Occupied Thoughts

Last week, a Palestinian political activist, Nizar Banat, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority and died soon after in their custody. His family accuses the PA of murdering him. Following his death, Palestinians in the West Bank gathered for protests, and the PA responded with violence and repression. According to the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, PA security forces - both in uniform and dressed as civilians - attacked protesters with batons and tear gas, attacked several journalists, and attacked human rights researchers who were monitoring the protests and confiscated their phones. In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews political organizer and activist Fadi Quran about why Palestinians are rising up against the Palestinian Authority. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, Jessica Montell, Executive Director of the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, joins FMEP's Lara Friedman to discuss the ongoing battle to prevent Israel from demolishing the West Bank home of a Palestinian-American mother and her children, as an act of collective punishment for a crime committed by her estranged husband. For more on this story, see: Palestinian mom fights to stave off punitive home demolition (Associated Press, June 7). Original music by Jalal Yaquoub

featuring Leena Dallasheh (Humboldt State University), Shay Hazkani (University of Maryland), Sherene Seikaly (University of California, Santa Barbara) with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP). In recent weeks the world’s attention turned to Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods fighting forced displacement from their longtime homes — displacement that, in the eyes of many Palestinians, is part of an ongoing process of dispossession that started in 1948 and continues through the present day. Palestinians call this process of displacement, dispossession, and exile “the Nakba” – Arabic for “the catastrophe” – which refers to the estimated 750,000 Palestinians who were expelled from their homes and lands during the creation of the state of Israel. For decades, stories of the Nakba – both personal experiences and an historical accounting of facts – have been systematically hidden, discredited, or ignored. Scholars, both Palestinian and non-Palestinian, have struggled to document and establish that history and challenge the denialism and mythologies – like the myths that “the Arabs” intended to “push the Jews into the sea,” that Palestinians left their homes at the behest of Arab armies, or that pre-1948, Arab residents of Palestine had no shared Palestinian identity or real links to the land – that have flourished in its place. In this context, we have invited three leading scholars of the Nakba to talk about how they approach researching, writing, and teaching this history — and the importance of amplifying personal, individual stories as a critical point of access to understanding nationalism, colonialism, citizenship, and the construction of racial categories in the Middle East.

FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to political, policy, and advocacy strategist Rania Batrice about the changing political landscape in the grassroots and in Congress with respect to Palestine. For resources and bios, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/podcast-winds-of-change-in-the-grassroots-congress-on-palestine/

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Lara Friedman asks Omar Baddar what it is like to be Palestinian American in U.S. politics, government, and media. They also discuss to what extent the issue of Palestine is undergoing a transformation across these fields, and how the Biden Administration is choosing to navigate these changes. For bios and more info, visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-alienation-of-palestinian-americans-in-u-s-politics-media/ Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Lara Friedman speaks with Elizabeth Tsurkov about extremist trends in Israel and how they are manifest in the latest elections and coalition building, in Israeli policies across the Occupied Territories (including Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah), in the violence that swept through “mixed cities” during the recent Gaza War, and in Israel’s relations - and normalization - with authoritarian regime in the region. For bios and more info, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-extremist-through-line-in-israels-domestic-regional-policies/ Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Maha Nassar about changes in the U.S. discourse on Palestine and Israel, shifts in US media that make room for Palestinian voices, and the history and dynamics of Black-Palestinian solidarity. Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” analyst Yousef Munayyer joins FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss the implications of a potential new government in Israel, in which Naftali Bennett would replace Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister and head a coalition that includes the far-right, the so-called center-left and Zionist left, and Ra'am/the United Arab List.  Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin is joined by Nareman Shehadeh Zoabi, a social and economic rights attorney working with Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, to discuss Israel's mass arrests and militarized policing targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel who participated in recent protests. Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub

Featuring Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine), Ahmed Alnaouq (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor), Lara Friedman (Foundation for Middle East Peace) with Haggai Matar (+972 Magazine) While the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has provided some respite from two weeks of death and destruction, there is no calm. We are seeing a new round of police aggression in Jerusalem and cities in Israel, with the authorities carrying out arrests of hundreds of Palestinians who participated in protests this past month. The attempts to displace Palestinian families in Jerusalem neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan also continue unabated. But new opportunities have opened up. The Palestinian popular struggle has re-energized between the river and the sea, in a show of unity that could significantly alter the dynamics on the ground. Meanwhile, in the U.S., cracks in the bipartisan consensus, which had long turned a blind eye to Israel’s sustained dispossession of the Palestinians, are rapidly widening. Original Music by Jalal Yaqoub