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Forefront Conversations with Amir Marshi & Marah Sarji
For many Americans, the concept of Palestine is nebulous at best and highly misconstrued at worst. Those raised in Evangelical circles were taught that Israel was a long-established nation favored by God and that Zionism was a morally right idea. However, many people are unaware that Israel was not established as a nation until after World War II and that Zionism, which is an anti-Semitic political philosophy more than anything else, has been fueled by colonialism and capitalism for over 100 years leading to suppression, eviction, and genocide of countless Palestinian lives. Sadly, the 32,000+ deaths in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2024 is not a new injustice, but just a new chapter in the oppression of a people whose homeland was partitioned against their will thanks to a UN resolution decades ago.
In this episode, two Palestinian Christians and PhD students, Amir Marshi and Marah Sarji, bring voice to the Palestinian experience that has been drowned out and ignored in a time and country that sees almost unchallenged and unquestioned support for Israel.
ABOUT AMIR
Amir Marshi is a Palestinian PhD student, organizer, researcher, and writer hailing from the city of Nazareth. His previous engagements encompass work on Palestinian history, settler colonial state violence, and the incarceration of Palestinian children in Jerusalem. He has written on the impact of the Apartheid wall and colonial settlements in and around Jerusalem on the geopolitical and social fabric of Palestinians in Jerusalem, contributing as an author for the Jerusalem Story website. His focus also extends to student movements and public pedagogy in Palestine. Amir co-founded the Edward Said Forum for Palestinian students in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Department at Tel Aviv University, as well as the Souq Stories project—a multi-sited photographic exhibition spotlighting historic Palestinian open markets. He earned his MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2023 and is currently pursuing his PhD in History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His current work is centered on the colonial history of Christian Zionism on the one hand, and on the other, the political history of the Arab Church in Palestine-Syria and the North American Arab diaspora.
ABOUT MARAH
Marah Sarji is a PhD student in theology. Born and raised in Nazareth, she became passionate for justice and peace in Palestine. She received her bachelors in sociology, anthropology and business administration, and her masters in sociology and anthropology, both from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, Marah became active among Kufiya and Saleeb, a movement of young Palestinian Christians seeking to reconcile faith and identity following colonization and Western theological influences in Palestinian Christianity.
Marah’s research focuses on the life experiences of struggle and steadfastness of women in Palestine, their faith in God and belief in divine sovereignty. Her research interests also include womanist theology, Palestinian liberation theology, anthropology of theology, coloniality and decolonization.
For more background information on Palestine and what has fueled the conflict, check out the following books:
1. The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel
2. Epic Encounters Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East Since 1945
3. All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948
4. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness
5. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood
6. Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon?
7. Facts on the Ground Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society
8. Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible
9. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History
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By Forefront Church
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For many Americans, the concept of Palestine is nebulous at best and highly misconstrued at worst. Those raised in Evangelical circles were taught that Israel was a long-established nation favored by God and that Zionism was a morally right idea. However, many people are unaware that Israel was not established as a nation until after World War II and that Zionism, which is an anti-Semitic political philosophy more than anything else, has been fueled by colonialism and capitalism for over 100 years leading to suppression, eviction, and genocide of countless Palestinian lives. Sadly, the 32,000+ deaths in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2024 is not a new injustice, but just a new chapter in the oppression of a people whose homeland was partitioned against their will thanks to a UN resolution decades ago.
In this episode, two Palestinian Christians and PhD students, Amir Marshi and Marah Sarji, bring voice to the Palestinian experience that has been drowned out and ignored in a time and country that sees almost unchallenged and unquestioned support for Israel.
ABOUT AMIR
Amir Marshi is a Palestinian PhD student, organizer, researcher, and writer hailing from the city of Nazareth. His previous engagements encompass work on Palestinian history, settler colonial state violence, and the incarceration of Palestinian children in Jerusalem. He has written on the impact of the Apartheid wall and colonial settlements in and around Jerusalem on the geopolitical and social fabric of Palestinians in Jerusalem, contributing as an author for the Jerusalem Story website. His focus also extends to student movements and public pedagogy in Palestine. Amir co-founded the Edward Said Forum for Palestinian students in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Department at Tel Aviv University, as well as the Souq Stories project—a multi-sited photographic exhibition spotlighting historic Palestinian open markets. He earned his MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2023 and is currently pursuing his PhD in History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His current work is centered on the colonial history of Christian Zionism on the one hand, and on the other, the political history of the Arab Church in Palestine-Syria and the North American Arab diaspora.
ABOUT MARAH
Marah Sarji is a PhD student in theology. Born and raised in Nazareth, she became passionate for justice and peace in Palestine. She received her bachelors in sociology, anthropology and business administration, and her masters in sociology and anthropology, both from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, Marah became active among Kufiya and Saleeb, a movement of young Palestinian Christians seeking to reconcile faith and identity following colonization and Western theological influences in Palestinian Christianity.
Marah’s research focuses on the life experiences of struggle and steadfastness of women in Palestine, their faith in God and belief in divine sovereignty. Her research interests also include womanist theology, Palestinian liberation theology, anthropology of theology, coloniality and decolonization.
For more background information on Palestine and what has fueled the conflict, check out the following books:
1. The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel
2. Epic Encounters Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East Since 1945
3. All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948
4. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness
5. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood
6. Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon?
7. Facts on the Ground Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society
8. Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible
9. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History