Introducing 2025 Fellow Ahmed Moor: When "the Urgency Of The Need Isn't Met By The Pace Of Change." Occupied Thoughts podcast

42:09

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about the current state of affairs, including: the potential for Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Palestinian political dynamics and possibilities, Israeli aspirations and actions in Syria and the Syrian regime's response, and the Trump administration's "unpredictable and erratic" policymaking. Mouin Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary Middle East issues. Among other previous positions, Rabbani served as principal political affairs officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, head of the Middle East unit with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and senior Middle East analyst and special advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He was also a researcher with Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, where he also hosts the Connections podcast and edits its Quick Thoughts feature. He is also the managing editor and associate editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a contributing editor of Middle East Report. In addition, Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) and at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Harvard Professors on Censorship, Repression, and Opportunities for Speaking Up on Palestine 39:40

10 дней назад39:40

39:40

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart talks with two Harvard professors - Dr. Eman Ansari & Dr. Aaron Shakow - about censorship on college/university campuses and how scholars can respond. For more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/harvard-professors-on-censorship-repression-and-opportunities-for-speaking-up-on-palestine/…

Occupied Thoughts

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The Boomerang Effect: Power and Resistance in the U.S. and Palestine 58:43

17 дней назад58:43

58:43

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with human rights attorney Professor Noura Erakat about her relationship to Palestine, the movement for Palestinian freedom, and the how she sees the ties among different and overlapping movements for justice and liberation. Drawing upon Noura's recent article in the Boston Review, "The Boomerang Comes Back," the two look at the ways in which state violence in the U.S. and Palestine reflect each other, the efforts to desensitize Americans to violence against Palestinians in both the U.S. and Palestine, and the political movement and mass mobilization that will guide us forward. For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-boomerang-effect-power-and-resistance-in-the-u-s-and-palestine/ And see Noura Erakat's article, "The Boomerang Comes Back," in the Boston Review here: https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-boomerang-comes-back/ Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Criminalize, Censor, Surveil: Escalating Repression Against Advocates for Palestinian Rights 41:26

18 дней назад41:26

41:26

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal, the leading organization defending the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. speaking out for Palestinian freedom. They discuss the different mechanisms that the Trump administration uses criminalize, censor, and repress people who speak out for Palestinian rights, including surveilling social media and applying racketeering and anti-terror laws to speech activity related to Israel. They also look at the historical context of repression over the last ten years plus, the concrete application and impact of labeling Palestinian advocacy as antisemitism, and how the effort to crush the Palestine movement opens the door to crushing all dissent in the United States. For resources and more information, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/criminalize-censor-surveil-escalating-repression-against-advocates-for-palestinian-rights/…

Occupied Thoughts

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Dissent & Resigning from Harvard 46:39

20 дней назад46:39

46:39

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jay Ulfelder, a political scientist and former Program Director of the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The two discuss Jay's decision to resign from Harvard Kennedy School after the school adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which would cause Jay to, as he wrote in his resignation letter, "risk running afoul of the university’s anti-discrimination policies and harming the work of the Lab and the Ash Center" if he were to continue to speak publicly about Israel, Gaza, and Zionism. (You can read the full resignation letter below.) Additionally, the two discuss modeling practices for predicting genocide and political violence as well as the relationship between suppression of dissent and growing authoritarianism. For more resources, please see:…

Occupied Thoughts

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Sumūd: Poetry, Art, Steadfastness, and Joy 38:14

25 дней назад38:14

38:14

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably, editors of the new book Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader. They discuss the meaning of sumūd to different people -- how it encompasses steadfastness, coping with ongoing oppression, as well as joy and celebration of Palestinian identity -- and the variety of voices and media they platform in this new anthology. They recite a few poems published in the book and discuss the the unique ways that poetry and art can enter a person's heart and consciousness and offer a window into Palestinian culture and experience more broadly. Malu Halasa is a literary editor at The Markaz Review. Before this book, her latest edited anthology is Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art From the Women’s Protests in Iran (Saqi Books, 2023) and she published her debut novel, Mother of All Pigs, in 2017. Jordan Elgrably is a writer and translator whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in many anthologies and reviews. He is the Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review and the cofounder and former director of the Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz in Los Angeles. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is currently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She is a 2025 FMEP non-resident Fellow. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

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"Centering Human Life, Disrupting Injustice Without Replicating It:" 2025 FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi 41:15

5 weeks назад41:15

41:15

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Hilary Rantisi, one of FMEP's 2025 non-resident Fellows. They discuss Hilary's work as a longtime educator seeking to teach the critique of power, her childhood and many years living in the West Bank, and how she understands the dynamics of the current moment in the context of Palestinian history and identity, highlighting the Palestinian values of sumud - steadfastness - and return. Hilary also discusses the challenges of false accusations of antisemitism undermining the telling of Palestinian lived experience, such as by the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which weaponizes accusations of antisemitism to quash critique of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights. Resources discussed in this podcast: FMEP resources on the IHRA definition of antisemitism: Challenging the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism – Expert Views & Resources: https://lawfare.fmep.org/resources/challenging-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/ Lawfare/IHRA - Targeting Academia: https://lawfare.fmep.org/resources/lawfare-ihra-targeting-academia/ The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism: A Webinar/Podcast Series: https://fmep.org/resource/the-ihra-definition-the-fight-against-antisemitism-a-webinar-series/ Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is currently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. She has been involved with community leadership efforts and served on many boards to build multifaceted support for Palestinian rights and a more nuanced understanding of people’s lives in the Middle East region, including the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, LE.O Foundation, Friends of Mada al-Carmel, Tawassul Palestinian Art and Culture Society, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University. Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that Jewish Americans approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. A graduate of Yale University, Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley and is an affiliated faculty member at UC-Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Mapping Life & Land: Beirut Urban Lab 1:06:01

5 weeks назад1:06:01

1:06:01

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Dr. Nour Joudah speaks with Ahmad Gharbieh, professor at the American University of Beirut and co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary research space. They discuss the process and value of critical cartography, which analyzes maps as instruments of power, looking at who has the authority to create maps and what is included and represented within them. And they speak about Beirut Urban Lab's critical mapping of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its invasion of southern Lebanon, and attacks on Beirut, and the links between mapping and policy-making. See their projects here: https://beiruturbanlab.com/en/Projects Ahmad Gharbieh is Associate Professor and Convener of the Graphic Design Program at the School of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut. He is also co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary and collaborative research space where he leads the Critical Mapping design-research track. His scholarly work explores mapping as a method of researching, representing, and analyzing socio-spatial phenomena. His work in critical cartography has covered many subjects including urban security and recovery, public space, refugee practices in the city, political violence, and much more. Nour Joudah, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA and a former President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at UC-Berkeley (2022-23). Dr. Joudah completed her PhD in Geography at UCLA (2022), and wrote her dissertation Mapping Decolonized Futures: Indigenous Visions for Hawaii and Palestine on the efforts by Palestinian and native Hawaiian communities to imagine and work toward liberated futures while centering indigenous duration as a non-linear temporality. Her work examines mapping practices and indigenous survival and futures in settler states, highlighting how indigenous countermapping is a both cartographic and decolonial praxis. She also has a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and wrote her MA thesis on the role and perception of exile politics within the Palestinian liberation struggle, in particular among politically active Palestinian youth living in the United States and occupied Palestine. Prof. Joudah is a 2024 FMEP non-residential Fellow. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Genocide and self-involvement: on being Israeli as Israel commits a historic crime 47:22

6 weeks назад47:22

47:22

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor interviews Israeli author, academic, and political commentator Ori Goldberg about how Israeli society reckons - or not - with Palestinians, with committing this genocidal war in Gaza, and with the centrality of the military in Israeli society. The two discuss Ori's path to becoming a dissident, including how he navigates Zionism, anti-Zionism, and his sense of belonging in Israel. Ori Goldberg, PhD is an Israeli author, academic, and political commentator. He has written extensively on Iran, Israel and the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East and specializes in the study of modern Iran and Shi'i revolutionary movements. He has been a lecturer or faculty member at Reichman University, the Israeli National Defense College, Tel Aviv University, and the Open University in Israel. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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The Escalation of Israel's Gaza-fication of the West Bank 49:47

6 weeks назад49:47

49:47

In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa about the current realities of Israel violence carried out both by the Israeli military and Israeli civilians (settlers) against Palestinians in the West Bank -- including the situation in the months leading up to 10/7/23; the dangerous deterioration of conditions following 10/7/23, through the onset of the current Hamas-Israel ceasefire in Gaza; and the ongoing -- rapid, dramatic -- escalation of Israeli violence and destruction in the West Bank in the wake of that ceasefire.…

Occupied Thoughts

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A toxic environment for those who dare to question: Prof. Katherine Franke w/ Peter Beinart 48:40

6 weeks назад48:40

48:40

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart interviews Professor Katherine Franke, former faculty at Columbia University’s law school, about student activism and escalating repression at Columbia since October 7th, 2023. Katherine Franke just retired from Columbia, saying “I have come to the view that the Columbia University administration has created such a toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine that I can no longer teach or conduct research.” Peter and Katherine discuss the specific circumstances that led to Katherine's retirement, including extensive harassment; the conflation of Palestinian rights advocacy with antisemitism; and how the Israel/Palestine dynamics on campus point to broader threats to teaching, research, and activism on a range of issues. Resources: Katherine Franke’s statement about her retirement, (Center for Constitutional Rights, 1/10/25); A Columbia professor criticized Israeli students. It put her job at risk. (Washington Post 1/22/25) Columbia Professor Says She Was Pushed to Retire Because of Her Activism, (NYT 1/10/25) “Campus Has Become Unrecognizable”: Columbia Prof. Franke Faces Firing After DN Interview on Gaza (Democracy Now! September 2024) Letter from Columbia Law School faculty requesting an inquiry into Katherine’s termination from the faculty; Katherine Franke was, until January 2025, a professor at Columbia University's law school, where she served as director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, on the executive committees of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender, and the Center for Palestine Studies. She is among the nation’s leading scholars writing on law, sexuality, race, and religion drawing from feminist, queer, and critical race theory. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Introducing 2025 Fellow Ahmed Moor: When "the urgency of the need isn't met by the pace of change." 39:31

7 weeks назад39:31

39:31

Occupied Thoughts

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Holding Israel & the US Accountable for Gaza 52:06

7 weeks назад52:06

52:06

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's 2025 Palestinian Non-residential Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, a research and advocacy organization focused on U.S. policy in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region. They discuss DAWN's approach to analyzing U.S. interests and policy as well as a range of mechanisms for accountability, including this December 2024 lawsuit regarding U.S. military support for Israel. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of DAWN. Previously, she served as executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division from 2004 – 2020, overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Whitson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is on the boards of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, Artistic Freedom Initiative, Freedom Forward, ALQST for Human Rights, Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, Action for Hope and the Armenian Bar Association. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Why Some Israelis Refuse To Serve in the IDF 29:30

11 weeks назад29:30

29:30

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Atalya Ben Abba and Mattan Helman of the Israeli Refuser Solidarity Network. They discuss what makes a person refuse to serve in the Israeli military, how the Israeli military treats refusers, and the surprising solidarity inside military prisons. Resources: Refuser Solidarity Network: https://www.refuser.org/ Instagram: @VoicesAgainstWar X: @againstwarvoice Atalya Ben-Abba is the media manager for the Refuser Solidarity Network, running the page @VoicesAgainstWar. She refused to enlist in the Israeli army in 2017 and spent 110 days in the military prison because she wanted to publicly condemn the Israeli occupation and not take part in its practices. She has been an activist for the past ten years, working mainly in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Mattan Helman is the executive director of Refuser Solidarity Network. Mattan also spent 110 days in Israeli prison for refusing to join the Israeli army and refusing to oppress Palestinians as part of the army. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.…

Occupied Thoughts

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Phoenix of Gaza: a 360° view of Palestinian agency and life 1:08:35

11 weeks назад1:08:35