Claim OwnershipThe Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan
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© 2024 The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan
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A weekly podcast focused on long-form interviews on history, pop culture and society affecting the MENA region and diaspora communities. It aims to inform and illuminate the region through a non-newsy lens, exploring the MENA region's past, present and future and its people. Each episode begins with a question and an introduction to an expert who will attempt to answer it.
41 Episodes
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Winston Churchill is one of the most biographed figures in modern history, and held up as an orator and wartime strategist that turned the tide against Hitler and Nazi Germany.But how accurate is this image? And is it hiding a darker reality?This week on The Big Picture, we sit down with British-Pakistani writer, political activist and public intellectual Tariq Ali.Ali published his own biography, titled ‘Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes’. In it, he paints a different portrait - one o...
“I was definitely raised to be a Jewish leader of some kind.”With college campuses all over the US gripped by intense battles around free speech, antisemitism and Palestinian rights - the voices of young Jewish Americans have led the way. One of the boldest and most prominent voices is that of Simone Zimmerman.Zimmerman was raised in a conservative Zionist household, taught to idolise and support Israel as the highest aspiration of all young Jewish Americans like her.But as she got older...
Did Iran fall into Israel’s trap when it attacked on Saturday, or did it outmanoeuvre Netanyahu? Are we on the brink of regional war, or can the US contain the spill?When Israel bombed an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on 1 April, killing top Iranian commanders, many saw it as bait laid out by Benjamin Netanyahu to force a direct confrontation that would drag the US into a wider regional conflict. More isolated than ever on the world stage after six months of brutal war in Gaza, Israel ...
Is Europe ‘nostalgic for a racist past’ when it didn’t have to apologise for its colonialism? In this week’s episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with renowned Australian anthropologist Ghassan Hage. Hage is currently fighting against the prestigious Max Planck Society in Germany over accusations of ‘antisemitism’ over his critiques of Israel.This week, Germany’s government had to defend its ongoing military support for Israel’s war in Gaza after a legal case was filed at the Int...
In this episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with Sadiq Khan for a wide ranging conversation about Labour’s election hopes, his political regrets and his vision for the future of London.Sadiq Khan wants to make history by winning a third term as London’s mayor - but his confidence is shaky.A winter of mass protests, a smear campaign in the media and a new set of voting regulations ushered in by a hostile Tory government have pushed him to rally his supporters not to take the upcoming May e...
How do you humanise people facing unimaginable odds?That was the task Plestia Alaqad gave herself when she first put on her press vest on October 7. Freshly graduated from journalism school and dreaming of a bright future, she suddenly found herself in the middle of a war zone, with the eyes of the world watching.Armed with her phone and internet access, she began documenting the lives of her family and the people around her - finding stories of hope and resilience amid the rubble.Overnight, ...
In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein to talk about how for decades, Israel used its occupation of Palestinians as a testing ground for new weaponry, which it then packages and sells to governments around the world.In fact, Loewenstein argues that since its inception, Israel built its economy around military and surveillance technology, exporting it to some of the world’s most repressive regimes including Myanmar, Pinochet’s C...
What does coverage of Gaza tell us about how the West sees the rest of the world?A recent report into mainstream news coverage found Islamophobic and anti-Arab language was widely used in coverage of the events after 7 October, with Israeli victims described using emotive language 11 times more than Palestinian victims.It also documented how pro-Palestinian voices were frequently vilified and treated with hostility during interviews. So why is this happening?In our first episode of Season 3 o...
Why are Western societies so fearful of Islam and Muslims?One can answer this question by examining history, particularly that of European colonial powers, and the ways in which they justified their actions in the Global South by painting its peoples and religions as alien and in need of reformation.Another answer can be found in the murky ties between our modern political parties, powerful media figures and well-funded think tanks, who have all benefited from casting Muslim communities as an...
How deep does racism run within the Labour Party?Since the start of the Gaza war, there's been a growing anger within British Muslim communities at Labour's perceived lack of leadership on the Palestinian issue, and on the calls for a ceasefire.Under Sir Keir Starmer, the opposition party has towed the government line, publicly supporting Israel's devastating war, despite the outcry of many Labour MPs - many who quit in protest.But some have remained to fight.This week on The Big Picture, we ...
This week on the Big Picture, we speak with British political activist, author and deputy chair of the Stop The War Coalition, Chris Nineham.Nineham was instrumental in organising the historic anti-war demonstrations in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq - which saw millions flood the streets in major cities across the globe - and is considered the largest protest in UK history.Now he's helping bring together another global call to action on January 13 - this time to call for an immediate ceas...
It is impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the ongoing war in Gaza - the death toll, the horrific footage, the world’s inability to bring it to an end.That is compounded for Palestinians, many with family members directly impacted, who feel they’ve always been seen through a racist and islamophobic lens, and that speaking out is a political act with consequences.So how do Palestinians and Muslims navigate their feelings of anger with their faith?This week on The Big Picture, we sit down with...
What does it take to shift the UK’s position on Palestine?One lawmaker, Layla Moran, has a deeply personal drive to fight for change. Her relatives have been trapped in a Gaza Church for days, surrounded by Israeli snipers and tanks and running out of food and water.Moran has been fighting to change the position of her Liberal Democrats Party for years, to introduce policies about recognizing a Palestinian state by bringing together Israeli and Palestinian voices.Her efforts led to the party ...
Can Western leaders be held to account for their role in the Gaza war?This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with one lawyer determined to do just that, and who has already put many of them on public notice.Tayab Ali is Solicitor Advocate, a partner at the London Law firm Bindmans LLP and the director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).For years, Ali fought to bring Israeli politicians before British courts on charges of war crimes. These included former...
![[BONUS] Biden needs the Arab vote to beat Trump | The Big Picture Explained](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/yk4x8deyvdkanswtqukunesyg8on?.jpg "[BONUS] Biden needs the Arab vote to beat Trump | The Big Picture Explained")
Joe Biden has pursued a ‘no red lines’ policy in his support for Israel’s war in Gaza, despite it being deeply unpopular among his own voters.The growing anger in Arab and Muslim American communities in key swing states has pushed many to vow they won’t vote for him in the 2024 Presidential elections. While only making up 1% of the population - it’s where they live that could make all the difference - and it’s something the Democrats are starting to really worry about.This week on The Bi...
Josh Paul created a big stir when he resigned from the US State Department in protest of the sale of weapons to Israel. In a highly publicised letter, he said the rush to arm Israel’s war in Gaza was “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory” The former arms trade expert, who helped the US train the Iraqi police and the Palestinian Authority, and oversaw weapons deals to a number of controversial regimes, says he’s now speaking out in the hopes he can pressure the US into...
Is there a path back from the brink for Israel and Palestine?Under the blinding influence of fury and revenge after the October 7 attack, Israel has waged a relentless war in Gaza which killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 1.5 million people.But beyond its stated aim to eliminate Hamas, there seems to be no plan for what happens the day after, or what would stop the wheel of violence from continuing to spin.This week on The Big Picture podcast, we sit down with former ...
![[BONUS] Why American politicians are 'lying' about Gaza | The Big Picture Explained](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/tzm7yt8vw53c976pze5het2j1cnb?.jpg "[BONUS] Why American politicians are 'lying' about Gaza | The Big Picture Explained")
Are there Hamas tunnels under hospitals? Did Israel give up Gaza in 2005? Did the Palestinians reject their own state?This week on The Big Picture, we examine a widely shared interview with Hillary Clinton, praised as informative and illuminating. Except most of what she says about Gaza isn’t true - so why is she misleading the public?It could be her financial ties to Israel, and influential Israeli lobbies in the United States. She’s not the only one.We'd love to hear your thoughts on t...
Are Western leaders sleepwalking into a disaster in the Middle East?As regional tensions surge amid Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, its allies in the US and Europe have refused calls to de-escalate the conflict and prevent the staggering toll on human life from spiralling further. Western countries vowed to stand by Israel as it responds to the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas, with many invoking the language of the ‘War on Terror’ and a ‘Clash of Civilisations’. But unlike conflicts i...
![[BONUS] ‘40 beheaded babies’ : How media amplified an unconfirmed story | The Big Picture Explained](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/4rbakcbnzrh9f0hg86fu1suhg1pv?.jpg "[BONUS] ‘40 beheaded babies’ : How media amplified an unconfirmed story | The Big Picture Explained")
On Wednesday, the world woke up to newspapers plastered with a horrific headline about ‘40 Israeli babies decapitated by Hamas’. But was the story true?We dig into the dizzying, circular debate around the darkest story of an already devastating week and ask whether journalists fulfilled their duty to fact-check it, or instead helped Israel justify its policy of ‘collective punishment’ in Gaza.We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our sho...
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