Zionism. (You can read the full resignation letter below.) Additionally, the two discuss modeling practices for predicting genocide and political violence as well as the relationship between suppression of dissent and growing authoritarianism.For more resources, please see:
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably, editors of the new book Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader. They discuss the meaning of sumūd to different people -- how it encompasses steadfastness, coping with ongoing oppression, as well as joy and celebration of Palestinian identity -- and the variety of voices and media they platform in this new anthology. They recite a few poems published in the book and discuss the the unique ways that poetry and art can enter a person's heart and consciousness and offer a window into Palestinian culture and experience more broadly. Malu Halasa is a literary editor at The Markaz Review. Before this book, her latest edited anthology is Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art From the Women’s Protests in Iran (Saqi Books, 2023) and she published her debut novel, Mother of All Pigs, in 2017. Jordan Elgrably is a writer and translator whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in many anthologies and reviews. He is the Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review and the cofounder and former director of the Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz in Los Angeles.Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is currently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She is a 2025 FMEP non-resident Fellow. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Hilary Rantisi, one of FMEP's 2025 non-resident Fellows. They discuss Hilary's work as a longtime educator seeking to teach the critique of power, her childhood and many years living in the West Bank, and how she understands the dynamics of the current moment in the context of Palestinian history and identity, highlighting the Palestinian values of sumud - steadfastness - and return. Hilary also discusses the challenges of false accusations of antisemitism undermining the telling of Palestinian lived experience, such as by the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which weaponizes accusations of antisemitism to quash critique of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights.Resources discussed in this podcast: FMEP resources on the IHRA definition of antisemitism:Challenging the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism – Expert Views & Resources: https://lawfare.fmep.org/resources/challenging-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/Lawfare/IHRA - Targeting Academia: https://lawfare.fmep.org/resources/lawfare-ihra-targeting-academia/The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism: A Webinar/Podcast Series: https://fmep.org/resource/the-ihra-definition-the-fight-against-antisemitism-a-webinar-series/Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is currently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. She has been involved with community leadership efforts and served on many boards to build multifaceted support for Palestinian rights and a more nuanced understanding of people’s lives in the Middle East region, including the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, LE.O Foundation, Friends of Mada al-Carmel, Tawassul Palestinian Art and Culture Society, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that Jewish Americans approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. A graduate of Yale University, Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley and is an affiliated faculty member at UC-Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Dr. Nour Joudah speaks with Ahmad Gharbieh, professor at the American University of Beirut and co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary research space. They discuss the process and value of critical cartography, which analyzes maps as instruments of power, looking at who has the authority to create maps and what is included and represented within them. And they speak about Beirut Urban Lab's critical mapping of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its invasion of southern Lebanon, and attacks on Beirut, and the links between mapping and policy-making. See their projects here: https://beiruturbanlab.com/en/ProjectsAhmad Gharbieh is Associate Professor and Convener of the Graphic Design Program at the School of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut. He is also co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary and collaborative research space where he leads the Critical Mapping design-research track. His scholarly work explores mapping as a method of researching, representing, and analyzing socio-spatial phenomena. His work in critical cartography has covered many subjects including urban security and recovery, public space, refugee practices in the city, political violence, and much more. Nour Joudah, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA and a former President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at UC-Berkeley (2022-23). Dr. Joudah completed her PhD in Geography at UCLA (2022), and wrote her dissertation Mapping Decolonized Futures: Indigenous Visions for Hawaii and Palestine on the efforts by Palestinian and native Hawaiian communities to imagine and work toward liberated futures while centering indigenous duration as a non-linear temporality. Her work examines mapping practices and indigenous survival and futures in settler states, highlighting how indigenous countermapping is a both cartographic and decolonial praxis. She also has a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and wrote her MA thesis on the role and perception of exile politics within the Palestinian liberation struggle, in particular among politically active Palestinian youth living in the United States and occupied Palestine. Prof. Joudah is a 2024 FMEP non-residential Fellow.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor interviews Israeli author, academic, and political commentator Ori Goldberg about how Israeli society reckons - or not - with Palestinians, with committing this genocidal war in Gaza, and with the centrality of the military in Israeli society. The two discuss Ori's path to becoming a dissident, including how he navigates Zionism, anti-Zionism, and his sense of belonging in Israel.Ori Goldberg, PhD is an Israeli author, academic, and political commentator. He has written extensively on Iran, Israel and the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East and specializes in the study of modern Iran and Shi'i revolutionary movements. He has been a lecturer or faculty member at Reichman University, the Israeli National Defense College, Tel Aviv University, and the Open University in Israel. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa about the current realities of Israel violence carried out both by the Israeli military and Israeli civilians (settlers) against Palestinians in the West Bank -- including the situation in the months leading up to 10/7/23; the dangerous deterioration of conditions following 10/7/23, through the onset of the current Hamas-Israel ceasefire in Gaza; and the ongoing -- rapid, dramatic -- escalation of Israeli violence and destruction in the West Bank in the wake of that ceasefire.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart interviews Professor Katherine Franke, former faculty at Columbia University’s law school, about student activism and escalating repression at Columbia since October 7th, 2023. Katherine Franke just retired from Columbia, saying “I have come to the view that the Columbia University administration has created such a toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine that I can no longer teach or conduct research.” Peter and Katherine discuss the specific circumstances that led to Katherine's retirement, including extensive harassment; the conflation of Palestinian rights advocacy with antisemitism; and how the Israel/Palestine dynamics on campus point to broader threats to teaching, research, and activism on a range of issues. Resources: Katherine Franke’s statement about her retirement, (Center for Constitutional Rights, 1/10/25); A Columbia professor criticized Israeli students. It put her job at risk. (Washington Post 1/22/25)Columbia Professor Says She Was Pushed to Retire Because of Her Activism, (NYT 1/10/25)“Campus Has Become Unrecognizable”: Columbia Prof. Franke Faces Firing After DN Interview on Gaza (Democracy Now! September 2024)Letter from Columbia Law School faculty requesting an inquiry into Katherine’s termination from the faculty;Katherine Franke was, until January 2025, a professor at Columbia University's law school, where she served as director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, on the executive committees of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender, and the Center for Palestine Studies. She is among the nation’s leading scholars writing on law, sexuality, race, and religion drawing from feminist, queer, and critical race theory. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with writer Ahmed Moor, one of FMEP’s 2025 Palestinian Non-resident Fellows, about his family and background, the values that guide his writing, and how he understands and engages with Palestinian survival in this moment. They also discuss urgent questions around navigating activism, policy change, and fraught conversations in a reality in which, in Ahmed’s words, “ the urgency of the need in Palestine isn’t met by the pace of change.”Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP’s Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with partners in the philanthropic community. She earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley.See more here: https://fmep.org/resource/introducing-fmeps-2025-fellow-ahmed-moor-how-to-act-when-the-urgency-of-the-need-in-palestine-isnt-met-by-the-pace-of-change/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's 2025 Palestinian Non-residential Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, a research and advocacy organization focused on U.S. policy in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region. They discuss DAWN's approach to analyzing U.S. interests and policy as well as a range of mechanisms for accountability, including this December 2024 lawsuit regarding U.S. military support for Israel. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of DAWN. Previously, she served as executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division from 2004 – 2020, overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Whitson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is on the boards of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, Artistic Freedom Initiative, Freedom Forward, ALQST for Human Rights, Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, Action for Hope and the Armenian Bar Association.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Atalya Ben Abba and Mattan Helman of the Israeli Refuser Solidarity Network. They discuss what makes a person refuse to serve in the Israeli military, how the Israeli military treats refusers, and the surprising solidarity inside military prisons. Resources: Refuser Solidarity Network: https://www.refuser.org/Instagram: @VoicesAgainstWarX: @againstwarvoiceAtalya Ben-Abba is the media manager for the Refuser Solidarity Network, running the page @VoicesAgainstWar. She refused to enlist in the Israeli army in 2017 and spent 110 days in the military prison because she wanted to publicly condemn the Israeli occupation and not take part in its practices. She has been an activist for the past ten years, working mainly in Jerusalem and the West Bank.Mattan Helman is the executive director of Refuser Solidarity Network. Mattan also spent 110 days in Israeli prison for refusing to join the Israeli army and refusing to oppress Palestinians as part of the army. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with Cal State University-San Bernadino Professor Ahlam Muhtaseb. Dr. Muhtaseb is co-founder of the Phoenix of Gaza XR, an interactive virtual reality experience that captures the untold stories of Gaza’s people and its transformation and provides a deep dive into the lives of those who endure and rebuild. The project itself started well before the current genocide, but as a result has taken on a new form and meaning. Professors Joudah and Muhtaseb discuss the Phoenix of Gaza XR as a project and how audiences are responding to it, as well as the relationship between technology and social justice and the challenges and changes they've seen over many years of teaching on Palestine in the U.S.Phoenix of Gaza XR: https://www.gazaxr.com/Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb is a professor of media studies and the graduate coordinator of the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, San Bernardino and the Ida B. Wells Senior Data Justice Fellow at Princeton University . She is also the recipient of numerous community and research awards including CSU-SB’s Outstanding Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activities and Faculty Mentor awards, the 2019 Rebuilding Alliance “Story Teller” award, and has been recently named the 2024 Women Support Organization’s Distinguished Woman of the Year. Prof. Muhtaseb co-produced and co-directed the film 1948: Creation & Catastrophe, a documentary focusing on the catastrophic consequences of 1948 for the Palestinian nation. It has been screened at over 20 film festivals and at universities and community organizations. In 2019, the film won the Jerusalem International Film Festival’s Special Jury Award. She is also the producer and lead researcher of the documentary 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime which centered the three young Muslims murdered in Chapel Hill in 2015 and discusses the state of hate crimes, Islamophobia, and racism in the United States. Nour Joudah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA and a former President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at UC-Berkeley (2022-23). Dr. Joudah completed her PhD in Geography at UCLA (2022), and wrote her dissertation Mapping Decolonized Futures: Indigenous Visions for Hawaii and Palestine on the efforts by Palestinian and native Hawaiian communities to imagine and work toward liberated futures while centering indigenous duration as a non-linear temporality. Her work examines mapping practices and indigenous survival and futures in settler states, highlighting how indigenous countermapping is a both cartographic and decolonial praxis. She also has a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and wrote her MA thesis on the role and perception of exile politics within the Palestinian liberation struggle, in particular among politically active Palestinian youth living in the United States and occupied Palestine. Prof. Joudah is a 2024 FMEP non-residential Fellow.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart and analyst Maha Yahya discuss the new developments in Syria. They look at how Syria's new leaders governed in the areas they controlled over the last few years, why some Syrian minorities are fleeing to Lebanon, and whether Turkey will pursue the Kurds in Syria.Maha Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her work focuses broadly on political violence and identity politics, pluralism, development and social justice after the Arab uprisings, the challenges of citizenship, and the political and socio-economic implications of the migration/refugee crisis. Prior to joining Carnegie, Yahya led work on Participatory Development and Social Justice at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA). Yahya has worked with international organizations and in the private sector as a consultant on projects related to socioeconomic policy analysis, development policies, cultural heritage, poverty reduction, housing and community development, and postconflict reconstruction in various countries including Lebanon, Pakistan, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Yahya is the author of numerous publications, including most recently Unheard Voices: What Syrian Refugees Need to Return Home (April 2018) and The Summer of Our Discontent: Sects and Citizens in Lebanon and Iraq (June 2017).Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with attorney and activist Meisa Irshaid, activist and author Rela Mazali, and Professor Jonathan Metzl about the proliferation of guns in civilian spaces in Israel/Palestine. They discuss the the acceleration of organized crime and gun violence in Palestinian communities inside of '48 Israel, the mass armament of Jewish Israeli citizens, mostly men, on both sides of the Green Line, spearheaded by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and the links between militarization, occupation, and crimes against humanity.Meisa Irshaid is an attorney and an activist, legal advisor to the NGO Gun Free Kitchen Tables, board member at the Human Rights Defenders Fund and former attorney in the Public Committee Against Torture-Israel. A Palestinian citizen of Israel, Meisa is also co-founder of the group Women Against Weapons, focusing on fact finding among Palestinians in Israel combining perspectives on gender and ethnicity.Rela Mazali is a writer, independent scholar and feminist anti-militarist who co-founded Gun Free Kitchen Tables, where she now serves as the coalition coordinator. Rela was born Jewish in Israel, where she has lived most of her life, which–as she sees it–places her in a position of privilege, that she has resisted since 1980 by actively opposing Israel’s militarization and military occupation, co-founding the New Profile movement to demilitarize society and state in 1998 and the small arms disarmament and gun control project, the Gun Free Kitchen Tables Coalition, in 2010.Dr. Jonathan Metzl is a psychiatrist and sociologist, and Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Jonathan works on a wide range of issues, including mental illness and gun violence and race and whiteness in America. He is the author of many books, most recently What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP’s Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an American physician who has been to Gaza twice since 10/7/23, serving as a humanitarian physician and has worked at Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex; and Dr. Yara Asi, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics, and visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, where she is co-director of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights. Dr. Asi is also a non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC, a 2020-2021 Fulbright U.S. scholar to the `West Bank, and a 2023 Palestine fellow for the Foundation for Middle East Peace.For show notes/resources see: https://fmep.org/resource/eyewitness-to-is…ocalypse-in-gaza/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer and editor William Shoki about the history of South Africa and Israel, how South Africa's government sees its global role, and how South Africans think about Israel/Palestine in comparison to post-apartheid South Africa. William Shoki is a writer and editor of the online magazine & archive Africa is a Country. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-Resident Fellow Peter Beinart talks to Eyal Weizman about his work at Forensic Architecture and the recently released "Cartography of Genocide" - an interactive platform that maps Israel's genocidal bombardment of Gaza and use of mass evacuation orders to destroy civilian life. Along with the platform, Forensic Architecture released a 827-page report documenting Israeli war crimes and has presented its evidence and findings to the International Court of Justice.For resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-cartography-of-genocide/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with journalist Mariam Barghouti about reporting from the ground in the West Bank, views on the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian resistance, and understanding Israeli violence in Gaza and the West Bank within the larger frame of Palestinian history. Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian writer and commentator based in Ramallah. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Al-Jazeera English, Huffington Post, +972 Magazine, International Business Times and more.Nour Joudah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA, former President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at UC-Berkeley (2022-23), and 2024 FMEP Fellow.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with policy experts Zack Paikin and Trita Parsi about the the new report they co-authored, “Toward a Better Security Order,” the first report by the Quincy Institute's Better Order Project. The report is the result of discussions with over 130 experts, scholars, and practitioners from over 40 countries, aspiring to put together a set of recommendations to stabilize international order as it (as they argue) transitions from away from a unipolar structure. They discuss the Biden administration's focus on the so-called "rules-based international order," recommendations for reforming the UN Security Council, and expectations for the incoming administration led by a president who, in the words of Trita Parsi, has "neither patience for rules nor laws." For more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/?post_type=resource&p=29872&preview=true
On 11/28/24, despite warnings by the international community against such a step, Israel’s Knesset voted overwhelmingly to adopt two laws that effectively ban the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency that has served the needs of Palestinian refugees since 1949, from operating in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories (West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem). Experts weigh in on what these laws say and what they will mean for Palestinian refugees.Find resources and speaker bios at: https://fmep.org/event/israels-unrwa-ban-what-it-means-for-gaza-the-un-and-the-world/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Israeli human rights attorney Alon Sapir about the legal complaint he recently filed, together with other Israeli attorneys, accusing Israeli media Channel 14 of incitement to genocide against Palestinians and other grave crimes. As Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza continues, intensifying especially in northern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians face mass displacement and forced hunger, the legal effort Alon describes represents one concrete attempt to hold promoters of genocide accountable for their speech and actions. Alon Sapir is a human rights attorney with ten years experience in the field. He is currently completing an LLM in National Security Law at Georgetown University.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Coates' new book, The Message. Coates’ website describes this part of the book this way: “Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground.”This conversation was co-sponsored by the Beinart Notebook and Jewish Currents and produced by Jesse Brenneman. Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Mouin Rabbani about Israel's war on Gaza, its offensive in Lebanon, and how these and other developments fit into Israel's broader objectives in the region, most notably with respect to Iran. Mouin is widely published analyst and commentator on Palestinian affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He was previously Senior Analyst Middle East and Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group, and head of political affairs with the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria. He is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya E-zine.Show notes: https://fmep.org/resource/conversation-with-mouin-rabbani/
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute to discuss Maya’s experience testifying on hate crimes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where several Republican Senators challenged her in expressly anti-Arab ways. For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-bipartisan-betrayal-of-arab-americans/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman discusses how Palestine is one of the defining issues of the 2024 elections with Rania Batrice, and FMEP 2024 non-Resident Fellow.Read more: https://fmep.org/resource/palestine-in-the-2024-u-s-elections/
FMEP Non-resident Fellow Rania Batrice talks with Matt Duss (Center for International Policy) about the current state of politics on Israel and Palestine in the U.S..
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-Resident Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with Philip Proudfoot and Mahdi Zaidan from the Accountability Archive (@archivegenocide), which describes itself as a “crowdsourced record of journalists, politicians, and public figures endorsing or encouraging the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and/or defaming pro-Palestinian activists.” The trio discuss how the archive came about, how it is coming along, and plans for the future, as well as what it has been like to undertake both such a massive project as well as the experience of wading through such incredibly graphic material.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with Hani Almadhoun, Gaza native, Director of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA, and co-founder, along with his family in Gaza, of Gaza Soup Kitchen. They discuss survival and loss in Gaza, where Hani's parents, siblings, and extended family live, and the project his family created to provide meals and clean water to thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. Rania and Hani also talk about the hopes and priorities for Palestinians in the United States and how people in America see the Palestinian cause. They draw from Hani's work at UNRWA USA -- including the recent jump in donors to UNRWA USA from 10,000 to 120,000 donors -- as well as Hani's experience attending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech in Congress as a guest of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Hani Almadhoun is the Director of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA and co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen. Born in the Emirates, Hani's family fled to the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. It was tough adjusting to the harsh conditions in Gaza during the First Intifada, but his family was made whole again when his dad got a job at an UNRWA school teaching English to refugees. A child of an educator, Hani was raised with the mantra of school being the top priority, and in this pursuit, he eventually found his way to the United States, thanks to a university scholarship from the LDS Church. After earning both his Masters in Public Administration and his BA in International Studies and Latin American studies from Brigham Young University, Hani settled in Washington, DC where he fell into the world of fundraising for various causes that spoke to him, including civil rights and social justice groups for Muslim and Arab Americans and charities that serve the Palestinian people and other marginalized communities in the Middle East. Rania Batrice is an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of two FMEP 2024 Palestinian non-resident Fellows.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Harrison Mann, a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest of his office’s support for Israel during its Gaza campaign, about how the US may soon be dragged into a regional war. They discuss how U.S. intelligence internally predicted almost everything that has happened in Israel's assault on Gaza and compare U.S. and Israeli policy. They also talk about why Harrison decided to resign and why other government officials continue to implement policies they consider immoral.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Harrison Mann is a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest of his office’s support for Israel during its Gaza campaign. He previously served as a Middle East all-source intelligence analyst and led a crisis cell coordinating intelligence support for Ukraine. Prior to DIA, he worked at the U.S. Embassy Tunis Office of Security Cooperation and led Army Civil Affairs teams combatting regional smuggling under U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in Bahrain. Harrison began his Army career as an infantry officer. He received a B.A. from the College of William & Mary and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer Ahmed Moor about why Israel/Palestine is not exceptional, why Palestinians turn to armed resistance, and why neither Palestinians nor Jewish Israelis will leave the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. Ahmed Moor is Palestinian-American writer who was born and raised in Gaza. He is co-editor of the book After Zionism: One State for Israel & Palestine.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Columbia Professor Emeritus Rashid Khalidi. They discuss how and why Jewish settlers are trying to take over the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem and the history of Israel's treatment of Palestinian educational institutions. They also reflect on the current war, looking at its impact on Palestinians, on U.S. politics, and the ways in which it is strengthening Hamas.Peter Beinartis a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He received a B.A. from Yale University and a D. Phil. from Oxford University, and has taught at the American University of Beirut and the University of Chicago, among others. He served as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington Arab-Israeli peace negotiations from October 1991 until June 1993. Khalidi is author of eight books, including The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 (2020), and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, among many other publications, and he has appeared widely on TV and radio.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist Riham Jafari about Gaza and the West Bank, focusing specifically on the impact of the last nine months on women and girls, on the health system in Gaza, and on the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinians in Gaza.Rania Batriceis an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of two FMEP 2024 Palestinian non-resident Fellows.Riham Jafari is a Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist with more than 14 years experience working with the UN and international NGOs. She currently works with ActionAid -Palestine as communication and advocacy coordinator conveying messages of marginalized groups as Palestinian women and youth and advocating for freedom, rights, and independence of Palestinian people in local and international forums.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Yael Berda about Israel's de facto annexation of the West Bank. A few days ago, the Guardian reported that “[t]he Israeli military has quietly handed over significant legal powers in the occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants working for the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich" ("IDF transfers powers in occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants," 6/20/24) and the New York Times reported Smotrich's declaration that he succeeded in changing the "DNA" of the occupation (“Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank, 6/21/22). Looking at the ongoing annexation efforts, Beinart and Berda discuss the ways in which - and the reasons why - Israeli settlers want to control the Israeli military; how Smotrich's "decisive plan" is well underway; and the potential that international opposition may stop Israel's annexation of the West Bank.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Yael Berda is associate professor at the department of sociology and anthropology at Hebrew University and a fellow at the Middle East initiative at Harvard Kennedy school. Yael is an activist and former human rights lawyer. She has written three books, two about Israeli rule in the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically about the bureaucracy that prevents freedom of movement and creates tools of control and dispossession. She also writes about emergency laws and how they shape political life. Yael is a board member of the group A Land for All. Read her recent co-authored articles on annexation: "Israel is Annexing the West Bank. Don’t be Misled by its Gaslighting" (with Tamar Megiddo and Ronit Levine-Schnur, published in Just Security) and "Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank Has Already Begun" (with Dalia Scheindlin, published in Foreign Affairs). Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
This session reviewed and analyzed the role Congress & the Executive have played vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular, both before and since 10/7/23.Panelists: Josh Paul (former official at the U.S. Department of State), Zaha Hassan (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Tess McEnery (Middle East Democracy Center); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 4-26-2024.For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/
This session examined humanitarian conditions and issues of international law and accountability, including the ongoing genocide case before the International Court of Justice. Panelists: Raz Segal (Stockton University), Sherine Tadrous (Amnesty International), Chris Gunness (Former UNRWA spokesperson); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-3-2024.For more information and resources, please visit:https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/
This session assessed the current situation on the ground in Gaza, how we got here, including the events of October 7, as well as conditions in the West Bank, along the Israel-Lebanon border, and broader regional dynamics.Panelists: Mkhaimar Abusada (Al-Azhar University of Gaza) & Mairav Zonszein (International Crisis Group); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara FriedmanFor more information and resources, please visit:
What comes next? This session examined the prospects for reconstruction and governance in Gaza as well as implications of the ongoing crisis for internal Palestinian politics and the future of the Palestinian national movement.Panelists: Abdelhadi Alijl (Social & Political Scientist), Nour Odeh (Political Activist), Mouin Rabbani (Jaddaliya); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-10-2024For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/
Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) speak with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP) about "The Gaza Catastrophe: 2024 Congressional Briefing Series." The Congressional Briefing Series is an educational program conducted annually by the Middle East Institute’s Palestinian Affairs Program and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) to brief members of Congress and their staff on the most pressing issues facing Israel and Palestine today. Go to this link for the full series: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Shraddha Joshi and Asmer Safi, two student activists organizing for Palestinian solidarity at Harvard University. Harvard is withholding both of their degrees due to their campus activism. Peter, Shraddha, and Asmer discuss the dynamics and motivations that draw students into pro-Palestinian activism, the messages that campus activists are trying to convey, and how Harvard has failed to keep campus activists safe.Shraddha Joshi is part of Harvard's class of 2024, but her degree is currently being withheld for a year due to her involvement with pro-Palestine organizing. At Harvard, she studied Social Studies with Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights and Arabic. She has been actively organizing with Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee since her freshman year. Next fall, she intends to pursue her MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge as a Harvard-UK Fellow, although her plans are now in flux due to her degree status.Asmer Safi is an undergraduate student at Harvard University, hailing from Pakistan, studying Social Studies and Ethnicity, Migration and Rights. He was expected to graduate in May of 2024, but his degree was withheld by the Harvard Corporation on account of his participation in Pro-Palestine activism on Harvard's campus. Asmer is also a Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan and was scheduled to matriculate at Oxford in the fall of 2024 to pursue an MPhil in Intellectual History.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Sapir Sluzker Amran about her identity as a Mizrachi, queer activist - and her recent action to document and disrupt right-wing Israeli settlers attacking a convoy of aid at the Gaza barrier.For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/a-look-from-the-radical-israeli-left-a-multi-front-battle-against-fascism-jewish-supremacy/
On Nakba Day 2024 - commemorated amidst Israel's ongoing genocidal war on Gaza - FMEP is re-releasing a very special podcast produced last year in partnership with Project48. This project was created to commemorate the 75 years of the Palestinian Nakba, sharing the voices of 10 powerful Palestinian artists, sharing their works and that of other iconic Palestinian creators.Featured artists are: Ahmed Abu Artema, Hala Alyan, Suad Amiry, Zeina Azzam, Cherien Dabis, Fady Joudah, Tamer Nafar, Raja Shehadeh, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Waleed Zuaiter – reading their own work and that of other iconic Palestinian artists. Bios and links to the works of each artist can be found below.The Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”) is the expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land, and the destruction of Palestinian society during the creation of the State of Israel – a destruction that continues today. Learn more at: project48.com. For more programming from FMEP on the Nakba please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/nakba-resources/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Sahar Aziz of Rutgers University about the current attacks on academic freedom and why the US House of Representatives is investigating Rutgers and its Center for Security, Race and Rights, which Sahar directs. They also discuss the dangers of exceptionalizing Israel and the future of American universities more broadly.Sahar Aziz is distinguished professor of law, Middle East Legal Studies Scholar, and Chancellor’s Social justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School. Professor Aziz’s scholarship examines the intersection of national security, race, religion, and civil rights with a focus on the adverse impact of national security laws and policies on racial, religious, and ethnic minorities. She is the author of the book The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom and the founding director of the Center for Security, Race and Rights. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-resident Fellow Rania Batrice speaks to Mary Annaïse Heglar, a climate justice writer and essayist. The two discuss the intersection of the movement for Palestinian liberation and the movement for climate justice, why and how the two converge around indigineity and people's relationship to the land - - as well as a holistic vision for organizing for justice that centers the ongoing settler colonialism happening in Palestine.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with analyst Seth Binder about the technicalities of U.S. aid to Israel. They discuss the ways in which U.S. aid to Israel works differently from U.S. aid to other countries, the legal requirements & questions surrounding U.S. aid to Israeli military units that commit human rights abuses, and the question of whether, and in what ways, the debate over conditioning aid to Israel is changing. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Seth Binder is Director of Advocacy at the Middle East Democracy Center, a merger between POMED (Project on Middle East Democracy) & The Freedom Initiative. He is an expert in arms sales, authoritarianism, human rights, national security, security assistance and U.S. foreign aid and foreign policy.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
This podcast is the audio recording of a webinar featuring Miranda Cleland, Defense for Children International-Palestine, & Hamdi Shaqqura, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, in conversation with 2023 FMEP Fellow Dr. Yara Asi. To see links to the resources mentioned in the webinar, go to the landing page for this webinar: https://fmep.org/resource/dead-disabled-displaced-detained-orphaned-the-toll-of-israels-war-on-palestinian-childre/Israel’s war in Gaza and the increased violence in the West Bank – now known as the “Quiet War” – have affected Palestinian children in particularly horrific ways. Human rights researchers have documented these specific harms: Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 13,800 children, turned 19,000 into orphans, and made more than 1000 into amputees. More than 1 million children have lost their homes. Dozens of children have already starved to death, and up to 60% of the children in northern Gaza are experiencing acute malnourishment in a famine that is spreading at the fastest rate of starvation on record anywhere in the world, and which may constitute the war crime of deliberate starvation. As UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini put it, “This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future.” And in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian children continue to face arrest and detention, home demolitions and expulsions. Over the past six months, increased violence at the hands of the IDF and the IDF-backed settlers over the past six months has killed 117 Palestinian children.In this webinar, public health expert Dr. Yara Asi spoke with experts from two premiere Palestinian human rights organizations: Hamdi Shaqqura from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a Gaza-based organization which continues to operate and collect data in Gaza even under the most difficult circumstances; and Miranda Cleland from Defense for Children International-Palestine, which focuses on the rights of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation.Bios: Dr. Yara Asi is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics, and a visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, where she is co-director of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights. Her new book with Johns Hopkins University Press, How War Kills: The Overlooked Threats to Our Health, examines war as a public health crisis.Miranda Cleland is an advocacy officer at Defense for Children International - Palestine and lives in Washington, D.C., where she leads the No Way to Treat a Child campaign and advocates for the human rights of Palestinian children. Miranda is a writer, speaker, facilitator, and campaigner with expertise in children's rights, the Israeli military detention system, and Israeli military killings of Palestinian children. She holds a bachelor's with honors from American University in International Studies and Arabic language and has taken additional coursework in international law and the protection of children in armed conflict.Hamdi Shaqqura is a human rights defender who lives and works in Gaza. He holds a master’s degree in political science from Illinois State University in 1990. He has been working at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) since 1995, and is Deputy PCHR Director for Program Affairs as well as the Director of the Advocacy Program.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, political analyst Khalil Sayegh joins FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart to look at the current situation on the ground in Gaza, where Sayegh's family is located, including a discussion of the military and political dynamics of both Israel and Hamas. Looking towards the future, Sayegh discusses the ways the in which Israel has made Gaza unlivable and has no plan to make it livable again, thus creating the conditions for mass depopulation of Gaza and laying the groundwork for continued armed Palestinian resistance.On April 24th, Khalil Sayegh posted that his 18 year old sister in Rafah, Lara Sayegh, was killed in Gaza and his mother is currently in a coma. We offer our deepest condolences to Khalil and continue to be grateful for his voice and analysis.Khalil Sayegh is a political analyst focused on Palestinian politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Born and raised in the Gaza Strip, Sayegh is the co-founder of the Agora Initiative, which promotes constitutional democracies in the Middle East.Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP is honored to host Josh Paul, Tariq Habash, and Annelle Sheline for their first joint public appearance and conversation over their individual decisions to resign from their jobs in the Biden Administration over the President’s policy on Israel, Palestine, and the ongoing war in Gaza. We discuss the Biden Administration’s policy and decision-making, and the possibilities for changing course, as well as the personal stakes, choices, and costs of public protest against the U.S.’s close embrace of Israel and its brutal war on Gaza.This podcast is a recording of the live webinar FMEP hosted on Friday, April 12, 2024. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, 2023 FMEP Fellow Dr. Yara Asi joins FMEP's Dr. Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss Israel's March 2024 attack on Al Shifa hospital, the largest and most important medical center in Gaza, known as the heart of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. In addition to looking at the details of Israel's assault on Al Shifa and the area around it, Dr. Asi discusses the destruction of Al Shifa as part of Israel's ongoing effort to destroy the infrastructure needed to sustain any life in Gaza. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with journalist Ryan Grim about the limitations of mainstream media's reporting on Israel's war on Gaza and the opportunities and potential for independent journalism focused on Israel & Palestine more broadly. Addressing the high stakes of U.S. politics, they also speak about repression against advocates for Palestinian life and rights and the upcoming US elections.Rania Batrice is an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of two FMEP’s 2024 Palestinian non-resident Fellows.Ryan Grim is The Intercept’s D.C. Bureau Chief and the host of the podcast Deconstructed. He authors the newsletter Politics With Ryan Grim and was previously the Washington bureau chief for HuffPost, where he led a team that was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and won once. He edited and contributed reporting to groundbreaking investigative project on heroin treatment that not only changed federal and state laws, but also shifted the culture of the recovery industry. The story, by Jason Cherkis, was a Pulitzer finalist and won a Polk Award. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer Ahmed Moor about a range of urgent issues, including how the conversation about post-war Gaza doesn’t include Palestinians, the ethics of not voting for Joe Biden, and in what ways the Palestine solidarity movement can change Washington.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart is joined with Steven Simon, former Director of the National Security Council in the Obama Administration. The two discuss what the conversation in the White House in regards to U.S. policy towards Israel, as it was in the Obama Administration and possibly now in the Biden Administration.For bios and resources, see: https://fmep.org/resource/biden-israel-what-its-like-to-make-policy-in-the-white-house/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice and analyst Krystal Ball look at the controversy surrounding allegations of widespread and systematic sexual assault by Hamas on October 7th. This conversation does not ask “was there or wasn’t there sexual assault on October 7?” Rather, it focuses on the harm caused by biased media reports and the absence of independent and thorough investigations. The podcast discusses how the narratives promulgated by mainstream US media - most notably the 12/28/23 New York Times front-page article entitled "Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7th" - have contributed to the dehumanization of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, and the politicization of what should be a serious demand for professional investigation and accountability for the crimes of October 7th.Krystal Ball is the host of Breaking Points, a former MSNBC contributor and former Democratic nominee for Congress in the First District of Virginia.Rania Batrice is an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of FMEP's 2024 Palestinian non-resident Fellows. Relevant Articles: Krystal Ball, 3/5/24, on the UN Report released on 3/4/24: UN Report CAN'T Prove 10/7 Mass Sex Assault ClaimsKrystal Ball 3/5/24, Local Israelis DEBUNK NYT Sexual Assault Allegation - video clipKrystal Ball 2/29/24 on the New York Times 12/28/23 story, ““'Screams Without Words': How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.” - video clipCNN 3/1/24: The New York Times stands by its reporting on the Hamas terror attack after questions are raisedThe Nation 3/1/24: The Nixonian New York Times Stonewalls on a Discredited Article About Hamas and Rape - The newspaper of record botches an important story about sexual violence on October 7.The Wrap 2/29/24: New York Times Opens Leak Investigation Over Israel-Gaza ReportingJacobin 2/29/24: The New York Times Has an Ugly Anti-Palestinian BiasVanity Fair 2/29/24: New York Times Launches Leak Investigation Over Report on Its Israel-Gaza CoverageThe Intercept 2/28/24: “Between the Hammer and the Anvil” -The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 ExposéAl Jazeera 2/28/24: Food blogger, Israeli film director scripted Hamas rape story for NYTDaily Beast 2/25/24: New York Times ‘Reviewing’ Reporter Who Liked Gaza ‘Slaughterhouse’ TweetCommon Dreams 2/26/24: NYT 'Reviewing' Israeli Reporter Who Liked Gaza 'Slaughterhouse' PostMondoweiss 2/25/24: Extraordinary charges of bias emerge against NYTimes reporter Anat SchwartzThe Intercept 1/28/24: New York Times Puts “Daily” Episode on Ice Amid Internal Firestorm Over Hamas Sexual Violence ArticleOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Nour Joudah, Assistant Professor at UCLA and one of FMEP’s 2024 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows. Nour speaks of her background, her Palestinian identity, and her research that looks not only at indigenous survival but at indigenous life, knowledge, and duration. She discusses the meaning of this moment in time for Palestinians and Palestine and encourages the listener not to surrender to fatalism but instead to insist that there is another path forward.Nour Joudah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA and a former President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at UC-Berkeley (2022-23). Dr. Joudah completed her PhD in Geography at UCLA (2022), and wrote her dissertation Mapping Decolonized Futures: Indigenous Visions for Hawaii and Palestine on the efforts by Palestinian and native Hawaiian communities to imagine and work toward liberated futures while centering indigenous duration as a non-linear temporality. Her work examines mapping practices and indigenous survival and futures in settler states, highlighting how indigenous countermapping is a both cartographic and decolonial praxis. She also has a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and wrote her MA thesis on the role and perception of exile politics within the Palestinian liberation struggle, in particular among politically active Palestinian youth living in the United States and occupied Palestine.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley and is an affiliated faculty member at UC-Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellows Rania Batrice & Peter Beinart speak about Arab American politics and why the Biden administration is out of step with Democratic Voters. They look at the political organizing around the Michigan primary this week, the Arab American political awakening, and discuss whether there is anything President Biden can do to win back progressive voters.FMEP is a 501(c)(3) organization and takes no position on elections or partisan matters. We offer this podcast conversation for informational and educational purposes only.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Assal Rad. Dr. Rad is a scholar of Middle East history. She works on research and writing related to U.S. foreign policy issues, the Middle East, and contemporary Iran. Her writing can be seen in Newsweek, The National Interest, The Independent, Foreign Policy and more, and she has appeared as a commentator on BBC World, Al Jazeera, CNN, and NPR. She completed a PhD in History from the University of California, Irvine in 2018 and is the author of The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Follow Assal on X/Twitter: @AssalRad
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Rania Batrice, political strategist, activist, coalition builder, and one of FMEP’s 2023-2024 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows. Rania discusses her background, the vision and values guiding her wide-ranging work, and the urgent and high-stakes political opportunities for Palestinians and their allies in this US election year. Rania Batrice is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. Rania has worked as a Democratic operative for over twenty years, lending her expertise across political, non-profit, legislative strategy and crisis management both in the United States and around the world. For Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run for president, she served as Iowa Communications Director, the National Director of Surrogates and as Deputy Campaign Manager. In addition to Rania’s expertise in strategy, policy and communications, her portfolio includes over 15 years of experience in conflict resolution, mediation, and organizational development. Her firm, Batrice and Associates, has worked for social justice through a variety of avenues, collaborating with organizations including Human Rights Watch, the Arab American Institute, March for Our Lives, Color of Change, March For Science, Sunrise Movement, and NDN Collective and more. Rania has been a featured speaker for a wide range of events, including addressing climate change at the Social Good Summit, the UN Youth Climate Summit and the UN General Assembly. Rania has received numerous accolades and awards for her work in the progressive movement, including the “Exceptional Woman of Excellence” award presented by the World Economic Forum and the “Woman of Purpose” award presented by the Purpose Project.Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is the Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley and is an affiliated faculty member at UC-Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Yara Asi speaks with Alex de Waal of the World Peace Foundation and Tufts University and author of the January 21, 2024 article in the Guardian entitled “Unless Israel changes course, it could be legally culpable for mass starvation.” In this discussion of widespread hunger and impending famine in Gaza, Drs. Asi & de Waal look at Gaza in relation to other cases of starvation and famine across the world, including comparing the human-made circumstances that lead to famine, the possibility and pace of international intervention to save lives, and the many generations required to face the specific trauma of famine. They discuss the possibilities for international intervention, noting that famine, once it begins, has momentum - and therefore will not stop when the bombing ends. Original music by Jalal Yacquob.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Middle East policy journalist, analyst, and author Omar Rahman about the regional impacts and implications of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza. Omar is currently a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, where he focuses on Palestine, Middle East geopolitics, and American foreign policy in the region, and he is also a non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Omar is currently working on a book about Palestinian de-fragmentation in the post-Oslo era. Rahman is also a frequent speaker on panels, at conferences, and in the media.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to international legal expert in business and human rights Tara Van Ho about the latest twist in the ongoing controversy involving the Chicago-based financial services company Morningstar Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainalytics, over how it deals with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the podcast explores Morningstar’s recently released (January 31, 2024) 37-page report, written by a pair of "independent experts," laying out recommendations regarding how Morningstar conducts its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assessments, such that Israel and companies operating in Israel are absolved of any possible association with ESG risks, real or potential.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart interviews Chris Gunness, formerly the Spokesman and Director of Strategic Communications at UNRWA. They discuss the enormous humanitarian crisis in Rafah and Gaza more broadly as well as the history and function of UNRWA - the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East - and the campaign against it. Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Saudi researcher and analyst of Saudi foreign policy Aziz Alghashian about the impact of Israel's now more than 4-month-long war on Gaza on the political calculations and policies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Aziz is a fellow at Sectarianism, Proxies & De-sectarianisation (SEPAD) and at the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO). He earned his PhD from the University of Essex, where he taught International Relations, Politics and Middle Eastern Studies. And most important for the purposes of today’s podcast, the focus of Aziz’s current research and writing is Saudi policy towards Israel, and Arab-Israeli relations.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Dr. Yara Asi speaks with Nathan Thrall, author of the recently-released A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, about the systems of separation and dehumanization in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israeli state violence, and what has and hasn't changed in Israel/Palestine over the last four months.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American who was a political appointee in the Biden Administration's Department of Education. Habash resigned from his position in early January in opposition to the Biden Administration's approach to Israel's war in Gaza. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Middle East foreign policy/national security expert Jasmine El-Gamal about Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, US policy and national security, implications for international law and peace/security mor broadly, and prospects for regional escalation.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks with Sarah Anne Minkin, FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships, about his former client Attiya Nabaheen, a Palestinian teenager from Gaza who sued the Israeli Ministry of Defense for compensation for injuries caused by Israeli soldiers while he was walking, unarmed, on his family's land in late 2014, during a time of ceasefire, or "status quo." Deciding against Attiya, the Israeli Supreme Court "set a chilling precedent such that no one in Gaza can seek compensation for any damages caused by Israel," as Rabea Eghbariah wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. This conversation discusses the case and its implications for Gazans and Palestinians more broadly. After surviving four wars in Gaza, Attiya Nabaheen was killed, along with his family, in an Israeli airstrike on October 8th. See Rabea Eghbariah's NYT op-ed: "An Unarmed Teen Was Shot During a Cease-Fire. Israel Was Never Held to Account."https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/opinion/unarmed-teen-israel-gaza.htmlOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Featuring Hassan Jabarin (Adalah) and Ghousoon Bisharat (+972) in conversation with Peter Beinart (FMEP)While waging war on Gaza, the Israeli government has simultaneously moved to criminalize criticism of Israel’s war or identification with Palestinians. New legislation, incitement, and arrests are creating a climate of fear and silencing. Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis who advocate for Palestinians face threats, intimidation, and severe restrictions on freedom of speech. Two of the leading organizations in the fight against government repression are the civil rights organization Adalah and the news organization +972 Magazine.For resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/27842/
FMEP Non-Resident Fellows Dr. Yara Asi and Rabea Eghbariah are joined by Dr. Ardi Imseis (Assistant Professor and Academic Director, International Law Programs at Queen’s University Law School) to talk about international law - how it applies in the current crisis, the obligations it imposes on Israel, Hamas, and the international community, and how it can be used to envision and shape next steps.
Featuring Yahav Erez, Yesh Din; Anat Litvin, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI); Jessica Montell, HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual; Tamara Newman, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI); and Tal Steiner, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP)FMEP is pleased to host representatives from five of Israel’s leading human rights groups for a collective call to examine the widespread violation of Palestinian rights across all areas under Israeli control. While the international spotlight is on Gaza, Israel’s extreme-right government has pursued a radical agenda to violate the rights of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, and within Israel.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with 2023 FMEP Palestinian Non-Resident Fellow Dr. Yara Asi about public health in Gaza. The conversation addresses the deficiencies in public health infrastructure due to Israel's blockade before the current war as well as the the current total public health catastrophe, including the bombardments, displacement, collapse of hospitals, and threats to the population in the absence of food, water, fuel, and electricity.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts" FMEP non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Craig Mokhiber, who recently resigned from his post as a Director at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Mr. Mokhiber talks about the culture of the UN and how powerful member states operate to shield Israel from criticism, and if/how international laws against genocide should be applied to Israel and Hamas.
FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart talks to Ben Rhodes (Former Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States) about the Biden Administration's response to the October 7th Hamas massacre and Israel's subsequent war on Gaza.
Featuring: Jamil Dakwar (speaking in his personal capacity), Katherine Gallagher (Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional rights), Dr. Raz Segal (Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide, Stockton University) in conversation with Khaled Elgindy (MEI) and Lara Friedman (FMEP).For resources and bios see: https://fmep.org/resource/gaza-israel-and-the-2023-war-are-there-any-red-lines/
ft. Sari Bashi (Human Rights Watch), Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine) & Lara Friedman (FMEP)In the wake of Hamas’s massacres of citizens & residents of Israel on October 7th, Israeli leadership has articulated its aim of destroying the “human animals” in Gaza, leading many to sound the alarm that Israeli intentions are genocidal. Coming in the context of 16 years of a brutal Israeli blockade, and targeting a population a large percentage of which is present in Gaza as a direct result of the Nakba 75 years ago, which left them and their families unable to return to homes in what became Israel, Israel’s current war on Gaza is wreaking incomprehensible levels of civilian death, injury, and destruction.The possibilities for expanded conflict loom, including in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the IDF & IDF-backed settlers have escalated their terrorism of Palestinians and their efforts to Palestinians from Area C of the West Bank, and on Israel’s border with Lebanon. In parallel, delegitimization and repression of Palestinian voices and support for Palestinians and Palestinian rights are increasing around the globe, including in Israel and Palestine.Join FMEP for conversations with trusted partners who will ground us in what’s going on, what’s at stake for Palestinians, Israelis, the broader Middle East, and the rest of the world; what Israeli, Palestinian, and American leadership are envisioning as next steps, and also for the day-after this war ends; and what the opportunities and obligations are for grassroots mobilization, civil society actors, and human rights defenders in this moment.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
ft. Inès Abdel Razek (Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy), Fadi Quran (Avaaz), & Lara Friedman (FMEP)In the wake of Hamas’s massacres of citizens & residents of Israel on October 7th, Israeli leadership has articulated its aim of destroying the “human animals” in Gaza, leading many to sound the alarm that Israeli intentions are genocidal. Coming in the context of 16 years of a brutal Israeli blockade, and targeting a population a large percentage of which is present in Gaza as a direct result of the Nakba 75 years ago, which left them and their families unable to return to homes in what became Israel, Israel’s current war on Gaza is wreaking incomprehensible levels of civilian death, injury, and destruction.The possibilities for expanded conflict loom, including in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the IDF & IDF-backed settlers have escalated their terrorism of Palestinians and their efforts to Palestinians from Area C of the West Bank, and on Israel’s border with Lebanon. In parallel, delegitimization and repression of Palestinian voices and support for Palestinians and Palestinian rights are increasing around the globe, including in Israel and Palestine.Join FMEP for conversations with trusted partners who ground us in what’s going on, what’s at stake for Palestinians, Israelis, the broader Middle East, and the rest of the world; what Israeli, Palestinian, and American leadership are envisioning as next steps, and also for the day-after this war ends; and what the opportunities and obligations are for grassroots mobilization, civil society actors, and human rights defenders in this moment.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Tania Hary (Gisha)Nour Odeh (Political Activist)Omar Shakir (Human Rights Watch)in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP)For resources and bios, please visit: https://fmep.org/event/the-situation-in-gaza-a-briefing/
In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP president Lara Friedman speaks with Professor Rebecca Ruth Gould, author of the newly published book, Erasing Palestine: Free Speech & Palestinian Freedom. The discussion digs into Professor Gould's own experience being attacked for an article she authored on Israel/Palestine, and more broadly into the ongoing campaign using the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a weapon to delegitimize and suppress criticism of Israel/Zionism, Palestinian voices, and Palestine rights activism in the UK and around the world.
featuring Kareem Jubran (B’Tselem) & Sarit Michaeli (B’Tselem) with Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP).
Forcible transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank is a reality. The Israeli government, its security forces, and Israeli settlers are actively targeting Palestinian communities through a growing matrix of tools geared towards making their lives so economically untenable, functionally unbearable, and fundamentally unsafe that they are compelled to abandon their homes and lands, disperse their communities, and give up their means of earning their livelihoods.
Israel’s long-used methods include forbidding Palestinians from legally building homes and other structures, preventing access to infrastructure, including electricity, water, and roads, and ongoing demolitions in 60% of the West Bank. Targeted violence carried out by settlers, and tolerated if not actively supported by Israeli security forces -- - including harassment, threats, destruction of property, and outright terrorism in the formed of armed, lethal attacks -- has been used to suppress and threaten Palestinian life in the West Bank – and it has been accelerating in frequency and brazenness under the new Israeli government. Together, these factors have already led to the displacement of multiple Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank. Today, more communities are in danger, as Israel seeks to remove Palestinians in key areas across the West Bank in order to take over their land.
In this briefing, we describe these communities and discuss the official and unofficial tools Israel used to displace them and how this oppression amounts to the war crime of forcible transfer.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Featuring Kareem Jubran (B’Tselem) & Sarit Michaeli (B’Tselem) with Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP).
Forcible transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank is a reality. The Israeli government, its security forces, and Israeli settlers are actively targeting Palestinian communities through a growing matrix of tools geared towards making their lives so economically untenable, functionally unbearable, and fundamentally unsafe that they are compelled to abandon their homes and lands, disperse their communities, and give up their means of earning their livelihoods.
Israel’s long-used methods include forbidding Palestinians from legally building homes and other structures, preventing access to infrastructure, including electricity, water, and roads, and ongoing demolitions in 60% of the West Bank. Targeted violence carried out by settlers, and tolerated if not actively supported by Israeli security forces -- - including harassment, threats, destruction of property, and outright terrorism in the formed of armed, lethal attacks -- has been used to suppress and threaten Palestinian life in the West Bank – and it has been accelerating in frequency and brazenness under the new Israeli government. Together, these factors have already led to the displacement of multiple Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank. Today, more communities are in danger, as Israel seeks to remove Palestinians in key areas across the West Bank in order to take over their land.
In this briefing, we describe these communities and discuss the official and unofficial tools Israel used to displace them and how this oppression amounts to the war crime of forcible transfer.
FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with the new Executive Director of B'Tselem, Yuli Novak, about the opportunities and challenges for human rights protection in an apartheid regime, as well as the relationship between personal and political change.Podcast landing page: https://fmep.org/resource/human-rights-work-under-apartheid-to-show-reality-to-shed-lightto-create-hope-in-the-struggle/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks with Abdullah (last name withheld), a tour guide from Hebron (Al-Khalil). The conversation touches on the history of Hebron, the development of the Israeli settlement project in the city post its 1967 occupation, and the division of the city into H1/H2 zones following the Oslo Accords. We also hear from Abdullah about the dystopian reality of living under hyper-militarization and the pervasive surveillance in the city.
For resources and bios, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/hebron-al-khalil-a-primer/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy talks to Shira Livne (ACRI/Association for Civil Rights in Israel) about all things annexation. Including, how is annexation related to the current judicial reforms? What has annexation looked like previous to the current government? How significant are the changes in governance that the current government have taken? Should we consider the West Bank, or perhaps only Area C, annexed?
For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/has-israel-annexed-the-west-bank/
More than 15 years into Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, and after rounds of devastating Israeli bombing campaigns, life in Gaza continues to become more difficult and traumatic for the two million Palestinians who live there. What is it like to live under such conditions, with no end or reprieve in sight? Join FMEP for a conversation among experts about the current state of mental health in the Gaza Strip, and what it might mean for the future of Gaza’s residents. We will look at the findings from a recent study conducted over two years by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP).
Featuring Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei (Gaza Community Mental Health Programme), Ghada Majadli (Physicians for Human Rights Israel), and Razzan Quran (George Washington University) in conversation with Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP Non-resident Fellow).
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to Amal Thabateh, who is the Michael Ratner Justice Fellow at Palestine Legal, about the stunning attacks that have taken place targeting Fatima Mohamed for her May 12th commencement speech at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law’s graduation ceremony and the broader context of the fight to defend free speech and activism in support of Palestinian rights.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to journalist, filmmaker, and author Antony Lowenstein, about his new book, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, published by Verso books in May 2023.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to Abed Abu Shehadeh, a political and community organizer from Jaffa who is also an elected city council member in Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s municipality. The conversation explores the historical trajectory of Jaffa and its transformation from a major Palestinian city before the Nakba to a de-developed city annexed to Tel Aviv. We hear from Abu Shehadeh on the major challenges that Jaffa's Palestinian community faces today in light of this history, including gentrification, crime, and education.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with journalists Basel Adraa and Yuval Abraham about the conditions of life in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank, and how things have changed - and gotten far worse - since the May 2022 Israeli Supreme Court decision that authorized the IDF to expel communities in Masafer Yatta. Basel and Yuval co-authored "The Destruction of This Palestinian Community Was Green-Lighted by Israel’s Supreme Court," the cover article in last week's The Nation magazine (July 10, 2023 edition). In the article, Basel and Yuval write “The mass expulsion of Masafer Yatta’s residents has not yet been carried out, but the lives of all the people of these villages have changed beyond recognition in the months since the ruling. Soldiers have begun detaining children at impromptu checkpoints they’ve erected in the middle of the desert under the cover of night; families watch as bulldozers raze their homes with increasing frequency; and, right next to the villages designated for expulsion and demolition, soldiers are already training with live fire, racing tanks, and detonating mines.” Their article is a joint project of The Nation, +972 Magazine, and Local Call/Sikha Mekomit.
Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to Maria Zreik, a street photographer and political organizer from Nazareth who is coordinating the Baladna Youth Center, a Palestinian cooperative in Nazareth's Old City. The conversation delves into the challenges that Palestinians in Nazareth are facing today, how the city's landscape has shifted, and what a youth center in the city can offer to help.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to Raafat Sub Laban, a Palestinian human rights attorney from the Old City of Jerusalem whose family is under the threat of imminent dispossession from their home. Raafat explains how the dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem is enabled by Israeli law and settler organizations who work together to "Judaize" the city and drive Palestinians out. Raafat also shares updates about the Sub Laban family situation and the #SaveNorasHome campaign.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli anti-Zionist activist and solidarity organizer who has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by Israel for his involvement in Palestine solidarity protests in the West Bank. Jonathan is currently facing two charges, and is expected to demand his trial take place in Israel's West Bank military court system, rather than in Israeli domestic courts. Peter explores the history and motivation of Jonathan's activism, and how Israelis can figure into the struggle for Palestinian rights.
For biographies and resources, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/musjcy7r
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to award-winning writer and journalist Mohammed El Kurd about the importance of developing an understanding of Palestine rooted in the experiences and realities of Palestinians on the ground. Who gets the permission to narrate the situation in Palestine? What frameworks do we use and does language really matter? How can Palestinians share and maintain a sense of unity in a deepening state of fragmentation? Is identity politics a way forward? Join us for a conversation about framing and understanding Palestine today.
For bios and resources, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdz8e8td
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) director Giovanni Fassini and ELSC manager of communication and advocacy strategies and campaigns Alice Garcia about ELSC's groundbreaking new report, “Suppressing Palestinian Rights Advocacy through the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism – Violating the Rights to Freedom of Expression and Assembly in the European Union and the UK." This report is the first case-based account of human rights violations resulting from the institutionalization and application of the controversial IHRA definition by the EU and the UK.
For links/resources related to this podcast, see: https://fmep.org/resource/how-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism-is-suppressing-palestinian-rights-advocacy-in-the-eu-uk-deep-dive-into-new-elsc-report
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center Washington DC) & Emma Saltzberg (Diaspora Alliance), in the context of the newly-release US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism (released by the White House May 25, 2023) and the its implications for both the fight against antisemitism and the ongoing, related fight against the use of antisemitism accusations to delegitimize criticism of the state of Israel and its policies and objections to the political ideology of Zionism, as well as to attack and to silence critics of Israel and advocates for Palestinian history, identity, and rights. For bios & resources related to this podcast, see :https://fmep.org/resource/palestinian-rights-the-ihra-definition-and-battle-around-the-biden-antisemitism-strategy
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with two formidable experts on human rights and civil society about pending Israeli legislation targeting civil society organizations and, in particular, the human rights sector: Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967; and Jessica Montell, Executive Director of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked and formerly executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.On Sunday, May 28th -- the Israeli government’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation (a body of ministers in the government which decides whether or not to give government-backing to proposed legislation in the Knesset) is scheduled to vote on this extremely dangerous bill. The legislation would in effect remove the tax-exempt status of these groups and replace it with an onerous, and quite openly punitive, vindictive tax rate of 65% applied to the groups’ income and/or endowments.For resources/video see: https://fmep.org/resource/israels-new-anti-ngo-legislation-an-unabashed-effort-to-eradicate-opponents-of-illiberalism
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," 2022 FMEP non-resident Fellow Dr. Maha Nassar speaks with Dr. Basil Farraj about the recent death of Khader Adnan - a 45-year-old Palestinian prisoner who died on May 2, 2023 in an Israeli prison cell following a hunger strike that spanned nearly three months. Israel has refused to return Khader Adnan's body to his family. Adnan was protesting Israel’s widespread policy of arbitrarily detaining Palestinians against fair trial guarantees and in abhorrent conditions. Khader Adnan had been arrested at least 12 times, spent around eight years in Israeli prisons, and went on hunger strike five times.For bio and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/palestinian-hunger-striking-and-defiance-of-israels-carceral-regime/
Project48 & FMEP proudly present a very special podcast commemorating 75 years of the Palestinian Nakba. We are honored to share the voices of 10 powerful Palestinian artists, sharing their works and that of other iconic Palestinian creators. Featured artists are: Ahmed Abu Artema, Hala Alyan, Suad Amiry, Zeina Azzam, Cherien Dabis, Fady Joudah, Tamer Nafar, Raja Shehadeh, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Waleed Zuaiter - reading their own work and that of other iconic Palestinian artists.You can find artists biographies and links to their works here: https://tinyurl.com/5ye6jsn6The Nakba (Arabic for "catastrophe") is the expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land, and the destruction of Palestinian society during the creation of the State of Israel – a destruction that continues today. Learn more at: https://project48.com/This podcast was produced by Nadia Saah for Project48 and Kristin McCarthy for FMEP, and edited by Jeffrey Carton.
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa on the 1-year anniversary of the killing of her friend and fellow journalist Shireen Abu Akleh's - killed by Israel on May 11, 2022 - including reflections on the continued efforts to secure justice and accountability for her death, and on Shireen's legacy. For more details & video see: https://fmep.org/resource/shireen-abu-akle…ight-for-justice/
Palestinian-American civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf speaks with FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart about what happened since she was invited to address a high school diversity assembly in Michigan last month. After Arraf spoke to the students about her family and life experiences, the backlash began almost immediately, with prominent local leaders and the school district superintendent accusing Arraf of spreading "antisemitic rhetoric." This Middle East Eye article, "How a Palestinian activist's appearance at a US school triggered a smear campaign," offers a detailed overview of the incident and its aftermath. Jewish Voice for Peace led the effort to support Arraf and spearheaded this petition, which has gained wide support: "Bigotry Comes in Many Forms: We Oppose the Targeting of Huwaida Arraf & Silencing of the Palestinian Narrative with Bogus Charges of Antisemitism." As of this week, both the school principal and the district superintendent have resigned their posts. Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Featuring: Hassan El-Tayyab (FCNL), Rebecca Abou Chedid (Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP), and Josh Ruebner (IMEU)This session explored the unique role played by Congress in shaping US policy toward Israel/Palestine and the various intended and unintended consequences of that role.Recorded March 17, 2023. For resources and further information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
Part 5: Internal Palestinian PoliticsFeaturing: Dr. Dana El Kurd (University of Richmond), Salem Barahmeh, and Khaled Hroub (Northwest University – Qatar)This session will look at the state of Palestinian politics and political institutions as well as the future of the Palestinian national movement, including the effects of the ongoing political division between Fatah & Hamas, the question of if, when and how to hold elections, prospects for internal political and institutional reforms, and the likely challenges of political succession (post-Abbas).Recorded March 10, 2023.For resources and information, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
Part 4 - Free Speech, Lawfare, & the Right to ProtestFeaturing: Suhad Babaa (Just Vision), Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center Washington DC), & Dylan Saba (Palestine Legal)In this session we explored issues surrounding grassroots activism in protest of Israeli policies, including through calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and the parallel rise in efforts, including in Congress and state legislatures, aimed at curtailing criticism of Israel/Zionism and/or advocacy for Palestinian rights and their implications for free speech and a healthy policy debate on Israel and Palestine.Recorded March 3, 2023. For resources and further information, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
Part 3 - Human Rights & AccountabilityFeaturing: Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur), Rabea Eghbaria (Harvard Law School), Shawan Jabarin (Al-Haq)This session will look at human rights conditions in Israel and the occupied territories, as they relate to both the Israeli government and Palestinian political actors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as the broader question of accountability.Recorded February 10, 2023.For resources and further information, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
Part 2: Extremism in IsraelFeaturing: Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine), Natasha Roth-Rowland (+972 Magazine), and Shaul Magid (Dartmouth)This session explored the rise and normalization of extremism and extremists in Israeli politics, particularly in light of the current far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, and what it means for Palestinian rights, prospects for peace, regional stability, and Israel’s standing in the international community.Recorded February 17, 2022. For resources and further information, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
Part 1 – Beyond OsloFeaturing: Omar Dajani, Dr. Maha Nassar, & Dr. Shibley TelhamiThis session examined the successes and failures of the Oslo process 30 years on and the extent to which the Oslo framework, including the two-state solution, remains relevant to a lasting peace settlement in Palestine/Israel.Recorded February 10, 2023.For resources and further information, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2023-congressional-briefing-series-on-palestine-and-israel-key-issues-for-the-118th-congress/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP 2023 Palestinian Non-resident Fellow Dr. Yara Asi speaks with FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin about how to understand Palestinian public health, especially in the West Bank and Gaza. What are the impacts of Israeli apartheid and occupation on Palestinian public health? What is the role of the Palestinian Authority? What are possibilities and priorities for change?Dr. Yara M. Asi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics and a Visiting Scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University in her capacity as Co-Director of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights.Sarah Anne Minkin is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
As Israel’s far-right has gained political influence and momentum, including with respect to the current government’s “judicial reform” plans, the outsized impact of the Kohelet Policy Forum - a formerly low-profile, high-impact Israeli think-tank - has increasingly been making headlines. These include the New York Times (“Who’s Behind the Judicial Overhaul Now Dividing Israel? Two New Yorkers”), Haaretz (The Kohelet Tentacles: Inside the Web Surrounding the Right-wing Think Tank). Two key parts of this story -- insufficiently understood and examined by the media -- are the ties between Kohelet and right-wing fellow travelers and funders in the U.S., and their years-long efforts to influence policy and law not only in Israel, but in the United States, both at the state- and federal-level.Join FMEP & Jewish Currents for a conversation among experts who have been researching and documenting the activities and funding of the Kohelet Policy Forum including its transnational connections and impact of its work in both the U.S. and Israel/Palestine. Featuring Ran Cohen (Democratic Bloc), Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center DC) & Eran Nissan (Mehazkim), and Lara Friedman (FMEP); moderated by Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP).
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Vito Todeschini (legal expert in human rights law, international humanitarian law and international accountability, focusing on Palestine/Israel and the wider MENA region) about ongoing efforts to enforce some measure of accountability on Israel for its actions vis-a-vis Palestinians via international legal bodies - most notably the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. They also look at the stark contrast between the ICC’s quick action vis-à-vis Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and the ICC’s very slow process with respect to Palestine. For more details & resources related to this podcast go to: https://fmep.org/resource/the-quest-for-justice-for-palestine-at-the-icc-and-icj-where-things-stand-today-why-it-matters/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with +972's Haggai Matar about the developments of the last two days -- Netanyahu firing the Defense Minister after the latter spoke out against the judicial and legislative reforms; hundreds of thousands of Israelis protesting against the government; a general strike that has shut down businesses, universities, ports and the airport; and the planned far-right armed demonstration this evening in Jerusalem. Haggai talks about the tension between the Israelis who are protesting "under the banner of democracy" and the actual possibility of dismantling apartheid in Israel/Palestine.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Ali Awad, writer & activist from Tuba in Masafer Yatta, and Cassandra Dixon, a carpenter from Wisconsin. On March 7th, Cassandra was present on Ali’s grandfather’s land in Tuba when Israeli settlers attacked. One of them hit Cassandra with a stick and fractured her skull, giving her a concussion. In this podcast, Ali and Cassandra discuss the attack and its aftermath, including appeals to the Israeli authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable, and put this attack into the context of an overall escalation of state-backed settler violence in Masafer Yatta.For more: https://fmep.org/resource/25844/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart speaks to Maya Berry (Arab American Institute) and Jim Cavallaro (University Network for Human Rights) about the Biden Administration's recent decision to rescind Cavallaro's nomination to the serve as an independent expert on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Their discussion explores the Biden Administration's pitiful profile on Palestinian human rights, and an optimistic take on where the Democratic Party might be headed.For resources and more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-cost-of-a-palestine-caveat-biden-admin-chooses-politics-over-human-rights-expertise/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Haggai Matar about the growing Israeli protest movement against the Netanyahu government's plans to remake the Israeli government, and how to understand it in light of Israeli apartheid and the escalating violence against Palestinians.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Kristin McCarthy speaks to Rafat Sub Laban (human rights lawyer) and Amy Cohen (Ir Amim) about the Sub Laban family's 40-year legal battle against settlers (and the State) over their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Facing a March 15th eviction deadline, the Sub Laban family needs international attention and intervention. This family's story is not unique, and the broader, systemic processes behind the forcible dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem is also discussed.For resources mentioned in this webinar, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/we-are-determined-to-stay-one-palestinian-familys-story-of-dispossession-in-jerusalem/
In this fourth webinar episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka’s four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, Saleh Hijazi (BDS Movement), Nadya Tannous (Palestinian Youth Movement) and Tariq Kenney-Shawa (Al Shabaka) explore what allyship and solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle has looked like, and what it can and should look like moving forward. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP non-resident fellow Maha Nassar speaks with Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine members Malak Afaneh and Risa Nagel about the pro-BDS bylaw that nine Berkeley Law student clubs passed last fall, the national uproar that followed, and where things stand now.For more, see: https://fmep.org/resource/backlash-and-perseverance-the-uc-berkeley-lsjp-bylaw-and-its-aftermath/Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Yara Asi, who is one of two 2023-2024 Non-Resident Fellows joining FMEP. Dr. Asi discusses her background, explains why and how the public health lens is so uniquely important to understanding Palestinians’ lives and experiences of oppression, and analyzes this moment in time and history for Palestinians.For more information on Yara, and resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: www.fmep.org/resource/introducing-yara-asi-2023-fmep-non-resident-fellow
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Rabea Eghbariah, human rights attorney, doctoral student at Harvard Law School, and one of FMEP's 2023-2024 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows. Listen to Mr. Eghbaria discuss his background, his work as a human rights attorney and a scholar, and his analysis of this moment in time and history for Palestinians.For more information on Rabea, and resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: www.fmep.org/resource/introducing-rabea-eghbariah-a-2023-fmep-fellowOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In the third episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka’s four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, this webinar - featuring Dr. Maha Nassar, Dr. Yara Hawari, and Inès Abdul Razek - explored how the “dialogue discourse” has been used to undermine the Palestinian liberation movement, including through the insistence to engage in “peace” projects.For more information on the speakers and resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: https://fmep.org/event/learning-unlearning-palestine-pt-3-normalizing-and-peacemaking-as-discourses-of-violence/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Nonresident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Nathaniel Berman (Brown University) and Sawsan Zaher (human rights attorney) to discuss the notion that the Israeli Supreme Court - even before the proposed judicial reforms - is a protector of human rights and democratic principles in Israel. This conversation addresses the current protests against Netanyahu's overhaul, and the historic role the Israeli Supreme Court has played in systematically oppression (or allowing the oppression of) Palestinians.For more information and resources for this podcast, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-delusion-of-israels-supreme-court-as-pillar-of-democracy/
In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Ahmed Abuznaid (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights - USCPR) and Diala Shamas (Center for Constitutional Rights) about the lawsuit filed by the Jewish National Fund against USCPR -- which was dismissed by a U.S. federal judge in March 2021 and is now being appealed -- as well as about what can be learned from this case about efforts by pro-Israel actors to instrumentalize and weaponize U.S. laws to target and suppress Palestinian activism and solidarity.For resources related to this podcast see: https://fmep.org/resource/lawfare-in-action-attack-on-us-campaign-for-palestinian-rights-as-a-case-study
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Jehad Abusalim (FMEP 2022 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellow) speaks with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP Director of Programs and Partnerships) about the political and historical context of current escalations and his expectations for what the coming weeks and months will bring. The conversation draws from Jehad's recent article, "The West Bank is on the Brink of Collapse" and his Twitter thread on "the gravity of the current situation between the river and the sea."Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this second episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka's four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, this panelists Dr. Muhannad Ayyash, Dr. Lana Tatour, and Dr. Yara Hawari examine various limiting paradigms that, in spite of their liberal facade, have sought to contain the Palestinian experience and limit critique on the Israeli settler colonial project. This will include a critique of the international law and apartheid frameworks.For more resources on this webinar and to learn about past and future webinars in this series, please visit:https://fmep.org/resource/learning-unlearning-palestine-a-webinar-series/
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, Kristin McCarthy (FMEP's Director of Grants & Operations) speaks with Ziv Stahl (Executive Director of Yesh Din) about the phenomenon of settler violence, including it's goals and utility, the totality of its affect on Palestinians, how it is used as a means for land takeover, and the complete lack of accountability or protection provided by the Israeli police and army. For resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/settler-violence-more-than-criminal/
Welcome to the first episode in a new webinar series co-hosted by Al Shabaka and the Foundation for Middle East Peace: Learning and Unlearning Palestine Part 1: Who Can Speak on Palestine? Featuring Nour Joudah (UC Berkeley), Dina Matar (SOAS, University of London), in conversation with Maha Nassar (University of Arizona). This conversation examines the history and current reality of the erasure of the Palestinian narrative, the delegitimization of Palestinian voices in mainstream spaces, and possibilities for change. Recorded on January 30, 2022. Go to www.fmep.org for more on this conversation and to hear the rest of the series. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Hebron-based activist Issa Amro and Israeli activist & playwright Einat Weizman about the new documentary play that Einat wrote based on transcripts from Issa's trial in the Israeli Ofer Military Court. In January, 2023, Issa and Einat came to New York for a staged reading of the play. In this podcast, they speak with Peter about justice and injustice, occupation and oppression, activism and art, and the possibilities for liberation.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts -- which comes in the context of ongoing violence in Palestine that only lately broke through to mainstream headlines when the casualties were Israelis -- Inès Abdel Razek (Executive Director, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy) speaks with FMEP's Lara Friedman about what journalists need to keep in mind when reporting on Palestine, and what the public needs to keep in mind as they consume Palestine-related news.For notes/links related to this podcast see: https://fmep.org/resource/commonsense-rules-for-reporting-consuming-news-on-palestine/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy talks to Dr. Suhad Bisahara - the Legal Director of Adalah - about the new Israeli government coalition agreements that spell out it's policies of domination, suppression, annexation, and control.Resources:"Adalah’s Analysis of the New Israeli Government’s Guiding Principles and Coalition Agreements and their Implications on Palestinians’ Rights" - https://www.adalah.org/uploads/uploads/37_govt_position_paper_Eng_100123.pdf"Israelis are not demonstrating for democracy" by Dr. Yara Hawari - https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/1/16/israelis-are-not-demonstrating-for-democracy
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Francesca Albanese -- international legal expert and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 -- on ongoing and escalating actions by Israel to forcibly eject more than 1200 Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank region known as Masafer Yatta, located in the South Hebron Hills.For resources related to this podcast, see: https://fmep.org/resource/a-war-crime-in-the-making-the-uns-francesca-albanese-on-ethnic-cleansing-in-the-south-hebron-hills/
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ken Roth (formerly Human Rights Watch) and Harvard professor Kathryn Sikkink to discuss the recent controversy over Harvard's decision to cancel its offer of a fellowship to Ken Roth, based on accusations of anti-Israel bias by both Human Rights Watch and by Ken.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ziv Stahl (Yesh Din) to sketch out what the new Israeli government has said - and in some cases already started to implement - its policy on settlements, outposts, and Palestinian life in Area C will be. In addition, Ziv discusses the deepening challenges facing human rights organizations and their employees.
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim about antisemitism, ranging from the views of 19th century Palestinian intellectuals to responses to the Holocaust and Zionism, from the first Hamas charter to today's rising accusations of antisemitism to delegitimize Palestinian rights. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. Follow Peter: @PeterBeinart, peterbeinart.substack.com. Jehad Abusalim is a 2022 Palestinian non-resident Fellow at FMEP, the Education and Policy Coordinator of the Palestine Activism Program at the American Friends Service Committee, and is completing his PhD in the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies joint program at New York University. He tweets @JehadAbusalim.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Rebecca Vilkomerson, author of the recent report "Funding Freedom: Philanthropy and the Palestinian Freedom Movement." They speak about the trends, impediments, and dynamics around funding Palestinian rights, how and why funding decisions are political, and how funders - both institutional and individual - can begin or deepen their engagement with the movement for Palestinian freedom with strategy, humility, and courage.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to investigative journalist David Armiak about the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, in drafting, promulgating, and promoting legislation in U.S. states targeting values-based protest and grassroots activism, These legislative efforts in the first instance targeted Palestine-related protest and free speech, but today have evolved into legislation targeting protest and free speech that relates to literally any industry or group that states might want to protect, all under the umbrella of fighting against “woke capitalism” and combating those who seek to hold the private sector accountable to concerns about the environment, social issues like human rights, and governance issues -- aka ESG.For resources related to this podcast, see: https://fmep.org/resource/alec-anti-esg-the-battle-against-palestinian-rights/
A new anthology, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, features personal narratives and political essays from Palestinians in Gaza "imagining the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and Apartheid." This podcast features two of the anthology's editors - FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim and AFSC's Jennifer Bing - as well as one of the contributing authors, Dorgham Abusalim, who discuss the importance and impact of amplifying voices from Gaza. We focused on the valuable conversations that the book and its publication have created as a counter to Israel's ongoing siege and the general marginalization of Gaza and explore how the exercise of imagining a different future can challenge the present realities. Haymarket Books, the publisher, says: "As political discourse shifts toward futurism as a means of reimagining a better way of living, beyond the violence and limitations of colonialism, Light in Gaza is an urgent and powerful intervention into an important political moment."Main site for info on the anthology: https://gazaunlocked.org/anthologyOriginal music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to international legal expert in business and human rights Tara Van Ho about the current controversy involving the Chicago-based financial services company Morningstar Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainalytics, over how it deals with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the podcast explores Morningstar’s recently adopted policy changes with respect to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in the context of Israel, and the questions these new policies raise both about the company's basic competence with respect to human rights in ESG research, analysis, and recommendations, and about the broader implications for the future of business and human rights work writ large.Podcast notes/further resources: https://fmep.org/?post_type=resource&p=24876&preview=true
In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, Dr. Maha Nassar speaks with FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin about how to talk about Zionism and anti-Zionism in ways that acknowledge different definitions of Zionism and, at the same time, take seriously the power asymmetries between anti-Zionists and Zionists/supporters of the state of Israel in Israel/Palestine and the U.S. public spheres. Speaking from experience as an educator, advocate, and scholar, Maha discusses how she navigates different audiences and invitations as well as her thoughts on anti-normalization, engaging with campus Hillels, and why and how it is imperative to keep returning to Palestinian lives and experiences.Dr. Maha Nassar is an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, where she specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of the modern Arab world. Her award-winning book, Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World (Stanford University Press, 2017), examines how Palestinian intellectuals connected to global decolonization movements during the mid-twentieth century. A 2018 Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project, Dr. Nassar’s analysis and opinion pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, +972 Magazine, The Conversation, and The Hill. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, son, and daughter, and she is working on her next book, a global history of Palestine’s people. Follow Dr. Nassar on Twitter @mtnassarSarah Anne Minkin, PhD is the Director of Programs & Partnerships at FMEP. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that American Jews approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She earned her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley for research focusing on the sociology of emotion, nationalism, and Jewish Americans’ relationships with Israel/Palestine and is an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies. She tweets @saminkin.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Dr. Alana Vincent (Umea University, Sweden) joins FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss how she moved from supporting the use of the the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Working Definition of Antisemitism to opposing it. Dr. Vincent describes the chilling and silencing effects of the IHRA definition, the shortcomings of European Union research that purports to justify it, and the advantages of alternative definitions that offer clarity and nuance. Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Sarah Posner, renowned expert on American pro-Israel evangelicals, about U.S. pro-Israel evangelicals and their agenda in the context of both the recent Israeli elections, the recent US midterms, and the race for the 2024 White House.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with internationally-acclaimed documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha about the growing campaign against “woke capitalism,” and specifically the attacks on what is known as ESG – shorthand for the movement to take environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into account in investing. This podcast seeks to answer the question: why is an organization called the Foundation for Middle East Peace interested in the battle over ESG, and what does this have to do with acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose work has focused largely on Israel/Palestine?
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin conducts a series of short interviews with analysts and experts discussing what's new and what's not new in the results of this week's Israeli elections. Tune in to hear:Yousef Munayyer, non-resident fellow at Arab Center DCAmjad Iraqi, editor and journalist at +972 MagazineDr. Maha Nassar, associate professor at the University of Arizona and non-resident fellow at FMEPHagai El-Ad, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselemand Lara Friedman, president of FMEP.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Natasha Roth-Rowland, Orly Noy, and Peter Beinart join FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss Jewish Supremacy. Some analysts (Orly Noy and Peter Beinart among them) use “Jewish supremacy” as a way of explaining Israeli political and social structures broadly. At the same time, Jewish supremacist politicians are predicted to gain significant power in the Israeli government in the next election. In this podcast, we discuss what “Jewish supremacy” means when Jewish critics of Israel use it, what value there is in trying to understand Israel as a Jewish supremacist regime and/or society, and how this analytical framing relates to other frames including apartheid and settler colonialism.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Sheryl Nestel, co-author of a new report published by Canada’s Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), entitled, Unveiling the Chilly Climate – The Suppression of Speech on Palestine in Canada. Sheryl discusses why the report was necessary, the research methodology it entailed, the key findings, what the authors and IJV hope the report will achieve, and why this report matters not just for Canada, but for the world.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, journalist and human rights activist Basel Adraa joins FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss the acceleration of threats and violence from the Israeli army and settlers in Masafer Yatta, both inside of Firing Zone 918, which is under special unique threat of expulsion and forced population transfer, and outside of it, including in A-Twani, Basel's village. See www.fmep.org for resources on the many incidents and developments Basel discussed. Basel Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of A’Twani who publishes on +972 and Humans of Masafer Yatta on Instagram and Substack. Basel's Twitter: @basel_adraSarah Anne Minkin, PhD is the Director of Programs and Partnerships at FMEP. Her Twitter: @saminkin.Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, Jessica Montell, Executive Director of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, joins FMEP’s Lara Friedman to discuss the latest version of Israel's new procedures -- published, updated, and due to be implemented on October 20, 2022 -- governing all entry of foreigners solely to the West Bank. As Hamoked has noted in its September 14, 2022 analysis of the new regulations, this new version includes a few substantive changes, but "most of the flaws remain and some even exacerbated." Hamoked further notes: "the new procedure is highly restrictive and needlessly hampers the entry of foreign passport holders to the oPt and their ability to stay there without interruption….All this, without any legal basis or reasonable grounds, and contrary to Israel’s obligation to act for the benefit of the protected population living under occupation.”
For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/24402/
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's non-resident fellow Dr. Maha Nassar is joined by Dr. Basil Farraj to discuss Palestinian political prisoners, which is a central issue for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Their discussion examines on how Israel's "carceral regime" is a key component of Israel's occupation, how arbitrary "administrative detention" is a key tool within that regime, how military courts system functions, and the effects all of this has on Palestinians and their struggle for liberation.
For more information and further resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/palestinian-political-prisoners-and-israels-carceral-regime/
On this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy is joined by Amy Cohen of Ir Amim to unpack the threat that land registration poses to Palestinians. Though land registration is a complex and bureaucratic process, Ir Amim characterizes it as one of (if not the) most pressing modes of dispossession facing Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Listen to understand why and how Israel is cynically exploiting land registration to grow settlements, expropriate more land, and push Palestinians out of the city.
For resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/a-settler-tool-a-catch-22-for-palestinians-land-registration-in-east-jerusalem/
During the 2022 Democratic Party Primaries Israel-aligned funders invested tens of millions of dollars to defeat progressive candidates who, as part of a broader rights-based, democratic agenda, support Palestinian rights. To examine this phenomenon and its implications, FMEP non-resident Fellow Dr. Maha Nassar will host political strategist Rania Batrice, FMEP President Lara Friedman, and analyst Dr. Yousef Munayyer in conversation to address questions like: How does Israel/Palestine show up in Democratic Party politics today? How deep is the embrace of Palestinian rights among progressive candidates and in the grassroots? What has pushback from Israel-aligned funders (from both parties) looked like and how may it manifest in the future, and what does it mean for progressive organizing and candidates in the future?
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf about the deepening love affair between the American and Israeli "new right" - a topic that Noam examined in his recent article in +972 Magazine, An Israeli home for America’s New Right.
Noam Sheizaf is a Tel Aviv based journalist, the founding editor of +972 Magazine where he still writes, along with Haaretz and other publications. Noam recently completed a documentary about Hebron, titled "H2: The occupation Lab," that premiered at the Doc Aviv film festival in Tel Aviv.
Lara Friedman is President of FMEP.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, about Israel’s further targeting of Palestinian human rights/civil society, with the "ratification" 8/17/22 of Israeli decisions to designate 6 Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations, and Israel's move 8/18/22 to raid and shut down the groups. Further resources/links: https://fmep.org/resource/this-is-not-a-drill-israel-brings-the-hammer-down-on-the-palestinian-ngo-sector-ft-omar-shakir/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim about the aftermath of the most recent escalation, the relationship between the Nakba and the ongoing violent realities of Gaza, and questions of how to talk about and envision Gaza within broader frameworks of Palestinian liberation and freedom.
Jehad Abusalim is the Education and Policy Coordinator of the Palestine Activism Program at the American Friends Service Committee. He is completing his PhD in the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies joint program at New York University. His research focuses on Arab and Palestinian intellectual discourse on Zionism, antisemitism, and the plight of the Jewish people in Europe between 1870 and 1948. Jehad also studies the social and political history of the Gaza Strip, focusing on the continuing impact of the Nakba on life in Gaza before and after 1948. Mr. Abusalim has been published in the Washington Post, al-Jazeera, the New Arab, and Vox.
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD is FMEP’s Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She is an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.
Resources from Jehad Abusalim:
Twitter profile: @JehadAbusalim, and his threads about the recent Gaza assault. Most recent publication, the co-edited anthology Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, published by Haymarket books. May 2021 Washington Post article, The Gaza cease-fire is no excuse for the world to look away May 2020 Journal of Palestine Studies article, The Great March of Return: An Organizer's Perspective An AFSC resource for learning more about Gaza: https://gazaunlocked.org/
Original Music by Jalal. Yaquoub.
FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Lana Tatour about the recent Israeli Supreme Court decision that opens a legal path for the Israeli government to revoke citizenship of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and what this decision both reflects and demonstrates about the fragile status of Israel's Palestinian citizens.
Dr. Tatour is an assistant professor in global development at the School of Social Science, University of New South Wales, Australia. She was the 2019–20 Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University. She is currently completing a book provisionally titled Ambivalent Resistance: Palestinians in Israel and the Liberal Politics of Settler Colonialism and Human Rights. Follow her on Twitter at @Lana_Tatour.
Links to articles mentioned in this podcast & further resources can be found here: https://fmep.org/resource/israeli-supreme-court-opens-door-to-legalized-ethnic-cleansing-inside-the-green-line
In mid-July, President Biden is expected to make his first visit as President of the United States to Israel and the Persian Gulf. What is the point of his visit? What does it mean for U.S. policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Gulf? What does it mean for Palestinians? To explore these and other questions, FMEP and Jewish Currents held a conversation with U.S.-based experts Peter Beinart (CUNY), Dana El Kurd (University of Richmond), Lara Friedman (FMEP), and Trita Parsi (Quincy).
Participants:
Peter Beinart teaches national reporting and opinion writing at the Newmark J-School and political science at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, an MSNBC political commentator, and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a nonfiction author and former Rhodes Scholar. His first book, The Good Fight, was published by HarperCollins in 2006. His second book, The Icarus Syndrome, was published by HarperCollins in 2010. His third, The Crisis of Zionism, was published by Times Books in 2012. Peter tweets at @PeterBeinart
Dana El Kurd is an assistant professor at the University of Richmond, a non resident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, and non resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in the Palestine program. Her work focuses on authoritarianism, international intervention, and state-society relations in the Arab world. Her book, Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine, was released in January 2020 with Oxford University Press. She tweets at @danaelkurd.
Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on Israel/Palestine and the role of the U.S. Congress. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service; in addition to English, Lara speaks French, Arabic, Spanish, (weak) Italian, and muddles through in Hebrew. Lara tweets at @LaraFriedmanDC
Trita Parsi is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored three books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. He was named by the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 25 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington DC in both 2021 and 2022, and preeminent public intellectual Noam Chomsky calls Parsi “one of the most distinguished scholars on Iran.” He tweets at @tparsi.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Ali Awad about Masafer Yatta and particularly Firing Zone 918 and what has changed there since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in May authorizing the Israeli military to expel the Palestinian residents of the firing zone. Ali's most recent article on +972,"'They're not arriving with trucks to deport us, but the goal is the same'," was published on June 29, 2022.
Ali Awad is journalist and activist from the village of Tuba in Masafer Yatta. He is co-founder of the new media project Humans of Masafer Yatta.
Sarah Anne Minkin is Director of Programs & Partnerships at FMEP.
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Humans of Masafer Yatta on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humansofmasaferyatta/ Humans of Masafer Yatta on Substack: https://humansofmasaferyatta.substack.com/
SaveMasaferYatta campaign: https://savemasaferyatta.com/en/
Youth of Sumud on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youthofsumud/?hl=en Youth of Sumud on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youthofsumud/ Ali Awad on Twitter: @Ali_awad1998 Ali Awad's archives on +972 Magazine: https://www.972mag.com/writer/ali-awad/ Ali's newest article on +972, "'They're not arriving with trucks to deport us, but the goal is the same'" FMEP's recent podcast with Sameeha Hureini, activist with Youth of Sumud and resident of A'Twani village, "'It's our responsibility to turn on the light': Masafer Yatta, Apartheid, and Youth Activism": https://fmep.org/resource/its-our-responsibility-to-turn-on-the-light-masafer-yatta-apartheid-and-youth-activism/
Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa about the killing of her friend and fellow journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022, the myriad investigations that have been carried out, and the imperative of getting justice, which requires accountability.
For resources related to this podcast see: https://fmep.org/resource/the-imperative-of-accountability-for-shireen-abu-aklehs-killing/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Sameeha Hureini, an activist and university student from A-Twani village in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. Sameeha is one of the founders of Youth of Sumud and, together with her brother Sami, was recognized with the 2021 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," journalist and FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Waleed Shahid, spokesperson and communications director of Justice Democrats.
Bios: Waleed Shahid is the spokesperson and communications director for Justice Democrats, the grassroots progressive organization that recruited and helped elect Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman as well as Congressional candidate Summer Lee, and launched the campaign for a Green New Deal. He is a member of The Nation’s editorial board. Twitter: @_waleedshahid
Peter Beinart teaches national reporting and opinion writing at the Newmark J-School and political science at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, a MSNBC political commentator, and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a nonfiction author and former Rhodes Scholar. His first book, The Good Fight, was published by Harper Collins in 2006. His second book, The Icarus Syndrome, was published by HarperCollins in 2010. His third, The Crisis of Zionism, was published by Times Books in 2012. Twitter: @PeterBeinart.
Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
As Palestinians commemorate 74 years since the Nakba, FMEP’s Palestinian non-resident fellow Dr. Maha Nassar talks with Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, professor of media studies at California State University, San Bernardino, about her award-winning documentary, “1948: Creation and Catastrophe.“ (www.1948movie.com)
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Featuring Rania Batrice (Organizer, communications and legislative strategist, mediator, and advisor to elected officials, candidates, and non-profits both domestic and around the globe) & Peter Beinart (Newmark J-School and CUNY Graduate Center; editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, MSNBC political commentator, and fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace) in conversation with Lara Friedman (President, the Foundation for Middle East Peace).
Israel/Palestine has long played an outsized role in US politics and elections. Candidates’ views on issues like aid to Israel, the status of Jerusalem, settlements and the two-state solution, and sympathy for Palestinians and Palestinian rights are actively elicited, to be used as levers to mobilize financial and political support for chosen incumbents and challengers, or as cudgels to to attack their opponents. On the Hill, members who express even mild support for Palestinian rights, or criticism of Israeli policies, or reservations about additional aid for Israel, open themselves up to being attacked as anti-Israel or antisemitic.
In the run-up to the 2022 mid-term elections, Israel/Palestine has come up over and over, including with the decision by AIPAC’s new political action committee to endorse a long list of Republicans who sought to overturn the last presidential election; the huge investment by pro-Israel organizations and funders in targeted races, including in Michigan and Ohio; and the controversial recent decision by a Jewish Democratic pro-Israel organization to endorse a (non-Jewish) candidate in a primary battle against a (Jewish) incumbent previously endorsed by that same organization, apparently as retribution for the incumbent’s slightly more progressive views on Israel/Palestine.
Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Jehad Abusalim (2022 FMEP Fellow) and Dana El-Kurd (University of Richmond) about what the Abraham Accords and normalization agreements with Israel over the last few years have opened up in the Arab world, including state-sponsored efforts to cultivate acceptance of Israel and suppress support for Palestinians. Dana speaks about her research on Arab public opinion as well as pro-Palestine activism, and Jehad draws from the historical context of the long history of Arab Jews as well as Palestinian responses to Zionism and antisemitism before the establishment of the state of Israel.
In February, Dana published this brief, "Pro-Palestine solidarity in the UAE: A view from Emirati activists." See also this article from the Economist in January 2022, "The Arab world is re-embracing its Jews."
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Last month, the Israeli Knesset passed a new version of Israel’s infamous “Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law.” This law denies to Palestinian citizens of Israel a fundamental right that Israel’s Jewish citizens take for granted (and, indeed, citizens around the world hold dear): the right to make a life together with one’s chosen spouse, in the country where one hold’s citizenship. Adopted originally by the Knesset in 2003 as a “temporary” measure ostensibly for “security” reasons, the law has been repeatedly renewed for almost 20 years, most recently in March 2022. The renewed law includes explicit provisions referring to its “demographic” purpose, leading Adalah to call it “one of the most racist and discriminatory laws in the world.” In March, Israel’s Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked celebrated the law’s passage on Twitter, saying; “Jewish & Democratic State – 1; State for all its citizens – 0”.
Featuring: Dr. Morad El Sana, who was among the first petitioners against this law when his family was directly impacted by it; Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who leads Adalah’s challenges against this law at the Israeli Supreme Court; Member of Knesset Aida Touma-Sliman, who has fought against this law since its first passage – all in conversation with FMEP’s Lara Friedman.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Amnesty International’s Saleh Hijazi about the root causes of the violence currently in the headlines -- i.e., Israel's policy of apartheid, and the structural violence they impose against Palestinians. and why Amnesty International is calling for an end to the “cycle of impunity” that supports and enables it.
Saleh Hijazi is Amnesty International (UK)’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. He is also advisor to Al-Quds University Human Rights Clinic where he worked as academic coordinator and lecturer, and a fellow at Al-Shabaka. Saleh holds a master's degree in human rights from the University of Essex and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science from Lawrence University.
Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP).
Click here to watch this conversation on YouTube
Also see:
Amnesty International, Feb. 1, 2022: Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity - https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Aviv Tatarsky about escalating tensions and violence on and around Jerusalem’s Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
Aviv is a researcher at the NGO Ir Amim (city of nations), which focuses on Jerusalem within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mission of Ir Amim is to render Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it and to help secure a negotiated resolution on the city through sustained monitoring, reporting, public and legal advocacy, public education and outreach to re-orient the public discourse on Jerusalem. More about Ir Amim: https://www.ir-amim.org.il/
Featuring: Daniel Seidemann (Terrestrial Jerusalem), Dana El Kurd (Non-Resident Fellow at the Middle East Institute) & Munir Nuseibah (Al-Quds University). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded February 11, 2022. This podcast is Part 1 of an 8-part series of webinars/podcasts. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues related to Israeli policies in Jerusalem, including ongoing displacement of Palestinian residents and expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, why Jerusalem continues to serve as a catalyst for Palestinian protest (and Israeli violence in response), and how Jerusalem continues to be at the heart of Palestinian and Israeli national aspirations.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with +972 Magazine’s Amjad Iraqi about recent attacks against Israelis and related Israeli fears that are dominating the news cycle, and as well as the ongoing structural Israeli violence against Palestinians – including both day-to-day policies that implement Israeli apartheid and acts of collective punishment (which Amjad wrote about recently for +972 Magazine -- https://www.972mag.com/edition/collective-punishment-palestinians/) – that rarely makes headlines. Amjad also offers insights into how the current situation is both similar and different from the events that led to the outbreak of major violence and protest last summer.
Featuring Lana Tatour (University of New South Wales, Australia) Dr. Yara Hawari (Al-Shabaka), and Tareq Baconi (Al-Shabaka). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded April 1, 2022. This podcast is Part 8 of an 8-part series of webinars/podcasts. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored how years of fragmentation of the Palestinian people are today being challenged/overcome, both in terms of connections across the Green Line and grassroots engagement and connections around the world.
Featuring Ahmed Abu Artema (Palestinian writer and activist) and Marwa Fatafta (MENA Policy Manager at Access Now). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded March 25, 2022. This podcast is Part 7 of an 8-part series of webinars/podcasts. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues surrounding Palestinian civil society, and in particular human rights defenders and democracy activists, and the challenges and threats they face — including direct attacks by Israel, targeting by Palestinian authorities, and apathy/indifference from the international community in the face of these attacks.
Featuring Omar Barghouti (Palestinian human rights defender & co-founder of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement), Brian Hauss (ACLU) and Olivia Katbi (North America Coordinator for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded March 18, 2022. This podcast is Part 6 of an 8-part series of webinars/podcasts. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues surrounding growing grassroots protest of Israeli policies, including via support of boycotts, divestment campaigns, and calls for sanctions (BDS) — and the parallel rise in efforts, including in Congress, to delegitimize and legislate against such protests.
Featuring Jawad Boulus (Palestinian human rights lawyer), Sahar Francis (Addameer), and Shibley Telhami (Brookings/University of Maryland). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded March 11, 2022. This podcast is Part 5 of an 8-part series of webinars/podcasts. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues surrounding Palestinian public views, and Palestinian Authority/PLO policy, related to Palestinians killed and imprisoned by Israel, and how this issue has become enmeshed in debates in Congress over U.S. assistance for Palestinians.
Featuring Umar al-Ghubari (Zochrot), Hani Almadhoun (UNRWA USA) and Francesca Albanese (Georgetown University). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded March 4, 2022. This podcast is Part 4 of an 8-part series of webinars. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues surrounding Palestinian refugees, including the plight of refugees inside and outside of Palestine, the role of UNRWA and the debate it engenders in Congress, and the Palestinian demand for a “Right of Return.”
Featuring Mkhaimar Abusada (Al Azhar University in Gaza City), Jehad Abusalim (American Friends Service Committee), and Tania Hary (Gisha). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded Feb 25, 2022. This podcast is Part 3 of an 8-part series of webinars. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored issues related to Gaza, including the longstanding Israeli blockade and deliberate isolation of Gaza from the rest of Palestine and the world; the competing and complementary roles of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and Egypt; and how Gaza fits into the broader Palestinian picture.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa about Palestinian domestic politics, this week's normalization "summit" in the Negev, and the long-feared/long-predicted escalation of tensions/violence in the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, coinciding with Ramadan, Easter, and Passover, which many fear will turn into an even bloodier re-play of the events of summer 2021.
Featuring Paul O’Brien (Amnesty International), Dr. Maha Nassar (University of Arizona), and Peter Beinart (CUNY), in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP)
For full bios & links to resources mentioned in this podcast, see: https://fmep.org/resource/policing-the-narrative-israel-apartheid-in-the-us-debate/
Last month, Amnesty International published a detailed and thorough report examining Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and concluding that it meets the legal definition of the crime of apartheid. With this conclusion, Amnesty joined the ranks of international and Israeli NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Yesh Din, as well as Palestinian organizations and advocates, including Al Haq and Al Mezan, who have likewise concluded that that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians amounts to the crime of apartheid. And just last week, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk articulated the same conclusion in an official report to the UN Security Council.
In this webinar/podcast, we explore another aspect of this issue: the dynamics and tactics (some new, some old) on display in the responses from defenders of the status quo to the growing use and acceptance of the apartheid framing — including deflection and misdirection aimed at shifting focus away from factual findings and delegitimization and demonization of human rights defenders and Palestinian rights activists.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Khaled Elgindy (Middle East Institute) and Elizabeth Tsurkov (New Lines Institute) to discuss how Israeli and Palestinian officials have responded to Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, and how these responses are playing in the U.S. political world.
For more information on the panelists, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/israeli-palestinian-responses-to-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts podcast, Lara Friedman speaks with Peter Beinart about his recent article, Justifications for Destroying a People, examining similarities between arguments Putin is putting forward to dehumanize Ukrainians and arguments long used by Israel to dehumanize Palestinians. This podcast is a follow-up to Lara's March 3rd Occupied Thoughts episode featuring Yousef Munayyer, looking at the world's double standard on BDS – Russia/Ukraine vs. Israel/Palestine.
On March 15, 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court is expected to render a decision on whether the state of Israel will be permitted to carry out a large expulsion of Palestinians in the West Bank. The Palestinians in question live in an area of the South Hebron Hills called Masafer Yatta, residing for many generations in small, shepherding-based villages. In the early 1980s, in violation of international law, the IDF declared the area a firing zone (“Firing Zone 918”) -- an action viewed by experts as taken with the clear Israeli objective of displacing the Palestinian residents of the area and taking control of the land. Consistent with that analysis, for decades, Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta have faced constant threat of expulsion, home demolitions, confiscation of their property, harassment and violence at the hands of both the Israeli army and Israeli settlers.
Ali Awad, a writer and activist from Tuba - one of the villages slated in Masafer Yatta - and Maya Rosen, a Jerusalem-based Palestine solidarity activist, will join FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin for a discussion of how Palestinians in Masafer Yatta continue to build their lives despite the constant existential threat they are under such threat, what they expect from the Israeli Supreme Court, and the international campaign they have launched to save their villages. We’ll also discuss the role of the Israeli judiciary in enabling Israeli apartheid and Israel’s use of the “firing zone” designation as a means of confiscating Palestinian land.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Dr. Maha Nassar, associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona and 2022 FMEP Fellow, about the question of "Who are Palestine's people?" This question anchors Dr. Nassar's new research into the communities that made their homes in Palestine over the last 1500 years. This deep dive into history sheds light on Palestinian nationalism, the Palestinian diaspora, and potential paths forward.
Original music by Jalal Yaquob.
As evidence of the current & future climate crisis continues to mount, join FMEP and key activists & researchers as we look at the dynamics of climate change for Palestinians. How do the realities of apartheid in Israel/Palestine, and additionally Israel’s siege and recurring bombardment of Gaza, affect Palestinians’ access to clean water, sustainable land, consistent electricity, and food security? What bearing do these Israeli-imposed environmental limitations have on Palestinians’ ability to stay on their land? And what does “climate justice” mean, and what could it look like for Palestinians? Featuring Jessica Anderson (Visualizing Palestine), Khalil Abu Yahia (Gaza-based scholar), and Manal Shqair (Stop the Wall Campaign) with Dr. Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP). Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center DC) about how the near global embrace of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Russia in response to its military assault on Ukraine contrasts to longstanding, far-reaching efforts to delegitimize, quash, and even criminalize these same tactics as a response to Israel's systematic violence against Palestinians and violations of Palestinian rights.
Yousef Munayyer, PhD, is a non-resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC (ACW). He writes on the Arab-Israeli conflict and is a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Some of his published articles can be found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, Journal of Palestine Studies, Middle East Policy, and others. Dr. Munayyer holds a PhD in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Maryland. He tweets @YousefMunayyer.
Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. She tweets @LaraFriedmanDC
Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub
Featuring Salem Barahmeh (Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy), Hagai El-Ad (B’Tselem) and Sherine Tadros (Amnesty International). Co-moderated by Lara Friedman (FMEP) & Khaled Elgindy (MEI).
Recorded February 18, 2022. This webinar is Part 3 of an 8-part series of webinars. For more information regarding this series, and links to the other sessions, please see: https://fmep.org/resource/2022-congressional-briefing-series-israel-palestine-hot-topics-in-congress/
In this session we explored the increasing adoption by human rights experts of the term “apartheid” to describe the reality in Israel/Palestine, including on both sides of the Green Line, and the view that, today, Palestinians and Israelis live in a de facto one-state, apartheid reality.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Inès Abdel Razek and Munir Nusseibeh about developments in Jerusalem and their broader context and implications. Inès is the Advocacy Director for the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, PIPD. Munir is a human rights lawyer and academic based in Al-Quds University in Jerusalem.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
Palestinians face a growing matrix of mechanisms geared towards removing them from their land, dispersing their communities, and threatening their livelihoods. Join FMEP and B’Tselem to discuss the situation on the ground: what Palestinians in Area C (and increasingly in Area B) are facing and how they live under the shadow of dispossession, at the hands of the Israeli government, its security forces, its courts, and its private citizens.
Panelists
This webinar featured two Palestinians from Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron hills, an area in Area C whose residents are under particularly heightened threats and regular attacks, as well as video interviews with additional Palestinians living under threat.
Basil al-Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of A’Twani. Twitter: @basel_adra Eid is a photographer.
In addition, Sarit Michaeli (@saritm0) and Eyal Hareuveni of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories -- joined the webinar and speak about B’Tselem’s recent report, “State Business: Israel’s misappropriation of land in the West Bank through settler violence.”FMEP President Lara Friedman (@larafriedmanDC) moderated the discussion.
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin interviews Jehad Abusalim about his background, his research, his analysis of this moment in time and Palestinian history, and his plans for 2022 as an FMEP Fellow.
The Foundation for Middle East Peace is delighted to announce our new Palestinian Non-Resident Fellowship. FMEP’s 2022 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows are Dr. Maha Nassar and Jehad Abusalim.
Jehad Abusalim is the Education and Policy Coordinator of the Palestine Activism Program at the American Friends Service Committee. He is completing his PhD in the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies joint program at New York University. His research focuses on Arab and Palestinian intellectual discourse on Zionism, antisemitism, and the plight of the Jewish people in Europe between 1870 and 1948. Jehad also studies the social and political history of the Gaza Strip, focusing on the continuing impact of the Nakba on life in Gaza before and after 1948. Mr. Abusalim has been published in the Washington Post, al-Jazeera, the New Arab, and Vox. Follow Mr. Abusalim on Twitter here: @JehadAbusalim
Dr. Maha Nassar is an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, where she specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of the modern Arab world. Her award-winning book, Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World (Stanford University Press, 2017), examines how Palestinian intellectuals connected to global decolonization movements during the mid-twentieth century. A 2018 Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project, Dr. Nassar’s analysis and opinion pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, +972 Magazine, The Conversation, and The Hill. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, son, and daughter, and she is working on her next book, a global history of Palestine’s people. Follow Dr. Nassar on Twitter here: @mtnassar. Interviewed by Sarah Anne Minkin
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with +972's Amjad Iraqi about recent developments -- what is happening and how it fits into the status quo that defines Israeli policies and rule over Palestinians, framed by Amjad's incisive analysis: “Cruelty is baked into Israeli apartheid. And today’s destruction of the Salhiyeh home in Sheikh Jarrah — in the freezing cold before dawn, after their defiant stand against the police on Monday — is designed to be cruel, both to the family and to all Palestinians watching. Cruelty is needed to terrify, demoralize, and incapacitate Palestinians. The state needs us to feel this powerlessness, to feel trapped by the sense of failure, to rob us not just of the will to resist, but the will to live. It needs our total submission, or our complete erasure. That intentional cruelty was on full display this past week: in the mass funeral of Haj Suleiman, who was run over by a police truck in Umm al-Kheir; in the arrests of young Naqab Bedouin for protesting their dispossession; in the shuttered gates of besieged Gaza; and much more. Many Palestinians felt that pain sharply today. Many of us felt helpless. But then came our rage. And then came our resolve. A ‘resilient’ society is a tortured one, often relying on plain stubbornness to pull it through. But it’s what defies the cruelty when nothing else does.”
For more resources and biographies, please visit:https://fmep.org/resource/we-dont-have-another-place-to-go-threats-settler-violence-and-resistance-in-masafer-yatta/
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks Oren Ziv (photojournalist, a founding member of the Activestills photography collective, and a staff writer for Local Call) about the latest twist in the story of Israel’s assault on Palestinian human rights NGOs. This twist comes in the form of a blockbuster report, co-authored by Oren and published January 13th by +972 Magazine, entitled "Israel’s new secret document still fails to tie Palestinian NGOs to ‘terrorism’"
For more resources and panelist biographies, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/israel-again-tries-fails-to-connect-palestinian-ngos-to-terrorism/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with activist and author Ali Awad about the threats of dispossession and state-backed settler violence facing Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. Ali's most recent article, co-authored with Awdah Hathaleen, describes extreme violence against a village elder in a non-violent protest in Masafer Yatta: "Israeli police shattered this Palestinian elder’s bones — and drove away."
Bios
Ali Awad is an activist from the village of Tuba in the South Hebron Hills.
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP’s Director of Programs & Partnerships.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Nuriya Oswald (International Advocacy Officer at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Palestinian human rights NGO founded in 1999 and based in the Gaza Strip) and Yael Stein (Director of Research for B’Tselem, Israel’s preeminent human rights organization) about how manifestations of Israel's apartheid regime with respect to the Gaza Strip, both in general and specifically in the context of the Great March of Return. NOTE: In December 2021, Al Mezan issued a new report, “The Gaza Bantustan: Israeli Apartheid in the Gaza Strip,” and Btselem, together with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, issued a new report, "Unwilling and Unable: Israel's Whitewashed Investigations of the Great March of Return Protests."
Bios
Nuriya Oswald is the International Legal and Advocacy Director at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.Nuriya is a human rights advocate with ten years of experience in advocacy and coordinating legal initiatives. At Al Mezan, Nuriya manages various activities with the objective of bringing justice to victims of international law violations and informing international stakeholders of the human rights situation on the ground. She has lived in Gaza and Ramallah and has been working in Palestine for over a decade. She holds an LLM in international humanitarian law, an MA in human rights and a BA in political science and French studies. She previously worked for Medical Aid for Palestinians and ChildFund International. Nuriya has appeared in the New York Times, Al Jazeera and other media outlets. You can follow Al Mezan on Twitter @AlMezanCenter.
Yael Stein is the Research Director of B’Tselem. She holds an LLB from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in human rights from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London. Yael has authored several of B’Tselem reports, including The Occupation’s Fig Leaf (2016), Getting Off Scot-Free (2017) and Fake Justice (2019). You can follow B'Tselem on Twitter @btselem.
Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). She is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She tweets @LaraFriedmanDC.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman hosts Palestinian organizer Fadi Quran and FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart for a wide-ranging conversation about 2021's most defining events when it comes to the lived reality of Palestinians and Israelis on the ground, as well as U.S. politics on the issue. The trio also take on predictions for what might unfold in 2022.
For panelist biographies, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/2021-review-2022-preview-challenges-opportunities-on-the-road-to-palestinian-rights/
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Peter Beinart interviews Bahia Amawi and Gadeir Abbas about the fight for the right to boycott Israel in Texas. Bahia is a speech pathologist in Texas who sued the state after losing her school contract because she refused to sign an agreement promising not to boycott Israel. Bahia won her case - and in response, the Texas government amended their anti-BDS bill so that it only applies to larger companies. A few weeks ago, CAIR - the Council on American Islamic Relations - filed a lawsuit challenging the new amended Texas law.
Gadeir Abbas is Senior Litigation Attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Bahia Amawi is a Palestinian-American and a speech pathologist in Texas.
Peter Beinart is Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and a CNN Political Commentator.
Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Lara Friedman interviews Oriel Eisner and Maya Eshel, two activists who were detained by the Israeli police last week in separate but connected incidents. Their arrests are another piece in the puzzle of Palestinian dispossession and state-backed settler violence.
Oriel Eisner is an American-Israeli activist and organizer with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (cjnv.org). He is based in Jerusalem.
Maya Eshel is an American-Israel activist currently engaged in daily solidarity work in the South Hebron Hills. She is based in Tel Aviv.
Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
See more at www.fmep.org
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy speaks with Daniel Seidemann (Terrestrial Jerusalem) about a myriad of developments in Jerusalem - - and the political, diplomatic, and bureaucratic forces at play behind them.
For more information including resources mentioned in this episode, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/scorched-earth-settlements-in-jerusalem/
Featuring Palestinians who lived through the 1948 Nakba and their descendants: Nida El-Muti, Dina El-Muti, and Hasan Hammami
The Nakba, the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland from 1947-49, is among the root causes of the conflict in Palestine-Israel and critical to understanding the failure of the decades-long “peace-process,” and the level of justice and reparations required to achieve a sustainable future. We will hear the personal stories of those who survived the ethnic cleansing of their cities and villages, and learn from them and their descendants how the trauma of the Nakba and Israel’s ongoing policies of erasure have shaped their lives. We’ll also ask about their visions for the future, what justice looks like, and how they sustain connections to their homeland from the diaspora.
For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/webinar-the-nakba-and-its-generational-impact-on-palestinian-lives-memory-identity-and-a-future-rooted-in-justice/
Three major stories broke over the past week about Israel’s cyber-surveillance of Palestinians, from hacking the phones of human rights defenders and officials, to increased monitoring of Jerusalemites, to the mass deployment of facial recognition software against Palestinians in the West Bank. To discuss these issues and their broader implications, FMEP is proud to host a conversation with four experts – Andrew Anderson (Front Line Defenders), Marwa Fatafta (Access Now), Avner Gvaryahu (Breaking the Silence), and Sophia Goodfriend (7amleh), in conversation with FMEP President Lara Friedman.
For biographies and a list of resources shared during this webinar, please visit: https://fmep.org/event/welcome-to-the-panopticon-israels-systematic-surveillance-of-palestinians-and-the-implications-for-the-world/
In late October, the Israeli government declared six Palestinian human rights groups to be “terror organizations” – a designation that criminalizes their work under Israeli law and enables Israel to seize assets, arrest staff, prohibit funding, and punish public expressions of support and solidarity. With this terror designation, the Israeli government has escalated its longtime efforts to crush Palestinian organizations that document Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and seek to hold Israel accountable.
Leading human & civil rights experts – Jamil Dakwar (ACLU), Rabea Eghbariah (Adalah), and Dima Khalidi (Palestine Legal) – to discuss the work of the targeted Palestinian NGOs, the context and impact of this terror designation, reactions from governments and NGOs in the U.S. and the EU, and expectations of impact.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman talks to Ubai Aboudi, director of Bisan Center for Research and Development - a Ramallah-based Palestinian human rights organizes established in 1989. Aboudi talks about Israel's move on October 19 to designate Bisan and five other Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorist groups" under Israel's 2016 anti-terror law, and its follow-up move this week to make a parallel declaration in the West Bank via military order. Ubai, who is an American citizen, also discusses this week's bombshell news of the hacking of employees of several of the targeted groups, including Ubai, by sophisticated Israeli software (Pegasus), and the implications of the timing of the terror designations, which coincided almost perfectly with the discovery of the hacking.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Israeli journalist Oren Ziv (Local Call, +972 Magazine) about the blockbuster article published today by +972 and the Intercept: "Secret Israeli dossier provides no proof for declaring Palestinian NGOs 'terrorists'." Together with journalists Yuval Avraham and Meron Rappaport, Oren combed through the classified dossier that Israel shared with representatives of European countries in a bid to persuade to end funding for designated Palestinian human rights organizations. Today's article exposes this dossier - which is believed to be the same dossier that Israel just shared with representatives of the U.S. government - as well as hundreds of pages of summaries of interrogations that Israel drew from in formulating the dossier. The journalists conclude: "contrary to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s claims, the dossier did not provide a single piece of evidence proving the six organizations diverted their funds to the PFLP or to violent activities."
See more at www.fmep.org
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Michael Sfard, Israel's preeminent human rights lawyer. Michael offers his insights into the recent designations by Israel of 6 prominent Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations, including: the Israeli government efforts that led to it, why there is such deep skepticism about Israel's claims about evidence incriminating the groups, the way that the "terrorist" label has been rendered almost meaningless by Israel, which applies it to virtually all forms of Palestinian political activity and organizing, the implications of the designations for Palestinian civil society, Israeli civil, and human right defenders worldwide, and prospects for challenging or overturning the designations.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Gaby Lasky, Member of the Israeli Knesset and human rights attorney with extensive experience defending Palestinians in Israeli military courts and working closely with Israeli human rights organizations. Background: In late December, the Israeli government declared six Palestinian human rights groups to be “terror organizations” – a designation that effectively outlaws the groups, criminalizes their work under Israeli law and enables Israel to seize assets, arrest staff, prohibit funding, and punish public expressions of support and solidarity. With this terror designation, the Israeli government has escalated its longtime efforts to crush the Palestinian organizations that document Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and seek to hold Israel accountable. For more on this topic, see FMEP's extensive coverage, "On Israel’s Declaration of Palestinian Human Rights Groups as “Terrorist Organizations."
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al Haq, the preeminent Palestinian human rights organization, which is now directly targeted and threatened by the Israeli government.
On October 22, 2021, the Israeli government declared six Palestinian human rights groups to be “terror organizations” – a designation that effectively outlaws the groups, criminalizes their work under Israeli law and enables Israel to seize assets, arrest staff, prohibit funding, and punish public expressions of support and solidarity. With this terror designation, the Israeli government has escalated its longtime efforts to crush the Palestinian organizations that document Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and seek to hold Israel accountable.
Visit www.fmep.org for full coverage of Israel's declaration of war on Palestinian human rights defenders.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with award-winning Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab about the case of Mohamed Halabi -- a Palestinian employee of World Vision arrested by Israel in 2016 for alleged support for terrorism and held by Israel ever since. Among other things, they discuss: What does the Halabi case teach the world about Israel's politicization/weaponization of terrorism chargers? And what does it say about the ability of Palestinians to receive justice from an Israeli judicial system that is designed to promote the interests of Israel over the rights of Palestinians?
For background, bio, and resources - please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/using-terrorism-charges-to-target-ngos-lessons-from-the-case-of-mohamed-halabi/
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, about Israel's "appalling and unjust " designation of 6 leading Palestinian human rights NGOs as "terrorist organizations," including Israeli actions/policies targeting NGOs that preceded the decision, the implications of the designations for Palestinian human rights, and the role of the international community in granting Israel impunity that has for years enabled, fueled, and legitimized Israel's attacks on human rights defenders.
FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Sarit Michael (Btselem) and Ines Abdel Razek (PIPD) about the Israeli government's announcement that it has declared a list of Palestinian human rights groups to be “terror organization” -- and act that Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard called “a declaration of war on the entire human rights community.”
For bios and more, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/israel-declares-war-on-palestinian-human-rights-defenders/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman and MEI's Khaled Elgindy speak to Danny Seideman (founder/director of Terrestrial Jerusalem) and Yehuda Shaul (founder of Breaking the Silence) -- two of Israel’s foremost experts on the Israeli policies that uphold and expand occupation and dispossession of Palestinians, both of whom are currently visting Washington, DC -- about the new Israeli government and its idea of "shrkinking" the conflict, about ongoing and new developments on the ground in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and about the opportunities and challenges facing the Biden Administration.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Swedish political scientist Dr. Anders Persson about this week's International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, held in Malmö, Sweden. They discuss what happened in Malmö and what this event means in the context of ongoing efforts to achieve the worldwide adoption and enforcement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism -- a definition that explicitly conflates criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism.
Follow Dr. Persson's work: http://dranderspersson.com; on Twitter at @82AndersPersson.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with journalist and activist Basil Adraa and activist and water management expert Natasha Westheimer about the increase in state-backed settler-violence in the South Hebron Hills. Over the last few weeks, both have witnessed and experienced settler and military attacks against Palestinians and solidarity activists. This week, Basil is being targeted by a smear campaign in an effort to undermine his credibility and ability to document human rights abuses.
Basil's most recent articles on +972 Magazine include: "I filmed a settler pogrom. Now the Israeli media is smearing me" and "Scenes from a Jewish pogrom" (co-authored with Yuval Abraham)
Natasha recently published "Opinion: Israel declares war on Palestinian water" (Haaretz)
Basil al-Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills.
Natasha Westheimer is an Australian-American water management specialist and anti-occupation activist based in Jerusalem.
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is the Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
After the Palestinian prisoner escape, Orly Noy - a journalist, translator of Farsi literature into Hebrew, and political and Mizrahi activist - wrote a post on Facebook in which she described the prisoners as freedom fighters and said that “every Palestinian who survives the occupation and persists in continuing to live is a hero. For that post, Orly was temporarily banned from Facebook. Peter Beinart speaks to Orly about the prisoner escape, Mizrahi identity and politics, and solidarity with Palestinians.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
FMEP's Lara Friedman and MEI's Khaled Elgindy speak with Tariq Kenney-Shawa about the Palestinian diaspora, the shifting narrative around Palestine in the U.S., the prospects for change in U.S. politics and policies, how all of this relates to the situation on the ground in Palestine today, and the hopes for achieving Palestinian rights and liberation.
For full bios and additional resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/tariq-kenney-shawa-podcast/
This week marks the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords. In this podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman talks with the Quincy Institute’s Annelle Sheline about the impact of those accords so far, and where the region is headed in the coming period.
featuring Hana Amoury (Activist), Orwa Switat, PhD (Urban Planner), & Rami Younis (Director/Writer)with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP).
This past May, Palestinian citizens of Israel took to the streets to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians under attack in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. As many Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and in the diaspora spoke of a new Palestinian unity, Palestinian demonstrators inside Israel were met with violence from organized gangs of Israeli Jews, leading to clashes that caused many casualties, including deaths. Israeli police not only failed to protect Palestinian citizens of Israel, but in the aftermath of the protests and clashes, police targeted thousands of Palestinian citizens with arrest. Jewish Israeli politicians incited against them and the mainstream media was flooded with articles warning of the end of “coexistence.”
What really happened in May and what has changed since then? How does the narrative of Palestinian integration into Israel - especially into the Israeli economy - relate to those events and their aftermath? How do Palestinian citizens of Israel see their struggles relating to the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and elsewhere? Why did Jewish mobs attack Palestinians in some cities - Lyd, Jaffa, Haifa - but not others? And how does the history and present reality of the Nakba shape Palestinian citizenship in Israel?
Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub
Since the Palestinian Authority’s killing of political activist Nizar Banat in June, Palestinians have been holding protests in Ramallah and other parts of the West Bank. The PA has responded with tear gas, stun grenades, and harassment of human rights defenders and journalists, in what has been described as a “concerted crackdown on freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest.” In recent weeks, dozens of protesters – including prominent human rights activists – were detained by PA security forces. While the detainees have since been released, the crackdown highlights the Palestinian leadership’s diminishing tolerance for dissent as well as a deeper crisis of legitimacy. What’s behind these latest protests as well as the PA’s crackdown against them? What is the relationship between the protests in Ramallah and recent Palestinian popular political mobilizations in Gaza, Jerusalem, and inside the Green Line? And what do these Palestinian initiatives mean for the overarching struggle against ongoing Israeli occupation and dispossession?
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Budour Hassan (JLAC) and Noura Erekat (Rutgers) about Israel’s policy of holding hostage the bodies of slain Palestinians – an issue that has broken through into the news a bit with the continued holding of the body of Ahmad Erekat, and last week with a US Congresswoman, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, tweeting about another case: “Meet Mai Afana's mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing. Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won't release her body to her family.” What is this policy? How does it impact Palestinians? How does Israel justify it? What do Israeli courts and international law say? And what does this policy disclose about the broader dehumanization of Palestinians, both by Israel and by the international community?
For bios are resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/palestinian-bodies-held-hostage-by-israel/
FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to Kerem Navot's Dror Etkes about the appointment of a prominent settler to the number 2 position in the Ministry of the Interior - the ministry that has authority over construction in Israel-controlled parts of the West Bank -- despite the fact that this person lives in an illegal outposts where he built his house illegally (under even Israel law) and despite the fact that for years he led a company devoted to taking Palestinian land in the West Bank. Dror looks at what this appointment, at its approval by Israel's Attorney General, means in terms of Israel rule of law, Israeli policies, and the mainstreaming of the settlers' agenda.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Peter Beinart interviews Yousef Munayyer and Dahlia Scheindlin about the Israeli intelligence firm NSO Group, which leases military-grade surveillance tools to authoritarian regimes around the world. A new investigation revealed a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers that had been targeted by NSO's spyware tools and included human rights advocates, journalists, and world leaders. This week, Yousef published "Exporting the Tools of Apartheid" in Jewish Currents and Dahlia published "Why Israel is more concerned about Ben & Jerry’s than the Pegasus revelations" in the Guardian.
Join FMEP and Palestinian analysts discussing the current state of Palestinian leadership and how Palestinians are contending with multiple layers of authoritarian rule (Israel, the PA, and Hamas). The discussion will address issues including: What are the challenges to Palestinian liberation? What roles - positive and negative - do the Palestinian Authority and Hamas play? What role does Palestinian civil society play in mobilizing against Israel and the PA? What can Palestinian resistance to Israel look like? What is behind Hamas’s rise in popularity since the most recent escalation with Israel? What is the status of the uprising against the PA and how is it part of a larger struggle against occupation, annexation, and apartheid? And how do Palestinians inside of Israel and in the Diaspora - from Lebanon to the U.S. - fit into the puzzle of Palestinian liberation?
With Tareq Baconi (Crisis Group) and Inès Abdel Razek (PIPD), moderated by FMEP’s Lara Friedman.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP's Kristin McCarthy talks to Avner Gvaryahu (Breaking the Silence) about a new collection of testimonies from former Israeli soldiers highlighting the IDF's complicity in settler violence - and the larger system within which Israeli soldiers and settlers operate. You can read the new collection - entitled "On Duty: Settler Violence in the West Bank" - online here: https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/inside/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/OnDuty-Testimonies-En.pdf
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Peter Beinart interviews FMEP President Lara Friedman about the potential blowback Ben & Jerry's faces for their decision to stop selling their products in Jewish settlements in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Lara is an expert in the efforts to exploit U.S. laws (state and federal) and courts to quash criticism and activism challenging Israeli policies, which she has been documenting for years. Her databases are available on www.fmep.org.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Lara Friedman talks to Arab Spring veteran activist Iyad El-Baghdadi about the way forward for Palestinians -- both on the ground in Palestine and in the diaspora.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Full bios available at https://fmep.org/resource/palestine-at-the-intersection-of-regional-global-and-historical-struggles/
From the Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, to Egypt’s Bassem Youssef, to Israel’s Eretz Nehederet, comedy has long played a powerful role in shaping how people think about politics and the world around them, and challenging them to question their own assumptions and the political status quo.
FMEP hosted world-famous Palestinian-American actress, political commentator, disability rights advocate, and Palestinian rights activist Maysoon Zayid; and Israeli former-UN-staffer-turned-comedian Noam Shuster, subject of the recently-released short film by Al Jazeera, Reckoning with Laughter, to discuss the role comedy can play in advancing justice for Palestinians.
Aseel AlBajeh (Al Haq), Dr. Yara Hawari (Al Shabaka), and Mona Shtaya (7amleh)join FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss grassroots protests in the wake of the murder of prominent Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, and the PA’s violent response to those protests.
The discussion touches on questions including: who are the people going out to protest against the PA and what are their demands? What risks do they face in protests? What is behind the PA’s violent response? Where might things go from here? And how is the uprising against the PA part of a larger struggle against occupation, annexation, and apartheid?
Last week, a Palestinian political activist, Nizar Banat, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority and died soon after in their custody. His family accuses the PA of murdering him. Following his death, Palestinians in the West Bank gathered for protests, and the PA responded with violence and repression. According to the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, PA security forces - both in uniform and dressed as civilians - attacked protesters with batons and tear gas, attacked several journalists, and attacked human rights researchers who were monitoring the protests and confiscated their phones. In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews political organizer and activist Fadi Quran about why Palestinians are rising up against the Palestinian Authority.
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, Jessica Montell, Executive Director of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, joins FMEP's Lara Friedman to discuss the ongoing battle to prevent Israel from demolishing the West Bank home of a Palestinian-American mother and her children, as an act of collective punishment for a crime committed by her estranged husband. For more on this story, see: Palestinian mom fights to stave off punitive home demolition (Associated Press, June 7).
Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
featuring Leena Dallasheh (Humboldt State University), Shay Hazkani (University of Maryland), Sherene Seikaly (University of California, Santa Barbara) with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP).
In recent weeks the world’s attention turned to Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods fighting forced displacement from their longtime homes — displacement that, in the eyes of many Palestinians, is part of an ongoing process of dispossession that started in 1948 and continues through the present day. Palestinians call this process of displacement, dispossession, and exile “the Nakba” – Arabic for “the catastrophe” – which refers to the estimated 750,000 Palestinians who were expelled from their homes and lands during the creation of the state of Israel.
For decades, stories of the Nakba – both personal experiences and an historical accounting of facts – have been systematically hidden, discredited, or ignored. Scholars, both Palestinian and non-Palestinian, have struggled to document and establish that history and challenge the denialism and mythologies – like the myths that “the Arabs” intended to “push the Jews into the sea,” that Palestinians left their homes at the behest of Arab armies, or that pre-1948, Arab residents of Palestine had no shared Palestinian identity or real links to the land – that have flourished in its place.
In this context, we have invited three leading scholars of the Nakba to talk about how they approach researching, writing, and teaching this history — and the importance of amplifying personal, individual stories as a critical point of access to understanding nationalism, colonialism, citizenship, and the construction of racial categories in the Middle East.
FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to political, policy, and advocacy strategist Rania Batrice about the changing political landscape in the grassroots and in Congress with respect to Palestine.
For resources and bios, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/podcast-winds-of-change-in-the-grassroots-congress-on-palestine/
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Lara Friedman asks Omar Baddar what it is like to be Palestinian American in U.S. politics, government, and media. They also discuss to what extent the issue of Palestine is undergoing a transformation across these fields, and how the Biden Administration is choosing to navigate these changes.
For bios and more info, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-alienation-of-palestinian-americans-in-u-s-politics-media/
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Lara Friedman speaks with Elizabeth Tsurkov about extremist trends in Israel and how they are manifest in the latest elections and coalition building, in Israeli policies across the Occupied Territories (including Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah), in the violence that swept through “mixed cities” during the recent Gaza War, and in Israel’s relations - and normalization - with authoritarian regime in the region.
For bios and more info, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-extremist-through-line-in-israels-domestic-regional-policies/
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Maha Nassar about changes in the U.S. discourse on Palestine and Israel, shifts in US media that make room for Palestinian voices, and the history and dynamics of Black-Palestinian solidarity.
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” analyst Yousef Munayyer joins FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss the implications of a potential new government in Israel, in which Naftali Bennett would replace Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister and head a coalition that includes the far-right, the so-called center-left and Zionist left, and Ra'am/the United Arab List.
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin is joined by Nareman Shehadeh Zoabi, a social and economic rights attorney working with Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, to discuss Israel's mass arrests and militarized policing targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel who participated in recent protests.
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
Featuring Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine), Ahmed Alnaouq (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor), Lara Friedman (Foundation for Middle East Peace) with Haggai Matar (+972 Magazine)
While the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has provided some respite from two weeks of death and destruction, there is no calm. We are seeing a new round of police aggression in Jerusalem and cities in Israel, with the authorities carrying out arrests of hundreds of Palestinians who participated in protests this past month. The attempts to displace Palestinian families in Jerusalem neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan also continue unabated.
But new opportunities have opened up. The Palestinian popular struggle has re-energized between the river and the sea, in a show of unity that could significantly alter the dynamics on the ground. Meanwhile, in the U.S., cracks in the bipartisan consensus, which had long turned a blind eye to Israel’s sustained dispossession of the Palestinians, are rapidly widening.
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Kristin speaks with Fayrouz Sharqawi of Grassroots Al-Quds to unpack what is happening in Jerusalem and across Palestinian communities in the wake of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
For resources mentioned in this podcast, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/podcast-palestinians-rising-from-jerusalem-to-umm-al-fahm-ft-fayrouz-sharqawi-kristin-mccarthy/
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Professor Sherene Seikaly offers historical framing and comparisons necessary for understanding what’s happening with Palestinians now, from the general strike to the ongoing Nakba to questions of Palestinian leadership.
For full bios, see: fmep.org
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Kristin McCarthy is joined by Salem Barahmeh to discuss the general strike Palestinians across Palestine led on Tuesday, May 18th. Salem Barahmeh is the Executive Director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD).
For bios, please visit: fmep.org
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Nooran Alhamdan about Palestinians in the US, shifts in American politics, where she finds Palestinian leadership, the Nakba, and what gives her hope. Nooran published this recent column in the Washington Post and co-moderated the recent event, "The Palestinian Nakba: What Happened in 1948 and Why It Still Matters" (which FMEP cosponsored).
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
On this episode of "Occupied Thoughts" FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin interviews Widad Assaf, the Legal Coordinator of FMEP partner Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF), about the connections between Palestinians inside of Israel and in Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the diaspora. Widad describes the discrimination, human and civil rights violations, and police violence that Palestinian citizens of Israel face.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks with Sawsan Zaher, the Deputy General Director of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. In this conversation, she describes what the last week has been like for Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have faced enormous violence from Israeli Jews and been incited against by Israeli politicians, misrepresented by Israeli media, and unprotected and targeted by the Israeli police. The High Follow-Up Committee - the highest political body representing Palestinian citizens of Israel - is now urgently calling for international protection for Palestinian citizens.
For full bios and more resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/podcast-on-the-organized-violence-against-palestinian-citizens-of-israel-w-sawsan-zaher-sarah-anne-minkin/
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this edition of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Carol Daniel Kasbari (Middle East Institute) about the the violence today in Israel/Palestine, including both its immediate triggers and its deeper causes linked to the Palestinian experience - on both side of the Green Line - of the Nakba not as a single moment of dispossession and tragedy, but as an ongoing process that continues to this day.
Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub
FMEP hosted a conversation with three Palestinian thought leaders - Ines Abdel Razek, Zaha Hassan, and Nadia Hijab - to discuss what is happening now and reflect on how the events unfolding over the past several weeks speak to the larger story of Palestinian dispossession, Israeli domination, and the international community’s failed approach to resolving the question of Palestine.
The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah is again on center stage this week. Once again, Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah are facing imminent evictions, approved by Israeli courts. And once again, Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah are resisting efforts to remove them from their longtime homes — and they are once again being met with violence and repression from Israeli authorities and settlers.
To discuss this struggle and the dynamics in Jerusalem, and how they are part of a broader struggle against escalating Israeli policies of Palestinian dispossession in Jerusalem and beyond, FMEP President Lara Friedman is joined by Aseel AlBajeh, a legal researcher and advocacy officer at Al Haq, and Budour Hassan, author and journalist.
In this new episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Peter Beinart interviews Zaha Hassan and Daniel Levy about the new Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, "Breaking the Israel-Palestine Status Quo," co-authored with Hallaamal Keir and Marwan Muasher.
The report aims to offer new ways forward, arguing that "[i]nstead of reviving a moribund peace process or simply abandoning U.S. engagement, President Joe Biden’s administration should place a rights-based approach at the center of its strategy."
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this new episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Peter Beinart interviews Sulaiman Khatib and Penina Eilberg-Schwartz about their new book, In This Place Together, which the publisher describes as a “narrative meditation on joint nonviolence, opening a window to the questions of power, multiple narratives, and imagination that touch on struggles for justice everywhere.”
More information at fmep.org
Orinigial music by Jalal Yaqoub
The Middle East Institute (MEI) and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) hosted an eight-part webinar series for members of the House and Senate and Congressional Staff discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. policy. The series is co-moderated by FMEP’s Lara Friedman & MEI’s Khaled Elgindy.
Access the series at FMEP.org
Original "Occupied Thoughts" music by Jalal Yacoub
Ft. Peter Beinart, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Diana Buttu, and Orly Noy.
Last week, Israelis went to the polls for the fourth time in two years to elect a new government. In parallel, Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem are now — for the first time in nearly 15 years — preparing for presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for May and June.
What are the prospects for these elections bringing about real, positive change for either people or an opening to confront Israeli apartheid, annexation, or occupation? In what ways are these elections a distraction that enable the continuation of the current status quo, which includes the increasingly illiberal nature of Israeli politics and society, and the continued authoritarian and unaccountable nature of Palestinian leadership?
More info, including panelist biographies, can be found at fmep.org
“Original ‘Occupied Thoughts’ music by Jalal Yaqoub”
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Peter Beinart interviews Nathan Thrall about Thrall’s new essay in the New York Review of Books, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.” The essay describes a Palestinian father’s search for his son following a bus accident, detailing layers of neglect, danger, and abuse faced by Palestinians living under Israeli control, whether in the Jerusalem, the West Bank, or inside the Green Line.
When Israeli citizens go to the polls on March 23rd, one thing they will be voting on is whether to bring followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane into the Knesset as part of a new party, “Religious Zionism.” The sudden political ascent of the Religious Zionism party was orchestrated by Benjamin Netanyahu in exchange for its support for keeping him in power, leading one Ha’aretz commentator to name him a “lobbyist for the Kahanist party.”
featuring Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine), Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College and author of the forthcoming Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical), Natasha Roth-Rowland (University of Virginia) in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP).
For the resources shared during the webinar, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/18777/
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
Ft. Lara Friedman (FMEP), Ahmad Daraldik (FSU), Dima Khalidi (Palestine Legal) & Sherene Seikaly (UCSB)
For more information, including speaker biographies and a list of resources shared during this conversation, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-ihra-definition-the-fight-against-antisemitism-part-6-implications-and-impacts-of-the-ihra-definition-on-palestinians/
Original music by Jalal Yaqoub
In this new episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews Sawsan Zaher, Deputy Director of Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, about the recent decision by the International Criminal Court that opens the door for investigations into alleged war crimes perpetrated by “members of the Israeli Defense Forces, Israeli authorities, Hamas, and Palestinian armed groups.” Zaher, who has litigated multiple landmark cases before the Israeli Supreme Court on discrimination against Palestinians, offers a primer on Israel/Palestine and the ICC -- what the new decision means, who might face investigation and potential prosecution (with special attention to Benny Gantz and Gaza), and how the different states & leadership - including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the U.S., and others - are responding and why.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews Jerome Slater about his new book, Mythologies Without End: The U.S., Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020. Beginning in the British Mandate, covering the Partition plan, and decades of war and dispossession, the conversation reaches the 21st century negotiations, dynamics, and opportunities.
Peter Beinart speaks to Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor from 2009-2017, about working on Israel, Palestine, and Iran in the Obama Administration. Rhodes draws insights from interactions with different lobby groups, presidential travel to Israel and a memorable meeting with young Palestinians in Ramallah, and talks about navigating the assumption by Israel advocates that Blackness translates into sympathy for Palestinians living under oppression. Beinart and Rhodes end the conversation with a discussion of the Biden administration and Democratic foreign policy advisors' approaches to the IHRA definition of antisemitism and Democrats' longstanding commitment to the concept of the two state solution. Ben Rhodes's new book, After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made, will be out in June 2021.
In the latest episode of "Occupied Thoughts," host Peter Beinart speaks with James Zogby about a regional approach to the conflicts, problems, and politics of the Middle East. Building on Zogby's recent article in The Nation, "Biden Should Think Big in the Middle East," the discussion addresses the interconnected conflicts throughout the Middle East - from the Gulf to Turkey, Yemen to Iran, and Israel/Palestine - and describes the need for and potential of a coordinated international approach.
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart interviews Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick, co-authors of Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics. This wide-ranging discussion covers progressive politics on Palestine & Israel as they are today and as they might become if progressives engage more deeply and consistently with Palestine & Israel. Marc, Mitchell, and Peter talk about policy, history, and the different roles that racial, ethnic, and religious identities and communities play in progressive politics. This conversation is both timely and robust.
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart is joined by Palestinian human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab, who recently published the book “Beyond the Two State Solution.” Kuttab argues that a Palestinian state with no sovereignty or substance cannot deliver freedom or independence and it is time to look beyond the “false mirage of the Two State Solution.” He lays out in detail how a single, shared Palestinian and Jewish state would be structured - from roles in the military to language learning in schools - and how it answers the urgent needs for justice, equality, and security.
In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart is joined by Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, to discuss B’Tselem’s new report, "“A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is Apartheid.” Unlike frameworks that see the state of Israel as separate from the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem argues that there is a single Israeli regime in both the Occupied Territories and Israel: an Apartheid regime, organized to advance one group, Jews, over another, Palestinians.
Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and a CNN Political Commentator.
Hagai El-Ad is the executive director of B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Previously he was director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI, 2008–2014) and the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH, 2000–2006). In 2014, El-Ad was among Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers”. In 2016 and again in 2018, he spoke before the United Nations Security Council calling for international action in order to end the occupation. He lives in Jerusalem and tweets at @HagaiElAd.
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," host Peter Beinart is joined by Palestinian academics Rashid Khalidi and Nadia Abu El-Haj to discuss a recent statement on the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, signed by 122 Palestinian and Arab thought leaders.
Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and a CNN Political Commentator.
Nadia Abu El-Haj is Ann Olin Whitney Professor in the Departments of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, Co-Director of the Center for Palestine Studies, and Chair of the Board of Directors, The Society of Fellows/Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia. The recipient of numerous awards, including from the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner Gren Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Harvard Academy for Area and International Studies, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, she is the author of numerous articles and essays published on topics ranging from the history of archaeology in Palestine to the question of race and genomics today. Abu El-Haj has published two books: Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society (2001), which won the Albert Hourani Annual Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association in 2002, and The Genealogical Science: The Search for Jewish Origins and the Politics of Epistemology (2012). While Abu El-Haj’s two books to date have focused on historical sciences (archaeology, and genetic history), her third book, forthcoming from Verso, considers the post 9/11 wars and contemporary U.S. militarism through an exploration of the complex ethical and political implications of shifting psychiatric and public understandings of the trauma of American soldiers.
Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1970 and a D. Phil. from Oxford University in 1974, and has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, and the University of Chicago. He was President of the Middle East Studies Asociation, is co-editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. He served as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington Arab-Israeli peace negotiations from October 1991 until June 1993. Khalidi is author of eight books, including The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 (2020), and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (rev. ed. 2010), and has co-edited three other books and published over 110 academic articles. He has written op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other newspapers, and has appeared widely on TV and radio in the US and abroad.
The topic today is Israeli settlements, with our focus on Psagot -- a settlement located deep inside the West Bank that according to news reports will enjoy a history-making visit soon from US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. To discuss this visit and Psagot settlement, this episode features Dror Etkes, settlement expert and founder of the organization Kerem Navot, together with Fadi Quran, Campaigns Director at Avaaz, whose family's land was confiscated for Psagot, and Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
On this episode of “Occupied Thoughts” FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ami Ayalon - a retired commander of the Israeli navy, the former head of the Shin Bet (Israel’s top internal security agency), and a former member of the Knesset.
Peter and Ami discuss topics touched on in Ami's newly published memoir - "Friendly Fire: How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy, and the Hope for Its Future."
We are shining FMEP’s spotlight on Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, a necessary and transformative initiative cultivating and elevating the voices of Palestinian experts on policy issues which impact the Palestinian people. Listen to this podcast with Al-Shabaka’s co-founder and Board president, Nadia Hijab, and Senior Policy Fellow, Dr. Yara Hawari.
On this episode of "Occupied Thoughts" FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ghaith al-Omari and Neri Zilber to discuss the end of PA security cooperation with Israel -- including examination of what that cooperation has accomplished, how it has evolved over the years, and what are the context for and implications of the PA ending that cooperation now. Gaith and Neri are co-authors of the report, "State with No Army, Army with No State Evolution of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, 1994–2018."
FMEP Partner Spotlight: +972 Magazine - Independent Journalism from Israel-Palestine by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Alison Carmel about the important work 7amleh is doing in Palestine and Israel to protect the digital rights of Palestinians.
Find out more about 7amleh here: https://fmep.org/resource/grantee-spotligh…-rights-champion
Peter Beinart is joined by Tel Aviv University Professor Yael Sternhell to have a deep and rich conversation about how teaching about the history of race and inequality in the United States leads to important, sometimes explosive, conversations with her students.
FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart discuss a range of issues impacting Palestinian citizens of Israel with the highest ranking woman on the Joint List, MK Aida Touma Sliman.
Peter Beinart is joined by Dima Khalida (Founder and Director of Palestine Legal)to discuss the Trump Administration's recent Executive Order regarding antisemitism on college campuses.
Peter talks to Salem Barahmeh - one of the creators behind a new virtual reality app taking people inside key places in Palestine - about the power of seeing and hearing stories of the Palestinian experience. The two also investigate the trends in political thought of Palestinian youth.
FMEP Non-Resident Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Lior Amihai, Executive Director of Yesh Din, to discuss Israel's ongoing de facto annexation of West Bank land, and the role violent settlers play in advancing that goal.
Occupied Thoughts: What Happened to the Israeli Left? w/ Peter Beinart & Shaqued Morag by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Tania Hary (Gisha) to discuss the reality facing Palestinians living in Gaza, and how Israel's blockade is driven by several goals by the state of Israel to shape the prospects and nature of a future of a Palestinian state.
In this new episode of Occupied Thoughts (recorded 9/20/19) - recorded days after Israel's recent election - Peter Beinart explores the situation of Israel's Bedouin citizens in the Negev. He is joined by Tal Avrech, of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), an Israeli NGO working to achieve full civil rights and equality for all those living Negev/Naqab.
Peter & Lara discuss how Israel-Palestine is playing into the current political discourse across the political spectrum in the United States.
Khaled Elgindy joins the FMEP staff - Lara, Kristin, and Phil - to talk about what comes after the utter collapse of the U.S.-led peace process.
This episode references a recent Foreign Policy article by Khaled Elgindy and Lara Friedman, "The End of Oslo is an Opportunity."
A Civil Discussion About The BDS Movement w/ Peter Beinart & Omar Barghouti by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
Peter Beinart is joined by one of the organizers of the Great March of Return in Gaza, Ahmed Abu Artema, for a discussion of how the march came to be, and what has sustained it for almost one year.
The Shrinking Space for Criticism in Israel w/ Peter Beinart & Omar Shakir by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
Failures of American Peacemaking w/ Peter Beinart & Khaled Elgindy by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart interviews journalist and author Donald Mcintyre about his new book examining the stories, struggles, and futures of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
Peter Beinart and Akiva Eldar discuss the impending charges leveled against Benjamin Netanyahu, the future of Israeli politics, and how the annexation mindset has taken over Israeli lawmaking.
HUMAN RIGHTS - Peter Beinart interviews Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard by Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
In the first episode of the Foundation for Middle East Peace’s new podcast, “Occupied Thoughts: Israel, Palestine & Peace,” Peter Beinart and Danny Seidemann discuss the current on-the-ground realities of Jerusalem – the epicenter of a religious, regional, and domestic conflict. Jerusalem is the most volatile “final status” issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the stark reality of Jerusalem’s divisions and the status of its Palestinian residents has huge implications for what is possible (and not) for a future agreement. Listen to Beinart & Seidemann discuss and debate the temperature on the streets, the peace initiative of President Trump, the meaning of “Zionism,” the one-state versus two-state debate, and BDS.
Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also Associate Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributor to The Atlantic and National Journal, a Senior Columnist at The Forward, and a CNN Political Commentator. You can follow Peter on Twitter @PeterBeinart.
Danny Seidemann is the diplomatic world’s go-to expert on all things Jerusalem. He is an lawyer who has argued before the Israeli Supreme Court, a legendary tour guide of Jerusalem’s geopolitical terrain, and has briefed all the foreign diplomats you could possibly name. Danny is the founder and director of Terrestrial Jerusalem which tracks developments in Jerusalem that could impact either the political process or permanent status options, destabilize the city or spark violence, or create a humanitarian crisis. You can follow Danny on Twitter @DanielSeidemann.
Music: Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing. Used with permission. http://www.latcheswing.fr/