Kalam

In the early hours of March 18 Isreal broke the ceasefire that had held between them and Hamas since January. Although, Israel killed over 150 Palestinians during the ceasefire itself, in various attacks – nothing the Western media felt compelled to report. At the moment of writing, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes – many of them women and children. Muhammad Shehada is a Pa...

In a shocking surprise attack Israel breaks the ceasefire and resumes its genocidal war on Gaza, killing at least 320 people overnight. This comes as Gazans celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. We're joined by 22-year-old student Tala Herzallah who expresses her shock to us as the sound of drones sound above. What does this mean for Israel, Palestine and the region? Listen to our analysis. If you...

The Kalam team speak about the massacres against the Alawite minority in Syria and discuss the historic treaty between the Kurds and Damascus. If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to support the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up to our Patreon. For just $3/month you'll gain access to full length interviews with all our guests and lots of bonus material - including our series...

Over the past few days close to 1,000 civilians, overwhelmingly from the Awalite minority, have been killed in Syria. Beginning when clashes erupted between remnants of Assad loyalists and the new HTS-led government, mainly Sunni Muslim militias and civilians descended on Northwestern Syria and committed unspeakable crimes against their Alawite neighbours. Orwa Ajjoub is a Syrian analyst and frien...

In this week's Kalam Digest, Edgar, Sam and Nora discuss the Israeli-Palestinian documentary "No Other Land" winning an Oscar, the violent clashes in Syria as well as Ramadan in war-torn Gaza. If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to support the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up to our Patreon. For just $3/month you'll gain access to full length interviews with all our guests...

This is a live show where I speak to the Syrian author Khaled Elesmael about queer rights in Syria, gay desire in Arab literature some exciting news at the end of the episode.  Khaled Elesmael’s books Salemlike and Gateway to the Sea are seminal works of literature and are a must-read if you want to understand modern-day Syria as well as the refugee tragedy following the war.  Today, Ass...

In February 2025 Israeli forces raided the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem. The bookstore is one of the oldest in the city and is frequented by Palestinians, Israelis and international patrons. It is a staple in Jerusalem, and the Israeli raid prompted international outcry. The Israelis claimed that the bookstore was promoting violence – something which is abjectly false. The Educational Bo...

Biking in Palestine is virtually impossible. Not for a lack of interest – but for the hostile Israeli occupation and indiscriminate settler violence. The longest biking route is 20km, before one runs into a military checkpoint or veers too close to an illegal Israeli settlement. Mohammad Zarour was instrumental in launching and running several Palestinian biking initiatives – to support those pass...

Israel's military operations in the West Bank has lead to 40,000 Palestinians being displaced – the largest number since the 1967 war. In Gaza, Trump's plans on constructing a Middle Eastern "riviera" seems far-fetched, as hundreds of thousands of Gazans return to their destroyed neighbourhoods. Tala Emad Herzallah, 22-year-old student from Gaza, speaks to us directly from Northern Gaza where she...

This podcast episode is in Swedish. Välkommen till Kalam Suedi, Kalam Podcast på svenska! I samarbete med tidningen Flamman. Följ länken för att lyssna på hela avsnittet. Det går att låsa upp avsnittet gratis genom att uppge en mailadress! https://www.flamman.se/podd/kalam-suedi/1-vad-ar-israel-med-goran-rosenberg/ – Israel begår folkmord, säger Kalam Suedis första gäst, Göran Rosenberg. I dagens...

Hiba Dlewati is a Syrian living in the US, since she was forced to leave her homeland in 2012 due to her political activity. A former medical student and journalist, Dlewati joined the anti-regime student movement and began protesting against the regime. Until she was caught. Listen to Dlewati's harrowing story exclusively on Kalam Podcast. To watch the full interview with her, head to our YouTube...

The reactions to Trump's inflammatory statements have the Middle East reeling. Earlier this week, the US president said that Palestinians "have no alternative" but to relocate to Egypt and Jordan. This is a huge taboo and a red line for the Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel. If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to support the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up t...

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians return to a more or less completely destroyed northern Gaza. Meanwhile, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems to be holding, with a few exceptions in the form of Israeli violations leading to the deaths of several Palestinian individuals. The hostage-prisoner exchange is proceeding more or less as planned as well. However, the war in the West Bank is ra...

A lot has been made of the terminology applied to Israeli "hostages" or "captives" and Palestinian "prisoners" or "terrorists". While the Israelis certainly are hostages and captives, thousands of Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons without a trial or formal charge. Many are tortured and sexually violated, and many are children and minors. Milena Ansari is the Israel-Palestine research...

Arab-socialism is deeply intertwined with arab nationalism – to the extent that they are sometimes used interchangeably: Pan-arabism, Arab Nationalism and Arab Socialism, to talk about especially its most well known movements, of the 1950s-1970s. In this series however, we will focus specifically on the rise of a peculiar "arab socialism", as a part of understanding the back story of the regime th...

Direkt från Teater Tribunalen pratar Edgar och Sam om det brittiska mandatet i Palestina under mellankrigsåren. Vad var det för system, och hur bidrog det till Israels bildande och Nakba? Samtalet är inspelat inför en uppsättning av pjäsen Mandatet som behandlar samma tidsperiod, som sålt ut Teater Tribunalen i Stockholm i flera veckor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At long last it seems we have a ceasefire in Gaza, after over a year of war and genocide. But just as we were all breathing a collective sigh of relief, the Netanyahu regime seemed to sabotage the deal in the last minute. What does this mean? In the 20th instalment of Kalam Digest, Edgar, Sam and Nora take us through the implications of the ceasefire agreement and how the f*ck it took this long to...

Music has long been central to Palestinian culture in general and specifically to the culture of resistance. Reem Talhami is a Palestinian actress and singer who gained recognition for her singing during the First Intifada in the late 1980's. Today, she continues to sing and act, despite the situation for Palestinians deteriorating rapidly. During our conversation we speak about Palestinian folklo...

Minor military operations are still ongoing in Syria as HTS attempts to root out Assad loyalists in the city of Homs. In Gaza the genocide is ongoing, and Israel has forcibly disappeared doctor Hossam Abu Safiya, Director of the Kamal Adwan Medical Complex. Trump has promised to unleash hell in Gaza if hostages are not released – this comes just over a week before his inauguration on January 20. I...

In the fourth instalment of Munadama, where the team behind Kalam "shoot the shit over alcoholic beverages", Sam, Nora, Edgar and Arthur discuss everything from Arabic grammar to dive bars in Damascus. These episodes are usually exclusively available for our Patreon subscribers, but in the (belated) spirit of the holidays we're unlocking this episode for all our listeners. If you enjoy Kalam Podca...

The Syrian writer and political theorist, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, has lived a remarkable life. As a student activist affiliated with one of Syria's communist parties, Yassin spent 16 years in Hafez al Assad's prisons. Then, shortly after the revolution of 2011, Yassin's wife, Samira Khalil, was abucted by the Islamist militia Jaysh al Islam. Samira was also an activist and hasn't been heard from in o...

Why are Palestinians among the most educated populations in the world? Many people cite community education initiatives that came out of the non-violent resistance movement in the late 80's, the First Intifada. One such organisation is Tamer Institute and earlier this year we had the pleasure of speaking to the General Director of Tamer, Renad Qubbaj. In 2023, Tamer Institute won the prestigious A...

The Palestinian Authority is cracking down on non-state militias in Jenin on the occupied West Bank – find out why Fatah is fighting Fatah. Israel is making incursions into Syria and bombing its weapons arsenal to bits – why is it doing this, and what does it mean? Finally, the Kurdish-controlled area in northeastern Syria is coming into question. Raqqa, for example, is a majority sunni Arab city...

The Islamist militia HTS (Hay't Tahrir al-Sham≈Committee for the Liberation of Syria) has toppled the dictatorial Assad regime. Its leader, 42-year-old Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, started his career under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of ISIS. This extremist jihadist background is worrisome, but al-Julani has proven to be a pragmatist....

When Bashar al Assad’s government fell just a couple of days ago, after a two week whirlwind campaign by opposition forces which surprised the entire world, it signalled the end of more than 54 years of rule by the Assad family and it’s the so called Ba’th-party. While it has been no secret that Syria under Assad was a repressive and violent state, the images and stories of the prisoners released...