The Overlook

Join Dominique as she speaks with people on the ground during the recent Philos Leadership Institute's solidarity trip to the Holy Land. In the first episode of this mini series, Dominique is joined by Isaac Woodward and Shadi Khalloul to address the recent Tucker Carlson interview with Munther Isaac. Shadi, an Israeli Christian, speaks to his lived experience as a Christian free to practice his faith in the only democracy in the Middle East and dispels the misinformation peddled by Carlson's recent interview.

Luke Moon, Executive Director of the Philos Project, joins Dominique to discuss the preliminary findings from the recent investigation into UNRWA's ties with Hamas following Israeli accusations of collaboration with the organization on October 7th. Earlier this year, Israel provided evidence at least 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7th massacre, and over 1,500 employees (~10%) have formal ties with Hamas. Luke discusses the role UNRWA plays as a de facto government in Gaza and how this points to the historic anti-Israel bias in the UN.

When introducing his foreign policy with Iran, the "Octopus Doctrine," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet stated, "We no longer play with the tentacles, with Iran's proxies: we've created a new equation by going for the head."

Philos' resident Iranian expert Farhad Rezaei speaks with Dominique about the April 1 Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria. The strike hit a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy, successfully eliminating senior Iranian officer Mohammed Reza Zahedi.

Farhad points to this as a shift in Israel's defensive tactics to pre-emptive attacks against not just Iranian proxies but the regime itself.

The alliance between the United States and Israel is one of the strongest and longstanding in U.S. foreign policy history.

While acknowledging Israel's sovereignty in 1948, the Cold War marked a crucial regional shift that strengthened the security interest between both nations. In its tenure, the Biden administration has repeatedly broken with the status quo in this longstanding alliance, feuding with Netanyahu publicly, condemning Israel's domestic policies, and even endorsing U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer's call for elections in Israel to provide a few examples.

The Biden administration also continually undermined Israel's security in dealings with other states in the region, including Iran.

How does this policy and diplomatic tension threaten our alliance with Israel and contribute to the conflict on the ground?

Director of the Philos Project's Charles Malik Institute, Farhad Rezaei, joins Dominique to unpack this on today's episode.

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The ethnic cleansing of Christian communities in the Middle East has altered the religious landscape of the region. In Gaza, it is partly the result of Hamas' corrupt economy and its war with Israel. But life is undeniably made worse for Christians under Hamas as dhimmi, meaning second-class citizens.

In 2010, Christians comprised 6% of the population in the region. Today, that number is just 4%. Since 2010, the region has changed with the Arab Spring, ISIS, and now the war in Gaza that is re-aligning the region along religious lines.

It is likely that by 2050, only 3.7% of the region's population will be Christian.

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The Israel-Hamas war is just as much conventional as it is spiritual and religious. The faultline in the struggle between Jews and Muslims for control of the region has historically been the Holy City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Al-Aqsa has become the Palestinian symbol of national identity. For Hamas militants, October 7 was known as "the Al-Aqsa Flood." March 10 marks the start of Ramadan, as hundreds of thousands of Muslims from the region enter Jerusalem to worship. Will this mark a period of escalation in the war?

What is happening on Israel's northern front? Hadeel Oueis joins Dominque to discuss the role of Hezbollah in the "axis of resistance" fight against Israel.

Robert Nicholson joins Dominique to discuss what a Rafah ground offensive will mean for Israel and the future of a Palestinian state. With Hamas in power in Gaza and a weak PA in the West Bank, there is no current future for a two-state solution. Why has the international community, including the U.S., condemned Israel's offensive on Rafah, and what would this mean for the survival of Hamas?

Is the Rafah campaign the end of Hamas? Syrian writer and analyst Hadeel Oueis joins Dominque to discuss the Arab world's current political position on the Palestinian Question and what key Arab actors seek in a potential ceasefire and peace process between Hamas and Israel.

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Farhad Rezaei, an Iranian Kurd and Iran expert, joins Dominique to analyze:

• The United States drone strikes in Iraq and Syria after the death of 3 US troops in Jordan and
• Discuss how Iranian aggression in the Near East drives the Israel-Hamas war.

Follow the podcast for weekly news highlighting critical events in the East for a Christian audience in the West.

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