This episode is a rebroadcast of an episode of ‘Not to Forgive, but to Understand’, a podcast series discussing topics in genocide studies with scholars and individuals deeply involved in understanding the complexities of genocide and its perpetrators, presented by Sabah Carrim, a writer and scholar of Genocide Studies, along with co-host Luis Gonzalez-Aponte.

The interview is with Saira Hussain, an an anesthetist who has worked in Gaza at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis through humanitarian deployments with Medical Aid for Palestinians and IDEALS. The conversation explores what it means to deliver critical care inside a collapsing health system. Drawing on firsthand experience, Saira discusses blockade conditions, mass-casualty medicine, famine and forced starvation, and the daily ethical and clinical decisions faced by medical professionals working under extreme constraint. The discussion also looks beyond the present moment, asking what rebuilding medical education, infrastructure, and professional capacity might entail in post-conflict settings.

This interview was recorded in September 2025, during a period of enforced starvation in Gaza. It remains acutely relevant today, as United Nations reporting indicates that over 400 Palestinians have been killed since the October ceasefire, underscoring the ongoing humanitarian and medical crisis.

Collapse of Gaza’s Health System, Why a Doctor Goes to Gaza, Practicing Medicine Below Standards, Patient Testimony Under Siege, Mass Graves Near Medical Facilities, Blockade, Aid Restrictions, Hospital Failure, Patterns of War-Related Injuries, Famine and Enforced Starvation, What Global Reporting Misses, Rebuilding Gaza’s Medical Community,Personal Cost of Medical Witnessing, Medical Ethics After Atrocity, Unprecedented Weapons and Trauma, Aid Sites and Civilian Death

LINKS:

Not to Forgive, But to Understand: https://perpetratorstudies.sites.uu.nl/2025/07/28/podcast-series-not-to-forgive-but-to-understand/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NottoForgivebuttoUnderstand

Medical Aid for Palestinians: https://www.map.org.uk/

IDEALS: https://www.ideals.org.uk/

Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Interview with Josephine Solanki of the Transnational Institute (TNI), the author of a recent TNI report on Germany’s repression of the Palestine movement.

Since 7 October 2023, German authorities have imposed a far-reaching domestic crackdown on Palestine solidarity in tandem with its political, diplomatic and material backing for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This ranges from protest bans and police violence, to smear campaigns, cultural deplatforming, workplace reprisals, and the instrumentalization of migration and asylum law. Together, these measures illustrate the emergence of a repressive infrastructure in Germany which criminalises almost any effective form of solidarity with Palestine and threatens broader civil liberties. The report covers the first 18 months of the genocide, from 7 October 2023 until mid-April 2025.

TNI’s report ‘Solidarity under siege: Germany’s repression of the Palestine Movement’ can be downloaded at: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/solidarity-under-siege

‘Flirting with authoritarianism’ by Josephine Solanki in The Left Berlin: https://www.theleftberlin.com/germany-crackdown-palestine/

TNI website: ⁠https://www.tni.org/en⁠

TNI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transnationalinstitute/

‘Modernity and the Holocaust’ by Zygmunt Bauman:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernity_and_the_Holocaust

Udi Raz of Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Near East, Germany: https://www.instagram.com/udiraza/

Statement by Fridays for Future, Munich, Germany: https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuturemuenchen/, actual post (one need to log in to view: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNvxD6FUHWQ/

Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Interview with Masha, a Belarusian anarchist in exile.

We discuss how the dictatorship in Belarus functions, the general political and social situation, the general repression of dissent, the arrests of protestors, the use of facial recognition software, and how cases are processed through thecourts, the role of social media in organising resistance, and the situation regarding political prisoners.

Belarus has the most political prisoners in Europe, more than in Russia.

Masha, is speaking from Poland.

Info on sending letters of support to political prisoners in Belarus: https://abc-belarus.org/en/main-page/

Belarus Anarchist Black Cross: https://www.instagram.com/belarus_abc/

Prisoners mentioned who have died in Belarus: https://www.instagram.com/p/DB6KhzFMVUR/

Synesis, facial recognition software company mentioned: https://www.biometricupdate.com/?posttype=all&s=Synesis

Green Border – Agnieszka Holland – Official U.S. Trailer: https://youtu.be/7sfSUzVNNio

Interview by Kurtis and Gerry of the Irish Bloc Berlin.

Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Interview with Fabio, a member of the trade union SI Cabos (Sindacato Inter-categoriale Cobas), and of TIR (Tendenza Internazionalista Rivoluzionaria) in Italy.

S.I. COBAS is a syndicalist trade union that follows in the footsteps of IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). Recently, both S.I. COBAS and TIR made the news by being one of the main organisers pushing for a general strike on the 22th of September and the 3rd of October.

In this episode, we will be talking about the strike, labour struggles in Italy, and how labour struggles intertwine with social movements.

Mimì, Dario and Francesco’s campaign against Israeli pharmaceuticals in Naples:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQPG8R2itdQ/

TIR (Tendenza Internazionalista Rivoluzionaria):
https://coalizioneoperaia.com/tag/tendenza-internazionalista-rivoluzionaria/

S.I. COBAS (Sindacato Inter-categoriale Cobas):
https://sicobas.org/

The General Strike call for 28th of November:
https://www.usb.it/leggi-notizia/contro-la-finanziaria-di-guerra-e-il-governo-meloni-rompere-con-israele-palestina-libera-28-novembre-sciopero-generale-29-novembre-manifestazione-nazionale-a-roma-ore-1400-porta-san-paolo-1116.html

SHUT IT ALL DOWN FOR PALESTINE, Francesca Albanese on the upcoming general strike:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ1vkjZCI2O/

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World):

https://www.iww.org/ and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World

Interview by Liav of the Irish Bloc Berlin.

‘Distorting Justice: Courtroom Observations of Palestine-Related Cases in Berlin, April 2024—August 2025’ is a new report by the Solidarische Prozessbegleitung group, Berlin, Germany.

This podcast contains excerpts from the public presentationof the report in September 2025.

You can access the report in German, English, Arabic, Spanish and Italian here https://linktr.ee/palestineontrial

And here is the other report mentioned in this episode, 'Repression of Palestine Solidarity in Germany' https://www.palaestinaspricht.de/news/report-repression-of-palestine-solidarity-in-germany

Follow the Berlin court monitoring group on Instagram for latest updates: https://www.instagram.com/palestine.on.trial/

Interview with Roser Garí Pérez and Lara from Palestine on Trial, a Berlin group monitoring court cases related to the ongoing protests in Berlin against the current genocide in Gaza. We discuss how the courts functioning, the systemic nature of police violence, mainstream media complicity, with numerous examples.

Palestine on Trial on Instagram, with weekly Court Watch updates: https://www.instagram.com/palestine.on.trial/

Interview by Interview by Kurtis Sunday and Finn of the Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Police violence and misinformation at the 2025 Nakba Day protest, Forensis report: https://counter-investigations.org/investigation/police-violence-and-misinformation-at-the-2025-nakba-day-protests-berlin

‘Repression of Palestine Solidarity in Germany’ by Roser Garí Pérez: https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article9046

Know your rights in the event of racist police violence: https://kop-berlin.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/know_your_rights_Broschuere_web.pdf

Multilingual guide on filming the police: https://www.gofilmthepolice.de/leitfaden-zum-filmen-von-polizeigewalt/

Palestine Solidarity Archive: https://imginn.com/pal_soli_archiv/

10.000 investigations in Berlin since October 2023: https://www.zeit.de/zeit-magazin/2025/33/pro-palaestina-demos-kriminalpolizei-antisemitismus-ermittlung

Section 231 of the Berlin prosecution office: https://www.berlin.de/staatsanwaltschaft/aufgaben/spezialabteilungen/

Interview with Wieland Hoban, chairperson of the German Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, known as Jüdische Stimme. We discuss the recent classification of Jüdische Stimme as a ‘foreign-related extremist organisation’ by the German Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection of the Protection of the Constitution), and the repression of Jewish and other voices in Germany who are protesting against German complicity in the current genocide in Gaza.

Wieland Hoban on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wielhoban/

Jüdsiche Stimme on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juedischestimme/

Jüdsiche Stimme wesbite: https://www.juedische-stimme.de/

Wieland Hoban’ book, German Apartheid Politics: https://thebattleground.eu/book/german-apartheid-politics/

Iris Hefets lecture, ‘Silence and Guilt - Psychological Mechanisms in Dealing with Genocide’, banned event at the University of Bremen: https://youtu.be/LKTnh3rPVcU

Archive of Silence: https://www.instagram.com/archive_of_silence/

Jüdische Stimme is an independent organisation, not a branch of the US group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Interview by Caoimhe and Kurtis Sunday of the Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Interview with Zoya and Asia of the Berlin-based AFG Activists Collective on current situation and gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

AFG Activists Collective: https://www.instagram.com/afgactivistcollective  

Donations to support the Afghanistan schools mentioned in the podcast can be made here http://simorghberlin.org/ or https://www.paypal.me/SimorghBerlinKabul

Interview by Maeve of the Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin

Apologies for the occasional poltergeist activity (audiointerference) in the background.

Interview with Jara and Moath of besetzunggegenbesatzung (BgB) on the Palestine Camps set up near theBundestag in Berlin in 2024, reactions and police repression.

BgB on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/besetzunggegenbesatzung

BgB on Telegram: https://t.me/besetzungggnbesatzung

Jara’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaramachtsachen

Jara’s Substack: https://wortevonamal.substack.com/

Global March to Gaza: https://marchtogaza.net/ and https://www.instagram.com/globalmarchtogaza/

Jara’s play, Baba Dein Herz, is be performed on July 4th,5th and 6th at the Brux Freies Theater, Innsbruck: https://www.brux.at/

Interview by Shane of the Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

Interview with Ntina Tzouvala, Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. We discuss international law related to genocide and crimes against humanity, and the difference between the two. As well as the role of technology in committing these crimes, concepts of civilisation in international law, and related issues.

Capitalism As Civilisation: A History of International Law, Cambridge University Press

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/capitalism-as-civilisation/F66ABF447B13A75739D4644A8674EAD9

Genocide and Political Economy: Reconstructing the Relationship

Link: https://lpeproject.org/blog/genocide-and-political-economy-reconstructing-the-relationship/

Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress by Raphael Lemkin

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_Rule_in_Occupied_Europe

Southern Europe Is Now In Bed With Israel's Murderous Elbit Systems w/ Shir Hever

Link: https://youtu.be/aIuowPY6W50

Interviewers: Kurtis Sunday and Simon