This Is Palestine

In October 1985, Palestinian American activist and community leader, Alex Odeh, was killed by a bomb planted in his office in California. Despite identified suspects and substantial evidence, the case remains unsolved more than four decades later.  In this episode of This Is Palestine, William Youmans, director and producer of the documentary “Who Killed Alex Odeh?” discusses the film which r...

In its new report, The Elimination Project: Israel’s Systematic Dismantling of Palestinian Collective Life in the West Bank, B’Tselem examines what it describes as a system of interconnected policies shaping Palestinian life across the West Bank. The report identifies five mechanisms: violence and intimidation, restrictions on movement, economic strangulation, political and social destruction, and...

Palestine is heading to the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games baseball tournament this September. In this episode, Nader Ihmoud shares the story of a Palestinian baseball team built across borders, from Gaza to Chicago, including the players who brought the team together, those it has lost, and its hopes for the future of Palestinian baseball. Thank you for tuning into This is Palestine, the official...

Illegal Israeli settlers have been besieging three Palestinian homes in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, for almost a month. Loui Ridi, one of the homeowners, is a Palestinian American who came all the way from the United States to the West Bank to protect his home. Loui and three other families have been living under severe humanitarian conditions, as Israeli settlers have cut off their water...

For Palestinians in Gaza, the death toll tells only part of the story. Thousands more remain missing, buried beneath the rubble, among unidentified bodies, or potentially held in Israeli detention. For their families, the absence of an answer means being trapped in limbo: unable to confirm a death, unable to hold a funeral, and unable to stop searching. In this episode of This Is Palestine, journa...

Trapped in the West Bank for nearly three years, this is the story of Mariam, Um Mahmoud,  a cancer patient from Gaza who was diagnosed with leukemia and came to the West Bank to continue treatment that was unavailable in Gaza. She arrived just days before the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Since then, she has been unable to return home. Amid a deepening financial crisis, severe short...

As violence escalates in Lebanon, many are drawing comparisons to Gaza. In this episode, we speak with Palestinian journalist and activist Lama Abu Kharoub, from Burj el-Shemali refugee camp in Lebanon, who shares firsthand insights from Lebanon, where communities continue to face displacement, destruction, and uncertainty despite repeated promises of multiple ceasefires. The discussion explores t...

What does Gaza’s healthcare system look like nine months after the ceasefire? According to Dr. Mohammad Abu Afash, the crisis is far from over. From destroyed hospitals and chronic medicine shortages to disease outbreaks in overcrowded displacement camps. This episode explores the ongoing challenges facing healthcare workers and patients amid continuing attacks, displacement, and blockade. Thank y...

When footage of renowned Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya appeared before Israel’s Supreme Court, many were shocked by how much he had changed. Shackled, visibly frail, and having lost nearly 40 kilograms in prison, he had already spent more than 18 months in Israeli detention without charge. In this episode of This Is Palestine, we unpack Dr. Abu Safiya’s case. We speak with Naji Ab...

Since 1967, Israel has built and expanded settlements across occupied Palestine, fragmenting Palestinian communities and reshaping the landscape. In this episode of This Is Palestine, Dr. Jad Ishaq, Director General of the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ) traces how Israeli governments have used military orders, legal mechanisms, and political agreements to facilitate the expansion of...

In this episode of This Is Palestine, Diana Buttu speaks with midfielder Ahmed Al-Qaq about his journey from North Carolina to the Palestinian national team. Born and raised in the United States to Palestinian parents, Ahmed reflects on choosing to represent Palestine, the emotional experience of wearing the Palestinian jersey for the first time, and the bonds formed between players from Gaza, the...

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues despite the so-called ceasefire agreement, the psychological toll on Palestinians remains far less visible than the physical destruction. In this episode of This is Palestine, Samah Jabr examines the mental health impact of genocide, siege, starvation, displacement, and ongoing Israeli violence through the lens of what she calls “colonial trauma.” We discuss...

How Do You Remember the City That Was Stolen From You?! In this episode of This Is Palestine, ninety-year-old George Bahu revisits his childhood in al-Baqa’a al Foqa, a Palestinian neighborhood in West Jerusalem before the Nakba. He remembers school, cinema, Bus No. 6, and his father’s transportation company that once connected Jerusalem to cities across Palestine. George also recalls the violence...

As Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is marked on April 17, this episode turns to life behind Israeli prison walls, where time itself becomes a site of struggle. Former detainee Husam Shaheen shares his testimony of more than two decades in prison, moving from early activism and repeated arrests to a 27-year sentence that became a lived experience of endurance, resistance, and survival. Through his accou...

On March 30, 2026, Israel passed a new "death penalty law" that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of what Israel defines as “terrorism.” In this episode of This is Palestine, we speak with Qaddura Fares, former head of the Palestinian Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs and a former political prisoner himself, to unpack what this law actually changes and what it reveals about...

This episode examines the 1988 Beita incident, a few months following the outbreak of the first Intifada, when an entire Palestinian community was punished for a crime they did not commit. Through eyewitness accounts and historical context, we trace how home demolitions, mass arrests, and forced exile became tools of Israel’s collective punishment and how similar patterns continue to shape the pre...

As Ramadan comes to an end, many Muslim Palestinians are bidding farewell to the holy month far from Al-Aqsa, in an atmosphere marked by grief and restriction, following Israel’s complete closure of the Al-Aqsa compound following the US/Israel attack on Iran. But access to Al-Aqsa, the basic right to worship, has never been easy for Palestinians. What does it take to reach one of Islam’s holiest s...

Two years ago, the world heard the voice of five-year-old Hind Rajab during her last phone call with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Trapped in a car surrounded by Israeli tanks, Hind spoke to the dispatcher as she waited for help, alone, and surrounded by the bodies of her uncle and cousins, before her voice was lost… “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” The Oscar-nominated docudrama recreates that dev...

When Mohammad was 12 years old, he saw an Israeli soldier aiming at him. Seconds later, he shot Mohammad in the leg during the Great March of Return. The bullet severed the main nerve in Mohammad’s leg. For months, Israel denied Mohammad his right to leave Gaza for urgent medical treatment. By the time he finally received care, it was too late. At 18, Mohammad was forced to make the brutal decisio...

On February 3, Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine Director, resigned in protest. In his resignation statement, Shakir said the organization’s new leadership blocked the publication of a report documenting Israel’s crimes against humanity by denying Palestinian refugees their internationally enshrined right of return. His resignation has reignited debate around the “Palestine ex...

In this episode of This Is Palestine, host Diana Buttu speaks with Palestinian writer and director Annemarie Jacir about her Academy Award shortlisted film, Palestine 36. The historical drama is set during the Great Palestinian Revolt against British colonial rule. At the heart of the film is Al-Basma, a fictional village inspired by the Palestinian villages of Lifta and Al-Bassa, which were destr...

In this episode of This Is Palestine, we speak with renowned Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour to explore his childhood and artistic journey, shaped by pivotal moments in the Palestinian struggle and their influence on the art movement. From playing with clay alongside his grandmother for making beehives, to transforming clay into his symbolic works of art. From painting under Israeli military cen...

The Palestinian village of Sebastia, a living place where history, memory, and daily life are deeply intertwined. In this episode of This is Palestine, Diana Buttu speaks with Zaid Azhari, a cultural heritage researcher from Sebastia and a member of the Save Sebastia campaign, about Israel’s plans to seize large parts of the town’s archaeological heart under the pretext of “heritage development.”...

In this episode of “This is Palestine”, Adnan Barq, an outspoken Palestinian digital creator from Jerusalem, tells us “he thrives in chaos.” Barq unpacks how humor, sarcasm, and spontaneous storytelling help him navigate Israeli military checkpoints, censorship, and the daily absurdities of life under Israeli occupation. Barq explains how he uses sarcasm and dark humor to depict Israel’s oppressio...

Two years into Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, we listen closely to Yaqeen Baker, a mother of two little daughters, Salwa (5) and Nusaiba (2). She shares what it means to be a mother under constant Israeli fire; to love, to fear, and to hope amid the destruction. We also hear the voice of little Salwa, who gives us a glimpse into her small, innocent world that the genocide has taken away....