Arab Talk with Jess & Jamal

Former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth discusses the reasons why Dean Elmendorf rescinded his fellowship offer at Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. After a major public and academic outcry, Elmendorf reversed his shameful decision, but many questions remain unanswered. Jess & Jamal revisit previous cases when academic institutions succumbed to the Israeli lobby and its surrogates by penalizing professors who criticized Israel's Apartheid and other human rights violations against Palestinians.

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, recently awarded the Jere L. Bacharach Service Award of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), discusses recent escalation of attacks against free speech in academia. Jess and Jamal decipher two recent polls one conducted in Israel, the other in the US, dealing with racism and antisemitism.

Richard Silverstein, editor of Tikun Olam blog, discusses Israel's new fascist government and Meir Kahane's disciple Itamar Ben-Gvir. Jess & Jamal examine why Harvard’s Kennedy School denied Kenneth Roth, the longtime director of Human Rights Watch, a planned fellowship over the organization’s work on Israel.

Recently crowned Miss Earth Water 2022, Miss Palestine Nadeen Ayoub discusses environmental awareness, protection, and sustainability. She also strives to shed light on Palestinian culture, artists, and designers globally. Jess & Jamal look back at the most impactful stories of 2022 and provide some predictions for the upcoming year.

Dr. Guy Shalev discusses Israel's systemic racism within its health care system. One fifth of physicians and nurses in Israel are Palestinians, yet there is longstanding discrimination and racism in Israel's medical system towards Palestinians on both professional and patient levels. Jess and Jamal talk football (soccer) and Morocco's stunning win to become the first Arab & African team to qualify for the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup after defeating both Spain & Portugal.

Investigative journalist David Sheen discusses the triumphant return of the followers of the late, racist rabbi Meir Kahane to Israeli government, as they plan to ensure a Jewish majority with "emigration, transfer of the enemy (Palestinians), an exchange of populations and any other way that will help the enemy leave the country." Jess & Jamal examine the shock of Israeli journalists who were shunned at the World Cup in Qatar.

Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan talks about anti-Palestinian ideoplogy in Israeli school books: "Israeli education also propagates the idea of Israel as democracy-- the only democracy in the Middle East-- while reinforcing its existance as an Ethnocracy." Jess & Jamal expose the hypocrisy by some Western media outlets criticizing Qatar's human rights record as it hosts the FIFA World Cup 2022.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese discusses her report on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. "Realizing the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination requires dismantling once and for all the Israeli settler-colonial occupation and its apartheid practices.” Jess & Jamal look into Benjamin Netanyahu's return to power for a record sixth time, in partnership with Itamar Ben-Gvir, a follower of Meir Kahane, and an admirer of terrorist Baruch Goldstein.

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian Canadian lawyer and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, sheds light on the tragic death of seven-year-old Rayyan Suleiman while fleeing from Israeli soldiers. The discussion emphasizes the dire circumstances facing Palestinian children amid escalating violence. They also scrutinize media trends, particularly the dismissal of Katie Halper for her views on Israel’s policies, highlighting concerns over free speech and the censorship of pro-Palestinian narratives in the media.

Aseel AlBajeh, Legal Researcher and Advocacy Officer at Al-Haq Human Rights Organization discusses Israel's systematic targeting of Palestinian civil society and the shutting down of the offices of six Palestinian human rights groups. A joint probe by Forensic Architecture and Al-Haq has recently uncovered evidence that an Israeli sniper repeatedly shot at Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Jess & Jamal explain why Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid speaks from both sides of his mouth, one for an international audience at the UN and another targeting Israeli voters.