The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community walks away with a newfound curiosity, and recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first.
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Dr Sohaira Siddiqui | Al-Mujadilah: Center & Mosque for Women
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In this episode of the afikra podcast produced in collaboration with Qatar Foundation, we discover the impactful contributions and current challenges faced by Muslim women as Dr Sohaira Siddiqui discusses the vision and mission of the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women in Qatar. We explore the center’s role as a community hub fostering civic …
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Maha El Akoum | Obesity Epidemic & Health Policy in the Arab Gulf
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In this episode of the afikra podcast, we chat with Maha El Akoum, the Manager of Content and Policy at WISH, to try to explore the causes of childhood obesity – especially in the Arab world and particularly in the Gulf – and to understand the complexities of dealing with it. Based in Qatar, Maha discusses the alarming rise in childhood obesity wit…
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Narcy at Habibi Festival 2024 With Appearances by Hamed Sinno, Nadine El Roubi, Omar Offendum & Niko | Quartertones Live at Joe's Pub
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Habibi Festival is back for another year at Joe's Pub, bringing Arabs, comrades, and lovers of music together in New York in these difficult times that our nations continue to endure. And for another year, afikra was on stage to speak to the musicians and bring their conversations and performances to you on afikra's Quartertones podcast. Who better…
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Beirut Southern Suburbs & Hezbollah: History & Truth | Mona Harb
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In this special episode of This Is Not a Watermelon podcast, we speak to Professor Mona Harb, co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut, to help us delve into the intricate socio-political dynamics and historical narratives of Beirut's southern suburbs, known as "Dahiyeh" that's been under severe Israeli bombardment si…
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Manufacturing Consent and Fake News | Marc Owen Jones
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In this episode, produced in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation, Marc Owen Jones — Associate Professor of Media Analytics at Northwestern University Qatar — talks to us about this age of disinformation and how it manifests in the context of the Middle East. We discuss regulating social media platforms and try to understand what exactly disinfo…
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Tracy Chahwan | Beirut Bloody Beirut
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Tracy Chahwan's bold and vibrant posters have become a common fixture of Beirut's walls, and her colorful illustrations are known and loved by people across the Arab world and beyond. For this episode of the afikra podcast, she joined us in our Beirut-studio to reminisce on the early days of her career, and discuss key influences and what it means …
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Personal Narratives in Collective History, Consumer Culture & Mass Production | Raed Yassin
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What is the difference between being an artist and an entertainer? What are the nuances of conveying humour and comedy through art? In this conversation, multi-creative Raed Yassin gives us his take. From growing up in Beirut during the civil war and how this has impacted his work through to the story behind his "The Best of Sammy Clark" project fr…
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Lessons in Decolonization From North Africa's Global Thinkers | Idriss Jebari
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What does it mean to decolonize our thinking? In this episode of the afikra podcast, we chat with Idriss Jebari, assistant professor at Trinity College Dublin, and discuss language, colonialism and 20th century North Africa. Tracking the transformation of North African countries through colonialism and independence, we learn about the ways that thi…
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My Mother’s Extraordinary Life in Beirut of the Late 50s & Early 60s | Venetia Porter
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Venetia Porter is an Honorary Research Fellow at the British Museum. Formerly Curator of Islamic and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at the British Museum, her published titles include "Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa", "The Islamic World: A History in Objects", "Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam" and "Word Into …
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Imperial Narratives vs Palestine’s Reality | Lorenzo Kamel
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This episode of the afikra podcast was recorded on April 10th at 1pm Palestine Time Lorenzo Kamel teaches Global History and History of the Middle East and North Africa at the University of Turin. He has held teaching and research positions at Harvard University, the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, ‘Ain Shams University in Cairo, and a number …
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Philanthropy in the Arab World | Maysa Jalbout
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A masterclass in philanthropy in the MENA region. Maysa Jalbout has founded many private and corporate foundations along with starting the Queen Rania Foundation and being the founding CEO of the Al Ghurair Foundation. With over 25 years of experience in philanthropy in the Arab world, she offers a clear introduction to philanthropy in the region, …
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Amazigh History of North Africa | Brahim El Guabli
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The history of North Africa is infinitely complex and barbed with post-colonial tensions. In this conversation, Professor Brahim El Guabli helps to shed light on this region's history through an Amazigh lens. He tells us about the violence of the word "Berber", Morocco's Years of Lead, and qualifying French as a colonial language or not. The episod…
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What We Can Learn From Political Defeat in Egypt | Atef Said
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Life as a human rights attorney in Egypt. Tahrir Square in 2011. How protests transforms into revolutions. It's all in this episode of the afikra podcast with professor Atif Said from the University of Illinois Chicago. He talks about rule of Law, liberalism, and what revolutions really mean in the Arab world, challenging its common definitions in …
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Kuwait's Architectural Awakening | Roberto Fabbri
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Architect, researcher, and associate professor at Zayed University, Roberto Fabbri, joined us on the afikra podcast to talk about Kuwait’s architectural transformation between 1949 and 1989 which he co-wrote a book about (with Sara Saragoça Soares and Ricardo Camacho) titled “Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949 - 1989”. In this deep dive into Kuwait’s …
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Cholera Changed Mecca Forever | Michael Christopher Low
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In this episode of the afikra podcast, Professor Michael Christoper Low – director of the Middle East Center at The University of Utah – explains how Mecca and its burgeoning influx of pilgrims from around the world — transported by the recently invented steamships — became ground zero for cholera. He maps out how this situated the Hejaz within bro…
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Eyeliner: A Cultural History | Zahra Hankir
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In this Ehkili episode with Zahra Hankir we discuss her book "Eyeliner: A Cultural History", the cultural significance of eyeliner, and the process of putting together an intersectional and cross-cultural study of its history. Zahra highlights eyeliner’s role as a cultural artifact, its use for protective, aesthetic and religious purposes, and how …
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History of Slavery in North Africa | M'hamed Oualdi
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M'hamed Oualdi – professor of history at Paris' Sciences Po University – joins us on the afikra podcast to delve into the often obscured and forgotten history of slavery in North Africa. Starting with his book "A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa", he talks about why there's a pointed absence of awareness around the Ara…
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Hijacked City: Urban Planning for a Better Beirut | Mona Fawaz
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In this episode of the afikra podcast, we tackle the alternative histories of Beirut, planning cities that put communities first, and rethinking public spaces. Mona Fawaz — co-founder of Beirut Urban Lab and professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the American University of Beirut (AUB) — tells us about her research into Lebanon's temporary sett…
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Architectural Future of the Gulf: Out With the New In With the Old | Civil Architecture
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Read about Bahrain's Dilmun Mounds 👉 https://www.afikra.com/daftarjournal/dilmun-mounds Civil Architecture is a cultural practice pre-occupied with the making of buildings and books about them. Civil's work asks what it means to produce architecture in a decidedly un-civil time, presenting a new civic character for a global condition. Since its fou…
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Sole DXB: Bringing Street Culture to Dubai | Rajat Malhotra
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Rajat Malhotra — partner at Sole DXB: Dubai's annual footwear, music, art and lifestyle festival — comes on the afikra podcast to talk about bringing street culture to his home city. He shares what it was like starting the festival alongside his co-founders, reflects on his favorite acts from over the years, and what it's really like to curate an e…
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Sharia Law, the State & Modernity’s Moral Predicament | Wael Hallaq
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Renowned professor of ethics, law and political thought and leading scholar of Islamic Legal Studies, Dr Wael Hallaq, joins us on this episode of the afikra podcast to discuss Sharia law, the modern state, Legal Orientalism, and the idea of a "stateless" yet still orderly world. Dr Hallaq deals with reductionist understandings of Sharia law, critiq…
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Unapologetically Palestinian: Arab Comedians in America | Maysoon Zayid
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Maysoon Zayid, Palestinian comedian, actress, graphic novel author and co-creator of the NY Arab-American Comedy Festival, joins us on the afikra podcast to talk all things comedy, Palestine, Arab-America, and advocating for the disabled community. Maysoon talks about how she grew up to be the confident, unapologetic, publicly Palestinian comedian …
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Platforming Regional Design Excellence Design Doha | Fahad Al Obaidly
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The first of three live Design Doha podcast recordings features an interview with the Biennial's deputy director Fahad Al Obaidly. He takes us behind the scenes of Design Doha, breaks down what "Celebrating Regional Design Excellence" means in practice, and how the Biennial roots itself in locality. Fahad tells us about the strength of the design i…
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Where Media in the Arab World Stands Today | Marwan Kraidy
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Marwan Kraidy, CEO and Dean of Northwestern Qatar and leading scholar of global communication and media, joins us on the afikra podcast to discuss media, truth, and journalism in the Arab world. This episode dives into the impact of mobile phones, reflects on whether social media is a force for good or not, and explores the notion of “socio-politic…
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The History & Impact of Paper in the Islamic World | Jonathon Bloom
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Art historian, educator and author Jonathan Bloom joins us on the afikra podcast to talk about paper, print and the Islamic world. He talks us through changing understandings of "Islamic" art and architecture through the decades, explains the premise of his book "Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World" and whether …
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Building with a Future Vernacular | Wael Al Awar
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Wael Al Awar is an architect and founder of waiwai alongside Kazuma Yamao — an architectural, landscape, urban, interior and graphic design studio with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. Waiwai takes a highly contextual approach to address social, environmental and technological questions through design. Wael was the chief Curator of the National Pavilion…
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Demystifying Sufism | Waleed Ziad
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Waleed Ziad is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus" which won the Albert Hourani Prize. His research concerns the historical and philosophical foundations of Muslim revivalism and revivalist responses to internal political fragmentation a…
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Why is Islam So Misunderstood? | John Esposito
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John Esposito is a Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is the Founding Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and The Bridge Initiative: Protecting Pluralism - Ending Islamophobia in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. He has written over 55 books including "W…
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What Exactly Is Islamic Art? | Wendy Shaw
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Wendy Shaw is an art historian and professor of the Art History of Islamic Cultures at the Freie Universität berlin. Her book "What is 'Islamic' Art?: Between Religion and Perception" explores the perceptions of arts, including painting, music and geometry through the discursive sphere of historical Islam including the Qur'an, Hadith, Sufism, ancie…
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Decolonizing & Decentering Theater in the Arab World | Laila Soliman
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Laila Soliman is an independent Egyptian theater director and playwright who lives and works in Cairo. Born in Cairo, she gained a degree in theater and Arabic literature from the American University in Cairo and a MA at Dasarts in Amsterdam. Her performances have been shown across the Arab world, India, South Africa and Europe. Her first opera pro…
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ERIC CALDERWOOD | Rethinking Al-Andalus | The afikra عفكرة podcast
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We reflect on why it's difficult to put an exact date on when al-Andalus actually "ended", the brotherhood it has created between Spain and Morocco and the importance of these interconnected histories. Finally, Eric shares how music and dance led him to study al-Andalus and why he chose to explore this topic from five different perspectives includi…
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MEHDI BENCHAABANE | AI in Education: The Challenges & Opportunities for Schools | The afikra عفكرة podcast
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We sat down with Mehdi Benchaabane, director of Qatar Academy Doha, to discuss the current advantages and shortfalls of AI in the classroom. We discuss the significant questions AI has raised around educational honesty and integrity, key concerns at all levels from students, educators and policymakers to parents, and whether the educational system …
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Nesrine & Bab L' Bluz at Habibi Festival 2023 | Quartertones Live at Joe's Pub
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Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the fourth of six, featuring a conversation with and performance by Nesrine Belmokh, along with more snaps from a performance by Bab L'Bluz at Joe's pub. Nesrine Bolmokh is a Franco-Algerian singer, cellist and songwriter who brings the Mediterran…
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ALIA AL-SENUSSI | Why We Should Pay Attention to Cultural Patronage & the Creative Economy in the Arab Region | afikra عفكرة Podcast #390
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Finally, she highlights the critical role that artists and their art play as “interpreters of our time” and the difficulties of building private and public collections, and shares her “playbook” for building a successful cultural institution. For art lovers and curious minds alike, Alia also shares her favorite museums, cultural institutions and ga…
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Bab L' Bluz, Tarek Yamani & Yacine Boulares at Habibi Fest 2023 | Quartertones Live at Joe's Pub
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Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the third of six, featuring a conversation with Bab L'Bluz's Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin, along with snaps from a performance by Tarek Yamani and the the Yacine Boulares Quartet at Joe's pub. Bab L'Bluz is a Moroccan-French rock band that was …
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Goodbye Julia: A Beautifully Nuanced Film About Sudanese Society | Mohamed Kordofani
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We asked him about his decision to set the film between 2005 and 2011 — a significant moment in Sudan’s recent history — and who he made the film for: international viewers curious about Sudan or Sudanese cinema-goers reflecting on themselves. Finally, we untangle some of the main social critiques and themes that the film seeks to confront — in par…
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Amal Murkus & Firas Zreik at Habibi Fest 2023 | Quartertones Live at Joe's Pub
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the second of six, featuring…
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Apartheid, BDS & Palestinian-South African Transnational Solidarity | Andy Clarno
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We're excited to announce that our special episodes on Palestine are turning into their own podcast. The atrocities that continue to take place in Palestine are a reminder that, more than ever, we need to dedicate our platforms to stand for justice and truth. "This is not a watermelon" is a podcast about Palestinian history and culture. In this epi…
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Omar Offendum & Hadi Eldebek at Habibi Fest 2023 | Quartertones Live at Joe's Pub
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is one in six, and features a c…
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RERUN Rashid Khalidi | 100 Years War on Palestine
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This conversation is a rerun of a 2021 episode with Professor Rashid Khalidi author of "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017". We are rerunning this episode since our team is on a break until after the second week of January and the episode is filled with lots of great information. Rashid K…
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Unpacking the Phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” | Maha Nassar
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This conversation offers a brief history of Palestine and its peoples, a look at the Palestinian experience both in exile and within modern-day Israel. Professor Maha Nassar – author of Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab world – talks us through the daily indignities, state repression, and racism faced by Palestinians in Is…
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Navigating Sudan's Crisis: Insight on State, Society & Solidarity | Kholood Khair
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Sudan’s ongoing crisis gets little attention in western media if in any media at all. Kholood Khair helps us go beyond the sparce headlines to get a better sense of how the daily atrocities are affecting the broader society right now. Kholood is a policy and political analyst and founding director of Khartoum-based “think-and-do” tank Confluence Ad…
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IBRAHIM ABUSHARIF | Unlearning Western Bias in Journalism | afikra عفكرة Podcast #383
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As journalists on the ground in Gaza are targeted, the “truth” weaponized, and an information war for the ages unravels, we sat down with Professor Ibrahim Abusharif to discuss the construction of narratives, framing terminologies, and the ethics of journalism. Delving into questions of decolonizing journalism, the boundaries between storytelling a…
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The Nakba on Netflix: Through the Eyes of a 14-year old Palestinian Girl | Darin Sallam
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Farha – the internationally acclaimed film that brought the Nakba to screens around the world – depicts the heartwrenching events of 1948 through the eyes of a 14-year old girl. In her debut film, director Darin Salam creates an intense, feminine story that captures the emotions and human experience of the Nakba in a raw yet approachable way. In th…
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BENJAMIN BROWER | France’s Colonial Violence in the Algerian Sahara | Conversations
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Colonial violence, resistance movements and French-colonial Algeria. Professor Benjamin Brower explains the ways in which violence is conceptualized, treating it as a historic lens to understand colonial events in the past and what is happening right now in Palestine. This conversation is key for anyone who wants a detailed history of the French pr…
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Reporting the Truth About Palestine & the Failure of Western Journalism | Dima Khatib
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Dima Khatib, managing director at AJ+, is leading crucial work to speak truth to power in the face of what we’re witnessing in Palestine: tackling misinformation, dismantling false narratives on multilingual platforms, and standing apart in the current media landscape. We start with a reflection on the targeting of journalists and the assassination…
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Violence, Nonviolence & the Palestinian National Movement | Wendy Pearlman
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Peace processes, two-state vs one-state solutions and nonviolent protests. In conversation with Professor Wendy Pearlman from Northwestern University, we take two of her books as a foundation to examine grassroots activism historically and to consider a potential future “just” solution. Wendy shares her views on realistic outcomes for the ongoing P…
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A Collective Responsibility Towards the Children of Palestine | Steve Sosebee
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The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund’s president and founder, Steve Sosebee, joins us to talk about Gaza’s children, the nature of the work that the PCRF is doing and the immense pressure that the healthcare and sanitary systems are under right now in Gaza. Steve lays out the state of the healthcare system in Gaza pre- and post-October 7 and how th…
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The Architecture of Occupation | Nadi Abusaada
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This conversation is about the spatiality and architecture of occupation. Abusaada talks to us about our very understanding of the land of Palestine, how maps invent geography and not the other way around, and why colonialism should be studied while it’s happening and not when it’s over and done with. We examine the way that humans interact with sp…
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German Guilt or Structural Racism Towards Palestinians | Sarah El Bulbeisi
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A raw and honest conversation about Palestine, Germany and Palestinians in Germany. Sarah El Bulbeisi discusses the history of the Palestinian diasporic experience in Germany, the erasure, tabooization and criminalization of this very experience and the structural hostility, racism and trivialization faced by the Palestinian community and anyone in…
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