In this episode, I chat with Thabet Abu Rass, Co-Executive Director of The Abraham Initiatives, an NGO that promotes equality and Jewish-Arab partnership in Israel’s society, about promoting co-existence through promoting equal education, combating crime and violence, and engaging with NGOs. We also talk about what it means to be a Palestinian citizen of Israel, the connection between the occupation and discrimination against Palestinians in Israel, housing problems, the lack of police accountability, unemployment, and the issues in the Negav.

Initiatives mentioned:

I interview Rawan Odeh, the managing CO-director of New Story Leadership, in this episode. We chat about how to infuse diplomacy with activism using personal stories, how the occupation is forcing people to be silent about their stories, on the importance of forming allyships between Palestinians and Israelis for building credibility and swaying the opinions of US lawmakers, and on being compassionate to yourself. We also discuss the importance of developing a community of young leaders from Israel and Palestine to sociopolitical and economic changes in the region and what it means to be an ally.

New Story Leadership: https://www.newstoryleadership.org/summer-2020-update

In this Episode, Edan and I chat about the socioeconomic inequality facing the Palestinian community in Israel. We also talk about how a true partnership between the Jewish and Palestinian communities in Israel can be formed, the importance of learning Arabic, and the need to challenge and improve minority representation in Israeli media. Finally, Edan shares how his family's background led him to activism.

Sikkyu: https://www.sikkuy-aufoq.org.il/en/

In this episode, I interview Libby Lenkinski from the New Israel Fund. We chat about art, film, and music as a tool for cultural change. We also discuss privilege, anti-Semitism, traveling to Hebron, Umm al Fahem, empathy, and finding spaces of resilience.

Recommended music:

Recommended series and films:

In the episode, I chat with Jonathan Hempel about his database on Israeli security and military exports and how this export fuels conflict and violence around the world. We discuss the centrality of the military for constructing toxic masculine identities in Israeli society. We also chat about apartheid, occupation, intellectual influences, and feminist approaches to understanding and resolving the occupation.

Organizations mentioned:

Database:

In this episode, I chat with Sahar Vardi about the refusal movement, the militarization of Israeli society, the human costs to Israel's military industry, and what it means to be an effective Jewish ally to the Palestinians. We also talk about olive trees and the situation in the South Hebron Hills. Finally, Sahar suggests that we need to reclaim the term peace, which has been misused to pacify the Palestinian side, to tie it to justice and equality.

Organizations mentioned: American Friends Service Committee

In this episode, I talk to Osama Elawat about his journey from spending time in Israeli prisons to becoming a peace activist. In the conversation, Osama highlights the importance of personal stories, meeting the other, and distinguishing between oppressive institutions and people for achieving justice for all. He also highlights the importance of focusing on the power of love and forgiveness than the love of power.

In this episode, we talk about how even though the Occupation is physically close to many Israelis, it is mentally far. We discuss the power of language as a tool for both Occupation and emancipation, settler-colonialism, the importance of education, the intersectionality of oppression, apartheid, and justice activism vs. peace activism. We also highlight how you can't be truly free if your freedom is based on the oppression of others.

Authors: Ilan Pappé

In the episode with Ron Skolnik, we talk about being an accidental activist, just compromises, the importance of history, narcissism, and political change. We also discuss Zionism in the context of peace activism.

Some of the books and organizations mentioned:

מלחמת שולל - מאת זאב שיף, אהוד יערי

In this conversation with Nancy Stern, we discuss the importance of generational trauma, letting go of myths, and our responsibility as scholars to create a democratic, just, and peaceful society.

Books mentioned:

Initiatives mentioned: