Kalam

This week has seen massive upheaval on the West Bank - a new pogrom-style burning of a village as well as settler encroachment at the Gaza border. Edgar and Sam discuss the possibilities of an Iranian strike as the US Foreign Secretary, Antony Blinken, visits Tel Aviv. In related news, the Democratic National Convention is kicking off in Chicago where tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protester...

On 27 July, 2024 a rocket hit a football pitch in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. 12 children and teenagers were killed and it has yet to be determined who is responsible. In today's episode, Edgar speaks with artist and activist Wael Tarabieh, born and raised in Majdal Shams. The conversation ranges from the history of the Druze in southern Syria to the politics of occu...

In this feature episode, recorded live at the Swedish night club Trädgården, Edgar sits with Dawood, a Swedish-Lebanese photographer who recently exhibited his project Unstraight Stories from Egypt. This is a collection of photographs and stream of consciousness anecdotes depicting queer life in the Arab World's most populous country. Special guest feature is Nayuk, a non-binary queer activist fro...

This is the first installment of Kalam Digest, a weekly news summary bringing you the latest political developments in the Middle East. In today's episode, Edgar and Sam speak about Israel's new wartime strategy of striking schools in Gaza, while the US delivers $3.5 billion in fresh aid. According to leaks from within Israeli intelligence, Iran is expected to strike Israel within the next few day...

What is Hamas? Depending on who you ask, a resistance group or a terrorist organisation. For the people of Gaza, oftentimes, authoritarian thugs. This is part one of a three part Kalam Shorts series on Hamas - on their founding as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 60's and 70's, and their rise to power in the aftermath of the failure of the Oslo Process. If you would like to hear parts...

The Israeli military, the IDF, ordered the Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The IDF has long denied the existence of such a directive, although leaks and ex-soldier testimonies seems to prove otherwise. So what is the Hannibal Directive? On this episode of Kalam Shorts, Sam speaks to Edgar about the origins of the...

Earlier this week, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received standing ovations as he spoke at the US Congress in Washington DC. He was applauded, while he is accused of a series of war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which is imminently expected to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu. Abdelghany Sayed is an expert on International Law and a teacher of it...

Mariam Nezar, who goes by Mia, is co-founder of Bellies en-Route , which provides food tours of Cairo as well as cooking classes. Together, Edgar and Mia eat their way through the streets of downtown. Foul, taameya, molokheyya, koshary, and even cow brain are on the menu today! Get a feel for the street food of Cairo, as well as the history behind many of the city's most iconic dishes and restaura...

"How can you be gay and support Palestine?" is a question that bugs Swedish club icon Fredrik "Apollo" Asplund. For him, it's obvious - the 1969 Stonewall Riots (protesting New York police harassing the city's queer communities) and the Palestinian Intifada are about the same struggle for freedom and dignity. In the 80's and 90's gay people were killed in the millions by AIDS. Today, the people of...

We proudly present Dr. Hanan Ashrawi – one of the foremost Palestinian activist and politicians of the last half century. On this episode she speaks to Edgar about the First Intifada, of which she was a guiding spirit and a crucial player. And the Oslo Peace Process – which was the fruit of much of her labour, while resulting in catastrophe. So what does this Palestinian political veteran thi...

What is the Kuffiyeh, known by many simply as the “Palestine scarf”? How did this humble piece of clothing come to take on the political overtones it does today – and what more exactly does it signify? In this episode, Sam speaks to Edgar about the origins, both historical and etymological, of this iconic scarf. The sound above is a teaser, to listen to the full episode sign up to Klub Kalam...

Diana Buttu speaks to Edgar in the city of Haifa in historic Palestine, today's Israel. The impending war with Lebanon and the genocide in Gaza is strongly felt in this mixed city of Israelis and Palestinians. Diana speaks about what it is like to be a Palestinian citizen of Israel in this moment - living in a "sick society". For continuous updates, follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast If you like...

Since its inauguration in 1869 the Suez Canal has played an immensely important part in the history, politics and economics of the Middle East and the World. In this episode Sam and Edgar discuss its role in both the occupation of Egypt by the British and its liberation from imperialist domination, as well as the latest developments since October 7th, with the Houthis of Yemen establishing a de fa...

The renowned Israeli-British historian Avi Shlaim speaks to Edgar about the Jews of Iraq and the Arab-Jews in general - an identity that was largely destroyed in the wake of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Avi Shlaim, Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford, speaks to Edgar about the Jews of Iraq, who numbered 130,000 in 1948, and what led to every single one...

We are delighted to announce the first instalment of our series, Munadama. For the full length episode, sign up at patreon.com/kalampodcast In Arabic, the meaning of Munadama is akin to a hearty discussion session with accompanied drinks. In these episodes, the team behind Kalam Podcast, Edgar Mannheimer (host), Sam Carlshamre (research & production) and Arthur Mannheimer (sound design) sit do...

Germany has descended into madness as its security apparatus violently attacks peaceful Palestinian protesters, accusing them of anti-Semitism. This happening in parallell to the far right and not-so-subtly anti-Semitic political party AfD is surging in the polls. In this episode, Edgar speaks with Palestinian activist from Germany, Salah Said about the conditions for pro-Palestinian activism in t...

On this video recorded episode of Kalam, Edgar sits with the Gazan poet and very much a friend of the podcast, Mosab Abu Toha, for a discussion about, among other things, the history of Arabic poetry. Why are poets so venerated in the Arab world, and what did poetry sound like before Islam? As always, follow us on Instagram for continuous updates @kalampodcast If you want to support independent jo...

Why aren't we seeing massive pro-Palest!ne demonstrations in Egypt, when we know an overwhelming majority of its people support the liberation of Palest!ne? Dr. Aida Seif El-Dawla, a retired psychiatrist and human rights defender conveys the sense of defeat and tragedy many progressives in Egypt feel. The revolution of 2011 came so close to achieving the change Egypt so desperately needs - and it...

In this Kalam Podcast special, Edgar speaks with the journalist and author Bernt Hermele, who recently opened an exhibition on the Nakba at Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm, Sweden. Bernt Hermele is Jewish, and his mother was killed in a terrorist attack in Israel during the Second Intifada in 2002. This tragic moment changed Bernt's life. He left the world of business reporting and began documenting...

Why are Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims so often portrayed as violent and stupid savages in American film, and how can we change that? Munir Atalla is the head of production and acquisition at Watermelon Pictures , the newly founded film production and distribution company rooted in Palestinian culture and creativity. An old friend of Edgar's, Munir speaks about the limits of representation in cin...

Zionism, the political movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine, has had an immense impact on the modern history of the Middle East. But what were its theoretical foundations, and in what political context did it take shape? In this new episode of Kalam Shorts, Sam and Edgar discuss the roots of Zionism, starting from Theodor Herzl’s (1860-1904) The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat) from 1896 —...

What is Settler Colonialism, and can it be applied to Israel? In this instalment of Kalam Shorts, Sam and Edgar explore this terminology and talk about the French Jewish scholar, Maxime Rodinson, and his seminal 1967 work, "Israel: A Settler Colonial State?" To gain access to the full episode, join the Kalam Community at patreon.com/kalampodcast for just $3 a month. For continuous updates on the p...

The death and destruction, wrought by Israel's bloody war in Gaza has been highly publicised and discussed, rightly so. But what about the day to day lives of those who survive? How do women manage menstrual cycles when fleeing bombardment and living in refugee camps with tens of thousands of strangers? In today's episode, Edgar speaks with 23 year old Donia Ashour, a translator from Gaza who had...

The Eurovision finals were held in Malmö on May 11 2024, and because of Israel's participation huge demonstrations were organised. Tens of thousands are estimated to have marched in Malmö on the days preceding the finals. An alternative song contest was also organised, Falastinvision: "The genocide free song contest". Edgar travelled to Malmö and attended Falastinvision, where the Palestinian pop...

A democratic Egypt is impossible without a liberated Palestine and vice versa. This is the argument put forth by the Egyptian writer, researcher and DJ, Nihal El Aasar. Nihal is a member of the London branch of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), where she lives. In today's episode, Nihal speaks to Edgar about why the West has a vested interest in keeping Egypt's government authoritarian and ant...