Arab Talk with Jess & Jamal

Despite pledging during his election campaign to end America's involvement in "endless" and "forever wars," President Trump ordered a strike on Iranian nuclear sites, risking entangling the U.S. in another conflict in the Middle East. Dr. Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, Senior Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of York, discusses Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran’s massive retaliation, and the escalating risks moving forward.

Jess & Jamal discuss the recent developments of the Israeli attack on Iran. Professor William A. Schabas talks about the escalating pressure on the International Criminal Court to abandon its case against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. President Trump recently issued an executive order sanctioning four of the judges presiding over the case. Schabas is a Professor of International Law at Middlesex University, London, as well as Professor Emeritus at Leiden University and the University of Galway.

The Madleen set sail from Sicily on June 1st as part of the renewed Freedom Flotilla Coalition, aiming to establish a humanitarian corridor to Gaza. On board are 12 international human rights defenders from seven countries, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Huwaida Arraf, a human rights lawyer and former chair of the Gaza Freedom Flotillas, stated from Sicily that the mission directly challenges what she described as Israel’s illegal and genocidal blockade, as well as its violations of international law. Israel has reportedly instructed its military to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza. The departure of the Madleen comes just one month after Israeli drones targeted and bombed the Conscience—another Freedom Flotilla aid ship—in international waters off the coast of Malta.

Jess and Jamal discuss the ongoing widespread hunger in Gaza. Jens Laerke from OCHA highlighted that Gaza is the only territory where the entire population is at risk of famine, underscoring the severity of the crisis. Recently, a new aid distribution initiative backed by the US and Israel, operated independently of the UN by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began functioning in the region. However, tensions surrounding aid access have led to violence. On Tuesday, at least 47 Palestinians were reportedly shot and injured while attempting to collect aid from a distribution site in southern Gaza. Then on Sunday, dozens were killed near an aid site.

Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, discusses a significant report she co-authored and published through the University Network for Human Rights. Titled "Apartheid in Israel: An Analysis of Israel's Laws and Policies and the Responsibilities of U.S. Academic and Other Institutions," the report presents a detailed legal analysis demonstrating how Israel's treatment of Palestinians meets the internationally recognized legal definition of apartheid. Building on this conclusion, the report goes further to explore the ethical and legal obligations of academic institutions in the United States when engaging with or supporting a state accused of committing the crime of apartheid. It underscores that, rather than facing punishment, students and others who protest these injustices should be afforded protection under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders.

In an upset victory, Canadians elected Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney as Prime Minister, defeating Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who had been leading by a wide margin as recently as four months ago. In his recent article, "How about a foreign policy that is truly a force for good?" Canadian author and activist Yves Engler explains how Carney’s actions so far are not a turn for the better.

Jess & Jamal discuss the drone attack on "Conscience," the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s civilian ship, anchored in international waters 14 miles off the coast of Malta. The ship was scheduled to take on board humanitarian activists from over 21 countries, then cut a humanitarian corridor to Gaza to deliver food, water and other life essentials to Palestinians in Gaza, among them Greta Thunberg and retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright. Israel has imposed a complete siege on Gaza since March 2, not allowing an ounce of food or water in, and the 2.3 million Palestinians there are in imminent danger of starving to death.

Jewish Israeli dissident Ronnie Barkan, co-founder of "Boycott from Within," discusses the First Jewish Anti-Zionist Congress to be held in Vienna, Austria, on June 13, 2025. The congress aims to ensure anti-Zionist voices are heard globally, and that Israel is not the single legitimate representative of all Jewish people. Vienna was chosen as the location because it is the birthplace of Zionism. The congress features prominent speakers, such as Israeli historian and author Ilan Pappe, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, Nakba Survivor and researcher Salman Abu Sitta, Dalia Sarig, co-founder of the “Not in our Name” initiative founded by Jews in Vienna, and others, including our guest Ronnie Barkan.

Since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has passed freely through France’s airspace in early February and April of this year. French lawyer Sarah Sameur, a member of the Council for JURDI, Jurists for the Respect of International Law, explains how France has been derelict as a signatory to the Rome Statute in not apprehending the plane. She rebuts French officials' claims that France’s airspace did not fall under its jurisdiction in this case.

Award-winning independent investigative journalist Lila Hassan discusses her recent article in Drop Site News entitled, "Archiving Gaza: The Race to Save Evidence of War Crimes and Mass Destruction." She talks about the challenges facing journalists, human rights organizations and investigators to collect and save evidence of war crimes, and their dangerous efforts to dodge censorship and document the horrors of Israel's war against Gaza.