Makdisi Street

We welcome two brave California educators, Dr. Theresa Montano of Cal State Northridge and Dr. Christine Hong of UC Santa Cruz, who have been at the forefront of developing and advocating for a California Ethnic Studies Curriculum grounded in liberation and social justice rather than identity politics. We discuss how Ethnic Studies went from an insurgent field of knowledge in the 1960s to one adopted in 2017 by California. We also cover why the racist Palestine exception remains alive and well in the state of California; how educators, progressive politicians, and union organizers are pressured into complicity in denying Palestinian history; and we examine, as a generational shift takes place in support of Palestinian freedom and humanity, the insidious California Assembly Bill 715, which was brought by the Jewish Legislative Caucus in the midst of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza; we discuss how the bill would censor as “antisemitic” the teaching of Palestinian history by defining anti-Zionism as antisemitism, by amending the state education code to define nationality as a social group with shared values, and by creating a statewide K-12 antisemitism “coordinator” to police teachers and prevent students from learning about Palestine. Date of recording: July 16, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A

The brothers welcome historian and headline fixer Assal Rad to discuss the mainstream media’s role in manufacturing consent and perpetuating Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, how it enables the Gaza genocide, how it accepts Israeli state propaganda as fact while rendering suspect Palestinian eyewitness accounts, and the differences between the coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza from its war on Iran. Date of recording: July 15, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A

The brothers welcome back historian Ilan Pappé to the show to discuss whether he still believes that the Gaza genocide marks "the beginning of the end of the Zionist project", his understanding of the nature of Israel's decline,  the attacks on institutions of higher learning, and how Palestine has become the keystone for liberatory projects. Date of recording: July 8, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A

**Producer's Note: This is a preview of the latest bonus episode. You can listen to the entire episode by becoming a member of the Makdisi Street patreon, where you can also find all our other bonus content, including the latest Q&A** The brothers hosted a special live episode as part of the Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago. Date of recording: July 4, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii  

The brothers welcome the writer and podcaster Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) to discuss the Israeli state’s institutionalized and systematic dehumanization of Arabs and Palestinians, the racial hierarchy structuring and defining Israeli society, and the psychopathologies of colonial violence in such a racialized environment. Alon is the host of The Mizrahi Perspective on YouTube and can also be found on Substack Date of recording: June 23, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A  

**Producer's note: This was recorded before the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities** The brothers welcome returning guest Trita Parsi to discuss the unprovoked and illegal attack on Iran, the potential role of the US in joining the Israeli regime's war, and what, if any, possibilities remain for negotiation or de-escalation.  Date of recording: June 19, 2025. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A  

Ahead of the most important football match in the history of Palestine’s national team, on the cusp of potential qualification for the 2026 World Cup, the brothers discuss with Bassil Mikdadi, Palestinian journalist and creator of footballpalestine.com, the impact of the ongoing Gaza genocide as well as the deeper context of Palestine national team’s rich journey over many decades, its struggle to assert Palestinian national unity in the face of Israel’s occupation, blockade and policy of fragmentation. We also discuss the grassroots solidarity with Palestinians across the football world and the campaign to kick Israel’s national football team out of FIFA, which, along with the European association UEFA shamefully continues to allow it to play official matches during the genocide despite immediately suspending Russia after its Ukraine invasion. Finally, we discuss the role of media and the silence/complicity of all too many football journalists in covering Israeli atrocities and the intimidation of players when it comes to showing solidarity. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Date of recording: June 9, 2025. Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A    

**Producer's note: The brothers are hosting their first livestream this coming TUESDAY (O6/03) at 10 am EST! It will be a Patreon-exclusive Q&A so only supporters of the show can submit questions or watch live. Sign up for as little as $5 a month and access all the great bonus content as well** The brothers explore the latest Gaza ceasefire negotiations, the abject failure of the corporate media to cover the crude and explicit expressions of racism and genocidal intent from across the spectrum of Israeli society, the sudden shift among European leaders as they attempt to rhetorically distance themselves from the genocide, and the continuing cost to those who speak out against the genocide in increasingly repressive Western societies. Credit to Nikita Gill for her poem concluding this episode Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Date of recording: May 27, 2025. Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest one

Noura Erakat, a Palestinian-American activist and legal scholar, dives deep into the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, discussing its implications for the rules-based international order. She critiques the failures of global institutions and emphasizes the importance of grassroots activism. The conversation explores the emotional toll of the conflict, shifting perceptions of support in the West, and the necessity for reform within Palestinian movements. Erakat advocates for unity and cultural involvement as essential components for driving meaningful change.

The brothers discuss the extent to which Trump represents a possible shift in US policy in the Middle East, contrasting the possibility of new deal-making in the Gulf region and elsewhere (Iran, Syria) with the retrograde pull of Zionist pressure to extend the genocide in Gaza and derail the drive towards profit-driven capitalist stabilization in the region. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Date of recording: May 15, 2025. Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii *Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest one*