Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Nooran Alhamdan about Palestinians in the US, shifts in American politics, where she finds Palestinian leadership, the Nakba, and what gives her hope. Nooran published this recent column in the Washington Post and co-moderated the recent event, "The Palestinian Nakba: What Happened in 1948 and Why It Still Matters" (which FMEP cosponsored).

Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

On this episode of "Occupied Thoughts" FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin interviews Widad Assaf, the Legal Coordinator of FMEP partner Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF), about the connections between Palestinians inside of Israel and in Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the diaspora. Widad describes the discrimination, human and civil rights violations, and police violence that Palestinian citizens of Israel face.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks with Sawsan Zaher, the Deputy General Director of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. In this conversation, she describes what the last week has been like for Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have faced enormous violence from Israeli Jews and been incited against by Israeli politicians, misrepresented by Israeli media, and unprotected and targeted by the Israeli police. The High Follow-Up Committee - the highest political body representing Palestinian citizens of Israel - is now urgently calling for international protection for Palestinian citizens.

For full bios and more resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/podcast-on-the-organized-violence-against-palestinian-citizens-of-israel-w-sawsan-zaher-sarah-anne-minkin/

Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this edition of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Carol Daniel Kasbari (Middle East Institute) about the the violence today in Israel/Palestine, including both its immediate triggers and its deeper causes linked to the Palestinian experience - on both side of the Green Line - of the Nakba not as a single moment of dispossession and tragedy, but as an ongoing process that continues to this day.

Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub

FMEP hosted a conversation with three Palestinian thought leaders - Ines Abdel Razek, Zaha Hassan, and Nadia Hijab - to discuss what is happening now and reflect on how the events unfolding over the past several weeks speak to the larger story of Palestinian dispossession, Israeli domination, and the international community’s failed approach to resolving the question of Palestine.

The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah is again on center stage this week. Once again, Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah are facing imminent evictions, approved by Israeli courts. And once again, Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah are resisting efforts to remove them from their longtime homes — and they are once again being met with violence and repression from Israeli authorities and settlers.

To discuss this struggle and the dynamics in Jerusalem, and how they are part of a broader struggle against escalating Israeli policies of Palestinian dispossession in Jerusalem and beyond, FMEP President Lara Friedman is joined by Aseel AlBajeh, a legal researcher and advocacy officer at Al Haq, and Budour Hassan, author and journalist.

In this new episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Peter Beinart interviews Zaha Hassan and Daniel Levy about the new Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, "Breaking the Israel-Palestine Status Quo," co-authored with Hallaamal Keir and Marwan Muasher.

The report aims to offer new ways forward, arguing that "[i]nstead of reviving a moribund peace process or simply abandoning U.S. engagement, President Joe Biden’s administration should place a rights-based approach at the center of its strategy."

Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this new episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Peter Beinart interviews Sulaiman Khatib and Penina Eilberg-Schwartz about their new book, In This Place Together, which the publisher describes as a “narrative meditation on joint nonviolence, opening a window to the questions of power, multiple narratives, and imagination that touch on struggles for justice everywhere.”

More information at fmep.org

Orinigial music by Jalal Yaqoub

The Middle East Institute (MEI) and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) hosted an eight-part webinar series for members of the House and Senate and Congressional Staff discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. policy. The series is co-moderated by FMEP’s Lara Friedman & MEI’s Khaled Elgindy.

Access the series at FMEP.org

Original "Occupied Thoughts" music by Jalal Yacoub

Ft. Peter Beinart, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Diana Buttu, and Orly Noy.

Last week, Israelis went to the polls for the fourth time in two years to elect a new government. In parallel, Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem are now — for the first time in nearly 15 years — preparing for presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for May and June.

What are the prospects for these elections bringing about real, positive change for either people or an opening to confront Israeli apartheid, annexation, or occupation? In what ways are these elections a distraction that enable the continuation of the current status quo, which includes the increasingly illiberal nature of Israeli politics and society, and the continued authoritarian and unaccountable nature of Palestinian leadership?

More info, including panelist biographies, can be found at fmep.org

“Original ‘Occupied Thoughts’ music by Jalal Yaqoub”