Middle East Monitor Conversations

Join us for a conversation with Professor Khairudin Aljunied as we discuss his latest book 'Shapers of Islam in Southeast Asia', which attempts to capture the progressive and pluralistic nature of Islamic conformism in Southeast Asia from the mid-20th century onwards, as well as the impact of the Middle East on Malaysian scholars and vice versa.Prof Aljunied is a Senior Fellow at the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He's the author of several books including 'Colonialism, Violence and Muslims in Southeast Asia', 'Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Southeast Asian Islam in Comparative Perspective', and 'Hamka and Islam: Cosmopolitan Reform in the Malay World'.

Lebanon is experiencing what the World Bank has said is one of the worst financial crises seen globally since the mid-nineteenth century, it was also the scene of the devastating port blast which destroyed much of its capital, with high levels of corruption and a currency that has lost almost all its value, will Lebanon's cities survive the constant attacks? Nothing symbolises corruption, greed, sectarianism, foreign intervention and neoliberal transformation quite like Beirut. And nothing symbolises resistance, resilience, communal solidarity and a thirst for change quite like Beirut. Join us as we talk to Mona Harb about urban politics in the Lebanese capital.Mona Harb is tenured professor of urban studies and politics at the American University of Beirut (AUB) where she is also co-founder and research lead at the Beirut Urban Lab. Her research investigates urban governance and city-making in contexts of dysfunctional states and disasters, and the role of urban activists in collective action and oppositional politics. She is the author of Le Hezbollah à Beirut: de la banlieue à la ville, co-author of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi’i South Beirut, co-editor of Local Governments and Public Goods: Assessing Decentralization in the Arab World and co-editor of Refugees as City-Makers, and of more than 80 journal articles, book chapters and other publications. Harb is the coordinator of the AUB graduate programs in Urban Planning, Policy and Design, and was previously Associate Dean of her faculty, and Chairperson of the department of Architecture and Design. She provides professional advice on urban development issues for several international organisations (ESCWA, WB, EU, UNDP). 

Has Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad been victorious after he was allowed back into the Arab League in spite of spending over a decade of killing and torturing his citizens?On 19 May 2023 Syria's leader Bashar Al-Assad arrived in Jeddah for the Arab League summit. It was the first time Damascus attended the summit since being expelled from the league in 2011. Despite hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions displaced, thousands incarcerated, a ruined economy and a country battered and bruised, Riyadh has welcomed Syria back into the fold of Arab Nations. Many see this as a victory for Bashar Al-Assad but are they right? Join us for a conversation with Dr Lina Khatib Khatib is the Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute and MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies as well as Professor of Practice at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London. Prior to this, she served as director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House and before that was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She also co-founded and led the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law and was a Senior Associate at the Arab Reform Initiative. She has published several books and is a frequent writer and commentator on current affairs in the Middle East.

Subhead: As support for the Palestinian cause increases, so too do efforts by the Friends of Israel to quash it, but who are the key factors in the British Zionist movement?Join us in conversation with Dr Hil Aked as we discuss how Israel's friends in the West are helping maintain its apartheid regime and reverse widening support for the Palestinian cause in Britain.Dr Aked is a writer and author of 'Friends of Israel: The backlash against Palestine solidarity' which  traces the history and changing fortunes of key actors within the British Zionist movement in the context of the Israeli government's contemporary efforts to repress a rising tide of solidarity with Palestinians expressed through the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.    An investigative researcher with a background in political sociology, Aked holds a PhD from the University of Bath and an MSc from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Aked has conducted research on the ‘Israel lobby’, Islamophobia, neoconservative think tanks and the media, the far right, and civil society activism in the struggle for AIDS treatment in South Africa. Aked's work has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Sky News and Al Jazeera, as well as volumes from Pluto Press and Zed Books/Bloomsbury. 

Can poetry give a voice to the oppressed in Australia and Palestine? Much like with Palestinians, Australia's First Nation people otherwise known as the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander peoples, have suffered dispossession, violence and colonialism from the European settlers. Pro Palestine and Pro First Nation activism are connected in their fight for justice against settler colonialism. Helping us connect the dots is poet and human rights lawyer Sara Saleh. Join us as we explore how poetry and art enable activism. Sara Saleh is a writer, human rights lawyer, organiser, and daughter of Lebanese-Palestinian-Egyptian migrants based on Bidjigal land (Sydney, Australia). Her poems, short stories, and essays have been published nationally and internationally in English and Arabic. She is co-editor of the groundbreaking 2019 anthology Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity. Sara made history as the first poet to win both the coveted Peter Porter and Judith Wright Poetry Prizes. Her debut novel Songs for the Dead and the Living and poetry collection, The Flirtation of Girls, are both out this year. 

George Washington University recently cleared Sheehi of allegations of anti-Semitism, with the probe once again highlighting that criticism of Israel is being conflated with anti-SemitismDr Lara Sheehi was recently cleared of allegations of anti-Semitism brought against her by the notorious anti-Palestinian lobby group StandWithUs. Join us as we discuss concerns over the conflation of anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel and its effect on education.Lara Sheehi, PsyD, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the George Washington University's Professional Psychology Program. She teaches decolonial, liberatory and anti-oppressive theories and approaches to clinical treatment, case conceptualisation and community consultation. She is the president-elect of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA Division 39), and the chair of the Teachers' Academy of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is co-editor of Studies in Gender and Sexuality and co-editor of CounterSpace in Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Society. Lara is on the advisory board to the USA–Palestine Mental Health Network and Psychoanalysis for Pride. She is co-author with Stephen Sheehi of the book, 'Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine' which won the Academic Awards in the 2022 Palestine Book Awards.

Ebeid and Zawahry's new children's film raises tackles the issues around Palestinian identity when living in the diaspora, especially when faced with its erasure Join us as we speak to the filmmakers behind 'I am from Palestine', a new animated children's film following the story of Saamidah, a young Palestinian-American girl, as she deals with questions about where she comes from and where Palestine is on a map.Iman Zawahry and Rifk Ebeid discuss the ups and downs of making a short feature and telling Palestinian stories through film.Zawahry is one of the first hijabi American-Muslim filmmakers. She has worked on numerous films that have played at over 150 venues worldwide. She’s an Emmy award winner, Princess Grace Award recipient, a Lincoln Center Artist Academy Fellow, and Sundance Momentum Fellow and Sundance Universal Fellow. She is also the co-creator of the first American Muslim film grant with Islamic Scholarship Fund where she currently serves as Director of Film Programs. Iman works to amplify the underrepresented female voice and frequently consults and speaks across the nation on the topic of Muslims in Film. Her debut film, Americanish, has won 26 awards, including best director and best film and has been acquired by Sony Pictures.Ebeid is a Palestinian-American Muslim writer, attorney and pediatric speech language pathologist. She is the author of two children's picture books about Palestine, including 'You Are The Color', and 'Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey to Palestine', which was nominated for the Palestine Book Awards 2020 and came in highly recommended by our panel of judges. She has a JD from George Mason University, an MA in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University, an MA in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Northern Colorado and a BA in Political Science and Near Eastern Language and Cultures from the University of Florida. 

As Israel continues to restrict Christian access to holy sites and processions during religious holidays, Christians are finding it harder to complete their religious rites in JerusalemIsraeli occupation forces blocked the route for the Holy Saturday procession through Jerusalem and attacked the Christian worshippers who were taking part. Such events have previously been highlighted as some of the reasons why Christians are leaving the occupied territories. With these attacks on the increase, MEMO speaks to John and Samuel Munayer, Palestinian theologians about the situation of Christians in Jerusalem and what the future holds for them. John S. Munayer is a Palestinian theologian from Jerusalem who holds degrees from King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh, and VU University Amsterdam. John is currently a lecturer at the Bethlehem Bible College and editor of the Journal of Palestinian Christianity. John is also active in several Palestinian Christian initiatives in Palestine.Samuel S. Munayer is a Palestinian theologian from Jerusalem. After completing a BA in Theology and Philosophy at Durham University, he is pursuing a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Politics at Exeter University under the supervision of Professor Ilan Pappe. Samuel. Samuel has recently co-authored an article with John on Palestinian Liberation Theology titled: Decolonising Palestinian Liberation Theology: New Methods, Sources and Voices. 

Foreign governments are evacuating their staff from Sudan as fighting intensifies, but what options do the Sudanese people have and what prospects are there for peace?Since 15 April, major clashes have erupted in a number of Sudanese states between the army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemedti'. Hundreds have been killed and wounded, most of whom are civilians. Thousands have fled and the country sits at the precipice of a civil war. Join us as we talk to Ola Ibrahim, a member of the Khartoum Resistance Committee. The Khartoum Resistance Committee was formed as an informal, grassroots network of Sudanese residents that started organising civil disobedience campaigns against the government of Omar Al-Bashir in 2013 and became part of a major organised network playing a key role during the Sudanese Revolution which ousted him in 2019.The network gave youth "the momentum and inspiration to be part of the revolution and to own their own fate and future."Part of the Sudanese Resistance Committees, it's members have been targeted by the RSF and the General Intelligence Service during protests. 

MEMO was in conversation with Hisham Al-Omeisy to discuss the Yemen peace talks currently underway. The Yemeni conflict analyst and consultant is not surprised the Saudis are sitting down for peace talks with the Houthis, but is under no illusions that the talks will resolve the conflict. Currently based in Washington DC, Al-Omeisy has worked with the UN and other international bodies in Yemen. Hisham has been working to promote a peace process that is bottom-up and puts ordinary Yemenis first, and has discussed this plan with government officials in the UK and elsewhere. Since the start of the conflict, Hisham has been an outspoken critic of both sides. He was arrested by the Houthis in 2017 and detained for five months.