In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Atalya Ben Abba and Mattan Helman of the Israeli Refuser Solidarity Network. They discuss what makes a person refuse to serve in the Israeli military, how the Israeli military treats refusers, and the surprising solidarity inside military prisons. Resources: Refuser Solidarity Network: https://www.refuser.org/ Instagram: @VoicesAgainstWar X: @againstwarvoice Atalya Ben-Abba is the media manager for the Refuser Solidarity...
Dec 23, 2024•30 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with Cal State University-San Bernadino Professor Ahlam Muhtaseb. Dr. Muhtaseb is co-founder of the Phoenix of Gaza XR, an interactive virtual reality experience that captures the untold stories of Gaza’s people and its transformation and provides a deep dive into the lives of those who endure and rebuild. The project itself started well before the current genocide, but as a result has taken on a new form and meaning. Professor...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 9 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart and analyst Maha Yahya discuss the new developments in Syria. They look at how Syria's new leaders governed in the areas they controlled over the last few years, why some Syrian minorities are fleeing to Lebanon, and whether Turkey will pursue the Kurds in Syria. Maha Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her work focuses broadly on political violence and identity politics, pluralism, developmen...
Dec 18, 2024•31 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with attorney and activist Meisa Irshaid, activist and author Rela Mazali, and Professor Jonathan Metzl about the proliferation of guns in civilian spaces in Israel/Palestine. They discuss the the acceleration of organized crime and gun violence in Palestinian communities inside of '48 Israel, the mass armament of Jewish Israeli citizens, mostly men, on both sides of the Green Line, spearheaded by National Security Minister It...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 2 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an American physician who has been to Gaza twice since 10/7/23, serving as a humanitarian physician and has worked at Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex; and Dr. Yara Asi, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics, and visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, where she is ...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 26 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer and editor William Shoki about the history of South Africa and Israel, how South Africa's government sees its global role, and how South Africans think about Israel/Palestine in comparison to post-apartheid South Africa. William Shoki is a writer and editor of the online magazine & archive Africa is a Country. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for ...
Dec 13, 2024•36 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-Resident Fellow Peter Beinart talks to Eyal Weizman about his work at Forensic Architecture and the recently released "Cartography of Genocide" - an interactive platform that maps Israel's genocidal bombardment of Gaza and use of mass evacuation orders to destroy civilian life. Along with the platform, Forensic Architecture released a 827-page report documenting Israeli war crimes and has presented its evidence and findings to the International Cour...
Nov 27, 2024•39 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with journalist Mariam Barghouti about reporting from the ground in the West Bank, views on the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian resistance, and understanding Israeli violence in Gaza and the West Bank within the larger frame of Palestinian history. Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian writer and commentator based in Ramallah. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Al-Jazeera English, Huffington Post, +972 Magazine, ...
Nov 21, 2024•49 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with policy experts Zack Paikin and Trita Parsi about the the new report they co-authored, “Toward a Better Security Order,” the first report by the Quincy Institute's Better Order Project. The report is the result of discussions with over 130 experts, scholars, and practitioners from over 40 countries, aspiring to put together a set of recommendations to stabilize international order as it (as they argue) transitions from aw...
Nov 18, 2024•37 min
On 11/28/24, despite warnings by the international community against such a step, Israel’s Knesset voted overwhelmingly to adopt two laws that effectively ban the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency that has served the needs of Palestinian refugees since 1949, from operating in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories (West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem). Experts weigh in on what these laws say and what they will mean for Palestinian refugees. Find resources and s...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 14 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Israeli human rights attorney Alon Sapir about the legal complaint he recently filed, together with other Israeli attorneys, accusing Israeli media Channel 14 of incitement to genocide against Palestinians and other grave crimes. As Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza continues, intensifying especially in northern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians face mass displacement and forced hunger, the legal ...
Oct 21, 2024•41 min
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Coates' new book, The Message. Coates’ website describes this part of the book this way: “Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground.” This conversation was co-sponsored by the Beinart Notebook and Jewish Currents and produced by Jesse...
Oct 17, 2024•40 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Mouin Rabbani about Israel's war on Gaza, its offensive in Lebanon, and how these and other developments fit into Israel's broader objectives in the region, most notably with respect to Iran. Mouin is widely published analyst and commentator on Palestinian affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He was previously Senior Analyst Middle East and Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine wi...
Oct 14, 2024•50 min
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute to discuss Maya’s experience testifying on hate crimes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where several Republican Senators challenged her in expressly anti-Arab ways. For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-bipartisan-betrayal-of-arab-americans/
Oct 10, 2024•43 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman discusses how Palestine is one of the defining issues of the 2024 elections with Rania Batrice, and FMEP 2024 non-Resident Fellow. Read more: https://fmep.org/resource/palestine-in-the-2024-u-s-elections/
Sep 18, 2024•47 min
FMEP Non-resident Fellow Rania Batrice talks with Matt Duss (Center for International Policy) about the current state of politics on Israel and Palestine in the U.S..
Aug 27, 2024•38 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Non-Resident Fellow Nour Joudah speaks with Philip Proudfoot and Mahdi Zaidan from the Accountability Archive (@archivegenocide), which describes itself as a “crowdsourced record of journalists, politicians, and public figures endorsing or encouraging the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and/or defaming pro-Palestinian activists.” The trio discuss how the archive came about, how it is coming along, and plans for the future, as well as what it has been like to u...
Aug 23, 2024•45 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with Hani Almadhoun, Gaza native, Director of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA, and co-founder, along with his family in Gaza, of Gaza Soup Kitchen. They discuss survival and loss in Gaza, where Hani's parents, siblings, and extended family live, and the project his family created to provide meals and clean water to thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. Rania and Hani also talk about the hopes and priorities for Palestinians in the Uni...
Aug 07, 2024•32 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Harrison Mann, a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest of his office’s support for Israel during its Gaza campaign. They discuss Harrison's decision to resign, why government officials continue to implement policies they consider immoral, and how U.S. intelligence internally predicted almost everything that has happ...
Aug 05, 2024•34 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer Ahmed Moor about why Israel/Palestine is not exceptional, why Palestinians turn to armed resistance, and why neither Palestinians nor Jewish Israelis will leave the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. Ahmed Moor is Palestinian-American writer who was born and raised in Gaza. He is co-editor of the book After Zionism: One State for Israel & Palestine. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow ...
Jul 15, 2024•46 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Columbia Professor Emeritus Rashid Khalidi. They discuss how and why Jewish settlers are trying to take over the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem and the history of Israel's treatment of Palestinian educational institutions. They also reflect on the current war, looking at its impact on Palestinians, on U.S. politics, and the ways in which it is strengthening Hamas. Peter Beinartis a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for...
Jul 11, 2024•32 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist Riham Jafari about Gaza and the West Bank, focusing specifically on the impact of the last nine months on women and girls, on the health system in Gaza, and on the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinians in Gaza. Rania Batriceis an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of two FM...
Jul 03, 2024•25 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Yael Berda about Israel's de facto annexation of the West Bank. A few days ago, the Guardian reported that “[t]he Israeli military has quietly handed over significant legal powers in the occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants working for the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich" ("IDF transfers powers in occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants," 6/20/24) and the New York Times reported Smotric...
Jun 26, 2024•33 min
This session examined humanitarian conditions and issues of international law and accountability, including the ongoing genocide case before the International Court of Justice. Panelists: Raz Segal (Stockton University), Sherine Tadrous (Amnesty International), Chris Gunness (Former UNRWA spokesperson); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-3-2024. For more information and resources, please visit:https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-con...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 18 min
This session reviewed and analyzed the role Congress & the Executive have played vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular, both before and since 10/7/23. Panelists: Josh Paul (former official at the U.S. Department of State), Zaha Hassan (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Tess McEnery (Middle East Democracy Center); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 4-26-2024. For more information and resources, please visit: https://f...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 10 min
What comes next? This session examined the prospects for reconstruction and governance in Gaza as well as implications of the ongoing crisis for internal Palestinian politics and the future of the Palestinian national movement. Panelists: Abdelhadi Alijl (Social & Political Scientist), Nour Odeh (Political Activist), Mouin Rabbani (Jaddaliya); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-10-2024 For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/t...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 23 min
Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) speak with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP) about "The Gaza Catastrophe: 2024 Congressional Briefing Series." The Congressional Briefing Series is an educational program conducted annually by the Middle East Institute’s Palestinian Affairs Program and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) to brief members of Congress and their staff on the most pressing issues facing Israel and Palest...
Jun 04, 2024•23 min
This session assessed the current situation on the ground in Gaza, how we got here, including the events of October 7, as well as conditions in the West Bank, along the Israel-Lebanon border, and broader regional dynamics. Panelists: Mkhaimar Abusada (Al-Azhar University of Gaza) & Mairav Zonszein (International Crisis Group); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman For more information and resources, please visit:
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 14 min
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Shraddha Joshi and Asmer Safi, two student activists organizing for Palestinian solidarity at Harvard University. Harvard is withholding both of their degrees due to their campus activism. Peter, Shraddha, and Asmer discuss the dynamics and motivations that draw students into pro-Palestinian activism, the messages that campus activists are trying to convey, and how Harvard has failed to keep campus activists safe. Shradd...
May 29, 2024•51 min
In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Sapir Sluzker Amran about her identity as a Mizrachi, queer activist - and her recent action to document and disrupt right-wing Israeli settlers attacking a convoy of aid at the Gaza barrier. For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/a-look-from-the-radical-israeli-left-a-multi-front-battle-against-fascism-jewish-supremacy/
May 22, 2024•37 min
