Occupied Thoughts

In this fourth webinar episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka’s four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, Saleh Hijazi (BDS Movement), Nadya Tannous (Palestinian Youth Movement) and Tariq Kenney-Shawa (Al Shabaka) explore what allyship and solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle has looked like, and what it can and should look like moving forward.  Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

FMEP non-resident fellow Maha Nassar speaks with Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine members Malak Afaneh and Risa Nagel about the pro-BDS bylaw that nine Berkeley Law student clubs passed last fall, the national uproar that followed, and where things stand now. For more, see: https://fmep.org/resource/backlash-and-perseverance-the-uc-berkeley-lsjp-bylaw-and-its-aftermath/ Original musi...

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Yara Asi, who is one of two 2023-2024 Non-Resident Fellows joining FMEP. Dr. Asi discusses her background, explains why and how the public health lens is so uniquely important to understanding Palestinians’ lives and experiences of oppression, and analyzes this moment in time and history for Palestinians. For more informatio...

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Rabea Eghbariah, human rights attorney, doctoral student at Harvard Law School, and one of FMEP's 2023-2024 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows. Listen to Mr. Eghbaria discuss his background, his work as a human rights attorney and a scholar, and his analysis of this moment in time and history for Palestinians. For more informa...

In the third episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka’s four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, this webinar - featuring Dr. Maha Nassar, Dr. Yara Hawari, and Inès Abdul Razek - explored how the “dialogue discourse” has been used to undermine the Palestinian liberation movement, including through the insistence to engage in “peace” projects. For more information on the speakers and resources me...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Nonresident fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Nathaniel Berman (Brown University) and Sawsan Zaher (human rights attorney) to discuss the notion that the Israeli Supreme Court - even before the proposed judicial reforms - is a protector of human rights and democratic principles in Israel. This conversation addresses the current protests against Netanyahu'...

In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Ahmed Abuznaid (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights - USCPR) and Diala Shamas (Center for Constitutional Rights) about the lawsuit filed by the Jewish National Fund against USCPR -- which was dismissed by a U.S. federal judge in March 2021 and is now being appealed -- as well as about what can be learned f...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Jehad Abusalim (FMEP 2022 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellow) speaks with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP Director of Programs and Partnerships) about the political and historical context of current escalations and his expectations for what the coming weeks and months will bring. The conversation draws from Jehad's recent article, "The West Bank is on the Brink of Collap...

In this second episode in FMEP and Al Shabaka's four-part series, Learning and Unlearning Palestine, this panelists Dr. Muhannad Ayyash, Dr. Lana Tatour, and Dr. Yara Hawari examine various limiting paradigms that, in spite of their liberal facade, have sought to contain the Palestinian experience and limit critique on the Israeli settler colonial project. This will include a critique of the inter...

In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, Kristin McCarthy (FMEP's Director of Grants & Operations) speaks with Ziv Stahl (Executive Director of Yesh Din) about the phenomenon of settler violence, including it's goals and utility, the totality of its affect on Palestinians, how it is used as a means for land takeover, and the complete lack of accountability or protection provided by the...

Welcome to the first episode in a new webinar series co-hosted by Al Shabaka and the Foundation for Middle East Peace: Learning and Unlearning Palestine Part 1: Who Can Speak on Palestine? Featuring Nour Joudah (UC Berkeley), Dina Matar (SOAS, University of London), in conversation with Maha Nassar (University of Arizona). This conversation examines the history and current reality of the erasure o...

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Hebron-based activist Issa Amro and Israeli activist & playwright Einat Weizman about the new documentary play that Einat wrote based on transcripts from Issa's trial in the Israeli Ofer Military Court. In January, 2023, Issa and Einat came to New York for a staged reading of the play. In this podcast, they speak with Pe...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts -- which comes in the context of ongoing violence in Palestine that only lately broke through to mainstream headlines when the casualties were Israelis -- Inès Abdel Razek (Executive Director, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy) speaks with FMEP's Lara Friedman about what journalists need to keep in mind when reporting on Palestine, and what the publi...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Kristin McCarthy talks to Dr. Suhad Bisahara - the Legal Director of Adalah - about the new Israeli government coalition agreements that spell out it's policies of domination, suppression, annexation, and control. Resources: "Adalah’s Analysis of the New Israeli Government’s Guiding Principles and Coalition Agreements and their Implications on Palestini...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Francesca Albanese -- international legal expert and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 -- on ongoing and escalating actions by Israel to forcibly eject more than 1200 Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank region known as Masafer Yatta, located in...

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ken Roth (formerly Human Rights Watch) and Harvard professor Kathryn Sikkink to discuss the recent controversy over Harvard's decision to cancel its offer of a fellowship to Ken Roth, based on accusations of anti-Israel bias by both Human Rights Watch and by Ken.

In this episode of "Occupied Thoughts," FMEP Non-resident Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Ziv Stahl (Yesh Din) to sketch out what the new Israeli government has said - and in some cases already started to implement - its policy on settlements, outposts, and Palestinian life in Area C will be. In addition, Ziv discusses the deepening challenges facing human rights organizations and their employee...

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim about antisemitism, ranging from the views of 19th century Palestinian intellectuals to responses to the Holocaust and Zionism, from the first Hamas charter to today's rising accusations of antisemitism to delegitimize Palestinian rights. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Pro...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Rebecca Vilkomerson, author of the recent report "Funding Freedom: Philanthropy and the Palestinian Freedom Movement." They speak about the trends, impediments, and dynamics around funding Palestinian rights, how and why funding decisions are political, and how funders - both institutional and individual - can begin or deep...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to investigative journalist David Armiak about the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, in drafting, promulgating, and promoting legislation in U.S. states targeting values-based protest and grassroots activism, These legislative efforts in the first instance targeted Palestine-related protest and...

A new anthology, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, features personal narratives and political essays from Palestinians in Gaza "imagining the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and Apartheid." This podcast features two of the anthology's editors - FMEP Fellow Jehad Abusalim and AFSC's Jennifer Bing - as well as one of the contributing authors, Dorgham Abusalim, who discuss the i...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to international legal expert in business and human rights Tara Van Ho about the current controversy involving the Chicago-based financial services company Morningstar Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainalytics, over how it deals with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the podcast explores Morningstar’s recen...

In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, Dr. Maha Nassar speaks with FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin about how to talk about Zionism and anti-Zionism in ways that acknowledge different definitions of Zionism and, at the same time, take seriously the power asymmetries between anti-Zionists and Zionists/supporters of the state of Israel in Israel/Palestine and the U.S. public spheres. Speaking fro...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Dr. Alana Vincent (Umea University, Sweden) joins FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss how she moved from supporting the use of the the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Working Definition of Antisemitism to opposing it. Dr. Vincent describes the chilling and silencing effects of the IHRA definition, the shortcomings of European Union research...

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Lara Friedman speaks to Sarah Posner, renowned expert on American pro-Israel evangelicals, about U.S. pro-Israel evangelicals and their agenda in the context of both the recent Israeli elections, the recent US midterms, and the race for the 2024 White House.