Israel/Palestine Podcast

Guest: Professor Dr. Eyal Benvenisti, Tel Aviv University / Yale Law School Host: Yusuf Bio: Professor Eyal Benvenisti is a leading authority in international and constitutional law and human rights. Born in Jerusalem in 1959, he earned his LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1984), and his LL.M. (1988) and J.S.D. (1990) from Yale Law School. He has held major academic roles, including...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Johannes Becke, Ben-Gurion Chair for Israel and Middle East Studies, Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies Hosts: Efe & Leif Bio: Prof. Johannes Becke is a political scientist and leading expert on Israel and Middle East studies in the German-speaking world. He studied political science and Romanic Languages in Heidelberg, at the University of Illinois, and at Cairo Universi...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan, Humboldt University of Berlin / German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) Hosts: Efe & Leif Bio: Naika Foroutan is a leading German scholar of migration. She is Professor of Integration Research and Social Policy at Humboldt University of Berlin and leads the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM). Since 2017,...

Guests: Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot – Professor of Jewish Philosophy, University of Lille / Dr. Hannah Tzuberi – Scholar of Judaic and Islamic Studies; Co-Principal, Orthodox Lauder Beth Zion School, Berlin Hosts: Efe & Philip Bio: Prof. Elad Lapidot is a philosopher focusing on Jewish thought, antisemitism, and knowledge-politics. He earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne, taught in Bern and Berlin,...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Magda Teter, Chair of Judaic Studies and History, Fordham University Hosts: Yusuf & Mert Bio: Professor Magda Teter is a leading historian of antisemitism. Recommended by David Nirenberg for this conversation, her scholarship explores the historical roots and systemic impact of antisemitic tropes. She is the author of Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemiti...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gudrun Krämer (FU Berlin) Hosts: Efe & Yusuf | Moderator: Mohamed Ibrahim Bio: Prof. Gudrun Krämer is one of the most influential historians of the Middle East and Germany’s leading scholar of Islamic studies. Her work has shaped global scholarship on Palestine, Islamism, and Islamic political thought. Her landmark A History of Palestine (C.H. Beck, 2015; Princeton UP...

Guests: Rabbi Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama (FU Berlin) / Pastor Sally Azar (Jerusalem) / Prof. Dr. Ufuk Topkara (HU Berlin) Hosts: Alexandria & Mert Bios: Rabbi Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama is a historian, author, and rabbi, former director of the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin, former chairman of the Jewish Community of Berlin, and former board member of the Central Council of Jews in Ge...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Moshe Zimmermann, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hosts: Philip & Efe Bio: Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, born in 1943 in Jerusalem, comes from a family that emigrated from Nazi Hamburg to Palestine in 1938. He served as Professor of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was Director of the Richard Koebner Center for German History (1986–2012). He is one of Israel's...

Guest: Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Stiftung Wissenschaft & Politik Hosts: Efe & Mert Bio: Dr. Muriel Asseburg is one of Germany’s leading Middle East experts and a respected authority on conflict analysis and policy advising. She is a Senior Fellow in the Africa and Middle East Research Group at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) and leads the working group "Autocratization as a Challenge fo...

Guest: Dr. Joseph Croitoru, Journalist & Author, Freiburg i. Br. Hosts: Efe & Ysusuf Bio: Dr. Joseph Croitoru, born 1960 in Haifa, is a historian, author, and journalist. He studied history, art history, and Judaic studies in Jerusalem and Freiburg im Breisgau and earned a doctorate on the history of suicide attacks. For decades, he has reported as a Middle East expert for major media outl...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman, Emeritus of Judaic History at the University of Oklahoma Hosts: Yusuf & Efe Bio: Prof. Norman A. Stillman is a world-leading historian of Jewish life in the Islamic world. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma and author of The Jews of Arab Lands and The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times . He was the founding editor of the Encyclopedia of Jew...

Guest: Professor Adel Manna – Van Leer Jerusalem Institute Hosts: Yusuf & Mert Bio: Professor Adel Manna is a leading scholar of modern Palestinian history, combining archival research with Palestinian oral histories and family narratives. He authored Nakba and Survival (2016; English: 2022) and co-authored Two Sides of the Coin: Independence and Nakba 1948 (2011) with Prof. Motti Golani. His...

Ep. 14: The Jerusalem Question – The Conflict in a Nutshell Guest: Prof. Dr. Yfaat Weiss (Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow / Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Hosts: Efe & Year 13 Politics Class, Walter-Gropius-School/Berlin Bio: Prof. Dr. Yfaat Weiss is one of the most eminent historians of Jewish history and Israeli society of her generation, widely recognized fo...

Guest: Anita Haviv-Horiner, author, education expert, and daughter of Holocaust survivors Hosts: Philip & Mert Bio: Anita Haviv-Horiner was born in Vienna to Holocaust survivors and immigrated to Israel at the age of 19. She studied literature in Tel Aviv and worked at the Holocaust memorial Massuah, the Museum of the Jewish People, and Beit Terezin. She founded the education agency Israel Enc...

Guest: Professor Derek Penslar, William Lee Frost Chair of Jewish History, Harvard University Hosts: Alexandria, Mert, Yusuf Bio: Professor Derek Penslar is a world-leading historian of Zionism and Jewish history. His research explores the political, social, and emotional dimensions of Zionism, Jewish military history, and the global impact of the 1948 war. Notable works include Zionism and Techno...

Guest: Oren Kessler – historian, journalist, and author, fellow of the Royal Historical Society Hosts: Efe & Yusuf Bio: Oren Kessler is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. He has served as Arab Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, editor and translator at Haaretz, research fellow at the Henr...

Guest: Prof. Victor Kattan, Assistant Professor of Public International Law, University of Nottingham Hosts: Yusuf & Efe Bio: Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Nottingham and Deputy Director of the Nottingham International Law and Security Centre. He is a leading scholar of Mandate-era international law, having advised the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Depa...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Awad Halabi, Wright State University Hosts: Yusuf, Efe, Mert Bio: Awad Halabi is Associate Professor at Wright State University, where he established a minor in Middle East and Islamic Studies. His research focuses on Palestine under Ottoman and British rule, exploring identity, memory, resistance, and religious festivals. His book Palestinian Rituals of Identity: The Prophet Mose...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Michael Brenner, Professor of Jewish History and Culture, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / American University Washington, D.C. Hosts: Philip & Yusuf Bio: Michael Brenner is Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and at American University in Washington, D.C. He is one of the world’s leading experts on Zionism. He is an elect...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman, Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies, University of Oklahoma Hosts: Yusuf & Efe Bio: Prof. Norman A. Stillman is a world leading authority on Jewish life in the Islamic world. He is Professor Emeritus of Judaic History at the University of Oklahoma and author of seminal works including The Jews of Arab Lands and The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. He also...

Guest: Professor Simon W. Fuchs – Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hosts: Alexandria & Efe Bio: Professor Simon W. Fuchs is a historian specializing in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. He earned his PhD at Princeton University in 2015. He has held positions at the University of Cambridge and the University of Freiburg and is currently Associat...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Alex de Waal, Executive Director, World Peace Foundation, Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University Hosts: Yusuf & Mert Bio: Professor Alex de Waal is a leading authority on famine, mass atrocities, and the intersection of humanitarian crises and international law. He directs the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University’s Fletcher School and has conducted field res...

Guest: Alena Jabarine, Journalist and Author Hosts: Philip & Efe Bio: Alena Jabarine, born in 1985 in Hamburg, is a German-Palestinian journalist, author, and Middle East expert. She studied Political Science in Hamburg and earned a Master’s in International Relations in Barcelona. After a traineeship at NDR, she worked as a radio and TV reporter and contributed to NDR Info, STRG_F, Panorama 3...

Guest: Prof. Dr. Dr. Michel Friedman, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences — Jurist, Philosopher, Author, Media Host, Public Intellectual Hosts: Efe & Philip Bio: Prof. Dr. Dr. Michel Friedman is one of Germany’s most prominent public intellectuals. Born in Paris in 1956 as the son of Holocaust survivors rescued by Oskar Schindler, most of his family was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, he...

Guest: Khalil Sayegh, founder and executive director of The Agora Inititative, Washington, D.C. Hosts: Efe & Mert Bio: Khalil Sayegh is a Palestinian Christian born and raised in the Gaza Strip in a refugee family, displaced during the 1948 Nakba. He lived through the Second Intifada, the 2008 Gaza War, and the rise of Hamas before moving to the West Bank and later to Washington, D.C. Today, h...