Status/الوضع (general)

This is Episode 9 (dated 3 December 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_9_Audio.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:02pm EDT

This is Episode 8 (dated 26 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_8_-_Audio.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:16pm EDT

This is Episode 7 (dated 21 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_7_-_Audio.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:56am EDT

This is Episode 6 (dated 16 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_6_-_Audio.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:26pm EDT

This is Episode 5 (dated 12 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_5_-_Audio_November_12.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:07am EDT

This is Episode 4 (dated 7 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_4_-_Video_-_November_7.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:35am EDT

This is Episode 3 (dated 3 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_3_-_Audio_-_November_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:41am EDT

This is Episode 2 (dated 31 October 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments. 
 
The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: WOP_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:14pm EDT

We are announcing the launch of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular program available on video or audio that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem `Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program will address key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

We will present the analysis component during the last 5 minutes of the program. It will take stock of the developments presented both for the immediate moment and the broader trajectory of the struggle for Palestinian liberation.

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

Direct download: Final_Audio_Take_2_-_WOP_1_T2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:04am EDT

The country of Lebanon has been in social and economic upheaval over the past few years, sending many of its beleaguered citizens into international exile in search of basic economic survival.

VOMENA's Khalil Bendib speaks with Lebanese activist and academic Rayan El-Amine who, after a decade in his native land, has returned to the Bay area with his family, about the travails of a country that is geographically diminutive but has always loomed large in the conscience of the world.

Direct download: 11_am_april_6_2023_voices_of_the_middle_east_and_north_africa_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Now approaching seventy tons annually, gold has replaced cotton as Mali’s leading export, turning that country into Africa’s third-largest gold producer. The primary destination of artisanal gold seems to be the United Arab Emirates. By all evidence, the gold that shines in the souks of Dubai is the product of a complex web of criminal networks, terrorist groups and internationally sanctioned regimes, who use this non-industrially mined gold to launder their money.

The Emirates have long been a global hub for transnational African merchants, who travel to Dubai to purchase imported goods such as Japanese-made auto parts or Chinese-made garments. Emirati authorities and commercial players are now exploiting their country’s existing commercial status to make the UAE an important node for the trade in precious metals, especially gold. These buyers are actively financing associates in Mali and throughout the Sahel and Sahara regions, driving the expansion of artisanal mining into new areas."

Malihe Razazan speaks with Bruce Whitehouse about the reasons why Mali is emerging as the main production hub for Sahelian countries and why Dubai is the number one destination for artisanal gold trade.


Last September, Mahsa-Jina Amini, a twenty-two-year-old woman from the Kurdish region of Iran, died while in the custody of Iran’s notorious "morality police."

During the funeral in her hometown of Saghez, which was to become the epicenter of the nationwide protests in Iran, women took off their headscarves, chanting ‘Women Life Freedom’, a slogan which became an iconic chant both within Iran and beyond.

Images of young women protesters openly taking off their headscarves and burning them sent the unmistakable message to the ruling clerics that they could no longer impose their draconian and nonsensical laws on women and girls in Iran.

Throughout the country, in the schools, universities, and streets young people became the leaders of protests calling for an end to the oxymoronic "Islamic republic.“ But, as predicted, the brutality employed by the regime’s security apparatus to suppress the protests at any cost took on epic proportions. Over 500 protesters have reportedly been killed so far, including 70 children.

In addition, to this day four protesters have been executed by the state, with many more also facing the death sentence. Hundreds of protesters were also blinded by Metal Pellets and Rubber Bullets.

Furthermore, over the past six months, human rights organizations have documented the pervasive use of torture and abuse of detained protestors. A newly released report by Amnesty International, for example, reveals that the Iranian authorities have, among other torture methods, used sexual violence against imprisoned children.

Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Eltahawy, has said that "Iran’s violence against children exposes a deliberate strategy to crush the vibrant spirit of the country’s youth and stop them from demanding freedom and human rights.”
Professor Shahrzad Mojab, who is our guest today, says that much of the push for the current protests has come from young people, who are more aware than previous generations of women's issues thanks to social media. "They have their own powerful reason for wanting a change of regime: a desire for a better future."

Professor Shahrzad Mojab is a scholar, teacher, and activist, and she’s internationally known for her work on the impacts of war, displacement, and violence upon women’s learning and education.

Malihe Razazan spoke with her about the protest movement, the islamization of the education system as well as the role of young women in the protests, and started by asking her to talk about the genesis of the slogan "Women Life Freedom," and how it encapsulates the spirit and objectives of the protests in Iran.


Even by Israel’s abysmal standards, provocations against the people of Palestine have seen a dramatic escalation since the arrival of Bibi Netanyahu’s new government three months ago: hundreds of innocent civilians murdered, including many children, an outright anti-Palestinian pogrom in the West Bank that was cheered on by the minister of interior, a brutal attack on worshippers inside one of Islam’s holy sites in the middle of Ramadan, as well as statements by a key government official declaring that the Palestinian people simply does not exist.

At the same time, a historic wave of protests contesting the new government’s attempts to temper with the role of the judiciary claims to defend democracy in the holy land without a single mention of the central question of Palestinian civil and human rights. We asked asked prominent Israeli historian Ilan Pappé for his take on these recent developments.

Direct download: 11_am_Th_April_13_Voices_of_the_Middle_East.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

The 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq resulted in massive death and destruction, and fueled sectarian tensions, which culminated in a violent civil war. More than 300,000 Iraqis have died from direct war violence and 9.2 million people have been internally displaced, according to Brown University's Costs of War Project.

The brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq entrenched the country in a cycle of sectarian violence and impacted every aspect of life in Iraq, from governance to health care, infrastructure, economy and the environment and long term trauma

In a recent piece in the Guardian, one of today’s guests Professor Sinan Antoon writes, “I had always hoped to see the end of Saddam’s dictatorship at the hands of the Iraqi people, not courtesy of a neocolonial project that would dismantle what had remained of the Iraqi state and replace it with a regime based on ethno-sectarian dynamics, plunging the country into violent chaos and civil wars."

This week, we bring you the first part of our conversation about the reasons behind the catastrophic invasion of Iraq.

Direct download: 11_am_04202023_Voices_of_the_Middle_East_and_north_Africa_Mixdown_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Clashes between Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces spread to different regions in the country, creating a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. Hundreds have died and tens of thousands of Sudanese are attempting to escape the violence. Host Shahram Aghamir spoke to Prof. Khalid Medani about this topic.

Direct download: 11_am_04-27-23_Voices_of_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

On May 28th, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected for a third term by winning 52% of the popular vote. His main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu garnered 48%.

Two weeks earlier, the right wing Islamist-Nationalist coalition consisting of Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its allies had won the majority in the parliamentary election.

Shahram Aghamir spoke with Professor Cihan Tuğal about these outcomes and how and why Erdoğan was able to secure a third term in office despite a worsening economy and now chronic hyperinflation, the government's disastrous response to the deadly earthquakes, as well as his increasingly authoritarian rule.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: 11_am_Thursday_June_1st_voices_of_the_middle_east_and_north_africa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

The catastrophic loss of life in the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on February 6th have sparked numerous questions, such as: What can possibly explain such a high number of casualties and the widespread destruction of old and new buildings? Host Shahram Aghamir spoke to Cihan Tuğal about this topic.

Direct download: earth_quake_in_turkey.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

The intifada in its second week. With a new week and musical tunes specially prepared for these hot days, we will follow the course of events day by day through these seven episodes. This series of audio recordings takes place during the days of the uprising and the economic collapse that struck Lebanon in the Fall of 2019. At that time, Mohamad Ali-Nayel kept a diary in which he wrote down what was happening around him. Three years later, he recorded these episodes on a daily basis with the addition of a few voices and music composed to accompany the narration.

Direct download: day14Awdat_Al-Tarikh.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

خلال المقابلة تحدثنا بروفيسور ايزيس عن أهم المراحل المفصلية في حياتها، والتي تتأثر من الأحداث السياسية العالمية والمحلية والتي تهز كيان المرأ من الداخل وتتحول هذه الأحداث الى دافع وشغف لتوظيف المعرفة لخدمة العدالة الاجتماعية. تؤمن ايزيس بأن الانتاج المعرفي النقدي حول فلسطين بإستطاعته أن يتخطى حدود فلسطين الجغرافية والقومية، ومن الأنجع أن يتقاطع مع صراعات الشعوب المقموعة الاخرى حول العالم، حيث ان هذه الصراعات تنصب في ذات المحاور: التحرر من مباني القوة المهيمنة عالمية وإنتاج مجتمعات محتوية لأفرادها. وهنا، يكون دور البحث الأكاديمي في العلوم الاجتماعية عامة - والنسوية خاصة -  هاما لينقل أصوات الشرائح المهمشة وأن يسعى للتغيير في الواقع. تطرح ايزيس خلال المقابلة أسئلة قيمة حول فهمنا للانتاج المعرفي النقدي الفلسطيني - من منظور عابر للحدود ومتحد للأطر البنيوية والمهيمنة-  وكيف يتم توظيف النظريات المختلفة وأساليب البحث الخلاقة من أجل إتاحة المعرفة للجميع، مثلا عبر الفن والمسرح. 

بروفيسور ايزيس نصير:أستاذة مشاركة، تعلم دراسات المرأة والجندر وكذلك الدراسات الدولية في جامعة دينيسون في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية  (Denison University). بعض منشوراتها; تحرير كتاب "في غربة الوطن: الإثنية والجندر لدى الفلسطينيين في اسرائيل" بشراكة مع روضة كناعنة: كتابة وتحرير مسرحية "Weaving the Maps: Tales of Survival and Resistance" بشراكة مع ليلى فرح: وقامت ايضا بترجمة "مذ لم أمت: Ever Since I Did Not Die" لرامي العاشق. وتعمل الان مع باربراه شاو (Barbara Shaw) على تحرير مقالات عن الشراكة النسوية في التعليم والتعلُم. أبحاث ايزيس تركز على الفلسطينيين في إسرائيل، اللاجئات العراقيات في الأردن والولايات المتحدة، اللاجئات السوريات والفلسطينيات في ألمانيا، الدراما التلفزيونية السورية ما بعد 2011 وغيرها. تعمل ايزيس في لجنة تحرير مجلة International Feminist Journal of Politics. كما وعملت سابقا كباحثة لحقوق المرأة في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا ضمن مؤسسة Human Rights Watch، وضمن شبكة Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network.

سماح عباس: مرأة فلسطينية ولدت في قانا الجليل في شمال فلسطين المحتلة. تسكن القدس منذ سنوات. أنهت بإمتياز لقبها الأول ولقب ماجستير من الجامعة العبرية في القدس في الخدمة الاجتماعية العلاجية وتخصصت في الدراسات النسوية. أطروحة الماجستير خاصتها ركزت على دراسة تجربة الإعاقة اليومية لدى الفلسطينيين المقدسيين البالغين مع اعاقة بصرية و/أو حركية. فيها إرتكزت سماح على شهادات 15 مشارك/ة واستعانت بحقول معرفية نقدية مثل دراسات الإعاقة العالمية، النظرية النسوية، البرادايم الاستعماري الاستيطاني وغيرها. سماح ناشطة نسوية وناشطة في مجال حقوق الأشخاص مع إعاقة، وتعمل اليوم كأخصائية مٌعالجة لأطفال متضرري الصدمات الجنسية في القدس.

Direct download: __-___.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

تمّ إجراء المقابلة معه قبل وفاته بعدة أشهر، تحدّث د. عبد الستّار قاسم عن النقاط المفصلية في مسيرة حياته، والتي أثّرت على مجمل النشاطات التي يقوم بها على المستويين الشخصي والعام. ‏وتحدّث عن قلة الإنتاج المعرفي النقدي حول فلسطين وعن صعوبة إنشاء مساحة نقدية فلسطينية تشجع الفكر النقدي مع توضيح حيثيات المجتمع الفلسطيني الذي يحول دون ذلك، بالإضافة إلى شحّ تمويل المراكز البحثية والندوات والمؤتمرات العلمية. ووضّح أنّ المؤسسات العلمية هي ليست مؤسسات فلسطينية بقدر ما هي مؤسسات فصائلية أو قبلية، وهذا يؤثر على الإنتاج، وحتى لو أعطى إنتاج فالإنتاج يكون هزيلًا على المستوى العلمي العالمي المطلوب، وإنما يكون منحازًا مسبقًا، ويُكتب لصالح هذا الفصيل أو ذاك، لأنه في النهاية يريد أن يرضي الجهة التي تمول مركز الأبحاث، وهذا الشيء كان عصيّا على قبول د. عبد الستار قاسم. وفي هذا السياق أشار د. قاسم إلى ضرورة عدم تسييس المؤسسات التعليمية؛ فالتسييس –برأيه- يخرّب المؤسسات العلمية والتعليمية (المدارس والجامعات). والمفترض بهذه المؤسسات أن تقوم وفق أسس ومبادئ ومنطلقات علمية.

عبد الستار قاسم: كاتب ومفكر ومحلل سياسي وأكاديمي فلسطيني من بلدة دير الغصون قضاء طولكرم، وأستاذ العلوم السياسية والدراسات الفلسطينية في جامعة النجاح الوطنية في نابلس، وهو معروف بمواقفه الرافضة للمفاوضات مع إسرائيل، ومواقفه المنتقدة للسلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية. وُلد عام 1948، وتوفي عام 2021. صدر له 25 كتابًا، وحوالي 130 بحثًا علميًا، وآلاف المقالات أبرزها: الفلسفة السياسية التقليدية، سقوط ملك الملوك (حول الثورة الإيرانية)، الشهيد عز الدين القسام، مرتفعات الجولان، التجربة الاعتقالية، أيام في معتقل النقب، حرية الفرد والجماعة في الإسلام، المرأة في الفكر الإسلامي، سيدنا إبراهيم والميثاق مع بني إسرائيل، الطريق إلى الهزيمة، الموجز في القضية الفلسطينية، قبور الثقفين العرب.

لبابة صبري: فلسطينية مقدسية، محاضرة في جامعة بيت لحم في فلسطين، وباحثة في مجال علم الاجتماع وعلم الإنسان، متخصصة بعلم اجتماع الفن والأدب والمسرح، رسالة الدكتوراة حول أنثروبولوجيا ممثلي مسرح الحكواتي في القدس، ورسالة الماجستير حول سيسولوجيا روايات الفلسطيني غسان كنفاني بعنوان "الرؤية الفكرية والمخيم الفلسطيني في روايات غسان كنفاني". المقالات البحثية المنشورة: "علم اجتماع مجموعات التكيف/ النازحين في فلسطين داخل حدود 67: دراسة مقارنة بين أهالي قرية صرعة وقرية لفتا في مخيم قلنديا للاجئين" 2006، "علم اجتماع الأدب: دراسة لنظرية جولدمان" 2007، "صناعة الحب والكراهية" 2008، "البنية الفكرية في روايات غسان كنفاني" 2008، "مراجعة نقدية لمقال صناعة الثقافة ل Adorno و Horkheimer: التنوير بوصفه خداعاً جماهيرياً" 2009، "بنية الثقافة والمجتمع في المدينة الفلسطينية" 2016.

Direct download: abd.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

What has Security in Context achieved in the past two years? And what does the future hold for the project? In this episode, we hear from some of the key people leading Security in Context’s research network, including: Omar Dahi, Project Director of Security in Context and Economics Professor at Hampshire College; Shana Marshall, Associate Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and Assistant Research Faculty member at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs; Pete Moore, Associate Professor of Politics at Case Western Reserve University; Lisa Hajjar, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Firat Demir, Professor of Economics at the University of Oklahoma and co-director of University of Oklahoma's Center for Peace and Development; Rabie Nasser, economist, researcher and co-founder of the Syrian Center for Policy Research; and Fernando Brancoli, Assistant Professor of International Security and Geopolitics at the Institute of International Relations and Defense at the University of Rio de Janeiro.

Direct download: sic_ep6_Landscapes_of_Insecurity.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In August 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an act expanding benefits and healthcare to U.S. veterans exposed to toxins in burn pits. But what about Iraqi exposure to burn pits? Kali Rubaii's research addresses their longterm diffuse exposure at all stages of their life, with effects that are varied and widespread. Rubaii has worked closely with Iraqi families since 2009, leading a team of doctors, epidemiologists and activists to conduct a case control study among families experiencing birth defects that may be linked to burn pits and bombings. In this interview, she speaks with Malihe Razazan about her work.


Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
----

Kali Rubaii earned her PhD in Anthropology from University of California, Santa Cruz and her BA in International Relations from University of California, Davis.

Specialization: displacement, ecologies of war, spatial politics, forensic ethnography, health justice, Middle East.

Kali Rubaii is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University, interested in sharpening resistance strategies that target the vulnerable nexus between coercive power and the physical world.

Her research explores the environmental impacts of less-than-lethal militarism, and how military projects (re)arrange political ecologies in the name of “letting live.” Her book project, Counter-resurgency, examines how farmers in Anbar, Iraq struggle to survive and recover from transnational counterinsurgency projects.

She is currently conducting fieldwork for two ethnographic projects: Taking toxicity as an analytic for material politics, she is working with a team of doctors, epidemiologists, and environmental activists to document the links between the epidemic of birth defects in Fallujah and military environmental damage. She is also researching the corporate-military enterprise of concrete production in post-invasion Iraq and how it enforces global regimes of class and citizenship.

Direct download: Kali_Rubai.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

​​في هذا الحوار يخوض القس متري راهب في مسيرته الحياتية كلاهوتي ومفكّر وراعي لكنيسة في بيت لحم، فالانتفاضة الأولى والثانية عرضت رعيّته في بيت لحم لعنف الاحتلال الشرس والمدمّر وفرضت أسئلة روحية جديدة التي دفعته الى تأسيس ما يسميه بال"اللاهوت السياقي"(Contextual Theology). "قراءة الكتاب المقدّس في عيون فلسطينية" بالنسبة للقس راهب تحصل من خلال خلق حوار ما بين التعاليم الروحيّة المسيحية والتاريخ الفلسطيني العريق والحديث حيث تصبح التجربة الفلسطينية المعاصرة مفتاحًا معرفيًّا وروحيًّا لفهم الانجيل. يتحدّث القس راهب أيضًا عن مركزية التحليل التاريخي الجيوسياسي للكتاب المقدّس، فهو انعكاس، بل منتوج، لصيرورة تاريخية محددة ما زالت تستمر حتى يومنا هذا لشعبٍ يحاول فهم واقعه وبناء أمل للخلاص داخله في ظل عنف الإمبراطوريات المختلفة التي توالت في سيطرتها عليه ومارست حروبها المختلفة على أرض وطنه. يناقش القس أيضًا في هذا الحوار أهمية الإنتاج المعرفي والفني الفلسطيني في صيانة الهوية التاريخية الفلسطينية، ودور جامعة دار الكلمة في بيت لحم التي يترأسها في بناء المشروع الجماعي الاجتماعي والسياسي الذي يجمع بين الفن والبحث والفكر واللاهوت لصيانة السردية الفلسطينية بشكلٍ يعود الى الجذور العريقة والمتعددة الطبقات من دون إقصاء أي طبقة، مشروع يدفع الأجيال القيادية القادمة لإعادة تخيّل التاريخ الفلسطينية والمستقبل الفلسطيني بشكل نقدي، ديناميكي وتحرري ينطلق من السؤال المصيري الأهم: "أيّ فلسطين نريد؟"

متري راهب: القس والدكتور متري الراهب هو من مواليد وسكّان بيت لحم، وهو لاهوتي وباحث فلسطيني ومؤسس ورئيس لجامعة دار الكلمة في بيت لحم. حصل القس على درجة الدكتوراه في اللاهوت من جامعة فيليبس في ماربورغ عام 1987، ألمانيا، ودكتوراه فخرية من جامعة كونكورديا في شيكاغو عام 2003. عمله البحثي والكتابي كثيف جدًّا، حيث ألف العشرات من المقالات، وعمل كمدير تحرير لمجلة اللقاء للدراسات الدينية والتراثية في الأرض المقدسة، وحرر ما يزيد عن ٢٤ كتابًا وألّف حوالي ال ١٦ كتاب: من بينها: "الصليب في السياقات: المعاناة والفداء في فلسطين", "الإيمان بوجه الإمبراطورية: الكتاب المقدس بعيون فلسطينية," "اختراع التاريخ: قرن من التفاعل بين اللاهوت والسياسة في فلسطين والكتاب المقدس بعيون فلسطينية," وهو ايضًا موّلّف شريك مع سائر القياديين المسيحين في فلسطين لوثيقة وحركة "كايروس فلسطين" المعروفة ايضًا بوثيقة "وقفة حق". كتبه ومقالاته العديدة ترجمت حتى الآن إلى إحدى عشرة لغة. اما بالنسبة لعمله الرعوي والكنسي، شغل القس متري الراهب كراعي لكنيسة الميلاد الإنجيلية اللوثرية في بيت لحم من 1987 حتى 2017 ورئيسًا لسينودس الكنيسة الإنجيلية اللوثرية في الأردن وفلسطين من 2011 إلى 2016. في عام 2018 انتخب القسيس لعضوية المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني والمجلس المركزي الفلسطيني. أسس القسيس راهب العديد من الجمعيات والمنظمات الثقافية والتعليمية والاجتماعية وحتى الصحية. منها المنتدى الأكاديمي المسيحي للمواطنة في العالم العربي (CAFCAW)، دار الندوة الدولية التي تهدف الى تقدّم المجتمع المدني في فلسطين، مركز دار الكلمة للصحة والعافية، وهو عضو مؤسس وعضو مجلس إدارة مكتبة فلسطين الوطنية، ومؤسس ورئيس منظمة كونسورتيوم ديار.

 

 

Direct download: Raheb_Final_Master_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Shahram Aghamir speaks with Nima Tootkaboni, who led an organization called Students for Equality and Freedom in Iran during the 2000s, about the current situation in Iran and how it compares to his experiences in the past.

Nima Tootkaboni is currently a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the Johns Hopkins University.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)

Direct download: interview_with_Nima.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in facial recognition, surveillance tools and internet technology to monitor the Iranian population, block or slow down the internet, suppress dissent and cover up the regime's widespread violent suppression of recent protests. Amir Rashidi spoke with Malihe Razazan about this subject.

Amir Rashidi is an internet security and digital rights researcher. He has over 10 years of experience in digital security and rights in Iran. Rashidi is an expert on Iranian Internet censorship, cyber-attacks, and security trends. He has conducted tens of digital security audits, trainings, and rapid response actions for Iranian human rights defenders and organizations. He is in a unique position to assess the security risks and needs of Iranian organizations, especially those who are in contact with at-risk people, such as activists and journalists. Rashidi worked as the internet security and digital rights researcher at the Center for Human Rights in Iran, where he conducts in-depth research, data collection and analysis on internet security and access in Iran, internet policy and infrastructure, and the tools and methods of state-sponsored censorship and hacking.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA). 

Direct download: interview_with_amir_rashidi.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

Khalil Bendib spoke with Berlin based exiled journalist and democracy activist Hossam El-Hamalawy about Egypt’s horrific human rights and environmental record since the 2013 coup. Is the Sinai peninsula such a suitable venue for a worldwide meeting on climate change?

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: Interview_with_Hossam_el_hamalawy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:15am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day7_Inhiar.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day6_Rakst_al-Hala.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day5_Al-Mazameer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day4_Al-Sanooj.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day3_Thajj.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:12am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day2_Al-Aj.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:07am EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Day1_Tishrin.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:01pm EDT

تدور احداث مسلسل التسجيلات الصوتية خلال أيام الانتفاضة والانهيار الاقتصادي الذي ضرب لبنان في خريف سنة ٢٠١٩. في تلك الفترة أبقيت دفتر يوميات دونت فيه ما كان يحدث من حولي. واليوم بعد ثلاثة سنوات قمت بتسجيل هذه اليوميات او الحلقات بشكل يوم بيوم مع إضافة القليل من الأصوات والموسيقى التي تم تأليفها لتواكب السرد. وسنقوم بتنزيل اليوميات على شكل قائمة أسبوعية تتألف من سبع حلقات (أيام). ولا بد من الإشارة الى نوعية التسجيل والإنتاج الصوتي التي ستلاحظون انها ستتحسن تباعا مع مرور الأيام وستتغير التيمة الصوتية مع كل قائمة تشغيل جديدة عند كل أسبوع. ابقوا معنا المزيد سيأتي قريبا.

إنتاج وتقديم محمد علي نايل

Direct download: Intro_Moqadima_tk2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:47am EDT

In conversation with Shahram Aghamir, Dr. Utku Balaban discusses the connection between industrialization and what some call 'Islamic Revivalism' in Turkey. Babalan argues that focus on the Islamic-Secularist rift overemphasizes the cultural and political causes of tensions between the secularists and Islamists, and overlooks connections between Islamic Revivalism and industrialization of Muslim majority countries after the 1970s.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA). 

Direct download: 11_am_Friday_Feb_18_2022_Voices_of_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

On March 1, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing 4 Palestinian families slated for eviction in East Jerusalem to stay in their homes for now. What is the significance of this ruling? Jerusalem-based Palestinian activist Amany Khalifa speaks with Malihe Razazan about Israel's forced expulsion of Palestinians from Jerusalem and the south.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: FINAL_INTERVIEW_WITH_AMANY.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

This week, we speak with Jody Sokolower about her new book Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village.

Later in the program, Madhdis Keshavarz of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association joins us to talk about the organization’s recent statement in response to the biased coverage of the Ukraine crisis.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: 11_am_friday_march_25_voices_of_the_middle_east_and_north_africa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

We discuss green energy and its relationship to colonialism in North Africa with Hamza Hamouchene.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

---

Hamza Hamouchene is a London-based Algerian researcher-activist, commentator and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), and Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA). He previously worked for War on Want, Global Justice Now and Platform London on issues of extractivism, resources, land and food sovereignty as well as climate, environmental, and trade justice. He is the author/editor of two books: “The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb” (2017) and "The Coming Revolution to North Africa: The Struggle for Climate Justice" (2015). He also contributed book chapters to “Voices of Liberation: Frantz Fanon” (2014) and “The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism” (2016). His other writings have appeared in the Guardian, Middle East Eye, Counterpunch, New Internationalist, Jadaliyya, openDemocracy, ROAR magazine, Pambazuka, Nawaat, El Watan and the Huffington Post.

Direct download: green_energy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used.

Listen to the second part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. 

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)


From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used.

Listen to the first part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. 

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).


A conversation with well-known South African peace and justice activist Na'eem Jeenah about the erasure of Desmond Tutu's support for Palestinian rights from obituaries in mainstream media. 

In the second part of this episode, we speak with Tara Sepehri Far, Senior Iran Researcher at HRW about the death of jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: 2_pm_jan_12_2022_voices_of_the_middle_east_and_north_africa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian-Canadian activist and writer, currently based in Vancouver, who was recently subjected to a media and political campaign aimed at silencing him and those fighting for Palestinian rights in Canada. Attempts to criminalize Barakat originated in an article published in the right-wing newspaper The National Post, and quickly became subject of debate in the Canadian Senate, with a conservative senator going so far as to asking the government to expel Barakat, a Canadian citizen, from the country. The campaign against Khaled Barakat is one of many smear campaigns being launched against pro-Palestinian voices, a phenomenon that seems to be increasing nowadays.

Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective.

The Security in Context podcast features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics particularly as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network. Our ultimate goal is to provide a critical representation of security related issues, paying special attention to the Global South, often misrepresented in mainstream media coverage.

Direct download: status_hour_khaled.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

At the end of March 2022, in a bold and historic step backwards for the cause of peace in the Middle East, Morocco was one of four Arab countries meeting in a special summit with Israel and the US.

Although distant Iran was central to the discussions held during this meeting, the central issue of Palestine never broached during this summit, which took place in the heart of historic Palestine.

Khalil Bendib spoke with Samia Errazouki, a journalist formerly based in Morocco and a PhD candidate in early modern Northwest African history at UC Davis, about Morocco’s participation in this summit and what might be motivating the Moroccan regime to go against the wishes of its own people.


Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).


VOMENA host Shahram Aghamir speaks with writer and journalist Neda Toloui-Semnani about her memoir "They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents" and the journey of writing her family's story before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)


According to the late Pakistani writer and revolutionary activist Eqbal Ahmad, the Palestinian struggle for self-determination stirs the emotions of the entire world, particularly the nations and societies of the formerly colonized world. In this episode we explore the Palestinian struggle for liberation from the perspective of solidarity movements.

Our guests include: Mouin Rabbani, an independent analyst specialized in Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict; Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and associate professor at Rutgers University; Lina Meruane, an author and professor at the Madrid branch of the New York University; and Yara Hawari, an academic, writer, and senior policy analyst at Al-Shabaka.

Direct download: sic_ep04.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

دردشة مع المغنية والمؤلفة الموسيقية ديمة أورشو عن فنها وحياتها و تجربة التعليم العالي التي خاضتها في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.
 

 

 

Direct download: Dima_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

شاعر من العراق، فاز بجائزة يوسف الخال للشعر سنة ١٩٨٨ وأصدر أكثر من عشر مجموعات شعرية كان آخرها سادن الحبر، كما أطلق وحرر مجلة ملامح للشعر والنقد، وكتب في النقد الأدبي والمقالة الصحفية وشعر الأطفال.
 

 

 
Direct download: Bassem_Final_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Host Katty Alhayek speaks with Farah Atoui about her work in relation to questions of migration, solidarity, and decolonial creative processes and practices.
--
Farah Atoui is a Ph.D. Candidate in Communication Studies at McGill University, Montreal. Her doctoral research investigates the visual culture of the current so- called migration/refugee crisis. She is also an independent programmer/curator, and a member of the Regards Palestiniens and Regards Syriens screening collectives.
Direct download: Farah_Atoui_Status_interview_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Host MK Smith speaks with Syrian actress Raghad Al Makhlouf about her experiences both professionally and personally after the revolution and events of 2011 in Syria.

Raghad Al Makhlouf is a theater and TV actress who has participated in over 18 plays and appeared in over 300 hours of television drama series in Syria. She acted in three short films, and one feature film. She received bachelor’s degree in acting from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria.

Between 2005 and 2011, Raghad was a teaching assistant at the Acting Department at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. She believes in the power of theater as a healing and therapy medium for oppressed populations. She was a member of an interactive theater group in Syria that toured towns and villages and engaged local residents trying to address local problems and challenges through theater.  She also led and designed acting workshops that provided psychosocial support for young Syrian refugees in Lebanon to help them overcome trauma.

In 2021, Raghad earned Master of Fine Arts in classical acting from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University.

When she is not performing, Raghad enjoys to eat, sing, dance, and explore the unknown.

Direct download: Acting_Out_Syria_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00pm EDT

Georgetown University graduate student Aisha Jitan speaks with Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer Dr. Samah Jabr on the subject of mental health in Gaza while challenging Western ideas of how trauma is held and carried in one's body. By drawing upon her experiences as a health care practitioner, the director of the mental health unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and a trainer of mental health professionals in Gaza, Dr. Jabr sheds light upon the deep-rooted effects of living under Israeli occupation and in the case of Gaza, siege. Dr. Jabr's insights are useful for application beyond the case of Palestine, as she radically challenges notions of how mental health ought to be treated under conditions of injustice and oppression and how healing work can be used toward the liberation of a people.

Guest Bio
Dr. Samah Jabr is a Palestinian Jerusalemite psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer. Since 2016, she has been Chair of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and has written columns about the psychological consequences of the Israeli occupation in Palestine since the 2000s. Inspired by anticolonial psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, her areas of interest include mental health, colonialism and universal human rights.

Direct download: GazaHealth_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرع المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011 وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه.

Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.

Direct download: fr3i_intrvw_p2_fnl.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرع المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011 وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه. Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.
Direct download: fr3i_intrvw_p1_fnl.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode of "Security in Context," we explore how the impacts of climate change will be unequally felt around the world, and the negative side of the politics of the climate movement in the global North. It includes interviews with Betsy Hartmann (professor emeritus at Hampshire College and author of "The America Syndrome: Apocalypse, War, and Our Call to Greatness"), Anne Hendrixson (senior policy analyst at Challenging Population Control / Collective Power for Reproductive Justice), Max Ajl (author of "A People's Green New Deal" and associated researcher with the Tunisian Observatory for Food Sovereignty and the Environment), Fikret Adaman (professor of economics at Boğaziçi University and IPC Mercator Senior Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center), and Kasia Paprocki (author of "Threatening Dystopias: The Global Politics of Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh" and associate professor at the London School of Economics).

Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. It features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics, as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network.

Direct download: E3_COMPLETE_FINAL_MP3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

This is a conversation with Norman Finkelstein hosted by Jadaliyya co-editor Mouin Rabbani about Israeli apartheid. This episode of Connections Podcast features a discussion of the recent Human Rights Watch Report A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, its political context, and potential implications.

This interview is the third episode of Connections Podcast. Connections offers timely and informative interviews on current events and broader policy questions, as well as themes relevant to knowledge production. It combines journalism, analysis, and scholarship. Connections will focus primarily but not exclusively on the Middle East.

For more from Connections, visit: https://www.statushour.com


For most of a century, the region including north Africa and large swaths of west Africa all came under one and the same flag: the red white and blue of the French colonial empire. Following the loss of Louisiana in the early nineteenth century, which at the time encompassed about one third of what we know today as the United States of America, and partly to compensate for that tremendous loss, France began colonizing large swaths of North and West and central Africa, bringing under its rule close to a third of the continent’s total area.

Two hundred years later, and more than half a century after its former colonies regained their independence, France is struggling to deal with its problematic legacy in that part of the world, finding itself embroiled once again in a bloody conflict six thousand kilometers from home that shows no signs of resolving itself. Operation Barkhane, launched in 2014 by then-president Francois Hollande ostensibly to restore order in Mali and protect France from the consequences of out-of-control terrorism south of the border has become a major strategic embarrassment for the once undisputed master of that land and is proving a costly challenge to a now mid-size world power that is no longer able to spread its wings as far as it once did.

Against that backdrop, locally, the Malian state has to date proven incapable of asserting its authority over large areas of its own territory and this power vacuum has caused serious problems for Mali’s neighbors, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, and turning the area known as the Sahel into an incubator for terrorist and insurrectionist movements of all stripes.

Prof. Bruno Charbonneau at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean talks about the recent developments in Mali and how this thorny situation is affecting the Maghreb, France and neighboring areas of West Africa.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: recent_developments_in_Mali_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

نستضيف في هذه الحلقة الفنانة والكاتبة المصرية دينا محمد، لنتحدث باستفاضة عن روايتها المصوّرة «شبّيك لبيك»، بالإضافة إلى سوق إنتاج الكومكس والقصص المصوّرة في الوطن العربي، وأهمّ تيّارات هذا المجال. بودكاست «رفوف» من إنتاج جدلية.

Direct download: omar_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Host Katty Alhayek speaks with Dr. Sahar Mohamed Khamis about her research interests and current projects. The interview focuses on Khamis's work on gender activism, the gender digital gap, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Arab women.

--

Dr. Sahar Khamis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Women’s Studies and the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an expert on Arab and Muslim media, and the former Head of the Mass Communication Department at Qatar University. Dr. Khamis holds a Ph.D. in Mass Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester in England. She is a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago. She is the co-author of the books: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). She is the co-editor of the book: Arab Women’s Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Direct download: Sahar_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode On The Square commemorates Black August. Sapelo Square Senior Editor Su’ad Abdul Khabeer speaks with community activist, playwright, freedom fighter, and chairperson of the National Jericho Movement, Jihad Abdulmumit, about Freedom and Self-Determination.

In this wide-reaching conversation Abdulmumit tells the story of the direct role he played in the Black freedom struggles of the 1960s/1970s and the heavy price he paid for his involvement in the Black Liberation Movement. Abdulmumit served 23 years of his life in prison as a domestic political prisoner and in this discussion he sheds light on the plight of political prisoners and how Islam shapes his commitment to the Black Liberation struggle. Abdulmumit also speaks to the role the arts play in the quest for freedom and self-determination and shares his thoughts on how the struggle for freedom and self-determination has changed since the 1970s. 

To the question, “What is your Black Muslim theme song?,” Abdulmumit chose Nina Simone’s “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” – with lyrics added by his artist children to include the Muslim experience.

See these resources to learn more about: 

Black August 

Domestic political prisoners and the Jericho Movement 

The Black Panther Party

The Black Liberation Army 

The Spirit of Mandela October Tribunal

This episode includes excerpts from archival clips of the Black Panther Party preserved in the National Archives. It also includes a clip from an interview with Nina Simone.

On The Square’s theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtest of Maydan podcast.

Direct download: On_The_Square_EP6.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode of On The SquareSapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Tulani Salahu-Din, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), about Muslim artifacts at the museum. Salahu-Din provides the backstory for some of the objects at the museum, including those featured as part of Sapelo Square’s Black History Month 2021 specialan egg carton from the Nation of Islam’s Muslim Farmsa tape recorder used by Malcolm X at Mosque No. 7, and a pendant the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave to his wife Sister Clara Muhammad as described by their grand-daughter Amirah Muhammad in an oral history. They also talk about the importance of preserving Muslim material culture, and steps everyone can take in collecting and recording their family histories.

To the question, “If Black Islam had a theme song, what would it be?,” Salahu-Din chose Quincy Jones’s “What Good Is a Song?”

To learn more about some of the Muslim artifacts featured at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), visit Sapelo Square’s Black History Month 2021 feature, or search the online collections at NMAAHC. To find out more information about the museum’s artifacts and public programming around themes of religion and spirituality, visit the Center for Study of African American Religious Life.

Theme music by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

Direct download: On_the_Square_Ep_5.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture Editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with author and educator Amani-Nzinga Jabbar about her book, I Bear Witness, the craft of writing, writing about difficult subject matter, and her experiences as a Black Muslim woman writer.

Amani’s book, I Bear Witness, is available for purchase on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3u70XZz

You can connect with Amani and get updates on her writing on Instagram @authoramani and Twitter @Author_Amani and on Facebook.  

On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan podcast.

Direct download: On_The_Square_EP4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Sapelo Square Senior Editor and On The Square curator Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer about her latest work, Umi’s Archive. The multimedia research project digs deep into the life of Dr. Su’ad’s mother, Amina Amatul Haqq (neé Audrey Weeks), to explore the meanings of being Black in the world. Dr. Su’ad shares her reasons for assembling and sharing the archive, some of her surprising discoveries, and the importance of archives to telling fuller, more nuanced histories of Black Muslim women and their communities.

To learn more about Umi’s Archive and view online exhibitions, visit umisarchive.com and follow on Instagram @umisarchive.

To the question, “If Black Islam had a theme song, what would it be?,” Dr. Su’ad chose Suad El-Amin’s “Shahadah.”

Opening contains audio from a video performance by Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, featured in “Why Umi’s Archive?”

This episode includes an excerpt from Suad El-Amin’s “Shahadah.”

On The Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

Direct download: On_The_Square_EP3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with renowned midwife, birthwork historian, and doula educator Shafia Monroe, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, the leading birthwork training institute in the United States for Black midwives and doulas and the first nonprofit in the nation to promote home birth in Black communities and elevate Black midwifery.

They discuss the history and traditional practices of Black midwifery, the contemporary challenges of Black maternal and infant health disparities, and how birthworkers can and are impacting positive change for Black families.

Black Maternal Health Week is April 11–17. Learn more about it and how you can get involved at https://blackmamasmatter.org/bmhw/. More information about the Momnibus Act mentioned in the episode can be found at https://blackmaternalhealthcaucus-underwood.house.gov/Momnibus.

On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

Direct download: On_The_Square_EP2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode our host, Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer talks with Siddeeqah Sharif Fichman an Afro-Native Muslim and community advocate and Hazel Gómez, a faith-based community organizer, about Being Muslim on Turtle Island. This deep discussion digs into questions such as What would make a Muslim a settler or indigenous to North America? How might settler thinking shape how we live as Muslims today? What are the responsibilities of Muslims, as a whole, to the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas?

During the conversation, Hazel reads the poem “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levins Morales (shared below) and Siddeqah introduces us to the song “Bilalian Man” by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman.* To the question, if Black Islam had a theme song what would it be? Hazel chose “Allah” by Khalil Ismail and Siddeeqah chose “Bilalian Man” as her Black Muslim theme song. The song excerpt in the episode is sung by Siddeeqah’s mother, Sister Sabreen Sharif and full lyrics are below. Not sure what Bilalian means? Check out this article by Precious Rasheeda Muhammad. Also be sure to check out the music of Afro-Native Muslim performing artist Maimouna Youseff (Mumu Fresh).

*Siddeeqah misspoke in the episode and this particular song is by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman.

On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

Direct download: On_The_Square_EP1_revised.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

On October 1st, Iraqis took to the streets in Baghdad to mark the second anniversary of the massive protest movement which began in October 2019. They were met with violence by state security forces and militias backed by the Iraqi regime. Almost 600 demonstrators were killed and more than 30,000 were injured.

Shahram Aghamir spoke to Nabil Salih, an Iraqi journalist, photographer, and writer, about the October 1st protest which happened just 9 days before Iraq's parliamentary elections.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).


In this special episode, Huma Gupta and China Sajadian discuss abolition geographies and environmental movements with renowned geographer and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore.

She is the author of the award-winning Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California and several forthcoming books, including Change Everything, Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation, and Stuart Hall: Selected Writings on Race and Difference, co-edited with Paul Gilroy. In this interview, Gilmore explains her research on carcerality through a global, comparative lens, from the long traditions of emancipation within Black Marxism, to popular struggles against TIAA-CREF land grabs in Brazil, to the contemporary challenges of giant monopsonies like Amazon.

If abolition must be green, Gilmore insists, it must also be anti-capitalist and internationalist. Such an approach to abolition not only underscores how different parts of the world are, in Gilmore’s words, partitioned and re-partitioned by capitalism -- but also the ways that dispossessed, criminalized, and vulnerable people across seemingly disparate contexts come to recognize their fundamental connections to each other.

Direct download: Ruth_Wilson_Gilmore_Interview_Edited_Interview.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode, host Anita Fuentes investigates the implications of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan from different angles with the help of guests Rafia Zakaria and Professor Michael Klare. Rafia Zakaria talks about her new book, Against White Feminism (2021), and how it ties into Western media coverage of Afghan women. Fuentes also speaks to Professor Michael Klare, defense correspondent at The Nation magazine, about his take on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan; a very different one to those being portrayed in mainstream media. The episode ends with a September media roundup, a brief section in which news articles, reports, and other materials focusing on (in)security issues are discussed.

Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. It features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics, as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network.

Direct download: E1_COMPLETE_FINAL.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

Khalil Bendib speaks with Samia Errazzouki about the rising tension between Spain and Morocco after thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into the North African enclave of Ceuta, considered Spanish territory. It is believed that Moroccan border guards eased the crossing of the migrants in response to Spain's hosting of Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the independence of Western Sahara.

Direct download: interview_with_Samia_Erazzouki.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

VOMENA's Khalil Bendib speaks with London-based Algerian activist and researcher Hamza Hamouchene about the way these multiple catastrophes are affecting Algeria and how people are coping.

 

 

 
Direct download: interviw_with_hamza-_algeria.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, Cihan Tugal, examines this topic with VOMENA host Shahram Aghamir.

Direct download: interview_with_cihan_tugal_on_turkey.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

On August 10th 2021, Hamid Nouri, a former prosecutor in Iran, went on trial in Sweden for his alleged role in the executions of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. The historic trial against Nouri, will hear testimonies from dozens of witnesses and it will be the first time that one of the worst crimes of the past 40 years in Iran will be examined in a court of law.

In July 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to bring an end to the brutal eight-year war with Iraq. Over the next two months, under the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, political prisoners around the country were secretly brought before a tribunal panel that would later become known as the Death Commission. Thousands of men and women were condemned to death, and many buried in mass graves in Khavaran Cemetery in the vicinity of Tehran.

Through eyewitness accounts of survivors, research by scholars and memories of children and spouses of the deceased, Nasser Mohajer's new book "Voices of a Massacre," reconstructs the events of that bloody summer, which has still not officially acknowledged by the Iranian government.

VOMENA host Malihe Razazan spoke with Nasser Mohajer about The 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners, the significance of Hamid Nouri and the charges against him.

Direct download: Copy_of_stauts_interview_with_nasser_mohajer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

A year after the blast in the port of Beirut, Lebanon sinks into a severe economic crisis which the World Bank ranks in the top 10, and possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. Electricity, gas and even medicine are in short supply in the country. Angry residents wait in line for hours to fill their car tanks while others lucky enough to be able to connect to the internet run online campaigns asking Lebanese expats visiting the country for the summer, to bring with them the much needed medicines for loved ones.

How did the blast from the Beirut port exacerbate the current economic and political crisis in the country and what's life like today for millions of Lebanese people and for the victims of the port blast and their families?

VOMENA Host Mira Nabulsi speaks with Lara Bitar, the editor in chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization dedicated to long-form and in-depth journalism in the public interest.

Direct download: interview_with_lina_battar.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:33pm EDT

In this episode, Huma Gupta speaks with Rawan Maki about fast fashion and the question of sustainability in Bahrain and beyond. They explore the past, present, and speculative futures of the fashion industry. Maki traces the life-cycle of the clothing we wear everyday, mapping its geographies from the crops and petroleum necessary to produce organic and synthetic fibers, the individuals who farm, weave, and sew the garments to shipping, distribution, tailoring and purchasing networks. Since fast fashion is a leading contributor to pollution, resource depletion, and climate change, this episode evaluates the promise of alternative frameworks like "slow fashion" and the social, psychological, and artistic shifts that it requires.

Direct download: 210122_Rawan_Maki_Interview_Edited.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

In this interview, Noah Black sat down with Issam Eido to discuss his work, key questions he approaches, and how he approaches them in his study of the epistemology of testimony and hadith studies.

Direct download: Scholars_in_Context_-_Issam_Eido_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

In part 2, together Anjali, Andrea, and Carla describe mental health care that goes beyond medications and hospitalizations to both treat and prevent mental health crises. Anjali and Andrea further reflect on the role of medical providers in the violence and traumatization of people with mental health concerns and describe what changes to our medical education are necessary to prepare physicians to provide appropriate, compassionate, and trauma-informed care.

Hosted by Downstate Students for HEAL (Health Equity Advocacy and Leadership)

You can also listen to this podcast on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1n3rQi4cU2Kduy2eBQMzNn

Direct download: Med_Podcast_Part_2_Master_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

عربي تحت
Noah T Black sat down with Ermin Sinanovic of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World to discuss Islam on the Edges. Sinanovic touches on the importance of moving beyond the MENA region in Islamic studies, breaking down the center-periphery distinction, and transnational Muslim identities.

الإسلام بعيداً عن المركز: إرمين سنانوفيتش حول الهوية الإسلامية عبر الوطنية

يلتقي نوح بلاك مع إرمين سنانوفيتش الذي يتطرق إلى أهمية عدم اقتصار الدراسات الإسلامية على منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، وضرورة تفكيك التمييز بين المركز والأطراف والهويات الإسلامية العابرة للحدود.

Direct download: Ermin_Sinanovic_Interview_FINAL.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Co-editors of Jadaliyya's Environment Page, Huma Gupta and Gabi Kirk, discussed with Kali Rubaii how ecologies of war have produced multiple waves of displacement and have intimately shaped the lives of displaced Iraqis through the materiality of cement.

ناقش هوما جوبتا وغابي كيرك ، المحررين المشاركان لصفحة البيئة في جدلية ، مع كالي روباي كيف أنتجت بيئات الحرب موجات متعددة من النزوح وشكلت بشكل وثيق حياة النازحين العراقيين من خلال مادة الأسمنت.

Direct download: Kali_Rubaii_FINAL_AUDIO.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this interview, which is featured as a part of the launch of the new Jadaliyya Environment page, Malihe Razazan speaks to four of the page's co-editors: Danya Al-Saleh, Brittany Cook, Huma Gupta, and Owain Lawson. They discuss critical approaches to covering the environment, what the new Jadaliyya page seeks to contribute to these conversations, and the need to decolonize our analysis of the environment, energy, and climate change.

Direct download: jad_environ_page_interview_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode, we explore the impact of sponsorship on football as a whole and the impact that globalized money from the Middle East has had on the club game. This includes the very humble beginnings of sponsorship on football shirts, a review of some of the classic kits to emerge in the era of sponsored shirts, which big club was slowest to embrace the monied culture of shirt sponsors, and where our presenters think the next source of large-scale sponsorship money will come from around the globe. Why Middle Eastern governments are so eager to jump on the football shirt sponsor wagon is dissected as are the impacts we have already seen. What else could happen because of it, and what the reaction is intended to be from the regime perspective? We also delve into the coronavirus cancelations, La Liga and Serie A’s potential solutions, Barcelona’s potential collapse, what occupation Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simione’s wardrobe reminds the show of, and what sort of unprecedented natural disaster would happen if Spurs won the league in the opinions of our hosts. Also, there are important historical lessons about the difference between a King and a Sultan.

Direct download: RFP_Episode_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In the first of a series of interviews that aims to profile the newest and noteworthy academic institutions in the MENA region that are helping to advance critical learning, Jonathan Adler of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative interviews Katy Whiting of the Sijal Institute. The Sijal Institute is an intensive language and cultural school and institute in the Jabal Amman neighborhood of Amman, Jordan. Whiting discusses the Sijal Institute's efforts to fill gaps in Arabic language instruction, develop new pedagogical strategies, and design more effective cultural immersion programs.

Direct download: J_Adler__Katy_Whiting_FINAL.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Hosts: Bassam Haddad, Matt Atteberry, Thomas Serres

In this episode, we explore the sociopolitical issue of racism through the lens of football, with some emphasis on French football. This includes the history of pseudo-scientific thinking, its influence on racial discrimination, the problem of enforcing good behavior, and what FIFA might do. In addition we discuss a name change for the podcast, who looks like the Champions League favorites, and a football detective story so convoluted it could only happen in today’s media environment.

Our guest, Thomas Serres, takes a deep dive into Ligue 1 in France, and the political overtones of bigotry directed at fans of the Algerian national team in French society. As in most European countries, racism has been a recurring problem in French football stadiums. It has notably resulted in deadly clashes between antifascist and neo-Nazi groups of PSG fans in the 2000s. At the same time, these clashes have also allowed the growing securitization of ultras and forms of indiscriminate repression. Race has also been a problem at the national level. When the notoriously multiracial French national team faced major defeats, pundits and politicians have often blamed the "mentality" of players of African or North-African origins. In addition, racist discourses have fueled the public space after each major victory of the Algerian national team, as public displays of "Algerianess" were portrayed as a threat to public safety and a form of betrayal.

Direct download: Real_Football_Podcst_Ep_2_-_On_Racism.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00am EDT

Omar Shanti looks back on the raucous, rebellious, and symbolically rich life of the late Rachid Taha, including a never-before published interview with the Algerian musician in May 2018, only four months before his untimely death.

Direct download: DispatchesFromMedina_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Every year, the Arab television industry releases many new soap operas (musalsalat) during the month of Ramadan. But how has the Syrian conflict affected its film industry, which still sometimes releases dozens of shows per year. Mira Nabulsi asked Christa Salamandra, professor of anthropology, about how writers and directors are navigating the unstable political landscape.

Direct download: Nabulsi__Salamandra_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Yemen’s southern secessionist forces appear to have taken effective control of the port city of Aden, seat of the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. In this latest conflict, fighters loyal to Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks an independent south Yemen, began an offensive against the government forces on August 7. Both sides have been part of a military coalition, dominated by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis and their allies after they removed Mr. Hadi from power earlier that year. The separatist fighters involved in the recent showdown are UAE trained while the government forces appear to be backed by the Saudis.

What is the significance of this recent confrontation? How will it impact the ongoing war in Yemen? What do we need to know about South Yemen and its history? Who are the secessionist in Yemen today? Does the showdown in Eden signal a schism in the Saudi-UAE coalition?

To answer these questions, we turn to Sheila Carapico, a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Professor Carapico is the author of Civil Society in Yemen: The Political Economy of Activism in Modern Arabia. More recently, she edited a volume entitled Arabia Incognita: Dispatches from Yemen and the Gulf.

Courtesy of VOMENA

Direct download: Yemen__Status.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Osama Esber, host of the Status Hour program "In Their Own Voices", speaks with the Palestinian poet Mariam Shareef about themes in her writing.

Interviewed by Osama Esber | Arabic

Direct download: Shareef_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this talk, based on her recently published book, Dr. Maha Nassar argues that despite the double-erasure that Palestinian citizens of Israel faced from the state and from the Arab world, intellectuals within this community insisted that they were a part of regional and global cultural projects of decolonization.

Through a critical examination of a wide array of Arabic writings, Nassar demonstrates the importance of Arabic newspapers and literary journals in traversing national boundaries and creating transnational and transregional communities of solidarity. More broadly, she argues for the need to expand our conceptual understanding of decolonization as not only a series of national liberation projects, but also as a global project of cultural and intellectual emancipation.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies.
www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/202863

Direct download: Nassar_Final_QA.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this talk, based on her recently published book, Dr. Maha Nassar argues that despite the double-erasure that Palestinian citizens of Israel faced from the state and from the Arab world, intellectuals within this community insisted that they were a part of regional and global cultural projects of decolonization.

Through a critical examination of a wide array of Arabic writings, Nassar demonstrates the importance of Arabic newspapers and literary journals in traversing national boundaries and creating transnational and transregional communities of solidarity. More broadly, she argues for the need to expand our conceptual understanding of decolonization as not only a series of national liberation projects, but also as a global project of cultural and intellectual emancipation.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies.
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/202863

Direct download: Nassar_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Welcome to the first episode of Real Football. In today’s episode, we discuss the evolution of the transfer system and how legal changes in the 1990s turned transfers into the multi-billion Euro spending bonanza we see today. We consider how Gulf capital sustains this spending and the role that it has played in building instant winners in European football, such as Manchester City. The many downsides of the high levels of Gulf spending in European football are also explored, before discussion shifts to the ongoing tensions at Real Madrid and what they mean for the coming season. Real’s Catalan rivals Barcelona and the potential of a Neymar return rounds out the discussion. Keep an ear out for which current player reminds one of the hosts of a deceased champion racehorse. You won’t want to miss it.

Direct download: Status_Template_August_2019_Final.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

On June 3rd, the Sudanese state security forces and its militia violently attacked and dispersed thousands of demonstrators who had camped outside the military headquarters in the Sudanese capital, for weeks. The violent crackdown left dozens dead and hundreds wounded.

The sit-in was initially held seeking an end to Omar al-Bashir’s three-decades-long authoritarian rule and later, to demand that the army generals who toppled him, hand over power to a civilian government.

According to doctors linked to the protest movement, at least 128 people have been killed since June 3rd. Doctors also say that paramilitary forces carried out dozens of rapes during the attack on the protest-camp.

Dr. Khalid Medani reports on the matter courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).

Direct download: KhalidMedaniForStatus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Exiled from her home country, Nanda Mohammad, a Syrian actress had to start all over in Egypt in 2012. A story of a fierce talented Syrian actress, with nostalgia for the past, and a break into the most important theaters in the world.

Interviewed by Raghad al-Makhlouf | Arabic

http://statushourbeta.koeinbeta.com/en/Interview/1369

Direct download: Nanda_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

In this episode of Maydan Podcast, Peter Mandaville speaks with Sylvia Chan-Malik and Khadijah Elshayyal; two scholars whose research intersect themes related to Islam and Gender on two sides of the Atlantic.

For more information on the Muslim Atlantic project, visit www.muslimatlantic.com.

Be sure to visit The Maydan Podcast pages on SoundCloud and Apple iTunes for our previous content including interviews and lectures including with Muhammad Isa Waley and Shahed Amanullah and stay tuned for more content in the coming weeks.

Direct download: The_Maydan_Gender_Muslim_Atlantic_Edited.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

Managing editor of Jadaliyya, Kylie Broderick, sat down with the founding director of ACSS, Seteney Shami, to talk about networking, knowledge production, and scholastic communities.

Direct download: Broderick__Shami_ACSS_interview_FINAL.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:56am EDT

Renowned actress Raghad al-Makhlouf interviews Helen al-Janabi, Yazan al-Qaq, and Ibraheem Manaem, three actors who left Syria to Sweden.

Part 2

Direct download: live_helenaljanabi_part_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

Renowned actress Raghad al-Makhlouf interviews Helen al-Janabi, Yazan al-Qaq, and Ibraheem Manaem, three actors who left Syria to Sweden.

Interviewed by Raghad al-Makhlouf | Arabic

http://statushourbeta.koeinbeta.com/en/Interview/1381

Direct download: live_helenaljanabi_part_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

In January, an 18 year-old Saudi woman, Rahaf Mohammad Al Qunun, sparked international attention when she took on to social media, as she barricaded herself in a hotel room in Bangkok, to stop Thai Authorities from deporting her back to her home country. Rahaf had left her family to seek asylum abroad. She said her life was in danger and that her abusive family escalated her mistreatment after she declared herself an Atheist. Rahaf eventually made it to Canada where she was granted asylum.

But Rahaf’s story is not unique, in fact a growing number of Saudi women and men are leaving the country immigrating or seeking asylum elsewhere. This phenomenon can be, at least in part, explained by the Saudi State’s lack of support for abused women and the overall crackdown on freedom of expression. So how did Saudi media react to the story and how do we place the story of Rahaf in the larger Saudi- Canadian relations and the status of women inside Saudi Arabia.

To learn more, VOMENA producer and reporter Mira Nabulsi spoke with Hana Al-Khamri, a writer and analyst.

Direct download: MiraInterview_HanaKhamriMP3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:44pm EDT

[Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa, VOMENA]

In a recent Sanaa Review article, journalist Sahar Abdo describes how the current war in Yemen introduced space for women that was frowned upon in the past. She talks about a subtle challenging of taboos, women being much more present in public spaces, or taking on jobs they did not do in the past.

In most conflicts, women are grouped with children, they are categorized among the most vulnerable groups. This designation erases, in many cases, women who are engaged in the conflict, women who are actively relieving or caring for communities, or those who try to defy the war and go about their lives and activism regardless. This audio documentary digs deeper into life under conflict through the stories and voices of five Yemeni women, based in the cities of Sana’a and Aden. All of them are involved in women and grassroots activism. They talk about how they understand this war and how they view their role as Yemeni women politically and socially.

Research & Interviews/Narration/ Sound by Mira Nabulsi.
Voiceover: Malihe Razazan and Jeannine Etter.

This story was produced in collaboration with the "Muslim Women and the Media" training institute at the University of California, Davis.

Direct download: YemenConflictAndWomen_MiraWMusic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Dr. Kristian Petersen is Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies. He is the author of, "Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab", published by Oxford University Press, 2017. He is currently working on a monograph entitled, "The Cinematic Lives of Muslims". He is the host of the New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies podcasts.

Direct download: Interpreting_Islam_in_China_Eventqa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Dr. Kristian Petersen is Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies. He is the author of, "Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab", published by Oxford University Press, 2017. He is currently working on a monograph entitled, "The Cinematic Lives of Muslims". He is the host of the New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies podcasts.

Direct download: Interpreting_Islam_in_China_Event.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:19pm EDT

This conference was organized by CNES faculty affiliates James Gelvin, Aomar Boum and Kevan Harris together with CNES faculty director, Aslı Bâli. The conference was conceived to assess the changes in the Middle East from the Iraq invasion through the Arab uprisings that have altered the regional balance of power, called into question the viability of some existing states and led to the emergence and proliferation of both violent non-state actors and new civil society movements and organizations.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

Direct download: CNES_Understanding_the_New_Middle_East-_Day_2_Panel_6.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

This conference was organized by CNES faculty affiliates James Gelvin, Aomar Boum and Kevan Harris together with CNES faculty director, Aslı Bâli. The conference was conceived to assess the changes in the Middle East from the Iraq invasion through the Arab uprisings that have altered the regional balance of power, called into question the viability of some existing states and led to the emergence and proliferation of both violent non-state actors and new civil society movements and organizations.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

Direct download: CNES_Understanding_the_New_Middle_East-_Day_1_Panel_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

This conference was organized by CNES faculty affiliates James Gelvin, Aomar Boum and Kevan Harris together with CNES faculty director, Aslı Bâli. The conference was conceived to assess the changes in the Middle East from the Iraq invasion through the Arab uprisings that have altered the regional balance of power, called into question the viability of some existing states and led to the emergence and proliferation of both violent non-state actors and new civil society movements and organizations.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

Direct download: CNES_Understanding_the_New_Middle_East-_Day_1_Panel_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT