Makdisi Street

The brothers welcome Professor Darryl Li of the University of Chicago to the show to discuss the new AAUP/MESA report on federal "antisemitism" investigations on US college campuses, revealing the extent to which US civil rights laws have been distorted and weaponized to suppress the advocacy of Palestinian rights across the United States, to suppress American academic freedom in order to protect...

The brothers welcome Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada to the show to discuss mainstream media distortion of Palestine and the rise of alternative media, shifting public opinions on Zionism and solidarity for Palestine in the West, the growing divide between ordinary people and political elites, and the shared sense that we are witnessing the terminal decline of Zionism in the West. Date of...

**NOTE: The brothers are hosting a live Q&A on NOVEMBER 18 for patrons only.  Please sign up today and drop your questions!**   The brothers welcome Melani McAlister, professor of American Studies at George Washington University, author of the new book Promises, Then the Storm and scholar of American culture and evangelical culture. They discuss the meaning and nature of Christian Zionism, Melani'...

The brothers welcome Mandy Turner , a senior researcher with Security in Context , to discuss the world of think tanks, how they operate as hegemony factories, and the divergence between public opinion and elites on the Gaza genocide Check out her article, "Hegemony factories or independent thinkers? Western think tanks on Israel and Palestine after October 7"    Date of recording: Sept 16, 2025....

The brothers discuss the "ceasefire" in Gaza, the Trump plan, and the potential contradictions between Israel and its partners and enablers. Date of recording: Oct 21, 2025. Watch the  video edition  on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X:  @MakdisiStreet YouTube:  @MakdisiStreet Insta:  @Makdisist TikTok:  @Makdisistreet Music by   Hadiiiiii Support the show on Patreon for access to a...

**Producer's note: This episode was marred by technical problems and connection issues. Apologies for the sound quality** The brothers welcome the Canadian-Palestinian lawyer and former negotiator Diana Buttu  (@dianabuttu) to the show to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and the context of the Trump-branded "peace plan" for Gaza and its historical antecedents and possible outcomes. Date of recording:...

The brothers welcome their father, Samir Makdisi, Professor Emeritus at the American University of Beirut, to the show.  They discuss the significance of Makdisi Street—the street itself!— in Beirut's cultural history, the social and political location of Ras Beirut in the larger context of Beirut and Lebanon itself, student movements in the 1950s and 1960s, the gradual consolidation of a sectaria...

***Producer's note: This is a preview of the latest bonus episode . Sign up on Patreon for as little as $5 a month to access this and other great bonus content.*** The brothers get together for a spirited debate on the age-old question: Is Israel a proxy of the US? Date of recording: Sept 9, 2025. Watch the  video edition  on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X:  @MakdisiStreet YouTube...

The brothers welcome the prominent violinist, classical musician and Professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie Michael Barenboim to have a heart-felt discussion about the relationship between classic music and dissent, his regret at not speaking out earlier in his life about Palestine, his horror at the ongoing Gaza genocide, and the implications of anti-Palestinian racism and repressive climate in...

The brothers welcome back to the show Michael Fakhri  (@michaelfakhri) , United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, to discuss the open war of starvation on Gaza, how international institutions have abjectly failed their moral and legal duties, the role of the media, and what individuals can do to hold the responsible actors to account. Check his episode from April 2024, " Famine is n...

The brothers welcome to the show the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac to discuss Palestinian Christianity in the context of the depravity of the Gaza genocide, the theology of empire, the anti-Palestinian distortions in both so-called Christian Zionism and liberal Western Chrisian churches, the urgent need for rethinking the meaning of witness and the need for global intervention be...

We welcome two brave California educators, Dr. Theresa Montano of Cal State Northridge and Dr. Christine Hong of UC Santa Cruz, who have been at the forefront of developing and advocating for a California Ethnic Studies Curriculum grounded in liberation and social justice rather than identity politics. We discuss how Ethnic Studies went from an insurgent field of knowledge in the 1960s to one adop...

The brothers welcome historian and headline fixer Assal Rad to discuss the mainstream media's role in manufacturing consent and perpetuating Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, how it enables the Gaza genocide, how it accepts Israeli state propaganda as fact while rendering suspect Palestinian eyewitness accounts, and the differences between the coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza from its...

The brothers welcome back historian Ilan Pappé to the show to discuss whether he still believes that the Gaza genocide marks "the beginning of the end of the Zionist project", his understanding of the nature of Israel's decline,  the attacks on institutions of higher learning, and how Palestine has become the keystone for liberatory projects. Date of recording: July 8, 2025. Watch the  video editi...

**Producer's Note: This is a preview of the  latest bonus episode. You can listen to the entire episode by becoming a member of the Makdisi Street patreon , where you can also find all our other bonus content, including the latest Q&A ** The brothers hosted a special live episode as part of the Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago. Date of recording: July 4, 2025. Watch the  video edition  on our...

The brothers welcome the writer and podcaster Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi)  to discuss the Israeli state's institutionalized and systematic dehumanization of Arabs and Palestinians, the racial hierarchy structuring and defining Israeli society, and the psychopathologies of colonial violence in such a racialized environment. Alon is the host of The Mizrahi Perspective on YouTube and can also be fou...

**Producer's note: This was recorded before the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities** The brothers welcome returning guest  Trita Parsi to discuss the unprovoked and illegal attack on Iran, the potential role of the US in joining the Israeli regime's war, and what, if any, possibilities remain for negotiation or de-escalation.  Date of recording: June 19, 2025. Watch the video edition  on our...

Ahead of the most important football match in the history of Palestine's national team, on the cusp of potential qualification for the 2026 World Cup, the brothers discuss with Bassil Mikdadi , Palestinian journalist and creator of  footballpalestine.com,  the impact of the ongoing Gaza genocide as well as the deeper context of Palestine national team's rich journey over many decades, its struggle...

**Producer's note: The brothers are hosting their first livestream this coming TUESDAY (O6/03) at 10 am EST! It will be a Patreon-exclusive Q&A so only supporters of the show can submit questions or watch live. Sign up for as little as $5 a month and access all the great bonus content as well** The brothers explore the latest Gaza ceasefire negotiations, the abject failure of the corporate media t...

**Producer's note: The brothers are hosting their first livestream! It will be a Patreon-exclusive Q&A so only supporters of the show can submit questions or watch live. Sign up for as little as $5 a month and access all the great bonus content** The brothers welcome legal scholar Noura Erekat to the show to discuss how the Gaza genocide has threatened to end the "rules-based international order;"...

The brothers discuss the extent to which Trump represents a possible shift in US policy in the Middle East, contrasting the possibility of new deal-making in the Gulf region and elsewhere (Iran, Syria) with the retrograde pull of Zionist pressure to extend the genocide in Gaza and derail the drive towards profit-driven capitalist stabilization in the region. Watch the  video edition  on our YouTub...

The brothers welcome preeminent British Israeli historian Avi Shlaim to the show to discuss the richness of Arab Jewish identity, and how the ideology of Zionism is based on the negation and denial of this identity and coexistence, his own family's migration from Iraq to newly-created Israeli state, the reception they received there, and the wider story of Jewish minorities in Iraq and other Arab...

The brothers welcome Sarah Leah Whitson ,  the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and former director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, to discuss the role of human rights advocacy amidst the ongoing genocide, the initiative to hold Blinken, Biden, and Lloyd Austin legally accountable,  the failure of the ICC, and how Gaza has proven to...

The brothers welcome Daniel Levy, president of the US Middle East Project (USMEP) and former negotiator, to discuss how Israelis employ negotiations to pursue their political goals of expansionism,  the role of the US as a supposed third-party guarantor, and the growing internal political chaos threatening the Israeli political status quo. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Date of rec...

The brothers welcome Palestinian analyst and researcher Abdaljawad Omar (@hhamayel2) to the show to discuss the nature of the Palestinian Authority's collaborative dealings with the Israeli occupation, how it compares against other examples of collaboration historically, how supporters of the PA regime view their role through the prism of national liberation, and why Palestinians in the West Bank...