The Inside Story Podcast

Israel is intensifying air strikes on the Gaza strip in the worst violence since the 2014 war.

Armed groups including Hamas fired back rockets into Israel.

Dozens of people have been killed.

The UN is warning of a descent into chaos, while the U.S. - Israel's staunchest ally - insists Israel has a right to self defence.

So what can be done to avoid full-scale war?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Danny Danon - Former Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations.

Ammar Hijazi - Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs, State of Palestine.

Hillary Mann Leverett - former U.S. Diplomat.

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#GazaUnderAttack #FreePalestine #Israel #Palestine

Civil war is brewing in France.

That's the warning from a number of French soldiers to President Emmanuel Macron.

They accuse the president of granting what they called concessions to Islamism.

The open letter was posted on a far-right website Valeurs Actuelles.

And echoed a similar text published last month by a group of retired generals.

Both letters were condemned by the French government.

But welcomed by far-right leader Marine Le Pen who is seen as Macron's main rival in next year's presidential election.

But is this a political manoeuvre?

Or does it reflect a real malaise of French society?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests

Renaud Girard, Chief Foreign Correspondent at Le Figaro

Nizar Messari, Associate professor of International Studies at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco

Yasser Louati, human rights activist and Head of Committee for Justice and Liberties.

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#France

Tensions have been simmering for weeks in Occupied East Jerusalem.

But on Monday the situation took a dangerous turn when Israeli police stormed the Al Aqsa mosque compound, during prayers, injuring hundreds of Palestinians.

The armed group Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel which in turn sparked the air strikes on Gaza.

More than two dozen Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attacks, two Israeli women died in the barrage of rockets.

Occupied East Jerusalem had been on edge anyway because Palestinian families are being threatened with eviction from their homes.

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Saleh Hijazi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International

Yaakov Amidror, Former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel and Former Major General

Nour Odeh, Political Analyst and Founding member of the Democratic National Assembly

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#Israel #Palestine

A parliamentary election victory has emboldened Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon to push ahead with a referendum on ending its union with the UK.

Her Scottish National Party has won the elections for a fourth consecutive time.

And combined with other pro-independence candidates, Sturgeon has a majority in parliament.

This means she has the numbers to win a vote in Scotland on independence.

But will it succeed this time?

And what would it mean for the future of the union?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Nicola McEwen, Professor of Territorial Politics at University of Edinburgh and Senior Fellow at UK in Changing Europe

Ross Greer, Scottish Green Party politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament.

Jim Gallagher, Honorary Professor at University of Glasgow and a former civil servant.

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#UK #Scotland

Almost everyone agrees one way to beat the pandemic is to increase global vaccine production.

But world leaders differ on how to give more access to poor nations that lack doses

The US has supported suspending intellectual property rights on vaccines

That could allow developing nations to acquire the knowledge needed to produce jabs locally.

But some European leaders argue a patent waiver would not help boost supply.

They insist making and sharing vaccines more quickly is the best way to do that.

Is this politically motivated?

And what does it mean for millions of people waiting to get their shots?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Jeffrey Lazarus, Head of the Health Systems Research Group at Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

Rajeshwari Hariharan, Intellectual Property Lawyer.

Azeddine Ibrahimi, Director of the Medical Biotechnology Laboratory at Rabat Medical and Pharmacy School.

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#COVID19VaccinePatentWaiver #COVID19 #InsideStory

Although Sheikh Jarrah makes up just a tiny part of Occupied East Jerusalem, the area is a major source of tension between Palestinians and Israelis.

A recent order to evict Palestinian families has triggered days of violent protests.

On Friday, more than 200 people were injured when security forces stormed the nearby Al Aqsa mosque compound to clear demonstrators.

So why is the Sheikh Jarrah dispute so contentious?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Fadwa Khader - Member, Palestinian People's Party.

Yossi Mekelberg - Associate Fellow, Chatham House.

Rami Khouri - Professor, American University in Beirut.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Jerusalem #SheikhJarrah

U.S. and NATO soldiers have started leaving Afghanistan over the past week.

President Joe Biden promised all troops will be gone by September 11, 20 years after the 9/11 attacks that triggered the fight against the Taliban.

But as they go, the Taliban isn't letting up.

And Afghans who've helped foreign soldiers over the years are scared of reprisals from the Taliban.

Can Afghanistan handle security challenges alone?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Colin Clarke - The Soufan Center.

Victoria Fontan - American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.

Sultan Barakat - Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Afghanistan #ForeignTroops

For years, armed groups have instilled fear in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hundreds have been killed, and millions are diplaced in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

The president has instructed the army to take charge of the two regions for a month.

Soldiers have been given broad powers to conduct searches, make arrests and ban public gatherings.

So will this be enough to stop the violence?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Niamh Murnaghan - Norwegian Refugee Council

Patrick Hajayandi - Institute for Justice and Reconciliation

Kambale Musavuli - Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa

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#DRC #DRCongo

Two years and four elections later, Israel is still no closer to having a government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed a deadline to form a coalition by midnight on Tuesday.

His opponents now have a chance to end the run of Israel's longest-serving leader.

Netanyahu's allies say they wouldn't work with a Prime Minister who's on trial for corruption.

So what happens if the deadlock drags on?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Gil Hoffman - Chief Political Correspondent, Jerusalem Post

Yossi Mekelberg - Senior Consulting Research Fellow at Chatham House

Gideon Levy - Columnist at Haaretz

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#Israel

Face-to-face meetings are said to be the best way to bring together conflicting parties.

But during the past year and a bit, the global coronavirus pandemic changed all that.

Social distancing measures, and health and travel restrictions forced world leaders to switch to virtual talks.

And diplomats had to negotiate and persuade while adapting to the relatively new technological advances.

The diplomatic calendar was completely disrupted by covid-19, but right up to date, some talks are now taking place in-person.

But can digital diplomacy serve the same purpose as physical diplomacy?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Tom Fletcher, Principle of Hertford College at Oxford University and foreign policy adviser to three UK Prime Ministers

Theresa Fallon, Director of Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies

Youssef Amrani, Morocco's Ambassador to South Africa

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#DigitalDiplomacy