This Is Palestine

In this episode of This Is Palestine, Diana Buttu speaks with midfielder Ahmed Al-Qaq about his journey from North Carolina to the Palestinian national team. Born and raised in the United States to Palestinian parents, Ahmed reflects on choosing to represent Palestine, the emotional experience of wearing the Palestinian jersey for the first time, and the bonds formed between players from Gaza, the West Bank, and the diaspora.

This is a conversation about identity, belonging, representation, and what it means to play for Palestine on the world stage. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues despite the so-called ceasefire agreement, the psychological toll on Palestinians remains far less visible than the physical destruction. In this episode of This is Palestine, Samah Jabr examines the mental health impact of genocide, siege, starvation, displacement, and ongoing Israeli violence through the lens of what she calls “colonial trauma.”

We discuss grief and despair beyond conventional psychiatric language, the long-term impact of violence on future generations, and the limits of providing mental health care under occupation and mass violence. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

How Do You Remember the City That Was Stolen From You?!

In this episode of This Is Palestine, ninety-year-old George Bahu revisits his childhood in al-Baqa’a al Foqa, a Palestinian neighborhood in West Jerusalem before the Nakba. He remembers school, cinema, Bus No. 6, and his father’s transportation company that once connected Jerusalem to cities across Palestine.

George also recalls the violence that transformed the city: the King David Hotel bombing, armed Zionist attacks on Palestinian neighborhoods, and the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948.

Forced into exile with his family, George never returned home. But decades later, he still carries Jerusalem with him: in photographs, documents, dreams, and memory. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

As Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is marked on April 17, this episode turns to life behind Israeli prison walls, where time itself becomes a site of struggle. Former detainee Husam Shaheen shares his testimony of more than two decades in prison, moving from early activism and repeated arrests to a 27-year sentence that became a lived experience of endurance, resistance, and survival.

Through his account, we see how imprisonment shapes not only the body but also memory, identity, and time itself. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

On March 30, 2026, Israel passed a new "death penalty law" that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of what Israel defines as “terrorism.” In this episode of This is Palestine, we speak with Qaddura Fares, former head of the Palestinian Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs and a former political prisoner himself, to unpack what this law actually changes and what it reveals about Israel’s discriminatory unequal legal system and political framework against Palestinians. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

This episode examines the 1988 Beita incident, a few months following the outbreak of the first Intifada, when an entire Palestinian community was punished for a crime they did not commit. Through eyewitness accounts and historical context, we trace how home demolitions, mass arrests, and forced exile became tools of Israel’s collective punishment and how similar patterns continue to shape the present today. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

As Ramadan comes to an end, many Muslim Palestinians are bidding farewell to the holy month far from Al-Aqsa, in an atmosphere marked by grief and restriction, following Israel’s complete closure of the Al-Aqsa compound following the US/Israel attack on Iran.

But access to Al-Aqsa, the basic right to worship, has never been easy for Palestinians.

What does it take to reach one of Islam’s holiest sites in your own homeland? In this episode of This is Palestine, host Diana Buttu speaks with Jerusalem-based journalist Zena Tahhan to unpack Israel’s escalating restrictions on Al-Aqsa and the Old City.

From permit systems and military checkpoints to full closures during Ramadan, this episode traces how access to Al-Aqsa has been systematically limited over decades. It also examines the political and ideological forces seeking to reshape control over the site, and what that means for Palestinians today.  Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

Two years ago, the world heard the voice of five-year-old Hind Rajab during her last phone call with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Trapped in a car surrounded by Israeli tanks, Hind spoke to the dispatcher as she waited for help, alone, and surrounded by the bodies of her uncle and cousins, before her voice was lost…

“The Voice of Hind Rajab.” The Oscar-nominated docudrama recreates that devastating call between Hind and the PRCS control room.

In this episode of This is Palestine, we speak with filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania about her film “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” Kaouther takes us through the moment she first heard Hind’s voice, the decision to turn that devastating call into a film, and the process of making the film and recreating the call.

As the film brings Hind’s voice to the world, it also serves as a powerful call to demand justice and accountability for Israel’s brutal crimes that stole her life. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

When Mohammad was 12 years old, he saw an Israeli soldier aiming at him. Seconds later, he shot Mohammad in the leg during the Great March of Return. The bullet severed the main nerve in Mohammad’s leg. For months, Israel denied Mohammad his right to leave Gaza for urgent medical treatment. By the time he finally received care, it was too late. At 18, Mohammad was forced to make the brutal decision to amputate his own leg.

In this episode of This is Palestine, we shed light on the documentary Severed, which follows Mohammad and his mother’s life in Egypt after evacuating to continue his medical treatment during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

We speak with Mohammad, the protagonist and co-producer of Severed, and with filmmaker and producer Jen Marlowe. Together, they explore what it means to survive injury, to be cut off from home, to carry the responsibility of telling the story of those still trapped in Gaza, and why Palestine must also be understood as a disability justice issue. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu

On February 3, Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine Director, resigned in protest. In his resignation statement, Shakir said the organization’s new leadership blocked the publication of a report documenting Israel’s crimes against humanity by denying Palestinian refugees their internationally enshrined right of return.

His resignation has reignited debate around the “Palestine exception”; the idea that speaking and writing about Palestine is treated differently than work on any other country. The discussion unpacks why the Palestinian right of return  is often met with double standards and continues to be denied today. In this episode of This Is Palestine, host Diana Buttu speaks with Omar Shakir about his decision to resign, his long career in legal advocacy for Palestine, and the internal battle over the blocked report. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official podcast of The

IMEU! For more stories and resources, visit us at imeu.org.

Stay connected with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/

For more insights, follow our host, Diana Buttu, on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu