British journalist and commentator Sami Hamdi was detained by ICE for 18 days.

He recounts here on UNAPOLOGETIC how he was arrested after being informed that his valid tourist visa had been suddenly revoked, and how he was eventually allowed to leave after a federal judge was concerned that there had been serious breaches of his freedom of speech.

Hamdi describes in detail how he was arrested, what he witnessed in ICE facilities and processing centres, how ICE routinely obstructs and evades the justice system, and how, through his observations, many ordinary Americans are turning against Israel as they discover how deeply the U.S. government has been drawn into financing Israel’s war crimes while ordinary Americans continue to require government assistance in numerous areas.

David Adler - a Jewish American writer, activist, and organiser - joins UNAPOLOGETIC where he reflects on what it means to be Jewish in the age of Israel’s genocide on Gaza — and why silence is no longer an option.

From his family’s divided Zionist and anti-Zionist roots to his experience being detained by Israel after joining the Summud Flotilla, Adler recounts how Jewish identity, power, and solidarity are being redefined.

He explains why Israel poses an existential threat to Judaism itself — and why resisting in the name of justice is the only path left.

Unapologetic’s host Ashfaaq Carim speaks to Dr Roy Casagranda about what Zohran Mamdani's election victory means for the USA and it's political future

In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC, peace negotiator Gershon Baskin takes us inside the Trump-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — from backchannel talks with Hamas leaders to the Doha strike that nearly derailed the deal, and the moment Trump forced Netanyahu to apologize on camera. Baskin explains how the agreement came together, why it almost collapsed, and whether it can survive Netanyahu’s politics and the trauma of two years of war. He also reflects on 48 years in Israel, the country’s moral decline, and the difficult question of whether he can still call it home.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

02:00 - Backchannel Reborn Through Gaza

06:00 - Deal Delayed by Bombs

08:00 - The Three-Week Peace Plan

13:00 - Doha Strike and Betrayal

19:45 - Trump Forces Netanyahu’s Apology

23:00 - Will the Ceasefire Hold?

41:00 - Aftermath and Two-State Hope

48:00 - Israel Beyond Repair?

Green Party leader Zack Polanski joins UNAPOLOGETIC to talk about his plans to stop the right wing’s rise in the UK.

Just weeks after being elected leader — and as the Greens gain over 30,000 new members — Polanski speaks about the party’s growing momentum in a political moment defined by Reform UK’s surge and the launch of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party.

We discuss whether the Greens can turn their surge in support into real political power — and what it will take to build a credible alternative to the far right and a drifting Labour.

Political scientist and historian Norman Finkelstein joins this special edition of UNAPOLOGETIC that marks two years since the October 7 Hamas-led attack and Israel’s devastating retaliation against Gaza, which the majority of genocide scholars around the world have labelled a genocide.

In this nearly three-hour conversation, we ask whether Hamas regrets its actions, probe the realities of Trump’s Gaza plan - and question if this is just another ruse to create cover for more of Netanyahu’s atrocities.

Norman laments the depth of Israel’s brutality over the past 24 months and the roles of Israeli society, Arab states, Western governments, and the media in enabling it.

He also reflects on the collapse of international law and shifting global politics.

We discuss whether recognition of Palestine makes any difference, where the genocide leaves the future of the Palestinian liberation struggle, and why the horrors of Gaza defy facts alone.

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, joins UNAPOLOGETIC to discuss his new book Righting Wrongs.

Part memoir, part strategy guide, part global analysis, the book offers a rare inside look at how human rights advocacy really works. In this conversation, we explore how Roth built HRW from a team of just 60 people into a global organisation with more than 550 staff.

He reflects on political strategy, the limits of “naming and shaming,” and the constant struggle to fund independent rights work.

We also dive into HRW’s landmark reports—on apartheid and genocide in Gaza, the devastation of Syria’s war, Rwanda, China, Russia, and more. Roth shares what he learned from world leaders, victims, and dictators, and how those encounters shaped his understanding of power and human nature.

A wide-ranging conversation on justice, accountability, and whether the world is becoming a better place.

“An Israel for all its citizens has disappeared, it has literally been extinguished, and it's a myth that Israel is a nice friendly state”

David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, joins us on this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC to discuss what he describes as the ‘worst evil the world is witnessing’ in the 21st century.

Hearst shares his views on why Israel’s genocide is not just intentional but ‘calculated’. He also speaks about the UK’s complicity and how Israel, through its actions, has isolated not just the global public opinion, but former reliable allies such as Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan, who are now among the most damning and articulate (if not necessarily sober and coherent) critics of Israel.

Palestinian writer and analyst, Muhammad Shehada joins UNAPOLOGETIC in this special episode to explain how Israel's bombing of senior Hamas leaders in Qatar along with its order for 1 million Palestinians in Gaza city to evacuate once again to the South of Gaza has one common objective - to coldly and calculatedly make its ethic cleansing of Gaza inevitable.

"You have to think about people who are sitting in war rooms and plan the next bombing on civilians populations who are actually in tents in one place that they cannot move (from)"

Al Jazeera has been at the center of one of the deadliest assaults on journalists in modern history. Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 270 journalists, including at least 11 from Al Jazeera. Despite losing colleagues, facing office bombings, and being banned from reporting inside Israel and the West Bank, Al Jazeera continues its coverage of Gaza.

In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC, Ashfaaq Carim speaks with Salah Negm, the head of news for Al Jazeera English. With more than 45 years of experience in international journalism, Negm reflects on what it means to cover a genocide, how Israel targets reporters to silence coverage, and why eyewitness accounts remain essential.

Negm discusses:

The pressures and dangers faced by his newsroom

The killings of Shireen Abu Akleh and other Al Jazeera journalists

How Western media often relies on Israeli narratives

Why objectivity is misunderstood and misused in journalism

Al Jazeera’s process for recruiting and protecting local reporters

This is a rare inside look at how a newsroom endures grief, censorship, and political attacks while trying to hold power to account amidst an unfolding genocide in Gaza.

Editors Note: This episode was filmed on August 21st, before Monday deadly by Israel that killed another Al Jazeera Journalist, Muhammad Salama

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

3:40 Israel’s war on journalism

7:00 Media bias and objectivity

10:50 Why Al Jazeera hires locals

15:30 Fear and character attacks

19:00 Press freedom under threat

23:40 Gaza reporting under siege

29:00 Covering genocide in real time

47:20 Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

51:00 Journalists killed in Gaza

1:00:00 Bans, raids, and censorship

1:08:00 Future of journalism in war