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Arab Talk with Jess and Jamal brings news and analysis of the Arab World and Middle East, as well as issues affecting the Arab American community.
Arab Talk broadcasts live every Thursday from 2-3 PM/PT on KPOO, 89.5FM
San Francisco. Follow us on Twitter @ArabTalk
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arab-talk-with-jess-jamal/id1244474570?mt=2
Arab Talk broadcasts live every Thursday from 2-3 PM/PT on KPOO, 89.5FM
San Francisco. Follow us on Twitter @ArabTalk
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arab-talk-with-jess-jamal/id1244474570?mt=2
374 Episodes
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Jess and Jamal discuss the latest developments and global repercussions following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Nathan Kalman-Lamb, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick, joins the show to discuss a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court against the heads of FIFA and UEFA. The case centers on allegations that the organizations permit Israeli football clubs based in settlements widely considered illegal under international law, built on land taken from Palestinians.
Close to 11,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons and detention centers, the majority without formal charges or convictions. During this recent period, nearly 100 Palestinians have died in custody, with extensive evidence indicating that many of these deaths resulted from torture and medical neglect. Based on its findings, Physicians for Human Rights has stated that these patterns point to what it describes as a deliberate Israeli policy contributing to the deaths of Palestinians in detention.
Yair Dvir, spokesperson for B’Tselem, discusses the organization’s recent report, "Living Hell," which documents allegations of torture and abuse experienced by Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
In his opinion piece published in Al Jazeera, titled “Here’s Why Israel Is Allowing Record Murder Rates in Its Palestinian Towns,” Dr. Neve Gordon argues that the crime epidemic within Palestinian communities inside Israel is not merely a failure of governance, but part of a broader political strategy. He contends that the state has effectively allowed violence to escalate while simultaneously weaponizing accusations of anti-Semitism to intensify Jewish fear. Gordon characterizes this dynamic as a form of “demographic engineering.”
Dr. Neve Gordon is a Professor of International Law at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author of "Israel’s Occupation" and co-author of "The Human Right to Dominate."
In the aftermath of the war on Gaza, a proposed “Board of Peace” emerged on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2025. The body was envisioned as a temporary entity with a two-year mandate to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction and economic recovery.
Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, discusses the proposed Board of Peace and examines the impact of the United States’ withdrawal from 31 United Nations entities, most of which focus on humanitarian aid, human rights, and climate change.
President Donald Trump stated that he was holding off on striking Iran out of respect for what he claimed was Iran’s agreement to cancel 800 executions of protesters. Separately, but around the same time, officials from several Arab countries—Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—as well as Israel reportedly urged Trump not to strike Iran, citing fears of Iranian retaliation.
Joining us to discuss the rapidly unfolding events in Iran is Dr. Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, a researcher and lecturer in Middle East international politics at the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of "Revolution and Its Discontents: Political Thought and Reform in Iran."
Dr. Andrew Hammond discusses the UAE’s notable involvement in multiple conflicts around the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, in partnership with Israel. The two small countries seek to maximize their regional power by controlling key positions along the Red Sea’s maritime corridor, while also gaining a foothold in Africa to secure future influence there.
Dr. Hammond is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.
On January 1, 2026, Israel banned 37 international humanitarian aid organizations from operating in Gaza. Among those affected were Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Oxfam, Caritas, ActionAid, the International Rescue Committee, and World Vision.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, explains the underlying reasons behind Israel’s ban and its impact on Gaza’s population.
Jess and Jamal look back at 2025 and the turmoil in the Middle East. While global attention remained fixed on Gaza, Israel accelerated land seizures in the West Bank. The year saw a record number of new settlement approvals, alongside a sharp rise in settler violence.
Dr. Ezequiel Jimenez discusses his article published in Opinio Juris, “The 24th Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute: Time to Act.” In the article, he explains that, given the ICC’s current state of polycrisis, it is imperative for member states of the Rome Statute to take concrete action to confront the Court’s existential challenges rather than continue the status quo of issuing ineffective resolutions.
Supported by Israeli security forces and enabled by government policies, settler violence has become a central component of the Israeli state’s strategy to forcibly displace Palestinian communities in the occupied territory. This approach aims to establish full Israeli control over the area and facilitate further settlement expansion, despite such settlements being illegal under international law.
Photojournalist Oren Ziv has extensively reported on settler attacks across the West Bank. His documentation shows that since October 7, more than 50 rural Palestinian communities have been emptied after residents were compelled to flee amid escalating assaults, threats, and harassment by Israeli settlers—almost always carried out with the backing of the army and police.
Oren is a photojournalist and reporter for Local Call and +972 Magazine, as well as a co-founder of the ActiveStills photography collective. His work has also appeared in Al Jazeera, Vice, Tablet, and other publications.
A March 2025 report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that sexual violence by Israeli forces and settlers was extensive enough to be considered systematic.
Dr. Samah Jabr, co-author of the paper "Torture as a Tool of Domination: The Logic Behind the Use of Torture Against Palestinians," discusses the long-term impact of sexual and gender-based violence used against Palestinians, especially children.
Dr. Jabr is a world-renowned psychiatrist and writer who has spent more than twenty years practicing in the West Bank and Gaza. Her latest book is Radiance in Pain and Resilience.
After two years of relentless Israeli air and ground assaults on Gaza, much of the territory lies in ruins. Many of Gaza’s two million residents have been displaced and are struggling to secure basic necessities. Jaco Cilliers, the current Special Representative for the United Nations Development Programme’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP), outlines the vast scale of destruction in Gaza and the immense challenges involved in rebuilding even a semblance of normal life.
Jess and Jamal discuss the recent surge in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which have reached unprecedented levels. This escalation is marked by increased frequency, severity, and coordination—often occurring with the support or presence of Israeli security forces—and has led to casualties, widespread property destruction, and the displacement of numerous Palestinian communities.
Recently, settlers have focused on preventing Palestinians from harvesting their olives, setting fires near churches and cemeteries, damaging olive groves, and harassing local residents.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has applied for a summons in the magistrate’s court in the United Kingdom in an initiative to prosecute a British citizen who they allege fought in the Israeli military against Palestine and Palestinians. It states that the individual was in breach of the UK’s Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870, which proscribes any British citizen from fighting in another country’s military against another country with which Britain is at peace.
Jonathan Purcell, Head of Public Affairs and Communications for the ICJP elaborates on the case and the implications of what precedent a successful ruling could set.
Professor Liat Kozma explains that Israel has been systematically working to delegitimize and restrict international NGOs and human rights organizations operating with Palestinians in the occupied territories. One of the largest of these organizations, UNRWA, which has provided services in Gaza for many years, has been banned from operating in areas under Israeli control — including East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza. Professor Kozma teaches in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and holds the Harry Friedenwald Chair in the History of Medicine at the Hebrew University.
President Trump has named former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the newly formed Board of Peace, which will oversee the reconstruction and governance of Gaza. Blair has reportedly been involved for months in developing proposals for Gaza’s postwar future. However, his controversial legacy—stemming from his role in the Iraq War and his limited success during eight years as the Middle East Quartet’s peace envoy—makes his selection a surprising one. Journalist Rayhan Uddin explains why.
Acknowledging Palestinian sovereignty is increasingly seen as a necessary—but not sufficient—step toward a just resolution of the conflict, particularly among those who also call for an end to what they view as Israeli impunity.
Human rights attorney and activist Stanley Cohen argues that countries recognizing Palestinian statehood should also be barred from aiding or abetting Israel in actions against Palestinian civilians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long opposed Palestinian independence, and he recently reaffirmed that there will be no Palestinian state as long as he remains in office. He also vowed to take retaliatory measures as a second wave of recognitions is expected at a U.N. summit in New York this week. Around 10 additional countries—including the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and Portugal—are set to join the 147 U.N. member states that already recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation. Jess and Jamal discuss these unfolding events.
The 80th United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Week begins on September 22, bringing together heads of state to deliver speeches and set the policy agenda for the year ahead.
The prospect of several major Western powers—such as the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada—formally recognizing Palestinian statehood has drawn significant media attention. At the same time, it has prompted warnings of serious consequences from both U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Dr. Ardi Imseis, Professor of International Law at Queen’s University in Canada and legal counsel to the State of Palestine in its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), offers insight into the potential impact of this recognition and what developments might unfold at the UN in the coming weeks.
Can a Gaza reconstruction that excludes Palestinian heritage, silences their participation, and denies their suffering truly succeed? Journalist and analyst Sean Mathews argues the 'Gaza Riviera' is doomed to fail.
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