Arab Talk with Jess & Jamal

Jess & Jamal discuss the Irish Parliament’s motion condemning the “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land by Israel. They also talk about the recent denunciation of the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian by Benjamin Netanyahu for saying the word Apartheid. Arabic Violin Virtuoso Georges Lamman and renowned Latino Guitarist Gabriel Navia talk about their musical collaboration and perform a gift to Palestine.

Journalist Abby Martin discusses the recent Israeli atrocities in Gaza and Jerusalem. She also talks about the US media’s bias towards the Israeli narrative. Her documentary, “Gaza Fights for Freedom,” is now available on YouTube. Jess and Jamal discuss American attempts at resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict while the US ignores Apartheid and human rights violations by Israel.

More than 100 Palestinians, including 18 children have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes & bombardment, while Jewish mobs attacked Palestinian families and businesses in Haifa, Jaffa and other towns. Both White House and US State Dept. spokespeople avoided reporters’ questions about whether US President Joe Biden believes Palestinians have a right to self-defense. Discussing this and more, Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director of AMED Studies at SFSU.

Israeli-American activist and author Miko Peled says that only through boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) imposed on Israel can the international community force an end to Israeli Apartheid and ethnic cleansing practices. Jess and Jamal discuss the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, as Israeli Colonial Settlers push to evict Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Human rights attorney Diana Buttu praises Human Rights Watch’s report on Israel and says that Palestinians have experienced Apartheid under Israeli rule for decades. Jess and Jamal discuss whether all the reports and findings about Israeli abuses by Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem and the International Criminal Court will force US politicians to stop giving Israel a pass. Also, will Palestinian elections happen as scheduled?

After Zoom and Facebook succumbed to Israeli Lobby pressure and deleted their event “Whose narrative? What Free Speech for Palestine?”, Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies at SFSU, and Dr. Sean Malloy, Dept. of History at UC Merced join the show. Jess and Jamal discuss how attacks by Israeli Settlers on Palestinians in Jerusalem and Hebron receive hardly any coverage in US media, but an errant missile fired from Syria into Israel becomes headline news. They also talk about how former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the murder of George Floyd, yet far right-media outlets cast doubt and characterize the verdict as not impartial.

Dr. Hatem Bazian talks about what Muslims can do to help one another and communities in need during Ramadan with COVID still devastating many people. He also discusses the raging Islamophobia in Europe and the United States. Jess and Jamal discuss the recent attacks by the powerful Israeli lobby AIPAC targeting Rep. Betty McCollum (D) for introducing multiple pieces of legislation that would bar Israel from using US military aid to arrest Palestinian youth. They also talk about the recent killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter.

Award-winning journalist and former Ferris Professor at Princeton University Daoud Kuttab discusses the “Royal Feud” in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He also talks about the future of Palestinian elections. Jess and Jamal talk about racist remarks by the chairman of the far-right Zionist party & Israeli lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich, who recently threatened to expel Palestinians from their ancestral land.

Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi talks about the making of “The Present,” which was nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short Film category. Jess and Jamal discuss Emmanual Macron’s government’s anti-Muslim rhetoric as the French presidential elections approach. They also talk about the trial of Derek Chauvin who knelt on George Floyd’s neck and ignored Floyd’s cries for help for over nine minutes leading to his death. The landmark trial is set to be a defining moment in the nation’s reckoning over race and policing.

Palestinian legal expert and analyst Diana Buttu weighs in on the Israeli and upcoming Palestinian elections. Jess and Jamal discuss the recent mass murders in Atlanta and Boulder and the intractable problem of gun control in the United States.