In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Rania Elias, former director of  the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival. They speak about Palestinian culture in Jerusalem, both the powerful potential for activities like dance and music to revive Palestinian society as well as the challenges of maintaining culture under occupation. They discuss Israeli efforts to repress Palestinian culture, including through arrests, detention, and other forms of control, including against children. They look at the experience of child incarceration and the impact of repression on personal and collective levels. 

Rania Elias is a Palestinian cultural advocate who has dedicated her career to promoting the arts, cultural development, and artistic events. For over two decades, she led the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival, transforming Yabous from an abandoned cinema into the largest cultural hub in Jerusalem. Elias has managed and coordinated numerous cultural events, festivals, and art exhibitions, while advocating for gender equality and women's rights. She has contributed to various cultural organizations and is deeply involved in defending the social and political rights of Palestinian women. In addition to her leadership roles, she has been recognized internationally for her contributions to cultural preservation and activism, earning prestigious honors such as a nomination for the Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur of France in 2021.

Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. 

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, about how and why B'Tselem has concluded that Israel is now and has been committing genocide in Gaza for nearly two years. Yuli describes Israeli leaders' statements of intent, Israeli military officers' orders and actions, and the catastrophic results on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Yuli and Peter discuss the urgency for international intervention to stop Israel's brutal actions in Gaza, how Israeli Jewish society justifies the genocide, and the dangers that Palestinians face without protection from the Israeli regime, including the danger that Israel may apply its genocidal policy to other areas under its control, including the West Bank. Read B'Tselem's new report, "Our Genocide," on their website: https://www.btselem.org/publications/202507_our_genocide

From the report: “For nearly two years, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, acting in a systematic, deliberate way to destroy Palestinian society there through mass killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm and creating catastrophic conditions that prevent its continued existence in Gaza. Israel is openly promoting ethnic cleansing and the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure for individuals and the group, with 2 million people starved, displaced, bombed and left by the world to die. The genocide must be stopped.”

Yuli Novak is the Executive Director of B'Tselem. From 2012-2017, she was Executive Director of Breaking the Silence. In 2022, she published (in Hebrew) the memoir Who Do You Think You Are?, which will be published in English in 2025. 

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley History Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was personally named and targeted by Members of Congress in the recent House of Representatives hearing ostensibly on antisemitism in higher education. Beinart and Makdisi discuss the "surreal" experience of being denounced in Congress as well as the truth and power of the widespread mobilization of people from a wide range of backgrounds, faiths, and generations calling for justice and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They also discuss the long and relatively under-researched history of interconnections among Muslims, Christians, and Jewish communities in the Middle East, the importance of reading history, and the shocking brutality of the genocide in Gaza. As they close their conversation, Makdisi asserts that the urgent and essential task is to make sense of the world in terms that "humanize rather than dehumanize, historicize rather than dehistoricize, advocate for justice and equality rather than ethno-religious supremacy of any sort." 

Dr. Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston.  During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press. He is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010).  His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East.  

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Executive Director Stefanie Fox about the evolution of JVP as a Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the US, strategies for growing the movement, and navigating uncomfortable coalition partners, including on the political far-right. They also discuss how JVP thinks thinks about accountability to Palestinian partners, how it approaches electoral work and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), and how to counter the ubiquitous claim that US bases its support for Israel on a commitment to protecting Jewish people rather than on U.S. geopolitical and corporate interests. 

Stefanie Fox, MPH (she/her) is the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a U.S. based, grassroots membership organization mobilizing Jewish communities into the movement for Palestinian rights and freedom and towards a vision of Judaism beyond Zionism. Prior to her 16 years at JVP JVP, Stefanie spent a decade doing racial and economic justice work as a grassroots community organizer, public health practitioner, and policy researcher and analyst. She has written extensively for print media with publications in outlets like Time, Boston Review, The Nation, and has appeared on MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and more.

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Palestinian political analyst Iyad El-Baghdadi about Israel's regional military campaigns, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and how it's current aggressive posture reflects the attitudes of Israel's founders. Looking forward, the two discuss how the bigger picture provides a framework to suggest what might come next.

Iyad El-Baghdadi is a Palestinian political analyst and director of the research center of Kawaakibi Foundation.

Peter Beinart is an author, Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York

For more information and resources, see: https://fmep.org/resource/iyad-el-baghdadi-on-late-stage-zionism-what-might-it-suggest-for-israels-future/

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Palestinian American journalist and writer Jennifer Zaccharia about the treatment of Palestinian journalists and reporting by Israel and Western media, building on Jen’s recent Boston Review piece,”Can Anyone Hear Me? Palestinians are only allowed to exist if we don’t cause discomfort for those who seek to erase us.” They discuss the lack of accountability for Israel killing Jen’s cousin, Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022; how Western media elides truth and suppresses information in reporting on Palestine; and the choices of words, including descriptors for sexual violence, that Western media uses to describe some victims.

Jennifer Zacharia is a lawyer and writer who holds a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MIA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, she has worked as a journalist and with various human and civil rights organizations.

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, psychiatrist and Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), Gaza's leading mental health organization. They discuss the how GCMHP has continued to serve Gazans, train mental health providers, and offer critical services and knowledge even in these genocidal conditions. They discuss what it means to "cope" with the horrors and deprivations of genocide, as well as the hope for a ceasefire and what outsiders can do to support the survivors in Gaza. 

For more on the GCMHP's work, see their website; Dr. Yasser's June 2025 article, "Living Through the Unimaginable: a Testament from Gaza;" GCMHP's report "Caring for survivors: New report reveals mental health Impact on Gaza" (August 2024); the website & resources of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation; 

Yasser Abu-Jamei is a Palestinian psychiatrist who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), the leading independent Palestinian non-governmental organization providing mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and training for mental health professionals.   He became Director General of GCMHP in January 2014, following the death of its founder, Dr. Eyad El Sarraj. In 2012, he obtained a MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry (with distinction) from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Dr. Abu-Jamei is a member of the Task Force which developed the National Mental Health Strategy 2015-2019 in Palestine. He co-led the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Technical Working Group in Gaza Strip and in 2020 co-founded the Palestine Global Mental Health Network.  His interests include capacity building, neuropsychiatry, and advocacy.  In addition to his research and authorship or co-authorship of some twenty academic papers, he has been certified as a Trainer of Trainers in the field of supervision and care for caregivers by the Free University of Berlin. Dr. Abu-Jamei has received several honors, including the Best Alumnus Award from the Said Foundation (2015), the Alumnus of the Year award from the University of Birmingham (2016) and the Community Resilience Award from the Rebuilding Alliance (2021).  

Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. She has been involved with community leadership efforts and served on many boards to build multifaceted support for Palestinian rights and a more nuanced understanding of people’s lives in the Middle East region. Among them are The Gaza Mental Health Foundation, LE.O Foundation, Friends of Mada al-Carmel, Tawassul Palestinian Art and Culture Society, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University.  She has also served as a Board Trustee at Aurora University.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with author & architect Suad Amiry and film & TV director/actor/producer Cherien Dabis. They discuss Cherien's latest film, All That's Left of You, an intergenerational story that goes back to the 1948 Nakba and arrives at the present and premiered at Sundance in early 2025. They talk about one of Suad's most famous books, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, about life under Israeli occupation on the West Bank, and its upcoming adaptation to the screen, which Cherien will direct. Along the way, they discuss the effect of humor in storytelling, the role of diaspora Palestinians and relationship to the broader Palestinian collective, and the urgency of telling Palestinian stories. 

Suad Amiry is an award-winning conservation architect and writer. She is Professor of Architecture at Jordan University and Birzeit University, Palestine and a cultural heritage specialist focusing on conservation of historic buildings and revitalization of historic centers. Amiry is the founding director of Riwaq, which endeavors to protect and develop architectural heritage in Palestine and took a major role in the revitalization of the most significant 50 historic centers in rural Palestine. She is widely published and has authored many architectural books and other non-fiction books, including Sharon and My Mother-in-Law (2003, translated into 18 languages); If this is a Life? (2005); Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18 Hour Journey with Murad (2010); Golda Slept Here (2014); My Damascus (2016); and Mother of Strangers (2022).

On Cherien Dabis is a trailblazing Palestinian American filmmaker and actress who has established herself as a creative force across a variety of mediums. She forged a new genre of Arab American storytelling with her critically acclaimed first feature “Amreeka.” The film world-premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the coveted FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Dabis wrote, directed and starred in her highly anticipated third feature film “All That’s Left of You,” which world-premiered to critical acclaim at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Dabis has directed standout episodes of hit television series such as Hulu’s “Ramy” and Netflix’s “Ozark." In 2022, she became the first Palestinian Emmy nominee for her groundbreaking, dialogue-free episode of Hulu’s comedy “Only Murders in the Building.” Her acting credits include Netflix’s “Mo,” Amazon Prime’s “Fallout” and Tarek Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic,” which was in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School.

Original music by Jalal Yaquob.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with author Benjamin Balthaser about the history of Jewish anti-Zionism, its current forms in the US - whether it emerges from a more religious Jewish tradition or a more socialist, internationalist tradition - and what it means for the emerging Democratic socialist coalition in the US.

Benjamin Balthaser is Associate Professor of Multi-Ethnic U.S. Literature at Indiana University, South Bend. His newest book, Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left, will be released in July 2025 by Verso Press. He recently published "The Outcasts of Zion" (Boston Review Spring 2025) about how "[t]he manufacturing of Jewish Zionist consensus lies at the heart of American liberalism’s identity crisis." 

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist Negar Mortazavi about Iranian reactions to the recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. They discuss how Iranians rallied around the nation, not the regime; Iranian anger at Israel; and the level and manner of control that the Iranian regime maintains.

Negar Mortazavi is an award-winning journalist and commentator, editor and host of the Iran Podcast, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy (CIP), based in Washington DC. She has been covering Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs as well as US foreign policy towards the Middle East for over a decade and was previously a television anchor for Voice of America, where she hosted a Persian talk show on current affairs and an English news segment on US elections. Negar grew up in Iran and Germany, immigrated to the United States in 2002, and has been living in exile since 2009.

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.