Middle East Monitor Conversations

MEMO speaks with counterterrorism expert Dr Rizwaan Sabir about the global war on terror, the rise of the security state in execution of that war and its impact on the, mainly Muslim, victims.Dr Sabir is the author of the recently published book The Suspect: Counterterrorism, Islam and the Security State in which he speaks of his own experiences of wrongful arrest, detention and subsequent surveillance. The academic is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Justice Studies at the UK's Liverpool John Moores University.

MEMO speaks with the Vice President of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East Dr Michael Bueckert to discuss his latest book Advocating for Palestine in Canada.Bueckert has a PhD in Sociology with a specialisation in Political Economy from Carleton University in Ottawa. His dissertation explored the Canadian opposition to boycott movements, and this research involved travel to Palestine and South Africa. He is co-editor of Advocating for Palestine in Canada (Fernwood Publishing, 2022) and has published in Radical History Review and Studies in Political Economy. He has written for publications including Africa Is A Country, Jacobin, and Briarpatch and his research has been cited by the Washington Post, CBC Ottawa among many others.

MEMO speaks with prominent British journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne as we discuss his new book 'The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong About Islam'.Oborne is the former chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph.

MEMO speaks with Palestinian-Brazilian journalist and writer Eman Abusidu about Palestinians in Latin America and the region's long track record of supporting the Palestinian cause. The discussion will also look at the way in which Palestinians have influenced culture, society and politics in Latin America.Born and raised in Gaza, Eman Abusidu is a member of the Syndicate of Brazilian Journalists (FENAJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). She has written extensively on the Palestinian community in Brazil and Palestinian-Brazilian relations.

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.