Middle East Monitor Conversations

 In an effort to beat the Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir, the shah of the Khwarezmian Empire turned to magician Siraj Al-Din Al-Sakaki to create a magical statue that would help win the battle. But things took an unexpected turn. Join MEMO's conversation to find out more about the importance of magic in Middle Eastern history.Siraj Al-Din Al-Sakaki (1160-1229) is best known for his work on Arabic grammar, which students of the language throughout the world use until this day, but very few know he worked as a magician in both the Khwarazmian and Mongol courts. The author of grimoire, a how-to guide for budding magicians, Al-Sakaki offers instructions to students on how to conjure Jinns, how to draw up contracts with the devil, how to cast love spells and how to inflict a humiliating defeat on your enemies as well as a deep dive into the world of magical donkeys. Al-Sakaki was taken very seriously by the rulers of his day, he even managed to survive a talisman gone-wrong, where he was asked by the shah of the Khwarezmian Empire to create a magical statue that would enable them to beat the Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir in battle and take Baghdad. Al-Sakaki created the talismanic statue and buried it - however the statue magically changed direction while underground causing the shah to lose the battle. Al-Sakaki takes us into the fascinating world of medieval sorcery popular in Middle Eastern and Islamic societies. MEMO in Conversation is joined by Emily Selove, who is translating Al-Sakaki's works into English, to help us understand the man and his magic. Dr Emily Selove is an associate professor in Medieval Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Exeter. She is also the convener of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Magic and Esotericism. Her most recent publication is a short monograph for the Cambridge Elements Series: The Donkey King: Asinine Symbology in Ancient and Medieval Magic. She was the PI of a Leverhulme-funded research project, "A Sorcerer's Handbook," (2019-2022) which will create an edition and translation of Siraj Al-Din Al-Sakkaki's magic handbook, Kitab Al-Shamil wa-baḥr Al-kamil (The Book of the Complete). Her early research focused on the figure of the uninvited guest (or "party-crasher") in medieval Arabic literature. Her translation of another 11th-century book of party-crashing is titled Selections from the Art of Party-Crashing in Medieval Iraq.  She also co-authored a textbook to introduce beginning students to the city of medieval Baghdad, Baghdad at the Centre of a World: 8th-13th Century,  and has created a collection of cartoons titled Popeye and Curly: 120 Days in Medieval Baghdad to accompany this textbook.

Omar Said surprised Antebellum America when he was discovered to be an educated slave from Senegal. Used as a poster child for the benevolence of slavery, Said's writings were distorted and failed to show his discontent at being a slave in America, that is at least, until now when a new translation of his work has been published. "I cannot write my life," Omar Said says in an extraordinary autobiography written in 19th century Antebellum America. 12 million Africans were enslaved in the Americas and the impact of it is still felt today. Among the 12 million was Omar Said who was taken from West Africa and brought to North Carolina. Said fled his cruel master and was eventually sold to James Owen, a politician and businessman. The Owen's family were impressed by Said's education, which would later surprise American society as they tended to view Africans as uneducated. Despite being in servitude in America, Said was an Islamic scholar in Senegal and very highly educated. He converted to Christianity while in enslavement, or at least his owners believed he had, and Said became a spectacle in pre-civil war America. Pro-slavery factions in the US turned Said into a poster child in support of the so-called benevolance of slavery. He was encouraged to write about his life, which he did in Arabic. However, far from being happy about his enslavement despite accepting his fate, Said showed his resilience and resistance to the experience. Pro-slavery factions began issuing their own translations of Said's writings, which they distorted to support their cause. In the last 40 years there have been attempts to correct this and in 2023 a book was published which correctly translates Said's writing and provides much needed historical context for his works. MEMO conversations is joined by the authors of I Cannot Write my Life: Islam, Arabic, and Slavery in Omar ibn Said’s America Mbaye Lo and Carl Ernst. Mbaye Lo is associate professor of the practice of Asian and Middle Eastern studies and international comparative studies at Duke University. Originally from Senegal, Lo completed his undergraduate and graduate training in classical Arabic language and literature at the International University of Africa, Khartoum, and Khartoum International Institute for Arabic Language, Sudan. He also received an MA in American history from Cleveland State University where he also earned his PhD from from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs with a dissertation on Re-inventing Civil Society-Based Governance in Africa: Theories and Practices.    Carl W. Ernst is a specialist in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and South Asia. His published research, based on the study of Arabic, Persian and Urdu, has been mainly devoted to the study of three areas: general and critical issues of Islamic studies, premodern and contemporary Sufism and Indo-Muslim culture. He has received research fellowships from the Fulbright programme, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His most recent books include Breathtaking Revelations: The Science of Breath, from the Fifty Kamarupa Verses to Hazrat Inayat Khan. 

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser is a divisive figure, to some he is the North African state's saviour to others he betrayed its people and destabilised the region, but could he have been both?The Arab World with its different authoritarian leaders still lives under the shadow of 1 man - Gamal Abdel Nasser. President of Egypt from 1954 to 1970, Nasser was not only part of the first wave of post-colonial Arab leaders, he was the trendsetter for everyone from Muammar Gaddafi to Saddam Hussein. A magnetic personality, powerful orator and a brutal dictator. His legacy divides opinion in Egypt today, did he save Egypt or betray it? Did he do what was necessary or did he do what was necessary for him? While discussions about Nasser tend to focus on his role as leader of Egypt, his interference in other Arab countries is less discussed; from directing assassinations in Lebanon, backing rebels in Yemen and attempting to destablise Iraq and Jordan. The 1950s was a time of great democratic experimentation in the Arab World, which Nasser played a leading role in crushing. A new book We Are Your Soldiers: How Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World takes a deep dive into Nasser, Nasserism and foreign intervention. Joining us is the book's author Alex Rowell Rowell is an editor at New Lines magazine and the author of Vintage Humour: The Islamic Wine Poetry of Abu Nuwas. His articles have been published by the BBC, the Economist and the Washington Post, among others.

Does Israel have a right to bomb hospitals in Gaza? And what are the implications of its actions in the besieged enclave? Should the international be doing more to protect Palestinians? These are just some of the questions international law specialist Toby Cadmans will help untangle.  While Israel's war on Gaza enters its third month, Palestinians in the besieged enclave have witnessed some of the worst atrocities in living memory. With over 15,000 Palestinians dead - the majority of whom are women and children - the question of will Israel be held to account is on everyone's lips. The legal dimensions of Israeli aggression, which include possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and more are legal intricacies many of us don't understand, join us as we speak to London-based barrister and renowned international law expert Toby Cadman who will help unpack these complex principles. Toby sheds light on pressing issues from deciphering the threshold of evidence required for allegations of genocide to questioning the legitimacy of hospitals as military targets, our conversation navigates the complex web of international law. We explore the role of foreign governments in protecting civilians, Israel's ICC status, potential barriers to ICC investigations and the broader legal avenues for holding perpetrators accountable.As we confront the legal battles intertwined with the Gaza conflict, Toby Cadman provides insights into the enforcement actions the International Criminal Court could take and the concept of universal jurisdiction. Toby Cadman is an international law specialist in the field of international criminal and humanitarian law, international human rights law, extradition and mutual legal assistance, anti-corruption, whistleblower protection, business and human rights, international commercial law, arbitration and international climate justice law. Co-founder of the Guernica Group and Joint Head of Chambers at Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers, Toby also serves as Associate Counsel to the Guernica for International Justice.

Did you know that the Ottomans use a number of different calendars to take into account the lives of their diverse communities? But how did this affect its operations? And what role did astrologers and advancements by neighbouring countries play in the Empire?What was the actual difference between western Mediterranean countries like Spain and Italy and the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period? Did they learn from each other and exchange scientific knowledge? The Ottoman Empire had a diverse range of communities within it, how did they mark time and what holidays did they celebrate? How important was astrology in everyday life? Join us as Maryam Patton takes us on a deep dive into these questions and along the way we meet court astrologers, run into time-pieces and learn about the multiple calendars the Ottomans used. Maryam Patton is a PhD candidate in the joint History and Middle Eastern Studies programme at Harvard University. She focuses on the late medieval and early modern period and is especially interested in cross-cultural transmission across the Mediterranean, especially in the fields of book history and the history of science. Her dissertation examines the historical understanding of time and temporality in the Ottoman Empire from approximately 1330 to 1600. She received her MPhil in European History from the University of Oxford where she was an Ertegun Scholar. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, where she majored in History with a minor in Arabic. She is also a frequent host and editor at the Ottoman History Podcast.

 In spite of Israel's protests of the contrary, accusations of genocide do not exaggerate the situation in Gaza, but this was part of Israel's long term strategy.Israel has entered its annihilation phase in Gaza and transitioning from slow-motion to high speed genocide of the Palestinian population in the besieged enclave, argues law Professor Penny Green. Tel Aviv's destruction of historic Palestine and the Palestinian people has been state policy since 1948 and the siege on Gaza was part of this long term strategy. The latest war might be about to change that. MEMO speaks to Professor Green who explains what factors demonstrate an active genocide, why Gaza has reached this catastrophic stage and how civil society can respond. She addresses head-on the accusations that the use of the term genocide is exaggerating the situation.Green was one of over 50 leading scholars in criminology and state violence who signed a hard-hitting condemnation of Israel.Green is Professor of Law and Globalisation at Queen Mary University of London, and was Head of the Law Department from September 2018-September 2022. She joined Queen Mary University of London in September 2014 following seven years as Professor of Law and Criminology at King’s College London. She studied Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology at the Australian National University before undertaking graduate studies and a doctorate in Criminology at the University of Cambridge.

With Western governments questioning every Palestinian statistic coming out of Gaza but accepting Israel's version of events even when no evidence is provided, the Palestinian diaspora has been left feeling unable to express its grief without being criminalisedPro-ceasefire demonstrations are 'hate marches', chanting from the river to the sea is 'terrorism' and Palestinian death toll numbers 'can't be trusted'. Since 7 October 2023, Arab and Palestinian communities in Europe and the US have felt like they are under siege. Reports of Palestinians and Muslims being killed in the US, reports of Arab reporters being fired and governments throughout the world questioning the loyalty of their citizens. Additionally, horrific images showing Israel brutalising Palestinians and wiping out Gaza have left a psychological scar on many both inside and outside Palestine. The Palestinian diaspora feels helpless, afraid and worried and also like they can't express their grief without being criminalised. Most are already dealing with intergenerational trauma with the latest Israeli war assault on Gaza adding another layer to that. Joining us to discuss this feeling of being unsafe, mental health in Arab communities and why the war on Gaza feels different this time is Layla Maghribi. Layla Maghribi is a British Arab journalist, currently based in the UK after several years in the Middle East working for international media outlets including Reuters and CNN International. Raised in England, Layla has lived in Italy, Syria, Lebanon and the UAE, and has a special interest in social issues affecting Arabic-speaking communities, particularly in relation to culture, immigration and mental health. She is currently the host of Third Culture Therapy, a podcast that explores mental wellbeing from a cultural perspective, and is writing her first non-fiction book.

The first to determine that Israel's operation in Gaza amounted to genocide, Prof Segal says the mass murder, forcible displacement of Palestinians and the official rhetoric of the Israeli government all provide a 'textbook case of genocide' "You must remember what Amalek has done to you," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to the nation. "Our hero troops, they have one main goal, to completely defeat the murderous enemy." Referring to Palesitnians in Gaza as being like the Amalekites, who were an ancient people wiped out by the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible, Netanyahu's statement was the latest in a line of both official and unofficial statements by Israeli politicians and media calling for the destruction of Gaza. But how do Israeli actions and rhetoric constitute a potential genocide? MEMO speak to Professor Raz Segal who believes Israel's ongoing war on Gaza could lead to a genocide of Palestinians in the besieged enclave. Segal was the first to determine that Israel's operation in Gaza amounted to genocide. In his conversation with MEMO, Raz explains why Israel's actions in Gaza meet the UN definition of genocide and provides compelling evidence to make the case that what is unfolding in Gaza is "a textbook case of genocide".Raz Segal is an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide.

Imagining the future of Palestine isn't a fictional dream, but rather a radical attempt to rediscover and resistance "Palestine is alive and well in the Palestinian psyche, but where is Palestine today?" Since 1948, Palestinians have been exiled, displaced and uprooted from their homeland. Additionally, those who expelled them deny the history of the Palestinian presence on the land and have their own historical narrative. For Palestinian writers, intellectuals and artists resisting the settler colonial project, attaining justice for what was done to them is a central concern. But what is Palestine and how to keep it alive? Memories of the land are part of defining what Palestine is, but Palestine can not only be a record of the past, it has a present and a future. It is to imagination that Palestinian thinkers turned, as Mourid Barghouti writes, "but, I tell myself, no reality cancels out imagination." Imagination here does not mean a fictional dream but rather a radical attempt at rediscovery and resistance. Palestine is not a single place or memory, but a place with multiple beginnings, places and peoples. Exploring this question in her book Imagining Palestine: Culture of Exile and National Identity, Tahrir Hamdi talks to MEMO about how Palestinians came to make sense of themselves. Imagining Palestine is a nominee for Middle East Monitor's Palestine Book Awards 2023. Hamdi is a professor of anti-colonial and resistance literature and currently Rector at Arab Open University/Jordan. She is co-editing a book with Louis Brehony on Ghassan Kanafani’s revolutionary political and theoretical essays, which will be published in 2024.She won the prestigious Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Prize in 2020 for the best researcher in the Arab world in the humanities.Her research revolves around resistance literature, anti-colonial theory and the importance of place and space in literature, and she has published articles on Edward Said, William Butler Yeats, Mahmoud Darwish, Mourid Barghouti, Saadi Yousef, Ghassan Kanafani, Naji Al Ali, Palestine, Ireland and Iraq.

Jerusalemite historian Wasif Jawhariyyeh photographed a changing Palestine over many decades, under Ottoman, British and Israeli rule. A new book about his work highlights Palestinian life and identity across erasJoin us for an illuminating discussion with the authors of Camera Palaestina: Photography and Displaced Histories of Palestine as they vividly bring to life Jerusalemite historian Wasif Jawhariyyeh and his remarkable seven photography albums chronicling Palestinian life and identity across eras. Learn how this visual record challenges colonial narratives and provides unparalleled insights into the Ottoman heritage and cultural evolution of Palestine from 1904 to 1972.Jawhariyyeh's albums provide unmatched windows into Ottoman roots and cultural transformations that powerful forces have sought to obscure. Through his photography spanning many decades, the erased heritage and evolving identity of Palestine is recovered and illuminated. Join us for a conversation with Prof Issam Nassar, Dr Stephen Sheehi, Prof Salim Tamari who discuss Jawhariyyeh's life work documenting a rapidly transforming Palestinian society under Ottoman, British and Israeli rule.Professor Issam Nassar is a Palestinian historian of photography in Palestine and the Middle East. He is professor of History at Illinois State University and a research fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley in 2006; Bradley University in 2003–2006 and Al-Quds University in 1998–2003.Winner of the MEMO Palestine Book Award 2022, Dr Stephen Sheehi is the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Chair of Middle East Studies. He holds a joint appointment as Professor of Arabic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the Program of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) as well as a core member of the Asian and Pacific-Islander American Studies Program (APIA). He is also the Faculty Director of the Decolonising Humanities Project.Prof Salim Tamari is Institute of Palestine Studies senior fellow and the former director of the IPS-affiliated Institute of Jerusalem Studies. He is editor of Jerusalem Quarterly and Hawliyyat Al Quds. He is professor of sociology at Birzeit University and an adjunct professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University.  He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Palestine Book Awards in 2018.