Podcasts about First Intifada

Maoz Inon lost his parents on October 7th. They were in their safe room, 200 meters from the Gaza border wall, when Hamas came. Aziz Abu Sarah lost his brother — the person who raised him — after he was tortured in an Israeli prison during the First Intifada. Two days after October 7th, Aziz wrote Maoz a letter. Maoz wrote back. That exchange became a friendship, a journey across the Holy Land, and now a New York Times bestselling book: "The Future Is Peace." This is not a polemic. It is not a policy paper. It is an invitation — to sit with grief that belongs to both sides, to doubt the narratives handed to you, and to imagine that the conflict will end. Because, as Maoz says, it will. The only question is when and how many more lives are lost before it does. Yonit and Jonathan talk with them about Hamas, religious extremism, on what peace would actually look like, on whether Israelis have any reason to trust again.    Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/0nJ3q4kvVPs ⏱ CHAPTERS: [00:00] Intro — who are Aziz and Maoz? [00:47] Maoz: the last phone call with his parents on October 7th [02:57] Aziz: losing a brother who was his parent [04:34] The kind of people Maoz's parents were [08:12] Aziz reaches out — what the letter said [09:47] Why Aziz wanted to learn Hebrew [14:23] Are they the minority? How do you make peace mainstream? [16:36] What would peace actually look like? [20:18] Yonit pushes: what about Hamas, what about religion? [24:44] The travelogue — hospitals, holy sites, and shared grief [26:38] Do Israelis and Palestinians have to give up their narratives? [33:27] What do Aziz and Maoz still disagree on? [38:48] Closing — the book, the journey, the invitation

In this episode, Richard Pater speaks with Samer Sinijlawi about Palestinian politics. Sinijlawi outlines why he believes the recent Palestinian local elections were so significant and what the results reveal about public frustration with both Hamas and President Abbas. He outlines why reform is long overdue and must begin with a new democratic mandate. They also discuss Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, the need to rebuild Israeli-Palestinian trust. Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. Born in the Old City of Jerusalem, he became politically active during the First Intifada and later emerged as a leading voice calling for Palestinian reform, democracy, and renewed engagement between Palestinian and Israeli moderates.

Former political prisoner Mahmoud al-Arda was first arrested by Israeli occupation forces in 1992 due to his involvement in the First Intifada and his membership in Islamic Jihad. Since then, for the past three decades, al-Arda has been incarcerated in different Israeli prisons, and he made international headlines in 2021 after leading a daring, successful, but short-lived escape from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison. In this blockbuster episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa—a former Black Panther and political prisoner in the US—speaks with al-Arda after he and 2,000 other Palestinian prisoners were finally released from incarceration in Israel in 2025.Additional Links/InfoB'Tselem, Statistics on Palestinians in Israeli CustodyB'Tselem, “Welcome to Hell”: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps (Report)Mansa Musa, TRNN, “Inside Israel's Prison Regime”Ruwaida Amer, Electronic Intifada, “Freedom is the eternal dream”Aseel Mousa, Middle East Eye, “Jailbreak, freedom, exile: Life of Mahmoud al-Arda, architect of daring Israeli prison escape”Credits Videography: Ruwaida Amer, Cameron GranadinoProducer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoVoiceover: Danny Bou-MarounBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Former political prisoner Mahmoud al-Arda was first arrested by Israeli occupation forces in 1992 due to his involvement in the First Intifada and his membership in Islamic Jihad. Since then, for the past three decades, al-Arda has been incarcerated in different Israeli prisons, and he made international headlines in 2021 after leading a daring, successful, but short-lived escape from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison. In this blockbuster episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa—a former Black Panther and political prisoner in the US—speaks with al-Arda after he and 2,000 other Palestinian prisoners were finally released from incarceration in Israel in 2025.Additional Links/InfoB'Tselem, Statistics on Palestinians in Israeli CustodyB'Tselem, “Welcome to Hell”: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps (Report)Mansa Musa, TRNN, “Inside Israel's Prison Regime”Ruwaida Amer, Electronic Intifada, “Freedom is the eternal dream”Aseel Mousa, Middle East Eye, “Jailbreak, freedom, exile: Life of Mahmoud al-Arda, architect of daring Israeli prison escape”Credits Videography: Ruwaida Amer, Cameron GranadinoProducer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoVoiceover: Danny Bou-MarounBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rattling-the-bars--4799829/support.Follow Rattling the Bars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer

In this special episode, host Manya Brachear Pashman welcomes a co-host: her 11-year-old son, Max. Together, they sit down with Emmy-winning CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga to discuss her new novel, Don't Feed the Lion. Co-written with Yonit Levy, the book tackles the viral contagion of antisemitism in schools.  From the pressure of being the only Jewish kid in class to the stress of Bar Mitzvah prep, this multi-generational conversation explores the void in modern education and the power of empathy. A rare, heartwarming, and urgent bridge between the newsroom and the classroom, this discussion is a must-listen for parents, educators, and anyone looking to understand the next generation's fight against hate. A Note to Our Listeners: As we head into 2026, People of the Pod will be taking a pause. After eight years of sharing your stories, we are contemplating our next chapter. Thank you for being part of this journey. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC. Key Resources: AJC's Center for Education Advocacy Confronting Antisemitism In Our Schools: A Toolkit for Parents of Jewish K-12 Students FAQs for Parents of K-12 Jewish Students Listen – AJC Podcasts: Architects of Peace The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: Manya Brachear Pashman: Bianna Golodryga is an Emmy award winning news anchor for CNN, who has reported extensively on the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She is a mother and she is now a published novelist. Co-written with leading Israeli news anchor Yonit Levy, Don't Feed the Lion is about how the rise of antisemitism affects Theo, his sister Annie, and their friends Gabe and Connor, all students in a Chicago middle school,  and it was written with middle schoolers in mind.  Bianna is with us now to discuss the book, along with my co-anchor this week, my son Max, a middle schooler who read the book as well and has a few questions of his own. I will let Max do the honors. Max Pashman: Bianna, welcome to People of the Pod. Bianna Golodryga: Well, it is a joy to be with you Manya, and especially you, Max. We wrote the book for you, for you and your peers especially. So really excited to hear your thoughts on the book. Manya Brachear Pashman: Well, I want to know, Bianna, what prompted you to write this book? Was it the mother in you or the journalist or a little bit of both? Bianna Golodryga: It was definitely a little bit of both. It was the mother in me, initially, where the idea was first launched and the seed planted even before October 7. You know, sadly, antisemitism has been with us for millennia, but I never thought that I would be having these conversations with my own kids in the city, with the largest Jewish community and population outside of Israel. But you'll recall that there were a few high profile antisemitic social media posts and controversies surrounding Kanye West and then Kyrie Irving, who's a famous NBA player at the time, and my son, who was 10 at the time, a huge sports fan, and was very upset about the fact that not only were these comments made and these posts made, but there was really no accountability for them. There was no consequence. Ultimately, Kyrie Irving was suspended for a few games, but there was just a deluge of news surrounding this. People apologizing for him, but not him apologizing for himself. So my son asked as we were on our way to a basketball game to watch Kyrie play. Asked, why do they hate us? Can I not even go to the game? Does he not want me there? And I really was dumbfounded. I didn't know how to respond. And I said, you know, I don't have the answer for that, but I'm going to reach out to your school, because I'm sure this is something that they're addressing and dealing with and have the resources for.  This was after the murder of George Floyd, and so we had already witnessed all of the investments, thankfully, into resources for our kids, and conversations, both at schools and the workforce, about racism, how to deal with racism, how to spot and identify it, other forms of hate. And I just assumed that that would include antisemitism. But when I reached out to the school and asked, you know, what are they doing on antisemitism, the response stunned me. I mean, it's basically nothing. And so as I said, the seed was planted that we really need to do something about this. There's a real void here. And then, of course, when the attacks of October 7 happened, you know, Yonit and I were on the phone and messaging every single day right after.  And it was pretty quick, maybe two weeks later, when, you know, we'd already started seeing an uptick in antisemitism around the world and here in the US and New York as well, where we said, you know, we have to do something. And I said, I think we should write this book. We should write the book we couldn't find, that I couldn't find at the time. Because I did a bit of research, and there were really no books like this for this particular age group. Max Pashman: It was kind of answered in your other answer to the first question, but when I first read the book, I started wondering whether the incidents described in the book, were they taken from your experiences, or was it a realistic fiction book? Bianna Golodryga: I would say the inspiration for the athlete came from real life events. You know, I am a big sports fan as well, and I grew up watching basketball, and I have a lot of admiration for so many of these players, and I actually believe in redemption. And so people say things and they make mistakes, and I don't believe in purity tests. If people say things that are wrong, I think they have a right to apologize for it, make up for it. I don't like canceling people. We learn from our mistakes. We grow from our mistakes. No one's perfect. I think it's just more about accountability for all of us.  And so the idea came about, yes, from real life, but you know, this is a soccer player in our book. I don't feel that he's very remorseful, even though ultimately he does have a quasi-apology. But you know, it's the impact that it has on society and fans and those who support him, especially like your age and my son's age, I think those are really the ones who hurt the most. Manya Brachear Pashman: Yeah, the impressionable minds. I mean, I thought the book did a lovely job of illustrating just how impressionable these young minds were, and then also how viral this was. I mean, once the celebrity athlete said his comments, what it unleashed. And, you know, you don't get into any violence. There's one incident that is rough, but brief, but it's, you know, the swastika painted on the locker, a rock through a window, but it's just that viral spread. I mean, was that your intent, to kind of illustrate this slow contagion? Bianna Golodryga: Yes, I think our kids are subject to so much more information than we were as kids and teenagers their age as well. You know, every society has had to deal with their challenges, and every generation has as well. And as we've said, antisemitism has been with us for millennia, but when you compound that with social media and the dangers. There's so many great things about social media. We have access to so much information, but then when you throw in disinformation, misinformation, you know, things going viral, news spreading, how much time people spend on social media sites and the influence that they succumb to by sometimes bad actors. So the book is not for antisemites, but I think what the book relays is what we've noticed, and sort of our theory, is that antisemitism has been somewhat accepted as part of society for far too long, and it's never been elevated to the level of urgency that other forms of hate has been. So I mentioned racism and post-George Floyd.  I would think that if that much attention had been put into antisemitism as well, that people, especially children and those at school, would understand the gravity of antisemitism, and you know how much danger can be created from people who espouse antisemitic views and, you know, draw swastikas because they think it's funny, or they don't think it's such a big deal because they don't spend time talking about it, and they don't understand so much hate and so much pain that's behind these symbols. That's behind these words. And you know, we are such a small minority that so many times it's Jews that feel like they have to carry the weight and the burden of other people's actions, even if they don't mean to be as hurtful and as vile as some of this language is. So you said impressionable. That is why we are targeting this age group specifically, because it's such a magical age group. Kids Max's age, and my son's age, anywhere between nine and 15. They're very impressionable, but they still communicate with their families, their parents. They talk at dinner tables.  They may not have social media accounts, but they are very well aware of what's going on in the world, and are very curious, and have access to so much good and bad. And so by not having this conversation at that age, you know, we're doing them a disservice, and I think we're doing ourselves a disservice as adults by not addressing these problems in this particular issue of antisemitism head on. Manya Brachear Pashman: I'm curious, once you identified that void in the school's curriculum and strategies for addressing prejudice, did they do anything to address that and to repair that void? I know a lot of Jewish parents are finding that really the burden falls on them to address these things in a very reactive manner. Not proactive. And I'm just curious what the situation ended up being at your school. Bianna Golodryga: I think we're starting, you know, without focusing as much on my school, because I feel that it's pretty obvious that that was status quo for many schools, not just in New York, but across the country, that you would have books and resources and materials on Hanukkah and Jewish holidays for kindergartners. And then some of the older kids in high school are introduced to the Holocaust. And some of these more challenging topics in areas in Jewish history to cover, and then the story sort of ends there. I don't know if it's because people are worried about conflating the Middle East and the conflict there with antisemitism, but there's a huge void, and it's something again, if you're 2% of the population and you are the victim of 70% according to the FBI, of all religious based violence, then there's a big problem. And the fact that that's not identified or discussed in schools, to us was just not acceptable. And so I think it's sort of a cop out to say no, it's because of the war. It's because of this. Antisemitism morphs and comes in different waves, and fortunately, I didn't experience much of it growing up. But that doesn't mean that, you know, it's not going to rear its ugly head again, and it has, and that was before the attacks of October 7.  We obviously had the Tree of Life shooting. We had so many incidents around the world in the First Intifada, the Second Intifada, you know, dating before that, I don't remember growing up without security outside of my synagogue, or, you know, any Jewish institution. This is the best country in the world, but we've sort of come to accept that. And now, you know, we're at a place where I don't necessarily feel comfortable walking into a Jewish house of worship or institution without security. So we really, I think, wanted to send a message that these are conversations we should have been having for a long time now, and the best way to start it is with our kids, because, like Max, they have so many questions, and they also have so much empathy. Max Pashman: You mentioned your son being your main inspiration for it. Has he read the book? Bianna Golodryga: Oh, yes, I was the most nervous, and Yonit has three kids too, so we were the most nervous about appealing to them. It wasn't our editor or anybody else, our spouses, or even people in the industry that we cared about more than our kids, because we knew their reaction would really set the tone for you know kids like yourselves, and you're not a monolith.  I know some kids like a certain book and some kids don't, but we wanted to make sure to write this book so it didn't feel like homework, so it didn't feel like you were forced to read it at school. And we wanted you to be able to identify with the characters and the story and find it really interesting, and oh, by the way, it just so happens to deal with the subject that we haven't really touched upon yet. So yes, my son really liked it. Both my kids really liked it. Manya Brachear Pashman: Would you agree, Max, that it didn't feel like homework? Max Pashman: Yeah, it felt like, well, a good book feels like, kind of like watching a movie, because it gives you enough details to the point where you can visualize the characters and kind of see what's going on. And that's also one of the reasons I like books more than movies, because it allows you to use your imagination to build the characters a little bit.  But a good book doesn't just leave you with a general outline of what you want. It will give you the full picture, and then you can build most of the picture, and you can build off that with your mind. And I felt that it really did not feel like something that you were forced to read, because that's a lot less interesting. Bianna Golodryga: Well, that is the best review one could get, honestly, Max. And I can tell you you like a good book, and you're a voracious reader, and I agree with you 99.9% of the time, the book will always be better than the movie because of that detail, because of using your imagination. And so we wanted this to be a story that appealed to boys, girls, parents. You know, kids. It was very hard for us to say, Oh, here's our target audience, because we really wanted it to be an experience for every generation and for every position in life, from, you know, again, a kid, a parent, a teacher, a principal, a coach, grandparents. Manya Brachear Pashman: You know, it's interesting. You mentioned generations, and you mentioned being a Soviet refugee, and clearly you're outspoken about antisemitism. You're raising your children to be outspoken about antisemitism. What about your parents? How did they address antisemitism, or the form of antisemitism that they experienced?  Bianna Golodryga: Yeah, I mean, as I said, we were so, I was so fortunate. I was like a piece of luggage. It was my parents who were courageous enough to decide to move to this country as Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, where antisemitism was institutionalized. I mean, it was from top down. I mean, that was a mandated policy. And so my parents knew they didn't have a future. I didn't have a future in the Soviet Union. And so, of course, their dream was to come to the United States, and it was still the best decision they've ever made, and the best, you know, place I could have been raised. As I said, I was very fortunate to not really experience antisemitism as a kid. And mind you, I was the only Jewish student for many years at my first school, and we were the only Jewish family in our neighborhood for many years.  Ultimately, my parents moved more into the center of the town and we always went to synagogue, so we were always around Jewish people and families, but the majority of my, especially early childhood friends, were not Jewish. And I have to say, for me, learning about antisemitism, it was more of a history lesson as to, like, why we left a certain country and why you can come to America and you're not identified as a Jew, by your race or religion. You're an American. I'm an American Jew.  And you know, that's just not how people were identified in the Soviet Union, that that was their race. I mean, my birth certificate said Jew. My parents' library card said Jew. There were quotas and getting into good schools.And the types of jobs they could get. So for me, it was sort of backward looking, even knowing that, yes, antisemitism still exists, but it's sort of controlled. You know, once in a while we would have a bomb threat at our synagogue, and again, there were always police officers out there. And I noticed that was a difference from my friends' churches, because what ended up being sort of a beautiful tradition that my parents didn't intend to do, it just so happened to be the case that when I would have friends spend the night at my house, or I would spend a night at their house, sometimes they would come to Shabbat services with us, and I would go to church with them.  And so for many of their congregants, I was the first Jewish person they'd ever seen. I was welcomed with open arms. But for you know, coming to my services, you know, it was the first time they'd been to a Jewish house of worship, and it was a very, very meaningful, I think, a great learning opportunity. But yeah, for me growing up, it wasn't a top priority. It wasn't top of mind just because I knew that I was an American Jew, and that was, that was who I was here. And it was only, you know, the last few years where I realized, you know, this is not something to be taken for granted. Max Pashman: I can definitely relate to being the only Jewish person in my class, because all through elementary school, there were no other Jewish kids in my grade. But as soon as I entered middle school, I met a few other kids who were Jewish. Who I've actually become very good friends with, and it's just like a lot more diversity. BIANNA; Yeah, that's great. I mean, I remember when I was in elementary school and it, you know, all the and we were trying to express this point too in the book, especially with Theo that, you know, so many kids at that age just want to be like everyone else. They don't want to stand out. And if you're the only Jewish kid you know on your soccer team, and all of a sudden you have practice or games right before Shabbat dinner, you know you're feeling the pressure, and you don't want to be excluded from your friends' activities after or have to keep reminding your coach, and it's incumbent on your coach and the adults in your life and who are not Jewish, to honor that, to respect that. To say, hey, we're going to move practice a little early, or, Hey, you know Theo, Max, I know you have Shabbat dinner, so we're going to, we're going to work on these, you know exercises 30 minutes before . . . you know, just to acknowledge that you are valued and you are respected. And that doesn't mean that everyone else's schedule needs to change because of yours, but it definitely doesn't mean that you have to walk on eggshells or feel like you're left out or stand out or different for all the wrong reasons because you have other responsibilities and plans. So for me, I remember as a kid, I was the only Jewish student in my elementary school, for the first elementary school I went to, and I remember leaving for winter break, and, you know, our principal getting on the intercom the loudspeaker, and wishing everyone, you know, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Bianna. And I was like, Oh no, you know, I don't want to be excluded. And it wasn't out of malevolence, like it was just, I want to include. But at that point, I already had a funny last name. My parents had accents. I was from the Soviet Union, which was the enemy at the time, so I definitely stood out for a number of reasons. And on top of that, you know, I celebrate a different holiday. So yes, you know, we learn and grow from it, but we can remember, like I still remember it. Manya Brachear Pashman: The title of the book is, Don't Feed the Lion. And the book does get into that adage and what it means, don't take the bait, don't engage. That's how I interpreted it. But some would argue that it was not feeding the lion for a large portion of the book, you know, staying silent that really exacerbated the problem, or or you referring more to the more to the unproductive social media banter? Bianna Golodryga: Well, I think it's, you know, our message was that it shouldn't fall on the kids to do what's right, and that kids know what's right, and innately, I mean, in their gut, like I said that there's empathy. Most kids, you know when you've hurt someone else's feelings. You know when something makes you feel sad. But what we do, especially as children, as we're still learning, is we take cues from the adults in our lives, so if the adults aren't responding to what that initial reaction you have, that gut instinct is, then you start to question, well, maybe, maybe it wasn't a big deal. Or, you know, maybe the swastika isn't, you know, we'll just cover it up. Or, you know, why should we all suffer and have our team not play in the finals, just because of this one thing. And, oh, he didn't take it so personally. It's fine. And the principal then putting the pressure on Theo. Okay, I'm happy to write this report, but you know what it's going to generate and, and so ultimately, you know, you have the coach, and you have others who come around to, okay, no, we've got to step up and do the right thing.  But our biggest concern was for too long. And you know, we know of this in real life instances, for our from our own friends and family members, that the burden falls on the kids, on the students, who then have to deal with the ramifications, whether it's the victim of antisemitic attacks or slurs or those that are delivering them, because maybe they don't think it's that big of a deal, because they haven't had conversations like this, they don't know how much that hurts somebody's feelings. They don't know the backstory or the history behind what that symbol means.  So it was more on, yes, don't feed into your insecurity. Don't feed into the hate. You know, address it head on, but it's a two-way street, you know, as much as Theo should have, you know, and he realizes that he can learn from others around him, like his sister and Gabe, to do what's right and say what's right, it really is the adults that should have been the ones in the first place doing that. Max Pashman: Because in the book, you see Principal Connolly kind of pushing Theo to just like, say, oh, it's not a big deal, and to cover it up because of a sports team. And he wants the sports team to do well. Bianna Golodryga: Yes, and all the paperwork that this is going to involve now, and, you know, all of the sudden it's almost like it's Theo's fault, that he was victimized. Max Pashman: And he's kind of pushing, he's saying it's your choice Theo, and then kind of starting to make the decision for him. Bianna Golodryga: Right. So it really wasn't even Theo's choice, because he was playing mind games with Theo. And it took a lot of courage for Theo to even call for that meeting, right? So I'm so glad you picked up on that Max. But again, instances similar to that, you know, happen in real life that I know of, people close to me. And so we just want to, again, through fiction, through a really good story, make clear to people that this is not okay. Manya Brachear Pashman: So are you hoping that schools will pick up this book and use it as a resource, as a tool? Bianna Golodryga: For sure. I mean, that is our ultimate goal. I think it should be in every single school, library. You know, I see absolutely no reason why this would ever be deemed a controversial book or something. You know, we've had conversations with a number of Jewish organizations about maybe perhaps providing some supplementals for the book that can be added for class conversations around the book from teachers and others.  But Yonit and I went and we spoke at a couple of schools, and speaking to kids, it was just so eye opening to know that there is a need for this that they are so eager to have these conversations that, you know, it's as much for Jewish students as it is for non-Jewish students, if not even more so. You know, Jewish students feel that they can be finally heard, but non-Jewish students and allies can truly understand what it feels like, and can have conversations about what to do to avoid certain situations preemptively, you know, avoid or if they've seen certain situations, or know about, how to respond. Manya Brachear Pashman: And I do appreciate the statement that the book makes about allies. Those are, those are strong characters in the book. Bianna Golodryga: We can't do it alone. Yeah, we didn't want to throw away character. We didn't want just an ally. Everyone has their own stories and no one really knows what's truly going on in someone's home life and in their head and their heart and in their reality. So any day, anytime, any day, our favorite characters would change. You know, don't ask Yonit and me who our favorite characters are, because we love them all. Manya Brachear Pashman: And add Middle School hormones to the mix, and you've got, you've got quite the drama. Bianna Golodryga: Exactly, and crushes and Bar Mitzvah prep and a lot of stress. Manya Brachear Pashman: A lot of stress, a lot of stress, well, and that, he just heaved a heavy sigh, because he's just, you reminded him of his own bar mitzvah preparation. Bianna Golodryga: Well, you will see that it's a magical experience. Max, worth all the work, definitely. Manya Brachear Pashman: Well, Bianna, thank you so much for joining us. Bianna Golodryga: Thank you. I loved this conversation. I'm so glad that you liked the book, Max. Max Pashman: Thank you. Manya Brachear Pashman: So Max, you and I haven't really had a conversation since we both finished this book. We kind of went into the conversation with Bianna cold. I do want to know which character you identified with the most. Max Pashman:  I really related to Theo with his stress over his Bar Mitzvah and the stress of having a little sister, which I know very, very well. Manya Brachear Pashman:  And why Theo, besides having the annoying sister, why did you relate to him? Max Pashman:  Because, I guess the stress of having a Bar Mitzvah in middle school and kind of being the only kid in your, the only Jewish kid in your class,  Manya Brachear Pashman:  Well, you have a few. Max Pashman:  A few, but not a lot. Manya Brachear Pashman:  Did you realize before you read this book that the swastika, that spidery looking symbol, was as evil as it is? Max Pashman:  No. Well, yes, going into this book, I did know, but actually I figured it out in other books, allowing me to digress. I read Linked by Gordon Corman about this boy who finds a swastika in his school, and then figures out that he is Jewish, and then swastikas start showing up around town. He comes up with a plan with his friends to stop it, and it changes points of view, kind of like, Don't feed the Lion.  Manya Brachear Pashman: Okay. Max Pashman:  Very similar book. But what really helped me realize, I realized the meaning and terror of the the swastika was Prisoner B3087 by Alan Gratz, about this 10 year old boy who is alive right before the Holocaust, and he is taken to multiple, to 10 different prison camps throughout the course of the Holocaust before his camp is liberated by American soldiers. Manya Brachear Pashman:  Was that assigned reading? Or how did you come across that book? Max Pashman:  I was actually sitting in the library, just waiting for you to get to the library, because after school. Manya Brachear Pashman:  Alright, was there anything in particular that drew you to that book? Max Pashman:  I was just looking on the shelves because that was a summer reading book. So I was just like, Okay, I guess I'll read it, because we're supposed to read some. And I read, like most of them, and it was just there on the shelf. And I decided this looks really interesting, and I picked it up and I read it, and it really had a deeper meaning than I expected it to. Manya Brachear Pashman:  Excellent. You recommended Linked to me. I have not finished reading it yet. The Gordon Corman book. Would you recommend it to anyone else in your class? Or would you recommend Don't Feed the Lion? Max Pashman:  I would definitely recommend it. They're both great books. They're actually very similar. I'm not sure they would read it, though.  Manya Brachear Pashman:  Why not?  Max Pashman:  Not a lot of kids in my class are big readers. Manya Brachear Pashman:  Do you fear that they wouldn't be interested in the subject?  Max Pashman:  I mean, I don't really know, because I don't know what goes on in their heads, and I don't want to put words in their mouth, put thoughts in their head, or decide what they would like for them, so I don't know. Manya Brachear Pashman: That's fair. Okay. Well, good to talk with you.  Max Pashman:  It was great talking with you.  Manya Brachear Pashman: It was fun co-hosting. Happy 2026. We wish all of you a peaceful year ahead with time to pause and reflect. On behalf of the AJC podcast team. We thank you for listening over the past eight years, and we thank everyone who has joined us as a guest during that time as well. What a privilege to share your voices and your stories. People of the Pod will be taking our own peaceful pause in 2026 to contemplate how we can best serve our audience.  In the meantime, please continue to listen and share our limited series, The Forgotten Exodus and Architects of Peace, and we'd love to hear from you at podcasts@ajc.org. __ Thank you for listening. This episode is brought to you by AJC. Our producer is Atara Lakritz. Our sound engineer is TK Broderick. You can subscribe to People of the Pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, or learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod.    

THE HORROR OF OCTOBER 7 AND THE ORIGINS OF HAMAS Colleague Seth Frantzman. Seth Frantzmanrecounts his harrowing experience on the evening of October 7, discovering a body on the road to Gaza, symbolizing the chaos of the initial invasion. The conversation shifts to the historical origins of Hamas, founded by Ahmed Yassin during the First Intifada as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Frantzman describes Hamas as evolving from a religious movement into a "terrorist mafia" known for internal brutality and killing collaborators. Key figures like Yahya Sinwarare discussed, noting his release from Israeli prison during the 2011 Gilad Shalit exchange. OCTOBER 7 WAR BY SETH FRANTZMAN NUMBER 11850 MASADA

On the 38th anniversary of the First Intifada, a re-release of our episode on that revolutionary time period that transformed Palestinian society through both spontaneous revolt and the mass organization of a sustained uprising.

In this episode, Joe Williams speaks to historian Anne Irfan about her new book, A Short History of the Gaza Strip (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Drawing on more than a decade of research, Irfan traces the political, social, and humanitarian history of Gaza from 1948 to the present, situating the territory's current devastation within a much longer trajectory of displacement, occupation, and international governance. The book examines six key junctures in Gaza's modern history — from the mass refugee influx of 1948 and the Egyptian administration, through decades of Israeli occupation, the First Intifada, the Oslo process, and the rise of Hamas. Irfan also addresses the contemporary crisis, including the 2023–25 assault and the international legal debates surrounding it. Throughout the conversation, Irfan reflects on the role of historians in documenting ongoing violence, the impact of practically permanent displacement, and the need for historically grounded public understanding. Her work offers a concise but rigorously contextualised account of Gaza, illuminating both the structural forces that have shaped life in the Strip and the human experiences at its centre. Joe WilliamsHistory PhD researcher at the University of Coimbra and translator (website)- Censorship and Sacralisation of Politics in the Portuguese Press during the Spanish Civil War- "Year X of the National Revolution" — Salazarist Palingenetic Myth in the Diário da Manhã Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In this episode, Joe Williams speaks to historian Anne Irfan about her new book, A Short History of the Gaza Strip (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Drawing on more than a decade of research, Irfan traces the political, social, and humanitarian history of Gaza from 1948 to the present, situating the territory's current devastation within a much longer trajectory of displacement, occupation, and international governance. The book examines six key junctures in Gaza's modern history — from the mass refugee influx of 1948 and the Egyptian administration, through decades of Israeli occupation, the First Intifada, the Oslo process, and the rise of Hamas. Irfan also addresses the contemporary crisis, including the 2023–25 assault and the international legal debates surrounding it. Throughout the conversation, Irfan reflects on the role of historians in documenting ongoing violence, the impact of practically permanent displacement, and the need for historically grounded public understanding. Her work offers a concise but rigorously contextualised account of Gaza, illuminating both the structural forces that have shaped life in the Strip and the human experiences at its centre. Joe WilliamsHistory PhD researcher at the University of Coimbra and translator (website)- Censorship and Sacralisation of Politics in the Portuguese Press during the Spanish Civil War- "Year X of the National Revolution" — Salazarist Palingenetic Myth in the Diário da Manhã Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this episode, Joe Williams speaks to historian Anne Irfan about her new book, A Short History of the Gaza Strip (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Drawing on more than a decade of research, Irfan traces the political, social, and humanitarian history of Gaza from 1948 to the present, situating the territory's current devastation within a much longer trajectory of displacement, occupation, and international governance. The book examines six key junctures in Gaza's modern history — from the mass refugee influx of 1948 and the Egyptian administration, through decades of Israeli occupation, the First Intifada, the Oslo process, and the rise of Hamas. Irfan also addresses the contemporary crisis, including the 2023–25 assault and the international legal debates surrounding it. Throughout the conversation, Irfan reflects on the role of historians in documenting ongoing violence, the impact of practically permanent displacement, and the need for historically grounded public understanding. Her work offers a concise but rigorously contextualised account of Gaza, illuminating both the structural forces that have shaped life in the Strip and the human experiences at its centre. Joe WilliamsHistory PhD researcher at the University of Coimbra and translator (website)- Censorship and Sacralisation of Politics in the Portuguese Press during the Spanish Civil War- "Year X of the National Revolution" — Salazarist Palingenetic Myth in the Diário da Manhã Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

In this episode, Joe Williams speaks to historian Anne Irfan about her new book, A Short History of the Gaza Strip (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Drawing on more than a decade of research, Irfan traces the political, social, and humanitarian history of Gaza from 1948 to the present, situating the territory's current devastation within a much longer trajectory of displacement, occupation, and international governance. The book examines six key junctures in Gaza's modern history — from the mass refugee influx of 1948 and the Egyptian administration, through decades of Israeli occupation, the First Intifada, the Oslo process, and the rise of Hamas. Irfan also addresses the contemporary crisis, including the 2023–25 assault and the international legal debates surrounding it. Throughout the conversation, Irfan reflects on the role of historians in documenting ongoing violence, the impact of practically permanent displacement, and the need for historically grounded public understanding. Her work offers a concise but rigorously contextualised account of Gaza, illuminating both the structural forces that have shaped life in the Strip and the human experiences at its centre. Joe WilliamsHistory PhD researcher at the University of Coimbra and translator (website)- Censorship and Sacralisation of Politics in the Portuguese Press during the Spanish Civil War- "Year X of the National Revolution" — Salazarist Palingenetic Myth in the Diário da Manhã Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

Gilbert Achcar, Emeritus Professor at SOAS, University of London, discusses his latest book, The Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective (2025), while also analysing the violence and scope of Israel's response to 7 October 2023, to include the clearly stated genocidal intention by Israeli leaders. Covering how the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) started to flatten Gaza with 1-tonne bombs dropped on urban settings with the end goal of killing tens of thousands of people with no regard for civilian lives, Achcar notes how the Israeli government seized the opportunity of 7 October in order to effect its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Historicising the US-Israel relationship, Achcar chronicles how Israel did not always have a strategic alliance with the United States, but that this alliance grew sharply in the mid-1960s just as the US was losing ground in the Middle East due to the rise of Arab nationalism and Israel's blow to Egypt and Syria during the Six-Day War. Achcar examines the deterioration of Israel's image on the international stage from its invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the First Intifada in 1987, the Second Intifada in the 2000s, and 7 October 2023, while he elucidates how the Zionist movement has resorted to the instrumentalisation of the Holocaust and false accusations of antisemitism to deflect criticisms of its genocidal actions. Get full access to Savage Minds at savageminds.substack.com/subscribe

Listen to the first episode of AJC's new limited podcast series, Architects of Peace. Go behind the scenes of the decades-long diplomacy and quiet negotiations that made the Abraham Accords possible, bringing Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Morocco, together in historic peace agreements.   Jason Isaacson, AJC Chief of Policy and Political Affairs, explains the complex Middle East landscape before the Accords and how behind-the-scenes efforts helped foster the dialogue that continues to shape the region today. Resources: Episode Transcript AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace - Tune in weekly for new episodes. The Abraham Accords, Explained AJC.org/CNME - Find more on AJC's Center for a New Middle East Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow Architects of Peace on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace You can reach us at: podcasts@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript: Jason Isaacson: It has become clear to me in my travels in the region over the decades that more and more people across the Arab world understood the game, and they knew that this false narrative – that Jews are not legitimately there, and that somehow we have to focus all of our energy in the Arab world on combating this evil interloper – it's nonsense. And it's becoming increasingly clear that, in fact, Israel can be a partner. Manya Brachear Pashman: In September 2020, the world saw what had been years – decades – in the making: landmark peace agreements dubbed the Abraham Accords -- normalizing relations between Israel and two Arabian Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain.  Later in December, they were joined by the Kingdom of Morocco. Five years later, AJC is pulling back the curtain to meet key individuals who built the trust that led to these breakthroughs. Introducing: the Architects of Peace. Manya Brachear Pashman: On the eve of the signing of the Abraham Accords, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson found himself traveling to the end of a tree filled winding road in McLean, Virginia, to sip tea on the back terrace with Bahraini Ambassador Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. Jason Isaacson: Sitting in the backyard of the Bahraini ambassador's house with Dr. Al Zayani, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain and with Shaikh Abdulla, the ambassador, and hearing what was about to happen the next day on the South Lawn of the White House was a thrilling moment. And really, in many ways, just a validation of the work that AJC has been doing for many years–before I came to the organization, and the time that I've spent with AJC since the early 90s.  This possibility of Israel's true integration in the region, Israel's cooperation and peace with its neighbors, with all of its neighbors – this was clearly the threshold that we were standing on. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you're wondering how Jason ended up sipping tea in such esteemed company the night before his hosts made history, wonder no more. Here's the story. Yitzchak Shamir: The people of Israel look to this palace with great anticipation and expectation. We pray that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Middle East; that it will signal the end of hostility, violence, terror, and war; that it will bring dialogue, accommodation, co-existence, and above all, peace. Manya Brachear Pashman: That was Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir speaking in October 1991 at the historic Madrid Peace Conference -- the first time Israel and Arab delegations engaged in direct talks toward peace. It had taken 43 years to reach this point – 43 years since the historic United Nations Resolution that created separate Jewish and Arab states – a resolution Jewish leaders accepted, but Arab states scorned. Not even 24 hours after Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria attacked the new Jewish state, which fought back mightily and expanded its territory. The result? A deep-seated distrust among Israel, its neighboring nations, and some of the Arab residents living within Israel's newly formed borders. Though many Palestinian Arabs stayed, comprising over 20 percent of Israel's population today, hundreds of thousands of others left or were displaced. Meanwhile, in reaction to the rebirth of the Jewish state, and over the following two decades, Jewish communities long established in Arab states faced hardship and attacks, forcing Jews by the hundreds of thousands to flee. Israel's War of Independence set off a series of wars with neighboring nations, terrorist attacks, and massacres. Peace in the region saw more than a few false starts, with one rare exception.  In 1979, after the historic visit to Israel by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, he and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin joined President Jimmy Carter for negotiations at Camp David and signed a peace treaty that for the next 15 years, remained the only formal agreement between Israel and an Arab state. In fact, it was denounced uniformly across the Arab world.  But 1991 introduced dramatic geopolitical shifts. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which had severed relations with Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967, diminished its ability to back Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In the USSR's final months, it re-established diplomatic relations with Israel but left behind a regional power vacuum that extremists started to fill. Meanwhile, most Arab states, including Syria, joined the successful U.S.-led coalition against Saddam Hussein that liberated Kuwait, solidifying American supremacy in the region and around the world. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which claimed to represent the world's Palestinians, supported Iraq and Libya.  Seizing an opportunity, the U.S. and the enfeebled but still relevant Soviet Union invited to Madrid a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, along with delegations from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Israel. Just four months before that Madrid meeting, Jason Isaacson had left his job on Capitol Hill to work for the American Jewish Committee. At that time, AJC published a magazine titled Commentary, enabling Jason to travel to the historic summit with media credentials and hang out with the press pool. Jason Isaacson: It was very clear in just normal conversations with these young Arab journalists who I was spending some time with, that there was the possibility of an openness that I had not realized existed. There was a possibility of kind of a sense of common concerns about the region, that was kind of refreshing and was sort of running counter to the narratives that have dominated conversations in that part of the world for so long.  And it gave me the sense that by expanding the circle of relationships that I was just starting with in Madrid, we might be able to make some progress. We might be able to find some partners with whom AJC could develop a real relationship. Manya Brachear Pashman: AJC had already begun to build ties in the region in the 1950s, visiting Arab countries like Morocco and Tunisia, which had sizable Jewish populations. The rise in Arab nationalism in Tunisia and rebirth of Israel eventually led to an exodus that depleted the Jewish community there. Emigration depleted Morocco's Jewish community as well.  Jason Isaacson: To say that somehow this is not the native land of the Jewish people is just flying in the face of the reality. And yet, that was the propaganda line that was pushed out across the region. Of course, Madrid opened a lot of people's eyes. But that wasn't enough. More had to be done. There were very serious efforts made by the U.S. government, Israeli diplomats, Israeli businesspeople, and my organization, which played a very active role in trying to introduce people to the reality that they would benefit from this relationship with Israel.  So it was pushing back against decades of propaganda and lies. And that was one of the roles that we assigned to ourselves and have continued to play. Manya Brachear Pashman: No real negotiations took place at the Madrid Conference, rather it opened conversations that unfolded in Moscow, in Washington, and behind closed doors in secret locations around the world. Progress quickened under Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In addition to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, reached in 1994, secret talks in Norway between Israel and PLO resulted in the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements signed in 1993 and 1995 that ended the First Intifada after six years of violence, and laid out a five-year timeline for achieving a two-state solution. Extremists tried to derail the process. A Jewish extremist assassinated Rabin in 1995. And a new terror group  launched a series of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Formed during the First Intifada, these terrorists became stars of the Second. They called themselves Hamas. AP News Report: [sirens] [in Hebrew] Don't linger, don't linger. Manya Brachear Pashman: On March 27, 2002, Hamas sent a suicide bomber into an Israeli hotel where 250 guests had just been seated for a Passover Seder. He killed 30 people and injured 140 more. The day after the deadliest suicide attack in Israel's history, the Arab League, a coalition of 22 Arab nations in the Middle East and Africa, unveiled what it called the Arab Peace Initiative – a road map offering wide scale normalization of relations with Israel, but with an ultimatum: No expansion of Arab-Israeli relations until the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 armistice lines and a so-called right of return for Palestinians who left and their descendants.   As the Second Intifada continued to take civilian lives, the Israeli army soon launched Operation Defensive Shield to secure the West Bank and parts of Gaza. It was a period of high tension, conflict, and distrust. But behind the scenes, Jason and AJC were forging ahead, building bridges, and encountering an openness in Arab capitals that belied the ultimatum.  Jason Isaacson: It has become clear to me in my travels in the region over the decades that more and more people across the Arab world understood the game, and they knew that that this false narrative that Jews are not legitimately there, and that somehow we have to focus all of our energy in the Arab world on combating this evil interloper – it's nonsense. And it's becoming increasingly clear that, in fact, Israel can be a partner of Arab countries. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason led delegations of Jewish leaders to Arab capitals, oversaw visits by Arab leaders to Israel, and cultivated relationships of strategic and political consequence with governments and civil society leaders across North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. In 2009, King Mohammed VI of Morocco bestowed on him the honor of Chevalier of the Order of the Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco. Jason's priority was nurturing one key element missing from Arab-Israeli relations. An element that for decades had been absent in most Middle East peace negotiations: trust.   Jason Isaacson: Nothing is more important than developing trust. Trust and goodwill are, if not synonymous, are so closely linked. Yes, a lot of these discussions that AJC's been engaged in over many years have been all about, not only developing a set of contacts we can turn to when there's a crisis or when we need answers to questions or when we need to pass a message along to a government. But also, develop a sense that we all want the same thing and we trust each other. That if someone is prepared to take certain risks to advance the prospect of peace, which will involve risk, which will involve vulnerability. That a neighbor who might have demonstrated in not-so-distant past animosity and hostility toward Israel can be trusted to take a different course. Manya Brachear Pashman: A number of Israeli diplomats and businesspeople also worked toward that goal. While certain diplomatic channels in the intelligence and security spheres stayed open out of necessity – other diplomats and businesspeople with dual citizenship traveled across the region, quietly breaking down barriers, starting conversations, and building trust.  Jason Isaacson: I would run into people in Arab capitals from time to time, who were fulfilling that function, and traveling with different passports that they had legitimately, because they were from those countries. It was just a handful of people in governments that would necessarily know that they were there. So yes, if that sounds like cloak and dagger, it's kind of a cloak and dagger operation, a way for people to maintain a relationship and build a relationship until the society is ready to accept the reality that it will be in their country's best interest to have that relationship. Manya Brachear Pashman: Privately, behind the scenes, signs emerged that some Arab leaders understood the role that Jews have played in the region's history for millennia and the possibilities that would exist if Muslims and Jews could restore some of the faith and friendship of bygone years.  Jason Isaacson: I remember sitting with King Mohammed the VI of Morocco just weeks after his ascension to the throne, so going back more than a quarter century, and hearing him talk with me and AJC colleagues about the 600,000 subjects that he had in Israel. Of course, these were Jews, Israelis of Moroccan descent, who are in the hundreds of thousands. But the sense that these countries really have a common history. Manya Brachear Pashman: Common history, yes. Common goals, too. And not for nothing, a common enemy. The same extremist forces that have been bent on Israel's destruction have not only disrupted Israeli-Arab peace, they've prevented the Palestinian people from thriving in a state of their own and now threaten the security and stability of the entire region. Jason Isaacson:  We are hopeful that in partnership with those in the Arab world who feel the same way about the need to push back against extremism, including the extremism promoted, promulgated, funded, armed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, that we can have enough of a network of supportive players in the Arab world, in the West. Working with Israel and working with Palestinian partners who are interested in the same future. A real future, a politically free future, where we can actually make some progress. And that's an ongoing effort. This is a point that we made consistently over many years: if you want to help the Palestinian people–and we want to help the Palestinian people–but if you, fill in the blank Arab government official, your country wants to help the Palestinian people, you're not helping them by pretending that Israel doesn't exist.  You're not helping them by isolating Israel, by making Israel a pariah in the minds of your people. You will actually have leverage with Israel, and you'll help the Palestinians when they're sitting at a negotiating table across from the Israelis. If you engage Israel, if you have access to the Israeli officials and they have a stake in your being on their side on certain things and working together on certain common issues. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason says more and more Arab leaders are realizing, with some frustration, that isolating Israel is a losing proposition for all the parties involved. It has not helped the Palestinian people. It has not kept extremism at bay. And it has not helped their own countries and their own citizens prosper. In fact, the limitations that isolating Israel imposes have caused many countries to lag behind the tiny Jewish state. Jason Isaacson: I think there was just this sense of how far back we have fallen, how much ground we have to make up. We need to break out of the old mindset and try something different. But that before the Abraham Accords, they were saying it in the years leading up to the Abraham Accords, with increasing frustration for the failure of Palestinian leadership to seize opportunities that had been held out to them. But frankly, also contributing, I think, to this was this insistence on isolating themselves from a naturally synergistic relationship with a neighboring state right next door that could contribute to the welfare of their societies. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense, and it denied them the ability to move forward. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason remembers the first time he heard an Arab official utter the words out loud – expressing a willingness, daresay desire, to partner with Israel. Jason Isaacson: It took a long time, but I could see in 2016, 17, 18, 19, this growing awareness, and finally hearing it actually spoken out loud in one particular conference that I remember going to in 2018 in Bahrain, by a senior official from an Arab country. It took a long time for that lesson to penetrate, but it's absolutely the case. Manya Brachear Pashman: In 2019, Bahrain hosted an economic summit where the Trump administration presented its "Peace to Prosperity" plan, a $50 billion investment proposal to create jobs and improve the lives of Palestinians while also promoting regional peace and security. Palestinians rejected the plan outright and refused to attend. Bahrain invited Israeli media to cover the summit. That September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, AJC presented its inaugural Architect of Peace Award to the Kingdom of Bahrain's chief diplomat for nearly 20 years. Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, told Jason that it was important to learn the lessons of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and late Jordanian King Hussein, both of whom signed peace treaties with Israel. He also explained the reason why Bahrain invited Israeli media.  Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa: President Anwar Sadat did it, he broke a huge barrier. He was a man of war, he was the leader of a country that went to war or two with Israel. But then he knew that at the right moment he would want to go straight to Israeli and talk to them. We fulfilled also something that we've always wanted to do, we've discussed it many times: talking to the Israeli public through the Israeli media.  Why not talk to the people? They wake up every day, they have their breakfast watching their own TV channels, they read their own papers, they read their own media, they form their own opinion.    Absolutely nobody should shy away from talking to the media. We are trying to get our point across. In order to convince. How will you do it? There is no language of silence. You'll have to talk and you'll have to remove all those barriers and with that, trust can be built. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason had spent decades building that trust and the year to come yielded clear results. In May and June 2020, UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh and UAE Minister of State Dr. Anwar Gargash both participated in AJC webinars to openly discuss cooperation with Israel – a topic once considered taboo.  So when the Abraham Accords were signed a few months later, for Jason and AJC colleagues who had been on this long journey for peace, it was a natural progression. Though no less dramatic.  Sitting with Minister Al Khalifa's successor, Dr. Al Zayani, and the Bahraini ambassador on the evening before the White House ceremony, it was time to drink a toast to a new chapter of history in the region. Jason Isaacson: I don't think that that would have been possible had there not been decades of contacts that had been made by many people. Roving Israeli diplomats and Israeli business people, usually operating, in fact, maybe always operating with passports from other countries, traveling across the region. And frankly, our work and the work of a limited number of other people who were in non-governmental positions. Some journalists, authors, scholars, business people, and we certainly did a great deal of this over decades, would speak with leaders in these countries and influential people who are not government officials. And opening up their minds to the possibility of the advantages that would accrue to their societies by engaging Israel and by better understanding the Jewish people and who we are, what we care about, who we are not.  Because there was, of course, a great deal of decades, I should say, centuries and millennia, of misapprehensions and lies about the Jewish people. So clearing away that baggage was a very important part of the work that we did, and I believe that others did as well. We weren't surprised. We were pleased. We applauded the Trump administration, the President and his team, for making this enormous progress on advancing regional security and peace, prosperity. We are now hoping that we can build on those achievements of 2020 going forward and expanding fully the integration of Israel into its neighborhood. Manya Brachear Pashman: Next episode, we hear how the first Trump administration developed its Middle East policy and take listeners behind the scenes of the high stakes negotiations that yielded the Abraham Accords.  Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jason Isaacson, Jon Schweitzer, Sean Savage, and the entire AJC team for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to Architects of Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at podcasts@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us. ___ Music Credits: Middle East : ID: 279780040; Composer: Eric Sutherland Middle East Violin: ID: 277189507; Composer: Andy Warner Frontiers: ID: 183925100; Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI); Composer: Pete Checkley (BMI) Middle East Tension: ID: 45925627 Arabic Ambient: ID: 186923328; Publisher: Victor Romanov; Composer: Victor Romanov Arabian Strings: ID: 72249988; Publisher: EITAN EPSTEIN; Composer: EITAN EPSTEIN Inspired Middle East: ID: 241884108; Composer: iCENTURY Middle East Dramatic Intense: ID: 23619101; Publisher: GRS Records; Composer: Satria Petir Mystical Middle East: ID: 212471911; Composer: Vicher    

In this week's Conflicted Community episode we're joined by Dr. Alick Isaacs, a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and co-founder of Siach Shalom. Siach Shalom is am initiative that brings people from all walks of Israeli and wider Middle Eastern society—religious and secular, left and right—together to foster deep listening and dialogue. This conversation explores Dr. Isaacs' personal journey, from his upbringing as a religious Jew in the UK to his military service in Israel during the First Intifada, before exploring how his profound and sometimes difficult experiences shaped his commitment to peace and led him to a deeper spiritual calling grounded in Jewish tradition. This episode delves into the complex ideas behind the Israel-Palestine conflict, moving beyond the usual political talking points, to challenge common perceptions. The pair unpack the difference between the Western concept of "peace" and the Hebrew idea of "shalom" , while also discussing Alick's book, ‘Putting God First', and the idea of a Jewish politics of purpose. This is a conversation that goes to the heart of what it means to heal deep-seated divisions and find a way toward genuine, lasting peace in one of the world's most contested regions. To listen to the full episode, you'll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don't forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Conflicted is proudly made by Message Heard, a full-stack podcast production agency which uses its extensive expertise to make its own shows such as Conflicted, shows for commissioners such as the BBC, Spotify and Al Jazeera, and powerfully effective podcasts for other companies too. If you'd like to find out how we can help get your organisation's message heard, visit messageheard.com or drop an email to hello@messageheard.com! Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us a textSamer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian activist from Jerusalem and a former Fatah youth leader who spent five years in Israeli prison during the First Intifada. He now chairs the Jerusalem Development Fund and advocates for a pragmatic two-state solution. Sinijlawi urges Palestinians to take the lead in building trust and dialogue with Israelis.Get in touch with Samer: https://x.com/SSinijlawi---------------------------------Want more than just watching?Connect with Israelis, Palestinians, and global voices having real conversations every day - https://discord.gg/MSTfuhnj8S Socials: https://linktr.ee/adarwSupport the Show: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sulhaPayPal: https://paypal.me/AdarW?locale.x=en_USSupport the show

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. Our final episode examines the framework of the Oslo Accords and, as Hamas became the main force articulating opposition, the response of the Left. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. Our fifth episode focuses on the period from the First Intifada, arguably the high-point of the Palestinian left-wing movement, to the Oslo Accords. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

Arab News 50th anniversary podcast: Recounting the moments that changed the Middle East. Powered by Google's NotebookLM AI tool. Episode II: 1985-1994 Saudi prince in space, First Intifada starts, Lebanon war ends, Kuwait invaded, Oslo Accords signed Read more here: https://www.arabnews.com/arabnews50

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Leila Khaled and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah. Although the Palestinian left has lost much of its influence since the 1980s, they still play an important role today. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. Our fourth episode focuses on the movement's turn to Lebanon, where Palestinian radicals found a new base and hoped to launch a wider Arab revolution. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Leila Khaled and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah. Although the Palestinian left has lost much of its influence since the 1980s, they still play an important role today. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. The podcast examines the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. In our third episode, we discuss two of the most prominent figures associated with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: Ghassan Kanafani and Leila Khaled. Get a digital subscription to Jacobin for just $1, or $10 for the print magazine, by following this link: https://jacobin.com/subscribe/?code=MAYDAY2025 Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Leila Khaled and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah. Although the Palestinian Left has lost much of its influence since the 1980s, they still play an important role today. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We'll be looking at the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We'll also be looking at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. This second episode examines the left-wing movement that took shape under the banner of the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the role of figures such as George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Leila Khaled and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah. Although the Palestinian left has lost much of its influence since the 1980s, they still play an important role today. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We'll be looking at the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We'll also be looking at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. This first episode focuses on the communist movement in Palestine from its early years until the 1960s. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

Music has long been central to Palestinian culture in general and specifically to the culture of resistance. Reem Talhami is a Palestinian actress and singer who gained recognition for her singing during the First Intifada in the late 1980's. Today, she continues to sing and act, despite the situation for Palestinians deteriorating rapidly. During our conversation we speak about Palestinian folklore and political expressions of music – as well as what has been lost in today's generation. You can find Reem's music via her Youtube channel.Like all episodes from our Ramallah Series, this was recorded in the summer of 2024 in Sirdab Studio on the Occupied West Bank. If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to support the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up to our Patreon. For just $3/month you'll gain access to full length interviews with all our guests and lots of bonus material - including our series Kalam Shorts: 10-15 explainers of concepts like Zionism and Orientalism. Join at patreon.com/kalampodcastFor continuous updates on the podcast and content about Palestine and the Middle East, follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast Please subscribe to Kalam Podcast in whatever podcast application you're listening to right now - and give us a rating. It helps other people find out about us.

✨Special thanks to our sponsors:  Palestine Drinks Shop: https://www.palestinedrinksshop.com/ | @palestinedrinks_shop on Instagram Visualizing Palestine: https://visualizingpalestine.org/ | @visualizing_palestine on Instagram On this episode of #SumudPodcast, we are honored to feature award-winning Palestinian author, social activist, policy analyst, and journalist Laila El-Haddad. Laila's work spans topics such as life in Gaza, the intersection of food and politics, contemporary Islam, and her experiences as a Palestinian mother and journalist. In 2014, she appeared on CNN's Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain, where she guided him through the Gaza Strip, offering a rare and humanizing portrayal of the region. Born in Kuwait, raised in Saudi Arabia, and spending her summers in Gaza, Laila's journey is a testament to the resilience of Palestinians in diaspora. A graduate of Duke University and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the United States, Laila brings a unique perspective informed by her personal and professional experiences. Join us as our hosts, @DrEdHasan and @ZeinaAshrawi, explore Laila's reflections on navigating borders, the challenges of motherhood under occupation, and how food becomes an act of storytelling and resistance.

Why are Palestinians among the most educated populations in the world? Many people cite community education initiatives that came out of the non-violent resistance movement in the late 80's, the First Intifada. One such organisation is Tamer Institute and earlier this year we had the pleasure of speaking to the General Director of Tamer, Renad Qubbaj. In 2023, Tamer Institute won the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) for children and young peoples' literature. This episode, along with all of our Ramallah series, is video recorded. If you'd like to see the full video of Renad and Edgar speaking in Sirdab Studio in Ramallah then head over to our Youtube channel.

We look back on the region's history and discuss what it can teach us about the future.Jonny Dymond brings together a carefully curated panel of experts, academics and journalists to talk about the conflict in the region.What has happened in history to lead us to this point? And, what can history teach us about what might happen next? This week, Jonny is joined by BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, Dr Dina Rezk, associate professor of modern Middle Eastern history at Reading University and Dr H A Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the think tank RUSI.They explore the First Intifada, a mass uprising by Palestinians, in 1987 against 20 years of Israeli occupation, and its lasting impact on the region.This episode was made by Keiligh Baker with Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans and David Crackles. The assistant editor is Ben Mundy. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.This episode is part of a BBC Sounds series. It was recorded at 14:00 on Wednesday 27 November 2024.

Palestinian theatre has been around for thousands of years through the tradition of the Hakawati, the storyteller. In modern times, the Palestinian theatre has inevitably served as an liberatory artistic platform. Palestinian theatre cannot be separated from the Palestinian struggle more generally. But as today's guest, Iman Aoun argues, there's a more universal dimension to this: Palestinian theatre serves not only to liberate Palestine but all of humanity, from the evils of colonialism, oppression and racism. Iman Aoun and her husband Edward Muallam founded Ashtar Theatre in 1991, riding the wave of the highly inspirational popular First Intifada. An innovative, non-violent, women and grassroots-led revolt against Israeli domination. In today's episode, Iman reflects on the particularities of Palestinian theatre as well as the abyss of our current moment. If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to support the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up to our Patreon. For just $3 a month you'll gain access to full length interviews with all our guests and lots of bonus material - including our series Kalam Shorts: 10-15 explainers of concepts like Zionism and Orientalism. Join at patreon.com/kalampodcastFor continuous updates on the podcast and content about Palestine and the Middle East, follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast Please subscribe to Kalam Podcast in whatever podcast application you're listening to right now - and give us a rating. It helps other people find out about us.

Episode 441 - Jennifer Lang - Places We Left Behind, commitment and compromise, faith and familyAn American-French-Israeli hybrid, I write about identity, language, home. While raising kids in the San Francisco Bay Area at the dawning of the internet, I worked as copy editor/editor/content writer for BabyCenter, PlanetRx, and many other now obsolete .coms. But I dreamed of seeing my name on paper, in print, eventually writing for Parenting, Parents, Natural Solutions, Scholastic, Woman's Day, Real Simple. Then, in the early 2000s, something else caught my eye: the back-page essays. Who were these first-person voices and how did they tell such moving stories? Curious and on the opposite coast, I enrolled in a creative nonfiction class: one, which led to another, and then another, finally culminating in my MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Thank you so much to each of my mentors for teaching me something different and dear, for bolstering me to walk this path as writer.When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect. Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home. In Places We Left Behind, Jennifer puts her marriage under a microscope, examining commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines.Distributed through Ingram, the book is available on Vine Leaves Press store, Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and more.In a book club? Invite her to your next event.israelwriterstudio.comSupport the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

It wasn't just a movement. It wasn't just a demonstration. It was an uprising. The First Intifada was a six-year "shaking off" of the conditions of occupation--a revolutionary period in which the homeland was transformed into the primary front for confronting Zionism, and every Palestinian was transformed into a resistor of occupation.Popular Cradle is made in partnership with the Palestinian Youth Movement. Thank you to the many people who contributed to the making of this episode. Our editor is Soraya Shockley. Our artwork is by shenby G and Vivek Venkatraman. Our theme music is composed by Salma Taleb, and performed by Clarissa Bitar and Hesham Jarmakani. Follow, like, and subscribe to us on YouTube, Twitter, and IG - @popularcradle.

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Robinson's Fashion Empire: http://bit.ly/3XBKqO2 Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. In this episode, Norman and Robinson sit down for a discussion centered around the anniversary of October 7th, and they speak about the immensity of what has happened in the Israel-Palestine region in the time before and since. Norman also appeared on episode 192, where he and Robinson discussed allegations of genocide and apartheid, Hamas and Hezbollah, and connections between the war and the Holocaust. Norman was also featured on episode 218, where he addressed the facts and fictions generated by the Israel-Hamas War. Norman's most recent book is I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom (Sublation Media, 2023). Norman's Website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com OUTLINE 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:44 Why Norman Couldn't Have Predicted October 7th 00:04:45 Gaza's Last Victim 00:07:55 Is the Palestine Question Dead? 00:11:13 What Hamas in Gaza and American Slave Rebellions Have in Common 00:17:22 How the Nakba Created Gaza in 1948 00:21:21 Is Gaza a Concentration Camp? 00:25:20 High-Tech Israeli Killing Sprees in Gaza 00:29:23 The Butcher of Beirut & The Sabra and Shatila Massacre 00:31:20 On the First Intifada and the Silencing of Gaza 00:37:11 On Hassan Nasrallah, Leader of Hezbollah 00:41:59 How Israel Will Destroy Hezbollah 00:42:35 Israel Vs The Party of God 00:45:32 On the Courage of Dying for a Cause 00:48:24 On His Time with Hezbollah and Nasrallah 00:52:41 Noam Chomsky on Hezbollah's Threat to Israel 00:56:30 On Nasrallah's Prophetic Speech Before His Assassination 01:02:10 On Martin Luther King Jr's Final Words 01:04:35 On Nasrallah and the Assassination of Pro-Palestine Leaders 01:07:08 The Parallel Between American Slaves and Gazan Palestinians 01:12:37 Will the Gazans Be Emancipated like American Blacks from Slavery? 01:19:16 Norman's Big Question for Noam Chomsky 01:21:26 The Question of Gaza as a Concentration Camp 01:23:03 The Crushing Toll of the Holocaust on Norman 01:32:08 On His Mother, Piers Morgan, and Gaza as a Holocaust 01:34:14 On the Rise of Hamas 01:38:49 On Hamas, Nasrallah, and the Sealed Fate of Gaza 01:41:36 Does Israel Have the Right to Commit Genocide? 01:45:48 Does Israel Intentionally Murder Innocent Civilians? 01:50:10 Just How Brutal Are Israel's High Tech Military Operations? 01:54:09 On Gandhi's Meditations in Jail 01:56:07 Does Israel Go on Killing Sprees in Palestine? 01:58:43 Are the Leaders of Hamas Rich Billionaires? 02:04:43 Comparing Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto 02:09:33 The Absurdity of Gaza's Economy 02:15:11 What Was Hamas's Intentions on October 7th? 02:18:14 Did Hamas Commit Sexual Violence Against Israelis on October 7th? 02:24:07 On Israel's Violent Revenge Against Hamas 02:26:50 Has Israel Restored Its Fearsome Reputation in the Middle East? 02:30:34 Has Israel Exterminated Gaza? 02:36:31 The Bottom Line on Israel and the Desolation of Gaza 02:39:39 Will There Be a Ceasefire in Gaza? 02:43:58 Why Does Israel Always Win? 02:52:40 On Philosophy, Chattel Slavery, and Justice in Palestine 02:58:02 On Justice and Norman Finkelstein's Purpose in Life Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, historians, economists, and everyone in-between. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support

On this Moats, George Galloway gives his take as Labour cuts the throats of pensioners in the UK as half the cost of freezing pensioners, £600m, handed to kleptomaniac Zelensky. In the US Trump loses his zing and looks bemused as Kamala soars, ish. And the Dutch auction over who loves Israel most in genocide face off.Insufficient inquiry. A British family demands an inquest on 9/11 death reopened. Do we really believe the official version? The evidence and public opinion say no. Ted Walter shares his knowledge and experience as more evidence comes to light.Sarah Wilkinson: Activist and Campaigner for Palestine since the First Intifada & Reporter for MENAUncensored joins Moats to talk about her recent arrest for tweets she made about Gaza.Trump falls like a stone, Kamala soars like a seagull, look out below. Caleb Maupin joins Moats to give his verdict on who came out on top from the debates.Ted Walter: Advocate for 9/11 justice, ED for the International Centre for 9/11 justice & Director of Peace, War and 9/11. - Twitter: https://x.com/tedfwalter?s=21&t=v2l-RSSyYJNWQeO1efpMegSarah Wilkinson: Activist and Campaigner for Palestine since the First Intifada & Reporter for MENAUncensored. - Twitter: https://x.com/swilkinsonbc?s=21&t=v2l-RSSyYJNWQeO1efpMeg- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swilkinsonbc2021?igsh=czd3a3lzNTVwZDN1- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.wilkinson.35977Caleb Maupin: American Journalist and Political Analyst:- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA0N4UVTnqiFB7D3oS_xdWg Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the first of a two-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), our series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today's installment covers the Iranian Islamic Revolution's huge impact across the Arab East alongside Saudi and Egyptian efforts to foster religious conservative movements in an effort to supplant and suppress the secular nationalist left. Plus the Iran-Iraq War, the mujahideen in Afghanistan, the First Intifada, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the first US-led invasion of Iraq, and the PLO's march toward the Oslo Accords–and how Hamas and Islamic Jihad stepped into the resulting vacuum, picking up a Palestinian armed struggle the PLO had renounced.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigBuy Nuclear Is Not The Solution at versobooks.comBuy The Wannabe Fascists at UCPress.edu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the first of a two-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), our series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today's installment covers the Iranian Islamic Revolution's huge impact across the Arab East alongside Saudi and Egyptian efforts to foster religious conservative movements in an effort to supplant and suppress the secular nationalist left. Plus the Iran-Iraq War, the mujahideen in Afghanistan, the First Intifada, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the first US-led invasion of Iraq, and the PLO's march toward the Oslo Accords–and how Hamas and Islamic Jihad stepped into the resulting vacuum, picking up a Palestinian armed struggle the PLO had renounced. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy Nuclear Is Not The Solution at versobooks.com Buy The Wannabe Fascists at UCPress.edu

Nasser has a long-form conversation with Mai Saif, a Palestinian activist, Free Palestine Melbourne organiser, and member of the Palestinian Community Association for Victoria. They speak about Mai's Nakba story during the First Intifada, her activist work with Free Palestine Melbourne, and how reporting of genocide and apartheid have entered the lexicon of the media landscape and public narratives. For info on Free Palestine Melbourne's work and to get involved, visit linktr.ee/fpmelbourne.Denial in a time of genocide with Prof. Saree Makdisi and Louise Adler, RMIT City Campus, Thu 29 Aug, 6 - 8:30 pm. Details.Free Palestine rally, State Library Victoria, Sundays 12pm.Info on upcoming events and actions via APAN and Free Palestine Melbourne.Daily broadcast updates via Let's Talk Palestine. Image credit: Free Palestine Melbourne 

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.

Naila Ayesh (1960-present) is a grassroots organizer who demonstrated for Palestinian liberation during the First Intifada in the late 1980s. She endured detention and torture to protest Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank win freedom, and she continued to fight for freedom and opportunities for Palestinian women.  For Further Reading: Naila and the Uprising (2017) A life in resistance: Naila Ayesh and the women of the First Palestinian Intifada   How the Oslo Accords Betrayed the Palestinian Women Behind the First Intifada 'My story is one of many': The Palestinian women behind the First Intifada | Middle East Eye    This month we're talking about adversaries. These women fought against systems, governments and – sometimes each other to break barriers in their respective fields. They did unthinkable and sometimes unspeakable things to carve out their place in history. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran. Follow Wonder Media Network: Website Instagram Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We proudly present Dr. Hanan Ashrawi – one of the foremost Palestinian activist and politicians of the last half century. On this episode she speaks to Edgar about the First Intifada, of which she was a guiding spirit and a crucial player. And the Oslo Peace Process – which was the fruit of much of her labour, while resulting in catastrophe. So what does this Palestinian political veteran think about our current moment? Find out on this Kalam Podcast EXCLUSIVE - Hanan Ashrawi is not giving interviews currently, but made an exception for us. If you'd like to support the work we're doing at Kalam Podcast you can do so, by joining Klub Kalam on patreon.com/kalampodcast - for just $3/month you'll gain access to full length interviews with all our guests as well as awesome bonus content. For continuous updates follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast

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Sometimes called the Arab Gandhi, Palestinian peace activist Mubarak Awad talks to Margot Patterson about how he came to embrace the principles of non-violence,  his views of the war in Gaza and the future of the Palestinian movement. Expelled from Israel in 1988 for leading non-violent resistance during the First Intifada, Awad is the founder of Nonviolence International, an NGO in Washington D.C. that advocates for creative nonviolence in the struggle for liberation of oppressed peoples around the world.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comEli is a journalist and friend. He's a former senior national security correspondent for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, and a former columnist for the Bloomberg View. He's now a reporter for The Free Press, a contributing editor at Commentary Magazine, and the host of his own podcast, The Re-Education. I thought I should have a strong Israel supporter to come on and challenge my recent columns.For two clips of our convo — on the West Bank settlements, and Trump's record on Israel — pop over to our YouTube page. Other topics: Eli raised as a latchkey kid in Philly; his leftwing Jewish parents; turning neocon in college during the ‘90s PC wars; Milton Friedman's Free to Choose a formative book; Eli's love of rap from an early age; Tribe Called Quest and the Native Tongue movement of “rap hippies”; Black Nationalism; David Samuels' story on white kids driving hip-hop; Kanye's genius and grappling with his anti-Semitism; the bigotry of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot; Nietzsche's madness; the persistence of Jew hatred across history and cultures; dissidents in the Catholic Church; Augustine; Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah; the faux sophistication of conspiracy theorists; Bob Dole as a Gen Xer; envy and resentment over Israel's success; the First Intifada; Labor Zionism; Ben-Gurion and Arab resistance; Menachem Begin; Netanyahu's dad; the IRA bombing British leaders; Arafat walking away from Camp David; the Second Intifada; 9/11 and Islamofascism; the Iraq War and Abu Ghraib; the settler movement and Judeo-fascists; Jared Kushner; the Abraham Accords; Arabs serving in the Knesset; Israel withdrawing from Gaza and southern Lebanon; the evil of Hamas; Yossi Klein Halevi; the IDF's AI program; the tunnels and 2,000-lb bombs; Dresden; John Spencer's Understanding Urban Warfare; Rafah; Trump's vanity; Soleimani and the Damascus embassy; and the US supplying weapons to Israel.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Next up: Kara Swisher on Silicon Valley. After that: Adam Moss on the artistic process, George Will on Trump and conservatism, Johann Hari on weight-loss drugs, Noah Smith on the economy, Nellie Bowles on the woke revolution, Bill Maher on everything, and the great Van Jones! Send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

The Second Intifada (~2000-2008) came out of the failure of the Oslo Accords, the failure of the PLO to create a Palestinian state, the crippling of the Palestinian economy through Israeli restrictions and Israel's increasingly aggressive and violent settler expansion and colonial oppression.In contrast to the First Intifada, the Second Intifada was marked by a series of bloody terrorist bombings against Israeli civilians. The renowned Palestinian historian Rashid Khalidi laments this dark development in his book “The 100 Years' War on Palestine”, describing how different Palestinian armed factions from Hamas to Fatah expressed their rivalry through a kind of competition in suicide bombings. Part of it was desperation, part of it was blind revenge against the Israeli population for the Israeli Occupation Forces' heavy handed response to Palestinian protests - where thousands of Palestinians throwing rocks were gunned down down by Israeli soldiers.It was always the case however, and still is, that far more Palestinians were killed than Israelis. During this uprising, Khalidi estimates that 4,916 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis were killed.Episode 5 of the Kalam podcast explores this difficult period, with the General Director of the Palestinian prisoner support organisation, Addameeer, Sahar Francis. Follow us on social media @kalampodcast and join our Patreon community for full length interviews and bonus material.

In Late 1987 Palestine erupted. The Israeli occupation was closing in on 20 years and getting comfortable. But seemingly out of nowhere, a mass movement of protests, strikes and boycotts shook Israel and the world. For the first time, the West gained sympathy for Palestine, as images of heavily armed Israeli soldiers brutalising Palestinian women and children were broadcast on TV screens around the world. Today, Associate Professor Islah Jad joins Edgar for a conversation about the First Intifada. Islah has written the book, Palestinian Women's Activism: Nationalism, Secularism, Islamism and was an active participant in the First Intifada. Follow us on social media @kalampodcastFor full length episodes, poetry and reading lists and bonus episodes, please consider donating to us at Patreon.

Content warning for discussions of antisemitism and genocide. Also, note that from 19:10 until 20:05 you can hear an electric saw in the background. Nothing I can do about that. Episode music can be found here: https://uppbeat.io/track/paulo-kalazzi/heros-time Day 2 will dive deeply into the historic context of the Israel-Palestine Conflict and the Gazan Genocide. Starting 3700 years ago this episode will hit the major beats of the story and attempt to make everything a little bit clearer, if not really easier to understand. Episode transcript follows: Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome to Day 2 of Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard. Thank you for everyone who tuned in for Day 1 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. Today we're going to be discussing the Gazan Genocide, what is often called, in mainstream, Western, media the Israel-Palestine Conflict. However, we're not going to be starting in 2023, we're not even going to be starting in 1948. To the best of my abilities we are going to drill into the historic context of this genocide and the ongoing historic and ethnic tensions that exist in the region. Before we start with that context I would like to state for the record that what is being done to the people of Gaza is, unequivocally, a genocide. Now, to find the beginning of this we are going to have to go back about 3700 years to the Levantine region. The regions known as the Levant is comprised of the modern nations of Cyprus, parts of Turkey southwest of the Euphrates, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and of course Israel and Palestine. Both historical record and genetic testing of modern Jewish and Palestinian people show them both being descended from ancient Canaanite cultures. While Biblical narratives show the Israelites entering the region from Egypt and conquering the region under the command of Moses' successor Joshua. Modern archeology and the historical view has, however, discounted this. The Bible is not and should not ever be used as a valid historical source. Indeed, modern archeology and historical research shows that the Jewish ethnicity emerged naturally as an offshoot of the Canaanites in much the same way that the Palestinian ethnicity did. It is also interesting to note that historically, Palestine appears to have been a name for a region and not a distinct nation or kingdom. Indeed, during the seventh century BC, no fewer than eight nations were settled in Palestine. These included the Arameans of the kingdom of Geshur; the Samaritans who replaced the Israelite kingdom in Samaria; the Phoenicians in the northern cities and parts of Galilee; the Philistines in the Philistine pentapolis; the three kingdoms of the Transjordan– Ammon, Moab and Edom; and the Judaeans of Kingdom of Judah. The first written record of the region being called Palestine, by the way, comes from 12th century BCE Egypt, which used the term Peleset for the area. Around 720 BCE, Kingdom of Israel was destroyed when it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which came to dominate the ancient Near East. Under the Assyrian resettlement policy, a significant portion of the northern Israelite population was exiled to Mesopotamia and replaced by immigrants from the same region. During the same period, and throughout the 7th century BCE, the Kingdom of Judah, experienced a period of economic, as well as population growth. Later in the same century, the Assyrians were defeated by the rising Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Judah became its vassal. In 587 BCE, following a revolt in Judah, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple, putting an end to the kingdom. The majority of Jerusalem's residents, including the kingdom's elite, were exiled to Babylon. This marks the first historic diaspora of Jewish people from their indigenous homeland. Jewish people in the region enjoyed a brief period of political independence and national sovereignty following the Maccabean Revolt. This would only last for a few brief decades before the area would be conquered by the Romans. During the first Roman-Jewish War Jerusalem and the Second Temple, which has been built back in about 516 BCE were both destroyed. From that point on Roman rule would crack down even harder on Jewish people living in the empire. Many of these tensions were caused by the cultural and religions differences between the Romans and Jewish people. Their refusal to worship Roman gods and their refusal to venerate the emperor made them perpetual pariahs.  Jewish communities would continue to resist Roman rule and oppression and this resistance would come to a violent head in events like the Kitos War and the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The Bar Kokhba revolt, led by Simon Bar Kokhba was certainly influenced by the Romans building a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount after the destruction of the Second Temple. The revolt, as with the First and Second Roman-Jewish Wars was a complete military defeat for the Jewish people. The Jewish Talmud relates that, when the fortress of Betar was besieged in 135 CE that the Romans went on killing until their horses were submerged in blood up to their nostrils. This revolt would result in Judea being literally wiped off the map. And I mean that quite literally, while the Jewish population was greatly reduced from the area, both by slaughter at the hands of the Romans and because many people were forced from the region, there was still and there has always been a Jewish population in the Levant. But any Roman map from after the Bar Kokhba Revolt would now show the region labeled as Syria Palestina. The Diaspora of Jewish people from Israel and Judea would result in Jewish populations congregating all around Eurasia. Jewish communities would settle near the Rhine, eventually collating into the Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity. Jewish communities would settle on the Iberian Peninsula and in Northern Africa collating into the Sephardi Jewish ethnicity. Jewish communities would also remain in the Middle East, in Syria Palestina (though they were forbidden by the Romans to live in Jerusalem) and collate into the Mizrahim Jewish ethnicity. There are also smaller Jewish ethnicities like the Bene Israel from India and the Beta Israel from Ethiopia. One of the conclusions that is important to take away at this point is that both Palestinians and Jewish people, Judaism being both a religion and an ethnicity, are indigenous to the lands of Israel and Palestine. I don't really care if you favor a one state or two state solution, but the fact of their mutual indigineousness is undeniable. Now, at this point we're going to take a huge jump forward in time to 1516 when Syria Palestina falls under Ottoman rule. As many ethnically Palestinian people had converted to Islam following the Islamic Conquests of the Middle East in the 7th century CE they were largely seen as good Ottoman citizens and interfered with very little. Jewish people, on the other hand, because they were not followers of Islam found themselves living under the dhimmi system. This was a common system under Muslim empires that allowed people to practice other religions, but with limited rights and at the cost of increased taxes. Some of the restrictions placed on Dhimmi were: In addition to other legal limitations, dhimmis were not considered equals to Muslims, despite being considered “people of the book” Their testimony against Muslims was inadmissible in courts of law wherein a Muslim could be punished; this meant that their testimony could only be considered in commercial cases. They were forbidden to carry weapons or ride atop horses and camels, and their houses could not overlook those of Muslims.  All that being said, the lives of Jewish people in the Ottoman Empire were still demonstrably better than those of Jewish communities living in Europe and they were much more freely able to practice their religion. We're going to jump ahead again to the First Aliyah which took place between 1881 and 1903. Aliyah is a Hebrew word meaning “ascent”. There have been five “official” Aliyah throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. These Aliyah are periods of increased Jewish immigration to their ancestral homeland. This First Aliyah saw Jewish people, mostly from Eastern Europe and Yeman move to Ottoman Palestine because of an increased number of pogroms. Most of the Jewish people from Eastern Europe came from the Pale of Settlement and by 1903, saw about 25,000 Jewish people immigrate. This period also saw many thousands of Jewish people immigrate to the US in order to escape the ever increasing amounts of antisemitic violence around Europe. This First Aliyah also marks, more or less, the beginning of the Zionist movement. Political Zionism as a movement was founded by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century. He saw antisemitism and antisemitic violence as an indelible part of any society in which Jewish people lived as minorities. He also believed that the only way a Jewish State could be established would be with the help of European powers. He also described the Jewish State as an outpost of civilization against Barbarism and compared himself to Cecil Rhodes. So, safe to say that Herzl was not a man with good intentions for the people that would become his neighbors. Throughout the first decade of the Zionist movement, there were several instances where some Zionist figures, including Herzl, supported a Jewish state in places outside Palestine, such as "Uganda" (actually parts of British East Africa today in Kenya), Argentina, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, Mozambique, and the Sinai Peninsula.]  Herzl, was initially content with any Jewish self-governed state. Jewish settlement of Argentina was the project of Maurice de Hirsch. It is unclear if Herzl seriously considered this alternative plan, and he later reaffirmed that Palestine would have greater attraction because of the historic ties of Jewish people to that area. This, as it was always going to, brings us to the Balfour Declaration. As soon as World War I began the Great Powers of Europe began deciding how they were going to carve up the Ottoman Empire, the Sick Man of Europe, like a Thanksgiving turkey. The Balfour Declaration was part of this planning. The declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 stating their support for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The entire Declaration reads as follows: His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. They clearly failed in all regards of their declaration after the first statement. The end of World War I saw the League of Nations place Palestine under British colonial control, leading to the creation of Mandatory Palestine in 1920, with the League officially giving Britain a Class A mandate in 1922. Britain was originally supposed to guarantee Arab independence following the defeat of the Ottomans in exchange for the Great Arab Revolt that took place against Ottoman rule. The creation of Mandatory Palestine and the existence of the Balfour declaration was partially responsible for Jewish immigration over the next 30 years. As Jewish immigration increased, Palestinian peasants, known as fellahin (fellahin were often tenant farmers or other such peoples who didn't own the land they worked) were forced off the land they worked to survive. These tensions would result in small-scale conflicts between Jewish and Arab people living in Mandatory Palestine, though the first conflict of real historic note would be the Great Palestinian Revolt of 1936. The revolt lasted until 1939. It was a popular uprising of Palestinian Arabs that demanded Arab independence and and end to open-ended Jewish immigration to Palestine. The revolt eventually ended with the issuance of the White Paper in 1939. The White Paper was going to attempt to create a national home for the Jewish people within an independent Palestine within 10 years. However this proposal was rejected by both the Arab and Zionist sides of the negotiation. Before the White Paper, and before the massive violence of the Great Revolt was an Arab General strike that lasted for 6 months in order to try and get their voices heard. This led to the creation of the Peel Commission, which recommended partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. This plan was, like the White Paper that would come after it, rejected by both sides. Of force everything would change after World War 2. After the war the British Mandate for Palestine was dissolved and the Israeli Declaration of Independence was issued later that same day. This declaration came as part of the UN partition plan which was outlined in UN Resolution 181 (II). The Resolution set forth to create an Independent Jewish State, an Independent Arab State and a Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem. This UN Resolution came during the context of the 1947 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine which began after the UN initially voted on the partition plan resolution. This war would have far reaching consequences for everyone in the region and would lead to events like the Nakba and the Israeli government initiating Plan Dalet. Nakba, an Arabic word meaning Catastrophe, refers to the initial ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes following the 1947 Civil War and the broader 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Some 750,000 Palestinian people were forced to flee their homes and their country after the First Arab Israeli War saw Israel in control of all of the land the UN had granted them in the partition plan as well as roughly 60% of the land that was to be Palestine. Causes of Arab flight from Palestine include: Jewish military advances, destruction of Arab villages, psychological warfare and fears of another massacre by Zionist militias after the Deir Yassin massacre, which caused many to leave out of panic; direct expulsion orders by Israeli authorities; the voluntary self-removal of the wealthier classes; collapse in Palestinian leadership and Arab evacuation orders. This period of time would also see many thousands of Jewish people expelled from the surrounding Muslim countries. As you might expect the majority of those people would move to Israel. While we can see that tensions in the region and Zionist abuses of Palestinian people existed before this point, if we HAD to point to a single moment that defined the entire conflict, ethnic cleansing, and genocide it would be this moment. Following the flight of the majority of the Palestinians from Palestine, Israel passed a number of laws, known as Israel land and property laws, disallowing the Palestinians their right to return to their homes in Palestine. Wars would continue over the decades, but the point at which things start to get particularly heinous comes at the end of the Six Day War, also known as the Arab Israeli War. Following this war, which Israel fought against Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq, Israel now had control of the Golan Heights, The West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula leaving very little land still under Palestinian sovereign control. Israel would eventually cede the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt in 1978 as part of the Camp David Accords in exchange for peace and Egyptian recognition of the State of Israel. They retained control over the rest of the territories they had seized. The actions of Israel during this time put increasing strain on Palestinians as more and more of them were forced into refugee camps, and while Gaza is technically under the control of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Hamas and the West Bank is under the partial control of the Palestinian National Authority both still find themselves heavily under the control of the Israeli government and military. Especially since October of 2023. Human Rights Watch, a non-government organization, considers Israel to still be an invading and occupying force in these two Palestinian regions.  The two of which are separated from each other by the nation of Israel. “Even though Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and settlements from Gaza in 2005, it continues to have obligations as an occupying power in Gaza under the Fourth Geneva Convention because of its almost complete control over Gaza's borders, sea and air space, tax revenue, utilities, population registry, and the internal economy of Gaza. At a minimum, Israel continues to be responsible for the basic welfare of the Palestinian population in Gaza.” We actually have to backtrack a little bit here before we can finally catch up to the modern day. We need to pop back to 1987, the First Intifada, and the creation of Hamas. The First Intifada lasted from December 1987 until, basically the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, although some date the end in 1991 with the Madrid Conference. The Intifafa, or Uprising, was a sustained series of protests, strikes, and riots that began after an IDF truck hit another car carrying Palestinian workers, all four of whom died in the crash. Now, where does Hamas come into this, well in the long history of the Western world, they were created by the people they now fight against. Hamas, in the beginning of its existence, received funding from the Israeli government to act as a counterweight against the more moderate elements of the PLO. Israel would then turn around and try and destroy Hamas when they started to get too powerful. It was Hamas who was behind the October 7th Attacks on Israel. Hamas, by the way, has been the defacto ruling party of Gaza since 2007. Hamas said its attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence, and recent escalations. The attack on October 7th began with some 300 missiles being fired into Israeli territory along with coordinated attacks at locations and events like the Re'im Music Festival and various kibbutz's such as Kfar Aza and Be'eri. The attack lasted into the 8th of October and saw 1,143 people killed, 767 of whom were civilians and 36 of whom were children. Also roughly 250 civilians and soldiers were taken hostage with the intent of using them to try and secure the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. It does bear mentioning that Israel has knowledge of such an attack a year in advance, according to the New York Times, but dismissed it as impossible. Since this attack by Hamas Israel has been increasing the violence and slaughter that it is committing against the Palestinian people. In the name of their alleged war with Hamas Israel has forced the people of Gaza to move farther and farther to the south as they bombed the northern part of the Strip to glass. Today most of the surviving population of Gaza, some 1.5 million people are forced to live in the city of Rafah, a city that they were told they'd be safe in. They is no longer the case as Israel is now bombing Rafah as well.  Israel has also been blockading Gaza since 2007 and, effectively, has complete control over the food, water, electricity, and medicine that gets into Gaza. Part of this control comes from the fact that Israel keeps bombing hospitals, like they did with Al Shifa in November of 2023. Israel claims that Hamas was using the hospital as a staging ground, despite this being proven false by independent investigations. We know from our previous video that genocide isn't just the mass slaughter of a particular group of people. It is also inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part. By this definition, concentrating 1.5 million people into a small area without adequate food, water, or medicine, and then bombing that area demonstrates clear intent to destroy.  An even more clear example of this intent was the Flour Massacre that occurred on February 29, 2024. On that day Israel let food aid into Gaza after over a month of not letting anything through their blockade. When people lined up to receive this aid, the Israeli military shot them. The Israeli military set a deliberate trap to lure in starving civilians and then shot and killed over 100 people. We also have massive amounts of intent demonstrated in the words of members of the Israeli government. Such as with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the people of Gaza Human Animals and said that they would allow no food or water to get in. Or when Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister said they'd turn Gaza into a deserted island.  There can be no denying the genocide in Gaza. None whatsoever. The actions of the Israeli government are inexcusable and must be condemned with all possible haste. We are in the midst of a genocide, and so if you've ever wondered what you would have done during something like the Holocaust, now you know. Whatever you're doing now, is what you would have done then. Hopefully what we covered today will provide some needed context for everything that is going on right now. I don't know if it will make anything clearer, and I doubt it will provide you with any solutions, but just because you learn information doesn't mean you can necessarily apply it. Thank you for joining me for Day 2. This was a very heavy topic and next week will not get any lighter. Next week we will be diving into the history and context of the ongoing trans genocide that is currently ongoing in the United States.  Last thing we're gonna do today before we do is the outro is read some reviews that came in on Apple Podcasts over the week. I say over the week, all three of these came in on the 21st. 2 of them came from Canada! And now my notes say “read the reviews* Oh… wait, that was something i was supposed to DO. Not an actual sentence i was supposed to read. I hope i remember to edit this out… Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard is brought to you by me, The History Wizard. PLease remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Have a Day! On your pod catcher of choice. The more you do, the more people will be able to listen and learn along with you. Thank you for sticking around until the end and, as always, Have a Day and Free Palestine.    

Jennifer Lang's Places We Left Behind: A Memoir in Miniature (Vine Leaf Press, 2023) uses short chapterettes and experimental prose to examine he marriage, commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines. When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect. Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Jennifer Lang's Places We Left Behind: A Memoir in Miniature (Vine Leaf Press, 2023) uses short chapterettes and experimental prose to examine he marriage, commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines. When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect. Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Rashid Khalidi, professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, to discuss his 2020 book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, and his views on the Israel-Gaza conflict as it stands now. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the Supreme Court keeping Trump on the ballot for November, the GOP primary, the US airdropping aid to Gaza, Super Tuesday, Haiti's State of Emergency, the GOP's struggle to run the House, and the major anti-trust victory over the Jet Blue-Spirit merger, also parsing through Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tentatively wading into the “temporary ceasefire” conversation. Professor Rashid Khalidi then joins, first stepping back to explain why he began his work on Palestinian resistance in 1917, well before the establishment of the state of Israel, looking at the central role of the West – namely Britain and the US – in support and facilitating the violent establishment and maintenance of a Zionist apartheid state. Beginning in 1917, Professor Khalidi then works his way through the history of Palestinian's last century of struggle, first exploring occupation under the British mandate, the role of European nationalism and anti-semitism in facilitating the Balfour declaration and the establishment of a Zionist state, and the combination of violent British and Zionist repression against Palestinians, alongside mass ethnic cleansing, in the decades leading up to World War II. After touching on the evolution of both the Palestinian nationalist movement and the extremist zionist cause over this era, Rashid walks Sam and Emma through Israel's various extreme massacres and ethnic cleansing that occurred leading up to and during the 1948 Nakba, the role of the one-sided UN Partition plan in pushing the start of the catastrophe, and the devastating impact it had on the state of the Palestinian nationalist movement. Next, Professor Khalidi, Sam, and Emma look at the evolution of Israel's apartheid rule and ethnic cleansing over the two decades before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the impact of that war in furthering the devastation, before looking at the rebirth of the Palestinian nationalist movement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization and First Intifada. After tackling the failure of the Oslo Accords (and the negotiations around them), Professor Khalidi runs through the major influence of US politics in all evolutions of the conflict in the second half of the century, a trend that would grow in the wake of the Second Intifada in 2000, and continues to this day, before wrapping the interview up with a quick assessment of the central role of the US in facilitating the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the role of the other Arab states in the region. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma talk with John from San Antonio as he previews major Super Tuesday races including finding Feinstein's replacement and progressive battles in Texas, New York, North Carolina, and more. They also watch CNN's Christiane Amanpour nail Netanyahu's Special Advisor on Israel's involvement in the Flour Massacre, and Jesse Watters spotlights Tulsi Gabbard for Trump's VP. Trump stumbles over the Q-Anon anthem, Tyler from Washington explores the new era of social media, and Mitch McConnell's GOP colleagues begin to demand he align with Trump's agenda, plus, your calls and IMs! 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Uncover the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with me and esteemed guest Mason Herson-Hord, director of the Institute for Social Ecology. Together, we'll navigate the often misunderstood narratives and ideologies that have shaped this historical struggle. From the deep-seated roots of Zionism to the rise of grassroots resistance movements, this discussion offers an enlightening perspective on the events and figures that have influenced the region's political evolution.In a series of candid conversations, we trace the contours of power and politics, dissecting the Six-Day War's transformative impact, the emergence of local Palestinian councils during the First Intifada, and the fusion of extremist ideologies within Israeli mainstream politics. It's a journey through the decades, examining the interplay of socio-economic factors, the fracturing of Zionist unity, and the rise of new voices challenging established narratives. Our dialogue scrutinizes the influence of figures like Meir Kahane and Yitzhak Rabin, as well as the implications of the second Intifada on current political stances.Our exploration culminates with a present-day analysis of the strategies employed by groups like Hamas, the concerning trends among Israeli youth, and the shifting attitudes within the American Jewish community towards Zionism. As we grapple with the international complexities of this conflict, the importance of grassroot movements and the power of community action are emphasized. Join us for a thought-provoking episode that not only sheds light on a deeply entrenched conflict but also inspires active participation in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace.We discuss this article: https://strangematters.coop/israel-gaza-war-genocide/ Support the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetYou can find the additional streams on Youtube

Riad Awwad, Hanan Awwad, and Mahmoud Darwish - "I'm From Jerusalem" from the 2023 album The Intifada 1987 on Majazz Project In December 1987, the First Intifada of protests and violent riots broke out, carried out by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Palestinian Riad Awwad was an electrical engineer with a passion for music, and within a week, he began recording this album in the family living room, using instruments he built himself. Today's Song of the Day features Riad's sister Hanan, as well as lyrics by Riad's friend, Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish.  He titled the 11-track album The Intifada 1987, pressing 3,000 cassette tapes and circulating them around the Old City of Jerusalem and across the West Bank until the Israeli military intervened. Riad was arrested and detained for several months. To this day, copies of the album remain in the military archives, but in 2020, one copy managed to find its way to artist and music collector Mo'min Swaitat, who established the Majazz Project to release musical treasures like this.  Unfortunately, Awwad never lived to see his album pressed and released worldwide like this. He was killed in a car accident in 2005. His legacy lives on, not only in his music, but in the children of the West Bank who he inspired. Before his passing, he founded a school there, teaching children how to create their own electronic musical equipment. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is an effort to unpack, chronologically and objectively, the history of Israel-Palestine for the past 4,000 years. The discussion focuses on the religious, cultural and political history of the region – from the time of Abraham, the father of both Judaism and Islam – until the day of the Hamas attack. We hope you find it helpful in developing a more nuanced and grounded assessment of the current situation. Maps mentioned in the discussionMaps PDFFor access to our Membership library, which includes full-length courses with all the teachers you are about to hear, go to onecomune.com/trial.In this episode we cover:0:06:28 – What is the history of the region going back 4000 years?0:25:24 – What groups are indigenous to this region?0:27:05 – What happened during the Ottoman period?0:29:30 – What is Zionism?0:35:13 – What was the Balfour Declaration?0:41:25 – What was the British Mandate?0:44:30 – What was the two-state solution?0:48:51 – What was the second two-state solution?0:52:28 – What happened on May 14, 1948?0:53:40 – Was there an official vote within the United Nations to approve that partition plan?0:54:59 – What were the results of the Nakba/War of Independence?0:59:47 – What is the right of return?1:01:38 – Why did the international community not demand Israel give the land back?1:06:35 – What is the Israeli paradox?1:07:51 – Are Arab Israeli's mostly Muslim?1:14:10 – What is the status of a Palestinian refugee?1:16:25 – What happens in 1967?1:39:19 – What happened in 1973?1:41:31 – What was the First Intifada?1:43:50 – What were the results of the 1992 election?1:44:44 – What were the Oslo Accords?1:53:16 – What was the Israel-Jordan peace treaty of 1994?1:57:19 – What was the Camp David Summit?2:04:21 – What was the Second Intifada?2:09:50 – Why the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005?2:13:26 – What happened in the 2006 election?2:26:28 – What happens in the early 2010's?2:32:41 – What is the situation in Gaza?This podcast is supported by:LivOn Labs This week's podcast is made possible by LivOn Labs. Discover why Jeff Krasno, Schuyler Grant, and people who know wellness are ditching pills, powders, and gummies for this powerful, nutrient-packed goo. GET FREE SAMPLES WITH ANY PURCHASE livonlabs.com/commune LMNTLMNT is offering Commune listeners a free sample pack with any purchase, That's 8single serving packets FREE with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try all 8 flavorsor share LMNT with a salty friend. Get yours at DrinkLMNT.com/COMMUNE Thrive MarketJoin Thrive Market today and get a FREE $80 in free groceries when you go to thrivemarket.com/communeION Founded by Zach Bush MD, ION* is derived from 60 million-year-old soil, utilizing the intelligence of nature to drive our bodies' innate power to heal and thrive. Gentle enough for the whole family, ION* supports whole-body health so you can live your best gut-happy life.Level up your daily wellness ritual today with 15% OFF at intelligenceofnature.com with code NATURE15: https://intelligenceofnature.com/products/gut-health-supplementStripes Meet Stripes. Smart-targeted symptom solutions powered by the exclusive combination of Ectoine and Squalane. This ultra-hydrating duo improves hydration, increases cell turnover and protects our delicate skin barrier. Head over to iamstripes.com and enter promo code COMMUNE20 at checkout to get a fabulous 20% off your entire order.