PEACE TALK

Episode 11

Jonathan Sacerdoti and Moataz Khalil interview MORDECHAI KEDAR, the Israeli expert in Arabic culture who famously schooled Al Jazeera on the Quran.

Prof Kedar learnt Arabic as a schoolboy and has worked in intelligence and academia since, using his expert knowledge of the Quran, Arabic texts and the Arabic language to better understand the complexities and realities of the Middle East.

In a searingly honest interview he discusses the differences between Western and Arab news stations, the idea of creating a Palestinian Emirates instead of a single Palestinian state and the true war doctrine of Hamas.

00:00 Coming up…

02:22 Introduction to Mordechai Kedar

02:40 How to speak to the Arab media (in Arabic)

05:46 Speaking Hebrew and being Israeli in the Middle East

08:45 How did you come to learn Arabic?

11:20 The Eight State Solution

12:40 Failed Arab states and successful ones

14:33 Can democracy work in the Arab world?

17:13 Islam and war

21:08 How to ensure a Palestinian state doesn't fail

23:14 Gaza and its administrative structure

26:00 Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt

29:00 Causing offence as a communications strategy

31:09 'Al-Aqsa' is not Jerusalem: the history of the Islamic connection to Jerusalem

34:00 Palestinian and wider Islamic attitude to Jerusalem, Israel and Jews