Stories are how we learn who we are, who belongs, and who we’re taught to fear. Some stories are inherited so early they feel like truth. Others begin to fracture only when lived reality no longer matches what we were told.

In this episode we're joined by Becca Strober, an educator and organizer whose life has been shaped by the slow, painful unraveling of the stories they grew up with. From Jerusalem to the U.S., from Zionist education to military service, Becca traces the moments where ideology met reality, and where the language of security, morality, and defense gave way to the lived experience of occupation, apartheid, and the continuing Nakba.

The conversation moves through memory and encounter: the normalization of control in the West Bank, the legal architecture of military rule, and the quiet ways dehumanization is taught and sustained. Becca reflects on what it means to realize that participation in a system of violence doesn’t always look like cruelty. Sometimes it looks like routine, obedience, and silence.

This is an episode about unlearning, the cost of seeing clearly and about what becomes possible when justice is no longer treated as abstract. Becca speaks about the role of education as disruption, about solidarity as practice rather than sentiment, and about the importance of showing up on the ground, not to lead, but to stand alongside. It asks what safety really means, who it is built for, and whether a future rooted in equality between the river and the sea can exist without first confronting the stories that brought us here.

Episode Links:

Becca Explains the Occupation

Breaking the Silence

Center for Jewish Nonviolence

Ta'ayush

Rabbis for Human Rights

Achvat Amim

The Disillusioned Podcast

Disclaimer: This episode was recorded on October 8, 2025. The facts presented in this episode reflect what was known at the time, but new information may have since come to light. Similarly, the opinions expressed by the hosts were shaped by our perspectives at the time of recording and may have evolved as events unfolded. Please note that engagement with our guests does not imply endorsement, and the views expressed by our guests do not necessarily represent our beliefs, either on or off our platform. What has not changed is our commitment to a just and united future.

Credits

• ​Sponsored by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠B8 of Hope⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with the support of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Albi World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Hosts / Executive Producers: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amira Mohammed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ibrahim Abu Ahmad⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Associate Producer / Supervising Editor / Audio Mix: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Evelyn Uzan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Original Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Layan Hawila⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – Support her journey as a music therapy student at Berklee
• ​Filming & Editing: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nissan Film Production⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Branding: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sophie Cooke⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Animation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Santiago Gomez⁠⁠