and scholar Emmaia Gelman about the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), including the history and current activities of the ADL and the ADL's approach to advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of the state of Israel. They also discuss the ADL's relationship with the U.S. government, including including the ADL surveilling Americans and FBI Director Kash Patel's recent decision to suspend the ADL's longstanding partnership with the ADL. Mari Cohen is an associate editor at Jewish Currents, a.magazine committed to the rich tradition of thought, activism, and culture of the Jewish left, where she reports, edits, and contributes to shaping the magazine's editorial direction. See Mari's reporting on the ADL in Jewish Currents: "Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO’s Praise of Elon Musk," January 2024 (with Alex Kane); "The ADL’s Antisemitism Findings, Explained," April 2023; "ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals," March 2023 (with Alex Kane); "The ADL Doubles Down on Opposing the Anti-Zionist Left," May 2022 (with Isaac Scher); "The Numbers Game," April 2022. Emmaia Gelman is the founding Director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, which examines the political and ideological work of Zionist institutions beyond their direct advocacy for Israel. Her research and writing investigate the history of ideas about race, queerness, safety, and rights, and their production as political levers in the realm of hate crimes policy, surveillance, anti-terror measures, and war. Her teaching has spanned NYU, Sarah Lawrence College, freedom schools, encampments, and many other community spaces. Emmaia is at work on a critical history of the Anti-Defamation League (1913-1990) as a Cold War neoconservative institution, as well as an edited volume of social justice movement writings and academic research on resistance to the ADL. She is the co-chair of the American Studies Association Caucus on Academic and Community Activism, and a longtime activist in New York City. See these publications by Emmaia Gelman: "It’s Time to Break With the ADL as a Source for News and Research on Extremism," Truthout December 2023; "The Anti-Democratic Origins of the ADL and AJC," Jewish Currents March 2021; "The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems," Boston Review May 2019. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about political and diplomatic developments relating to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. They discuss the "20 Point Plan" that President Donald Trump released today, as well as his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking about actual provisions to limit Israel's genocidal behavior and noting the colonial structure of the internationally-headed "Board of Peace" that will rule Gaza, according to the proposal. They discuss the symbolic measure of many countries recognizing Palestinian statehood at the UN last week; Mouin notes that this recognition is the first time that Western governments have taken steps for Palestinians in response to pressure from their own constituencies, and suggests that this action demonstrates that popular pressure can affect policy. Finally, Hilary and Mouin look at current initiatives, including the "United for Peace" proposal and the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, that aim to intervene directly in the genocide. Mouin Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary Middle East issues. Among other previous positions, Rabbani served as principal political affairs officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, head of the Middle East unit with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and senior Middle East analyst and special advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He was also a researcher with Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, where he also hosts the Connections podcast and edits its Quick Thoughts feature. He is also the managing editor and associate editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a contributing editor of Middle East Report. In addition, Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) and at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was recently informed that UC Berkeley shared his name, along with those of 159 other Berkeley faculty & students, with the federal government for "alleged incidents of antisemitism." Peter & Ussama discuss the absurdity of experience -- the accused have not been informed of any details of the allegations against them -- while looking at why UC Berkeley is not defending its faculty and students, how the Berkeley experience compares with how other universities have capitulated to the Trump administration, and whether academic freedom on campus will survive. Most urgently, they discuss how the attacks on universities are meant to distract from the genocide Israel is carrying out right now against Palestinians. Resources on this topic include "UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move," The Guardian 9/12/25; "UC Berkeley professor warns of 'unprecedented crackdown' on academic freedom." NPR interview with Ussama Makdisi on 9/18/25 "When Universities Become Informants," by Judith Butler, 9/13/25 "Kafka-land at UC Berkeley," by Judith Butler, The Nation, 9/16/25 Dr. Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press. He is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellows Ahmed Moor and Peter Beinart speak about the new developments with Palestinian statehood and their meaning and implications. They also discuss American politics and culture, discussing the shifts on the Right regarding Israel and looking ahead at the 2026 midterms. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with zehra imam, who launched Poetry of the Camps, a poetry program in Gaza with young writers. Basman Aldirawi and Duha Hassan Al Shaqaqi, former participants in the program who have become co-leaders of it, joined in the conversation. Basman and Duha shared what it meant for each of them to be writing poetry in Gaza during the genocide. They discussed the process of bringing students together virtually from all over the Gaza Strip, with different backgrounds and experiences, to write poetry. The themes of their sessions were miracles, homeland, the concept of colorism, love letters to Palestine, and freedom. They share a poem titled “Balsam” written by a student participant about her friend who was killed in the Israeli assault and discuss their experiences during the genocide: Basman, who was in Egypt on 10/7/23 and could not return to Gaza and Duha, who survived the genocide and was evacuated from Gaza just a few weeks ago. Basman Aldirawi (also published as Basman Derawi) is a physiotherapist and a graduate of Al-Azhar University in Gaza in 2010. Inspired by an interest in music, movies, and people with special needs, he contributes dozens of stories/poems to the online platform We Are Not Numbers and other platforms including Vivamost, Mondoweiss, ArabLit, and Written Revolution. He has contributed to the Arabic poetry anthology, Gaza: Land of Poetry, 2021 and to the English anthology, Light in Gaza: Writing Born in Fire, 2022. Basman was Illuminated Cities’ inaugural Fall 2024 Poetry of the Camps-Gaza fellow. He is now part of the Illuminated Cities program team. Duha Hassan Al Shaqaqi is a Palestinian writer, student, and storyteller who finds power in words, resilience in education, and purpose in advocacy. She was a 2024 inaugural Poetry of the Camps-Gaza fellow. Duha is now part of the Illuminated Cities program team, and her poem was featured in the 2025 Harvard Divinity School commencement speech. Raised in Gaza, she has experienced firsthand the challenges of war, displacement, and interrupted education — but also the strength of community, the value of knowledge, and the hope that creativity brings. With a background in English literature and a passion for humanitarian work, Duha writes about survival, identity, and the silent strength found in everyday moments. She has worked as a social worker during wartime and continues to pursue global education opportunities to amplify her voice and the voices of others. zehra imam is the founder of Illuminated Cities, an education organization that works on creative expression with communities impacted by systemic violence such as war or occupation. She designed Poetry of the Camps in 2024 for students in Gaza, Rohingya refugee camps, Harvard, and MIT and it continues to this day in Gaza and Rohingya refugee camps. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, who is currently on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian convoy currently on its way to Gaza. They discuss the remarkable cross-section of people who have joined the flotilla and what they hope to achieve by it while also looking at different ways Israel works to discredit and undermine this effort. Because David joined the podcast from the boat in the Mediterranean and lost access to the internet while he and Peter were speaking, this conversation happens in two parts. You'll hear the transition about halfway through the podcast. David Adler is a political economist and the Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, founded in May 2020 to unite, organize, and mobilize progressive forces around the world. His research and writing have been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs, among others. You can read more about him at https://davidrkadler.info/. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). They discuss Levy's argument that the way that Israel withdrew Israeli settlements from Gaza in 2005 set the stage for today's genocide; as Levy put it in a recent +972 Magazine piece, the current Israeli paradigm is "not just separating from the Palestinians, relegated to shrinking Bantustans, but annihilating and erasing them." Moor and Levy also discuss the impact of Israel's attacks in Qatar this week both in the near and longterm, the need for Netanyahu to formally deny Israeli involvement in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and shifting political approaches to Israel/Palestine. Daniel Levy is the President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), which emphasizes the Palestine-Israel issue alongside regional conflicts, trends and geopolitics. From 2012 to 2016, Levy was Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to that he was a senior Fellow and Director of the New America Foundation’s Middle East Taskforce in Washington D.C. and a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation in New York. Levy was a Senior Advisor in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and to Justice Minister Yossi Beilin during the Government of Ehud Barak (1999-2001). He was a member of the official Israeli delegation to the Israel/Palestine peace talks at Taba under Barak and at Oslo B under Yitzhak Rabin (1994-95). Levy is a founder and Advisory Board member of Diaspora Alliance (combatting antisemitism and its conflation), a Council Member of the ECFR, and serves on the board of the European Middle East Project. He is a former Trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York and of the New Israel Fund, a co-founder of J Street, and a founding Editor of the Middle East Channel at foreignpolicy.com. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Marianne Hirsch, Professor emerita of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Professor Hirsch made news recently when she withdrew from classroom teaching because Columbia instituted the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, telling the Associated Press that “‘A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry…I just don’t see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.”’ In this podcast, Ahmed Moor and Professor Hirsch discuss the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its impact on teaching and learning as well as the changes in academia and the changing balance of influence and power between administrators and scholars. Digging into Prof. Hirsch’s areas of expertise, they discuss genocide scholarship and Germany, looking at the achievements and failures of German “memory culture” and comparing the Holocaust, the Nakba, and the genocide in Palestine today. Through a look at the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network, which Prof. Hirsch helped to found, they discuss how scholars are trying to use their expertise in fascism, mass atrocities, and political violence to name, explain, and counter the rise in authoritarianism and ethnonationalism around the world. Marianne Hirsch is William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Professor in the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former President of the Modern Language Association of America. She was born in Romania and educated at Brown University, where she received her BA/MA and Ph.D. degrees. Hirsch’s work combines feminist theory with memory studies, particularly the transmission of memories of violence across generations. Her recent books include School Photos in Liquid Time: Reframing Difference, co-authored with Leo Spitzer (University of Washington Press, 2020), and the co-edited volumes Imagining Everyday Life: Engagements with Vernacular Photography (Steidl, 2020) and Women Mobilizing Memory (Columbia University Press, 2019). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Laila Al-Arian, the executive producer for Fault Lines, an award-winning current affairs program on Al Jazeera English. They discuss what it's like to be a journalist in Gaza and how Western journalists have failed their Palestinian colleagues. They also talk about remembering the journalists Israel has killed. On August 25, 2025, the day Peter & Laila spoke, Israel killed at least five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, including an Al Jazeera cameraman. Israel has killed nearly 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since 10/7/23. Laila Al-Arian is a Washington DC-based journalist, journalist, and executive producer for Fault Lines, an award-winning current affairs program on Al Jazeera English. She has produced documentaries on subjects ranging from the Trump administration’s Muslim ban to the impact of the heroin epidemic on children and an investigation into factory conditions in Bangladesh. For her work, she has been honored with a News and Documentary Emmy, Peabody Award, Robert F. Kennedy Award in journalism, National Headliner Award, and has been nominated for 15 News and Documentary Emmys. Prior to joining Fault Lines, Laila worked for Al Jazeera English for four years, covering everything from Guantanamo Bay’s youngest detainee to the re-settlement of Iraqi refugees in the U.S. She received a BA in English literature from Georgetown University and an M.S. from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, The Independent, and other publications, and she is co-author of the book Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with researcher Randa Wahbe about the Israeli policy and practice of holding Palestinian corpses as part of the broader Israeli regime of control over Palestinians. At present, Israel holds more than 740 Palestinian bodies. Randa describes this practice of control, which can be defined as "necropolitics" and/or "necroviolence," and which includes desecration of burial sites and cemeteries. She also describes Palestinian practices of defiance and dignity that aim to counter the impact that this particular form of violence has on Palestinian families and communities. FMEP initiated this conversation after FMEP's partner and friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered on 7/28/25 by an Israeli settler who invaded Awdah's village, Umm al Khair in Masafer Yatta, and Israel then held Awdah's body, refusing to return it to his family for burial. Women in Umm al Khair, including Awdah's mother, widow, and extended family, launched a hunger strike to demand that Israel return his body for burial without conditions. 10 days after the murder, Israel returned Awdah's body and allowed his family to bury him. Read more about Awdah Hathaleen and the events surrounding his murder, Israel withholding his body, and his village's response here: "Awdah Hathaleen laid to rest after Israel withheld body for 10 days" (Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine, 8/7/25) and "Israel is holding Awdah Hathaleen’s body. His killer roams freely through his village" (Sahar Vardi and Basel Adra, +972 Magazine, 8/5/25) Also see this 2021 conversation FMEP hosted, "Palestinian Bodies Held Hostage by Israel," with human rights advocate & researcher Budour Hassan and Professor Noura Erakat about Israel’s policy of holding hostage the bodies of slain Palestinians. This conversation drew on Israeli authorities holding the body of Ahmad Erekat, Noura's cousin. Randa May Wahbe earned her PhD in anthropology from Harvard University. Her dissertation is titled “The Politics of Karameh: Palestinian Dignity and Defiance Against the Necrocarceral State” in which she investigates Israel’s exploitation of the Palestinian dead. Randa currently works in movement advocacy to support progressive groups elevate their voices in the media and is an Adjunct Professor at University of San Francisco. Previously, she served as head of international advocacy for a leading human rights organization in Palestine that defends political prisoners rights, where she led global campaigns during hunger strikes and moments of escalating violence. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, former FMEP President Matt Duss speaks with professor & author Brian Barber, who recently published No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip. The book tells the stories of day-t0-day life under decades of military occupation, building on the close relationships Brian built there through many years of academic research. Brian maintains close contact with the families and finishes the book with a section on each family's harrowing efforts to survive the current genocide in Gaza. Brian and Matt discuss the book -- how Brian came to write it, the contents of it, and the challenge of publishing it -- as well as Brian's experience of encountering Palestinian communities, overcoming unconscious biases, and withstanding direct challenges to the legitimacy of Palestinian voices in order to fulfill a promise and share Palestinian stories. Brian K. Barber is Professor Emeritus, University of Tennessee and the author of No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip. He currently lives in Washington, DC. His work has addressed how context—from parenting to political systems—impact individual and social development. Among other books, he is editor of Intrusive Parenting: How Psychological Control Affects Children and Adolescents (2002, American Psychological Association), and Adolescents and War: How Youth Deal with Political Conflict (2008, Oxford University Press). Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu. They discuss Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have long navigated Israeli racism and have faced accelerated repression over the last 22 months that has included arrests, threats, and efforts to impeach Palestinian Knesset Member Ayman Odeh and undermine Palestinian political participation inside of Israel. They talk about responses to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, including recent protests and hunger strikes led by Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as growing numbers of Jewish Israelis who are naming Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. They also look at the new diplomatic wave led by many Western states promising to recognize a Palestinian state and, specifically, how that state recognition is juxtaposed against the International Court of Justice's rulings on Israeli occupation. Finally, Diana reflects on the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the reckoning on those agreements that has never occurred. Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, analyst, and writer. She is also the Communications Director in Palestine for the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Previously, she served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Aseel Aburass, Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel and one of the authors of PHRI’s newest report: “Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide.” Peter and Aseel discuss PHRI's Israel's genocide in Gaza, focusing on Israel's destruction of Gaza's healthcare system and Israel's "deliberate destruction of conditions under which life cannot continue." They discuss the emergency need to flood Gaza with aid disbursed by the professional aid organizations with the expertise to properly distribute it, the need to hold the perpetrators of this genocide accountable, and the Israeli medical sector's complicity with the destruction of Palestinian healthcare. Aseel Aburass is a humanitarian professional with non-profit experience, specializing in human rights and health in conflict settings. She currently serves as Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, where she leads legal and humanitarian interventions, documents violations, and advocates for systemic change and accountability. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Rania Elias, former director of the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival. They speak about Palestinian culture in Jerusalem, both the powerful potential for activities like dance and music to revive Palestinian society as well as the challenges of maintaining culture under occupation. They discuss Israeli efforts to repress Palestinian culture, including through arrests, detention, and other forms of control, including against children. They look at the experience of child incarceration and the impact of repression on personal and collective levels. Rania Elias is a Palestinian cultural advocate who has dedicated her career to promoting the arts, cultural development, and artistic events. For over two decades, she led the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival, transforming Yabous from an abandoned cinema into the largest cultural hub in Jerusalem. Elias has managed and coordinated numerous cultural events, festivals, and art exhibitions, while advocating for gender equality and women's rights. She has contributed to various cultural organizations and is deeply involved in defending the social and political rights of Palestinian women. In addition to her leadership roles, she has been recognized internationally for her contributions to cultural preservation and activism, earning prestigious honors such as a nomination for the Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur of France in 2021. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, about how and why B'Tselem has concluded that Israel is now and has been committing genocide in Gaza for nearly two years. Yuli describes Israeli leaders' statements of intent, Israeli military officers' orders and actions, and the catastrophic results on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Yuli and Peter discuss the urgency for international intervention to stop Israel's brutal actions in Gaza, how Israeli Jewish society justifies the genocide, and the dangers that Palestinians face without protection from the Israeli regime, including the danger that Israel may apply its genocidal policy to other areas under its control, including the West Bank. Read B'Tselem's new report, "Our Genocide," on their website: https://www.btselem.org/publications/202507_our_genocide From the report: “For nearly two years, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, acting in a systematic, deliberate way to destroy Palestinian society there through mass killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm and creating catastrophic conditions that prevent its continued existence in Gaza. Israel is openly promoting ethnic cleansing and the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure for individuals and the group, with 2 million people starved, displaced, bombed and left by the world to die. The genocide must be stopped.” Yuli Novak is the Executive Director of B'Tselem. From 2012-2017, she was Executive Director of Breaking the Silence. In 2022, she published (in Hebrew) the memoir Who Do You Think You Are?, which will be published in English in 2025. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley History Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was personally named and targeted by Members of Congress in the recent House of Representatives hearing ostensibly on antisemitism in higher education. Beinart and Makdisi discuss the "surreal" experience of being denounced in Congress as well as the truth and power of the widespread mobilization of people from a wide range of backgrounds, faiths, and generations calling for justice and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They also discuss the long and relatively under-researched history of interconnections among Muslims, Christians, and Jewish communities in the Middle East, the importance of reading history, and the shocking brutality of the genocide in Gaza. As they close their conversation, Makdisi asserts that the urgent and essential task is to make sense of the world in terms that "humanize rather than dehumanize, historicize rather than dehistoricize, advocate for justice and equality rather than ethno-religious supremacy of any sort." Dr. Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press. He is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Executive Director Stefanie Fox about the evolution of JVP as a Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the US, strategies for growing the movement, and navigating uncomfortable coalition partners, including on the political far-right. They also discuss how JVP thinks thinks about accountability to Palestinian partners, how it approaches electoral work and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), and how to counter the ubiquitous claim that US bases its support for Israel on a commitment to protecting Jewish people rather than on U.S. geopolitical and corporate interests. Stefanie Fox, MPH (she/her) is the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a U.S. based, grassroots membership organization mobilizing Jewish communities into the movement for Palestinian rights and freedom and towards a vision of Judaism beyond Zionism. Prior to her 16 years at JVP JVP, Stefanie spent a decade doing racial and economic justice work as a grassroots community organizer, public health practitioner, and policy researcher and analyst. She has written extensively for print media with publications in outlets like Time, Boston Review, The Nation, and has appeared on MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and more. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Palestinian political analyst Iyad El-Baghdadi about Israel's regional military campaigns, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and how it's current aggressive posture reflects the attitudes of Israel's founders. Looking forward, the two discuss how the bigger picture provides a framework to suggest what might come next. Iyad El-Baghdadi is a Palestinian political analyst and director of the research center of Kawaakibi Foundation. Peter Beinart is an author, Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York For more information and resources, see: https://fmep.org/resource/iyad-el-baghdadi-on-late-stage-zionism-what-might-it-suggest-for-israels-future/ Original music by Jalal Yaquoub
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Palestinian American journalist and writer Jennifer Zaccharia about the treatment of Palestinian journalists and reporting by Israel and Western media, building on Jen’s recent Boston Review piece,”Can Anyone Hear Me? Palestinians are only allowed to exist if we don’t cause discomfort for those who seek to erase us.” They discuss the lack of accountability for Israel killing Jen’s cousin, Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022; how Western media elides truth and suppresses information in reporting on Palestine; and the choices of words, including descriptors for sexual violence, that Western media uses to describe some victims. Jennifer Zacharia is a lawyer and writer who holds a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MIA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, she has worked as a journalist and with various human and civil rights organizations. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, psychiatrist and Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), Gaza's leading mental health organization. They discuss the how GCMHP has continued to serve Gazans, train mental health providers, and offer critical services and knowledge even in these genocidal conditions. They discuss what it means to "cope" with the horrors and deprivations of genocide, as well as the hope for a ceasefire and what outsiders can do to support the survivors in Gaza. For more on the GCMHP's work, see their website; Dr. Yasser's June 2025 article, "Living Through the Unimaginable: a Testament from Gaza;" GCMHP's report "Caring for survivors: New report reveals mental health Impact on Gaza" (August 2024); the website & resources of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation; Yasser Abu-Jamei is a Palestinian psychiatrist who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), the leading independent Palestinian non-governmental organization providing mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and training for mental health professionals. He became Director General of GCMHP in January 2014, following the death of its founder, Dr. Eyad El Sarraj. In 2012, he obtained a MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry (with distinction) from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Dr. Abu-Jamei is a member of the Task Force which developed the National Mental Health Strategy 2015-2019 in Palestine. He co-led the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Technical Working Group in Gaza Strip and in 2020 co-founded the Palestine Global Mental Health Network. His interests include capacity building, neuropsychiatry, and advocacy. In addition to his research and authorship or co-authorship of some twenty academic papers, he has been certified as a Trainer of Trainers in the field of supervision and care for caregivers by the Free University of Berlin. Dr. Abu-Jamei has received several honors, including the Best Alumnus Award from the Said Foundation (2015), the Alumnus of the Year award from the University of Birmingham (2016) and the Community Resilience Award from the Rebuilding Alliance (2021). Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. She has been involved with community leadership efforts and served on many boards to build multifaceted support for Palestinian rights and a more nuanced understanding of people’s lives in the Middle East region. Among them are The Gaza Mental Health Foundation, LE.O Foundation, Friends of Mada al-Carmel, Tawassul Palestinian Art and Culture Society, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University. She has also served as a Board Trustee at Aurora University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Andy Gelbart
an excellent explanation of half the story, but it was tiring to hear the repetition of the genocide word used so enthusiastically. I lost count of it. Ori's response to the "Are you an anti Zionist" question was so confusing - so disappointing.