Unsettled

As violence continues in Gaza, a new strategy inside the Palestine solidarity movement is taking shape — one aimed not at city streets or college campuses, but at the arteries of the global economy. Around the world, dockworkers have refused to unload ships tied to Israel’s military supply chain. In Italy, Morocco, India, and Sweden, those refusals have sparked national strikes and port shutdowns....

In remembrance of Awdah Hathaleen, who was murdered by an Israeli settler on Monday, July 28th, Unsettled Podcast has created a compilation of our previous conversations with him. Awdah was a 31-year-old father of three young sons, a teacher, a tireless activist for Palestinian rights and a frequent guest on Unsettled. He welcomed hundreds of international activists to Umm al-Kheir, his village in...

Since the small team at Unsettled started producing the show seven and a half years ago, we've published almost 100 episodes — personal stories, expert interviews and reported documentaries.  To keep going in 2025, we need the support of listeners like you. We're participating in a collaborative fundraising campaign to support independent journalism called NewMatch. Now until December 31st, donati...

 In this episode of Unsettled, we hear from Ali Awad, a 26-year-old activist and translator living in Tuba, a village in a region of the west bank called Masafer Yatta in the south Hebron Hills. Ali’s livelihood and wellbeing have always been vulnerable to Israeli settler violence and threats of expulsion by the government. But since October 7th 2023,  it's been like nothing he's ever seen. Ali sh...

With the one year anniversary of October 7th last Monday, Unsettled followed up with previous guest Matt Duss to ask him about President Biden's approach to foreign policy, military escalations in Lebanon, and what the upcoming U.S. presidential election may mean for the U.S.' policy towards Israel. Matt is a past president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and he was the foreign policy adv...

It’s currently high holiday season, the holiest time in the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah, was last week and Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown. The one year anniversary of October 7th fell in between. This year, there's a new resource — a High Holidays directory created by Rabbis for Ceasefire. Since their formation after October 7th, 2023, there are now hundreds of members of Rabbis for Cease...

On October 31, 2023, Unsettled aired an interview with 22-year-old Shahd Safi, a university student and freelance journalist from Gaza. At the time, she was living in her grandparents house in Rafah, a couple miles away from her own home where she’d evacuated after October 7th. She was living with her siblings and cousins, unable to go to school or even leave the house much.  For the past year, Sh...

Today is October 7th, 2024. One year ago, thousands of militants led by Hamas launched a multi-front attack on Israeli towns and military bases, killing over 1,100 people and abducting over 250. Israel responded to the October 7th attack with one of the most destructive military campaigns in history, displacing most people in the already poverty-stricken, besieged Gaza Strip. To date, Israel has k...

On October 14th, 2023, we set up a voicemail and invited listeners to share their thoughts and feelings with us. We received messages of grief, fear, and anger at the violence in Israel-Palestine. Now, somehow, we’re coming up on a year of atrocities and massacres, and the destruction of countless families and homes. Like many of our listeners, we’ve been thinking about the upcoming anniversary of...

Last Wednesday on July 31st, Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran. Haniyeh came to the capital city of Tehran for the presidential inauguration when an explosive device went off in the guest house where he was staying. Just hours before, Haniyeh had met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel hasn’t taken responsibility for the attack, but they're widel...

On Tuesday April 30th, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called the New York Police Department to clear the campus of students who had erected an encampment in solidarity with Palestine. Columbia's encampment was one of hundreds of similar campus demonstrations across the United States, many of which were also removed by the police. Unsettled visited Columbia's encampment the week befo...

For this episode of Unsettled, we’re doing something we’ve never done before: premiering a new song. Aly Halpert makes music used in synagogues and Jewish song circles. If you listened to our last episode featuring Rabbi Miriam Grossman, you heard Aly’s tune for the prayer 'Ashrei' as part of a service led by Rabbis for Ceasefire. Today, Aly is releasing a new song called 'Ayeka': the first time s...

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, grief and rage have brought thousands of people to the streets to demand a ceasefire. One of the many groups that have mobilized in the U.S. is Rabbis for Ceasefire. One of these rabbis is Miriam Grossman, who led until recently the congregation Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn, New York. Unsettled producer Ilana Levinson recently sat down with Rabbi Miriam to as...

The last time we featured Isam Hamad on Unsettled was a few days after the October 7th attacks, when Israel had just begun its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. At the time, Isam and his family — including his 93-year old father and a son with cerebral palsy — were still in their home in Gaza City. But a few days later, they were forced to evacuate south to the city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border...

Just before Thanksgiving, we asked listeners to call in and tell us about how they’re navigating conversations with their families, friends, and communities in this moment—as Israel responds to the October 7th attacks with unprecedented destruction in Gaza. What has worked in getting through to loved ones, and what hasn’t? How are people are managing these relationships, or coping with their feeli...

As of Thursday, November 30th, a temporary ceasefire is in place between Israel and Hamas. The truce allows for an exchange of hostages who have been held in Gaza by Hamas since October 7th for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel, and for desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. At this point, 69 hostages have been released by Hamas and 150 Palestinian detainees have been...

It's hard to find anyone in Israel who isn't shaken to the core by the magnitude of Hamas' attack on October 7. For many in Israel, their pain and shock has translated into support for bombing Gaza. But despite public pressure, some Israelis do voice opposition to the war - even people who have deep personal connections to the victims of October 7. One of these dissenting voices has been the comed...

It’s been a month since October 7, when Hamas fighters killed 1,400 Israelis and captured more than 200 hostages. It’s also been a month of Israel's retaliation: air raids and ground operations in the Gaza Strip that have killed almost 10,000 Palestinians, destroyed infrastructure, and limited access to basic necessities. For the past month, Palestinians in the West Bank have also faced increased...

On Friday, October 27th, Israel cut off internet in the Gaza Strip for 36-hours, as it expanded its ground operations. This total internet blackout left Gaza without the ability to communicate, both internally and with the outside world. Human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch warned that without the internet, their ability to document war crimes and other abuses had becom...

Last week, Producer Ilana Levinson talked to Arie Hasit at his home in Israel, in the midst of a deadly war. Arie and his family, including two small kids, have been spending much of their time in bomb shelters. After Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking 199 Israeli hostages, Israel responded by declaring war. Since th...

The United States has always been Israel’s strongest ally, and President Biden has pledged his steadfast support for Israel since Hamas's surprise attack over the Gaza border on October 7. Many American supporters of Israel and even Israeli officials have celebrated President Biden for his “moral clarity” in this moment. But others have heard something else from Biden: a "carte blanche" for Israel...

On Saturday, October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack across the Gaza border, killing more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking at least 150 Israeli hostages, most of whom are still captive in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded to the attack by declaring war and cutting off food, water, and electricity to the Gaza Strip. On Friday, October 13, Israel ordered 1.1 million people in the...

Over the next few days, Unsettled is going to bring you the voices of many different people who have been affected by this week's devastating escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza. We’re starting with an episode about Hamas, whose surprise attack across the Gaza border on October 7th "completely ruptured the reality we thought we were operating in," says Tareq Baconi. Tareq Baconi is the autho...

Earlier today Hamas launched an attack on Israeli towns near the Gaza border, and has also been launching rockets towards Israeli population centers as north as Tel Aviv. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians are dead and dozens have been taken captive. The fact that Hamas has been able to breach Israeli defenses and launch an attack of this magnitude inside of Israel has stunned the Israeli...

For more resources on the topics discussed in this episode: Women Wage Peace Women of the Sun AChord Abraham Initiatives To hear more from Groundwork: https://groundworkpodcast.com/. Credits Groundwork is hosted by Sally Abed and Dina Kraft and produced by Yoshi Fields. Today’s story is by Maria Rashed and scored by Joel Shupack. Art and design by Nick Acosta. Groundwork is a joint production of N...