The Take

Outreach between Black Lives Matter activists and Palestinians has become more widespread. But the foundation of solidarity between them dates long before Black Lives Matter became a movement. Today, we examine how the Black-Palestinian solidarity came to be and what parallels each side draws from the other.

In this episode: 

Khury Peterson-Smith (@kpYES), co-founder of Black for Palestine and the Michael Ratner Middle East fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies

Sandra Tamari (@SandraTamari1), Executive Director for the Adalah Justice Project

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Los Angeles, California is home to more than 60,000 homeless people — the second largest unhoused population in the United States. As an end to the pandemic and eviction moratoriums draw nearer, we’re asking: what will it take to resolve LA’s crisis of homelessness?

In this episode: Amina Waheed (@atwaheed), Producer at Al Jazeera’s award-winning documentary show Faultlines; Sammy Sumpter, LA resident; Joe Buscaino (@JoeBuscaino), LA councilman; Martha Escudero (@ReclaimingHomes), Activist with Reclaiming our Homes

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Israeli air strikes in Gaza have killed more than 200 people over the past ten days. Many of us have watched this crisis unfold on our screens, as rockets fire, bombs detonate and buildings collapse.  Today we’re going closer to the ground to speak to the people living in this war zone each and every day.

In this episode: Nada Nabil (@NadaNabilHRD), a Gazan human rights activist; Noureddine Abusamra, Gazan resident; Matthias Schmale (@matzschmale) , Gaza Director of UNRWA; Midhat Abbas, Consultant to the Gaza Health Ministry

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When new statues popped up in a busy intersection in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) no one really said much. A few years later those statues were part of a major investigation led by George Clooney’s The Sentry, an NGO uncovering financial crime. The reason? They were built by a team from North Korea, a country with a long history of statue building and a long list of sanctions against it. Now, the United Nations is trying to enforce statue sanctions but in Central Africa - it can be tough.

In this episode: 

John Dell'Osso: (@j_dellosso) Financial Crime Investigator, The Sentry (@TheSentry_Org)

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On May 5, the US government decided to throw its weight behind an increasingly-popular WTO measure: waiving intellectual property protections for COVID vaccines. But what is this waiver? And what could it actually mean for people looking to get inoculated? We explain how seemingly-arcane trade negotiations came to mean life and death for the billions of people waiting on a vaccine. 

In this episode:

Public health activists Achal Prabhala of accessibsa and Priti Krishtel @pritikrishtel of I-MAK @IMAKglobal.

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What started out as protests against forced expulsions in a Palestinian neighborhood has turned into an Israeli crackdown that’s engulfed much of Occupied East Jerusalem, including holy sites like Al Aqsa mosque. But Sheikh Jarrah is just one neighborhood, and displacements are unfolding across the Occupied Territories. As the reverberations in Sheikh Jarrah spread beyond the neighborhood, how will it impact the future of Palestinians in Jerusalem?

In this episode: 

Rasha, Sheikh Jarrah resident

Linah Alsaafin (@LinahAlsaafin), Al Jazeera journalist

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Feminist groups and activists in Mexico have taken it upon themselves to help women gain access to abortion, in a country where it’s largely illegal. At great risk to their safety, they use social networks to inform women on how to perform “at home” abortions. They’ve taken to the streets and to their cellphones to push back against the law, while helping women find the support they seek. The local efforts come as Mexico’s Supreme Court prepares to discuss the legal merits of cases surrounding abortion in June.

In this episode: 

Andalusia Knoll Soloff, multimedia journalist in Mexico https://twitter.com/Andalalucha

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Massacres, gang rapes, forced famine — the list of atrocities being reported in Tigray, Ethiopia is long and growing. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared the military intervention officially over in November, but the situation on the ground clearly doesn’t reflect that. And there are concerns that the situation is starting to resemble a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

In this episode: Zecharias Zelalem, Ethiopian journalist (@zekuzelalem); Madiha Raza, Senior Global Communications Officer for Africa and Yemen at the International Rescue Committee (@madz_raza)

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Radwan Fouad Jomaa lives in Denmark with wife and three kids. He moved there from Syria where he was born and raised. After opposing the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, he fled, fearing the worst. Now Denmark is saying his hometown, Damascus, is safe again and he and his family must go home.What will he and hundreds of others like him do? That’s today on The Take.

In this episode: 

Radwan Fouad Jomaa, Syrian in Denmark

Florian Elabidi (@FlorianElabdi) A Danish journalist. He reports about politics, conflicts and migration in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

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On World Press Freedom Day, the focus is often the heroics of gathering and delivering information in the face of violence. But during a pandemic, it's the online threats that are hitting harder, and women journalists are being hacked, doxxed, deepfaked and threatened all over the world. We're hearing from our own colleagues who’ve faced these threats head on, to ask what we all lose when women journalists are silenced.

In this episode: 

Kimberly Halkett (@KimberlyHalkett) White House correspondent, Al Jazeera English 

Ghada Oueiss (@ghadaoueiss), Presenter, Al Jazeera Arabic

Julie Posetti (@julieposetti), Global Director of Research, The International Center for Journalists

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