Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Columbia Professor Emeritus Rashid Khalidi. They discuss how and why Jewish settlers are trying to take over the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem and the history of Israel's treatment of Palestinian educational institutions. They also reflect on the current war, looking at its impact on Palestinians, on U.S. politics, and the ways in which it is strengthening Hamas.

Peter Beinartis 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.

Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He received a B.A. from Yale University and a D. Phil. from Oxford University, and has taught at the American University of Beirut and the University of Chicago, among others. He served as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington Arab-Israeli peace negotiations from October 1991 until June 1993. Khalidi is author of eight books, including The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 (2020), and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, among many other publications, and he has appeared widely on TV and radio.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist Riham Jafari about Gaza and the West Bank, focusing specifically on the impact of the last nine months on women and girls, on the health system in Gaza, and on the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Rania Batriceis an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. She is one of two FMEP 2024 Palestinian non-resident Fellows.

Riham Jafari is a Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist with more than 14 years experience working with the UN and international NGOs. She currently works with ActionAid -Palestine as communication and advocacy coordinator conveying messages of marginalized groups as Palestinian women and youth and advocating for freedom, rights, and independence of Palestinian people in local and international forums.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Yael Berda about Israel's de facto annexation of the West Bank. A few days ago, the Guardian reported that “[t]he Israeli military has quietly handed over significant legal powers in the occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants working for the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich" ("IDF transfers powers in occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants," 6/20/24) and the New York Times reported Smotrich's declaration that he succeeded in changing the "DNA" of the occupation (“Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank, 6/21/22). Looking at the ongoing annexation efforts, Beinart and Berda discuss the ways in which - and the reasons why - Israeli settlers want to control the Israeli military; how Smotrich's "decisive plan" is well underway; and the potential that international opposition may stop Israel's annexation of the West Bank.

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.

Yael Berda is associate professor at the department of sociology and anthropology at Hebrew University and a fellow at the Middle East initiative at Harvard Kennedy school. Yael is an activist and former human rights lawyer. She has written three books, two about  Israeli rule in the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically about the bureaucracy that prevents freedom of movement and creates tools of control and dispossession. She also writes about emergency laws and how they shape political life. Yael is a board member of the group A Land for All. Read her recent co-authored articles on annexation: "Israel is Annexing the West Bank. Don’t be Misled by its Gaslighting" (with Tamar Megiddo and Ronit Levine-Schnur, published in Just Security) and "Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank Has Already Begun" (with Dalia Scheindlin, published in Foreign Affairs).  

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

This session examined humanitarian conditions and issues of international law and accountability, including the ongoing genocide case before the International Court of Justice.

Panelists: Raz Segal (Stockton University), Sherine Tadrous (Amnesty International), Chris Gunness (Former UNRWA spokesperson); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-3-2024.

For more information and resources, please visit:https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

This session reviewed and analyzed the role Congress & the Executive have played vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular, both before and since 10/7/23.

Panelists: Josh Paul (former official at the U.S. Department of State), Zaha Hassan (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Tess McEnery (Middle East Democracy Center); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 4-26-2024.

For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

What comes next? This session examined the prospects for reconstruction and governance in Gaza as well as implications of the ongoing crisis for internal Palestinian politics and the future of the Palestinian national movement.

Panelists: Abdelhadi Alijl (Social & Political Scientist), Nour Odeh (Political Activist), Mouin Rabbani (Jaddaliya); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-10-2024

For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) speak with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP) about "The Gaza Catastrophe: 2024 Congressional Briefing Series." The Congressional Briefing Series is an educational program conducted annually by the Middle East Institute’s Palestinian Affairs Program and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) to brief members of Congress and their staff on the most pressing issues facing Israel and Palestine today.

Go to this link for the full series: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

This session assessed the current situation on the ground in Gaza, how we got here, including the events of October 7, as well as conditions in the West Bank, along the Israel-Lebanon border, and broader regional dynamics.

Panelists: Mkhaimar Abusada (Al-Azhar University of Gaza) & Mairav Zonszein (International Crisis Group); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman

For more information and resources, please visit:

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Shraddha Joshi and Asmer Safi, two student activists organizing for Palestinian solidarity at Harvard University. Harvard is withholding both of their degrees due to their campus activism. Peter, Shraddha, and Asmer discuss the dynamics and motivations that draw students into pro-Palestinian activism, the messages that campus activists are trying to convey, and how Harvard has failed to keep campus activists safe.

Shraddha Joshi is part of Harvard's class of 2024, but her degree is currently being withheld for a year due to her involvement with pro-Palestine organizing. At Harvard, she studied Social Studies with Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights and Arabic. She has been actively organizing with Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee since her freshman year. Next fall, she intends to pursue her MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge as a Harvard-UK Fellow, although her plans are now in flux due to her degree status.

Asmer Safi is an undergraduate student at Harvard University, hailing from Pakistan, studying Social Studies and Ethnicity, Migration and Rights. He was expected to graduate in May of 2024, but his degree was withheld by the Harvard Corporation on account of his participation in Pro-Palestine activism on Harvard's campus. Asmer is also a Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan and was scheduled to matriculate at Oxford in the fall of 2024 to pursue an MPhil in Intellectual History.

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.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Sapir Sluzker Amran about her identity as a Mizrachi, queer activist - and her recent action to document and disrupt right-wing Israeli settlers attacking a convoy of aid at the Gaza barrier.

For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/a-look-from-the-radical-israeli-left-a-multi-front-battle-against-fascism-jewish-supremacy/