PalCast - One World, One Struggle

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In this PalCast, Yousef is rejoined by long-time PalCast collaborator, Just World Educational's Helena Cobban and political analyst, commentator and Palestinian from Gaza, Muhammad Shehada, to talk about the truth about the situation in Gaza, the Trump regime's grift, the global response to the Board of Peace and much more.

Wildfires and Ocean Heatwaves podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-165441358

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Dana Besaiso is a Gaza-born Palestinian LLM candidate, specialising in Public International Law. She is also a writer with We Are Not Numbers, and having "survived" the Gaza genocide, is now completing her studies in London.

She joins us to share her story of hunger, displacement, loss and her hope to complete her studies and then play a role in holding those responsible for the many crimes committed to her people accountable.

Orla Hegarty on the Housing Race to the Bottom podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-164573894

The Syria-Saoradh Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-164958354

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Leila Warah is a Palestinian American multimedia journalist currently based in Palestine. Born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, she holds a degree in Journalism and Media and has significant experience in reporting across digital platforms. Through her social media (@leila.shw on Instagram), Leila creates videos that stay true to the Palestinian question, breaking it down for an international audience to better understand what life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank looks like. Her content delivers on-the-ground visual storytelling, tailored for an international audience, that humanizes the headlines, shedding light on Palestinian identity, resistance, and the everyday realities of communities often overlooked by mainstream media.

Zena Tahhan is a journalist with over ten years of experience in journalism and human rights organizations. She holds a BSc in Journalism from Northwestern University in Qatar and an MA in Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As a writer and TV reporter, she focuses on exposing the realities of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation, covering issues such as killings, settler attacks, land confiscation, military raids, political prisoners, and forced displacement. Alongside field reporting, she also produces political analysis and opinion pieces. Her expertise spans Palestine’s political history, settler colonialism, and international human rights law, with a particular focus on how Israel’s system of military occupation operates through laws, courts, and policies that undermine basic freedoms.

They both joined me in the Shack. Thanks to Pau Garcés for his help in making this pod happen.

The Whistleblower Special Series is here:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-163145416

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Asmaa Dwimah is a Palestinian writer, poet, artist and dentist from Gaza. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Public Health in London. In this PalCast she shares her experience of life in two worlds, her writings and exploring loss, resilience, identity and bearing witness.

MEP Lynn Boylan podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-163437304

The EU Presidency Podcast with Rory Hearne:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-163350431

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Yahia Lababidi is an Arab American poet of Palestinian descent and essayist, and the author of sixteen books. His work appears in Liberties, Salmagundi, The Threepenny Review, The New Statesman, The New Arab, and DAWN, among others. His recent books include Palestine Wail (Daraja Press, 2024), written in the first months of Israel’s assault on Gaza, and What Remains to Be Said (Wild Goose Publications, 2025). His forthcoming essay collection, If You Cannot Say GENOCIDE: Essays on Conscience and Witness, will be published by New Village Press in October 2026 and distributed by NYU Press. He divides his time between the United States and Colombia.

The Book is available here: https://www.newvillagepress.org/ifyoucannotsaygenocide/

The Venezuelan Earthquake podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-162431599

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Sondos Sabra is a Palestinian writer from Gaza and co-author of Voices of Resistance, currently pursuing a master’s degree in Creative Writing in the UK. She joins us to discuss her experience of the genocide, the harsh reality of the famine she endured, the loss of several of her family and the heartache of planning for a future when everything is stuck in a worsening present.

Paul Murphy wants to go into Government podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-160886543

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Mohammed R. Isdodi is an English language student from Al-Azhar University whose studies were interrupted by the war. He rejoins us from a "hub" in Gaza City to update us on the latest situation on the ground, the struggle for basics like clean water and his work with others of telling their stories of the last almost three years. He offers a poignant insight into something he has written about the Gaza he walks through today and the one that exists now only in his mind.

Mikey Cullen's Sumud Flotilla Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-160504651

Liam Cunningham podcast:https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseshack/posts/patron-exclusive-159915188

Support the Hind Rajab Centre:https://www.ionadhindrajab.org/

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Mohammad AlTurk is a young English Translator in Gaza. He joins us from Gaza City to discuss the current situation on the ground and to tell his story of the past two and a half years. He also shares his hope for the future.

Mikey Cullen from the Gaza Flotilla podcast:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-160504651

Support the Hind Rajab Centre:https://www.ionadhindrajab.org/

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Palestinian teacher, academic and plain-talker, Arwa Alzraiy was a PhD Student in Durham before October 7th. She had returned to Gaza to collect data as part of her studies just before the genocide began. She joins us now from Gaza to talk truthfully about the reality of the current situation, the plight of the students she teaches and how even the subjects discussed in the makeshift classrooms are controlled by Israel.

This is a must-listen episode with a young woman who knows right from wrong in a world gone very wrong.

The King Charles - Sperrin Mountains pod is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-158877807

Support the Hind Rajab Centre:https://www.ionadhindrajab.org/

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Hussam Tannera is a teacher, father and a survivor of the Gaza genocide. He shares his experience taking care of his two children while trying to live as best a life is possible in Gaza today. He tells us an uplifting and ingenious story about starting a coffee brand despite the lack of coffee beans. Many of us take eating meat for granted, but Hussam tells us an entirely different personal story during a prolonged period of starvation. Tune in for full details.

James Leonard podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-158043146

Mohammed Isdodi in Gaza:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-157949546