Middle East Monitor Conversations

MEMO speaks with Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention, Dr Gregory H Stanton, as we discuss major flashpoints in the world today from India to Ukraine, Israel and China and his thoughts on whether any of these run risks of genocide.Stanton is the founding president and chairman of Genocide Watch. From 2010 to 2019, he was a research professor in genocide studies and prevention at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia, USA. Prior to that, he was the James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington.

MEMO speaks with Professor Ashok Swain as we discuss what is fueling the rise in ethno-nationalist sentiments and authoritarian governments around the world and the slide in democracy in places like India where Muslim minorities are being targeted by Hindutva extremists.Swain is a Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, Sweden. In 2017, he was appointed as the UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation and became the first UNESCO Chair of Uppsala University.

MEMO speaks with award-winning Australian author and activist Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah as we discuss her latest chapter in Prof. Ilan Pappe's and Dr Ramzy Baroud's recently published book 'Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Intellectuals and Leaders Speak Out'.Dr Abdel-Fattah, who has Palestinian and Egyptian roots, is a postgraduate research fellow at the Department of Sociology, Macquarie University. Her research includes the generational impact of the war on terror on post-9/11 youth. Her debut novel 'Does My Head Look Big in This?' was published in 2005 and she has since published over 11 novels.

MEMO speaks with Prof. Michael Lynk, the 7th Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories (2016-2022), as we discuss his final report which declared Israel an apartheid state.The Canadian legal academic is currently an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches labour law, constitutional law and human rights law.

MEMO speaks with Hebron-based Palestinian peace activist Issa Amro as we discuss his many decades of resisting Israeli Apartheid. Amro is the co-founder of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. He has spent many years advocating the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience to fight the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. In 2010, he was declared 'human rights defender of the year in Palestine' by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

MEMO speaks with Walaa Quisay on theodicy and popular religious politics in Egypt. Quisay is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester researching non-violent civil disobedience in contemporary Islamic thought. She completed her first book to be published with Edinburgh University Press on Neo-Traditionalism in the West. She received her DPhil from the University of Oxford at the Faculty of Oriental Studies. Her research interests include Muslim political subjectivities, popular political theology, theodicy, spirituality and traditionalism and modernism in contemporaryIslamic thought.

MEMO speaks with with Scottish-Palestinian actor, singer and writer Amira Al-Shanti about identity and Palestine in the context of her most recent short film 'Said the Dove to the Olive Tree'. The 12-minute film, created by Amira Al-Shanti and produced by Interbang Productions in 2021, is a piece of digital spoken word which explores the complex feelings and identity of a Palestinian Diaspora in Scotland. It captures the intricate balance between the nostalgic romanticism of a homeland she cannot return to, and the bleak and dangerous reality of the oppression of Palestinians.Al-Shanti had her West End debut in the world premiere of Rumi at the London Coliseum. She provided Arabic voiceover work in the National Theatre of Scotland's screenplay adaptation of Adam (BBC Scotland) and has a wealth of other theatre work. Previous pieces of her writing have been published by the Herald, including "Letters to JK Rowling" and "Being BROWN GIRL".

MEMO speaks with national security reporter Murtaza Hussain about Iran, the Middle East and national security in a changing world.Murtaza Hussain is a reporter at the Intercept who focuses on national security and foreign policy. He has appeared on CNN, BBC, MSNBC and other news outlets.  

MEMO speaks with Eric Maddox and Dalia Shurrab to discuss the Palestine Podcast Academy initiative. The project connects Palestinians across Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank for training in podcast production and an extended mentorship programme.Eric Maddox is the founder and director of the Palestine Podcast Academy, and host and lead producer of Latitude Adjustment Podcast.Dalia Shurrab is a Gaza-based entrepreneur and a content marketing expert.