Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Swedish political scientist Dr. Anders Persson about this week's International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, held in Malmö, Sweden. They discuss what happened in Malmö and what this event means in the context of ongoing efforts to achieve the worldwide adoption and enforcement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism -- a definition that explicitly conflates criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism. Follow Dr. Persson's work: http://dranderspersson.com; on Twitter at @82AndersPersson. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with journalist and activist Basil Adraa and activist and water management expert Natasha Westheimer about the increase in state-backed settler-violence in the South Hebron Hills. Over the last few weeks, both have witnessed and experienced settler and military attacks against Palestinians and solidarity activists. This week, Basil is being targeted by a smear campaign in an effort to undermine his credibility and ability to document human rights abuses. Basil's most recent articles on +972 Magazine include: "I filmed a settler pogrom. Now the Israeli media is smearing me" and "Scenes from a Jewish pogrom" (co-authored with Yuval Abraham) Natasha recently published "Opinion: Israel declares war on Palestinian water" (Haaretz) Basil al-Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. Natasha Westheimer is an Australian-American water management specialist and anti-occupation activist based in Jerusalem. Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is the Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

After the Palestinian prisoner escape, Orly Noy - a journalist, translator of Farsi literature into Hebrew, and political and Mizrahi activist - wrote a post on Facebook in which she described the prisoners as freedom fighters and said that “every Palestinian who survives the occupation and persists in continuing to live is a hero. For that post, Orly was temporarily banned from Facebook. Peter Beinart speaks to Orly about the prisoner escape, Mizrahi identity and politics, and solidarity with Palestinians.  Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

FMEP's Lara Friedman and MEI's Khaled Elgindy speak with Tariq Kenney-Shawa about the Palestinian diaspora, the shifting narrative around Palestine in the U.S., the prospects for change in U.S. politics and policies, how all of this relates to the situation on the ground in Palestine today, and the hopes for achieving Palestinian rights and liberation. For full bios and additional resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/tariq-kenney-shawa-podcast/

This week marks the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords. In this podcast, FMEP’s Lara Friedman talks with the Quincy Institute’s Annelle Sheline about the impact of those accords so far, and where the region is headed in the coming period.

featuring Hana Amoury (Activist), Orwa Switat, PhD (Urban Planner), & Rami Younis (Director/Writer)with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP). This past May, Palestinian citizens of Israel took to the streets to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians under attack in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. As many Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and in the diaspora spoke of a new Palestinian unity, Palestinian demonstrators inside Israel were met with violence from organized gangs of Israeli Jews, leading to clashes that caused many casualties, including deaths. Israeli police not only failed to protect Palestinian citizens of Israel, but in the aftermath of the protests and clashes, police targeted thousands of Palestinian citizens with arrest. Jewish Israeli politicians incited against them and the mainstream media was flooded with articles warning of the end of “coexistence.”  What really happened in May and what has changed since then? How does the narrative of Palestinian integration into Israel - especially into the Israeli economy - relate to those events and their aftermath? How do Palestinian citizens of Israel see their struggles relating to the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and elsewhere? Why did Jewish mobs attack Palestinians in some cities - Lyd, Jaffa, Haifa - but not others? And how does the history and present reality of the Nakba shape Palestinian citizenship in Israel?  Original Music by Jalal Yaquoub

Since the Palestinian Authority’s killing of political activist Nizar Banat in June, Palestinians have been holding protests in Ramallah and other parts of the West Bank. The PA has responded with tear gas, stun grenades, and harassment of human rights defenders and journalists, in what has been described as a “concerted crackdown on freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest.” In recent weeks, dozens of protesters – including prominent human rights activists – were detained by PA security forces. While the detainees have since been released, the crackdown highlights the Palestinian leadership’s diminishing tolerance for dissent as well as a deeper crisis of legitimacy. What’s behind these latest protests as well as the PA’s crackdown against them? What is the relationship between the protests in Ramallah and recent Palestinian popular political mobilizations in Gaza, Jerusalem, and inside the Green Line? And what do these Palestinian initiatives mean for the overarching struggle against ongoing Israeli occupation and dispossession?

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks with Budour Hassan (JLAC) and Noura Erekat (Rutgers) about Israel’s policy of holding hostage the bodies of slain Palestinians – an issue that has broken through into the news a bit with the continued holding of the body of Ahmad Erekat, and last week with a US Congresswoman, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, tweeting about another case: “Meet Mai Afana's mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing. Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won't release her body to her family.” What is this policy? How does it impact Palestinians? How does Israel justify it? What do Israeli courts and international law say? And what does this policy disclose about the broader dehumanization of Palestinians, both by Israel and by the international community? For bios are resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/palestinian-bodies-held-hostage-by-israel/

FMEP's Lara Friedman speaks to Kerem Navot's Dror Etkes about the appointment of a prominent settler to the number 2 position in the Ministry of the Interior - the ministry that has authority over construction in Israel-controlled parts of the West Bank -- despite the fact that this person lives in an illegal outposts where he built his house illegally (under even Israel law) and despite the fact that for years he led a company devoted to taking Palestinian land in the West Bank. Dror looks at what this appointment, at its approval by Israel's Attorney General, means in terms of Israel rule of law, Israeli policies, and the mainstreaming of the settlers' agenda. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Peter Beinart interviews Yousef Munayyer and Dahlia Scheindlin about the Israeli intelligence firm NSO Group, which leases military-grade surveillance tools to authoritarian regimes around the world. A new investigation revealed a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers that had been targeted by NSO's spyware tools and included human rights advocates, journalists, and world leaders. This week, Yousef published "Exporting the Tools of Apartheid" in Jewish Currents and Dahlia published "Why Israel is more concerned about Ben & Jerry’s than the Pegasus revelations" in the Guardian.