Podcasts about ottoman syria

Come see us live in London June 22nd at the Big Fat Festival: https://bigbellycomedy.club/event/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-big-fat-festival-southbank/ Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Part 2/4 Sources: Ronald Grigor Suny. They Can Live in the Desert and Nowhere Else. Peter Bakalian. Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response Taner Akçam. Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility Taner Akçam. The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire Vakahn Dadrian. German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity. Khatchig Mouradian. Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916 Simon Payaslian. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present.

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Live show tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-11th-april-2025-tickets-1266997737339?aff=oddtdtcreator Live stream tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-11th-april-2025-tickets-1266999251869?aff=oddtdtcreator This is the story of the Metz Yegern, The Great Evil Crime, or, what it would later become known as, the Armenian Genocide. Sources: Ronald Grigor Suny. They Can Live in the Desert and Nowhere Else. Peter Bakalian. Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response Taner Akçam. Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility Taner Akçam. The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire Vakahn Dadrian. German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity. Khatchig Mouradian. Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916 Simon Payaslian. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present.

With the exile of Syria's Bashar Al-Assad recently, much interest has been focused on the sect of Islam of which he was a member. However, there are some who claim that the denomination known as Alawite is not Islam at all, but a heretical break-off sect. To understand this somewhat intricate situation we speak with Dr. Stefan Winter who has studied religion in Syria and Turkey for decades. Stefan Winter is a Canadian historian specializing in the study of Ottoman Syria. He teaches at the Université du Québec à Montréal and has been visiting professor at Koç University in Istanbul. His research concentrates on Shi‘i, Bedouin and Kurdish principalities in northern Syria and southern Anatolia and has been published by Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press and in a number of academic journals. His work won the Syrian Studies Association's prize for best dissertation in 2002 and the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association's Fuat Köprülü Award in 2017.

“It's quite clear to me that he was trying to recreate the hillside of Haifa with the gardens... It comes from somebody being ripped out from their home.” Syrian Jewish Playwright Oren Safdie, son of world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who designed Habitat 67 along with much of modern Jerusalem, knows loss, regret, and longing. Oren and his father explore their Syrian heritage and their connection to the Jewish state that has developed since Moshe's father left Aleppo, Syria and moved, in the mid-20th century, to what is modern-day Israel. Oren also knows that being Jewish is about stepping up. Describing his frustrations with modern anti-Israel sentiments and protests that harken back to 1943, Oren is passionately combating anti-Israel propaganda in theater and academia.  Abraham Marcus, Associate Professor Emeritus at University of Texas at Austin, joins the conversation with historical insights into Jewish life in Syria dating back to Roman times. —- Show notes: Sign up to receive podcast updates here. Learn more about the series here. Song credits:  Al Fadimem, Bir Demet Yasemen, Fidayda; all by Turku, Nomads of the Silk Road Aleppo Bakkashah  Pond5:  “Desert Caravans”: Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI), Composer: Tiemur Zarobov (BMI), IPI#1098108837 “Oud Nation”: Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI); Composer: Haygaz Yossoulkanian (BMI), IPI#1001905418 “Arabic (Middle Eastern Music)”: Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI), Composer: Andrei Skliarov, Item ID #152407112 “Fields Of Elysium”; Publisher: Mysterylab Music; Composer: Mott Jordan; ID#79549862 “Middle Eastern Dawn”: Publisher: Victor Romanov, Composer: Victor Romanov; Item ID #202256497 “Ney Flute Melody 01”: Publisher: Ramazan Yuksel; Composer: Ramazan Yuksel; P.R.O. Track: BMI 00712367557 “Uruk”: Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI); Composer: Marcus Bressler; Item ID: 45886699 “Suspense Middle East” Publisher: Victor Romanov, Composer: Victor Romanov; Item ID: 196056047 ___ Episode Transcript: OREN SAFDIE:  I've sort of wanted to shine a light on North American Jews being hypercritical of Israel. Because I've spent a lot of time in Israel. And I know what it is. It's not a simple thing. And I think it's very easy for Americans in the comfort of their little brownstones in Brooklyn, and houses in Cambridge to criticize, but these people that live in Israel are really standing the line for them. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: The world has overlooked an important episode in modern history: the 800,000 Jews who left or were driven from their homes in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-20th century. Welcome to the second season of The Forgotten Exodus, brought to you by American Jewish Committee. This series explores that pivotal moment in history and the little-known Jewish heritage of Iran and Arab nations. As Jews around the world confront violent antisemitism and Israelis face daily attacks by terrorists on multiple fronts, our second season explores how Jews have lived throughout the region for generations despite hardship, hostility, and hatred, then sought safety and new possibilities in their ancestral homeland. I'm your host, Manya Brachear Pashman. Join us as we explore untold family histories and personal stories of courage, perseverance, and resilience from this transformative and tumultuous period of history for the Jewish people and the Middle East.  The world has ignored these voices. We will not.  This is The Forgotten Exodus. Today's episode: leaving Aleppo. MANYA: Playwright and screenwriter Oren Safdie has had just about enough of the anti-Israel sentiments on stage and screen. And what irks him the most is when it comes from Jewish artists and celebrities who have never spent time in the Middle East's one and only democracy. Remember film director Jonathan Glazer's speech at the 2024 Academy Awards? JONATHAN GLAZER: Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the … [APPLAUSE] MANYA: Yeah, Oren didn't much appreciate his own Jewishness being hijacked in that moment. Drawing a moral equivalence between the Nazi regime and Israel never really sits well with him. OREN: I do feel like they're very selective in their criticism of Israel. You know, it's very easy to say, ‘Oh, well, they didn't do that. They don't do this.' But it's a complicated situation. And to simplify it, is just to me beyond, especially if you're not somebody who has spent a lot of time in Israel. MANYA: Oren Safdie has penned more than two dozen scripts for stages and screens around the world. His latest film, Lunch Hour, starring Alan Cumming, is filming in Minnesota.  Meanwhile, The Man Who Saved the Internet with A Sunflower, another script he co-wrote, is on the festival circuit. And his latest play Survival of the Unfit, made its North American debut in the Berkshires this summer, is headed to Broadway. And by the way, since an early age, Oren Safdie has spent quite a bit of time in Israel. His father Moshe Safdie is the legendary architect behind much of modern Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion International Airport, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum.  Oren's grandfather, Leon, emigrated from Syria. OREN: I'm sort of a synthesis of the two main parts that established Israel because my mother came from Poland, escaped the Holocaust. And my father's family came from Syria. So, I'm a half breed.  I've never been asked about my Sephardic side, even though that was really the dominant side that I grew up with. Because my mother's family was quite small. I grew up in Montreal, it was much more in the Syrian tradition for holidays, food, everything like that. My grandfather was from Aleppo, Syria, and my grandmother was from Manchester, England, but originally from Aleppo. Her family came to Manchester, but two generations before, had been from Aleppo. So, they're both Halabi Jews.  MANYA: Halabi refers to a diverse group of Jews from Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world that has gone by several names. The oldest? Haleb.  Halabi Jews include Mizrahi Jews -- the name for Jews who call the Middle East or North Africa home; and Sephardi Jews, who fled to the region after being expelled from Spain in the 15th Century.  Jews are believed to have been in what is now Syria since the time of King David and certainly since early Roman times. ABRAHAM MARCUS: It's a community that starts, as far as we can record, in the Greco-Roman period. And we see the arrival of Islam. So the Jews were really the indigenous people when Arabs arrived. MANYA: Abraham Marcus, born to parents from Aleppo, is an internationally renowned authority on the city. He served as director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. For the past 16 years, he has been working on a book about the history of Aleppo's Jews that goes well beyond what has been previously published. As part of his research, he examined thousands of documents from the Syrian national archive and the Ottoman archive in Istanbul. He also did extensive fieldwork on the ground in Aleppo, documenting the synagogues, cemeteries, residential districts, and workplaces.  MARCUS: One of the synagogues, the famous ancient synagogue of Aleppo, which dates to the 5th Century, meaning it predates the arrival of Arabs. It is a remarkable structure. Unfortunately, what is left of it now is really a skeleton. MANYA: Abraham is referring to the Great Synagogue or Central Synagogue of Aleppo, which functioned as the main house of worship for the Syrian Jewish community for more than 1,600 years. For 600 of those years, its catacombs safeguarded a medieval manuscript believed to be the oldest, most complete, most accurate text of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Aleppo Codex. The codex was used by Maimonides as a reference for his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, or Jewish religious legal code. In the 7th Century, Aleppo was conquered by Arab Muslims and a Great Mosque was built. For the next four centuries, the Byzantine Empire, Crusaders, and various Muslim rulers fought to gain control of Aleppo and the surrounding region. A savage Mongol invasion, a bout of the Black Death and another invasion took its toll on the city, and its Jews.  For most of this time, Muslim rulers treated them as dhimmis, or second-class citizens.  MARCUS: There were restrictions on dress, which were renewed time and again. They could not carry arms. They could not ride horses. MANYA: After half of Spain's Jews converted to Christianity following the pogroms of 1391, the Catholic monarchs issued the Alhambra Decree of 1492 – an edict that expelled any remaining Jews from the Iberian Peninsula to ensure their descendants didn't revert back to Judaism.  As Jews fled, many made their way to parts of the Ottoman Empire. In 1516, Aleppo became part of that empire and emerged as a strategic trading post at the end of the Silk Road, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq. As was the case in other parts of the Ottoman Empire, Jews lived relatively comfortably, serving as merchants and tax collectors.  MARCUS: The policy of the Ottoman Empire was to essentially welcome the Sephardic Jews. The Sultan at the time is reputed to have said, ‘I don't understand the King of Spain. But if he's thinking at all, giving up all this human capital, essentially, we can take it.'  Many of the successful Jews in Aleppo and Damascus–in business, as leaders, as rabbis–were Sephardic Jews. They revived these communities, they brought new blood and new energy to them, a new wealth. MANYA: This was not always the case throughout Ottoman Syria as persecution and pogroms erupted at times.  By the mid-19th Century, Aleppo's Jewish population was slightly smaller than that of Baghdad, by about 2,000. In 1869, the opening of the Suez Canal shifted trade away from the route through Syria. Aleppo lost much of its commercial edge, motivating many Jews to seek opportunity elsewhere. MARCUS: The story of Aleppo is one of a society gradually hemorrhaging, losing people. They went to Beirut, which was a rising star. And Egypt became very attractive. So they went to Alexandria and Cairo. And many of the rabbis from the 1880s began to move to Jerusalem where there were yeshivot that were being set up. And in effect, over the next several decades, essentially the spiritual center of Aleppo's Jews was Jerusalem and no longer Aleppo.  MANYA: Another turning point for Aleppo came in World War I when the Ottoman Empire abandoned its neutral position and sided with the Central Powers–including Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary and Germany.  Many wealthy Jews had acquired foreign nationalities from countries that were not allies. Now considered enemy citizens, they were deported and never came back. In addition, Jews and Christians up to that point could pay a special tax to avoid serving in the army. That privilege ended in 1909. MARCUS: Because of the Balkan Wars, there was a sense that the empire is going to collapse if they don't essentially raise a large force to defend it. And there was a kind of flight that really decimated the community by 1918, when the war ended. MANYA: Besides those two wartime exceptions, Abraham says the departure of Jews from Syria was almost always motivated by the promise of better opportunities. In fact, opportunity might have been what drew the Safdie family to and from Aleppo. MANYA: Originally from Safed, as their name suggests, the Safdie family arrived in Aleppo sometime during the 16th or 17th centuries. By that time, the Jewish community in Safed, one of the Four Holy Cities in Judaism located in modern-day Israel, had transformed it into a lucrative textile center. So lucrative that the sultan of the ruling Ottoman Empire ordered the forced deportation of 1,000 Jewish families to Cyprus to boost that island's economy.  It's not clear if those deportations or the decline that followed pushed the Safdie family north to Aleppo. Most of them stayed for roughly three centuries–through World War One and France's brief rule during the Interwar period. But in 1936, amid the Great Depression, which affected Syria as well, Leon Safdie, the ninth of ten children born to textile merchants, moved to Haifa and set up his own trading business. Importing textiles, woolens, and cottons from England and fabrics from Japan and India.  A year later, he met his wife Rachel who had sailed from Manchester to visit her sister in Jerusalem. She spoke English and a little French. He spoke Arabic and French. They married a month later. OREN: My grandfather lived in Haifa, he was a merchant like many Syrian Jews were. He imported textiles. He freely went between the different countries, you know, there weren't really so many borders. A lot of his people he worked with were Arab, Druze, Christian, Muslim. Before independence, even though there was obviously some tension, being somebody who is a Syrian Jew, who spoke Arabic, who spoke French, he was sort of just one of the region. MANYA: Moshe Safdie was born in 1938. He says the onset of the Second World War created his earliest memories – hosting Australian soldiers in their home for Shabbat and making nightly trips into air raid shelters. Every summer, the family vacationed in the mountain resorts of Lebanon to visit aunts and uncles that had moved from Aleppo to Beirut. Their last visit to Lebanon in the summer of 1947 culminated with all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins piling into three Chrysler limousines and caravanning from Beirut to Aleppo to visit their grandmother and matriarch, Symbol. MOSHE: I remember sort of the fabric of the city. I have vague memories of the Citadel of Aleppo, because it was an imposing structure. I remember her – a very fragile woman, just vaguely. MANYA: While most of Moshe's memories of Aleppo are vague, one memory in particular is quite vivid. At that time, the United Nations General Assembly was debating the partition plan that would divide what was then the British Mandate of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. Tensions ran high throughout the region. When Moshe's uncles noticed Moshe wearing his school uniform on the streets of Aleppo, they panicked.  MOSHE: They were terrified. We were walking in the street, and we had khaki shirts and khaki pants. And it had stitched on it, as required in our school, the school badge, and it said, ‘Thou shalt be humble' in Hebrew. And they saw that, or at least they noticed we had that, and they said: ‘No, this is very dangerous!' and they ripped it off.' MANYA: It would be the first and last time Moshe Safdie visited Aleppo. On the 29th of November, the UN voted on a resolution to divide Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. The news arrived in Aleppo the following morning. MARCUS: This was New York time, in the evening, when the decision was made. So already, people started planning demonstrations for the next day, in support of the Palestinians. And that next day began with what was a peaceful demonstration of students, and then all kinds of people joined in and before long it became an attack on Jewish property. The synagogues were set ablaze. Many Jewish homes were burned, businesses were looted. And so the day ended with the Jews really in a state of fright.  MANYA: The mob looted the Jewish quarter and burned the Great Synagogue, scattering and desecrating the pages of the Aleppo Codex. The caretaker of the synagogue and his son later returned to the ashes to salvage as much as they could. But most of the community's leadership took a train to Beirut and never looked back.  Of course, as previously mentioned, Aleppo had already witnessed a steep decline in its Jewish population. The numbers vary widely, depending on the source, but by 1947, on the eve of the Jewish exodus from Syria, Iraq, and other Arab countries, Aleppo had anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 Jews, whereas Baghdad had between 75 and 90,000. MARCUS: More than half the population left within a month. The community after that, in the next two, three weeks, was in a situation in which some people decided that was the end.  They took possessions that they could, got on buses and left for Beirut. That was the safe destination to go to. And there was traffic between the two areas.  Some people decided to stay. I mean, they had business, they had interest, they had property that they didn't want to leave. You can imagine the kind of dilemmas face people suddenly, the world has changed, and what do I do? Which part of the fork do I go?  MANYA: Those who left effectively forfeited their property to the Syrian government. To this day, the only way to reclaim that property and be allowed to sell it is to return and become Syrian citizens. Those who stayed were trapped. Decimated and demoralized, Aleppo's Jews came under severe travel restrictions, unable to travel more than four kilometers from their homes without permission from the government, which tracked their comings and goings. MARCUS: The view was that if they leave, they'll end up in what's called the Zionist entity and provide the soldiers and aid to the enemy. So the idea was to keep them in.  So there's a reality there of a community that is now stuck in place. Unable to emigrate. That remained in place until 1970, when things began to relax. It was made possible for you to leave temporarily for a visit. But you have to leave a very large sum as a deposit. The other option was essentially to hire some smugglers to take you to the Turkish or the Lebanese border, and basically deliver you to another country where Jews had already networked. The Mossad had people who helped basically transfer them to Israel. But that was very risky. If you were caught, it's prison time and torture.  Over the next 45 years, many of the young left gradually, and many of them left without the parents even knowing. They will say ‘I'm going to the cinema and I'll come back'. MANYA: On May 14, 1948, Israel declared independence. But the socialist politics of the new Jewish state did not sit well with Leon Safdie who much preferred private enterprise. He also felt singled out, as did many Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel at the time.  OREN: In some ways, it almost created some tension for him on several fronts, right? First of all, between him and his clients, who he had been doing business with in the Arab world, for many years. All of a sudden, those relationships are called into question. And as my grandfather was an importer of textiles, it was considered a luxury good. And when you're in wartime, there were rations.  The high tariffs really killed my grandfather's business. So, he wanted to stay in Israel. He helped with the war effort. He really loved the country and he knew the people, but really for three years, he sat idle and just did not have work. He was a man that really needed to work, had a lot of pride. MANYA: In 1953, Leon and Rachel sought opportunity once again – this time in Montreal – a move Moshe Safdie would forever resent. When in 1959 he married Oren's mother Nina, an Israeli expat who was trying to return to Israel herself, they both resolved to return to the Jewish state. Life and phenomenal success intervened. While studying architecture at McGill University, Moshe designed a modern urban apartment building [Habitat 67] that incorporated garden terraces and multiple stories. It was built and unveiled during the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal, and Moshe's career took off.  OREN: It's quite clear to me that he was trying to recreate the hillside of Haifa with the gardens. And it's something that has sort of preoccupied him for his whole career. It comes from somebody being ripped out from their home. Those kinds of things I think stay with you. MANYA: Eventually, in 1970, Moshe opened a branch of his architecture firm in Jerusalem and established a second home there. Oren recalls visiting every summer – often with his grandfather Leon.   OREN: And I remember going with him when he'd come to Israel when I was there, because we used to go pretty much every summer. He would love to go down to Jericho. And we'd sit at the restaurants. I mean, there was a period of time, you know, when it was sort of accepted that Jews could travel to the West Bank, to Ramallah and everything. And he loved to just speak with the merchants and everything, he loved that. He felt so at home in that setting. It was not dangerous, as it is today, obviously. I think everyone back then thought it was a temporary situation. And obviously, the longer it goes, and the more things happen, it feels more permanent. And of course, that's where we are today. But that time, in my head, sort of just is a confirmation that Jews and Arabs have a lot more in common and can get along … if the situation was different. MANYA: As the son of an Israeli citizen, Oren is considered an Israeli citizen too. But he concedes that he is not fully Israeli. That requires more sacrifice. In 1982, at the age of 17, he signed up for Chetz V'Keshet, at that time a 10-week program run in conjunction with the Israel Defense Forces for American and Canadian teens and designed to foster a connection to Israel. The program took place during the First Lebanon War, Israel's operation to remove terrorists from southern Lebanon, where they had been launching attacks against Israeli civilians. OREN: So this was a mix of basic training, where we trained with artillery and things and did a lot of war games. And from there, you know, their hope was that you would join the military for three years. And I did not continue.  I guess there's a part of me that regrets that. Even though I'm an Israeli citizen, I can't say I'm Israeli in the way that Israelis are. If the older me would look back, then I would say, ‘If you really want to be connected to Israel, the military is really the only way. I'd say at that young age, I didn't understand that the larger picture of what being Jewish, what being Israeli is, and it's about stepping up. MANYA: Now in his early 50s, Oren tries to step up by confronting the anti-Israel propaganda that's become commonplace in both of his professional worlds: theater and academia. In addition to writing his own scripts and screenplays, he has taught college level playwriting and screenwriting. He knows all too often students fall prey to misinformation and consider anything they see on social media or hear from their friends as an authoritative source.  A few years ago, Oren assigned his students the task of writing a script based on real-life experience and research. One of the students drafted a script about bloodthirsty Israelis killing Palestinian children. When Oren asked why he chose that topic and where he got his facts, the student cited his roommate.  Oren didn't discourage him from pitching the script to his classmates, but warned him to come prepared to defend it with facts. The student turned in a script on an entirely different topic. OREN: You know, there were a lot of plays that came up in the past 10 years that were anti-Israel. You'd be very hard-pressed to find me one that's positive about Israel. No one's doing them. MANYA: Two of his scripts have come close. In 2017, he staged a play at the St. James Theatre in Old Montreal titled Mr. Goldberg Goes to Tel Aviv– a farce about a gay Jewish author who arrives in Tel Aviv to deliver a blistering attack on the Israeli government to the country's left-leaning literati.  But before he even leaves his hotel room, he is kidnapped by a terrorist. Investors lined up to bring it to the silver screen and Alan Cumming signed on to play Mr. Goldberg. But in May 2021, Hamas terrorists launched rockets at Israeli civilians, igniting an 11-day war. The conflict led to a major spike in antisemitism globally.  OREN: The money people panicked and said, ‘We can't put up a comedy about the Middle East within this environment. Somebody is going to protest and shut us down,' and they cut out. MANYA: Two years later, an Israeli investor expressed interest in giving the movie a second chance. Then on October 7 [2023], Hamas launched a surprise attack on 20 Israeli communities -- the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed, thousands of rockets have been fired on Israel, and more than 100 hostages are still in captivity. OREN: Mr. Goldberg Goes to Tel Aviv collapsed after October 7th. I don't think anybody would have the appetite for a comedy about a Hamas assassin taking a left-wing Jew hostage in a hotel room. MANYA: Another play titled “Boycott This” was inspired by Oren's visit to a coffee shop in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2011. The walls of the cafe were plastered with posters urging boycotts of Israel and accusing it of blood libel. Oren and his daughter created their own posters and stood outside the coffee shop calling on customers to boycott the cafe instead. But the father and daughter's impromptu protest is just one of three storylines in the play, including one about the 1943 boycott of Jews in Poland–where his mother spent part of her childhood in hiding during the Holocaust.  The third storyline takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where Iran has succeeded in wiping Israel off the map. A Jewish woman has been forced to become one of the enemy's wives – a threat some hostages taken on October 7 have reported hearing from their captors.  OREN: It was really my attempt to try and show how the boycotts of Israel today, in light of, you know, 1943, were really not different.  MANYA:  Even now, Oren has not been able to convince a college or theater to stage “Boycott This,” including the Jewish museum in Los Angeles that hosted his daughter's bat mitzvah on October 7, 2023.    OREN: I've sort of wanted to shine a light on North American Jews being hypercritical of Israel, which I guess ties into BDS. Because I've spent a lot of time in Israel. And I know what it is. It's not a simple thing. And I think it's very easy for Americans in the comfort of their little brownstones in Brooklyn, and houses in Cambridge to criticize, but these people that live in Israel are really standing the line for them. MANYA: When Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton finally secured a legal way for Syrian Jews to leave between 1992 and 1994, most did. The last Jews of Aleppo were evacuated from the city in October 2016. MARCUS: They took all the siddurim and everything, put them in boxes. It was just essentially closing shop for good. They knew they're not coming back. MANYA: The food, liturgy, music, the traditions of hospitality and social welfare endure, but far from the world of which it was part. Walk into any synagogue in the Aleppo tradition after sundown on Shabbat and be treated to a concert until dawn – a custom called baqashot. MANYA: Before Oren's grandmother Rachel passed away, his cousin Rebecca did a piece for Canadian Broadcast News featuring their 95-year-old grandmother in the kitchen.  RACHEL SAFDIE: When we were children, we used to love all these dishes. My mother used to make them all the time and it's very, very tasty. Anything made, Middle East food, is very tasty. OREN: It's 10 minutes for me to see my grandmother again, in video, cooking the mehshi kusa, which is sort of the stuffed eggplant with the apricots and the meat. And there's really a great moment in it, because they're doing it together and they put it in the oven, and at the end of this 10-minute movie, they all come out of the oven, and like they're looking at it and they're tasting, and my grandmother points … RACHEL: I know which ones you did. You did this one.  CBN INTERVIEWER: How do you know?  RACHEL: I know. And this recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. OREN: It's so much like my grandmother because she's sort of a perfectionist, but she did everything without measuring. It was all by feel. The kibbeh, beans and lamb and potatoes and chicken but done in a different way than the Ashkenaz. I don't know how to sort of describe it.  The ka'ake, which were like these little pretzels that are, I'd say they have a taste of cumin in them. MARCUS: Stuffed aubergine, stuffed zucchini, tomatoes, with rice, pine nuts and ground beef and so forth. Meatballs with sour cherries during the cherry season. MANYA: Oren would one day like to see where his ancestors lived. But according to Abraham, few Aleppo Jews share that desire. After the Civil War and Siege of Aleppo in 2012 there's little left to see. And even when there was, Aleppo's Jews tended to make a clean break. MARCUS: People did not go back to visit, the second and third generations did not go back. So you see, for example, here Irish people of Irish origin in the United States, they still have families there. And they go, and they take the kids to see what Ireland is like. Italians, they do the same, because they have a kind of sense, this is our origin.  And with Aleppo, there wasn't. This is a really unusual situation in terms of migrations of people not going back to the place. And I think that probably will continue that way. MANYA: Syrian Jews are just one of the many Jewish communities who, in the last century, left Arab countries to forge new lives for themselves and future generations.  Join us next week as we share another untold story of The Forgotten Exodus. Many thanks to Oren and Moshe for sharing their story. You can read more in Moshe's memoir If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture. Too many times during my reporting, I encountered children and grandchildren who didn't have the answers to my questions because they'd never asked. That's why one of the goals of this project is to encourage you to ask those questions. Find your stories. Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jon Schweitzer, Nicole Mazur, Sean Savage, and Madeleine Stern, and so many of our colleagues, too many to name really, for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to The Forgotten Exodus on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/theforgottenexodus.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at theforgottenexodus@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.

Dimitri and Khalid embark on a multi-episode journey into the actually existing history of the geographic region known for millennia as Palestine, and the actually existing people who inhabited it under (mostly) uninterrupted Ottoman rule from 1516 to 1918. PART ONE: Ontologies of Ottoman Palestine, 1776-1839 Swirling eschatological issues around the Holy Land, centuries of European obsession with Jerusalem, “the marriage of geopolitics and religion”, erming the “it wasn't even a countryyy” crowd, psychedelic intellectual Daniel Pinchbeck's psychotic Substack post about forcefeeding Palestinians MDMA until they abandon their religion and projecting a 3D blue beam Temple over Al-Aqsa to fulfill ancient prophecies and achieve peace, a brief speedrun of Palestinian history from Ancient Egypt to the 16th century Ottoman conquest, Napoleon's 1799 invasion of Egypt and Ottoman Syria, the surprising ethnic/religious demographics of the early 19th century, Palestine's significance in the Great Game struggle between Britain and Czarist Russia, European attitudes towards the continued survival of the Ottoman Empire, soft power penetration of the Holy Land via European religious groups and NGOs, the Albanian Muhammad Ali's conquest of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in the 1830s, Bedouin conceptions of “land ownership”, Sir Moses Montefiore's early attempts to purchase land, and more. For access to full-length premium episodes, upcoming installments of DEMON FORCES, and the SJ Grotto of Truth Discord, subscribe to the Al-Wara' Frequency at patreon.com/subliminaljihad.

In Exodus 10 we see plagues 8 and 9 unleashed on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Plague 8 is the plague of locusts which decimate any remaining living vegetation in the land of Egypt.  The 9th plague is the plague of darkness which engulfs Egypt in 3 days of darkness you can feel.  God sets Goshen apart (the land where the Israelites live), providing them with light.  Pharaoh's heart is hardened by God to ensure His plan for Egypt and Israel unfolds (Exodus 10.1-3).  Outline: 01:21 - Exodus 10.1-20 - Plague 8 - Locusts 05:11 - Exodus 10.1-2 - The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart.  “So that I may perform these signs… and you may know that I am the Lord.”  Exodus 10.2 - Reference to Generations.  What happens in Egypt is meant to be shared. 06:52 - who is God to manipulate Pharaoh's heart? Revelation 16 - “true and just are your judgments” -  Romans 3.23 - we have all fallen short, we have all sinned.   Romans 6.23 - the wages of sin are death.    We are all guilty and deserve death.  A dark opening, but there is a bright finish today! 10:30 - Locusts - overview, what are locusts?  Why do they swarm? 11:52 - Three (of many) major locust swarms in world history 11:57 - Albert's Swarm - 1875 Midwest-western locust swarm 13:12 - 1915 Ottoman Syria locust infestation 14:12 - 2019-2022 - East Africa Locust Infestation 15:11 - Joel 1.6-12 - a vivid picture of a locust swarm 18:48 - Exodus 10.13 - East wind & west wind (the locusts likely came from the Arabian peninsula)  20:22 - Exodus 10.7 - Pharaoh's Officials plead with him, “Egypt is ruined”  21:17 - Exodus 10.8-11 - Pharaoh is the swindler, the negotiator.  Compare this verse in different translations 26:08 - Exodus 10.11 - Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.  26:19 - Exodus 10.16 - “I have sinned - take this deadly plague away” 27:26 - Egyptian gods being challenged through the plagues  of Locusts (Nut, Osiris & Set) 28:41 - Exodus 10.21-29  31:20 - The Plague of Darkness Genesis 1.1-3.  God takes away the light of His creation    33:12 - What Egyptian god is attacked by taking away the sun? Ra the Egyptian sun god - a plague of darkness is an attack on Ra An attack on Ra is an attack on the Egyptian pantheon of Gods and on Pharaoh.  36:50 - Exodus 10.24 - Pharaoh is always the negotiator. 38:28 - Exodus 10.27-29 - Pharaoh sends Moses away with a warning. 39:48 - Context is key! Scripture on Darkness: Isaiah 8.22 - digging deeper Isaiah 8.22-9.2, then Matthew  Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. Support Iron Sheep Ministries: https://Ironsheep.org/donate  Listen to the podcast: https://anchor.fm/ironsheep  Contact Dave & the ISM team: info@ironsheep.org  Be notified of each new teaching, join the email list: http://eepurl.com/g-2zAD Books used or referenced:  Dave reads from an NIV (New International Version) of the Bible. Other versions used in this study: NKJV - New King James Version NLV - New Living Translation AMP - Amplified Bible Enns, Peter. The NIV Application Commentary, Exodus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.  Purchase: https://www.christianbook.com/exodus-niv-application-commentary/peter-enns/9780310206071/pd/0206073?event=ESRCG  Walton, John H..  Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Vol 1.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009. Purchase: https://www.christianbook.com/zondervan-illustrated-backgrounds-commentary-leviticus-deuteronomy/john-walton/9780310255734/pd/255734?product_redirect=1&search_term=zondervan%20illustrated%20&Ntt=255734&item_code=&ps_exit=PRODUCT|legacy&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ironsheep/support

Dr. Chuck Herring | Ezekiel 36:1-15Like a well-worn baseball, the world seems to be coming apart at the seams.  I don't need to remind you of that.  You've read or worse, seen the horrific images of Hamas violence against Israelis. Women were raped, babies beheaded, hostages were taken, and people were tortured. Over 1,300 were massacred.  Over 3,400 were injured and 200+ were kidnapped. 16 million Jews worldwide are mourning the worst attack since the Holocaust.The IDF is poised on the border of Gaza with the full intention of destroying the terrorist group, Hamas, while at the same time giving innocent Palestinians a chance to get out of harm's way.  America has sent aircraft carriers and even troops to make sure that other nations do not get involved.  As a result, Iran has unleashed wicked threats against both Israel and America.  Hezbollah in Lebanon is firing rockets into northern Israel, and they are threatening to open a northern front in this expanding war.  It seems that the entire Middle East is a tinder box that is ready to explode at any moment.  What are the prophetic implications of all of this?  Open your Bible to Ezekiel.  This is one of those books in the Bible that attracts you with its vivid imagery, symbolism, parables, allegories, and apocalyptic visions.  However, when you actually start to read it, you suddenly realize that it's hard to understand.  Before we jump into our study, I want to read Psalm 83.  Here are a few references to Gaza in the Bible…Genesis 10:19… The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. Judges 1:18–19… And Judah took Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. 19 Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. Amos 1:6–7… Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they deported an entire population To deliver it up to Edom. 7 “So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza And it will consume her citadels. Zechariah 9:5… Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited. Ezekiel was a priest by vocation, married, and among those exiled to Babylon. His name means “God strengthens” and he was a contemporary of Daniel.  God called him to confront the root causes of their sinful rebellion against God and their failure to listen to God's Word and to obey it.  His Spirit-inspired book may be divided into three sections, following the prophet's call in 1–3…(1) God's judgment on Jerusalem, 4–24(2) God's judgment on the surrounding nations, 25–32(3) God's restoration of the Jews in the kingdom, 33–48.[1]Have you ever tried to skip rocks across the surface of a lake?  It hits the surface and then takes to the air again.  The process is repeated until it just runs out of steam.  That's what we're going to do tonight.  We're going to skip through Ezekiel 36 touching down at significant points in the text.  We've already seen how the book itself breaks down.  Now, I want you to see how the chapter itself seems to breaks down …(1) The Promise to renew the land of Israel –Verses 1-15(2) The Promise to renew the people of Israel –Verses 16-38Okay, with this in mind, let's dive into the first section which deals with the renewal of the land of Israel.Ezekiel 36:1–7… “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!' and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,' 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.” ' ” 4 ‘Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, 5 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” 6 ‘Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.' 7 “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. Just as Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the Mount Seir (Edom) in chapter 35, now he prophesies to “the mountains of Israel” in chapter 36.  What's behind this contrast?God promised to punish Israel's enemies for their sin in hounding, slandering (v. 3), plundering (vv. 4–5), rejoicing over, and practicing cruelty against Israel.[2]  Here at the outset of this prophetic portion of Scripture there is a powerful emphasis on God's judgment of the nations that surrounded Israel, that hated them with a passion, and that sought to take their promised land.  Look carefully at verse 5…Ezekiel 36:5… therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” (MAP) God says that this tiny sliver of land is HIS LAND.  Who did He give it to?Genesis 15:7,18… And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.” He gave it to Abraham and his descendants—the Jewish people.  Ezekiel 36:8–12… ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9 ‘For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 ‘I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. 11 ‘I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. *Thus you will know that I am the Lord*. 12 ‘Yes, I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.' Keep in mind that this Scripture is referring to the land of Israel.  It's interesting that as one studies the history of Israel it becomes apparent that the fruitfulness of the land seemed to be contingent upon the obedience of God's people.  Often, the sovereign Lord unleashed famines, droughts, pestilence, and locusts to discipline the Jewish people.  Leviticus 26:32–33… ‘I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. 33 ‘You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. Deuteronomy 28:64… “Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.” In this passage God promises to make the land fruitful for “My people Israel.” Look at all the promises God makes concerning the land of Israel.  Ezekiel 36:13–15… “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” 14 therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,' declares the Lord God. 15 “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.' ” Besides punishing Israel's enemies (vv. 1–7) and restoring Israel's land (vv. 8–12), God will also remove the land of Israel's reproach (vv. 13–15).  The mockery and humiliation the land had been forced to endure (vv. 3–6) will cease.  She will once again be restored to her position of prestige as the land of God's Chosen People (cf. Deut. 28:13; Zech. 8:13, 20–23).[3]Keep in mind that with Old Testament prophecy there is often a partial fulfillment that occurs in a certain time period and then a complete fulfillment that occurs in the future.  Let me give you a bit of insight concerning the nation of Israel…With this emphasis on the land of Israel, it's important to understand that with the Roman conquests of AD 70 and AD 138 until the Zionist movement that started in the 19th century the land of Israel became a desolate wasteland.  Mark Twain visited this God-forsaken land and reported…   In 1867 the American author Mark Twain toured the land of Israel and described it as a “desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent mournful expanse…. A desolation…. We never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere…. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” (The Innocents Abroad)Spurgeon, the great British preacher, said the following in an 1864 sermon that was focused on Ezekiel 36…“These words were addressed to the mountains  of Palestine.  Albeit that they are now waste  and barren, they are yet to be as fruitful and  luxuriant as in the days of Israel's grandeur.”I've been to Israel three times.  I was amazed at the productivity of the land.  Look at this…According to Israeli government statistics and reports, since the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948 they have more than tripled the amount of land used for farming and production has increased sixteen times. What used to be an agricultural wasteland is now a model for the world, and Israel produces 95% of its own food requirements and has a large agricultural export industry.  The most popular products in the Israeli agricultural market are tomatoes, carrots, turnips, grapefruit, and bananas. Israel is also a significant exporter of dates, avocados, olive oil, pomegranates, and almonds, and it is a world leader in agricultural technologies.We can regard these impressive developments as a mere beginning of the much greater fruitfulness promised in the fullness of God's plan for Israel and her land.…………………………………………………………………………………….Here are nine things you should know about the creation of the modern Israeli state.1. In AD 138, the ancient nation of Israel ceased to exist when the Roman emperor Hadrian crushed the Bar Kochba revolt and banned all Jews from Palestine (i.e., the biblical regions known as the Land of Israel). The land was conquered by various nations until 1517, when it was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans retained control until 1917, when the British captured Jerusalem during World War I.2. By 1850, only about 14,000 Jews remained in Palestine. But in 1881, in reaction to growing anti-Semitism in Europe and Russia, a number of organizations were established with the aim of furthering Jewish settlement in the area. These groups were the forerunners of modern Zionism, the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel.3. Theodore Herzl—officially referred to in the Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel as “the spiritual father of the Jewish State“—launched the modern Zionist movement in 1896.  He said…Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves.4. In 1897, Herzl began to put his plan into action by convening the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. At this symbolic congress—which was referred to as the Basel Congress—the group adopted the Basel Program with this stated goal: “Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law.” A few weeks after the event, Herzl wrote in his diary… “Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word—which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly—it would be this: At Basel I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today l would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it.”5. During World War I, the Allies drove the Turks out of Ottoman Syria. In 1917, the British government announced its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in the 67-word statement known as the Balfour Declaration.After the war the British controlled the area of Palestine and was given a mandate by the League of Nations to administer the territory. 6. The Jewish population in Palestine grew between 1919 and 1923 as Jews began to flee persecution in Russia and Ukraine. This influx of Jews, along with the Balfour Declaration, led the Arab inhabitants of the land to develop their own political movement, known as Palestinian nationalism.  A nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs led to the “Great Revolt” of 1936-1939. This insurrection led the British to propose a partition of the land into Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs rejected the proposal.7. In 1939, the British began limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine. Even after the Holocaust began creating Jewish refugees in Europe, the UK refused to lift the immigration cap. Thousands of Jews died trying to flee to Palestine in small boats, and thousands more were caught and turned away. The American government supported a move to allow 100,000 new immigrants into the region, which prompted the British to abandon the Palestine Mandate and leave the issue to be resolved by the United Nations.8. On May 15, 1947, the United Nations created UNSCOP (the UN Special Committee on Palestine), with representatives from 11 “neutral” countries: Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia. UNSCOP offered two proposals to solve the “Palestine Question.” The first plan, supported by the majority of the committee, recommended the land be divided between an Arab state and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem being under an international trusteeship. The second plan, supported by a minority of the committee, proposed a federal union of Arabs and Jews with Jerusalem as its capital. The Zionists accepted the two-state solution, but the Arabs rejected both. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the partition plan as Resolution 181 (II). 9. On May 14, 1948, the British mandate over Palestine expired, and the Jewish People's Council issued a proclamation declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. This day is celebrated in Israel as “The Day of Independence”. ……………………………………………………………………………..Since this time, the nation of Israel has had to fight for its existence…1948 Arab-Israeli War (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia)Six-Day War. Date: 1967 (Egypt and Syria)Yom Kippur War. Date: 1973 (Egypt and Syria)Is God's covenant with the Jewish nation and the Jewish people permanent?  The answer is “yes.” Look at this promise…Jeremiah 31:35–36… Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: 36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Let's wrap up our session by considering the implications for what we are witnessing before our very eyes.  Samuel Sey wrote this…So in these bad times, we should remember the gospel of Christ. We should be more familiar with the good news than all the bad news from the war.God became a man — a Jewish man. The king of the universe is from Israel. Jesus' ethnicity is Jewish. His mother is Jewish. His brothers are Jewish. His Apostles are Jewish. His prophets are Jewish. His ancestors are Jewish. Jesus was born a Jew, raised a Jew, died a Jew, resurrected a Jew, ascended a Jew, and reigns as a Jew. He hasn't stopped being a Jew. Just as we will maintain our ethnicity in heaven (Revelation 5:9), Jesus maintains his Jewish ethnicity in Heaven. That's why He's described in the book of Revelation as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.”So if you hate Jews, you hate Jesus. In the same way, if you hate Palestinians, you hate their creator. Palestinians are made in the image of God, so if you hate them — you hate God.  The good news is Jesus was born in Bethlehem (currently Palestinian land) so that he would be the Savior of Jews and Gentiles, including Palestinians. He lived a sinless life so that He would suffer and die on the cross — offering Himself as our atoning substitute, the “righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  Samuel Sey is a Ghanaian-Canadian who lives in Brampton, a city just outside of Toronto.[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Eze 1–36.[2] Charles H. Dyer, “Ezekiel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1296.[3] Charles H. Dyer, “Ezekiel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1297.

Marilyn Booth speaking on her new book. This book is an intellectual biography of early Arabic feminist Zaynab Fawwaz (c.1850-1914) and a study of her life in Ottoman Syria and Egypt, in the context of Arabophone debates on gender, modernity and the good society, 1890s-1910. Chapters take up her writing and debates in which she participated, concerning social justice, girls' education, marriage, divorce and polygyny, the question of ‘Nature' and Darwinist notions of male/female, and intersections of nationalism, anti-imperialism, and feminism. Fawwaz's two novels and play are analysed in the context of fiction rewriting history, and on theatre as a reformist tool of public education. The book also comprises a study of some important periodical venues for public debate in Egypt in this period, particularly the nationalist press and one early women's journal, and it highlights the writings of lesser-studied journalists and other intellectuals, within the context of the Arab/ic Nahda or intellectual revival. The talk will focus particularly on a central argument: that Fawwaz's feminism, based on an Islamic ethical worldview, was distinct from prevailing ‘modernist' views in posing a non-essentialist, open-ended notion of gender that did not (for instance) highlight maternalist discourses and that rejected fixed notions of sex-gender identity. Fawwaz's background was Shi'i, an element that is quietly present in her work. Biography: Marilyn Booth is Khalid bin Abdallah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, University of Oxford. Her most recent monograph, The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz: Feminist Thinking in Fin-de-siècle Egypt (2021), is amongst numerous publications on early feminism, translation, and Arabophone women's writing in Egypt and Ottoman Syria. Translator of eighteen works of fiction and memoir from the Arabic, she was co-winner of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize for her translation of Jokha Alharthi's Celestial Bodies.

In 1516, the Ottoman Empire took over the region of Syria from the Mamluk Empire. Professor Stefan Winter, Koç University & University of Quebec at Montreal, joins the show to discuss Ottoman Syria during the century.

I spoke to Dr. Khatchig Mouradian for a fascinating conversation on how Armenians resisted extermination at the hands of the Ottoman Empire and his new book: The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915–1918. Our conversation discusses the particularities of how Armenians resisted genocide, but also the universal lessons we can take from Armenian survival. We also discuss extensively the work of legal scholar Raphael Lemkin and Armenian Assassin Soghomon Tehlirian who sought justice for Armenians both inside and outside the boundaries of law. For more on our conversation today, I highly recommend Dr. Mouradian's Book, which you can find here: https://msupress.org/9781611863949/the-resistance-network/ Music by Nick Chou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz7zuE7xg5c

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria (Edinburgh UP, 2020) offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Byung Ho Choi and Sun Yong Lee are Ph.D. students in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria (Edinburgh UP, 2020) offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Byung Ho Choi and Sun Yong Lee are Ph.D. students in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria (Edinburgh UP, 2020) offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Byung Ho Choi and Sun Yong Lee are Ph.D. students in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary.  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

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria (Edinburgh UP, 2020) offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Byung Ho Choi and Sun Yong Lee are Ph.D. students in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria (Edinburgh UP, 2020) offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Byung Ho Choi and Sun Yong Lee are Ph.D. students in the Department of History & Ecumenics, focusing on World Christianity and history of religions at Princeton Theological Seminary.  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

Dr. Khatchig Mouradian (Library of Congress), The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915–1918 (Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 2021) Interviewed by Dr. Asya Darbinyan (Clark University) [April 8, 2021]

On this episode, we discuss The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 with the book's author Khatchig Mouradian.

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918 (Michigan State University Press, 2020) is the history of an underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats in Ottoman Syria who helped save the lives of thousands during the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian challenges depictions of Armenians as passive victims of violence and subjects of humanitarianism, demonstrating the key role they played in organizing a humanitarian resistance against the destruction of their people. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records, Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in wartime Aleppo and a network of transit and concentration camps stretching from Bab to Ras ul-Ain and Der Zor. He ultimately argues that, despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving countless lives. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) atColumbia University. Mouradian has published articles on concentration camps, unarmed resistance, the aftermath of mass violence, midwifery in the Middle East, and approaches to teaching history. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming book on late-Ottoman history, and the editor of the peer-reviewed journalThe Armenian Review. Mouradian has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, the aftermaths of war and mass violence, and human rights atWorcester State UniversityandClark Universityin Massachusetts, Rutgers University andStockton Universityin New Jersey, and California State University – Fresno in California.In January 2021, Mouradian was appointed Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division (Near East Section) at the Library of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm

During Genocide: A Resistance Network? — Dr. Khatchig Mouradian, lecturer at Columbia University, has just been named the Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist at the Library of Congress. He speaks to Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian about the initiatives taken by Armenians in Ottoman Syria to resist inevitable destruction and to find ways to rebuild. Dr. Mouradian’s new book is ‘The Resistance Network,’ a study of genocide, survivors and agency.  For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

When Britain, France and Russia secretly planned to carve up the Ottoman Empire in 1915, France made a claim on Ottoman Syria and acquired it as a mandate during the Paris Peace Conference. Brutality, colonial mendacity and a refusal to acknowledge the demands of Druze leaders and Syrian nationalists led to an explosion of anti colonial violence in 1925, along with an equally brutal response from the French occupiers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dalia Fahmy (Long Island University) editor of Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (2017), gives a talk for the Middle East Centre Friday Seminar Series. This talk will address the dictatorship syndrome specifically through the lens of liberalism in Egypt. It will seek to address why a particular denomination of Egyptian liberalism, despite at face value being wholly opposed to dictatorship, ultimately proved susceptible to the allures of the dictatorship syndrome in the aftermath of the events of 2013 in Egypt. Also on the panel is Daanish Faruqi (Duke), editor of Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (2017) Chaired by Dr Usaama Al-Azami (Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford) Dr. Dalia Fahmy Bio: Dr. Dalia Fahmy is Associate Professor of Political Science at Long Island University and Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Policy in Washington DC. Dr. Fahmy's books: “The Rise and Fall of The Muslim Brotherhood and the Future of Political Islam” (undercontract), and co-edited volumes “Arab Spring: Modernity, Identity and Change,” “Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy,” and “International Relations in a Changing World”, cover her research areas. Daanish Faruqi Bio: Daanish Faruqi is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) at Rutgers University, and a doctoral candidate (ABD) in History at Duke University. A scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic history, with a particular emphasis on Islamic political thought, he had previously spent several years in the Arab Middle East as a researcher and journalist, which gave rise to two books, most recently Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (co-edited with Dalia F. Fahmy). His work straddles between classical and contemporary Islamic thought, with a particular emphasis on the Maghrib region on the one hand and on the Levant on the other hand. Most recently his work investigates transnational politically activist strands of Sufi mysticism, tracing their diasporic origins in the colonial Maghrib to their ultimate migration to late-Ottoman Syria, to their most recent role in the 2011 Syrian revolution. A recognized subject matter expert, Faruqi has given talks and symposia on his research at the UCLA Law School, Georgetown University, the National Press Club, and other institutions. Additionally, he is a frequent journalist and commentator on the politics of the Middle East, having published in Al Jazeera English, Foreign Policy, CommonDreams.org, USC-Annenberg/Religion Dispatches, among other media outlets.

Dalia Fahmy (Long Island University) editor of Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (2017), gives a talk for the Middle East Centre Friday Seminar Series. This talk will address the dictatorship syndrome specifically through the lens of liberalism in Egypt. It will seek to address why a particular denomination of Egyptian liberalism, despite at face value being wholly opposed to dictatorship, ultimately proved susceptible to the allures of the dictatorship syndrome in the aftermath of the events of 2013 in Egypt. Also on the panel is Daanish Faruqi (Duke), editor of Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (2017) Chaired by Dr Usaama Al-Azami (Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford) Dr. Dalia Fahmy Bio: Dr. Dalia Fahmy is Associate Professor of Political Science at Long Island University and Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Policy in Washington DC. Dr. Fahmy's books: “The Rise and Fall of The Muslim Brotherhood and the Future of Political Islam” (undercontract), and co-edited volumes “Arab Spring: Modernity, Identity and Change,” “Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy,” and “International Relations in a Changing World”, cover her research areas. Daanish Faruqi Bio: Daanish Faruqi is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) at Rutgers University, and a doctoral candidate (ABD) in History at Duke University. A scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic history, with a particular emphasis on Islamic political thought, he had previously spent several years in the Arab Middle East as a researcher and journalist, which gave rise to two books, most recently Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy (co-edited with Dalia F. Fahmy). His work straddles between classical and contemporary Islamic thought, with a particular emphasis on the Maghrib region on the one hand and on the Levant on the other hand. Most recently his work investigates transnational politically activist strands of Sufi mysticism, tracing their diasporic origins in the colonial Maghrib to their ultimate migration to late-Ottoman Syria, to their most recent role in the 2011 Syrian revolution. A recognized subject matter expert, Faruqi has given talks and symposia on his research at the UCLA Law School, Georgetown University, the National Press Club, and other institutions. Additionally, he is a frequent journalist and commentator on the politics of the Middle East, having published in Al Jazeera English, Foreign Policy, CommonDreams.org, USC-Annenberg/Religion Dispatches, among other media outlets.

“In 1843, the Protestant community in Ottoman Syria faced a challenge…”So begins today’s story from Dr. Christine B. Lindner.For further reading:Christine B. Lindner. “Syrian Protestant Marriages in Early to mid-Nineteenth Century Bilād al-Shām: 'Aliens at Home' or rooted in Syrian Tradition,” Journal of Mediterranean Studies 27 (2018), 133-148.

S02E12 Beshara Doumani explains what strategies had to be considered in planning for property devolution after death through the waqf in seventeenth- to nineteenth-century Ottoman Syria—and the wider significance of this story for understanding the role of the family in Middle Eastern history. Interviewed by Birgit Tremml-Werner and Martin Dusinberre; produced by Dario Willi.

Peter Hill (Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne), gives a talk on his new book, Utopia and Civilisation in the Arab Nahda. Chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan (St. Antony's College, Oxford). Peter is a historian of the modern Middle East, specialising in the intellectual and cultural history of the nineteenth-century Arab world. He is currently Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow in History at Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and was previously a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church, Oxford. His research focusses on political thought and practice, the politics of religion, and translation and intercultural exchanges. He also has a strong interest in comparative and global history. Utopia and Civilisation in the Arab Nahda, Peter's first book, is published by Cambridge University Press in 2020. He has also published a number of articles on translation and political thought in the Middle East, in journals such as Past and Present, Journal of Arabic Literature, and Intellectual History Review. Exploring the 'Nahda', a cultural renaissance in the Arab world responding to massive social change, this study presents a crucial and often overlooked part of the Arab world's encounter with global capitalist modernity, an interaction which reshaped the Middle East over the course of the long nineteenth century. Seeing themselves as part of an expanding capitalist civilization, Arab intellectuals approached the changing world of the mid-nineteenth century with confidence and optimism, imagining utopian futures for their own civilizing projects. By analyzing the works of crucial writers of the period, including Butrus al-Bustani and Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, alongside lesser-known figures such as the prolific journalist Khalil al-Khuri and the utopian visionary Fransis Marrash of Aleppo, Peter Hill places these visions within the context of their local class- and state-building projects in Ottoman Syria and Egypt, which themselves formed part of a global age of capital. By illuminating this little-studied early period of the Arab Nahda movement, Hill places the transformation of the Arab region within the context of world history, inviting us to look beyond the well-worn categories of 'traditional' versus 'modern'.

Christian mission cannot be about converting others to Western culture; rather, it must be about living according to the Christian faith. In this episode, Deanna Ferree Womack uses encounters between American missionaries and Arab residents of Ottoman Syria to explain that mutually transformative mission is necessary both for the future church and for healthy interreligious dialogue.The Distillery is a podcast that explores the essential ingredients of book and research projects with experts in their field of study. Learn what motivates their work and why it matters for Christian theology and ministry.    Guest: Deanna Ferree WomackSubscribeApple Podcasts   |   Google Play   |   Stitcher 

with Zoe Griffithhosted by Chris Gratien and Kalliopi AmygdalouInheritance and the transfer of property across generations connects the history of families to a broader analysis of political economy, particularly in societies where wealth and capital are deeply rooted in the earth. In this episode, Zoe Griffith provides a framework for the study of family history through the lens of the mulberry tree and its produce in a study of Ottoman court records from Tripoli (modern-day Lebanon).Stream via Soundcloud (preferred / US) Zoe Griffith is a doctoral candidate at Brown University studying the early modern Mediterranean (see academia.edu)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University researching the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Kalliopi Amygdalou is a doctoral candidate in the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College in London working on the relationship between national historiographies and the built environment in Greece and Turkey (see academia.edu)Episode No. 130Release date: 18 November 2013Location: Kurtuluş, IstanbulEditing and Production by Chris GratienBibliography courtesy of Zoe GriffithCitation: "Mulberry Fields Forever: Family, Property, and Inheritance in Ottoman Lebanon," Zoe Griffith, Chris Gratien, and Kalliopi Amygdalou, Ottoman History Podcast, No. 130 (November 18, 2013) http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2011/11/ottoman-lebanon-property.html. BIBLIOGRAPHYAbu Husayn, Abdul Rahim. Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650. Beirut: American University in Beirut, 1985.Cuno, Kenneth. The Pasha’s Peasants: land, society and economy in Lower Egypt, 1740-1858. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.Doumani, Beshara. “Introduction.” In Beshara Doumani, ed. Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 1-19.--- “Adjudicating Family: The Islamic Court and Disputes between Kin in Greater Syria, 1700-1860.” In Beshara Doumani, Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 173-200.Ergene, Boğaç. Local Court, Provincial Society, and Justice in the Ottoman Empire: legal practice and dispute resolution in Çankırı and Kastamonu (1652-1744). Leiden: Brill, 2003.Fay, Mary Ann. “Women and Waqf: toward a reconsideration of women’s place in the Mamluk household.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29 (1997): 33-51.Ferguson, Heather. “Property, Language, and Law: Conventions of Social Discourse in Seventeenth-Century Tarablus al-Sham.” In Beshara Doumani, ed. Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 229-244.‘Imad, ‘Abd al-Ghani. Mujtama’ Trablus fi zaman al-tahawwulat al-‘uthmaniya. Tripoli, Lebanon: Dar al-Insha’ lil’Sihafah wa’l-Tiba’ah wa’l-Nashr, 2002. Imber, Colin. “The Status of Orchards and Fruit Trees in Ottoman Law.” Tarih Enstitüsü Dergisi, 12 (1981-82): 763-774.Mundy, Martha and Richard Saumarez-Smith. Governing Property, Making the Modern State: law, administration, and production in Ottoman Syria. London: I.B. Taurus, 2007.Tezcan, Baki. The Second Ottoman Empire: political and social transformations in the early modern world. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Music: Wadi al-Safi - Ya al-Tut al-Shami

with Zoe Griffithhosted by Chris Gratien and Kalliopi AmygdalouInheritance and the transfer of property across generations connects the history of families to a broader analysis of political economy, particularly in societies where wealth and capital are deeply rooted in the earth. In this episode, Zoe Griffith provides a framework for the study of family history through the lens of the mulberry tree and its produce in a study of Ottoman court records from Tripoli (modern-day Lebanon).Stream via Soundcloud (preferred / US) Zoe Griffith is a doctoral candidate at Brown University studying the early modern Mediterranean (see academia.edu)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University researching the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Kalliopi Amygdalou is a doctoral candidate in the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College in London working on the relationship between national historiographies and the built environment in Greece and Turkey (see academia.edu)Episode No. 130Release date: 18 November 2013Location: Kurtuluş, IstanbulEditing and Production by Chris GratienBibliography courtesy of Zoe GriffithCitation: "Mulberry Fields Forever: Family, Property, and Inheritance in Ottoman Lebanon," Zoe Griffith, Chris Gratien, and Kalliopi Amygdalou, Ottoman History Podcast, No. 130 (November 18, 2013) http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2011/11/ottoman-lebanon-property.html. BIBLIOGRAPHYAbu Husayn, Abdul Rahim. Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650. Beirut: American University in Beirut, 1985.Cuno, Kenneth. The Pasha’s Peasants: land, society and economy in Lower Egypt, 1740-1858. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.Doumani, Beshara. “Introduction.” In Beshara Doumani, ed. Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 1-19.--- “Adjudicating Family: The Islamic Court and Disputes between Kin in Greater Syria, 1700-1860.” In Beshara Doumani, Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 173-200.Ergene, Boğaç. Local Court, Provincial Society, and Justice in the Ottoman Empire: legal practice and dispute resolution in Çankırı and Kastamonu (1652-1744). Leiden: Brill, 2003.Fay, Mary Ann. “Women and Waqf: toward a reconsideration of women’s place in the Mamluk household.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29 (1997): 33-51.Ferguson, Heather. “Property, Language, and Law: Conventions of Social Discourse in Seventeenth-Century Tarablus al-Sham.” In Beshara Doumani, ed. Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003: 229-244.‘Imad, ‘Abd al-Ghani. Mujtama’ Trablus fi zaman al-tahawwulat al-‘uthmaniya. Tripoli, Lebanon: Dar al-Insha’ lil’Sihafah wa’l-Tiba’ah wa’l-Nashr, 2002. Imber, Colin. “The Status of Orchards and Fruit Trees in Ottoman Law.” Tarih Enstitüsü Dergisi, 12 (1981-82): 763-774.Mundy, Martha and Richard Saumarez-Smith. Governing Property, Making the Modern State: law, administration, and production in Ottoman Syria. London: I.B. Taurus, 2007.Tezcan, Baki. The Second Ottoman Empire: political and social transformations in the early modern world. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Music: Wadi al-Safi - Ya al-Tut al-Shami

with Nora BarakatGroups variously labeled as nomadic and tribal formed an integral part of Ottoman society, but because their communities exercised a wide degree of autonomy, they are often represented as somehow separate or "other" to urban and settled populations. However, the social history of these communities reveals that tribes and their members were involved in the continual transformation of Ottoman society not just as a force of resistance or hapless victims of state policies but also as participants. In this podcast, Nora Barakat deals with the social history of such communities, which appear in the court records of Salt (in modern Jordan) as "tent-dwellers," and their place in the complex legal sphere of the Tanzimat era during which both shar`ia law courts as well as new nizamiye courts served as forums for legal action.Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred) Nora Barakat is a PhD candidate at UC-Berkeley studying the legal and social history of Ottoman SyriaChris Gratien is a PhD candidate studying the history of the modern Middle East at Georgetown University (see academia.edu)Citation: "Pastoral Nomads and Legal Pluralism in Ottoman Jordan." Nora Barakat and Chris Gratien. Ottoman History Podcast, No. 61 (July 24, 2012) http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2012/07/pastoral-nomads-and-legal-pluralism-in.html.SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHYAgmon, Iris. Family & court: legal culture and modernity in late Ottoman Palestine. Syracuse, NY : Syracuse University Press, 2006.Kasaba, Reşat. A moveable empire : Ottoman nomads, migrants, and refugees. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009.Mundy, Martha, and Richard Saumarez Smith. Governing Property: Making the Modern State Law Administration and Production in Ottoman Syria. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.Rogan, Eugene L. Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850-1921. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Rubin, Avi. Ottoman Nizamiye Courts: Law and Modernity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

with Nora BarakatGroups variously labeled as nomadic and tribal formed an integral part of Ottoman society, but because their communities exercised a wide degree of autonomy, they are often represented as somehow separate or "other" to urban and settled populations. However, the social history of these communities reveals that tribes and their members were involved in the continual transformation of Ottoman society not just as a force of resistance or hapless victims of state policies but also as participants. In this podcast, Nora Barakat deals with the social history of such communities, which appear in the court records of Salt (in modern Jordan) as "tent-dwellers," and their place in the complex legal sphere of the Tanzimat era during which both shar`ia law courts as well as new nizamiye courts served as forums for legal action.Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred) Nora Barakat is a PhD candidate at UC-Berkeley studying the legal and social history of Ottoman SyriaChris Gratien is a PhD candidate studying the history of the modern Middle East at Georgetown University (see academia.edu)Citation: "Pastoral Nomads and Legal Pluralism in Ottoman Jordan." Nora Barakat and Chris Gratien. Ottoman History Podcast, No. 61 (July 24, 2012) http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2012/07/pastoral-nomads-and-legal-pluralism-in.html.SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHYAgmon, Iris. Family & court: legal culture and modernity in late Ottoman Palestine. Syracuse, NY : Syracuse University Press, 2006.Kasaba, Reşat. A moveable empire : Ottoman nomads, migrants, and refugees. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009.Mundy, Martha, and Richard Saumarez Smith. Governing Property: Making the Modern State Law Administration and Production in Ottoman Syria. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.Rogan, Eugene L. Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850-1921. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Rubin, Avi. Ottoman Nizamiye Courts: Law and Modernity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.