JVP Radio

Episode 6 - SWANA & Arab Jews Part 02: From Cultural Return to Right of Return


Listen Later

In this episode, singer Laura Elkeslassy and writer/organizer Shir look back at a decade of Mizrahi/Arab-Jewish Left organizing in New York City — from art and feminist, egalitarian prayer services to active solidarity with Palestine. Together, we dive into what it takes to move beyond the Arab–Jewish binary, reclaim our full selves, and tie our practices of return with the Palestinian struggle for the right of return.

SHOW NOTES

  • Reading List on Mizrahi, Sephardi, SWANA and Arab Jews
  • Shohat, Ella. On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements: Selected Writings. Pluto Press, 2017.
  • Bahar, Shirly. Documentary Cinema in Israel-Palestine: Performance, the Body, the Home. I.B. Tauris / Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 
  • Elkeslassy, Laura. Website.
  • Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati Concert, performed and recorded in May 2021
  • Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati: Divas in Exile (multimedia album). 
  • Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati: DIvas in Exile (Vinyl Record for purchase)


GLOSSARY

  • Hazzanim – Plural of hazzan, the prayer leader in a Jewish synagogue, traditionally responsible for chanting prayers and leading the congregation in song.
  • Selichot – Penitential prayers recited in the days leading up to the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), often late at night or early in the morning, seeking forgiveness and reflection.
  • Egalitarian Prayer – A style of Jewish prayer in which all participants, regardless of gender, have equal roles in leading prayers.
  • Baqashot – A pre-dawn tradition of Mizrahi supplicatory songs. The practice draws on local Islamic devotional traditions, particularly Sufi night prayers and du‘ā’ (supplications), blending Jewish liturgy with the poetic and musical forms of the surrounding Muslim world.


CREDITS

Host & Producer: Noémie Hakim-Serfaty

Host & Producer: Rosa Schwartzburg

Producer & Sound Mix: Fivel Rothberg


Intro Music: Lo Galerian performed by Eleonore Weil

Transitions and outro Music from Laura Elkeslassy’s upcoming album Ya Ghorbati | Divas in Exile

  • Sidi Habibi, folk after Salim Halali.
  • Ya Ghorbati, after Ma guitare et mon pays composed by Maurice El Medioni and interpreted by Line Monty.
  • Abiadi Ana, after Zohra El Fassia

Music Production: Ira Khonen Temple, Eylem Basaldi, Laura Elkeslassy.

Vocals: Laura Elkeslassy

Key, Accordion, Piano: Ira Khonen Temple

Violin : Eylem Basaldi

Oud & Taqsim: Rachid Halihal

Guitar: Yoni Avi Battat

Drums: April Centrone, Nizar Dahmani

Bass : Marwan Allam, Zoe Aqua

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

JVP RadioBy JVP Radio

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

30 ratings


More shows like JVP Radio

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,958 Listeners

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Tin House Books

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

469 Listeners

Democracy Now! Audio by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! Audio

5,748 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,460 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,617 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,584 Listeners

The Intercept Briefing by The Intercept

The Intercept Briefing

6,109 Listeners

Citations Needed by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson

Citations Needed

3,910 Listeners

How to Survive the End of the World by How to Survive the End of the World

How to Survive the End of the World

2,165 Listeners

Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

Know Your Enemy

2,064 Listeners

Movement Memos by Truthout

Movement Memos

246 Listeners

On the Nose by Jewish Currents

On the Nose

237 Listeners

Bad Hasbara - The World's Most Moral Podcast by Matt Lieb

Bad Hasbara - The World's Most Moral Podcast

1,483 Listeners

The Chris Hedges Report by Chris Hedges

The Chris Hedges Report

344 Listeners

Love in a F*cked Up World by Dean Spade

Love in a F*cked Up World

103 Listeners