VOMENA at KPFA

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Voices of the Middle East and North Africa is a weekly program hosted by Malihe Razazan and Mira Nabulsi. It explores the richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa through a complex web of class, gender, ethnic, religious and regional differences. Voices of the Middle East and North Africa airs on KPFA radio, 94.1 FM, in Berkeley, CA. Online on kpfa.org or subscribe to iTunes.

KPFA: Voices of the Middle East and North Africa


    • Jun 27, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 57m AVG DURATION
    • 189 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from VOMENA at KPFA

    Are Israel and Hezbollah on the brink of an all-out war?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2024 58:03


    Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are at all-time high. Israel and Lebenese Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8 the, when Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza, but the conflict between the two archenemies escalated after one of Hezbollah's most senior commanders was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, on June 11the. Hezbollah retaliated by launching a large volley of rockets and attack drones at Israel. Concurrently, both sides have stepped up their rhetoric. Are Israel and Hezbollah on the brink of an all-out war? What will the implications of such a war be for Lebanon, Israel and the region? And what is the nexus between Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and Israel's colonization of Palestine and its ongoing genocidal war in Gaza? Shahram Aghamir put these questions to Karim Makdisi. He is an associate Professor of international politics and founding director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut – Professor Makdisi is also the co-host of Makdisi Street podcast

    Hossam el-Hamalawy on Egypt's role in Israel's war on Gaza

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 46:38


    Hossam el-Hamalawy on Egypt's role in Israel's war on Gaza by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Students face backlash for supporting Palestinian rights, Stage reading of Woman Life Freedom

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2023 57:58


    Students face backlash for supporting Palestinian rights, Stage reading of Woman Life Freedom by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    What does it take to end the war on the Palestinians in Gaza?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2023 58:01


    What does it take to end the war on the Palestinians in Gaza? by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Gaza: Besieged since 2007, now under Israel's “total blockade”

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2023 57:58


    Gaza: Besieged since 2007, now under Israel's “total blockade” by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    American Anthropologist Association voted in favour of boycotting Israeli academic institutions

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2023 57:58


    American Anthropologist Association voted in favour of boycotting Israeli academic institutions by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Making sense of the devastating floods in Libya

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2023 38:47


    Making sense of the devastating floods in Libya by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Israeli' assault on Jenin refugee camp & 'Sinbad Voyage' mural in Berkeley

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2023 58:01


    Israeli' assault on Jenin refugee camp & 'Sinbad Voyage' mural in Berkeley by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Prof Natalie Koch explores the relationship between Arizona and Saudi Arabia in "Arid Empire"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2023 92:18


    In recent months, Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Almarai dairy Company has been getting renewed attention for growing alfalfa in drought-prone Arizona, and sending it to Saudi Arabia to feed the country's cows. Despite a worsening drought, several factors including Political influence and lack of regulations have allowed the company to draw an unlimited amount of groundwater from the wells it operates in the area. According to the Associated Press, the two new wells would have pumped in just three minutes what a family of four uses in a month. Why did Saudi Arabia choose Arizona for its crop production? In her new book Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arabia and Arizona. University of Syracuse political geographer professor Natalie Koch explores the exchange of colonial technologies between the Arabian Peninsula and the United States over the last two centuries,

    Professor Cihan Tugal on the outcome of the general election in Turkey

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2023 58:31


    On May 28th, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected for a third term by winning 52% of the popular vote- His main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu garnered 48%. Two weeks earlier, the right wing islamist-nationalist coalition consisting of Erdogan's rullingJustice and development party AKP and its allies had won the majority in the parliamentary election. we spend the hour discussing how and why Erdogan was able to secure a third term in office despite a worsening economy and now chronic hyperinflation, the government's disastrous response to the deadly earthquakes, as well as his increasingly authoritarian rule. What happened? In his new article in the new left review, our today's guest, UC Berkeley sociologist Cihan Tugal writes “There are obvious institutional reasons for the resilience of Erdoğanism. The government has spent years monopolizing the mainstream media and judiciary. Prisons are overflowing with activists, journalists and politicians. The Kurdish opposition, the only truly organized non-right-wing force in the country, has seen its democratically elected mayors replaced with state-appointed officials, who have consolidated the government's rule over the eastern and southeastern provinces. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. The regime's endurance is not simply a result of its authoritarianism; its popularity runs much deeper than that. Shahram Aghamir spoke with professor Tugal about the outcome of the recent general election in turkey

    Part 1- Professor Kahlid Medani discusses the root cause of the ongoing crisis in Sudan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2023 58:18


    Part 1- Professor Kahlid Medani discusses the root cause of the ongoing crisis in Sudan by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Why did the US invade Iraq, 20 years ago? A conversation with Sinan Antoon+Omar Sirri

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2023 58:03


    Why did the US invade Iraq, 20 years ago? A conversation with Sinan Antoon+Omar Sirri by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Ilan Pappe on the latest developments in Israel

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2023 58:04


    Ilan Pappe on the latest developments in Israel by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Cihan Tuğal on the earthquakes in Turkey & why they were so destructive

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2023 49:17


    Guest: Cihan tugal, professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author The Fall of the Turkish Model: How the Arab Uprisings Brought Down Islamic Liberalism, and Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism

    The Islamization of the eduction system in Iran, following the 1979 revolution

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2023 58:02


    Guest: shahrazad Mojab, professor of Adult Education and Community Development and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto Her most recent books are Marxism & Migration; Women of Kurdistan: A Historical and Bibliographical Study; and Revolutionary Learning: Marxism, Feminism and Knowledge.

    From Mali to Dubai: The United Arab Emirates & African gold

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2023 58:00


    Guest: Bruce Whitehouse, associate professor of anthropology at Lehigh University

    The political and economic crisis in Lebanon

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2023 58:00


    Guest: Rayan El- Amine, activist and scholar

    Ilan Pappe on Israel's new government, Laura Albast on the media coverage of Palestine

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2023 58:02


    Ilan Pappe on Israel's new government, Laura Albast on the media coverage of Palestine by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    The plight of imprisoned environmentalists in Iran & refugees in Europe

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2023 58:00


    The plight of imprisoned environmentalists in Iran & refugees in Europe by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    What explains the dangerous levels of air pollution In Iran's main cities?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2023 28:26


    What explains the dangerous levels of air pollution In Iran's main cities? by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Political prisoners in Iran & Amir Rashidi discusses internet restrictions in Iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 58:00


    Political prisoners in Iran & Amir Rashidi discusses internet restrictions in Iran by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    The toxic legacies of the U.S. war in Iraq: A conversation with Kali Rubaii

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2023 57:56


    The toxic legacies of the U.S. war in Iraq: A conversation with Kali Rubaii by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Reactions to Iran's Soccer team at the FIFA World Cup amid anti-government protests in Iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2022 57:47


    History of student movement in Iran- Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2022 57:37


    History of student movement in Iran- Part 2 by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    history iran kpfa student movement
    History of student protest movement in Iran ( part 1) & climate justice and human righs

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2022 58:04


    Guests Dr Kaveh Abbasian, former student activist, filmmaker, researcher, and lecturer in Film and Media Practice at the University of Kent in Britain Hamza Hamouchene, London-based Algerian researcher-activist, commentator and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), and Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA). He previously worked for War on Want, Global Justice Now and Platform London on issues of extractivism, resources, land and food sovereignty as well as climate, environmental, and trade justice.

    protests and internet censorship in Iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2022 58:11


    Guest: Amir Rashidi, the director of digital rights and security at Miaan Group

    COP27 shines spotlight on human rights abuses in Egypt

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2022 58:01


    Guest: Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist, photographer and socialist activist

    examining the current protests in iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2022 58:00


    Guest: Nima Tootkaboni is a former student activist, and a Ph.D. student in sociology at the Johns Hopkins University

    nationwide protests continue in Iran - What is next?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2022 58:00


    nationwide protests continue in Iran - What is next? by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Women, Life, Freedom. Women are leading Iran protests

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2022 40:34


    Women, Life, Freedom. Women are leading Iran protests by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Year of the Locust: A Soldier's Diary and the Erasure of Palestine's Ottoman Past

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2022 58:11


    Victors write history, as the old cliché goes. Over the past 5 centuries, European powers have fanned out across the world, conquering entire continents and writing self-serving accounts of those conquests while diminishing the merits of the conquered civilizations in order to justify their own depredations. Palestine has been no exception to that rule. Today we speak with Professor Salim Tamari, a Palestinian historian based in Ramallah, whose trailblazing work has illuminated the history of Palestine and the Levant prior to British and Zionist occupations from a perspective that is largely absent from western narratives. More specifically, we discuss his book The Year of the Locust, an eloquent chronicle of the transition period that saw the end of the Ottoman empire in the Levant and the arrival of western occupiers through the revealing lens of a rare personal diary kept by a young soldier fighting in the ranks of the Ottoman army. Guest: Salim Tamari, Salim Tamari is IPS senior fellow and the former director of the IPS-affiliated Institute of Jerusalem Studies. He is editor of Jerusalem Quarterly and Hawliyyat al Quds.

    Neda semnani tells the story of her parents in"They Said They Wanted Revolution"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2022 57:38


    Neda semnani tells the story of her parents in"They Said They Wanted Revolution" by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    France, a Settler Postcolony? A conversation with professor Olivia Harrison

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022 47:33


    France, a Settler Postcolony? A conversation with professor Olivia Harrison by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Laura Albast on the US media coverage of Palestine

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022 25:08


    we speak with Palestinian-American journalist and media analyst Laura Albast about coverage of Palestine in the US media- In a recent Washington Post Op-Ed, she argues that By neglecting to contextualize Israeli state violence, the media has given the Israeli government a free pass, enabling it to continue ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people with impunity. It is time for outlets to address the harm they have done. They should make an effort to hire Palestinian journalists and center Palestinian voices, instead of consistently erasing them from their own stories. The endless footage of documented violence against Palestinians should not remain confined to social media feeds (which face a different form of censorship). Read her op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/28/jerusalem-al-aqsa-media-coverage-israeli-violence-palestinians/

    Neda semnani on "They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022 58:11


    we speak with award winning journalist and author Neda Toloui semnani about her new book, "They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents." Neda Touli Semnani's father was executed by the Iranian regime in January of 1983, when she was only 3 years old, Neda was just thirty when she lost her mother to cancer, the other half of her Iranian revolutionary bloodline. In the wake of her mother's death, she embarks on a journey to uncover the hidden truths in her parents' life before their marriage and their impact as leftist political activists- Neda has pieced together the extraordinary life of her parents in her new book, "They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents." Neda Toloui-Semnani is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer -

    May 06 2022: The New Documentary "Boycott" and Media Coverage of Palestine

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2022 58:14


    **Boycott, is screened on this year's DocLands on Sunday, May 8 at 4 PM at SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER in San Rafael- For more information please visit, doclands.com** The freedom to refuse to buy a product at any time from anyone you want, which has historically been used by oppressed minorities throughout the world, witness the bus boycotts of the 50s, the grape boycotts of the 60s or the anti-Apartheid campaign of the 80s, is now at the heart of the struggle for Palestinian rights. The new documentary film "Boycott," examines the heroic plight of three individual Americans in three different states who rejected the dictate of anti-BDS laws surreptitiously passed by 31 states of the union, challenged that ban in court and prevailed in the head. BOYCOTT chronicles the stories of three everyday Americans -- a speech pathologist, a public defender, and a newspaper publisher -- who take the extraordinary step of suing their states after new laws require them to sign a pledge saying they won't participate in boycotts of Israel in order to receive a government contract. VOMENA's Khalil Bendib spoke with the film's producer Suhad Babaa. Palestinian American journalist Laura Albast says the media must stop giving reign to Israeli aggression & begin telling the full story of Palestine. Recently- Ms Albast and Cat Knar coauthored an opinion piece in the Washington Post on the biased & inaccurate coverage of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine- they write, we have seen the same patterns over and over again in media coverage of Palestine. Palestinians are not killed; we simply die. When Israeli forces raid our neighborhoods in the middle of the night, bomb our children, demolish our homes, colonize our land and kill our people, we are somehow equal instigators. Media descriptions regularly imply a false symmetry between occupier and occupied, propping up anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic narratives that blame the Palestinian people for Israeli aggression.” Malihe Razazan spoke with Laura about the media coverage of Palestine in the US media and Why the media fails to cover Palestine with accuracy and empathy. Laura Albast, a Palestinian American journalist and translator, is senior editor of digital strategy and communications at the Institute for Palestine Studies-USA.

    April 8, 2022: Samia Errazouki on Morocco's Summit with Israel

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2022 58:05


    In a bold and historic step backwards for the cause of peace in the Middle East last Sunday, Morocco was one of four Arab countries meeting in a special summit with Israel and the US. Although distant Iran was central to the discussions held during this meeting, the central issue of Palestine never broached during this summit, which took place in the heart of historic Palestine. Khalil spoke with Samia Errazouki, a journalist formerly based in Morocco and a PhD candidate in early modern Northwest African history at UC Davis, about Morocco's participation in this summit and what might be motivating the Moroccan regime to go against the wishes of its own people,

    March 9, 2022- Amany Khalifa on forced evictions and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 40:54


    March 9, 2022- Amany Khalifa on forced evictions and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Feb 18, 2022 VOMENA- Dr. Utku Balaban on industrialization and 'Islamic revivalism' in Turkey

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 58:10


    Feb 18, 2022 VOMENA- Dr. Utku Balaban on industrialization and 'Islamic revivalism' in Turkey by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    April 1, 2022: The Troubling Developments in Tunisia and a Commemoration of Palestinian Land Day

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2022 57:50


    Today Tunisian president Kaies Saied dissolved the parliament after parliament members challenged the autocratic powers he has exercised since his self-coup last July. Last Wednesday, lawmakers held an online meeting, defying Mr. Saied's warning that the session was illegal, and a majority voted against his power grab, which they said violated the country's Constitution. Elected in a landslide in 2019, the president has been ruling by decree since July, jailing opponents, suspending parts of the Constitution, dismissing the Supreme Judicial Council and restricting press freedom. Khalil Bendib spoke with our Tunisian correspondent Mohammed-Dhia Hemmami about the current political situation in Tunis. To commemorate Palestinian Land Day, an annual event dating back to March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during protests against the Israeli government's expropriation of large tracts of Palestinian land for Jewish settlers, we also bring back a 2014 conversation with UC Berkeley Professor Samera Esmair about the return of some of the Palestinian refugees to their village Kafr Bir`im, located in northern Palestine in the Galilee, whose residents were expelled in 1948. Mohamed-Dhia Hammami is an independent researcher and analyst and a PhD Student at Syracuse University. Samera Esmeir is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley.

    VOMENA March 25, 2022: "Determined to Stay" and Bias in Ukraine Coverage

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2022 54:06


    This week, we speak with Jody Sokolower about her new book Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village. Later in the program, Madhdis Keshavarz of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association joins us to talk about the organization's recent statement in response to the biased coverage of the Ukraine crisis.

    February 11, 2022: Natasha Iskandar on Migrant workers in Qatar Pt.2

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2022 57:56


    The second part of our conversation with Natasha Iskandar about migrant labor and the World Cup in Qatar.

    Green Energy and Colonialism in North Africa

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2022 57:51


    We discuss green energy and its relationship to colonialism in North Africa with Hamza Hamochin

    February 4, 2022: Natasha Iskandar on migrant workers in Qatar

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2022 58:02


    February 4, 2022: Natasha Iskandar on migrant workers in Qatar by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Jan 12 2022 VOMENA- Desmond Tutu's solidarity with Palestine and political prisoners in Iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2022 57:52


    Jan 12 2022 VOMENA- Desmond Tutu's solidarity with Palestine and political prisoners in Iran by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021- Mona Halaby's ''In My Mother's Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home''

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2021 57:52


    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021- Mona Halaby's ''In My Mother's Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home'' by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021-- Mohamed-Dhia Hammami on the latest political developments in Tunisia

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2021 35:37


    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021-- Mohamed-Dhia Hammami on the latest political developments in Tunisia by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021-- elections in Libya

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2021 42:37


    VOMENA Dec 20, 2021-- elections in Libya by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    VOMENA Nov 17 2021- Megan Mylan's SIMPLE AS WATER doc and Laila Lalami's Conditional Citizens

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2021 58:04


    VOMENA Nov 17 2021- Megan Mylan's SIMPLE AS WATER doc and Laila Lalami's Conditional Citizens by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    vomena nov 15, 2021- the protests against the coup in Sudan- part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2021 58:27


    vomena nov 15, 2021- the protests against the coup in Sudan- part 2 by VOMENA Team at KPFA

    Nov 3, 2021- The military coup in Sudan- part 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2021 58:01


    Last month, a military coup took place in the Sudan, barely two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled the country for 30 years with an iron grip with the support of the military and Sudanese Islamists. The 2019 protest movement was not able to exclude the military from national politics entirely. In August of that year, a power sharing arrangement was reached among the military leaders, a coalition of groups and organizations called the Forces for Freedom and Change and a joint ruling body, named the sovereign Council, which was established to govern the Sudan for a little over three years until elections could be held. Following last month's overthrow, coup leader, Gen Burhan, declared the dissolution of the Sovereign Council as well as that of the transitional government of Prime Minister Hamdok. Meanwhile, across the Sudan, millions of people have engaged in protests, acts of civil disobedience and strikes to denounce the military's power grab at the peril of their lives. GUESTS Khalid Medani is an associate professor of political science and Islamic studies at McGill University and author of the new book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa. In this book, Khalid Mustafa Medani explains why youth are attracted to militant organizations, examining the specific role economic globalization, in the form of outmigration and expatriate remittance inflows, plays in determining how and why militant activists emerge. The study challenges existing accounts that rely primarily on ideology to explain militant recruitment. Based on extensive fieldwork, Medani offers an in-depth analysis of the impact of globalization, neoliberal reforms and informal economic networks as a conduit for the rise and evolution of moderate and militant Islamist movement Elsadig Elsheikh is the Director of the Global Justice Program at the Othering & Belonging Institute, where he oversees the program's projects on corporate power, food systems, forced migration, inclusiveness index, Islamophobia, and human rights mechanisms; and manages the Shahidi Project, and the Nile Project.

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