Frontlines and Backrooms

In this episode of Frontlines & Backrooms, Professor Rebecca Gould examines how erasure operates beyond physical destruction - through language, institutions, and the regulation of speech.

Drawing from her book Erasing Palestine, the conversation explores how free speech becomes a terrain of political control, how legal frameworks shape public discourse, and how knowledge itself can become a target in times of war.

From self-censorship in Western academia to the IHRA definition as a quasi-legal mechanism, from prison hunger strikes to the filtering of Palestinian testimony in legacy media, this episode looks at the epistemic dimension of conflict - where law, language, and memory intersect.

00:00 Introduction
02:32 “Erasing Palestine” - Free Speech and Erasure
09:16 Self-Censorship and Silencing Pro-Palestinian Voices
12:31 Epistemicide - Destroying the Future
18:07 IHRA as a Quasi-Law
27:08 Regulating Political Speech Without Formal Law
31:30 The Normalization of Self-Censorship
35:04 Hunger Strike - The Body as Resistance
40:14 Filtering Palestinian Testimony
46:11 The Role of Legacy Media
51:09 Dehumanization and One-Dimensional Narratives
59:08 Breaking the Frame of Erasure
01:01:31 Conclusion

This episode is part of our ongoing, long-form archive on Gaza, examining not only events but also the structures behind them.

Explore the full series in the archive.

Thank you for listening.

Drawing on forensic linguistics, international law, and contemporary political discourse, we explore how rhetoric can move from speech to institutional practice — and how patterns of language may establish legal responsibility.

Timestamps:

00:00 INTRODUCTION
02:50 FORENSIC LINGUISTICS — PROVING GENOCIDAL INTENT
09:46 FROM RHETORIC TO LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
17:02 LANGUAGE AS EVIDENCE
20:28 WHEN RHETORIC BECOMES INCITEMENT
23:42 AMALEK — WHEN SCRIPTURE ENTERS POLITICAL DISCOURSE
32:58 FIERY LANGUAGE AND PUBLIC INFLUENCE
47:32 HUMAN SHIELDS AS JUSTIFICATION
55:34 SHAPING PUBLIC CONSENSUS
01:14:00 THE CRIME NOT MEANT TO BE HIDDEN

For the full archive of conversations on law, language, and political power, visit our Linktree.

Thank you for listening to Frontlines & Backrooms.

Important note:

Correction:
At approximately 03:00, Professor Etaywe misspoke when referring to “Palestinian troops.” The correct reference is “Israeli troops.” The distinction is important, and we thank him for noting it.

In this episode of Frontlines & Backrooms, Professor John Quigley examines how international courts interpret rhetoric, intent, and patterns of speech in genocide litigation.

Drawing on the Rwanda and Bosnia cases — and the current proceedings related to Gaza — we explore how courts determine plausibility, how intent is inferred, and what obligations third-party states carry under international law.

This is part one of The Crime Not Meant to Be Hidden.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
02:02 The Exception of the Rwanda Case
04:48 The Exception of the Israel–Gaza Case
09:43 The Bosnia Case — Inflammatory Rhetoric and the Reality of War
11:53 Plausibility of Genocide in Gaza
18:54 How to Prove Genocide
23:45 Obligations of Third-Party States
30:13 Undermining the Term “Genocide” and Retroactive Prosecution
33:57 Israel’s Intent to Commit Genocide in Gaza
39:16 Genocide as a Consequence of Fear for Survival — Bosnia and Israel
48:02 Conclusion

This week’s Brief moves from Gaza’s reconstruction to Lisbon’s political shift — and ends with a reflection on the politics of attention.

In Washington, Israel joins the so-called “Board of Peace” tasked with overseeing Gaza’s future, even as international legal institutions continue to examine the war’s consequences. What does reconstruction mean without legitimacy? And who decides what peace looks like when those most affected are absent from the room?

In Portugal, the presidential runoff marks the end of the country’s long-held image as Europe’s “exception.” The far right did not win — but it grew. And in politics, growth can matter more than victory.

Finally, a word on the Epstein files — not about scandal, but about attention. In an era of document dumps and public outrage, where should democratic focus truly lie?

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:02 Israel Joins the “Board of Peace”
06:58 Portugal’s Presidential Election — The End of Exceptionalism
13:41 The Epstein Files and the Politics of Attention
16:03 Next Episode: “The Crime Not Meant to Be Hidden”

Before the interviews, before the debates — this is the context.

Gaza: The Architecture of the Exception

Gaza is often described as a humanitarian crisis or a war zone.
This episode approaches it differently — as a political and institutional structure built over decades.

Across voices from history, international law, regional politics, and media studies, this gateway episode examines how Gaza came to function as a permanent exception: governed without consent, controlled without responsibility, and narrated without context.

This is not a complete account.
It is a point of entry into an archive.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro – Gaza as an architecture, not an accident
01:18 Benny Morris – 1948, Oslo, Camp David, and the absence of legitimacy
06:06 Zachary Foster – Occupation without end and the redesign of Gaza after 2005
09:35 Tamer Qarmout – The Arab Peace Initiative and rejected recognition
14:36 Tamer Qarmout – Regional instability and the risk of Gaza being sidelined
22:29 Mouin Rabbani – Two-state solution as slogan and political delay
26:26 Mouin Rabbani – Arab governments, repression, and calculated inaction
33:10 Dina Matar – Erasure of history, Nakba, and epistemic violence
39:16 Sharif Abdel Kouddous – Media framing and the removal of context
44:04 Dina Matar – Visibility, humanity, and whose lives are named
49:41 Zachary Foster – The cost of speech and criminalizing criticism
53:45 Archive Outro – This episode as a gateway and what comes next

Season One of Frontlines & Backrooms continues on February 15 with
“The Crime Not Meant to Be Hidden.”

Brief #8 — Iran on the Edge, Trade Without Trust, and a World Re-aligning

While the risk of war in the Persian Gulf continues to rise, a quieter but equally important transformation is underway.

In this week’s Frontlines & Backrooms Brief, we examine the mounting pressure on Iran — the demands being placed on it, the risks of escalation, and the consequences a new regional war would have for the world.

At the same time, new trade agreements between the European Union and India, and between Canada and China, reveal how middle powers are reorganizing as trust in the old global order erodes.

This Brief connects military pressure, economic realignment, and the human cost of this moment, ending with the remembrance of Hind Rajab, whose death in Gaza remains a stark reminder of what is at stake.

00:00 - Intro

01:31 - Looming war against Iran

Signals, demands, and risks of escalation

03:47 - What this war would really be about

Nuclear red lines, missiles, and regional consequences

11:03 - New trade deals shaping the changing world

EU–India, Canada–China, and trade without trust

14:52 - Remembering Hind Rajab

Brief #7 — Private Messages, Public Pressure, and the Gaza Board

In this week’s Frontlines & Backrooms Brief, we examine how diplomacy is being reshaped in real time — not behind closed doors, but in public, through exposed private messages, shifting alliances, and improvised power structures.

As President Trump publicly shares private exchanges with world leaders, the traditional backchannels of diplomacy collapse into spectacle. What was once managed quietly is now weaponized openly — eroding trust, predictability, and multilateral cohesion.

From the Davos Forum to Gaza, this Brief traces how uncertainty becomes a political tool, how alliances turn transactional, and how the proposed “Gaza Board” signals a deeper challenge to the UN-led international order.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:27 Private messages as leverage in public diplomacy
05:27 Allies’ Davos breakdown
13:02 Running Gaza like a company — dismantling the UN

Before the headlines harden — this is the context.

This week’s Brief focuses on Iran, a country under its most serious internal pressure in years — from economic collapse and nationwide protests to brutal repression and growing international tension. We examine what’s driving the unrest, the limits of U.S. pressure, and the scenarios now facing the Islamic Republic.

We then turn to Gaza and the announced “Phase Two” of the U.S. peace plan — why reconstruction, demilitarization, and governance without political guarantees are unlikely to hold, and what this moment really represents on the ground.

We close with a brief update on Greenland, where diplomatic symbolism has replaced escalation — and a final reflection on how power is played around Washington.

00:00 Introduction

• 
  

• 00:25 Iran — A Regime Under Pressure

• 06:47 Gaza — Phase Two of the U.S. Peace Plan

• 12:10 Greenland — The Saga Continues

• 13:00 Final Commentary — How to Please the President

In this conversation, Mouin Rabbani examines Gaza within the international system — focusing on power, policy, and the political choices that sustain the status quo.

We discuss regional dynamics, the sidelining of international law, the limits of the two-state framework, U.S. policy options, and the internal Palestinian political crisis.

This is Part II of a two-part episode titled The Gaza Exception.

In this conversation:

00:00 Introduction

12:03 The tunnel economy

14:30 Gaza as a national security issue for Egypt

18:39 Arab responses to the Gaza crisis

39:55 Who pays the price for sidelining international law

42:10 The two-state solution: from policy to slogan

47:20 A U.S. weapons embargo as a policy shift

49:47 Why Mahmoud Abbas’s departure could reshape Palestinian politics

52:03 The two-state solution as a question of political will

56:08 How the Abraham Accords marginalized the Palestinian question

This is a full, uncensored conversation.
Frontlines & Backrooms documents long-form dialogue — not soundbites.

Gaza is often described as a humanitarian crisis.

In this conversation, Palestinian political analyst Tamer Qarmout examines Gaza as a political system — one designed to be managed, not resolved.

We discuss how Gaza became a permanent exception inside international law, the role of ideology and governance, and why cycles of violence continue without political resolution.

This is a full, uncensored conversation.

Frontlines & Backrooms documents long-form dialogue — not soundbites.

05:10 Gaza as an exception — colonial rule in its most extreme form

14:01 Gaza as a permanent prison

20:51 Why Israel opposes UNRWA

27:35 From the historical trauma of the Holocaust to political violence

46:41 Why recognition of Palestine must be followed by action

01:10:00 The Hamas–Fatah split and its consequences

01:25:24 The region is larger than Israel