Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to investigative journalist David Armiak about the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, in drafting, promulgating, and promoting legislation in U.S. states targeting values-based protest and grassroots activism, These legislative efforts in the first instance targeted Palestine-related protest and free speech, but today have evolved into legislation targeting protest and free speech that relates to literally any industry or group that states might want to protect, all under the umbrella of fighting against “woke capitalism” and combating those who seek to hold the private sector accountable to concerns about the environment, social issues like human rights, and governance issues -- aka ESG.

For resources related to this podcast, see: https://fmep.org/resource/alec-anti-esg-the-battle-against-palestinian-rights/

A new anthology, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, features personal narratives and political essays from Palestinians in Gaza "imagining the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and Apartheid." This podcast features two of the anthology's editors - FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim and AFSC's Jennifer Bing - as well as one of the contributing authors, Dorgham Abusalim, who discuss the importance and impact of amplifying voices from Gaza. We focused on the valuable conversations that the book and its publication have created as a counter to Israel's ongoing siege and the general marginalization of Gaza and explore how the exercise of imagining a different future can challenge the present realities. Haymarket Books, the publisher, says: "As political discourse shifts toward futurism as a means of reimagining a better way of living, beyond the violence and limitations of colonialism, Light in Gaza is an urgent and powerful intervention into an important political moment."

Main site for info on the anthology: https://gazaunlocked.org/anthology

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to international legal expert in business and human rights Tara Van Ho about the current controversy involving the Chicago-based financial services company Morningstar Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainalytics, over how it deals with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the podcast explores Morningstar’s recently adopted policy changes with respect to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in the context of Israel, and the questions these new policies raise both about the company's basic competence with respect to human rights in ESG research, analysis, and recommendations, and about the broader implications for the future of business and human rights work writ large.

Podcast notes/further resources: https://fmep.org/?post_type=resource&p=24876&preview=true

In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, Dr. Maha Nassar speaks with FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin about how to talk about Zionism and anti-Zionism in ways that acknowledge different definitions of Zionism and, at the same time, take seriously the power asymmetries between anti-Zionists and Zionists/supporters of the state of Israel in Israel/Palestine and the U.S. public spheres. Speaking from experience as an educator, advocate, and scholar, Maha discusses how she navigates different audiences and invitations as well as her thoughts on anti-normalization, engaging with campus Hillels, and why and how it is imperative to keep returning to Palestinian lives and experiences.

Dr. Maha Nassar is an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, where she specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of the modern Arab world. Her award-winning book, Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World (Stanford University Press, 2017), examines how Palestinian intellectuals connected to global decolonization movements during the mid-twentieth century. A 2018 Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project, Dr. Nassar’s analysis and opinion pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, +972 Magazine, The Conversation, and The Hill. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, son, and daughter, and she is working on her next book, a global history of Palestine’s people. Follow Dr. Nassar on Twitter @mtnassar

Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD is the Director of Programs & Partnerships at FMEP. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that American Jews approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She earned her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley for research focusing on the sociology of emotion, nationalism, and Jewish Americans’ relationships with Israel/Palestine and is an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies. She tweets @saminkin.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Dr. Alana Vincent (Umea University, Sweden) joins FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss how she moved from supporting the use of the the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Working Definition of Antisemitism to opposing it. Dr. Vincent describes the chilling and silencing effects of the IHRA definition, the shortcomings of European Union research that purports to justify it, and the advantages of alternative definitions that offer clarity and nuance.

Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Sarah Posner, renowned expert on American pro-Israel evangelicals, about U.S. pro-Israel evangelicals and their agenda in the context of both the recent Israeli elections, the recent US midterms, and the race for the 2024 White House.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with internationally-acclaimed documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha about the growing campaign against “woke capitalism,” and specifically the attacks on what is known as ESG – shorthand for the movement to take environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into account in investing. This podcast seeks to answer the question: why is an organization called the Foundation for Middle East Peace interested in the battle over ESG, and what does this have to do with acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose work has focused largely on Israel/Palestine?

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin conducts a series of short interviews with analysts and experts discussing what's new and what's not new in the results of this week's Israeli elections. Tune in to hear:

Yousef Munayyer, non-resident fellow at Arab Center DC

Amjad Iraqi, editor and journalist at +972 Magazine

Dr. Maha Nassar, associate professor at the University of Arizona and non-resident fellow at FMEP

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem

and Lara Friedman, president of FMEP.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Natasha Roth-Rowland, Orly Noy, and Peter Beinart join FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss Jewish Supremacy. Some analysts (Orly Noy and Peter Beinart among them) use “Jewish supremacy” as a way of explaining Israeli political and social structures broadly. At the same time, Jewish supremacist politicians are predicted to gain significant power in the Israeli government in the next election. In this podcast, we discuss what “Jewish supremacy” means when Jewish critics of Israel use it, what value there is in trying to understand Israel as a Jewish supremacist regime and/or society, and how this analytical framing relates to other frames including apartheid and settler colonialism.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Sheryl Nestel, co-author of a new report published by Canada’s Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), entitled, Unveiling the Chilly Climate – The Suppression of Speech on Palestine in Canada. Sheryl discusses why the report was necessary, the research methodology it entailed, the key findings, what the authors and IJV hope the report will achieve, and why this report matters not just for Canada, but for the world.