Middle East File

Middle East File

By Middle East FileSociety & Culture
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Middle East File episodes

  • 012 | Who Are China's Walking Dead | Kay Rubacek | IRF Summit Authors’ Corner

    Kay Rubaceck is author of Who Are China's Walking Dead? (Liberty Hill Press, 2020) and is interviewed by Jeremy P. Barker, Director, Middle East Action Team, Religious Freedom Institute. 

    Kay Rubaceck is an award-winning filmmaker, author, TV host, and speaker on faith, family, and freedom. Her work includes the film Finding Courage (2020), Hard to Believe, and numerous documentaries and specials. 

    Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org), the IRF Summit Authors' Corner took place at the IRF Summit 2022 (www.IRFsummit.org) in Washington, D.C. and featured interviews with authors on a range of books related to religious freedom issues around the globe.

    See more interviews here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Purchase books here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner (Bookshop)

    23 min
  • 011 | Heroic Faith | Arielle Del Turco and Lela Gilbert w/ Todd Huizinga | IRF Summit Authors’ Corner

    Arielle Del Turco and Lela Gilbert with LTG (Ret.)Jerry Boykin are authors of Heroic Faith: Hope Amid Global Persecution (Fidelis Publishing, 2022) and are interviewed by Todd Huizinga, Senior Fellow for Europe, Religious Freedom Institute.


    Arielle Del Turco is the Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council. Her work has appeared in USA Today, RealClearPolitics, National Review, and Newsweek.

    Lela Gilbert is Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom at the Family Research Council and Fellow at Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Liberty. She is the author or co-author of more than 60 books including, Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians, with Nina Shea and Paul Marshall. 

    Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org), the IRF Summit Authors' Corner took place at the IRF Summit 2022 (www.IRFsummit.org) in Washington, D.C. and featured interviews with authors on a range of books related to religious freedom issues around the globe. 

    See more interviews here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Purchase books here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner (Bookshop)

    23 min
  • 010 | Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World | Lela Gilbert w/ Paul Marshall | IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Lela Gilbert is author of Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World (Monarch Books, 2021) and is interviewed by Paul Marshall, Director, South and Southeast Asia Action Team, Religious Freedom Institute. 

    Lela Gilbert is Adjunct Fellow, Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute and Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom and Coalitions Coordinator at Family Research Council. She is a prolific and author or co-author of more than 60 books, including Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians with Hudson Fellows Nina Shea and Paul Marshall (Thomas Nelson, 2013), Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion (Oxford University Press, 2008) with Paul Marshall and Roberta Green Ahmanson. 

    Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org), the IRF Summit Authors' Corner took place at the IRF Summit 2022 (www.IRFsummit.org) in Washington, D.C. and featured interviews with authors on a range of books related to religious freedom issues around the globe. 

    See more interviews here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Purchase books here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner (Bookshop) 

    14 min
  • 009 | The Disappearing People | Stephen M. Rasche | IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Stephen M. Rasche is author of The Disappearing People: The Tragic Fate of Christians in the Middle East (Bombardier Books, 2020) and is interviewed by Jeremy P. Barker, Director, Middle East Action Team, Religious Freedom Institute.

    Stephen Rasche is a Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom in Conflict Regions at the Religious Freedom Institute, a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic University of Erbil, and a Visiting Scholar at the Kukah Centre in Abuja, Nigeria.

    Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org), the IRF Summit Authors' Corner took place at the IRF Summit 2022 (www.IRFsummit.org) in Washington, D.C. and featured interviews with authors on a range of books related to religious freedom issues around the globe. 

    See more interviews here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Purchase books here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner (Bookshop)

    26 min
  • 008 | The War on the Uyghurs | Sean R. Roberts | IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Sean R. Roberts is author of The War on the Uyghurs: China's Internal Campaign against a Muslim Minority (Princeton University Press, 2020) and is interviewed by Jeremy P. Barker, Director, Middle East Action Team, Religious Freedom Institute. 

    Professor Roberts is Associate Professor in the Practice of International Affairs and Director of the International Development Studies (IDS) MA program at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. 


    Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org) The IRF Summit Authors' Corner took place at the IRF Summit 2022 (www.IRFsummit.org) in Washington, D.C. and featured interviews with authors on a range of books related to religious freedom issues around the globe.


    See more interviews here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner

    Purchase books here: IRF Summit Authors' Corner (Bookshop)

    24 min
  • 007 | International Protocol on Documenting Violations of Religious Freedom | Naomi Prodeau

    Naomi Prodeau, the Lead Lawyer at the Investigations Project at Free Yezidi Foundation, joins the Middle East File to discuss the International Protocol on Documenting Violations of Religious Freedom.


    Crafted in response to requests from civil society partners who have suffered severe violations of their religious freedom, the protocol seeks to fill a gap by providing a thorough and accessible resource for human rights advocates, civil society organizations, and others looking for guidance on how to document serious violations of religious freedom in their local contexts.

    Related:

    International Protocol on Documenting Violations of Religious Freedom

    GATHERING THE EVIDENCE OF PERSECUTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTATION AND LAUNCH OF THE “INTERNATIONAL PROTOCOL ON DOCUMENTING VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM”


    39 min
  • 006 | Freedom of Religion or Belief and Cultural Heritage Protection: Synergistic not Competitive | Knox Thames

    Knox Thames, Visiting Expert at the United States Institute of Peace and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement, joins the Middle East File to discuss an article co-authored with Emily Scolaro: Freedom of Religion or Belief and Cultural Heritage Protection: Synergistic not Competitive. The article explores exciting possibilities for how cultural heritage protection and religious freedom promotion can go hand-in-hand to preserve not only the memory of religious communities but also to build toward robust religious pluralism in the present and future. There are important opportunities in multilateral forums like the Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief, the IRF Summit, and others to build on this momentum.

    The article is published in the Review of Faith and International Affairs and is available Open Access for a limited time: Freedom of Religion or Belief and Cultural Heritage Protection: Synergistic not Competitive

    Related: 

    • Preserving Iraq’s diverse cultural heritage – a unique collaboration between CREID/IDS and the Universities of Mosul and Duhok
    • Strategies to Build Peace from the Ground Up: Protecting Religious Diversity, Coexistence, and Cultural Heritage in Iraq
    • Revive the Spirit of Mosul (UNESCO)
    • Cultural diversity and development: heritage gathering in post-conflict Iraq


      • 32 min
    • 005 | How Liz Truss Can Champion Religious Freedom at U.K. Ministerial Conference | Miles Windsor

      Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns for the Middle East Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute, joins the Middle East File to discuss his article: How Liz Truss Can Champion Religious Freedom at U.K. Ministerial Conference. 

      The conversation discusses the potential impact of the upcoming UK-hosted Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief and other initiatives such as the IRF Summit (www.IRFsummit.org). 

      Related: 

      Building on Positive Developments in the Middle East and North Africa: Acknowledging Progress on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Identifying Further Steps and Opportunities  

      Advancing International Religious Freedom in the Special Relationship: A Transatlantic Conversation

      The UK Must Learn to Lead on Religious Freedom 

      33 min
    • 004 | Invisible: The Gender Report 2022 | Helene Fisher

      Helene Fisher, Global Gender Persecution Specialist at Open Doors International, joins the Middle East File podcast to discuss Invisible: The Gender Report 2022. the latest gender specific religious persecution report from Open Doors. The report was featured in the Middle East File | 14. 

      Over the past five years, this report from Open Doors has helped shine light on the particular ways in which religious persecution impacts women and girls, distinct from men and boys, and how that help to inform policy and practice in the efforts to protect the religious freedom of all people. 

      Related:

      • Hear Her Cries: The kidnapping, forced conversion and sexual victimisation of Christian women and girls by ACN
      • Violence and Discrimination against Women of Religious Minority Backgrounds in Pakistan by Jaffer Mirza, M.K, Mariz Tadros, Maryam Kanwer, Naumana Suleman, Sadiqa Sultan, Seema Rana Maheshwary (CREID)
      • Live What You Believe: Building Bridges Between Gender Equality And Religious Freedom by Shirin Taber, Jasmine Ljungberg, Nancy Sawyer Schraeder (Empower Women Media)
      • Gender Specific Religious Persecution Hansard Debate by Jim Shannon MP, et al. (UK Parliament)
      • The Forgotten Women: Persecuted Women and Girls from Religious Minorities by Open Doors and ACN UK (Video event)

        • To learn more about the Religious Freedom Institute and find more of the Middle East File podcast visit: https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/middle-east

        33 min
      • 003 | The Tyranny of Religious Freedom Rankings | Dennis Petri

        Dennis Petri, International Director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom, joins the Middle East File to discuss his article: The Tyranny of Religious Freedom Rankings. Dennis' article featured in Middle East File | 17.

        This article provides further nuance to the discussion about how to describe and measure levels of religious freedom around the world. 

        Related:

        • Faith in Numbers: Can we Trust Quantitative Data on Religious Affiliation and Religious Freedom? by Judd Birdsall and Lori Beaman (TPNRD)
        • Towards Enriching Understandings of Freedom of Religion or Belief: Politics, Debates, Methodologies, and Practices by Katherine Marshall (CREID)
        • World Watch List 2022 by Open Doors
        • Religious restrictions around the world by Pew Research Center
        • The Religion and State Project by Bar Ilan University

          • To learn more about the Religious Freedom Institute and find more of the Middle East File podcast visit: https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/middle-east

          34 min

        About Middle East File

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        The Middle East File is an interview podcast from the Religious Freedom Institute