Palestinian Stories

Jordanian cyclist Hana Farouqi, whose family is from Palestine, is taking part in this year’s Cycling 4 Gaza to support the Ajyal Foundation. The 360km ride will take place in Spain starting September 29 and will feature 100 cyclists from Jordan. Donations can be made at cycling4gaza.org. Hana joined me on the latest episode of Palestinian Stories to share her journey and her family's connection t...

Nurse Eli Burgos (APRN) served as a medical volunteer in Gaza from July 5 to August 5, 2025. In this edition of Palestinian Stories , she shares firsthand accounts of the devastating impact of war and malnutrition on a shattered population. Eli volunteered with Glia International, a medical solidarity organization supporting communities in crisis, with a strong presence in Palestine and other conf...

Laila Ezzat El Shana is a 22-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, a mother, wife, teacher, activist, and English student. She has been raising her voice through Western media outlets and her own platforms, shedding light on the realities on the ground while running her grassroots initiative, Humans To Be , which offers educational activities and psychological support to children in Gaza.

Dr. Nadim Bawalsa, a Palestinian-Jordanian historian, is the author of Transnational Palestine: Migration and the Right of Return before 1948 (Stanford University Press, 2022), which examines the formation of Palestinian national identity through diaspora and resistance to dispossession prior to Israel's founding. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies and holds a joint PhD in...

Jonathan Kuttab is an international human rights attorney licensed in the U.S., Palestine, and Israel. He co-founded several prominent organizations, including Al-Haq, a leading Palestinian human rights group in Ramallah, Occupied Palestine; Sabeel Jerusalem, a Palestinian Christian movement for justice and liberation; Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), which advocates for Palestinian rights...

Like all Palestinians, Nadeem Srouji carries a profound family history shaped by displacement, resilience, and loss. Born in Jerusalem but barred from returning, Nadeem’s lineage reflects the broader Palestinian experience under Israeli occupation and ongoing violence. His maternal grandfather, the prominent lawyer Aziz Shehadeh, was assassinated by an Israeli collaborator in 1985 after years of a...

Dr. Thaer Ahmad is a board member of the Palestinian American Medical Association and serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at both the University of Illinois Chicago and Wake Forest School of Medicine. He is also Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency at Advocate Christ Medical Center on Chicago’s South Side and a former board member of MedGlobal. Born in Chicago in the...

Gazan filmmaker Yousef AlHelou has endured the profound loss of numerous family members over the years as a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation. In the late summer of 2023, he traveled to Gaza to visit his sister and her family, capturing what would become the final footage of the region before the events of October 7. Tragically, shortly after that date, his sister and her seven children wer...

Yara is a medical student from Gaza City. Her family has lived in Gaza for generations and were not previously refugees from other areas of Palestine.