Occupied Thoughts

Tania Hary (Gisha) Nour Odeh (Political Activist) Omar Shakir (Human Rights Watch) in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP) For resources and bios, please visit: https://fmep.org/event/the-situation-in-gaza-a-briefing/

In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP president Lara Friedman speaks with Professor Rebecca Ruth Gould, author of the newly published book, Erasing Palestine: Free Speech & Palestinian Freedom. The discussion digs into Professor Gould's own experience being attacked for an article she authored on Israel/Palestine, and more broadly into the ongoing campaign using the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a weapon to delegitimize and suppress criticism of Israel/Zionism, Palestinian voices, and Palestine rights activism in the UK and around the world.

featuring Kareem Jubran (B’Tselem) & Sarit Michaeli (B’Tselem) with Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP). Forcible transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank is a reality. The Israeli government, its security forces, and Israeli settlers are actively targeting Palestinian communities through a growing matrix of tools geared towards making their lives so economically untenable, functionally unbearable, and fundamentally unsafe that they are compelled to abandon their homes and lands, disperse their communities, and give up their means of earning their livelihoods.  Israel’s long-used methods include forbidding Palestinians from legally building homes and other structures, preventing access to infrastructure, including electricity, water, and roads, and ongoing demolitions in 60% of the West Bank. Targeted violence carried out by settlers, and tolerated if not actively supported by Israeli security forces -- - including harassment, threats, destruction of property, and outright terrorism in the formed of armed, lethal attacks -- has been used to suppress and threaten Palestinian life in the West Bank – and it has been accelerating in frequency and brazenness under the new Israeli government. Together, these factors have already led to the displacement of multiple Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank. Today, more communities are in danger, as Israel seeks to remove Palestinians in key areas across the West Bank in order to take over their land.  In this briefing, we describe these communities and discuss the official and unofficial tools Israel used to displace them and how this oppression amounts to the war crime of forcible transfer.  Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with the new Executive Director of B'Tselem, Yuli Novak, about the opportunities and challenges for human rights protection in an apartheid regime, as well as the relationship between personal and political change. Podcast landing page: https://fmep.org/resource/human-rights-work-under-apartheid-to-show-reality-to-shed-lightto-create-hope-in-the-struggle/ Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks with Abdullah (last name withheld), a tour guide from Hebron (Al-Khalil). The conversation touches on the history of Hebron, the development of the Israeli settlement project in the city post its 1967 occupation, and the division of the city into H1/H2 zones following the Oslo Accords. We also hear from Abdullah about the dystopian reality of living under hyper-militarization and the pervasive surveillance in the city. For resources and bios, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/hebron-al-khalil-a-primer/

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy talks to Shira Livne (ACRI/Association for Civil Rights in Israel) about all things annexation. Including, how is annexation related to the current judicial reforms? What has annexation looked like previous to the current government? How significant are the changes in governance that the current government have taken? Should we consider the West Bank, or perhaps only Area C, annexed? For bios and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/has-israel-annexed-the-west-bank/

More than 15 years into Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, and after rounds of devastating Israeli bombing campaigns, life in Gaza continues to become more difficult and traumatic for the two million Palestinians who live there. What is it like to live under such conditions, with no end or reprieve in sight? Join FMEP for a conversation among experts about the current state of mental health in the Gaza Strip, and what it might mean for the future of Gaza’s residents. We will look at the findings from a recent study conducted over two years by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP).  Featuring Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei (Gaza Community Mental Health Programme), Ghada Majadli (Physicians for Human Rights Israel), and Razzan Quran (George Washington University) in conversation with  Dr. Yara Asi (FMEP Non-resident Fellow). Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to Amal Thabateh, who is the Michael Ratner Justice Fellow at Palestine Legal, about the stunning attacks that have taken place targeting Fatima Mohamed for her May 12th commencement speech at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law’s graduation ceremony and the broader context of the fight to defend free speech and activism in support of Palestinian rights.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to journalist, filmmaker, and author Antony Loewenstein, about his new book, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, published by Verso books in May 2023.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP 2023 non-resident fellow Rabea Eghbariah speaks to Abed Abu Shehadeh, a political and community organizer from Jaffa who is also an elected city council member in Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s municipality. The conversation explores the historical trajectory of Jaffa and its transformation from a major Palestinian city before the Nakba to a de-developed city annexed to Tel Aviv. We hear from Abu Shehadeh on the major challenges that Jaffa's Palestinian community faces today in light of this history, including gentrification, crime, and education.