Unsettled

As violence continues in Gaza, a new strategy inside the Palestine solidarity movement is taking shape — one aimed not at city streets or college campuses, but at the arteries of the global economy.Around the world, dockworkers have refused to unload ships tied to Israel’s military supply chain. In Italy, Morocco, India, and Sweden, those refusals have sparked national strikes and port shutdowns. But in the United States — where 70% of Israel’s weapons originate — things look very different.This episode dives into the complicated reality facing American activists trying to “block the boat”: a divided labor movement, powerful unions with clashing politics, and a military-industrial complex that shields its most sensitive logistics behind military bases and Air Force cargo planes.We meet East Coast organizers struggling to reach conservative longshore workers, West Coast veterans who once helped stop South African apartheid cargo, and the researchers studying how social-movement unionism succeeds — and fails.What power do workers really have to stop the flow of war? And what happens when activists push that power to its limits?This is a republished episode from Things That Go Boom.Guests: Tova Fry, organizer and activist with Port Workers & Communities for PalestineKaty Fox-Hodess, Senior Lecturer at the University of SheffieldRafeef Ziadah, Senior Lecturer at Kings CollegeLara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource & Organizing CenterClarence Thomas, retired dock worker at ILWU Local 10Charmaine Chua, Acting Associate Professor of Geography at the University of California, BerkeleyAdditional Resources: Community picket lines and social movement unionism on the US docks, 2014–2021: Organizing lessons from the Block the Boat campaign for Palestine, Katy Fox-Hodess and Rafeef Ziadah, Critical SociologyReds or Rackets? The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront, Howard KimeldorfThis Union Is Famous for Opposing South African Apartheid. Now It’s Standing With Gaza., Sarah Lazare, The NationDockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area, Peter ColeUnsettled is currently producing an audio documentary about the Hammads, a Palestinian family who escaped the Genocide in Gaza and who are currently rebuilding their lives in Dublin. If you’re a long time Unsettled listener, you may have heard the voice of Isam Hammad in previous episodes. If you haven’t heard them yet, it’s a good time to go back and listen for some background: The Great March (Gaza, ep. 1)Isam Hamad: "What sort of a life is this?"An update from Isam Hamad

In remembrance of Awdah Hathaleen, who was murdered by an Israeli settler on Monday, July 28th, Unsettled Podcast has created a compilation of our previous conversations with him. Awdah was a 31-year-old father of three young sons, a teacher, a tireless activist for Palestinian rights and a frequent guest on Unsettled. He welcomed hundreds of international activists to Umm al-Kheir, his village in the West Bank, including Unsettled producers Emily and Max. The day after Awdah’s death, mourners in Umm al-Kheir were attacked by the Israeli military, who arrested several friends and family members. At the time of this episode release, many are still in jail. On Thursday, July 31st, more than seventy women in Umm al-Kheir began a hunger strike to demand the release of Awdah's body to his family, which Israel is reportedly refusing until the community promises not to bury him in Umm al-Kheir.Eyewitness Testimony of July 28th:"‘The most peaceful person’: Umm Al-Khair mourns activist slain by Israeli settler," +972 Magazine (July 29, 2025)Awdah's writings:"In Umm al-Khair, the occupation is damning us to multigenerational trauma," +972 Magazine (July 22, 2024)"We don’t just live through one home demolition — we live through them all," +972 Magazine (November 18, 2021)Awdah on Unsettled Podcast:The Birthday Party (2022 Series)"Escalation in the South Hebron Hills: Awdah Hathaleen" (January 27, 2023)Unsettled Reporting on The South Hebron Hills & Masafer Yatta

Since the small team at Unsettled started producing the show seven and a half years ago, we've published almost 100 episodes — personal stories, expert interviews and reported documentaries. To keep going in 2025, we need the support of listeners like you. We're participating in a collaborative fundraising campaign to support independent journalism called NewMatch. Now until December 31st, donations of up to $1,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar. Donate here: https://unsettled.fundjournalism.org/donate/

 In this episode of Unsettled, we hear from Ali Awad, a 26-year-old activist and translator living in Tuba, a village in a region of the west bank called Masafer Yatta in the south Hebron Hills. Ali’s livelihood and wellbeing have always been vulnerable to Israeli settler violence and threats of expulsion by the government. But since October 7th 2023,  it's been like nothing he's ever seen. Ali shares about the past few months of restricted movement, violence from settlers, and his efforts to stay in his home.We also speak to Maya Rosen, an American activist and journalist based in Jerusalem, about settler-soldier militias, and how her activism has changed. For more Maya and Ali, and for more context on the South Hebron Hills, listen to all of Unsettled's previous reporting on the area, collected in this Spotify playlist.Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Max Freedman and Ilana Levinson. Music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions.To support the longevity of the show, consider making a donation before the end of the year: https://unsettled.fundjournalism.org/donate/. Donations will allow us to continue creating episodes like this one, and increase the capacity of our team. 

With the one year anniversary of October 7th last Monday, Unsettled followed up with previous guest Matt Duss to ask him about President Biden's approach to foreign policy, military escalations in Lebanon, and what the upcoming U.S. presidential election may mean for the U.S.' policy towards Israel.Matt is a past president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and he was the foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders for five years. He is currently the Executive Vice President of the Center for International Policy. For More:Matt Duss: "This is not a moment where people are making good policy"