Kalam

It's official, at least if you ask the world's leading human rights organisation, Amnesty International: Israel is guilty of committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. In today's episode the Secretary General of Amnesty International herself, Agnes Callamard, walks us through the organisation's damning report on the genocide in Gaza. We know there’s a lot going on in...

The regime of Bashar al Assad has fallen and Syrians around the world are celebrating. So what happens now? Anything is possible in such times, and we must hope for the best for the people of Syria who so desperately deserve freedom, dignity and the right to choose their government. In today's episode we look at what recent events mean for regional and global players like Turkey, Israel, Russia, S...

The Syrian conflict has reignited as opposition forces under the leadership of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) broke out of Idlib, capturing key cities like Aleppo, Hama and finally Damascus, with minimal resistance. What does the apparent fall of the Assad Family's half-century hold on power mean for the country? In today's episode, Nora Adin Fares interviews Dr. Neil Quilliam, an analyst and associa...

The ripple effects of Israel's wars in the Middle East are spinning out of control. Just last week, the Islamist Syrian rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) retook the city of Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria. How did they manage to do so, and how does the severe weakening of Hezbollah play into it? Will this spell the end of Bashar al Assad's regime? In other news we speak about the fr...

In the second part of this miniseries Samuel and Edgar discuss the development of the Likud Party since its landslide victory in 1977. What demographic and political shifts cause its rise to dominance. How did the party of Benjamin Netanyahu come to dominate Israeli politics as massively as it has done for the last couple of decades? How did it achieve this position, who are its voters and support...

A lot has happened since our last news summary on Kalam Podcast. The ICC has officially issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and as of today, a ceasefire deal has taken effect in Lebanon. 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 a month you'll gain access to full length interv...

Palestinian theatre has been around for thousands of years through the tradition of the Hakawati , the storyteller. In modern times, the Palestinian theatre has inevitably served as an liberatory artistic platform. Palestinian theatre cannot be separated from the Palestinian struggle more generally. But as today’s guest, Iman Aoun argues, there’s a more universal dimension to this: Palestinian the...

This episode is in Arabic! Sorry to all our non-Arabic speakers. You can watch the full episode with English subtitles on Youtube . Is there such thing as Palestinian cinema? And what has the genoc!de in Gaza meant for film in the strip? Ola Salama, herself from Gaza, is the Executive Director of Film Lab Palestine, an organisation aimed at revitalising the culture of films in Palestine, liberatin...

What will a Trump presidency mean for the war in Gaza and Lebanon and for the Middle East more broadly? Probably complete disaster, but still worth a discussion. Sam and Edgar spend the lion's part of the 14th installment of Kalam Digest speaking about Trump's stunning and decisive victory. As well as the crucial Arab vote which mostly sided with the man who last time around implemented the "Musli...

Unbelievably, the destruction and killing of Gaza continues and is, in fact, escalating. Israel's relentless and genocidal war seems to know no bounds. In this week's news summary, Sam, Edgar and Nora speak about the impending doom that is the US elections. Muslims for Trump and floating piles of garbage aka Rudy Giuliani. The political opposition in Israel, Yair Lapid of the party Yesh Atid, admi...

What are the politics of Palestine, who can take over a Palestinian state when it is conceived? Aboud Hamayel, also known under his pen name Abdaljawad Omar is a writer and theorist and a Lecturer of Philosophy at Bir Zeit University on the Occupied West Bank. Abdaljawad gives us a detailed outline of the history of different political currents in Palestine. Interestingly, he does not give as much...

In this the first part of a miniseries Samuel and Edgar discuss the origins of Likud Party. For the last 30 years the Likud has dominated Israeli politics, and thus set the tone for the international politics of the region, not to mention the question of Palestine. Today it is an ultra-conservative party with neoliberal economics, bent on making the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territorie...

Once again we are delighted to have Lebanese political analyst and researcher Ralph Baydoun on the show. Ralph joins us live from Beirut, a city under constant Israeli bombardment. In today's episode Ralph and Edgar speak about Israel's plan to redraw the map of the Middle East, and how this can have unintended consequences as other powerful actors in the region attempt to take advantage – namely...

The attack in the Turkish capital, Ankarra, considered by Turkish authorities to be a terrorist attack, seems to have been carried out by Kurdish militants affiliated with PKK. This has led to Turkey striking Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq. At the same time, Israel is attempting to redraw the map of the Middle East - something Turkey wants to benefit from, many analysts believe. The war in Le...

There are 18 recognised religious "sects" in Lebanon, including various Christian denominations, Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Druze and Jews. Sects in this context does not refer to a kind of cult but rather different religious groupings. How did the Lebanese republic organise itself and how did the sectarian system contribute to the bloody civil wars fought in the mid to late 20th century? Find ou...

This week we saw harrowing images of Gazans literally burning alive when Israel struck a makeshift hospital in Northern Gaza. One person was in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV when the flames engulfed and ultimately killed him. Why are we seeing this brutal escalation, and how is this affecting the front in Lebanon? Israel demanded that the UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon be removed "from harm...

The United Nations estimates that 800,000 of bombed-out debris in Gaza may be contaminated with the toxic mineral asbestos. Asbestos is a mineral that poses little threat to humans when undisturbed, but is highly carcinogenic - that is, it leads to severe forms of cancer, mainly in the lungs - when it is released into the atmosphere and inhaled by humans. In today's programme Edgar speaks with Nor...

It's been a year since Hamas launched its attack on October 7, 2023 prompting Israel to commence what a growing number of legal scholars consider to be a genocide. In today's episode, Edgar and Sam discuss the failure of Israel's war on Gaza since Hamas managed to launch rockets at Tel Aviv on the literal one year anniversary. We also discuss the latest developments in the Lebanese front and the i...

There are 18 recognised religious "sects" in Lebanon, including various Christian denominations, Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Druze and Jews. Sects in this context does not refer to a kind of cult but rather different religious groupings. How is it that such a diverse religious and ethnic mix of people came to live in so close proximity to each other in and around Mount Lebanon? And why did the Fre...

"There are decades when you fuck around, there are weeks when you find out." This is our third Munadama session when Edgar, Sam and Arthur - the creators of Kalam Podcast - sit down for a relaxed discussion of the last few weeks' events. To listen to the full episode, go to patreon.com/kalampodcast For continuous updates, follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Earlier this week, Iran retaliated against Israel for the killing of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, Ismael Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah respectively, by launching the largest ballistic missile barrage in history. It is still unclear what was hit and how much damage was inflicted, due to heavy Israeli military censorship. We do know that the Iron Dome did not intercept all of the missiles, and...

Last week the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. This marks the most high profile political assassination Israel has ever carried out. What does this mean for Lebanon and the broader region? In more news, Israel has launched its ground invasion of Southern Lebanon following airstrikes and heavy artillery bombardment of alleged Hezbollah positions....

The Swedish-Palestinian author Amer Sarsour published his much praised debut novel Medan vi brinner earlier this year. At the Gothenburg Book Fair, Edgar had a chance to interview Amer for a live show (in Swedish) about the book and about being Palestinian in Sweden. This episode is in Swedish as the book hasn't yet been translated, apologies to everyone who doesn't speak the language! We plan on...

It is no longer viable to advocate for Palestinian liberation with Western politicians and diplomats. Palestinian advocacy networks like the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) is now looking to affect change with cultural figures, Generation Z and the Global South in order to pressure the Global North to change its position on Israel and Palestine. In this conversation, Inès Abdel R...

The deadliest day since the 1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon - over 500 people have been killed in 24 hours of Israeli bombardment. We dedicate the majority of today's news summary to the ongoing war in Lebanon. What does Israel wish to achieve? What is life like for Lebanese civilians? If you enjoy Kalam Podcast and want to suppor the show, there is an excellent way to do so - by signing up to our...