Podcasts about middle east research

American Jews were interested and involved in Palestinian rights all the way back to 1948. There's this idea that it came about just now or in the 1970s, but actually as long as there's been a Nakba. As long as there's been Palestinian refugees, there's been American Jews concerned with that, too. I would say that a lot of times these American Jews were very well informed and spent time in the region, and they came to these conclusions often not in the United States, but over there where they were talking to the Israeli left and meeting Palestinians and seeing a situation that they don't feel is ethical or sustainable.- GEOFFREY LEVINIn this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Geoffrey Levin, Joel Beinin, Simone Zimmerman about the long tradition of American Jewish critiques of Israel, protests around the world against Israel's attack on Gaza and how they have been suppressed by college administrators and national political leaders alike as being anti-Semitic and harmful to Jewish students. The US House of Congress has just passed a bill endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism as including criticism of the State of Israel.In this context, there could be no better time to discuss a new book by Professor Geoffrey Levin, Our Palestine Problem. In this fascinating and revealing study, Levin documents longstanding criticisms of the State of Israel, and of Zionism, by both Jewish American individuals and organizations, dating back to the early 20th century. In varying degrees, since the founding of the State of Israel, American Jews have argued for Palestinian rights, for their enfranchisement, for their repatriation, and some for a Palestinian state.Also joining the discussion is the eminent historian Professor Joel Beinin and prominent Jewish American activist Simone Zimmerman, who is co-founder of If Not Now and who appears in the documentary film, Israelism.Joel Beinin is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus at Stanford University. His research and teaching have been focused on the history and political economy of modern Egypt, Palestine, and Israel, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He has written or edited twelve books. In 2001-02 he served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America.For many years Joel Beinin was a member of the editorial committee of the Middle East Research and Information Project, which provides critical reporting and analysis of state power, political economy, social hierarchies, and popular struggles in the Middle East and US policy in the region. More recently, he is a non-resident fellow of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), an American non-profit organization that advocates for democracy and human rights in the Arab world.Geoffrey Levin is assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. His research interests lie at the intersection of Jewish, Arab, and modern US. histories.Prior to joining Emory's faculty, Levin was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for Jewish Studies. He holds a PhD in Jewish history from New York University. Our Palestine Question, published by Yale University Press last November, is his first book. The book has been discussed media outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian,+972 Magazine, and Jewish Currents, and it is now available as an audiobook.Simone Zimmerman is an organizer and strategist based in Brooklyn, New York, and the co-founder of the Jewish anti-apartheid organization IfNotNow. Her personal journey is currently featured in the film Israelism, about a younger generation of American Jews who have been transformed by witnessing the reality in the West Bank and connecting with Palestinians.https://history.stanford.edu/people/joel-beininwww.geoffreylevin.comwww.ifnotnowmovement.orgwww.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comhttps://twitter.com/palumboliu?s=20www.instagram.com/speaking_out_of_place

Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Khalid Medani—associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University—for a deep dive into the conflict that has engulfed Sudan since last Spring. They delve into its roots going back to the 1989 coup, break down the makeup of the primary combatants (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces), how these groups are able to continue recruiting and maintain support networks, the conflict's catastrophic humanitarian crisis and regional effects, foreign mercenaries and whether it has become a proxy war, efforts of local civil leaders to quell the fighting, and what things might look like moving forward. As Khalid noted, two places to which he recommends you donate are the Sudanese Doctors Union or the Sudan Solidarity Collective.Some of Khalid's recent work:* “The Struggle for Sudan” from Middle East Report's Spring 2024 issue is a primer on Sudan.* Middle East Research and Information Project's Spring 2024 issue has multiple contributors, including Khalid, writing about the conflict. * His book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa, which is free via Open Access.* “Opinion: The brutal conflict in Sudan is not a civil war. It's a war on civilians” from The Globe and Mail. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Khalid Medani—associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University—for a deep dive into the conflict that has engulfed Sudan since last Spring. They delve into its roots going back to the 1989 coup, break down the makeup of the primary combatants (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces), how these groups are able to continue recruiting and maintain support networks, the conflict's catastrophic humanitarian crisis and regional effects, foreign mercenaries and whether it has become a proxy war, efforts of local civil leaders to quell the fighting, and what things might look like moving forward.As Khalid noted, two places to which he recommends you donate are the Sudanese Doctors Union or the Sudan Solidarity Collective.Some of Khalid's recent work:“The Struggle for Sudan” from Middle East Report's Spring 2024 issue is a primer on Sudan.Middle East Research and Information Project's Spring 2024 issue has multiple contributors, including Khalid, writing about the conflict.His book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa, which is free via Open Access.“Opinion: The brutal conflict in Sudan is not a civil war. It's a war on civilians” from The Globe and Mail.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As protests against Israel's geocidal attack on Gaza and increased dispossession and violence on the West Bank grow into encampments that have sprung up across the globe, they have been suppressed by college administrators and national political leaders alike as being anti-Semitic and harmful to Jewish students. The US House of Congress has just passed a bill endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism as including criticism of the State of Israel.In this context, there could be no better time to discuss a new book by Professor Geoffrey Levin, Our Palestine Problem. In this fascinating and revealing study, Levin documents longstanding criticisms of the State of Israel, and of Zionism, by both Jewish American individuals and organizations, dating back to the early 20th century. In varying degrees, since the founding of the State of Israel, American Jews have argued for Palestinian rights, for their enfranchisement, for their repatriation, and some for a Palestinian state. In this episode of Speaking Out of Place we discuss the debates and controversies over the decades.We are grateful that Professor Joel Beinin, an eminent historian and participant in many of these debates, is here with us, as well as prominent Jewish American activist Simone Zimmerman, who is co-founder of If Not Now and who appears in the documentary film, “Israelism.”Joel Beinin is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus at Stanford University. His research and teaching have been focused on the history and political economy of modern Egypt, Palestine, and Israel, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He has written or edited twelve books. In 2001-02 he served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America.For many years Joel Beinin was a member of the editorial committee of the Middle East Research and Information Project, which provides critical reporting and analysis of state power, political economy, social hierarchies, and popular struggles in the Middle East and US policy in the region. More recently, he is a non-resident fellow of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), an American non-profit organization that advocates for democracy and human rights in the Arab world.Geoffrey Levin is assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. His research interests lie at the intersection of Jewish, Arab, and modern US. histories. Prior to joining Emory's faculty, Levin was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for Jewish Studies. He holds a PhD in Jewish history from New York University. Our Palestine Question, published by Yale University Press last November, is his first book. The book has been discussed media outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian,+972 Magazine, and Jewish Currents, and it is now available as an audiobook.Simone Zimmerman is an organizer and strategist based in Brooklyn, New York, and the co-founder of the Jewish anti-apartheid organization IfNotNow. Her personal journey is currently featured in the film Israelism, about a younger generation of American Jews who have been transformed by witnessing the reality in the West Bank and connecting with Palestinians.     

Episode 78! The 966 hosts fly solo this week ahead of a busy week of travel to Saudi Arabia and the region and an impressive slate of forthcoming guests in the coming weeks. Richard's One Big Thing this week is a recent collection of articles and items in the media that paint a picture of a U.S.-Saudi relationship that is evolving as Saudi Arabia increasingly becomes an emerging power and global economic and diplomatic player. Lucien's One Big Thing is highlighting the rapid progress at The Red Sea giga-project, which seemingly makes a new announcement every day and seems to be way ahead of schedule. Then the hosts jump right into the final Yallah! Segment discussing six top storylines of the week to get you up to speed headed into the weekend.3:11 - Richard's One Big Thing this week is a recent collection of articles and items in the media that paint a picture of a U.S.-Saudi relationship that is evolving as Saudi Arabia increasingly becomes an emerging power and global economic and diplomatic player. Richard highlights recent pieces specifically by Bilal Saab and Hussein Ibish.17:35 - Lucien's One Big Thing is highlighting the rapid progress at The Red Sea giga-project. By all accounts and from everything one can see on social media, the development is proceeding ahead of schedule. Red Sea Global's dynamic and news-making CEO, John Pagano, announced the “first luxury resort brand revealed at AMAALA,” Clinique La Prairie, which is a leading Swiss clinic, and bills itself as master of longevity resort which has both medical and wellness programs. Red Sea Global also announced a new Four Seasons resort for the area, and renderings show a nearly-magical design that is set to rival the Maldives. 26:31 - Yallah! 6 Top Storylines to get you up to speed headed into the weekend…Saudi Arabia announces $400m humanitarian aid to UkraineAccording to Andrii Yermak, head of the President's Office of Ukraine, after meeting Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia will supply Ukraine with an aid package worth $400m. Two documents were signed formalizing $100m worth of humanitarian aid and $300m worth of oil products.Vision 2030 projects trigger a real estate boom in Saudi ArabiaWith multibillion-dollar projects related to the Vision 2030 strategy, Saudi Arabia's real estate sector is expected to witness a record boom, real estate experts told Arab News. Faisal Durrani, partner – head of Middle East Research, Knight Frank, said that, “in Riyadh, average apartment values are up 30 percent in the last 12 months, and this is even higher at around 40 percent for some of the most desirable suburbs in north Riyadh. Villa prices in the capital have also risen by 20 percent.”  According to Knight Frank, over 555,000 residential units, more than 275,000 hotel keys, over 4.3 million sq. m of retail space, and over 6.1 million sq. m of new office space are expected by 2030.First Israeli commercial flight uses Saudi-Omani corridorOman has become the latest Middle Eastern state to allow overflights of Israeli registered aircraft. It joins Saudi Arabia, and creates room for a significant air corridor to and from Asia since Israeli carriers still cannot overfly Iranian airspace – previously requiring them to route much further south. On Feb 26, El Al flight 871 from Tel Aviv to Bangkok became the first Israeli aircraft to transit Oman's airspace! The journey, which previously took over 10 hours, lasted just under 8 hours.Hajj Ministry: Pilgrims can perform any number of UmrahThe Ministry of Hajj and Umrah confirmed that pilgrims are not limited to a specific number of times to perform Umrah. The ministry stated that those who arrived in the Kingdom on a visit, tourist, or work visa can perform Umrah. The pilgrim can also change the means of transportation that he had used for his arrival during his departure from the Kingdom. The ministry pointed out that the holder of the Umrah visa can travel between Makkah and Madinah as well as among all the cities of the Kingdom during the permitted period of his stay. The Umrah pilgrims can enter and leave Saudi Arabia from any international or regional airport in the Kingdom.Andy Warhol Exhibition Opens in the Saudi DesertEarlier this month, Saudi Arabia's first exhibition on Andy Warhol opened at the Maraya, a mirrored building in the desert. Titled “FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla,” the show is part of the second annual AlUla Arts Festival, a government-funded initiative to help bolster the country's reputation as an arts destination. The show zeros in on Warhol's fascination with celebrity through some 70 carefully selected pieces of the late Pop Art icon's work. One section includes portraits of celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan and Salvador Dalí. Another houses Warhol's Silver Clouds, a room of large metallic balloons.LIV GOLF fails to match PGA ratings. And that's ok…An average of 286,000 and 291,000 viewers tuned in Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to watch LIV GOLF's first event of the season. Phil Mickelson and former number one Dustin Johnson lead an all-star cast at LIV's season opener in Mayakoba, Mexico, but ratings were far below that of the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour's Honda Classic brought in 1.61 million viewers Saturday and 2.38 million on Sunday, by comparison, on NBC.

Dick O'Brien from Symantec's Threat Hunter team sits down with Dave to discuss their work on "Witchetty - Group Uses Updated Toolset in Attacks on Governments in Middle East." Their research has found that the group known as Witchetty aka LookingFrog, has been progressively updating its toolset, including the new tool, backdoor Trojan (Backdoor.Stegmap) to launch malware attacks on targets in the Middle East and Africa. The research states "The attackers exploited the ProxyShell and ProxyLogon vulnerabilities to install web shells on public-facing servers before stealing credentials, moving laterally across networks, and installing malware on other computers. The researchers describe more on the new tool being used and why this new group is a threat. The research can be found here: Witchetty: Group Uses Updated Toolset in Attacks on Governments in Middle East

Join Haymarket Books and Internationalism From Below for a discussion of the relation between US imperialism and its regional alliances in the Middle East. ***Please note: This discussion was recorded on May 24, 2022 and while the situation on the ground has changed, we hope the background provided here remains informative.*** The US empire relies on regional alliances with countries whose interests don't always align 100% with US interests. This panel will focus on the regional alliance among Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel and their role as partners of US imperialism. Speakers: Aslı Bâli is Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, Founding Faculty Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights, and former Director of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. Her research focuses on public international law—including human rights and humanitarian law—and comparative constitutional law, with a focus on the Middle East. She co-chairs the Advisory Council for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch and chairs the Middle East Studies Association Task Force on Civil and Human Rights and the MESA Global Academy. Jamie Allinson is a senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he teaches courses in the politics of the Middle East. He is a member of the Salvage editorial collective and the author of The Age of Counter-Revolution: States and Revolutions in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His previous book, The Struggle for the State in Jordan: The Social Origins of Alliances in the Middle East (2016), was co-winner of the Jadaliyya Political Economy Book Prize. Allison McManus is the research director of the Freedom Initiative, where she leads a team of researchers in documenting prison-related abuses and advocating for detainees in the Middle East and North Africa. She is also a member of the steering committee of the U.S. Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt. Previously she was research director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Moderator: Joel Beinin is a member of the steering committee of the U.S. Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt. He is Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus at Stanford University. His many books include Workers and Peasants in the Modern Middle East (2001) and Workers and Thieves: Labor Movements and Popular Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt (2015). --------------------------------------------------------- This event is sponsored by the US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt, Internationalism from Below, Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), The Freedom Initiative, DSA International Committee, and Haymarket Books. While all of our events are freely available, we ask that those who are able make a solidarity donation in support of our important organizing, programming and publishing work. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/sf30lzByj9c Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

3:31 - Richard's one big thing is a new agreement between IBM and Saudi Arabia's IT authority that will upskill 100,000 young Saudis in the digital sector. The MoU to implement eight initiatives seeks to “bolster the Kingdom's position as a hub of technology and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa region,” according to SPA.9:32 - Lucien's one big thing is a look at the latest data coming out on the Saudi economy in 2022, which is one of the fastest-growing globally. Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics (GAStat) said that Saudi Arabia's economy expanded 11.8% in the second quarter of this year, year-on-year, maintaining the fastest pace of growth since 2011. High oil prices and output have powered that growth. But beyond oil, Saudi Arabia is seeing positive signs in the non-oil economy as well, which is key for the Kingdom Vision 2030 economic and social reforms. Non-oil GDP gained 5.4% while the oil economy grew 23.1% compared to last year, according to preliminary estimates.Separately, Standard and Poors (S&P) released its headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the whole economy this week. Though the trend for July was down from June, falling to 56.3 in July from 57.0 in June, it remained well above the neutral 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction.17:31 - The 966 speaks with Faisal Durrani, Partner and Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank, the London-based global real estate consultancy. Knight Frank just released two reports on Saudi Arabia's commercial and residential real estate sectors, providing unique insights into one of the world's fastest growing real estate markets. Faisal joins The 966 from Dubai to discuss the reports and much more. 1:04 - Yallah! 6 top storylines to get you up to date heading into the weekend. US to extend visa validity for Saudis to 10 years starting Aug. 1Last month, the US announced it would be extending visit visas for Saudi nationals from five to 10 years. The announcement came a day after US President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia for a two-day official visit as part of his first Middle East tour as president, during which he met King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials. Saudis hail Vision 2030 women's workforce figuresSaudi women now comprise 33.6 percent of the Saudi workforce as of March 2022, according to the General Authority for Statistics. That figure is up from 17.4 percent just five years ago. The unemployment rate of women was the lowest in 20 years as of the first quarter of 2022, falling to 20.2 percent from 22.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2021. Biden Approves Arms Sales to Saudi, UAEThe Biden administration on Tuesday approved and notified Congress of possible multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The notice of the approval comes just weeks after President Joe Biden met with the leaders of each nation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as he sought to improve relations between the US and the Saudis. Tiger Woods turns down as much as $800 million for LIV GolfTiger Woods turned down an offer that Greg Norman says was "somewhere in that neighborhood" of $700 million to $800 million to take part in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.During an appearance on Fox News with Tucker Carlson that aired Monday night, Norman confirmed what he told the Washington Post in a story two months ago. Norman told the Post in June the offer was "mind-blowingly enormous; we're talking about high nine digits." Saudi Arabia Eyes Hosting of 2026 Women's Asian CupSaudi Arabia has joined Australia, Jordan and Uzbekistan as nations who have expressed interest in hosting the 2026 Women's Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Monday as reported in Reuters.NEOM's Oxagon announces annual Kingdom-wide Hackathon NEOM's Oxagon, home to advanced and clean industries with industrial innovation at its core, today launched the first edition of its Hackathon, in partnership with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education, powered by Blossom Accelerator.The three-day sprint is set to take place from October 6 to 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is designed to foster a collaborative and inclusive innovation eco-system across the Kingdom's burgeoning startup community, a statement said.

Join a panel of Yemeni scholars and activists for a bottom-up perspective on the conflict in Yemen. ***Please note: This discussion was recorded on May 17, 2022 and while the situation on the ground has changed, we hope the background provided here remains informative.*** The recent ceasefire in Yemen and upcoming peace talks promise a possible end to a nightmarish six-year-long conflict that has generated one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. International commentary tends to frame the conflict as a proxy war between regional powers and remains narrowly focused on dynamics between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis. Missing from this picture are the projects and priorities of Yemeni activists, social movements, and grassroots organizations. We rarely hear the voices of Yemeni women, youth, or ordinary people. Yet these forces will be essential to the post-war peace-building process. Yemeni civilians are doing more than simply surviving against punishing odds. A durable settlement to the conflict will be impossible without them. How might both the war in Yemen and the prospects for peace look different with these voices at the center? By featuring Yemenis who work directly in and with these movements, this panel will provide an important bottom-up perspective that can supplement and challenge prevailing accounts of the conflict. Speakers: Azal Alsalafi is a Research Fellow at the Yemen Policy Center in Berlin and Protection and Advocacy Officer at the Peace Track Initiative, which was founded by Yemeni women inside and outside Yemen who came together in 2015 to support the peace process in Yemen. Her research and work focus on pathways of protection, feminist foreign policies, socio-economic dynamics and their impact on human rights and peace-building. Yazeed al-Jeddawy is a fellow at the Yemen Peace Forum and an independent research consultant. He has co-authored papers and policy briefs on youth, arts, transitional justice, development and peace-building in Yemen. He previously worked as a coordinator of youth-focused projects/programs at Youth Without Borders Organisation for Development (YWBOD), and as Education Program Manager at Nahda Makers Organization. Stacey Philbrick Yadav is Associate Professor of International Relations at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She is the author of Yemen in the Shadow of Transition: Pursuing Justice Amid War, which will be published in September 2022, and Islamists and the State: Legitimacy and Institutions in Yemen and Lebanon (2013). She co-edited The Fight for Yemen, a special issue of Middle East Report, the magazine of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). Since 2019, she has been working with Yemeni colleagues on internationally sponsored projects for everyday peacebuilding in Yemen. Hassan El-Tayyab is Legislative Director for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in Washington. Prior to joining FCNL in August 2019, he was co-director of Just Foreign Policy, where he led the organization's lobbying work to advance a more progressive foreign policy in the Middle East and Latin America. He played a major role in the successful passage of the War Powers Resolution to end U.S. military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's war and blockade on Yemen. This event is sponsored by the Internationalism From Below and Haymarket Books. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/WF8AlZuWrVM Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Join us for a discussion of the transformation of Egypt's courts in a system of authoritarian presidential rule under Sisi, with US backing. *Arabic interpretation of this event is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1En5CdxJO7RaMr6Hezi19MFKrUgivR3a9/view?usp=sharing* The modern Egyptian judiciary was established in the middle of the 19th century and is one of the oldest in the Middle East. Throughout the 20th century and the first decade of this century, it enjoyed a large degree of independence from the executive branch of government. Since the coup of July 2013, led by then-head of the armed forces and current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the Egyptian state has gradually turned the judiciary into a subservient extension of presidential power to eradicate all opposition and critical voices from the public sphere. In this forum, experts on Egyptian legal history, human rights, and international law will discuss these attacks on the judiciary in Egypt, the complicity of the US and other Western governments, and the role of global solidarity in supporting victims of the military dictatorship in Egypt. Speakers: Khaled Fahmy is Sultan Qaboos Professor of Modern Arabic Studies in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. His research interests lie in the social and cultural history of nineteenth-century Egypt, with special emphasis on the social history of the army, medicine and the law. His most recent book, In Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt, won the Peter Gonville Stein Book Award from the American Society for Legal History in 2019. Nancy Okail is President and CEO of the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. She is a leading scholar, policy analyst, and advocate with more than 20 years of experience working on issues of human rights, democracy, and security in the Middle East and North Africa. In her subsequent role as Director of Freedom House's Egypt program, Okail was one of the 43 nongovernmental organization workers convicted and sentenced to prison in a widely publicized 2012 case for allegedly using foreign funds to foment unrest in Egypt. She was then exonerated by court ruling in December of 2018. Richard A. Falk is Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice, Emeritus at Princeton University and Distinguished Visiting Professor in Global & International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of The Nation and The Progressive, and Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. During 1999–2000, Falk worked on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo. He blogs at Global Justice in the 21st Century. Yasmin Omar (moderator) is a human rights lawyer. She specializes in international law, UN mechanisms, and global sanctions. She practiced law in Egypt for ten years, defending victims of human rights violations, before moving to the United States after being targeted for her work. Omar is a member of the Steering Committee of the US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt and the UN and regional mechanism officer at the Committee for Justice. This event is sponsored by the US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt, Haymarket Books, the Committee for Justice, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), the Freedom Initiative, Internationalism from Below, Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), and St. John's Center for International and Comparative Law. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/uvoXX7y75ao Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Join a panel of analysts to discuss the current protests and class struggle in Iran and the political dynamics of the region. Please join Internationalism from Below, Haymarket Books, and New Politics Magazine for this forum on the current protests rocking the Islamic Republic, class and labor politics in Iran, gender and ethnic minorities in the country, revolutionary and counter-revolutionary dynamics in the Middle East, the myth of the “Axis of Resistance” — and how progressives and internationalists should make sense of these critical developments. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speakers: Frieda Afary is an Iranian American librarian, translator, and activist. She produces the blog Iranian Progressives in Translation and writes about the Middle East and the politics of solidarity for a variety of publications, including New Politics magazine. Her essay “The Iranian Uprising of 2019-2020” appeared in the recent book A Region in Revolt: Mapping the Recent Uprisings in North Africa and West Asia, edited by Jade Saab and published by Daraja Press. Latest article: “Iran: A New Wave of Mass Protests and Strikes” (New Politics): https://newpol.org/iran-a-new-wave-of-mass-protests-and-strikes/ Kaveh Ehsani is associate professor of International Studies at DePaul University in Chicago. His books include Social History of Oil in Iran (in Persian) and Working for Oil: Comparative Social Histories of Labor in the Global Oil Industry. He has worked as a regional planner at the World Bank and the UNDP. As a development planner in Iran he worked on water resources planning, drought, urban governance, and post-war reconstruction in Khuzestan Province. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) and is a contributing editor of the journals Goftogu (based in Tehran), Middle East Report, and Iranian Studies. Latest article: “The Moral Economy of the Iranian Protests” (Jacobin): https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/01/iranian-protests-revolution-rouhani-ahmadinejad Danny Postel is Assistant Director of the Center for International and Area Studies at Northwestern University and a member of Internationalism from Below. He is co-editor of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future, The Syria Dilemma, and Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East. Formerly Senior Editor of openDemocracy magazine, he has written for Boston Review, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Democratic Left, Dissent, The Guardian, In These Times, Middle East Report (MERIP), The Nation, New Politics, and The Progressive, among other publications. Latest article: "The Other Regional Counter-Revolution: Iran's Role in the Shifting Political Landscape of the Middle East" (New Politics): https://newpol.org/the-other-regional-counter-revolution-irans-role-in-the-shifting-political-landscape-of-the-middle-east/ Moderator Sam Salour is a member of the Tempest Collective and a sociology PhD student at UC Santa Barbara. Latest article: “Striking echoes in Iran: A report from the oil and gas strikes”: https://www.tempestmag.org/2021/08/striking-echoes-in-iran/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This event is co-sponsored by Internationalism from Below, Haymarket Books, and New Politics. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/97kbenZHuSU Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Join a panel of experts for a discussion of el-Sisi's role in repressing human rights in Egypt and Palestine. Trump's reference to Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as his “favorite dictator” revealed the former US president's penchant for lawlessness and authoritarian rule. But the Biden administration continues to provide carte blanche for Sisi's widespread repression and human rights abuses, based on the premise that Egypt plays an important role in enforcing US policies for the region, in particular as a mediator between Palestinians and Israel. This Realpolitik logic of unconditional support for tyrants is shortsighted. The Sisi regime is currently imprisoning an estimated 60,000 political prisoners while it also plays a central role in maintaining the longstanding blockade of Gaza and jails Palestine solidarity activists in Egypt. This forum will address the state of human rights in Egypt, Sisi's role in besieging Palestinians (in collusion with Israel and the Palestinian Authority), how US policy fuels repression in Egypt and Egypt's nefarious role in Israel-Palestine, and what progressives can do to improve human rights conditions for Egyptians and Palestinians. Speakers: Raed Jarrar is Advocacy Director for Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Since immigrating to the U.S. in 2005, he has worked as a lobbyist on political issues pertaining to the U.S. engagement in the Arab world. Widely recognized as an expert on political, social, and economic developments in the MENA region, he has testified in numerous Congressional hearings and briefings. He is a frequent guest on national and international media outlets in Arabic and English, including CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the BBC, Al Jazeera, and Sky News Arabia. Yasmin Omar, a human rights lawyer, is Egypt Legal Associate at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP). She has been a practicing human rights lawyer for the last nine years. She has worked with several NGOs in Egypt and is a member of the Front of Defense for Egyptian Protesters. She holds an L.L.M. from Syracuse University with a focus on counter-terrorism, national security, and refugee and asylum law. Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab'a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. Ted Swedenburg (moderator) is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of Memories of Revolt: The 1936-39 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past and co-editor of Palestine, Israel and the Politics of Popular Culture and Displacement, Diaspora and Geographies of Identity. ---------------------------------------------------- This event is co-sponsored by the Middle East Research & Information Project (MERIP), US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Internationalism from Below, and Haymarket Books. While all of our events are freely available, we ask that those who are able make a solidarity donation in support of our important publishing and programming work. Learn more about our sponsors: MERIP: https://merip.org/ DAWN: https://usegyptsolidarity.org/ Internationalism From Below: https://www.facebook.com/intlfrombelow/ Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/2Gbf3Tfkwc0 Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Join us for a panel discussion on the brutal repression of political dissenters in Egypt since 2016 and how to build solidarity. Since 2016, the tyrannical regime of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has built 30 new prisons to house the estimated 70,000+ political prisoners incarcerated since Sisi seized power in 2013. Egyptian civil society activists and journalists have been especially targeted. But the Sisi regime also routinely imprisons anyone whose speech, writing, or actions express the slightest criticism or deviation from its official line: be they doctors speaking out about deficiencies in Covid-19 treatment, lawyers denouncing corruption, Facebook posters or Tik-Tok influencers. Prisoners of conscience are disappeared, held in solitary confinement without trial, and denied access to food, health care, and family visits. Torture is widespread. Despite this, Western countries continue to maintain warm relations with Egypt. French president Emmanuel Macron recently presented Sisi with his country's highest public award, the Légion d'honneur. Trump famously referred to Sisi as his “favorite dictator,” but there is no sign that US-Egyptian relations will be any different under President Biden: just days after Egyptian security forces detained family members of human rights activist and dual US-Egyptian national Mohamed Soltan, the State Department announced it is considering a sale of missiles to Egypt worth $197 million. Please join us for an urgent discussion about this situation and how to build solidarity with Egyptian activists facing this horrific repression. Speakers: Mohamed Soltan, human rights activist and former political prisoner in Egypt. Mohamed was imprisoned in the crackdown on pro-democracy activists following the July 3, 2013 coup d'état. He engaged in a 489-day hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment and was released in May 2015. He is a co-founder of the Freedom Initiative, a human rights organization dedicated to the release of political prisoners in the Middle East. @soltan Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Previously, she served as executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch (2004 – 2020), overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and human rights. @sarahleah1 Hussein Baoumi, researcher on Egypt and Libya for Amnesty International. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was a fellow with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, Programs Director at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms in Cairo, and an international fellow with Dejusticia, a Bogotá-based organization dedicated to social justice and human rights in Colombia and the Global South. @husseinmagdy16 ---------------------------------------------------- This event is sponsored by Internationalism From Below, the Arab Studies Institute, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), and Haymarket Books. While all of our events are freely available, we ask that those who are able make a solidarity donation in support of our important publishing and organizing work. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/EY-CP1_BURs Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Covid-19 has exacerbated many structural problems in the MENA region, throwing already fragile states, embattled economies, and restive societies into deeper turmoil. Reflecting the deeply rooted inequality in the region, the impact of the pandemic has not been uniform across the region, hitting vulnerable segments, including women and refugees, disproportionately harder. Gender-based marginalization and structural, economic, and physical violence endemic to many parts of the MENA region have been compounded by the invisible viral pandemic. The often strict lockdown measures it has triggered means many women are left trapped with abusers without recourse to shelter or assistance, while many others, despite already being responsible for most thankless unpaid labour as parents or carers in free-falling economies, are now struggling to cope with the added weight of the novel coronavirus. The recorded live discussion focused on the specific ways in which Covid-19 has disproportionately affected women in the Levant subregion of MENA, and what some feminist groups have been doing to improve women's resilience since the start of the pandemic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Speakers:Lina Abou-Habib is an expert in mainstreaming gender in development policies and practices and in building capacities for gender mainstreaming in regional and international agencies as well as public institutions. She is currently a Senior Policy Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (American University of Beirut).  She also serves as the Chair of the Collective for Research and Training of Development-Action and is a Strategic MENA Advisor for the Global Fund for Women.  She is a member of the editorial board of the Gender and Development journal published by Oxfam and Routledge. She holds an M.A. in Public Health from American University in Beirut.Maria Al Abdeh is a feminist researcher and Executive Director of Women Now For Development (WND). Maria has a PhD in Microbiology. She joined Women Now for Development in November 2013  and since then she accompanied the growth of the organization to become the largest network of women empowerment centers inside Syria and the neighboring countries and participated in many campaigns and conferences to reach out the voices of the most vulnerable women to the media, activists and decision makers, and focuses on women and conflict and women rights in the MENA region. In March 2016 Maria received the Award of Feminine Success in France, and together with WND received in May 2016 the Award of ‘Delivering Lasting Change' for commitment to Justice and Dignity from CARE international. Soheir Asaad is a political and feminist Palestinian activist, and an organizer in the "Tal'at Movement" – a Palestinian political feminist movement. Launched in September 2019 under the slogan “There is no free homeland without free women”, Tal'at seeks to build Palestinian, de-fragmented feminist solidarity and activism across the whole of historic Palestine and the diaspora community. Asaad is also a human rights advocate and has a Masters degree in Law (LL.M.) with Honors from the Center for Civil & Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame (US), with a focus on international human rights law.Moderator:Danya Hajjaji is a journalist at The New Arab. She previously served as Patti Birch Fellow for Middle East Research at the Committee to Protect Journalists. Danya earned her MS in Journalism from Columbia University and her BA in Media and Communications from the University of Sussex.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more

The US has played a major role in fomenting violence across Yemen, backing the Saudi and United Arab Emirates-led forces attacking the country while also conducting a direct war against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula under the guise of counterterrorism. But while it's understandable that US involvement is the top focus for the American left, understanding the war in Yemen requires a much broader analysis. The Yemeni conflict not only includes multiple outside actors but also multiple groups of Yemenis pursuing different outcomes, rooted in a complex history that few outside of Yemen understand. Explaining that context is what this show, in partnership with the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), is all about. This special episode includes two interviews with contributors to Middle East Report, MERIP's print publication. First, up is Yemeni journalist Afrah Nasser and political scientist Stacey Philbrick Yadav; and then, Dan speaks with political-economist Adam Hanieh. Check out The Fight for Yemen, the latest issue of Middle East Report at merip.org/magazine/289/ Thanks to Verso. Check out their huge selection of left-wing titles at www.versobooks.org Please support this podcast with your cash at Patreon.com/TheDig        

The US has played a major role in fomenting violence across Yemen, backing the Saudi and United Arab Emirates-led forces attacking the country while also conducting a direct war against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula under the guise of counterterrorism. But while it's understandable that US involvement is the top focus for the American left, understanding the war in Yemen requires a much broader analysis. The Yemeni conflict not only includes multiple outside actors but also multiple groups of Yemenis pursuing different outcomes, rooted in a complex history that few outside of Yemen understand. Explaining that context is what this show, in partnership with the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), is all about. This special episode includes two interviews with contributors to Middle East Report, MERIP's print publication. First, up is Yemeni journalist Afrah Nasser and political scientist Stacey Philbrick Yadav; and then, Dan speaks with political-economist Adam Hanieh. Check out The Fight for Yemen, the latest issue of Middle East Report at merip.org/magazine/289 Thanks to Verso. Check out their huge selection of left-wing titles at www.versobooks.org Please support this podcast with your cash at Patreon.com/TheDig      

Researchers at Trend Micro recently published their look inside online underground marketplaces in the Middle East and North Africa, where criminals are buying and selling malware, laundering money and event booking their next discount vacation. Jon Clay is director of global threat communications at Trend Micro, and he joins us with their findings.  The original research can be found here: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/cash-and-communication-new-trends-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa-underground The CyberWire's Research Saturday is presented by Juniper Networks. Thanks to our sponsor Enveil, closing the last gap in data security.

Researchers at Symantec recently published their findings on an active attack group named Leafminer that's targeting government organizations and businesses in the Middle East region.  Vikram Thakur is a technical director at Symantec, and he joins us to share what they've found. The research can be found here: https://www.symantec.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/leafminer-espionage-middle-east   The CyberWire's Research Saturday is presented by the Hewlett Foundation Cyber Initiative. Thanks to our sponsor Enveil, closing the last gap in data security.

In this episode I talk about my urban fantasy series, the Sound Mage Sonata and the research I am doing to learn about the Middle East, since the series takes place in a city inspired by Dubai.    Sound credits available at www.michaellaronn.com/episode3    

WoodMac discusses Iraq's oil and gas sector after attending the annual Iraq Petroleum conference. Topics include why 2018 is different to 2017, five key conference takeaways, the main messages from WoodMac's presentation, what to look for this year and why the previous oil production ambitions were not met. Stewart Williams, VP of Middle East Research, interviews Ian Thom, Middle East Principal Analyst.

Khalil Bendib interviews Cairo-based activist and journalist, Hossam El-Hamalawy about the recent Egyptian elections. Despite massive pro-military media propaganda in Egypt, and threats of large fines against those who did not vote, the election commission had to extend the voting for a third day in an attempt to draw more people to polling booths. As predicted, ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared himself the president of Egypt with96% of the votes.    Host Malihe Razazan speaks with Samera Esmeir, associate professor at the department of Rhetoric at UC Berkeley about her recent article, “A Guide for the Perplexed: On the Return of the Refugees” published on the Middle East Research and Information Project. In this text, professor Esmeir focused on the the the return of some of the Palestinian refugees to their village Kafr Bir'im, located in northern Palestine in the Galilee, whose residents were expelled in 1948. The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – “Practicing Return and Voting or Not Voting in Egypt” appeared first on KPFA.

GW's Marc Lynch speaks with Joshua Statcher, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Kent State University where he teaches and researches Middle East politics. He is a member of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria.

GW's Marc Lynch speaks with Joshua Statcher, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Kent State University where he teaches and researches Middle East politics. He is a member of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria.