The Kvetch Fest

In this episode, Joni and Harriet hear from Abdalrahim (Abed), a Palestinian student and professional in Wyoming who is from Gaza. Abdalrahim shares his experience living in Gaza, including his journey to finding true love and leaving for opportunities abroad. This first-hand story of life in Gaza dispels Hasbara, Zionist propaganda, that has been used as fodder for the ongoing genocide. 

More about our Abdalrahim:

Abdalrahim is the President and Coordinator of the MENA Club at the University of Wyoming,  where he promotes Middle Eastern and North African culture, issues, and communities. His tenure includes orchestrating a variety of events, from cultural celebrations to speaker series, while additionally fostering external partnerships. He is a skilled Arabic-English translator and is currently a Fulbright scholar working on a Master's degree in International Studies.

If listening to this episode bring something up for you, and you want to kvetch with us some more, you can shoot us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠

Edited and produced by Sam Jones

Directly support Palestinians in Gaza and those who have fled, including Abdalrahim’s family:

• ⁠https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-my-gaza-familys-survival-amid-war?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer⁠
• ⁠https://linktr.ee/fundsforgaza⁠

In this episode, Joni and Harriet discuss the ongoing atrocities in Palestine, feelings of overwhelm and numbness, and how to sustain actions for Palestinian liberation and freedom. Harriet pulls from the concept of the Doppelganger from Naomi Klein’s novel, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, for how anti-Zionist Jews can face their Zionist counterparts and enact change through conversation. As we kvetch, we point towards the exit door from Zionism.

If listening to this episode bring something up for you, and you want to kvetch with us some more, you can shoot us an email at [email protected]

Edited and produced by Sam Jones

CORRECTION: Jewish Voice for Peace has several resources about transitioning from Zionism to anti-Zionism. Here are some of those resources:

• First Steps to Stand for Palestinian Freedom
• Curriculum on Antisemitism from a Framework of Collective Liberation
• Project 48, a curriculum on the 1948 Nakba
• Diaspora Podcast by Jewish Voice for Peace, available on Apple PodcastsResources discussed in this episode:
  • Roles for Collective Liberation by Slow Factory
  • Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein, available on Bookshop
    • Chapters 13 and 14 are available for free
  • The Ten Stages of Genocide, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
  • Index of discriminatory laws against Palestinians in Israel, Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
  • Genocide by the United Nations, Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
  • In the Shadow of the Holocaust article by Masha Gessen

In this first (and maybe only) episode of The Kvetch fest, Jewish summer camp pals Joni and Harriet untangle the crucial differences between Zionism and Judaism.

If listening to this episode brings something up for you, and you want to kvetch with us some more, you can shoot us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠

Some further learning about Palestine as discussed in the episode:

⁠Norman Finkelstein Speach ⁠

⁠1948 Documentary⁠

⁠Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine⁠

Ways you can tap in right now:

⁠What to Boycott⁠

Places to donate: ⁠The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund ⁠⁠Palestinian Social Fund ⁠

⁠Middle East Children's Alliance ⁠

Palestinian Journalists to Follow:

⁠@mohammedelkurd⁠

⁠@byplestia⁠

⁠@wizard_bisan1⁠

⁠@motaz_azaiza⁠⁠@eid_yara⁠