The Enlightenment Podcast

For decades, Palestine has been erased—not only from maps, but from history itself. In Episode 81 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim Sarif and Hanan Kattan are joined by Carol Hage, a Palestinian-Christian storyteller, guide, and creator of Discover Palestine, a unique walking tour through London that uncovers the hidden Palestinian history woven into Britain's streets, museums, churches, an...

In Episode 80 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Hala Sabbah—a London-based Palestinian of Gazan origin and co-founder of The Sameer Project, alongside Lena Dajani and Translating Falasteen. After losing her uncle, Samir Abu Salim, in an Israeli bombing in Gaza, Hala transformed unimaginable grief into action. Just four weeks later, she helped establish The Sameer Project...

What happens when speaking out for Palestine makes you a target? In Episode 79 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Randa Abdel-Fattah—Palestinian-Australian writer, sociologist, lawyer, Future Fellow at Macquarie University, and the multi-award-winning author of more than 12 books. Randa shares her remarkable journey growing up as a Palestinian in Australia, becoming one o...

What does it mean to be a Palestinian Christian living under occupation? How has Christian Zionism shaped Western support for Israel? And why did Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac's sermon Christ in the Rubble resonate with millions around the world? In Episode 78 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim speak with Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Palestinian Christian theologian, pastor, author of Christ in th...

Noura Erakat joins Shamim Sarif and Hanan Kattan on Episode 77 of The Enlightenment Podcast. A Palestinian-American human rights lawyer, Rutgers University professor, author of Justice for Some, and co-author of Confronting Zionism, Noura Erakat has become one of the most influential voices explaining Palestine, international law, and decolonisation. In this conversation, Noura examines why intern...

Steve Cutts, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), joins Shamim Sarif and Hanan Kattan in Episode 76 of The Enlightenment Podcast to discuss why MAP refused Israel’s demand to hand over the names of its Palestinian staff — a decision that led to Israel deregistering the organisation in 2025 after more than 40 years of medical and humanitarian work supporting Palestinians. Drawing on his exper...

In Episode 75 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Dr. Ahmed Massoud, a Palestinian consultant pediatrician, endocrinologist, and chairman of the Hanoon Foundation, a British charity that has spent nearly three decades supporting Palestinian healthcare and medical education. Through the Hanoon Foundation’s work, Palestinian doctors, nurses, and medical students have receive...

In Episode 74 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Professor Nick Maynard, Consultant Upper GI Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, and one of the most important medical voices speaking out on Gaza today. Professor Maynard is the Chairman of the International Medical Education Trust (IMET2000) and Chair of the Board of Trustees for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). He...

In Episode 73 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Professor Ilan Pappé, one of the world’s most important and controversial Israeli historians, whose work has fundamentally reshaped global understanding of the history of Palestine. Professor Pappé is the author of numerous groundbreaking books, including The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides...

In Episode 72 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Jamal Kanj, a Palestinian-American author, political commentator, and one of the most widely read columnists writing today on Palestinian liberation, identity, and the narratives used to justify dispossession. Jamal is the author of several influential books, including Children of Catastrophe: Journey from a Palestinian Ref...

In Episode 71 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are delighted to be joined by Billy Howle, the acclaimed British actor whose work spans film, television, and theatre.  Audiences know Billy from projects such as On Chesil Beach, Dunkirk, The Serpent, and The Perfect Couple. Most recently, he appears in Anne-Marie Jacir’s powerful new film Palestine 36, where he plays Thomas Hopkins, a...

In Episode 70 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined by Peter Oborne, one of Britain’s most respected political journalists and the author of Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza . Peter is a veteran journalist who spent years at the heart of the British media establishment before taking the extraordinary step of resigning from the Daily Telegraph over what he de...

“From Palestinian independent cinema to Hollywood blockbusters, she has carried Palestine with her onto every screen—never compromising, never erasing who she is.” In Episode 69 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are honored to be joined by Hiam Abbass, the award-winning Palestinian actress whose extraordinary career spans some of the most important films and television series of our t...

“She’s known to many as the co-founder of The Enlightenment Podcast, but Hanan Kattan is so much more—a visionary entrepreneur, award-winning film producer, and cultural advocate reclaiming Palestinian identity through art, cuisine, and now literature.” In Episode 68 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim sits down with Hanan Kattan, the podcast’s founder and co-host, to discuss her brilliant new bo...

In Episode 67 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are honored to be joined by Cherien Dabis, the Emmy-nominated Palestinian-American filmmaker, writer, and actress whose work has reshaped how Palestinian stories are told on screen. Cherien’s latest film, All That’s Left of You, shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, is being hailed as a definitive cinematic chron...

“She helped run one of the most transformative political campaigns in modern U.S. history—and then turned her attention to a different battlefield: culture. From Capitol Hill to Hollywood, she is helping reshape how Palestine is seen, heard, and defended.” In Episode 66 of The Enlightenment Podcast, hosts Hanan and Shamim are honoured to be joined by Rania Batrice , a Palestinian-American politica...

 “She picked up a paintbrush at fourteen, inside a besieged strip of land the world prefers to see only through rubble and statistics. What emerged instead were explosions of colour—women, nature, memory, and life—painted from inside Gaza itself.” In Episode 65 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are honoured to be joined by Malak Mattar, a young Palestinian artist from Gaza whose work...

“In July 2025, two Israeli soldiers were dancing at a music festival in Belgium. Hours later, they were in handcuffs—being questioned by federal police on war crimes charges. For the first time in 77 years, a European country arrested Israeli soldiers for crimes committed against Palestinians.” In Episode 64 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are joined by Dyab Abou Jahjah , the Lebane...

“For six years, he documented Israeli war crimes when most institutions refused to look. Then, in the middle of a genocide the world claimed was ‘too complicated,’ he helped organise something many said was impossible—a sold-out Wembley Arena concert, 12,500 people strong, raising £1.5 million for Palestine.” In Episode 63 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are joined by Frank Barat —...

“In October 2023, while the world watched Gaza burn from their screens, one man walked into the inferno. A plastic surgeon who could have been earning millions on Harley Street instead chose to operate—43 days straight—under relentless bombardment. Sometimes without anesthesia. Sometimes sleeping on operating tables, wiped down with disinfectant. Today, that surgeon, now Rector of the University o...

Over 110 family members. That’s how many Dr. Ramzy Baroud has lost in Gaza’s genocide. And he stopped counting a year ago. Among them: his sister, Dr. Soma — the 166th doctor murdered by Israeli forces. And his 11-year-old cousin Lema, an aspiring journalist who hoped to be the voice of her generation, killed alongside her parents and four siblings when Israeli warplanes flattened their shelter. L...

For over a century, we’ve all been told that Britain lawfully governed Palestine — that the League of Nations mandated Britain to create a Jewish homeland, and that the international community supported these actions. Professor John Quigley has spent 40 years in legal archives uncovering the truth, and his assertion is that every single one of these claims is a lie. In Episode 57 of The Enlightenm...

"She’s a Palestinian-American filmmaker who’s breaking boundaries in Hollywood, amplifying Arab and queer voices, and using cinema as a form of resistance.” In Episode 59 of The Enlightenment Podcast , Shamim and Hanan sit down with Rolla Selbak, the award-winning Palestinian-American filmmaker, activist, and podcaster whose work challenges stereotypes and reclaims the narrative for marginali...

 “He’s treated the wounded under fire, been shot by an Israeli sniper, and spent over five decades fighting for Palestinian liberation through medicine, unity, and nonviolent resistance.” In Episode 58 of The Enlightenment Podcast , Shamim and Hanan are joined by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti — a Palestinian physician, political leader, and General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (Al-Muba...

In Episode 57 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are joined once again by Dr. Victor Kattan , the distinguished British-Palestinian legal scholar and historian whose groundbreaking legal campaign may redefine the world’s understanding of colonial responsibility. In September 2025, Dr. Kattan and a team of leading barristers and scholars filed a 400-page petition to the British governme...