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Arab Voices Archives (click on the date to listen to
any of the
shows)
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Note to Radio Stations that
Syndicate Arab Voices
A modified weekly version of Arab
Voices (58 minutes) is available on AudioPort
(ready for airing on other radio stations - free of KPFT
fund drives). |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Rania
Succar, Outstanding Arab American Philanthropist of the Year
The
Center for Arab American Philanthropy has chosen Rania
Succar to be the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Arab
American Philanthropist of the Year Award.
Rania Succar is a Syrian-American life-long social
entrepreneur and an accomplished business leader. She is the
CEO of Intuit Mailchimp. Before that, she was Google's
Director of Brand Solutions for North America and worked for
McKinsey in the US and Dubai before joining Google. Rania
co-founded the Harvard Arab Alumni Association in 2001 and
was president until 2008. She has a Harvard MBA, a Harvard
MPA in International Development, and a Harvard BA in
economics. Rania is passionate about closing the opportunity
gap that exists for children and youth in the Arab world. In
2011 she Co-Founded
Jusoor,
an Arabic word meaning Bridges, a global non-profit that has
provided education opportunities to over 10,000 Syrian
children and youth and has impacted the lives of thousands
more.
We will speak with Rania Succar about the prestigious award
she is receiving, her organization Jusoor, and her work with
Syrian youth and refugees.
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2nd Segment:
Professor Edward Said's
Speech on Dignity and Solidarity
This
week marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of Professor
Edward Said, and in memory and honor of Dr. Said, we are
going to air a portion of a speech he delivered on Dignity
and Solidarity at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee’s annual convention held in Washington, D.C. in
June 2003 (three months before he died).
Professor Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935 to a
Christian Arab family. His father immigrated to the United
States at the turn of the century. Said was raised in
Jerusalem and Cairo. In 1951, he went to the United States
to attend Princeton and Harvard universities. He specialized
in English literature, comparative literature and
musicology. He was appointed professor at Columbia
University in New York City, where he stayed for the rest of
his life. He died on September 25, 2003, in New York. For
more than a decade, Said battled leukemia, but never stopped
writing a great deal on the Palestinian Israeli subject -
choosing to participate in conferences and speak out with
the vehemence that characterized him. Professor Said is an
internationally renowned writer, author, and scholar. His
writings about the Middle East and its relationship with the
West have gone far to open new roads in academia and to
influence public opinion. During the course of his life,
Professor Said articulated a vision of Palestine and the
Arab world that not only recalled the significant
contributions of the region’s people, but also offered hope
for the future. |
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Date: |
September 14, 2023
(Episode # 1,078) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Catastrophic Earthquake in Morocco & Deadly Flooding in
Libya, and how you can help
During
the first segment, we will talk about the catastrophic
earthquake in Morocco and the unprecedented deadly flooding
in Libya, two Arab countries in northern Africa, and
how you
can help.
On September 8, 2023, a major earthquake that registered a
magnitude of 6.8 hit Morocco, the deadliest
earthquake in over 60 years. According to the
Moroccan Ministry of Interior, nearly 3,000 people were
killed and nearly 6,000 were injured. The numbers are
expected to go higher. Several villages were wiped off the
map by this catastrophic earthquake, and rescue teams are
facing challenges reaching many areas as the search for the
thousands of missing people and survivors trapped in the
rubble of flattened villages continues. It has been a
challenge for rescuers to reach remote mountain villages
where victims are still being trapped.
On September 10, storm Daniel hit several Libyan cities very
hard with massive rain that caused catastrophic flooding,
especially after two dams collapsed. The flooding was
unprecedented and destroyed cities and villages. More than
6,000 people were killed and the number is expected to be
much higher as recovery efforts are still underway with more
than 10,000 still missing or unaccounted for. More than
30,000 people were displaced. Storm Daniel hit the cities of
Bayda, Benghazi, al-Marj, Susa, and the port city of Derna,
which suffered the most after two dams collapsed, causing
catastrophic flooding in the city. Thousands of families are
left homeless without shelter, food, and access to clean
water.
Our hearts go out to the people of Morocco and the people of
Libya!
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2nd Segment:
Grand
Opening of the Senan Shaibani
Marsh Arabs Project & The Mudhif
Iraq,
the cradle of civilization, with a very rich culture,
heritage, great contributions to the world, and a rich
ancient civilization, is also home to the Marsh Arabs,
mainly in Southern Iraq, near where the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers join.
A Mudhif, an Arabic word for a guest house, a 5000-year-old
structure, a traditional reed house, used to be one of the
popular and unique builds of the Marsh Arabs in the swamps
of southern Iraq. It serves as a cultural center, court,
site for religious ceremonies, and place for welcoming
visitors.
A huge project named the Senan Shaibani Marsh Arabs Project,
which included the building of a Mudhif structure on the
lawn of Rice University in Houston, Texas,
was launched in Houston, Texas, about two years ago.
The Project is a collaboration between
Archeology Now and
the Arab-American Educational Foundation, and it provides
one of the first opportunities for Americans to see and
experience an authentic representation of an ancient culture
with immense historical significance.
One of the Senan Shaibani Marsh Arabs Project milestones was
revealed at the grand opening ceremony held on September
9, 2023, at Rice University, and that is the Mudhif,
created as a place to celebrate the story of the Iraqi Marsh
Dwellers and to preserve 5,000 years of history. It is the
first of its kind ever built outside of Iraq from materials
shipped from Iraq. It was
constructed in June and July 2023 by over 100 volunteers from across
Houston, including many members of the multi-cultural and
multi-faith Iraqi community, who found purpose in the
project.
During the second segment, we will air remarks from some of the
organizers, volunteers, and attendees at the grand opening
ceremony, including the remarks of Dr. Aziz Shaibani,
President of the Arab-American Educational Foundation (AAEF),
Azzam Alwash, Founder
and CEO of Nature Iraq,
Ali Daher,
President of the Arab-American Cultural & Community Center,
Dr.
Hussain Alobaidi, Iraqi American Doctor,
Dr.
Sinan Antoon, Iraqi Poet, Writer & Academic,
Amer Al-Nahhas, with the
AAEF, Becky Lao,
Executive Director of Archeology Now,
Dr.
Omar Aldabagh, President & Founder of the Iraqi
American Community and Board Member with Archeology Now,
Dr.
Ghaidaa Makki, Iraqi American Doctor and Board
Member with the Arab-American Cultural & Community Center,
Ali, an Iraqi youth,
Sarah Izzat,
Ruth Ann Skaff, Board
Member with the AAEF, Dalia Khalil,
Iraqi American, and Noor,
Iraqi Artist with Afaf Arts. |
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Date: |
September 7, 2023
(Episode # 1,077) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Grand
Opening of the Senan Shaibani
Marsh Arabs Project
We
will talk about the grand opening of the Senan Shaibani Marsh Arabs Project,
scheduled for Saturday, September 9, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 1
p.m. at Rice University. In addition to a tour of the Mudhif,
a replica of a 5000-year-old structure built of reed from the Iraqi
Marshes and shipped to Houston, there are several activities
planned including family fun and entertainment, music,
traditional Iraqi food, and dance. We will also share a
brief message from Dr. Aziz Shaibani, President of the Arab-American Educational
Foundation, about the historic Mudhif
structure and the grand opening event.
The project is a collaboration between
Archeology Now and
the Arab-American Educational Foundation, and provides
one of the first opportunities for Americans to see and
experience an authentic representation of an ancient culture
with immense historical significance.
In addition to the grand opening on September 9, there are
other activities planned including talks on Iraqi marsh
culture and ecology, a documentary screening on life in the
Iraqi marshes, and more. A list of those events is posted in
our Community
Calendar section.
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2nd Segment:
"Islamophobia and Imperialism:
20 years after the invasion of Iraq"
During
the second segment, we will air a program from
CovertAction Bulletin,
the official podcast of CovertAction Magazine,
titled
"Islamophobia and Imperialism:
20 years after the invasion of Iraq". It is an
interview with
Dr. Nazia Kazi,
author of
Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics,
and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stockton
University in New Jersey.
In
the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Islamophobia became a sort of
unofficial religion in the United States. Vigilante street
attacks on Muslim people became common. The government
surveilled mosques and community centers. Over two decades
later, the situation doesn't seem much different. Resistance
to bringing refugees from Syria into the US based entirely
in racism and Islamophobia. As we mark the 20th anniversary
of the war in Iraq in March 2023, the New York Times major
retrospective piece barely mentions the hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi civilians who died, and says nothing
about its own role in the war or the toll on Muslim people
in the US.
But Islamophobia as a weapon of imperialism goes deeper: The
US has a long history of funding right-wing political
Islamist forces from Afghanistan to Syria and Indonesia. In
this episode, we investigate the role that Islamophobia
plays in US foreign and domestic policy. It's a tool used by
those in power to justify its wars and surveillance
operations in its quest for continued global hegemony.
We're joined by
Dr. Nazia Kazi,
author of
Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics,
and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stockton
University in New Jersey. |
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Date: |
August 24, 2023
(Episode # 1,076) |
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Topics: |
Edward Said Library in
Gaza & Poetry Reading by Mosab Abu Toha from "Things
You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza", winner of
the 2023 American Book
Award
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,076), we will air some of
the remarks delivered at an event held in Houston, Texas on
March 14, 2023, about the
Edward Said Library that serves thousands of Palestinian
children, youth, and families in the occupied Gaza Strip. We
will air the remarks of Mosab Abu Toha, Founder of
the Edward Said Library, Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch,
Middle East Children’s Alliance Executive Director, and
Joe Shahda, one of the event organizers.
We
will also air Mosab Abu Toha's reading of selected poems
from his newest book Things
You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza,
a
winner of the Palestine Book Award, winner of the 2023
American Book Award, and a finalist for the National Book
Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
In this poetry debut, Mosab Abu Toha writes about his life
under siege in Gaza, first as a child, and then as a young
father. A survivor of four brutal Israeli military attacks,
he bears witness to a grinding cycle of destruction and
assault, and yet, his poetry is inspired by a profound
humanity.
Mosab Abu Toha is
a Palestinian poet, scholar, and librarian who was born in
Gaza and has spent his life there. A graduate in English
language teaching and literature, he taught English at the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in
Gaza from 2016 until 2019, and is the founder of the Edward
Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library. Abu
Toha is a columnist for Arrowsmith Press, and his writings
from Gaza have appeared in The
Nation, Arrowsmith Press, and Literary
Hub.
His poems have been published on the Poetry Foundation’s
website, in Poetry
Magazine, Banipal, Solstice, The Markaz Review, The New
Arab, Peripheries, and
other journals. His newest book Things
You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza is
winner of the Palestine Book Award, winner of the 2023
American Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award
for Poetry
Finalist. |
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Date: |
August 24, 2023
(Episode # 1,075) |
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Topic: |
"Progress
in the Shadow of Prejudice" Civil Rights Report &
Update on the Federal Watchlist Program
The
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest
Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, held a
community briefing on April 11, 2023, on CAIR's new civil
rights report titled "Progress
in the Shadow of Prejudice", and an update on the
federal watchlist program.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1075), we will air the
remarks delivered at that briefing by
Corey Saylor, Research and Advocacy Director
at the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
Ammar Ansari, CAIR
Research and Advocacy Coordinator, and
Zanah Ghalawanji, Legal Director at CAIR. Two
expert guests also participated at the briefing,
Dr. Hatem Bazian,
Chair and Founder of Islamophobia
Research and Documentation Project at the Center for Race &
Gender at the University of California Berkeley, and
Dalia Mogahed, Director
of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and
Understanding in Washington, D.C. We will also air their
remarks regarding CAIR's new civil rights report "Progress
in the Shadow of Prejudice".
CAIR's report reveals that in 2022, it received a total of
5,156 complaints nationwide (a 23 percent decrease from
2021), complaints about law enforcement and government
overreach dropped by 38 percent, while at the same time,
complaints about school incidents increased by 63 percent.
In the report, CAIR states: "Regardless of the total number
of complaints, the human experience of being subjected to
hate remains chilling. The case studies section of this
report provides examples of the effects of Islamophobia on
the lived experiences of American Muslims and efforts to
secure justice for them." |
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Date: |
August 17, 2023
(Episode # 1,074) |
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Guests/
Topic: |
"Christian Theology in the
Palestinian Context" by Varsen Aghabekian, Munther Isaac,
Mitri Raheb, and Jack Sara
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1074), we will air the
remarks of four esteemed Palestinian Christian leaders from
Bethlehem, Palestine, who spoke in Houston, Texas at an
event organized by Churches for Middle East Peace and Fuller
Seminary Houston. We will air the remarks of Dr. Varsen
Aghabekian, the Reverend Dr. Mitri Raheb, the Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac, and Dr. Jack Sara. Their talk explores how
Palestinian Christian theology engages with biblical notions
of the Land and its inhabitants. In their remarks, they talk
about their perspectives and their take on what’s happening
in Palestine, the Christian Palestinian population, the
plight of Palestinian Christians and their experience living
under occupation, oppression, discrimination, injustice, and
dehumanization, Palestinian Christian Theology, “Christ at
the checkpoint”, the new Israeli government, the rise of
Israeli incitements and incidents against Palestinian
Christians, their call for American Christians,
evangelicals, activists, leaders, pastors and theologians,
and much more.
We will also listen to brief remarks from the organizers of
the event, Alexis Busetti with Fuller Seminary
Houston, Wayne Park, chancellor of Fuller Texas, and
Lauren Draper, Middle East Fellow at Churches for
Middle East Peace.
Varsen Aghabekian
(Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, USA) is a management and
policy consultant. She has directed several national studies
and authored numerous manuals, articles and national reports
on Jerusalem, education, youth, and women. Recent
publications include Palestinian women in politics and
Christian migration from the Holy Land. A founding member of
several non-governmental organizations and forums. Dr.
Aghabekian is an active member in university boards and
human rights organizations, including Dar al-Kalima
University in Bethlehem. She served as the Commissioner
General of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human
Rights as well as a member of the Presidential Committee for
the Restoration of the Church of the Nativity.
Munther Isaac (Ph.D.,
Oxford Centre for Mission Studies) is the academic dean of
Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine and director of the
Christ at the Checkpoint conference. He is also pastor of
Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. He is
the author of The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian
Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope and From Land to
Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centered
Biblical Theology of the Promised Land."
Mitri Raheb (Ph.D.,
Philipps University at Marburg, Germany) is the founder and
president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem and the
co-founder of Bright Stars of Bethlehem, a not for profit
501c3 in the USA. The most widely published Palestinian
theologian to date, Dr. Raheb is the author and editor of 40
books including: The Cross in Contexts: Suffering and
Redemption in Palestine; Faith in the Face of Empire: The
Bible through Palestinian Eyes; I am a Palestinian
Christian; Bethlehem Besieged.
Jack Sara (Ph.D., Gordon
Conwell Theological Seminary) is the President of Bethlehem
Bible College and an ordained minister in the Evangelical
Alliance Church in the Holy Land, where he maintains a role
overseeing church leadership. Jack has worked extensively in
the area of peace and reconciliation and has played a
pioneering role in several ministries in the Bethlehem area
and internationally. |
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Date: |
August 10, 2023
(Episode # 1,073) |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Lein Soltan
We will speak with Lein Soltan, Advocacy and Operations
Manager at
UNRWA
USA about
UNRWA
(United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East) and the crucial services it has
been providing to millions of Palestinian refugees, Advocacy
work at UNRWA USA, and the
Blocking of $75 Million US Food Aid to UNRWA by Rep. McCaul
(R-TX) & Sen. Risch (R-ID).
Lein
Soltan is a Palestinian American born and raised
in North Carolina to Palestinian refugee parents fleeing the
Gulf War in Kuwait. She holds a Masters in Public Health
with a Global Health concentration and a Bachelors in
Biology with a Marine Science concentration from the
University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.
Lein spent the first seven years of her career as a marine
biologist, managing a sea turtle research lab at UNC after
working as an ocean outdoor educator in San Diego.
Lein’s transition to global health was inspired by her
experience growing up as a first-generation American in a
Palestinian refugee family, ingraining a sense of global
connectivity and a responsibility to advocate for her
people. Lein is passionate about the connections between the
environment, animals, and health and hopes to bring an
environmental justice lens to her advocacy work at UNRWA
USA.
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2nd Segment:
Interview with Mustafaa Carroll
and Hadi Jawad
We will speak with two Texas activists Mustafaa Carroll and
Hadi Jawad about Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and
Senator James Risch of Idaho Blocking of $75 Million Food
Aid to Palestinian Refugees through UNRWA, and the
URGENT Call for Action.
Mustafaa
Carroll
is a lifelong community activist, and lecturer, who
currently serves as the Convenor for the North Texas Chapter
of the Muslim Alliance for Black Lives, and also serves on
the board of United Colors Education Center.
Carroll has served on several boards including the Shura of
the North Texas Islamic Council, the Make-A-Wish Foundation
board of North Texas, the advisory committee of the Greater
Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the board of the Coalition Of
Community Organizations in Houston’s 5th Ward, and also
served as Executive Director for the Council on American
Islamic Relations in Houston and Dallas.
Hadi
Jawad
is a Dallas based peace and justice activist, advocate and
organizer who devotes much of his time to human rights and
social justice issues in the DFW metroplex area.
Working with the Dallas Peace Center in the 1990’s, Jawad
led efforts in North Texas to oppose sanctions on Iraq, the
subsequent US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and organized the
largest antiwar protest in Dallas’ history. He is a
co-founder of the Crawford Peace House in Crawford, Texas,
that in 2005 drew national and international attention to
the failing US/ NATO occupation of Iraq. In 2007, Jawad
launched the short-lived “American Muslim Voices” in N.
Texas, one of the earliest Muslim radio shows in the
country. |
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Date: |
August 3, 2023
(Episode # 1,072) |
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Topic: |
"Navigating Anti-Imperialism
and Anti-Authoritarianism: The Syrian Uprising and the
Question of Palestine" by
Bassam Haddad
Part 2 of 2 / Q&A Session
During
the previous episode of Arab Voices (# 1,071), already
archived on our website ArabVoices.net, we aired a lecture
by Professor Bassam Haddad titled "Navigating
Anti-Imperialism and Anti-Authoritarianism: The Syrian
Uprising and the Question of Palestine," that shed light on
crucial aspects of the Syrian civil war. During this episode
of Arab Voices (# 1,072), we will air the question and
answer session that followed his lecture.
Dr. Bassam Haddad, Associate Professor at the Schar School
of Policy and Government at George Mason University,
delivered that lecture on May 24, 2023, at the annual Hisham
Sharabi Memorial Lecture, organized by the
Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. The annual lecture
is dedicated to Professor Hisham Sharabi, the founder of The
Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center.
Professor Haddad delved into the complexities of the Syrian
civil war, which initially began as a popular uprising
fueled by widespread discontent due to neoliberal policies
implemented since the 1990s. However, it eventually
escalated into a multifaceted regional and international
proxy conflict. He discussed how interventions by regional
actors, ostensibly supporting the uprising, had a
detrimental effect on its original inclusive nature. These
interventions led to the sectarianization, weaponization,
and internationalization of the uprising.
Professor Haddad addressed the significant implications of
the devastating Syrian war on Syrians, Palestinians, and the
region. He addressed the interplay between the Syrian
situation and its influence on the Palestine question,
particularly within the dynamic landscape of shifting
alliances in the region. Professor Haddad's lecture
emphasized the need for a nuanced understanding of the
intricacies surrounding the Syrian case, highlighting its
far-reaching repercussions within Syria and the broader
Middle East.
Bassam Haddad is Founding Director of the Middle East and
Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar
School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The
Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford
University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical
Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University
Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine
and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He
serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and
the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director
of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and
director of the acclaimed three-part documentary series
Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam served on the Board of the Arab
Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of
Status Audio-Visual Podcast. He is also the Executive Editor
of the Knowledge Production Project and Director of the
Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received
MESA’s Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his
service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on
his second Syria book titled Understanding The Syrian
Tragedy: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming,
Stanford University Press). |
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Date: |
July 27, 2023
(Episode # 1,071) |
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Topic: |
"Navigating Anti-Imperialism
and Anti-Authoritarianism: The Syrian Uprising and the
Question of Palestine" by
Bassam Haddad
Part 1 of 2 / Lecture
The
Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. held its annual
Hisham Sharabi Memorial Lecture on May 24, 2023, dedicated
to Professor Hisham Sharabi, the founder of The Jerusalem
Fund and Palestine Center. The guest speaker was Professor
Bassam Haddad, Associate Professor at the Schar School of
Policy and Government, George Mason University, and a former
student of Sharabi. His lecture, titled "Navigating
Anti-Imperialism and Anti-Authoritarianism: The Syrian
Uprising and the Question of Palestine," shed light on
crucial aspects of the Syrian civil war.
Professor Haddad delved into the complexities of the Syrian
civil war, which initially began as a popular uprising
fueled by widespread discontent due to neoliberal policies
implemented since the 1990s. However, it eventually
escalated into a multifaceted regional and international
proxy conflict. He discussed how interventions by regional
actors, ostensibly supporting the uprising, had a
detrimental effect on its original inclusive nature. These
interventions led to the sectarianization, weaponization,
and internationalization of the uprising.
Professor Haddad addressed the significant implications of
the devastating Syrian war on Syrians, Palestinians, and the
region. He addressed the interplay between the Syrian
situation and its influence on the Palestine question,
particularly within the dynamic landscape of shifting
alliances in the region. Professor Haddad's lecture
emphasized the need for a nuanced understanding of the
intricacies surrounding the Syrian case, highlighting its
far-reaching repercussions within Syria and the broader
Middle East.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,071), we will air that
lecture in its entirety, and some of the questions and
answers that followed, and we plan to air the rest of the
questions and answers during the next episode of Arab
Voices.
Bassam Haddad is Founding Director of the Middle East and
Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar
School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The
Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford
University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical
Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University
Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine
and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He
serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and
the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director
of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and
director of the acclaimed three-part documentary series
Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam served on the Board of the Arab
Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of
Status Audio-Visual Podcast. He is also the Executive Editor
of the Knowledge Production Project and Director of the
Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received
MESA’s Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his
service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on
his second Syria book titled Understanding The Syrian
Tragedy: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming,
Stanford University Press). |
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Date: |
July 20, 2023
(Episode # 1,070) |
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Topic: |
“Actualizing a One-State
Solution”
by
Jeff Halper
Jeff
Halper, an Israeli-American activist, organizer, Nobel Peace
Prize nominee, Director of
The Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions, and co-founder of
The One Democratic State Campaign, spoke in Houston,
Texas on the topic "Actualizing a One-State Solution",
opposing US government support of Israeli apartheid and
advocating for the One Democratic State Campaign - a genuine
call for political action, and the establishment of a single
democratic state including everyone living between the River
and the Sea, including Palestinian refugees who choose to
return to their homeland.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,070), we will air Jeff Halper's remarks.
Halper delivered that talk at the University of Houston on
October 22, 2022, at an event organized by Students for
Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston.
While in Houston, Jeff Halper also spoke at a different
event on “Israeli House Demolitions”, and that talk was
aired on Arab Voices previously and is archived on our
website at
https://www.arabvoices.net/archives/ArabVoices102722.mp3. |
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Date: |
July 13, 2023
(Episode # 1,069) |
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Topic: |
“From Adam to Murad: Universal
History Through Ottoman Eyes”, by Dr. Emine Fetvacı
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1069), we will air the 2023
Annual Lecture in Ottoman History held on March 1, 2023, at
the University of Houston, organized by the
Arab-American
Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies at the
University of Houston. The lecture is titled “From Adam to Murad: Universal History Through Ottoman Eyes”, presented by
Dr. Emine Fetvacı, and introduced by Dr. Emire Cihan Yüksel,
Associate Professor at the University of Houston, who is
serving as the 2022-23 Acting Director of the Arab-American
Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies.
In the sixteenth century, artists and historians working for
the Ottoman court in Istanbul produced multiple works of
Ottoman history that eulogized the ruling elite. The books
varied in content: some described the reign of a particular
sultan, others focused on the military campaigns of a
courtier, yet others were universal histories that fit the
Ottoman dynasty into a long line of rulers including Old
Testament prophets and pre-Islamic Persian heroes from the
Shahnama (Book of Kings). This talk will examine Zubdat al
Tawarikh, an illustrated universal history that was made for
the ruler Murad III (r. 1574-1595) and its models. Through
the paintings of this and other Ottoman histories, we will
trace changes in the Ottoman concept of the ideal ruler
during the sixteenth century.
Dr. Emine Fetvacı is the Norma Jean Calderwood University
Professor in Islamic & Asian Art, Boston College. She
specializes in the arts of the book in the early-modern
Islamic world. Her first book, Picturing History at the
Ottoman Court (Indiana University Press, 2013), was awarded
the 2014 M. Fuat Köprülü Book Prize by the Ottoman and
Turkish Studies Association. Her latest monograph, The Album
of the World Emperor: Cross-Cultural Collecting and Album
Making at the Ottoman Court (Princeton University Press,
2019), which has been nominated for the 2021 Charles Rufus
Morey Award of the College Art Association, focuses on an
imperial album created for the Ottoman sultan Ahmed I (r.
1603-1617), and examines the art and architecture produced
during the sultan’s reign. Her most recent project examines
artistic connections between the Ottoman and Mughal Empires. |
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Date: |
July 6, 2023
(Episode # 1,068) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Israel's Deadly Attack & War
Crimes in Jenin
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1068), we will talk about the
latest Israeli attack, aggression, and war crimes committed
in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, where on July
3, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces launched another
deadly and destructive attack on the city of Jenin and its
refugee camp, murdering 12 Palestinians, injuring 120, and
causing massive destruction to the city and its refugee
camp. It even used aerial missile strikes against the
Palestinian population, and forced thousands of Palestinians
out of their homes.
2nd Segment:
How Israel tests weapons on
Palestinians, a podcast from the Electronic Intifada
During
this episode of Arab Voices, we will also air a podcast from
the
Electronic Intifada on how Israel tests weapons on
Palestinians. In this podcast, Nora Barrows-Friedman
interviews journalist, filmmaker, and best-selling author
Antony Loewenstein to talk about his latest book,
The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports The Technology
Of Occupation Around The World. Loewenstein’s book is a
meticulously researched exposé on how Israel tests weaponry
and surveillance technology on Palestinians, perfecting what
he calls the architecture of control. He talks about
Israel’s occupation and the requisite dehumanization of
Palestinians as a marketing tool, and its weapons and
spyware – including NSO Group’s signature Pegasus software –
as Israel’s export assets. This technology is being sold to
global markets as “field-tested.” |
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Date: |
June 29, 2023
(Episode # 1,067) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
“The Black Study of an Old
Matter: The Poetic Socialities of Africanité and Arabité" by
Professor R.A. Judy
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1067), we will air a lecture
delivered at the University of Houston held on February 9,
2023, titled “The Black Study of an Old Matter: The Poetic
Socialities of Africanité and Arabité by R.A. Judy,
Professor of Literature at the University of Pittsburgh. The
lecture was organized by The Arab-American Educational
Foundation Dr. Burhan and Mrs. Misako Ajouz Professor of
Arab Studies at the University of Houston, co-sponsored by
the Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab
Studies, the Department of English, and the Department of
African American Studies at the University of Houston.
In his lecture, Professor R.A. Judy considers the way in
which the confluence of conceptual performative poetic
practices of living with nothingness challenge the political
foundations of the neoliberal world order. Two illustrations
of this are “sṭambālī” and “diwān.”
Professor R.A. Judy is introduced by Dr.
Hosam Aboul-Ela, Professor of English and the Arab-American
Educational Foundation Dr. Burhan and Mrs. Misako Ajouz
Professor of Arab Studies at the University of Houston. |
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Date: |
June 22, 2023
(Episode # 1,066) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Salim Tamari
(in Ramallah) - "Virtual Return to
Jaffa"
Nakba 75 Special
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,066), we will air an
interview Hanan Awad conducted
with Salim Tamari (in Ramallah)
on the topic "Virtual Return to Jaffa".
Salim Tamari is a Palestinian sociologist, and historian,
who serves as a Research Associate for the Institute for
Palestine Studies, and is the editor of the Jerusalem
Quarterly.
This interview
is part of Arab Voices Nakba 75 Special Episodes we are
airing during the months of May and June 2023, as we
commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing Palestinian
Nakba or Catastrophe.
All Arab Voices episodes, including the special Nakba 75
episodes are archived on our website
www.ArabVoices.net
for on-demand listening. |
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Date: |
June 15, 2023
(Episode # 1,065) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Marwah Tibi
(in Taybe) on Film & Identity in
Palestine
Nakba 75 Special
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,065),
we will air an interview Hanan Awad conducted with
Marwah Tibi (in Taybe) about
”Film & Identity in Palestine”. Marwah Tibi is an
independent filmmaker who produces and directs documentaries
in Palestine.
This interview
is part of Arab Voices Nakba
75 Special
Episodes we are airing during the months of May and June
2023, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing
Palestinian Nakba or Catastrophe.
During the next episode of Arab Voices, we will air
an additional interview hosted by
Hanan Awad with
another distinguished guest, Salim Tamari
(in Ramallah) with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”. |
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Date: |
June 8, 2023
(Episode # 1,064) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Dr. Yasser Abu
Jamie
(in Gaza) on Mental Health Under
Occupation (Part 2 of 2)
Nakba 75 Special
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,064),
we will air part 2 of the interview Hanan Awad conducted with
Dr. Yasser Abu Jamie (in Gaza)
on "Mental Health Under Occupation". Dr. Abu Jamie is the
General Director of the Gaza Mental Health Program, and a
leading Palestinian Psychiatrist. During the previous
episode of Arab Voices, we aired part 1 of that interview
(archived on our website www.ArabVoices.net).
This interview
is part of Arab Voices Nakba
75 Special
Episodes we are airing during the months of May and June
2023, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing
Palestinian Nakba or Catastrophe.
Over the next few weeks, we will air additional interviews hosted by
Hanan Awad with
other distinguished guests, including Marwah Tibi in
Taiybe on
”Film & Identity in Palestine”, and Salim Tamari
in Ramallah with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”.
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Clare Daly's Response to
Ursula von der Leyen
In
this episode, we will also air the response of Clare Daly,
Member of the European Parliament, to the message issued by
the President of the European Commission Ursula von der
Leyen, about "a celebration of 75 years of Israel's
independence and friendship with Europe", which included
many lies! |
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Date: |
June 1, 2023
(Episode # 1,063) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Dr. Yasser Abu
Jamie
(in Gaza) on Mental Health Under
Occupation (Part 1 of 2)
Nakba 75 Special
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,063),
we will air part 1 of an interview Hanan Awad conducted with
Dr. Yasser Abu Jamie (in Gaza)
on "Mental Health Under Occupation". Dr. Abu Jamie is the
General Director of the Gaza Mental Health Program, and a
leading Palestinian Psychiatrist.
This interview
is part of Arab Voices Nakba
75 Special
Episodes we are airing during the months of May and June
2023, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing
Palestinian Nakba or Catastrophe.
We will air part 2 of Hanan's interview with Dr. Abu Jamie
during the next episode of Arab Voices, and over the next few weeks, we will air
additional interviews hosted by
Hanan Awad with
other distinguished guests, including Marwah Tibi in
Taiybe on
”Film & Identity in Palestine”, and Salim Tamari
in Ramallah with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”. |
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Date: |
May 25, 2023
(Episode # 1,062) |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Batoul Abuharb about the Houston Palestine
Film Festival
Interview
with Batoul Abuharb with the
Houston
Palestine Film Festival about the upcoming 16th annual
festival that features the latest films in Palestinian
Cinema. The festival is scheduled to take place over two
weekends: June 2nd & 3rd (at the
Museum of Fine Arts Houston) and June 9th & 10th (at
Rice University Cinema). Three major films will be
screened at the festival:
A Gaza Weekend
Friday, June 2 & 9, 2023 at 7 p.m.
A British journalist tries to escape Israel after the UN
imposes an embargo from land, air, and sea due to the
spreading of a virus.
Mediterranean Fever
Saturday, June 3 & 10, 2023 at 3 p.m.
Waleed is an aspiring writer suffering from chronic
depression who cultivates a relationship with a petty
criminal neighbor.
Alam
Saturday, June 3 & 10, 2023 at 7 p.m.
A Palestinian-Israeli high schooler undergoes a political
awakening when he falls for the outspoken new girl in his
class.
The festival will also screen several short films:
Palestine 87 directed by Bilal Alkhatib, Angel of
Gaza directed by Ahmed Mansour, and the short
documentary Last May in Palestine directed by Rabeea
Eid.
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2nd Segment:
Interview with Saleh Diab
(in Sheikh Jarrah)
Nakba 75 Special
Interview
with Saleh Diab, a Palestinian activist, and one of the
leaders of the struggle against expulsions of Palestinians
from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East
Jerusalem. Diab was jailed 20 times by the Israeli
Occupation Forces but continues to resist, and his story
speaks volume of the resilience and steadfastness of the
Palestinians against the ongoing Israeli aggressions and
attempts to force him and other Palestinians out of their
homes from Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem. Saleh Diab’s
family was forced out of their home in Jaffa in 1948, so for
him and many other Palestinians, the Palestinian Nakba is
ongoing!
This interview with Saleh Diab
is part of Arab Voices Nakba
75 Special
Episodes we are airing during the months of May and June
2023, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing
Palestinian Nakba or Catastrophe.
Over the next few weeks, we will air interviews hosted by
Hanan Awad with
other distinguished guests, including Yasser Abu Jamie
in Gaza on
“Mental Health Under Occupation”, Marwah Tibi in
Taiybe on
”Film & Identity in Palestine”, and Salim Tamari
in Ramallah with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”. |
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Date: |
May 18, 2023
(Episode # 1,061) |
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1. |
Apartheid Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza
Strip (May 8-13, 2023) that killed 33 Palestinians including
6 children and 3 women, injured 190 others including 64
children and 38 women, and resulted in the complete
destruction of 103 housing units, severely damaged 140 units
(considered unlivable), and damaged another 2,700 units,
displacing 1,244 Palestinians, an ongoing Nakba.
Furthermore, the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip damaged 26
schools, 2 hospitals, and 2 primary health care clinics.
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2. Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Rana Barakat
(in Birzeit) about Lifta Village
Nakba 75 Special Episode
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,061)
we will air an interview Hanan Awad conducted with Rana
Barakat, Associate Professor of History and Contemporary
Arab Studies at Birzeit University in occupied Palestine.
Barakat's research interests include the history and
historiography of colonialism, nationalism, and cultures of
resistance. She is currently working on a book monograph
titled "Lifta and Resisting the Museumification of
Palestine: Indigenous History of the Nakba". Barakat’s work
explores the struggles of Lifta's people and their efforts
to preserve their village as a symbol, not just for the
importance of cultural heritage, but also as a symbol of the
hope to return to their homes in Palestine.
This interview is part of Arab Voices Nakba Special Episodes
we are airing during the months of May and June 2023, as we
commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ongoing Palestinian
Nakba or Catastrophe. These episodes are hosted by
Hanan Awad,
and include interviews with several distinguished guests, including
Salman Abu Sitta on the “The Right of Return”, Rana
Barakat on “Lifta Village”, Yasser Abu Jamie on
“Mental Health Under Occupation”, Marwah Tibi on
”Film & Identity in Palestine”, Saleh Diab and his
”Eyewitness Account”, and Salim Tamari with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”. |
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Date: |
May 11, 2023
(Episode # 1,060) |
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1. |
Commentary on the one-year anniversary of
Shireen Abu Akleh's assassination by Apartheid Israel |
2. |
The Deadly Israeli Attack on the Gaza Strip |
3.
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Interview with Dr. Salman Abu Sitta (part 2
of 2)
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Dr. Salman Abu Sitta (in London) on "The
Right of Return"
(Part 2 of 2) - Nakba 75 Special Episode
The
month of May 2023, marks the 75th anniversary of the
ongoing Palestinian Nakba. Nakba is an Arabic word for
Catastrophe. 75 years ago, in May 1948, right before the
British Mandate was to expire in Palestine, Israel declared
its independence on 78% of historic Palestine after wiping
out more than 530 Palestinian villages and towns, killing
thousands of Palestinians and forcing nearly 850,000
Palestinians out of their homes. The Palestinians call that
Al-Nakba (The Catastrophe).
In commemoration of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba, Arab Voices will
air
special episodes hosted by
Hanan Awad during
May & June 2023. Hanan will
interview several distinguished guests, including Salman
Abu Sitta on “The Right of Return”, Rana Barakat
on “Lifta Village”, Yasser Abu Jamie on “Mental
Health Under Occupation”, Marwah Tibi on ”Film &
Identity in Palestine”, Saleh Diab and his
”Eyewitness Account”, and Salim Tamari with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,060), we will air part 2 of the interview
Hanan Awad conducted with Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
(in London). During the last episode of Arab Voices, we
aired part 1 of that interview (archived on our website).
Abu Sitta is a Palestinian researcher, former
member of the Palestinian National Council, Founder of
Palestine Land Society, general coordinator of the Right of
Return Congress, and author of several books. |
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Date: |
May 4, 2023
(Episode # 1,059) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Dr. Salman Abu Sitta (in London) on "The
Right of Return"
(Part 1 of 2) - Nakba 75 Special Episode
The
month of May 2023, marks the 75th anniversary of the
ongoing Palestinian Nakba. Nakba is an Arabic word for
Catastrophe. 75 years ago, in May 1948, right before the
British Mandate was to expire in Palestine, Israel declared
its independence on 78% of historic Palestine after wiping
out more than 530 Palestinian villages and towns, killing
thousands of Palestinians and forcing nearly 850,000
Palestinians out of their homes. The Palestinians call that
Al-Nakba (The Catastrophe).
In commemoration of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba, Arab Voices will
air
special episodes hosted by
Hanan Awad during
May & June 2023. Hanan will
interview several distinguished guests, including Salman
Abu Sitta on “The Right of Return”, Rana Barakat
on “Lifta Village”, Yasser Abu Jamie on “Mental
Health Under Occupation”, Marwah Tibi on ”Film &
Identity in Palestine”, Saleh Diab and his
”Eyewitness Account”, and Salim Tamari with a
”Virtual Return to Jaffa”.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,059), we will talk about
Al-Nakba, and air part 1 of the interview with
Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
(in London). Abu Sitta is a Palestinian researcher, former
member of the Palestinian National Council, Founder of
Palestine Land Society, general coordinator of the Right of
Return Congress, and author of several books. |
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Date: |
April 27, 2023
(Episode # 1,058) |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Becky Lao about
the Marsh Arabs Project
During the
first segment, we will interview Becky Lao, Executive
Director of Archeology Now, and one of the Marsh Arabs
Project leaders.
The Marsh Arabs Project is a collaboration between
Archeology Now and the
Arab-American Educational Foundation. The project will
include the construction of an Iraqi mudhif (المضيف) on the
Rice University campus in Houston, Texas, and will be made
up of reeds from Iraq (15 feet tall, 15 feet wide, and 27
feet long). The project will also include talks/lectures,
cultural activities, a film screening on the Marsh Arabs of
Iraq, and will also host classes. The project will provide
one of the first opportunities for Americans to see and
experience an authentic representation of an ancient culture
with immense historical significance.
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2nd Segment:
Interview with Dr. Khaled
Mustafa Medani about the Crisis in Sudan
We
will interview Professor Khalid Mustafa Medani about the
crisis in Sudan that reached the Sudanese Capitol Khartoum,
for the first time in Sudan's history. We will talk about
the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid
Support Forces that has killed hundreds of Sudanese and
injured thousands. Tens of thousands have fled their homes,
and a humanitarian crisis is unfolding as a result of the
fighting. We will discuss all of that and more.
Dr. Khalid Mustafa Medani is an Associate Professor of
Political Science and Islamic Studies who is also Chair of
the African Studies Program at McGill University in Canada.
His research focuses on globalization, and the political
economy of Islamist and Ethnic Politics in Africa and the
Middle East, with a special focus on Sudan, Egypt, and
Somalia. Dr. Medani is a Sudanese Scholar. He is the author
of
Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle
East and Africa,
which received an award from the American Political Science
Association for the Best Book in the Field of Middle East
and North Africa Politics by a Senior Scholar in 2022. |
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Date: |
April 20, 2023
(Episode # 1,057) |
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Topic: |
International Day of Al-Quds
Houston Remarks
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,057), we will air some of
the remarks delivered at the International Day of Al-Quds
rally held in front of the Consulate General of Israel in
Houston, Texas, on April 14, 2023. Al-Quds is Jerusalem in
Arabic, and the International Day of Al-Quds is usually held
every year on the last Friday of Ramadan in numerous cities
in the U.S. and other countries.
During this episode, we will air the remarks of
Syed Farhat Abbas,
a Muslim Scholar with the Islamic Education Center in Houston,
David Smith, an
organizer with the Houston Socialist Movement,
Kamal Khalil with the
Palestinian American Council,
Pervez Agwan, running for Congress in the newly
drawn District 7 in Texas, Derrick
Broze, activist, author, journalist, documentary
filmmaker, and Houston Mayoral Candidate,
Zaara Shafi with
Students for Justice in Palestine at Rice University,
Anna Rajagopal with
Students for Justice in Palestine at Rice University,
Alizay Azeem with
Students for Justice in Palestine at Rice University,
Dr. Qamber Jafri,
Alex Kerry with the
Palestinian Youth Movement, Yasmeen
with Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of
Houston, Alex McDonald,
founder of Texas Coalition for Human Rights,
Mohammed Nabulsi with
the Palestinian American Cultural Center and the Palestinian
Youth Movement, and Mohammed Rashid
with the Palestinian Youth Movement. |
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Date: |
April 13, 2023
(Episode # 1,056) |
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Guest/
Topics: |
Zakaria Odeh
(in occupied Jerusalem)
Our
guest for this episode of Arab
Voices (# 1,056) will be Zakaria Odeh, a human rights
activist, and Executive Director for the Civil Coalition
for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem.
We will speak with Zakaria Odeh
(in occupied Jerusalem) about the occupied city of
Jerusalem, the significance of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque,
banning Palestinian Christians & Muslims from the West Bank
and Gaza Strip to visit Jerusalem, denying access to Al-Aqsa
mosque to Muslims, denying permits for medical treatments to
Palestinians, the ongoing and escalated Israeli brutal
attacks on Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem, the
discrimination and measures imposed by Apartheid Israel on
Palestinians in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa mosque, the
revocation of residency from Palestinians living in occupied
Jerusalem, absentee law, forced expulsion of Palestinians
from their homes, home demolitions, military checkpoints and
roadblocks, Israeli colonies and colonizers horrific acts
against Palestinians, targeting, prosecuting and jailing
Palestinian children, imposing Israeli education system &
curriculum on Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, forbidding
teachers from talking about the Palestinian Nakba or Israeli
Occupation in schools, the ongoing ethnic cleansing of
Palestine, and more.
NOTE: The
International
Day of Al-Quds-Houston event will be held on Friday,
April 14, from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm. in front of the Consulate
General of Israel, 24 Greenway Plaza, Houston, TX 77046. |
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Date: |
April 6, 2023
(Episode # 1,055) |
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Topic: |
National Arab American Heritage
Month, and National Arab American Medical Association
Houston Chapter biennial Ben Qurrah Award Gala Honorees
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,055), we will talk about
the National Arab American Heritage Month (April 2023),
which is a celebration and recognition of Arab Americans,
their rich culture, heritage, and contributions, and
President Joe Biden's historic
proclamation.
And
in celebration of Arab Americans and their contributions, we
will air some of the remarks delivered at the
National
Arab American Medical Association Houston Chapter 12th
biennial Ben Qurrah Medical Award Gala, held in Houston,
Texas, on February 4, 2023. Named for the 8th Century Arab
Physician Thābit Ben Qurrah, renowned for his work to
modernize mathematics and medicine, the biennial Ben Qurrah
Award Gala celebrates the achievements of prominent
scientists of Arab origin who have made major contributions
to science, medicine and health care, and honors those who
have made remarkable contributions in the field of medicine
and who have succeeded in the worldwide advancement of
science.
This year's honorees were:
Dr. Hana El Sahly, Professor of Molecular Virology
and Microbiology and Medicine, Division of Infectious
Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine as the Houston honoree.
Dr. Elias Jabbour, Professor of Medicine, Department
of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of
Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as the
National/International honoree.
Dr. Zaina Al-Mohtaseb, Cataract, Refractive, & Cornea
Surgeon, Director of Research, Whitsett Vision Group,
Clinical Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine as
the Rising Star Award honoree.
And from the 2020 pandemic selection:
Dr. Nizar Tannir, Endowed Ransom Horne, Jr.
Professorship for Cancer Research at The University of Texas
(UT), MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). He served as Deputy
Chair (April 2012-February 2019) then as Chair ad interim
(March 2019-August 2020) of the Department of Genitourinary
Medical Oncology.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
of some of the honorees delivered at that gala, including
the remarks of Dr. Nizar Tannir,
Dr. Zaina Al-Mohtaseb,
and Dr. Hana El Sahly.
Because of the time limit, we will not air the remarks of
Dr. Elias Jabbour, but you can listen to his remarks
here. |
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Date: |
March 30, 2023
(Episode # 1,054) |
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Guest: |
Richard Silverstein
Richard Silverstein
is a
freelance journalist. He writes the
Tikun Olam blog, devoted to exposing the excesses of the
Israeli national security state. His work has appeared in
Haaretz, the Middle East Eye, The Nation, the New Arab, the
Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, the Forward, and the
Seattle Times.
Silverstein contributed to the essay collection devoted to
the 2006 Lebanon war, A Time to Speak Out, and has
another essay in the collection, Israel and Palestine:
Alternate Perspectives on Statehood.
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Topics: |
In this episode of Arab
Voices (# 1,054), we will discuss with Richard Silverstein
the strikes, and mass protests in Apartheid Israel,
the new extremist far-right wing fascist Israeli government, the
proposed "judicial changes", reactions to what is happening
from the U.S. administration and amongst the Jewish
communities and organizations, the new letter sent by
several U.S. representatives led by Jamaal Bowman and Sen.
Bernie Sanders and endorsed by 70 Jewish organizations
demanding President Biden to probe Israel's use of U.S.
arms, media coverage of how Israeli forces are handling
Israeli demonstrators vs. Palestinian demonstrators, the
impact the new government has on the Palestinians, the
ongoing genocide against the Palestinians by Israel and its
colonizers, and more. |
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Date: |
March 23, 2023
(Episode # 1,053) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Ramadan, Remembering Rachel
Corrie, Home Demolitions, Smotrich's Remarks & Use of Map
During the 1st segment, we will talk about the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan, The 20th anniversary of Apartheid Israel’s
murder of U.S. Citizen and peace activist Rachel Corrie,
Israeli home demolitions, and the Israeli Finance Minister’s
remarks about the Palestinians and his use of a map showing
Jordan as part of Israel.
March
16, 2023, marked the 20th anniversary of the murder of
Rachel Corrie, a U.S. peace activist from Olympia,
Washington. She was killed by Israel in the occupied Gaza
Strip in Palestine. On that day, Rachel Corrie was
protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in the
occupied Gaza Strip by the Israeli Occupation Military, when
an Israeli bulldozer crushed her to death.
On this 20th anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie, we
will air a prose written by Amber
Poole titled "Rachel Corrie: Slated For
Demolition". Amber read that prose live on Arab Voices
during an interview we conducted with Cindy and Craig Corrie,
the parents of Rachel Corrie back in 2003.
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2nd Segment:
Iraq 20 Years Later
Twenty
years ago, on March 20, 2003, the United States, under
President George W. Bush, launched a massive attack on Iraq
and occupied it. The U.S. waged that war based on lies
accusing Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction,
which was not the case. The war was catastrophic to Iraq and
its people. It devastated the country, destroyed its
infrastructure, killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,
displaced millions of Iraqis, destroyed the health and
educational systems, Iraq’s economy, and its oil (Iraq has
the second largest oil reserve in the world, and many
believe Iraq’s oil is one of the main reasons the US
occupied Iraq to steal its oil). That war wreaked havoc on
Iraq on many levels. The US also used Depleted Uranium on
the Iraqi people, and its effect are lived to this day in
Iraq because depleted uranium is a chemically toxic and
radioactive heavy material that can pose extremely harmful
environmental and health risks for communities that live
close to war zones.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air previous
interviews we conducted with Dr.
Imad Khadduri, former Iraqi Nuclear Scientist,
who worked with the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission for 30
years (we talked about Iraq's nuclear weapons program), and
an interview with Scott Ritter,
former Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector in Iraq (we talked about
weapons of mass destruction and his inspection in Iraq). In
addition, we will air portions of a recent interview
Democracy Now! conducted with two Iraqis looking back at how
the unprovoked U.S. invasion devastated Iraq and helped
destabilize much of the Middle East. They interviewed
Feurat
Alani, a French Iraqi writer and documentarian
who was based in Baghdad, Iraq from 2003 to 2008. His recent
piece for The Washington Post is headlined “The
Iraq War helped destroy what it meant to be an Iraqi.”,
and Sinan Antoon, an
Iraqi born and raised in Baghdad. He is a writer, poet,
translator, and associate professor at New York University.
His latest piece appeared in The Guardian, headlined “A
million lives later, I cannot forgive what American
terrorism did to my country, Iraq.” |
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Date: |
March 16, 2023
(Episode # 1,052) |
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Topic: |
“Sisters in the Mirror: A
History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism”
by Dr. Elora Shehabuddin
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1052), we will air some of
the remarks delivered at an event organized and hosted by
the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston on February 2, 2023. It was
a book launch discussion of “Sisters
in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global
Politics of Feminism” by Dr. Elora Shehabuddin.
Dr. Shehabuddin is Professor of Gender & Women's Studies and
Global Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
She was Professor of Transnational Asian Studies and Core
Faculty in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and
Sexuality at Rice University prior to moving to Berkeley in
2022.
The book launch discussion featured a talk by Dr. Elora
Shehabuddin about her new book “Sisters in the Mirror: A
History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of
Feminism”, and contributions from Dr. Elora Halim
Chowdhury, Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality
Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Dr.
Kamran Asdar Ali, Professor of Anthropology, Middle East
Studies and Asian Studies at The University of Texas at
Austin, and Dr. Susan Ferguson, Associate Professor
Emerita, Digital Media and Journalism at Wilfrid Laurier
University.
We will air in this episode the remarks of Dr.
Elora Shehabuddin,
Dr. Elora Chowdhury, and
Dr. Susan Ferguson.
We will skip the remarks of Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali because of
the time, but we will post a link to the entire event on our
website
www.ArabVoices.net once it is published by the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston. |
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Date: |
March 9, 2023
(Episode # 1,051) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Michael Ibrahim
We
will speak with
Michael Ibrahim,
National Arab Orchestra Founder and Music Director. We
will talk about the
National Arab Orchestra, and the
upcoming Houston event
Treasures of the East: Timeless Classics of the Arab World,
which will highlight some of the Arab world’s most treasured
pieces of music with a performance that will showcase the
rich beauty and diverse heritage of the Arab world with
special guest artists, Ranine Chaar and Mohamed Mohsen.
Treasures of the East builds bridges between communities by
providing a forum for people to connect through the joy of
Arab music and the atmosphere of such performances the
National Arab Orchestra is famed for.
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2nd Segment:
In Memoriam: Arab Voices
Interview with Senator James Abourezk
We
will air an interview we conducted previously with U.S.
Senator James Abourezk who passed away on February 24, 2023,
at the age of 92.
Senator James Abourezk was the son of Lebanese Arab
immigrants. Between 1948 and 1952, James served in the
United States Navy during the Korean War and was elected as
a United States Representative from South Dakota in 1970. He
served in that role for one term before being elected as a
United States Senator for South Dakota in 1972, where he
served until 1979. James made history as the nation’s first
Arab American Senator. James Abourezk was the founder of the
American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee
(ADC).
During that interview, we talked about several issues
including the U.S.-led War on Iraq, the rhetoric of attacks
on Iran, the Lebanese-Syrian relations, Nuclear weapons in
the Middle East and Israel's Nuclear Arsenal, the Israel
Lobby and its effect on U.S. Policy, Israel's attack on the
USS Liberty and the U.S. cover-up, and the U.S. Patriot Act
and status of Arab Americans. |
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Date: |
March 2, 2023
(Episode # 1,050) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Ongoing Palestinian Genocide
We
will talk about the escalation of Apartheid Israel's ongoing
plans of ethnic cleansing in Palestine, war crimes,
atrocities, aggression, slaughter, genocide, terrorism, land
theft, discrimination, Apartheid, home demolitions, and a
whole lot more.
On February 22, Israeli occupation forces murdered 11
Palestinians and injured more than 100 in Nablus City in the
occupied West Bank. On February 26, hundreds of Israeli
colonizers, gangs, and terrorists, escorted and protected by
the Israeli occupation soldiers stormed the town of Huwara,
south of Nablus City in the occupied West Bank, burned down
35 Palestinian houses and partially damaged 40 others, and
torched or destroyed more than 100 cars belonging to
Palestinians. One Palestinian was killed and 400 were
wounded in the Israeli rampage on the Huwara town, and on
March 1, large Israeli occupation forces stormed Aqabet
Jaber refugee camp near Jericho in the occupied West Bank,
killing one Palestinian, injured several others, and
kidnapped a number of Palestinians. During its attack on the
village, Israeli occupation soldiers placed a Palestinian
man and his very young son as human shields, a common
practice of the Israeli occupation soldiers, which is
prohibited by International law.
What we are witnessing in occupied Palestine is genocide and
terrorism at its highest forms, while Israel continues to
enjoy full impunity for its terrorism, war crimes, and
genocide against the Palestinian people.
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2nd Segment:
The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The Case of Julian Assange
(Part 3 of 3)
During
the previous two episode of Arab Voices, we aired some of the
remarks delivered at
The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The Case
of Julian Assange, held in Washington D.C. on January 20,
2023, organized by Progressive International and the Wau
Holland Foundation.
During this episode of Arab Voices (#1,050), we will air
more remarks delivered at that tribunal, including the
remarks of Kevin
Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof,
John
Shipton, father of Julian Assange,
Betty Medsger,
investigative reporter, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon
Papers whistleblower, Suchitra Vijayan, writer,
photographer and activist, and Professor
Noam Chomsky, linguist
and activist.
Julian Assange is WikiLeaks Founder who exposed war crimes
committed by U.S. forces in Iraq. He is being held in a
British jail, was charged by the United States government
with the publication of classified documents and exposing
war crimes committed by U.S. forces, in Iraq. Assange faces
up to 175 years in prison if convicted of violations of the
Espionage Act. In June 2022, the British government approved
the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to
face espionage charges.
In 2010, WikiLeaks released government materials related to
American military operations in the Middle East, including a
video showing American pilots in Iraq making jokes as they
opened fire on a group of non-combatants that included
civilians and journalists, as well as on Iraqis who came to
their aid, killing numerous civilians and seriously wounding
two children.
Nearly 20 experts spoke at the Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The
Case of Julian Assange, including Ben Wizner, lead
attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden, Jeffrey Sterling,
lawyer and former CIA employee, Katrina vanden Heuvel,
editorial director and publisher at the The Nation,
Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney, Stefania
Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano,
Jeremy Corbyn, member of the U.K. Parliament and
founder of the Peace and Justice Project, Steven Donziger,
human rights attorney, Kristinn Hrafnsson,
editor-in-chief at WikiLeaks, Jesselyn Radack,
national security and human rights attorney, Chip Gibbons,
policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent, Kevin
Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, John
Shipton, father of Julian Assange, Betty Medsger,
investigative reporter, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon
Papers whistleblower, Suchitra Vijayan, writer,
photographer & activist, and Professor Noam Chomsky, linguist
and activist. Amy Goodman, Host of Democracy Now! and
Sreshko Horvat, co-founder of DiEM25, co-chaired the
tribunal. |
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Date: |
February 23, 2023
(Episode # 1,049) |
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Topic: |
The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The Case of Julian Assange
(Part 2)
During
the previous episode of Arab Voices, we aired some of the
remarks delivered at
The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The Case
of Julian Assange, held in Washington D.C. on January 20,
2023, organized by Progressive International and the Wau
Holland Foundation.
During this episode of Arab Voices (#1,049), we will air
more remarks delivered at that tribunal, including the
remarks of
Jeremy Corbyn, member of the U.K. Parliament and
founder of the Peace and Justice Project,
Steven Donziger,
human rights attorney, Kristinn Hrafnsson,
editor-in-chief at WikiLeaks, Jesselyn Radack,
national security and human rights attorney, and
Chip Gibbons, policy
director of Defending Rights & Dissent.
Julian Assange is WikiLeaks Founder who exposed war crimes
committed by U.S. forces in Iraq. He is being held in a
British jail, was charged by the United States government
with the publication of classified documents and exposing
war crimes committed by U.S. forces, in Iraq. Assange faces
up to 175 years in prison if convicted of violations of the
Espionage Act. In June 2022, the British government approved
the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to
face espionage charges.
In 2010, WikiLeaks released government materials related to
American military operations in the Middle East, including a
video showing American pilots in Iraq making jokes as they
opened fire on a group of non-combatants that included
civilians and journalists, as well as on Iraqis who came to
their aid, killing numerous civilians and seriously wounding
two children.
Nearly 20 experts spoke at the Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The
Case of Julian Assange, including Ben Wizner, lead
attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden, Jeffrey Sterling,
lawyer and former CIA employee, Katrina vanden Heuvel,
editorial director and publisher at the The Nation,
Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney, Stefania
Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano,
Jeremy Corbyn, member of the U.K. Parliament and
founder of the Peace and Justice Project, Steven Donziger,
human rights attorney, Kristinn Hrafnsson,
editor-in-chief at WikiLeaks, Jesselyn Radack,
national security and human rights attorney, Chip Gibbons,
policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent, Kevin
Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, John
Shipton, father of Julian Assange, Betty Medsger,
investigative reporter, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon
Papers whistleblower, Suchitra Vijayan, writer,
photographer & activist, and Noam Chomsky, linguist
and activist. Amy Goodman, Host of Democracy Now! and
Sreshko Horvat, co-founder of DiEM25, co-chaired the
tribunal. |
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Date: |
February 16, 2023
(Episode # 1,048) |
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Topic: |
The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The Case of Julian Assange
(Part 1)
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1048), we will air some of
the remarks delivered at The Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The
Case of Julian Assange, held in Washington D.C. on January
20, 2023, organized by Progressive International and
the Wau Holland Foundation.
Julian Assange is WikiLeaks Founder who exposed war crimes
committed by U.S. forces in Iraq. He is being held in a
British jail, was charged by the United States government
with the publication of classified documents and exposing
war crimes committed by U.S. forces, in Iraq. Assange faces
up to 175 years in prison if convicted of violations of the
Espionage Act. In June 2022, the British government approved
the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to
face espionage charges.
In 2010, WikiLeaks released government materials related to
American military operations in the Middle East, including a
video showing American pilots in Iraq making jokes as they
opened fire on a group of non-combatants that included
civilians and journalists, as well as on Iraqis who came to
their aid, killing numerous civilians and seriously wounding
two children.
Nearly 20 experts spoke at the Belmarsh Tribunal D.C. — The
Case of Julian Assange, including Ben Wizner, lead
attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden, Jeffrey Sterling,
lawyer and former CIA employee, Katrina vanden Heuvel,
editorial director and publisher at the The Nation,
Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney, Stefania
Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano,
Jeremy Corbyn, member of the U.K. Parliament and
founder of the Peace and Justice Project, Steven Donziger,
human rights attorney, Kristinn Hrafnsson,
editor-in-chief at WikiLeaks, Jesselyn Radack,
national security and human rights attorney, Chip Gibbons,
policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent, Kevin
Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, John
Shipton, father of Julian Assange, Betty Medsger,
investigative reporter, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon
Papers whistleblower, Suchitra Vijayan, writer,
photographer & activist, and Noam Chomsky, linguist
and activist. Amy Goodman, Host of Democracy Now! and
Srecko Horvat, co-founder of DiEM25, co-chaired the
tribunal.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
delivered at that Tribunal by Ben
Wizner, Jeffrey Sterling,
Margaret Kunstler,
Stefania Maurizi, as
well as the opening remarks by Amy
Goodman and Srecko
Horvat.
Arab Voices will air more remarks delivered at that Tribunal
during the next episode of Arab Voices. |
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Date: |
February 9, 2023
(Episode # 1,047) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Devastating Earthquake in Turkey & Syria and How to Help
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about the deadly
earthquake that hit Turkey & Syria and ways you can help.
The massive 7.8 earthquake caused major damage in Turkey &
Syria, and according to officials, the death toll has
surpassed 20,000 in both countries with tens of thousands
more injured, and the recovery efforts are still underway
with many people still buried under the rubble. Thousands of
buildings were destroyed, and tens of thousands of people
can no longer go back to their damaged homes.
Arab Voices extends its deepest condolences and sympathy to
the families of the victims of this devastating earthquake.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Turkey &
Syria.
Organizations Accepting Donations for Earthquake Relief
Efforts:
www.syrianamericanclub.com
www.hhrd.org
www.centeraap.org
www.isgh.org
www.masnational.org/TE
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2nd Segment:
Removal of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the
House Foreign Affairs
Committee
Congresswoman
Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Representative from Minnesota, who
is an Arab-American, Muslim-American, African-American, and
critical of Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian
people, was ousted on February 2, 2023, from the House
Foreign Affairs Committee by House Republicans, who accused
her of being anti-Semite. Many argue that her removal has
nothing to do with anti-Semitism, but because she is
outspoken, standing for what’s right and what’s wrong, and
because she is critical of the Israeli atrocities against
the Palestinian people.
In this episode of Arab Voices,
we will talk about that, and we
will air the remarks delivered on the House floor by some of
the lawmakers that debated the resolution on her removal. We
will air the remarks of Representatives
Gregory Meeks (New
York), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(New York), Cori Bush
(Missouri), Pramila Jayapal
(Washington), Mark Pocan
(Wisconsin), Ayanna Pressley
(Massachusetts), Betty McCollum
(Minnesota), Janice Schakowsky
(Illinois), Rashida Tlaib
(Michigan), and we
will also air Congresswoman
Ilhan Omar’s response.
We will also air the remarks delivered at a press conference
held in front of the U.S. Congress, by a coalition of
American Muslim, Arab-American, Jewish, and Iranian-American
groups responding to the ouster of Representative Omar from
her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We will
air the remarks of Robert McCaw,
Government Affairs Director at the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),
Jasmine Hawamdeh, Communications Manager for the
Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC),
Edward Ahmed Mitchell,
National Deputy Executive Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Iman
Awad, Deputy Director of Emgage Action,
Mohammad Ali, Director
of Policy and Government Relations at the Muslim Public
Affairs Council, Donna Farvard,
National Organizing Director at the National Iranian
American Council Action, Emily
Kaplan, Senior Legislative and Electoral
Grassroots Organizer at Jewish Voice for Peace Action, and
Mongi Dhaouadi,
President of the Tunisian United Network and Executive
Director of the Libyan American Alliance. |
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Date: |
February 2, 2023
(Episode # 1,046) |
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Guest: |
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
A
US-Palestinian journalist, media consultant, author,
internationally-syndicated columnist, Editor of
Palestine Chronicle, and a Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs. He is the author of
several books and a contributor to many others. The books he
authored include Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the
Israeli Invasion, The Second Palestinian Intifada: A
Chronicle of a People’s Struggle, My Father Was a Freedom
Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story, The Last Earth, a Palestinian
Story, These Chains Will Be Broken, and his latest volume,
co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is titled
Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and
Intellectuals Speak Out.
Dr. Ramzy Baroud’s work has been published in hundreds of
newspapers and journals worldwide, has contributed to and
was referenced in hundreds of books and academic journals,
and has been a guest speaker at many universities around the
world. He is also a regular guest on many television and
radio programs nationally and internationally.
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Topics: |
We will speak with Dr. Baroud
about many issues and points, including why Israel is
escalating its attacks on the Palestinians throughout the
West Bank, and particularly in Jenin, the reasons for the
increased armed resistance to the Israeli occupation in the
West Bank, Israeli theft of Palestinian artifacts and
destruction of their archaeological sites, Israel’s “soft”
annexation of the West Bank, the Israeli ”great Jerusalem
plan”, home demolitions, the ongoing destructions in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Khan Al-Ahmar, Masafer Yatta, and other
places, Israeli control of Palestinian water resources,
Israeli colonies and the criminal acts of the Israeli
colonizers, Palestine 48, the new Israeli government and its
new measures and policies imposed on the Palestinians, the
impunity Israel has, the support of the US to Israel’s
crimes and its refusal to recognize Palestinians in the West
Bank as occupied, Palestinian resistance and steadfastness,
possible solutions to the crisis, and more. |
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Date: |
January 26, 2023
(Episode # 1,045) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Another Israeli Massacre
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about the latest
Israeli massacre committed against the Palestinians, where
on January 26, 2023, Israeli occupation forces stormed the
Palestinian city of Jenin and its refugee camp in the
occupied West Bank, shot and killed at least 9 Palestinians,
including a 60-year-old Palestinian woman, and wounded at
least 20 others (some are in critical condition). Israeli
occupation forces prevented ambulances and paramedics from
reaching the wounded or transporting them to hospitals,
fired at an ambulance, and even fired gas bombs at the
pediatric section of Jenin Government Hospital, causing
suffocation cases from gas inhalation among Palestinians,
including mothers and children.
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2nd Segment:
Oppositions to Texas Senate Bill 147
We
will talk about the proposed new legislation in the State of
Texas (Senate Bill 147) that will ban governments,
businesses, and individual citizens of China, Iran, North
Korea, and Russia from buying real estate in Texas. Many are
warning that such legislation could easily be expanded to
include citizens of other countries, and there are talks
about similar legislation that might be introduced to the US
Congress.
In today’s episode of Arab Voices, we will air the reactions
and some of the remarks about Senate Bill 147 delivered on
January 23, 2023, by several elected officials,
organizations, and community members at a press conference
held in Houston, Texas, the 4th largest and most diverse
city in the United States, and largest city in Texas. We
will air the remarks of State Representative
Gene Wu, Houston Mayor
Sylvester Turner,
Congressman Al Green,
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee,
Texas Representative Dr. Suleman
Lalani (among first Muslims elected to Texas
Legislature), William
White, Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston),
Lesley Briones, Harris
County Commissioner Pct. 4 and former judge,
Phillip Andrews with
Fort Bend County Republican Party,
Alice Chen, City of Stafford Council Member,
Niloufar Hafizi, Iranian-American and Civic Engagement Director at Emgage Texas,
Ling Luo, Chair of the
Asian Americans Leadership Council, and
Zafar Tahir, Pakistani-American Businessman. |
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Date: |
January 19, 2023
(Episode # 1,044) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
“Women in Coalitions: Challenges and Successes"
(part 2 of 2)
During
last week’s episode
of Arab Voices (#1,043), we aired the remarks delivered at a panel
discussion titled “Women
in Coalitions: Challenges and Successes”. That panel
was part of the
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC) 2022 Alex Odeh Memorial Conference and Gala held in
October 2022 in California, where they explored the issues
that impact the community, while honoring Alex Odeh and
celebrating Arab American excellence and achievement.
The panel was moderated by
Cheryl Faris, and it
explored how organizational and individual bonds overlap to
effect and influence redistricting designations for voting
rights, monitoring the police, and pressuring elected
officials toward legislation that ensures effective changes
for justice. The speakers on this panel were
Buki
Domingos, co-founder of San Diego’s Racial Justice
Coalition, Jeanine Erikat, Palestinian-Muslim
American serving as the Policy Lead at the Partnership for
the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), and
Tazheen
Nizam, Executive Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, CAIR-San Diego.
During this episode of Arab Voices (#1,044), we will air the
remaining questions and answers that followed the remarks we aired
last week at the panel “Women in Coalitions: Challenges and
Successes”. The questions addressed voting, empowering
communities, engaging elected officials, political
education, elevating young women leaders, advice to young
women starting in the political world, and the rise in
anti-Muslim hate in India.
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2nd Segment:
Ajit Sahi on Hindutva
One
of the questions and answers addressed in the
“Women
in Coalitions: Challenges and Successes”
panel (previous segment) was on the rise of anti-Muslim hate
in India, where nearly 200 million Muslims are facing
persecution, illegal arrests, and unlawful demolition of
Muslim houses. Many are calling what is happening in India a
genocide against Muslims.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air a speech
about Hindutva, an ideology that advocates for Hindu
supremacy. That talk was delivered at the ICNA-MAS
Convention held in Baltimore, Maryland in May 2022, by
Ajit Sahi, Advocacy
Director at the
Indian American Muslim Council.
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3rd Segment:
Directory of American Muslim Elected Officials
The
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim
civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States,
and
Jetpac, held a news conference on October 25, 2022, in
Washington, D.C., to announce the release of the first
national
directory of local, state and federal elected Muslim
officials and judges in the United States. CAIR and Jetpac’s
directory documented 189 elected officials holding local and
state office across 30 states. These officials include
members of Congress, state legislators, mayors, councilors,
school board officials, judiciary members, and law
enforcement.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
delivered at that press conference announcing the release of
the first national directory of local, state and federal
elected Muslim officials and judges in the United States.
An updated/final list of 82 local, state legislative,
statewide, judicial, and federal American Muslim electoral
victories counted in 2022 midterm election, was
released by CAIR and Jetpac, and that list is posted
here. |
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Date: |
January 12, 2023
(Episode # 1,043) |
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Topics: |
“Women in Coalitions: Challenges and Successes"
(part 1 of 2)
The
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest Arab
American grassroots civil rights organization in the United
States committed to defending the rights of people of Arab
descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage, held its
2022 Alex Odeh Memorial Conference and Gala on October 7th
and 8th 2022 in California, where they explored the issues
that impact the community, while honoring Alex Odeh and
celebrating Arab American excellence and achievement.
There were great speakers and excellent topics discussed at
that conference, and in this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,043), we will air
the remarks delivered at the panel titled “Women in
Coalitions: Challenges and Successes”.
The panel was moderated by Cheryl Faris, and it
explored how organizational and individual bonds overlap to
effect and influence redistricting designations for voting
rights, monitoring the police, pressuring elected
officials toward legislation that ensures effective changes
for justice, and more. The speakers on this panel were
Buki
Domingos, co-founder of San Diego’s Racial Justice
Coalition, Jeanine Erikat, Palestinian-Muslim
American serving as the Policy Lead at the Partnership for
the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), and
Tazheen
Nizam, Executive Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, CAIR-San Diego.
About the moderator and panelists:
Cheryl Faris was raised in a Lebanese community in
Fall River, MA. After earning a BA degree from Bridgewater
State University and a Master’s from NYU, she moved to Los
Angeles and obtained a JD degree from Loyola Law School. She
practiced law for 25 years at an international
telecommunications company, then switched careers to teach
Law and Psychology at a college prep high school in West Los
Angeles. While there, she founded and ran an award-winning
Mock Trial program. Cheryl served on the board of the
Southern Christian Leadership Council, and for many years
sat on the National Board of ADC, working closely with Alex
Odeh and Jim Abourezk. She was the first woman president of
the Arab-American Lawyers’ Association of Southern
California, and is currently the chair of the board of Impro
Theatre. She performs in long-form improvised plays in the
styles of Dickens and Shakespeare, and can fluently speak in
iambic pentameter.
Jeanine Erikat is a Palestinian-Muslim American
serving as the Policy Lead at the Partnership for the
Advancement of New Americans (PANA). In that role, Jeanine
leads PANA's community listening sessions, advocacy
campaigns, redistricting efforts, and engages the community
in PANA’s policy priorities to fight for the economic,
social, and civic inclusion of refugee and immigrant
communities. An alumnus of the Women Foundation of
California's Solis Policy Institute, Jeanine holds a B.S. in
Public Health Sciences as well as a B.A. in History from the
University of California, Irvine. A passionate advocate for
health education, she devotes her free time volunteering at
multiple organizations dedicated to uplifting both the Arab
and Muslim communities
Nigerian-born Buki Domingos is the co-founder of San
Diego’s Racial Justice Coalition. Fluent in five languages,
she draws upon her personal experiences to build resources
for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. As a
member of San Diego County's Citizens' Law Enforcement
Review Board, Buki assists coalitions in vetting candidates
and shaping legislation on policing and discrimination. In
2017 she attended the National Feminist Organizing School in
Philadelphia sponsored by Grassroots Global Justice, and in
2019 was selected as one of the official representatives for
San Diego at the National Women’s March in Washington, D.C.
Buki began her career as a singer/songwriter who worked with
artists such as Elton John and Whitney Houston. She now
works full time as a healthcare professional while also
volunteering with the Indigenous Health Care Support group.
In addition to all that she does, Buki created, and
continues to run, the KNSJ Radio show “Alafia: Voices of the
African Diaspora” which focuses on the struggles that
communities of color are immersed in and the organizations
and individuals that support those communities
Tazheen Nizam is the Executive Director of CAIR - San
Diego. Tazheen has deep roots in the San Diego Muslim
American Muslim community and has worked extensively with
the interfaith community, and has been an active voice in
San Diego politics. She is the Founder & Co-Chair of the
North County Immigration Task Force, where she has advocated
for immigrants’ rights. She serves as Community Development
Block Grant Commissioner for the City of Vista. She also
serves on multiple non-profit boards, including the San
Dieguito Interfaith Ministerial Association, South Vista
Communities, the Tri-City Islamic Center, and others. Prior
to joining CAIR-SD , Tazheen worked as a finance consultant
and accounting professional for over 20 years. Tazheen is an
alumnus of the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)
and the Rockwood Fellowship Institute. Tazheen holds a B.S.
in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting
and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in Organization Management &
Finance. She also holds certifications in Non-Profit
Management, Paralegal Studies, and Mediation. |
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Date: |
January 5,
2023
(Episode # 1,042) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
A Horrific, Deadly & Devastating 2022 for the Palestinians
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about
the horrific and bloody 2022 year for Palestinians in
occupied Palestine, where Apartheid Israel continued to
escalate its war crimes against the Palestinians, as part of
its Zionist settler-colonial and ethnic cleansing project.
At least 240 Palestinians were killed by Apartheid Israel
including 47 children in 2022, approximately 10,000
Palestinians were injured by Apartheid Israel, 6,500
Palestinians were kidnapped from the occupied Palestinian
areas by Apartheid Israel, more than 832 buildings and
infrastructures belonging to Palestinians were demolished by
Apartheid Israel, and at least 13,000 olive trees were
uprooted.
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2nd Segment:
Israeli Apartheid: Tool of
Zionist Settler Colonialism
On
November 29, 2022,
Al-Haq,
an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights
organization based in Ramallah, occupied Palestine, released
a landmark coalition report titled “Israeli
Apartheid: Tool of Zionist Settler Colonialism”. The
report explores Israel’s settler colonial and apartheid
regime imposed on the Palestinian people.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the
remarks delivered at a special event held in occupied
Ramallah in the West Bank to talk about that report,
including the remarks of
Francesca Albanese,
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,
Rania Muhareb,
one of the authors of the new report who is an Al-Shabaka
policy member and a former legal researcher and advocacy
officer at Al-Haq organization,
Tamam Mohsen,
advocacy officer at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in the
besieged Gaza Strip, and
Omar Barghouti,
a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for
the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and a
co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
movement. We will also air a
new documentary
produced by Al-Haq titled "Israel’s Settler Colonial
Apartheid Regime: Segregating The Palestinian People".
Prominent Reports about Israeli Apartheid:
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Date: |
December 29, 2022
(Episode # 1,041) |
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Topic: |
Rami Khouri on Arab Autocracies & U.S. Policy
In
this episode of Arab Voices (#1,041), we will air a program
from
Alternative Radio,
in which David Barsamian, the award-winning
investigative journalist, interviews Rami Khouri,
a senior fellow with the Middle East Initiative at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School,
and the Founding
Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and
International Affairs at the American University of Beirut,
on Arab Autocracies & U.S. Policy. The interview was
conducted in early December 2022, at the Middle East Studies
Association Annual Conference, held in Denver, Colorado.
Topics covered in the interview:
What influence, if any, the events in Iran may have on the
Arab States, how has the Ukraine war impacted the Arab
region, the disappearance of coverage of the
Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Palestine, Israel,
BDS, autocrats in the Middle East, U.S., Saudi Arabia, the murder
of Jamal Khashoggi, United Arab Emirates, political
relationships, US Policy, military basis in the Arab region,
colonial powers, Arab uprisings, the war on Yemen, regional
powers, proxy wars, political prisoners in Egypt, the
situation in Lebanon and the collapse of its economy, what's
happening in Syria, climate change, environmental issues,
the water problem in Jordan, prospects for hope in the Arab
region, and more.
Autocracy: concentrated power in the hands of a few. The
U.S. is linked to a network of Arab autocracies led by
sultans, emirs, and military dictators who are called allies
and partners. Politics and economics make for strange
bedfellows. Perhaps none is stranger than the one with the
feudal regime of Saudi Arabia. The Washington/Riyadh axis
goes back to 1945 when FDR met King Saud on a U.S. destroyer
in the Suez Canal. The deal was struck. The U.S. would
protect the Saud monarchy and in return, American
corporations would have access to Saudi oilfields. In the
decades since ties between the two countries have remained
close. Today, the U.S. has been supporting the Saudi-led war
in Yemen, which has resulted in almost 400,000 dead and
millions hungry.
Rami Khouri has reported on the Arab region for decades. He
is a senior fellow with the Middle East Initiative at the
Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School. He was the Founding
Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and
International Affairs at the American University of Beirut
in 2006-14.He was Executive Editor of the Beirut Daily Star
and before that Editor-in-Chief of The Jordan Times. His
articles appear in major newspapers around the world.
Alternative Radio, established in 1986, is an award-winning
weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all
public radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and
beyond. AR provides information, analyses and views that are
frequently ignored or distorted in corporate media. With
headquarters based in Boulder, Colorado and with only two
full-time and two part-time paid staff, AR airs on over 200
radio stations.
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Date: |
December 22, 2022
(Episode # 1,040) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
World Cup Hosted by Qatar, the Murder of Palestinian
Political Prisoner Nasser Abu
Hmeid, and the Forced
Expulsion of
Palestinian-French Human Rights Lawyer Salah Hammouri
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about the
World Cup hosted for the first
time in an Arab & Muslim country, Qatar, and its historic
successes despite some outrage and hatred by some sports
analysts, TV personalities, and politicians against hosting
the World Cup in an Arab/Muslim country.
We will also talk about Nasser Abu Hmeid, a
Palestinian Political Prisoner who died while in Israeli
occupation custody because Israel prevented him from
receiving proper medical aid, and will also talk about
Apartheid Israel’s forcible expulsion of Palestinian-French
Human Rights Lawyer Salah Hammouri from occupied
Palestine.
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2nd Segment:
Al Jazeera
takes the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh to the International
Criminal Court (ICC)
Shireen
Abu Akleh, a prominent world-renowned Palestinian-American
Journalist who worked for Al Jazeera TV Channel was
assassinated by Apartheid Israel on May 11, 2022. Since her
assassination, Shireen Abu Akleh’s family as well as Al
Jazeera, have been calling for an independent investigation
into her murder and also calling for justice and
accountability. Several Human Rights groups, international
media outlets, the United Nations, and as described by
witnesses, concluded from their own findings that an Israeli
soldier fired at and assassinated Shireen Abu Akleh.
On December 6, 2022, Al Jazeera Media Network submitted a
formal request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to
investigate and prosecute those responsible for killing
veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. A
press conference was held in the Hague after the filing with
the International Criminal Court, and in this episode of
Arab Voices, we will air some of the remarks delivered at
that press conference, including the remarks of
Cameron Doley,
Al Jazeera's External Council,
Rodney Dixon KC,
Al Jazeera's Lawyer,
Lina Abu Akleh,
Shireen Abu Akleh’s niece,
Walid Al-Omari,
Al Jazeera's Bureau Chief in Jerusalem,
Frane Maroević,
Executive Director of the International Press Institute, and
Antoine Bernard,
Director of Advocacy and Strategic Litigation at Reporters
Without Borders. |
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Date: |
December 15, 2022
(Episode # 1,039) |
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Topic: |
ACC's 26th
Annual Unity & Friendship Gala:
Honoring History - Celebrating Change
The
Arab American Cultural and Community Center (ACC) in
Houston, Texas, held its 26th Annual Unity and Friendship Gala on
December 3,
2022. The
Gala Chairs were Hadia Mawlawi and Rachida Benamar. The
Master of Ceremonies was Jonathan Martin with FOX 26 News.
During the Gala, the ACC highlighted and celebrated the rich Culture and
People of Algeria. This year’s ACC honorees were Imad
Abdullah (2022 ACC Outstanding Community
Service Award), Dr. Kadreya Abou-Sayed (2022 ACC
Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award), and Nujoud
Merancy (2022 Arab American Women Trailblazers Award). The event also included
live performances by Dalila Mekadder and Liliane Kheirbeck.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will listen to most of the remarks
delivered at the Gala, including the remarks of
Hadia Mawlawi
and
Rachida Benamar, Gala
Chairs,
Jill Yaziji,
ACC President, honoree
Imad Abdullah
(introduced by Dr. Abdel Kader Fustok), honoree
Dr. Kadreya
Abou-Sayed
(introduced by
Imad Abdullah), and honoree
Nujoud Merancy
(introduced by Dr. Kadreya Abou-Sayed).
Imad Abdullah
Architect, real estate broker, original founding member of
the Arab American Cultural and Community Center (ACC), and a
Charter Trustee. He served as ACC President and as a member
of the board for many years. He chaired the Nominations
Committee for five years and continues to be a member. Imad
also served on the ACC Building Committee, which brought the
building to completion in 2001, and since its inception, he
offered site planning and design concepts for the building. Imad is a member of the Board of Directors of "Nora's Home
for Transplant Patients and their families". In 2012 he
published his book "A Crystal Ball Visioning: Unfolding the
21st Century". He recently published several articles on
current world events in academia.edu.
Dr. Kadreya Abou-Sayed
One of the original founders of the Arab American Cultural
and Community Center (ACC). She has served on the board of
the Arab-American Education Foundation (AAEF), and is one of
the founders of the Friends of Egyptian Children with Cancer
(FECC) where she served as its first President. She is a
licensed professional engineer with over 30 years of
experience in the Petroleum Industry.
Nujoud Merancy
Systems Engineer with extensive background in human
spaceflight and spacecraft at NASA Johnson Space Center. She
is currently the Chief of the Exploration Mission Planning
Office responsible for the team of engineers and analysts
designing, developing, and integrating NASA's human
spaceflight portfolio beyond low earth orbit. |
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Date: |
December 8, 2022
(Episode # 1,038) |
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Topic: |
"Gaza: The Longest Siege in Modern History - 2007 to the
Present"
(Part 2 of 2)
The
Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University in
Rhode Island, held a panel discussion on October 3, 2022,
titled "Gaza: The Longest Siege in Modern History - 2007 to
the Present". The speakers were
Aya Al-Ghazzawi,
a Writer, and an English language teacher in the Palestinian
Ministry of Education,
Jehad Abusalim,
a PhD candidate at the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies
Joint Program at New York University,
Hadeel Assali,
Postdoctoral Research Scholar and Lecturer in Earth and
Environmental Sciences at Columbia University,
Dr. Swee Chai Ang,
Orthopedic surgeon, and Author, and
Dr. Fady Joudah,
Physician, Poet, and Translator.
The event was co-sponsored by the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston and
The
Jerusalem Fund, and was hosted by the Mahmoud Darwish
Visiting Professor in Palestinian Studies,
Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
who is also the first holder of the inaugural Arab-American
Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History and the
Founding Director of the Arab-American Educational
Foundation Center for Arab Studies at the University of
Houston.
During the last episode of Arab Voices, we aired the remarks
of Professor Abdel Razzaq Takriti, Aya Al-Ghazzawi, and
Jehad Abusalim, and in this episode of Arab Voices, we will
air the remarks of
Hadeel Assali,
Dr. Swee Chai Ang, and
Dr. Fady Joudah. |
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Date: |
December 1, 2022
(Episode # 1,037) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
“Lebanon: Turning Crisis Into Recovery" Q&A Session
(part 2 of 2)
During
last week’s episode
of Arab Voices, we aired the remarks delivered at a panel
titled “Lebanon: Turning Crisis Into Recovery”. That panel
was part of the
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC) 2022 Alex Odeh Memorial Conference and Gala held in
October 2022 in California, where they explored the issues
that impact the community, while honoring Alex Odeh and
celebrating Arab American excellence and achievement.
At that panel, Dr. Souhail Toubia
moderated an examination of the multiple crises facing
Lebanon, which included the various paths towards recovery.
The panel explored the humanitarian crisis,
Lebanese-American aid, the political and social upheaval, as
well as economic and recovery options. Dr. Toubia was joined
by Sarah M. A. Gualtieri,
Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity,
History, and Middle East Studies at the University of
Southern California, James E. Rauch,
Professor of Economics at the University of California, San
Diego, and Hassan Essayli,
all of whom provided invaluable insight into the unfolding
situation in Lebanon.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air most of the
questions and answers that followed the remarks we aired
last week on Lebanon.
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2nd Segment:
"Gaza: The Longest Siege in Modern History - 2007 to the
Present"
(Part 1 of 2)
The
Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University in
Rhode Island, held a panel discussion on October 3, 2022,
titled "Gaza: The Longest Siege in Modern History - 2007 to
the Present". The speakers were
Aya Al-Ghazzawi,
a Writer, and an English language teacher in the Palestinian
Ministry of Education,
Jehad Abusalim,
a PhD candidate at the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies
Joint Program at New York University,
Hadeel Assali,
Postdoctoral Research Scholar and Lecturer in Earth and
Environmental Sciences at Columbia University,
Dr. Swee Chai Ang,
Orthopedic surgeon, and Author, and
Dr. Fady Joudah,
Physician, Poet, and Translator.
The event was co-sponsored by the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston and
The
Jerusalem Fund, and was hosted by the Mahmoud Darwish
Visiting Professor in Palestinian Studies,
Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
who is also the first holder of the inaugural Arab-American
Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History and the
Founding Director of the Arab-American Educational
Foundation Center for Arab Studies at the University of
Houston.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
of Professor Abdel Razzaq Takriti, Aya Al-Ghazzawi, and
Jehad Abusalim, and we will air the remarks of Hadeel Assali,
Dr. Swee Chai Ang, and Dr. Fady Joudah during the next
episode of Arab Voices. |
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Date: |
November 24, 2022
(Episode # 1,036) |
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Topic: |
"Lebanon: Turning Crisis Into Recovery"
The
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest Arab
American grassroots civil rights organization in the United
States committed to defending the rights of people of Arab
descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage, held its
2022 Alex Odeh Memorial Conference and Gala on October 7-8, 2022, in California, where they explored the issues
that impact the community while honoring Alex Odeh and
celebrating Arab American excellence and achievement.
There were great speakers and excellent topics discussed at
that conference, and we plan to air some of them on this
program.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,036), we will air
the remarks delivered at the panel titled “Lebanon: Turning
Crisis Into Recovery”.
At that panel, Dr. Souhail Toubia
moderated an examination of the multiple crises facing
Lebanon, which included the various paths towards recovery.
The panel explored the humanitarian crisis,
Lebanese-American aid, the political and social upheaval, as
well as economic and recovery options. Dr. Toubia was joined
by Sarah M. A. Gualtieri,
Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity,
History, and Middle East Studies at the University of
Southern California, James E. Rauch,
Professor of Economics at the University of California, San
Diego, and Hassan Essayli,
all of whom provided invaluable insight into the unfolding
situation in Lebanon.
About the moderator and panelists:
Sarah Gualtieri is an
award-winning historian, teacher, and author currently
serving as a professor in the Departments of American
Studies and Ethnicity, History, and Middle East Studies at
the University of Southern California. Her research bridges
several areas of expertise, notably Middle East Migration
Studies and Arab American Studies with a particular focus on
questions of race, gender, and power. In 2009 Sarah
published her first book, Between Arab and White: Race and
Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora, which
traced how Arabs came to be officially classified as white
by the U.S. government, and how different Arab groups
interpreted, accepted, and contested this racial
classification over the course of the 20th century. Her most
recent book, published in 2020, titled Arab Routes: Pathways
to Syrian California, traces the stories of Syrian, Lebanese
and Palestinian migrants in Southern California, which has
won the Arab American Book Award and the Alixa Naff Prize in
Migration Studies.
James E. Rauch is
Professor of Economics at the University of California, San
Diego, a Research Associate with the National Bureau of
Economic Research, and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
In 2019, Oxford University Press published his textbook, The
Economics of the Middle East. He has conducted extensive
research in the Middle East and was a Visiting Scholar at
the Institute of Financial Economics in the American
University of Beirut.
Hassan Essayli was born
in Yater, South Lebanon in 1952. At age 17, he came to
California as an exchange student with the American Field
Service program, and upon his return to Lebanon, completed
his baccalaureate education. Hassan then immigrated to the
United States in 1972 to attend California State University,
Long Beach, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a
Master's degree in Political Science. Hassan became a member
of the American-Arab University Graduates (AAUG) and the
National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), whose goals
were to make Americans aware of Arab history and
contributions to world civilization. With the Civil war
raging in Lebanon, Hassan made it his mission to save young
people from becoming casualties of the war by bringing them
to study in the United States. He served as a National board
member of ADC and won an ADC Lifetime Achievement Award in
2017. He is a member of several civil and human rights
organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and
Amnesty International. He volunteers his time as head of the
Sadr Foundation USA, West Coast branch, which aims to raise
money for an orphanage in South Lebanon. Hassan is the proud
father of two young men, Jad and Kareem, both attorneys, who
continue his legacy in Southern California.
Dr. Souhail Toubia is a
Lebanese American physician and inventor. For the past ten
years he has served on the National Board of the American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and has been an ADC
member since 1985. Dr. Toubia lives in Orange County,
California. He has served on the Orange County ADC board for
twelve years and has been actively involved in humanitarian
work for thirty years. Dr. Toubia graduated from the
University of Brussels, Belgium and did his family practice
residency at the University of California, Irvine. He has
participated in volunteer work with the Flying Samaritans
treating and bringing medical equipment and medications to
farmers and villagers in remote areas in Mexico,
particularly in Baja California. Currently, Dr. Toubia is a
retired physician who, alongside his charitable work,
continues to invent, design, and develop medical/dental
equipment and implants. |
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Date: |
November 17, 2022
(Episode # 1,035) |
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Topic: |
Q&A Session that followed Professor Rashid Khalidi's Lecture on
the Balfour Declaration and the Impact it has had on the
Palestinian People
(Part 2 of 2)
During the previous
episode of Arab Voices (#1,034), we aired
a
lecture on the Balfour Declaration and the impact it has
had on the Palestinian people as this month, November 2022, marks the 105th anniversary of
the Balfour Declaration, issued by the British government,
and laid the foundation for the establishment of a
Jewish-Zionist state at the expense of the indigenous
Palestinian population, promising the land of Palestine to
the Zionist movement.
The lecture was delivered at the United Nations in November
2017 by Professor Rashid Khalidi,
organized by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of
the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
In this episode of Arab Voices (#1,035), we will
air the Question & Answer Session that followed Professor Rashid Khalidi’s lecture
on the Balfour Declaration and the impact it has had on the
Palestinian people. Some of the questions included: could
Palestinian leaders have targeted British colonialism
instead of Zionism; why did Britain make such a promise in
spite of its interest in the Arab world from the Suez to the
Gulf; did the Zionist movement try to get support from the
Ottoman Sultan, why is it that the British decided they
would put the Jewish people in a particular area, and did
they want to get rid of them; why the British have not
apologized yet for the Balfour declaration; how would the
international community deal with the issue of the absentee
property law; how much did the Balfour declaration aim to
delete the Palestinian identity; is a British apology for
the Balfour Declaration beneficial for Palestinians; more
information on the Aliens Act implemented by Balfour; the
significance of identifying and calling the Palestinian
people indigenous in Palestine; and more.
Professor Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia
University and director of the Middle East Institute of
Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. |
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Date: |
November 10, 2022
(Episode # 1,034) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
New Investigation Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of Shireen
Abu Akleh
On
November 3, 2022, in commemoration of the International
Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists,
Al-Haq
and
Forensic Architecture announced the joint submission of forensic
evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) based on
their investigation of the Extrajudicial Killing of Shireen
Abu Akleh, Palestinian-American Journalist who was shot and
murdered in May 2022 by the Israeli Occupation Forces. Their
investigation reveals new evidence of the circumstances of Shireen’s targeted killing, and their findings establish that
the report on the incident published by the Israeli
occupation forces is false and deliberately misleading.
This investigation by Al-Haq and Forensic Architecture is
the first to employ a precise digital reconstruction of the
incident and has been able to conclusively support both new
and existing claims about the targeting of Shireen Abu Akleh
by drawing upon new evidence from a range of sources,
including previously unseen footage, unpublished autopsy
documents, and original testimonies.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the
information released in this new investigation report.
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2nd Segment:
Professor Rashid Khalidi's
Lecture on
the Balfour Declaration and the Impact it has had on the
Palestinian People
(Part 1 of 2)
This month, November 2022, marks the 105th anniversary of
the Balfour Declaration, issued by the British government,
and laid the foundation for the establishment of a
Jewish-Zionist state at the expense of the indigenous
Palestinian population, promising the land of Palestine to
the Zionist movement.
In November 2017, the United Nations Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People
organized a lecture on the Balfour Declaration and the
impact it has had on the Palestinian people. The lecture was
delivered at the United Nations by Professor Rashid Khalidi,
the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia
University and director of the Middle East Institute of
Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will
air Professor Rashid Khalidi’s lecture
on the Balfour Declaration and the impact it has had on the
Palestinian people. |
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Date: |
November 3, 2022
(Episode # 1,033) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Mohammed Nabulsi on the Upcoming Houston
Palestinian Festival (largest in North America)
We
will speak with Mohammed Nabulsi, Palestinian-American
attorney, community organizer, Director of Advocacy and
Education for the Palestinian American Cultural Center, and
Chair of the Houston Palestinian Festival.
We will speak with him about the upcoming
10th Annual Houston Palestinian Festival, the largest in
North America, scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday,
November 5 and 6, 2022, at the Crown Festival Park, 18355
Southwest Fwy, Sugar Land, TX 77479.
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2nd Segment:
"Joint
Israel/Lobby Infiltration of Civil Rights Group Exposed"
by
Edward Ahmed
Mitchell
The Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute
for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, co-hosted their
annual Israel
Lobby Conference on March 4, 2022. The 2022 Transcending
the Israel Lobby at Home & Abroad conference brought
together people from across the country and the world to
critically assess the pro-Israel lobby and the U.S.
government's unflinching support for Israel. There were
several incredible speeches given by activists, artists,
journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others.
In this episode of Arab Voices (#1,033), we will air the
remarks of Edward Ahmed Mitchell on the topic “Joint
Israel/Lobby Infiltration of Civil Rights Group Exposed”.
Mitchell is the deputy director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, the largest Muslim civil
rights and advocacy organization in the United States. |
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Date: |
October 27, 2022
(Episode # 1,032) |
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Topic: |
Israeli House Demolitions by
Jeff Halper
First, Arab Voices brief remarks on Apartheid Israel's
ongoing attacks on Palestinians throughout occupied
Palestine, its ongoing war crimes, genocide, extrajudicial
executions, home demolitions, and its latest attack on
Nablus city in the occupied West Bank.
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Jeff
Halper, an Israeli-American activist, organizer, Nobel Peace
Prize nominee, Director of
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and
co-founder of
The One Democratic State Campaign, went on a speaking
tour in the United States in October 2022, and he spoke in
Houston, Texas on two different topics on October 22 and 23.
He spoke on Actualizing a One-State Solution in one of these
events, and on Israeli House Demolitions during the other.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,032), we will air Jeff
Halper's remarks on Israeli House Demolitions, and some of
the questions and answers that followed his talk. Halper
delivered that talk on October 23, 2022, at the Live Oak
Friends Quaker Meeting House in Houston, Texas. Arab Voices
is planning on airing Halper's remarks on Actualizing a
One-State Solution in a different episode to be aired on a
different week. |
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Date: |
October 20, 2022
(Episode # 1,031) |
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Topic: |
“You Can Be the Last Leaf" -
An Evening with Maya Abu Al-Hayyat
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston organized and hosted an
evening with Palestinian Poet Maya Abu Al-Hayyat on October
19, 2022, for a poetry reading and a discussion about her
book “You
Can Be the Last Leaf”.
Translated from the Arabic and introduced by Dr. Fady Joudah,
You Can Be the Last Leaf draws on two decades of work
to present the transcendent and timely US debut of
Palestinian poet Maya Abu Al-Hayyat. In You Can Be the
Last Leaf, Abu Al-Hayyat has created a richly textured
portrait of Palestinian interiority—at once wry and
romantic, worried and tenacious, and always singing itself.
The evening, moderated by Hanan Awad, included readings from
Maya's book. Maya read her poems in Arabic and Maha
Abdelwahab read the translation to English.
In this episode of Arab Voices (#1,031), we will air the
poems (in Arabic and English) read by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat,
and parts of the discussion that followed.
Maya Abu Al-Hayyat is the author of four
collections of poetry, four novels, including No
One Knows His Blood Type (2013), and numerous
children’s stories, including The
Blue Pool of Questions (2017). Her work has appeared
in A Bird Is Not a
Stone: An Anthology of Contemporary Palestinian Poetry (2014).
Maya is the editor of The
Book of Ramallah: A City in Short Fiction (2021) and
the director of Palestine Writing Workshop, an institution
that seeks to encourage reading in Palestinian communities
through creative writing projects and storytelling with
children and teachers.
Hanan Awad is a Palestinian-American photo
essayist, and guest host on Arab
Voices Radio Talk Show, based in Houston. As a guest
host for her special segment on Arab
Voices Radio, Hanan has interviewed several important
figures in the Palestinian community; arsists, activists,
writers, and more. Hanan Awad is also the president and
founder of the Olive Tree Project a 501© (3) that plants
1,000 olive trees in Palestine annually. Hanan’s photography
has been exhibited around the world.
Maha Abdelwahab is a poet and a Literature and
Creative Writing PhD candidate at the University of Houston
specializing in Empire Studies. She received her MFA in
Poetry from the University of Oregon where she was the
recipient of the Promising Scholar Award. Her work can be
found in The Adroit
Journal, Rusted
Radishes, The
Recluse and elsewhere. Her research interests include
Arabic-to-English translation, colonial Egypt, and
Arab-American diasporic literature exploring abolition,
gender, liberation, geography, imperialism and neo
imperialism.
Fady Joudah has published five collections of
poems, most recently, Tethered
to Stars (2021), translated several collections of
poetry from the Arabic, including You
Can Be the Last Leaf (2022), and is the co-editor and
co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. He was a winner
of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition in 2007 and
has received the Arab American Book Award, a PEN award, a
Banipal/Times Literary Supplement prize from the UK, the
Griffin Poetry Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is an
Editor-at-Large for Milkweed Editions. He lives in Houston,
with his wife and kids, where he practices internal
medicine. |
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Date: |
October 13, 2022
(Episode # 1,030) |
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Topic: |
"The Widespread Influence of
Christian Zionism and Growing Backlash Inside American
Churches"
by Don Wagner
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1030), we will air the
remarks delivered by the Reverend Dr. Don Wagner on the topic "The
Widespread Influence of Christian Zionism and Growing
Backlash Inside American Churches".
The Reverend delivered that talk at the annual
2022
Israel Lobby Conference
held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on March
4, 2022, co-hosted by the
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy.
Rev. Dr. Don Wagner recently retired as national program
director of Friends of Sabeel-North America. Prior to that
he was a professor of Middle East studies at North Park
University, where he was also the director of its Center for
Middle Eastern Studies. During the 1980s he was the national
director of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. An ordained
Presbyterian minister, Rev. Wagner has served churches in
New Jersey and Evanston, IL. He is the author or co-author
of five books dealing with Palestinian human rights,
Christian Zionism, a theological critique of Zionism and a
history of Christianity in Palestine-Israel. These include
Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle
Eastern and Western Christians (1995) , Zionism and the
Quest for Justice in the Holy Land (2014) and Dying in the
Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from
Pentecost to 2000 (2003). The history and theology of
Christian Zionism is a central topic of the book he is
currently writing. |
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Date: |
October 6, 2022
(Episode # 1,029) |
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Topic: |
Human Rights Groups: States
Should Act to Protect Human Rights in Palestine, and
Dismantle Israel’s Apartheid
In
August 2021, Apartheid Israel labeled six Palestinian
organizations as “terrorist" organizations”, and in 2022,
Israeli forces stormed the offices of the Palestinian civil
rights organizations, including the offices of
Al-Haq,
Addameer,
Bisan
Center for Research and Development,
Defense for Children International-Palestine,
Union of
Agricultural Work Committees,
Union of
Palestinian Women Committees,
and the Health Workers Committees. The Israeli occupation
forces ransacked the offices, stole documents and equipment
from them, and welded their doors shut in an attempt to shut
them down and prevent them from doing any work.
On September 28, 2022, and in response to the alarming
escalation in the repression of Palestinian civil
organizations, the International Federation for Human
Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch
gathered as a delegation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory to voice their support for Palestinian civil
society and fight against the abusive and prolonged Israeli
occupation, annexation, impunity, and apartheid.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1029), we will air the
remarks delivered at that gathering in Ramallah, occupied
Palestine, in support of the Palestinian civil society
organizations, and to stand by them in the struggle against
the Israeli occupation.
We will air the remarks of
Souhayr Belhassen,
President of the International Federation for Human Rights,
Alexis Deswaef, Vice
President for the International Federation for Human Rights,
and a Human Rights Lawyer,
Nathalie Godard,
Amnesty International’s France Director of Campaigns,
Sari Bashi, Human
Rights Watch’s Program Director, and
Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq's
General Director. We will also air some of the questions and
answers that followed their remarks. |
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Date: |
September 29, 2022
(Episode # 1,028) |
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Topic: |
"What, If Any, Policies Have
Changed Since the Trump Administration, and New Hope for
Palestine’s Future" by Dr. Hanan Ashrawi
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1028), we will air the
keynote address of Dr. Hanan Ashrawi on the topic "What, If
Any, Policies Have Changed Since the Trump Administration,
and New Hope for Palestine’s Future".
Dr. Ashrawi delivered that keynote address at the annual
2022
Israel Lobby Conference
held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on March
4, 2022, co-hosted by the
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy.
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi was the first woman to be elected a member
of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) in 2009. She served as the official
spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle
East peace process from 1991-1993 and participated in the
1991-1992 Madrid peace conference as a member of the
Palestinian Leadership Committee delegation. In 1993, Dr.
Ashrawi founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for
Citizens Rights (PICCR) to investigate Israeli and
Palestinian human rights violations. She chronicled her
involvement in her book This Side of Peace: A Personal
Account (1995). In 1996, Ashrawi was elected and
subsequently reelected many times to the Palestinian
Legislative Council. In 1996, she also accepted the post of
Minister of Higher Education and Research. In 1998, Ashrawi
founded and continues to serve in MIFTAH, the Palestinian
Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and
Democracy. In December 2020, she resigned from the Executive
Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization. |
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NEW TIME SLOT on KPFT!
Beginning September 24,
2022, KPFT will have a new programming schedule.
Arab Voices
will be airing at
8 p.m. central time
on
Thursdays.
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Date: |
September 20, 2022
(Episode # 1,027) |
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Topic: |
"Contemporary Poetry: The Arab
American Turn" with Poets Fady Joudah & Hayan Charara
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston held its Annual AAEF Dr.
Burhan and Mrs. Misako Ajouz Professor of Arab Studies
Distinguished Lecture in Literature on September 8, 2022, at
the University of Houston under the title “Contemporary
Poetry: The Arab American Turn”.
It was a discussion of Fady Joudah’s “Tethered to Stars:
Poems” and Hayan Charara’s “These Trees, Those Leaves, This
Flower, That Fruit: Poems.” The discussion was moderated by
Dr. Sally Connolly, Associate Professor of English at the
University of Houston and Associate Dean of Student and
Faculty Success for the College of Liberal Arts and Social
Sciences.
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1027), we will air some of
the talk delivered at that event, including the readings of
both Fady Joudah and Hayan Charara, introduced by Dr. Emire
Cihan Yüksel, Associate Professor at the University of
Houston, who is serving as the 2022-23 Acting Director of
the Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab
Studies. We will also air some of the
questions and answers that followed their talk.
Fady Joudah is a Palestinian American
physician, poet, and translator. Joudah’s
debut collection of poetry, The Earth in the
Attic (2008), won the 2007 Yale Series of
Younger Poets competition. Joudah followed
his second book of poetry, Alight (2013)
with Textu (2014), a collection of poems
written on a cell phone wherein each piece
is exactly 160 characters long. His fourth
collection is Footnotes in the Order of
Disappearance (2018). Joudah’s fifth and
most recent collection,
Tethered to Stars:
Poems (2021) was selected as a Library
Journal Best Book of Poetry of 2021.
Hayan Charara is a poet, children’s book
author, essayist, and editor. He is a
professor in the Honors College at the
University of Houston, where he also teaches
creative writing. His poetry books are
These
Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit
(2022), Something Sinister (2016), The
Sadness of Others (2006), and The
Alchemist’s Diary (2001). His children’s
book, The Three Lucys (2016), received the
New Voices Award Honor, and he edited
Inclined to Speak (2008), an anthology of
contemporary Arab American poetry. With Fady
Joudah, he is also a series editor of the
Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. |
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Date: |
September 13, 2022
(Episode # 1,026) |
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Topic: |
PACC Gala Remarks by Dr.
Noura Erakat, Mazin
Alkhadraa, and Mohammed Nabulsi
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,026), we will air
some of the remarks delivered at the 10th Annual Palestinian
American Cultural Center’s Gala held in Houston, Texas on
September 10, 2022, under the theme Reclaim, Return,
Rebuild. We will air the remarks of the keynote speaker,
Dr. Noura Erakat,
author, human rights attorney, and associate professor at
Rutgers University, as well as the remarks of
Mazin Alkhadraa,
President of the
Palestinian American Cultural Center (PACC) speaking
about the organization, its vision, activities, and future
endeavors, including the efforts to create a physical
Palestinian Center in Houston, and
Mohammed Nabulsi,
PACC Director of Advocacy & Education, speaking about the Mahmoud Darwish Scholarship and
the upcoming
Houston Palestinian Festival (Nov. 5-6, 2022).
The gala was very successful and well organized and had
hundreds of attendees. During the gala, PACC honored Dr.
Farouk Shami as a great Palestinian philanthropist and
supporter of PACC over the years.
In addition to the remarkable speakers, the gala featured
professional Dabke and Dance by Folkoholic Dance Theatre,
and special music played on the Oud and Qanun by the
talented brothers Muhammad and Hamzah Saadah. There was also
artwork displayed by Hisam Nabulsi, a Palestinian-American
artist and educator (through his artwork, Nabusli explores
themes of movement, belonging, rhythm, authenticity, family,
motherhood, and the struggle against oppression). There was
also a photo gallery with incredible pictures and powerful
Photo Essays by Hanan Awad, a Palestinian-American street
photographer, whose photos have been exhibited around the
world (Hanan's photos document the tragedy of the physical
and cultural forced displacement of the Palestinians and
narrate the story of Palestinian resilience & resistance
against the colonialist occupation of Palestine). Fay Darzeh
had a collection of traditional embroideries, decorations,
antiques, and full traditional Palestinian clothing on
display at the gala, and Mustafa Alatbash, a Palestinian
Artist from Gaza, had handcrafted art on display that draws
inspiration from the traditional architecture and heritage
found in the historic cities and villages of his home
country.
Gala Committee
Iman Faris, Gala Co-Chair
Bashira Idelbe, Gala Co-Chair
Rima Dawood, Gala Vice Chair
Muna Saqer
Iman Sayyad
Luna Madi
Haneen Kadoomi
Asmahan Al-Refaai
Ola Zayed
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Keynote Address by Dr.
Noura Erakat
The
keynote address was delivered by
Dr. Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and an
Associate Professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick in
the Department of Africana Studies and the Program in
Criminal Justice. Her research interests include human
rights law, humanitarian law, national security law, refugee
law, social justice, and critical race theory. Noura is an
editorial committee member of the Journal for Palestine
Studies and a co-Founding Editor of Jadaliyya, an
electronic magazine on the Middle East that combines
scholarly expertise and local knowledge. She is the author
of Justice for Some: Law and in the Question of Palestine
(Stanford University Press, 2019).
Dr. Erakat was introduced by
Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
the inaugural Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in
Modern Arab History and the Founding Director of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston, who was introduced by Vivian
Khalaf, the Mistress of ceremony.
In her keynote address, Dr. Noura Erakat talks about
advocacy work in the US, using US laws to influence US
Policy, mobilizing communities, grassroots efforts, social
movements, working with other communities, solidarity
movements in the US, Black Palestinian Solidarity, the
militarization of US Police in their practices, Police
training in Israel, how in 2016 a coalition of Blacks,
Palestinians, and Jewish organizers in Durham, North
Carolina, waged the only successful campaign that abolished
future Durham Police Officers’ training in Israel and bans
police exchanges with Israel, and more. |
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Date: |
September 6, 2022
(Episode # 1,025) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Lina Abu Akleh's Remarks (accepting an award honoring
Shireen Abu Akleh)
On
August 31, 2022, The National Press Club in Washington,
D.C., held its annual Journalism Awards Dinner and presented
Shireen Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina Abu Akleh with the 2022
National Press Club President’s Award in her honor. In this
episode of Arab Voices, we will air Lina's remarks at that
event.
On September 5, 2022, Apartheid Israel released a statement
on its findings about the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh,
the Palestinian-American Journalist who was murdered by
Israel in May 2022. In that statement, Israel said there is
a ‘high possibility’ its army killed Shireen Abu Akleh, and
also said it will not launch a criminal investigation into
that killing. Shireen Abu Akleh’s family released a
statement saying “As expected, Israel has refused to take
responsibility for murdering Shireen. Our family is not
surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone the
Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes.”
“We will continue to demand that the US government follow
through with its stated commitments to accountability.”
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2nd Segment:
Recorded Interview with Diana Buttu
on the Oslo Accord
29
years ago this month, the Oslo Accord was signed between the
Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, an accord many
thought was a good idea at that time, and some did not. In
2018, on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo
Accord, Arab Voices interviewed Diana Buttu, analyst, and
former legal advisor to the Chairman of the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO). Diana Buttu also served as
legal advisor to the PLO in its negotiations with Israel,
and is a policy advisor to Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian
Policy Network. Diana is a lawyer specializing in
negotiations, international law, and international human
rights law, based in Ramallah, Palestine.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will re-air that
interview, in which we spoke with Diana about the failed
Oslo Accord between the Palestine Liberation Organization
and Israel, why it failed, the ongoing Israeli colonization
of Palestine, the U.S. stance towards Palestine and its
funding cuts to UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority,
Palestinian hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem and other
programs, the closure of the PLO office in Washington, and
the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We
also talked about what options Palestinians should pursue,
and more. |
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Date: |
August
30, 2022
(Episode # 1,024) |
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Topic: |
"The Invention of Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East"
by Ussama Makdisi, Ph.D.
The
Center for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker
Institute for Public Policy held an event titled “The
Invention of Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East” on
September 20, 2017. The speaker was Ussama Makdisi,
Professor of History and
the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation
Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University.
Today on Arab Voices,
we will listen to that lecture.
Professor Makdisi is the author of
"Age
of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the
Modern Arab World”,
Faith
Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations,
1820-2001. His previous books include Artillery of
Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of
the Middle East, which was the winner of the 2008 Albert
Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association,
the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies
Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait
Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society
for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of
The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and
Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon and
co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and
North Africa. He has published widely on Ottoman and
Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S.
missionary work in the Middle East. Among his major articles
are “Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation
of Brief History” which appeared in the Journal of
American History and “Ottoman Orientalism” and
“Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism,
and Evangelical Modernity” both of which appeared in the
American Historical Review. Professor Makdisi has also
published in the International Journal of Middle East
Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and
in the Middle East Report. Professor Makdisi is now
working on a manuscript on the origins of sectarianism in
the modern Middle East to be published by the University of
California Press. In 2012-2013, Makdisi was an invited Resident
Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for
Advanced Study, Berlin). In April 2009, the Carnegie
Corporation named Makdisi a 2009 Carnegie Scholar as part of
its effort to promote original scholarship regarding Muslim
societies and communities, both in the United States and
abroad. |
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Date: |
August
23, 2022
(Episode # 1,023) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Aseel AlBajeh
(in Ramallah)
on the Closure of Palestinian Civil Society Organizations by
Apartheid Israel
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,023), we will interview
Aseel AlBajeh, Legal Researcher and Advocacy Officer at
Al-Haq
organization in occupied Palestine. Al-Haq is one of six
organizations Apartheid Israel had labeled as “terrorist"
organization in 2021, and a few days ago, on August 18,
2022, Israeli occupation forces stormed the offices of the
six Palestinian civil rights organizations, Al-Haq, Addameer,
the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defence for
Children International-Palestine, Union of Agricultural
Workers Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian
Women’s Committees (UPWC). The IOF also raided the offices
of the Health Workers Committees. Israeli occupation forces
ransacked the offices, stole documents and equipment from
them, and welded their doors shut in an attempt to shut them
down and prevent them from doing any work.
We
will speak with Aseel about the Israeli designation of the
six Palestinian groups as "terrorist" groups, the Israeli
closure of their offices in the occupied West Bank, the
Israeli threats to arrest and imprison the organizations'
staff, the
reaction to the Israeli actions from various organizations
and governments, actions that must be taken urgently, and
more.
We will also listen to statements from Shawan Jabarin,
General Director of Al-Haq, Sahar Francis, General
Director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights
Association, Farhan Haq, UN Spokesperson, and US
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
#StandWithThe6
www.PalCivilSociety.com |
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Date: |
August 16, 2022
(Episode # 1,022) |
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Topic: |
Rallies in Support of Palestine and against Israeli War
Crimes
In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,022), we will continue
to talk about the latest Israeli war crime and its killing
spree against Palestinians, including children.
People throughout the world were outraged at the latest
Israeli war crime and its ongoing murder of Palestinians
including many children, especially with no accountability
or anyone to suppress and prevent its criminal behavior.
We will air some of the remarks delivered at rallies held in
different cities in the United States, including Houston,
Chicago, and New York, in support of Palestine and against
the Israeli war crimes. We will listen to
Danya Murad
with Palestinian Youth Movement,
Mohammed Nabulsi
with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Palestinian
American Cultural Center,
Tiffany
with Malaya Movement Texas, Palestinian Youth Movement
Chicago,
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss
with Neturei Karta International,
Nazek Sankari
with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network,
Salaam Khater
with Students for Justice in Palestine Chicago,
Tarek Khalil
with the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP-Chicago), and
Kobi Guillory
with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political
Repression. |
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Date: |
August
9, 2022
(Episode # 1,021) |
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Topic: |
The latest Israeli Attack on the Gaza Strip
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,021), our topic will be the
latest Israeli attack on the besieged Gaza Strip, and the
occupied West Bank.
We will air portions of an interview Amy Goodman of
Democracy Now! conducted on August 8, 2022, with
Issam Adwan,
Gaza-based Journalist, Activist, and Researcher, the remarks
delivered at the United Nations Security Council on August
8, 2022, by
Dr. Riyad Mansour,
Ambassador and Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United
Nations, and the remarks of
Professor Rashid Khalidi
delivered at the United Nations Security Council last year
on the steps necessary to implement United Nations
resolutions and provide peace and security for all in
Palestine. |
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Date: |
August 2, 2022
(Episode # 1,020) |
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Topic: |
Shireen Abu Akleh’s Family & Congressional Representatives
calling for Independent Investigation, Justice, and
Accountability
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the
remarks of several members of Shireen Abu Akleh’s family, as
well as the remarks of several congressional representatives
and senators, delivered at a press conference held in
Washington, D.C. on July 28, 2022. Shireen Abu Akleh, a
prominent Palestinian-American Journalist who worked for Al
Jazeera TV Channel, was assassinated by Apartheid Israel on
May 11, 2022.
Shireen Abu Akleh’s family has been calling for an
independent investigation, justice, and accountability into
Shireen’s assassination.
The remarks we will air in this episode are from
Diana Buttu,
Palestinian analyst, former legal advisor to the Palestine
Liberation Organization, and Policy Advisor to Al-Shabaka:
The Palestinian Policy Network, who was with Shireen Abu
Akleh’s family in Washington D.C.,
Victor Abu Akleh,
Shireen’s nephew,
Tony Abu Akleh,
Shireen’s brother,
Lina Abu Akleh,
Shireen’s niece,
Congressman Andre Carson
(Indiana) who is introducing legislation requiring an
investigation into the assassination of Shireen Abu Akeleh,
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
(Michigan),
Congresswoman Betty McCollum
(Minnesota),
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
(Massachusetts),
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(New York),
Congresswoman Marie Newman
(Illinois),
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
(Minnesota), and
Gypsy Guillén Kaiser,
Advocacy and Communications Director for the Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ). We will also listen to statements
read at the press conference from
Congressman Cori Bush
(Missouri),
Senator Chris Van Hollen
(Maryland), and
Senator Jeffrey Merkley
(Oregon). |
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Date: |
July 26, 2022
(Episode # 1,019) |
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Topic: |
The Belmarsh Tribunal: The War On Terror is Put on Trial
In
this episode of Arab Voices (# 1,019), we will air some of the remarks
delivered at the “Belmarsh Tribunal: The War On Terror is
Put on Trial”.
Just after the bombshell revelations about the CIA plot to
kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange
while he sought political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy
in London,
Progressive International organized the first
physical Belmarsh Tribunal in London, UK. The Tribunal was
held in October 2021 to put the U.S. on trial for its war
crimes, and to demand justice for WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange, who faces 175 years in prison if extradited to the
U.S. and convicted of violations of the Espionage Act.
The tribunal included many remarks from over 20
distinguished speakers, and in this episode of Arab Voices, we will air what some of the speakers had
to say including remarks of
Tariq Ali, Historian and
original member of The Russell-Sartre Tribunal,
Selay
Ghaffar, Spokesperson for the Solidarity Party of
Afghanistan,
Jeremy Corbyn, Member of UK Parliament and
Founder of the Peace and Justice Project,
Eyal Weizman,
Director of Forensic Architecture and Professor of Spatial
and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths,
Özlem Demirel, Member of
European Parliament,
Daniel Ellsberg, Whistleblower,
Pentagon Papers,
Stella Moris, Partner of Julian Assange and
member of his defense team,
Ben Wizner, American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), Lead attorney of Edward Snowden, and
Edward Snowden, Whistleblower.
They spoke about many issues, including Julian Assange,
WikiLeaks, the CIA plot to kidnap and assassinate Assange,
wars and war crimes, the "war on terror", the war on Iraq,
the war on Afghanistan, drone
strikes, and more.
www.DontExtraditeAssange.com |
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Date: |
July 19, 2022
(Episode # 1,018) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
President Biden's visit to Occupied Palestine and Saudi
Arabia
Arab Voices commentary on the recent visit by President
Biden to the Middle East, his unconditional love and support
for Apartheid Israel regardless of its war crimes and daily
atrocities against the Palestinian people and its murder of
civilians including Palestinian-American journalist Shireen
Abu-Akleh, his love for Zionism, and a history of Biden's
remarks over the years about Israel and Zionism, and the
one thing that might be good about his recent visit!
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2nd Segment:
Ruba Sawaya on the Upcoming Houston Palestine Film Festival
Interview with Ruba Sawaya, President of the Houston
Palestine Film Festival.
We will talk about the festival, its importance, and the
lineup of films at this year's
Houston
Palestine Film Festival.
The Houston Palestine Film Festival will be held July 22 &
23 at Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Houston (MATCH), located
on 3400 Main St, Houston, TX 77002.
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3rd Segment:
"Are U.S. news organizations getting better or worse in
their Middle East reporting?" by Sut Jhally
The
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy, co-hosted their annual
Israel Lobby Conference on March 4, 2022. The 2022
Transcending the Israel Lobby at Home & Abroad conference
brought together people from across the country and the
world to critically assess the pro-Israel lobby and the U.S.
government's unflinching support for Israel. There were
several incredible speeches given by activists, artists,
journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others.
In this episode of Arab Voices (#1,018), we will air the
remarks of professor Sut Jhally on the topic "Are U.S. news
organizations getting better or worse in their Middle East
reporting?"
Sut Jhally is a professor of communication at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst and the founder and executive
director of the Media Education Foundation. He has won the
Distinguished Teacher Award at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, where the student newspaper has also
voted him "Best Professor." Jhally is the producer of over
40 documentaries on media literacy topics in cultural
studies, advertising, media and consumption.
Also the author of six books and numerous scholarly and
popular articles, Jhally teaches both undergraduate and
graduate level courses which focus on media, public
relations and propaganda, as well as gender, sex and
representation. His books include Social Communication in
Advertising: Persons, Products and Images of Well-Being
(1988) with co-authors Stephen Kline and William Weiss, and
The Codes of Advertising: Fetishism and the Political
Economy of Meaning in the Consumer Society (1987).
Jhally’s documentary “The Occupation of the American Mind”
focuses on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the
U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading
observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media
culture, the film explores how the Israeli government, the
U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined
forces, often with very different motives, to shape American
media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. |
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Date: |
July 12, 2022
(Episode # 1,017) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment: Elena
Korbut on "Building Bridges to Counter Islamophobia" series
Interview
with Elena Korbut, Executive Director of Partnership
for the Advancement and Immersion of Refugees (PAIR)
about "Building Bridges to Counter Islamophobia" series,
which will include Battery Dance’s signature Dancing to
Connect program for youth and spoken word and dance
performances. The Dancing to Connect initiative engages
participants in creativity and team building, using the art
form of dance as a tool for building social cohesion and
resolving conflict throughout the world. Up to 100 youth,
ages 14-19, will be invited to participate in the summer
dance workshop. PAIR program students, refugees resettled in
Houston from countries around the world, will make up 50% of
the participants. The remaining participants will be drawn
from a cross-section of the broader Houston community.
SPOKEN WORD AND DANCE
Ali Al-Kaabi and Ahmed Abdul-Majeed, who arrived in the U.S.
from Iraq as refugees, share their stories through spoken
word and dance respectively. The program aims to create a
space that fosters dialogue, understanding, mutual respect
and cultural exchange. Q and A will follow the performance.
July 12 & July 14
Stages Showtime 6:30PM
Stages, 800 Rosine Street, Houston, TX 77019
Register for this free event here.
DANCING TO CONNECT: FINAL PERFORMANCE
Saturday July 16, 2022
Showtime: 7PM - 8:30PM
Zilkha Hall at Hobby Center for Performing Arts, 800
Bagby St, Houston, TX
Reserve tickets (free) at https://my.thehobbycenter.org/5572.
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2nd Segment:
Reverend Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel on the historic Presbyterian
Church (USA) vote labeling Israel an Apartheid State
Interview with Reverend Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel about the
historic vote by the
Presbyterian Church (USA) on July 8, 2022, declaring
Israel an Apartheid state, and much more.
The Reverend Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel is a Presbyterian Minister
from Atlanta, Georgia, and currently serves as a member of
the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Advisory Board
and a member of the Board of Trustees for the
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace. He has served
the Presbyterian Church in numerous executive capacities
including Moderator of its 214th General Assembly, General
Assembly Commissioner, board member of the National Middle
Eastern Ministries Committee, and member of the Outreach,
Christian Education, and Peacemaking Committees of the
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. The revered Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel
has a Doctor of Ministry from the McCormick Theological
Seminary. He speaks all over the USA about his journey as a
Palestinian Arab Christian from Galilee. He also received
numerous awards and recognitions for his work over the
years. |
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Date: |
July 5, 2022
(Episode # 1,016) |
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Topic: |
“The nature of
democracy and human rights in Israel”
by Gideon Levy
The
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy, co-hosted their annual
Israel Lobby Conference on March 4, 2022. The 2022
Transcending the Israel Lobby at Home & Abroad conference
brought together people from across the country and the
world to critically assess the pro-Israel lobby and the U.S.
government's unflinching support for Israel. There were
several incredible speeches given by activists, artists,
journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others.
In this episode of Arab Voices (#1,016), we will air the
keynote remarks delivered by Gideon Levy on the topic
“The nature of democracy and human rights in Israel”.
In his keynote speech he discusses the nature of democracy
in Israel, questions about human rights, the occupation and
apartheid, his views on the trajectory of Israeli and
U.S. news media and how both could improve their reporting,
the war on Ukraine and the way Israel had dealt with it, and
more.
Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz,
which he joined in 1982. He spent four years as the
newspaper’s deputy editor and is currently a member of its
editorial board. He is widely considered the “dean” of
Israeli journalism—as well as “the most hated man in
Israel.” As Levy has written, “Treating the Palestinians as
victims and the crimes perpetrated against them as crimes is
considered treasonous.” Levy writes the weekly Twilight Zone
feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West
Bank and Gaza over the last 30 years, as well as political
editorials for the newspaper. His columns about politics,
money, how Israel's military occupation is changing Israeli
society and about U.S.-Israel relations are widely read and
discussed around the world. Levy was the recipient, with
Palestinian pastor Mitri Raheb, of the 2016 Olof Palme Prize
for their “fight against occupation and violence.” He has
also received the Peace Through Media Award, at the 2012
International Media Awards; the Euro-Med Journalist Prize
for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli
Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of
Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His book, The
Punishment of Gaza, was published in 2010. |
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Date: |
June 28, 2022
(Episode # 1,015) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Protests against Human Rights Violations towards Muslims &
others by the Indian Government
In
this episode of Arab Voices, our topic will be the recent
human rights and religious freedom violations against
Christians, Muslims, and Dalits by the Indian government, as
well as the insults by a member of the ruling BJP party
toward the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Nearly 200
million Muslims in India are facing persecution, illegal
arrests, and unlawful demolition of Muslim houses. In some
areas in India, a ban was issued on Muslim women wearing the
hijab in schools and colleges. Many are calling what is
happening in India a genocide against Muslims.
Several protests were held in different cities in the United
States in response to the increasing amount of violent and
deadly attacks on Muslims, false imprisonment of Muslims,
and the destruction of Muslim homes in India under the Modi/BJP
regime.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the
remarks delivered at the recent protests held in Houston and
Dallas. We will listen to the remarks of
Ammar Abdullah,
a volunteer with the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH),
Mohammed ElFarooqui, Imam
of ISGH Baytown Masjid, Shakeib
Mashood, President of the Indian American Muslim
Council (IAMC) Houston Chapter,
William White, Director of Operations for the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston), and
Dr. Omar Suleiman,
American Muslim scholar, Imam, civil rights leader, writer,
and public speaker.
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2nd
Segment:
Ajit Sahi on Hindutva
We will air a powerful speech on Hindutva delivered at the
ICNA-MAS Convention held in Baltimore, Maryland on May 28,
2022, by Ajit Sahi.
Ajit Sahi is a journalist and activist, and he is the
Advocacy Director at the
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC). |
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Date: |
June 21, 2022
(Episode # 1,014) |
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Topic: |
The Urgency of the Julian
Assange Case and the Crisis of Press Freedom
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air a program from
CodePink Radio titled “The urgency of the Julian Assange
case and the crisis of press freedom”. That program was
originally published on May 4, 2022,
to mark World Press Freedom Day, and it includes a
conversation with journalist Julian Assange's wife
Stella
and his brother
Gabriel
who explain the urgency of his case and why it's critical to
the future of press freedom.
On June 17, 2022, the British government approved the
extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the
United States to face espionage charges. Assange’s lawyers
are expected to challenge that order in the British courts
within 14 days. Julian Assange is charged by the United
States government with the publication of classified
documents and exposing war crimes committed by U.S. forces
in Iraq. Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if
convicted of violations of the Espionage Act. Back in 2010,
WikiLeaks released government materials related to American
military operations in the Middle East, including a video
showing American pilots in Iraq making jokes as they opened
fire on a group of non-combatants that included civilians
and journalists, as well as on Iraqis who came to their aid,
killing numerous civilians and seriously wounding two
children.
Several organizations have renewed their call to the Biden
administration to drop the charges against Julian Assange,
and are calling them an attack on journalism and free
speech. |
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Date: |
June 14, 2022
(Episode # 1,013) |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Conversation with
Palestinian Freedom Fighter & Resistance Icon Leila Khaled
In
this episode, Arab Voices guest host
Hanan Awad
interviews Palestinian freedom fighter and resistance icon
Leila Khaled about her journey as a freedom fighter for
Palestine. Khaled is a member of the Palestinian
National Council and a member of the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Leila Khaled
became well-known worldwide for the hijacking of two planes
in 1969 and 1970.
Born in 1944 in the old city of Haifa, one of the most
historical ports in all of Palestine, Leila Khaled spent the
first four years of her life with her family until their
ultimate displacement during the Nakba (Catastrophe) in
1948. Even after all these years, Leila still recalls her
experience in her homeland and the brutality of her family’s
expulsion as a continuous experience of trauma. Leila has
since become a revolutionary icon for Palestinians; most
notably through the famous picture of her – as a young woman
– donning the traditional Palestinian kuffiyeh around her
head. This picture alone has become its own symbol of
resistance, struggle, and - most importantly – the
Palestinian concept of sumud (steadfastness). Images of
Leila Khaled can be found around the entire world, wherever
signs of injustice are present. Specifically, the
segregation wall around the West Bank as well as the
military checkpoints, refugee camps, cafés, student dorms,
and much more. |
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Date: |
June 7, 2022
(Episode # 1,012) |
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Topic: |
Journalism’s Fallen Hero: Commemorating Shireen Abu Akleh
A
special event was held in Houston, Texas on June 5, 2022, at
the Arab American Cultural & Community Center titled
“Journalism’s Fallen Hero: Commemorating Shireen Abu Akleh”.
Shireen was a world-renowned Palestinian-American journalist
who was assassinated by the Israeli Occupation Forces on May
11, 2022. The event was co-sponsored by The Arab American
Cultural & Community Center, the Palestinian American
Cultural Center, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of
Houston.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
delivered at that event and the poems recited about Shireen
Abu Akleh. We will air the remarks of
Jill Yaziji,
President of the Arab American Cultural & Community Center,
Abbas Yacoubi,
Palestinian-American activist, and board member, past
president, and one of the co-founders of the Palestinian
American Cultural Center,
Aliya Khawaja
with Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of
Houston,
DeeDee Baba,
Palestinian American Attorney,
Mary Ramos, League of
United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Women’s Commissioner,
and the
Reverend Ronnie Lister,
co-founder of the Enlightenment Gathering. We will also air
two special poems (in Arabic) about Shireen Abu Akleh
authored and recited by
Hanan Khamis
and
Dr. Samir Tuma. |
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Date: |
May 31, 2022
(Episode # 1,011) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Houston Muslim Study Key Findings
The
recently conducted
Houston Muslim Study was an in-depth and fascinating
look into the Houston Muslim community: the positive impact,
contributions, and challenges facing Muslims in Houston, the
4th largest city in the United States. The Wasat Institute
commissioned the survey of Houston Muslims with New America,
a think tank based out of Washington D.C., with the partnership
of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, Clear Lake
Islamic Center, and the Islamic Dawah Center.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the
key findings of the survey presented by
Dr. Robert McKenzie, the
senior researcher for this project. He revealed the results
at an event organized by Wasat Institute in Houston on May
21, 2022.
Dr. McKenzie is an adjunct professor at Columbia University
and a non-resident fellow at New America. He is a domestic
and foreign policy analyst, with fifteen years of applied
research and work experience for the U.S. government,
private sector, and academia.
Arab Voices had interviewed Dr. Robert McKenzie in January
2019 to discuss at that time the results of another study he
worked on entitled “Houstonians Views on Muslim Americans”.
That local study was part of a larger national study that
broke down the “whys” at the heart of misunderstandings
about Muslims in America. You can listen to that interview
on our website, ArabVoices.net.
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2nd Segment:
International Conference on Jerusalem - The Spark Towards
Liberation
Several
Palestinian organizations, including Adalah, Al-Haq, the
Community Action Center/Al-Quds University, and the Civic
Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, held a
conference entitled “International Conference on Jerusalem -
The Spark Towards Liberation“. It was held on May 24, 2022,
at Al-Quds University in occupied Jerusalem. Several
sessions were held at that conference, aiming to build on
the momentum sparked by the Unity Uprising in Jerusalem last
year, and to further expand on the discourse of settler
colonialism and apartheid that the Uprising reinforced
internationally.
There were many speakers at the conference, and during this
episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the remarks
delivered at the “Legalities of the Systematic
Geo-demographic Domination in Jerusalem” session, including
the remarks of Dr. Mounir Nusseibeh,
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, at Al Quds University
who spoke on "Silent Displacement", and the remarks
of Dr. Ahmad Amara,
Legal Researcher, and Lecturer, at New York University, who
spoke on “An Ideology of Dispossession: Settling in the
Hearts”. |
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Date: |
May 24, 2022
(Episode # 1,010) |
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Topic: |
On the Assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh: AlJazeera,
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
Reverend Ronnie Lister, Mosab Nasser, Dr. Abdel Razzaq
Takriti, & Letter by 57 Members of Congresses
In
the last episode of Arab Voices, we talked about the Israeli
assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh, a prominent
world-renowned Palestinian-American journalist. Shireen was
shot in the head and killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces
in the occupied Jenin Refugee Camp in occupied Palestine on
May 11, 2022.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will continue to talk
about this heinous crime. We will share with you remarks and
comments from AlJazeera (where
Shireen worked for over 20 years)
by airing a program called “Start Here” titled “Shireen
Abu Akleh – What happened?”.
In that segment, Al Jazeera Start Here explains one
week after the Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu
Akleh, was shot dead, what do we know about what happened?
And why did her work at Al Jazeera mean so much to so many?.
We will also air the remarks of
Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
on the assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh, a Moment of
Silence for Shireen Abu Aqleh on the House floor by
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib,
and some of the remarks delivered on May 17, 2022, at the
Vigil held at Houston City Hall in Texas, to
Mourn and
Celebrate
Shireen Abu Aqleh. We will air the remarks of
Reverend Ronnie Lister,
Imam and
activist
Mosab Nasser,
and
Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
Associate Professor & Arab-American Educational Foundation
Chair in Modern Arab History, and Founding Director of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston.
In addition, we will talk about the
letter signed by 57 members of the
U.S. Congress
to Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, and Christopher
Wray, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
asking for an official investigation by the U.S. Department
of State and the F.B.I. into the killing of
Palestinian-American Journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh. |
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Date: |
May 17, 2022
(Episode # 1,009) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
The Assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh by Apartheid Israel
Shireen
Abu Aqleh, a prominent world-renowned Palestinian-American
journalist who was working for Al Jazeera TV was
assassinated by the Israeli occupation forces in the
occupied Jenin Refugee Camp in the occupied West Bank in
occupied Palestine on May 11, 2022. Shireen Abu Aqleh was 51
years old and was respected worldwide for her
professionalism and coverage of the occupied Palestinian
areas for the past 25 years. Shireen was wearing a
bulletproof vest marked with the word PRESS in English and
also wearing a bulletproof helmet, but the Israeli
occupation snipers targeted her and shot her in the head
killing her instantly. Al Jazeera producer Ali Al-Samudi who
was with Shireen Abu Aqleh was shot in the back by the
Israeli occupation forces. He is recovering now from his
wounds.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will be talking about
the assassination of Shireen Abu Aqleh, and the world's
reaction to her murder. We will also listen to remarks on
that topic by George Galloway,
British politician, broadcaster, and writer, and Irish
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.
In addition, we will air portions of the briefing held by
Ned Price, US State
Department spokesperson, and the tough questions he faced
from Said Arikat with
AlQuds Newspaper and Matt Lee
with the Associated Press.
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2nd Segment:
The 74th Anniversary of the Palestinian NAKBA
May
15, 2022, marked the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian
NAKBA (Arabic word for Catastrophe), that's when Israel
declared its independence on 78% of historic Palestine after
wiping out more than 530 Palestinian villages and towns,
killing thousands of Palestinians and forcing more than
850,000 Palestinians out of their homes. The Palestinians
started referring to that as Al-Nakba, which actually
started before 1948 and it continues to this day!
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about the
ongoing Palestinian NAKBA, air a special documentary on Al-NAKBA
from the
American Muslims for Palestine Chicago
Chapter, listen to a report from
Janna
Jihad, the youngest Palestinian journalist, in
occupied Ramallah, listen to “What's
the Story?: Rami Younis on the Nakba in Lyd” by
Mondoweiss,
and listen to the Palestinian Reverend
Dr. Munther Isaac with Bethlehem Bible College,
reading excerpts on the 74th anniversary of Al-Nakba from "The
Other Side of the Wall. A Palestinian Christian Narrative of
Lament and Hope”.
Note: A few years ago, Pacifica Radio Network, produced a
special documentary about Al-Nakba, to which Arab Voices
contributed, and it aired on all Pacifica radio stations and
their affiliates across the U.S. It was a collaboration
between Arab Voices and several radio stations. This special
documentary featured know experts, Palestinian politicians,
elder survivors of the Nakba and their children and grand
children, former detainees, reporters, and activists.
You can listen to that hour here.
NEW: On May 16, 2022, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
introduced a historic resolution recognizing the Palestinian
Nakba. The resolution was cosponsored by representatives
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, Marie
Newman, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman. |
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Date: |
May 10, 2022
(Episode # 1,008) |
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Guests/
Topics: |
Conversation with Sanaa
Seif and Sharif Abdel Kouddous about the New Book "You Have
Not Yet Been Defeated" by Alaa Abd El-Fattah
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston and the Arab
American Cultural & Community Center held a special Book
Launch event on May 4, 2022, of "You Have Not Yet Been
Defeated: Selected Writings" by
Alaa Abd El-Fattah,
hosting
Sanaa Seif (Alaa's sister) and Sharif Abdel Kouddous.
Alaa
Abd el-Fattah
is arguably the most high-profile political prisoner in
Egypt, if not the Arab world, rising to international
prominence during the revolution of 2011. A fiercely
independent thinker who fuses politics and technology in
powerful prose, an activist whose ideas represent a global
generation which has only known struggle against a failing
system, a public intellectual with the rare courage to offer
personal, painful honesty, Alaa’s written voice came to
symbolize much of what was fresh, inspiring and
revolutionary about the uprisings that have defined the last
decade. Collected here for the first time in English are a
selection of his essays, social media posts and interviews
from 2011 until the present. He has spent the majority of
those years in prison, where many of these pieces were
written. Together, they present not only a unique account
from the frontline of a decade of global upheaval, but a
catalogue of ideas about other futures those upheavals could
yet reveal. From theories on technology and history to
profound reflections on the meaning of prison, You
Have Not Yet Been Defeated is a book about the
importance of ideas, whatever their cost.
Sanaa
Seif
is an Egyptian filmmaker, producer, and political
activist. She has been imprisoned three times under the Sisi
regime for her activism. Most recently from the summer of
2020 until December 2021, when she was abducted by security
forces
after trying to get a letter in to her brother in prison.
Hundreds of cultural figures and dozens of institutions campaigned for
her release. She was released in December and will travel
to the US to promote her imprisoned brother, Alaa Abd el-Fattah's,
newly published book, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated.
Sharif Abdel Kouddous
is an independent journalist based in Cairo. For eight years
he worked as a producer and correspondent for the TV/radio
news hour Democracy Now! In 2011, he returned to Egypt to
cover the revolution. Since then, he has reported for a
number of print and broadcast outlets from across the
region, including Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and
elsewhere. He received an Izzy Award for outstanding
achievement in independent media for his coverage of the
Egyptian revolution and an Emmy award for his coverage of
the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban. He is
currently an editor and reporter at Mada Masr, Egypt's
leading independent media outlet.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the conversation
between Sanaa Seif (Alaa's sister) and Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
and some of the questions and answers that followed.
You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Book Events in the USA |
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Date: |
May 3, 2022
(Episode # 1,007) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Arab-American Heritage Month & AAEF Center for Arab Studies
at UH - Interview with Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air a program from
Sprouts Radio, produced by Arab Voices. Sprouts is a
radio program that features community stories from the
grassroots and airs nationally on over 100 radio stations in
the USA and Europe. In this episode of Sprouts, we talk
about the Arab-American Heritage Month and the contributions
of Arab-Americans to the American Society. We also highlight
(as a recent major Arab-American contribution to the
American Society & Globally) the newly created
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston in an interview with
Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
Associate Professor & Arab-American Educational Foundation
Chair in Modern Arab History, and Founding Director of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston.
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2nd Segment:
Remarks at two Major Protests
held in Houston Denouncing the Ongoing Israeli Atrocities
and Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
We
will air some of the remarks delivered at two recent
protests held in Houston, Texas, and attended by hundreds to
condemn the ongoing Israeli crimes, atrocities, apartheid,
and ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
The first protest was held on
April 23, 2022, in the Galleria area, at one of the
busiest intersections in the city, and the second one was
held on
April 29, 2022, in front of the Israeli Consulate in
Houston on the International Day of Al-Quds, which is held
every year on the last Friday of Ramadan. |
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Date: |
April 26, 2022
(Episode # 1,006) |
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Arab Voices was preempted on
Tuesday, April 26, 2022, for a special Pacifica Radio
Archives National Fund Drive that aired on all Pacifica
stations in the U.S.
The Early History of the
Arab-American Community
Although Arab Voices was preempted, a program was submitted
for syndication on the other radio stations that air Arab
Voices weekly, and I selected to re-air (during the
Arab-American Heritage Month) a lecture titled "The Early
History of the Arab-American Community" by Professor
Akram Khater,
University Faculty Scholar, author, Professor of History,
and Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora
Studies at North Carolina State University. He delivered
that lecture on February 19, 2019, at the Nijad and Zeina
Fares Arab-American Educational Foundation Annual
Distinguished Lecture in Modern Arab Studies at the
University of Houston.
You can listen to
that lecture here. |
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Date: |
April 19, 2022
(Episode # 1,005) |
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Guest: |
Taher Herzallah
Taher
Herzallah is the Associate
Director of Outreach & Community Organizing for the
American
Muslims for Palestine organization.
He is one of the 'Irvine 11,' a group of students who
were arrested and prosecuted for expressing their
constitutionally protected rights of free speech and
political dissent when they walked out of a speech given by
the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine in 2010. He
was also one of six people arrested for protesting the
appointment of David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel at
a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in February
2017. He has had articles published in various media outlets
including the Orange County Register and Al Jazeera English,
and has been featured on several media and radio interviews
throughout the US and internationally.
Taher Herzallah studied Political Science and International
Affairs at UC Riverside.
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Topic: |
We will speak with
Taher about the ongoing Israeli attacks and ethnic cleansing
of Palestine, what’s happening in occupied Jerusalem at Al-Aqsa
Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, what’s happening in
the occupied West Bank, home demolitions, Israeli colonies,
the ongoing blockade on the Gaza Strip, the hypocrisy and
double standard of western governments and media outlets
coverage of the crisis in Ukraine vs. the crisis in occupied
Palestine, the US foreign policy, what people can do in the
US, and more. |
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Date: |
April 12, 2022
(Episode # 1,004) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Houston Iftar 2022
Remarks
On
April 10, 2022, nearly 2,000 people attended the Annual
Houston Iftar (Ramadan Dinner) with the Mayor of
Houston. It was one of the largest Iftar dinners in North
America. In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air a few
of the remarks delivered at that event, including the
remarks of the keynote speaker,
Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston,
Nasruddin Rupani,
honorary chair of Houston Iftar 2022, and chairman of Ibn
Sina Foundation, MJ Khan,
a member of the Houston Iftar organizing committee, former
President of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, and
former Houston City Council member (the first
Muslim-American council member),
Ayman Kabire, President of the Islamic Society of
Greater Houston, and Congressman Al
Green.
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2nd Segment:
H. RES. 1090:
“Recognizing Islam as one of the great religions of the
world"
Congressman
Al Green introduced
House Resolution 1090 in August 2020, recognizing Islam
as one of the great religions of the world. In this episode
of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks delivered by
Congressman Al Green
at the U.S. House of Representatives, presenting that
resolution. We will also air the remarks of
Congressman André Carson
speaking about Islam and Muslims at the U.S. House of
Representatives in support of Congressman Al Green’s
resolution. |
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Date: |
April 5, 2022
(Episode # 1,003) |
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Topic: |
Protecting Palestinian Human
Rights Defenders and Civil Society Organizations: Israel’s
Baseless Designation of the 6
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
delivered at a special panel discussion held on March 15,
2022, in parallel to the 49th Session of the United Nations
Human Rights Council titled: ‘Protecting Palestinian Human
Rights Defenders and Civil Society Organizations: Israel’s
Baseless Designation of the 6.’
The event was organized by
Al-Haq
organization in Palestine and co-sponsored by many other
organizations. The panel included
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin,
UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism,
Mary Lawlor,
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders,
Moayyad
Bsharat,
Lobbying and Advocacy Department Director of the Union of
Agricultural Work Committees, and
Sahar Francis,
General Director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human
Rights Association. The moderator for the panel discussion
was
Maha Abdallah,
International Advocacy Officer at Cairo Institute for Human
Rights Studies.
In October 2021, we aired a program on this show about the
classification of the six world-renowned Palestinian
non-governmental civil society organizations (Addameer,
Al-Haq,
Defense for Children International-Palestine,
Union of
Agricultural Work Committees,
Bisan
Center for Research and Development, and the
Union of
Palestinian Women Committees) as "terrorist
organizations", by the Apartheid state of Israel. The
outrageous classification generated calls from across the
world for Israel to rescind its decision. |
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Date: |
March 29, 2022
(Episode # 1,002) |
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Topic: |
Launch
of The Arab-American
Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies (AAEF-CAS) at
the University of Houston
On
March 24, 2022, the
Arab-American Educational Foundation and the
University of
Houston hosted a special dinner and reception to
celebrate the launch of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
(AAEF-CAS) at the University of Houston. The event was
attended by many supporters and elected officials, and
included several distinguished speakers.
Dr. Hashem El-Serag
was the event's MC.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the
remarks delivered at that event, including the remarks of
Dr. Daniel O'Connor,
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at
the University of Houston,
Dr. Aziz Shaibani,
President of the Arab-American Educational Foundation,
Dr. Nancy Young,
Chair of the Department of History at the University of
Houston, and Dr.
Abdel Razzaq Takriti,
Associate Professor & Arab-American Educational Foundation
Chair in Modern Arab History, and Founding Director of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston. We will also listen to the
proclamation issued by the Mayor of the City of Houston,
Sylvester Turner, read by City of Houston Council Member
Carolyn Evans-Shabazz,
declaring March 24, 2022, as "Arab-American Educational
Foundation Center for Arab Studies Day", as well as some of
the remarks delivered by Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee.
The Center for Arab Studies at the University of Houston is
the only academic center in Texas, and one of two in the
United States, solely focusing on the Arab region. The
AAEF-CAS is based at the University of Houston’s College of
Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and houses two major
endowed positions: The Arab-American Educational Foundation
Chair in Modern Arab History, and The Arab-American
Educational Foundation Dr. Burhan and Mrs. Misako Ajouz
Endowed Professorship in Arab Studies. |
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Date: |
March 22, 2022
(Episode # 1,001) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Interview with Dr. Suad Amiry (part 2 of 2)
Last
week on Arab Voices, we aired part 1 (archived at
www.ArabVoices.net) of the interview Arab Voices guest
host Hanan
Awad conducted with Dr. Suad Amiry, an award-winning Palestinian architect, writer,
community leader, and founding director of
RIWAQ (Centre for
Architectural Conservation) in Ramallah, Palestine.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air part 2 of that
interview, in which Hanan continues to explore with Suad her journey as a
Palestinian architect, writer, and community leader.
Dr. Suad Amiry was born in Damascus, Syria, and grew up
between Amman, Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo. She studied
architecture at the American University of Beirut and
finished her graduate and Ph.D. studies at the University of
Michigan and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She is
the founding director of
RIWAQ (Centre for Architectural Conservation) in
Ramallah, Palestine, for which she received numerous
architectural awards amongst them was the prestigious "Aga
Khan Award for Architecture" in 2013 as well as the 2007
Qattan Distinction Award. Personally, Amiry has won many
awards such as the Tamayouz Excellence Award, Woman in
Architecture and Construction in 2018.
Dr. Amiry has written extensively on architecture and
authored several books, including
My Damascus and
Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, which was awarded Italy's
Viareggio-Versilia Prize in 2004 and was translated into 20
languages.
Dr. Amiry taught architecture at Columbia University,
Birzeit University, and the University of Jordan. She also
participated in the 1991-1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace
talks in Washington, D.C.
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2nd Segment:
The victorious battle for the
1st Amendment against Virginia's anti-boycott bill by Paul
Noursi
The
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy, co-hosted their annual
Israel Lobby Conference on March 4, 2022. The 2022
Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference
brought together people from across the country and the
world to critically assess the pro-Israel lobby and the U.S.
government's unflinching support for Israel. There were
several incredible speeches given by activists, artists,
journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the talk
delivered by
Paul Noursi, an activist with the
Virginia
Coalition for Human Rights (VCHR) since its founding in
2016. He is also active with several other organizations
working for peace and justice in the Middle East, including
the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, the New
Dominion PAC, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, and the Arab American Democratic Caucus of
Virginia. He was also a Barack Obama Delegate to the
Virginia State Convention in 2008, a Bernie Sanders Delegate
to the Virginia State Convention in 2016 and 2020, and he
has served on various Get-Out-the Vote and Democratic
campaigns.
Noursi has lived and traveled extensively in the Middle
East, including Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. He has a BS
in Civil Engineering, an MS in Engineering Management, and
is a licensed and practicing civil engineer with
wide-ranging experience in land development and public works
in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. |
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Date: |
March 15, 2022
(Episode # 1,000) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
National Day of Action:
Protest U.S. Support for the War in Yemen
On
March 5, 2022, over 80 organizations from across the US,
coordinated and held a national day of action to protest
U.S. complicity in the war on Yemen, and called for an end
to that disastrous war. Demonstrators from all around the
nation also convened at the offices of congressional
delegations with a united message “Introduce a Yemen War
Powers Resolution Now!” They also urged everyone to call
1-833-STOP-WAR (www.1833StopWar.com)
and demand an immediate end to U.S. participation in the
war.
One of the rallies was held in Oakland, California, with
many speakers participating. In this episode of Arab Voices,
we will air some of the remarks delivered at that rally by
Neda Saleh Aldabyani,
activist and one of the event’s organizers,
Sunaina Maira, Professor of
Asian American Studies, and is affiliated with the Middle
East/South Asia Studies program and with the Cultural
Studies Graduate Group at UC Davis,
Jack with ANSWER Coalition,
Eleanor Levine with
CODEPINK, Ali with Yemen
Freedom Council, and Sharif Zakout,
with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC).
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2nd Segment:
Interview with Dr. Suad Amiry (part 1 of 2)
Hanan
Awad, a regular guest host on Arab Voices, interviewed Dr.
Suad Amiry, an award-winning Palestinian architect, writer,
community leader, and founding director of
RIWAQ (Centre for
Architectural Conservation) in Ramallah, Palestine. In this
interview, Hanan explores with Suad her journey as a
Palestinian architect, writer, and community leader.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air part 1 of that
interview, and next week, we will air part 2.
Dr. Suad Amiry was born in Damascus, Syria, and grew up
between Amman, Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo. She studied
architecture at the American University of Beirut and
finished her graduate and Ph.D. studies at the University of
Michigan and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She is
the founding director of
RIWAQ (Centre for Architectural Conservation) in
Ramallah, Palestine, for which she received numerous
architectural awards amongst them was the prestigious "Aga
Khan Award for Architecture" in 2013 as well as the 2007
Qattan Distinction Award. Personally, Amiry has won many
awards including the Tamayouz Excellence Award, Women in
Architecture and Construction in 2018, and most recently the
lifetime achievement award from TAKREEM in Lebanon.
Dr. Amiry has written extensively on architecture and
authored several books, including
My Damascus and
Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, which was awarded Italy's
Viareggio-Versilia Prize in 2004 and was translated into 20
languages.
Dr. Amiry taught architecture at Columbia University,
Birzeit University, and the University of Jordan. She also
participated in the 1991-1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace
talks in Washington, D.C. |
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Date: |
March 8, 2022
(Episode # 999) |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Double Standards, Hypocrisy &
Racism in Media Coverage and Politicians' Stand Over Ukraine
During
the first segment of this episode of Arab Voices,
we will talk about
the double standards and hypocrisy in media coverage and
politicians’ stand when it comes to the Ukrainian/Russian
crisis, and the never-ending crisis after crisis of
invasions, occupations, and wars on countries in the Middle
East including Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Palestine.
We will also air the remarks delivered by
Richard Boyd Barrett,
Member of the Irish Parliament, on the situation in Israel
and the occupied Palestinian territory, including the recent
report of Amnesty International, and on the double standards
on Ukraine and Palestine. He delivered those remarks on
March 2, 2022, at the Irish Parliament.
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2nd Segment:
"The Israel lobby's attacks on freedom of speech and
successful legal challenges" by Radhika Sainath
The
Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, and the
Institute for
Research: Middle Eastern Policy, co-hosted their annual
Israel Lobby Conference on March 4, 2022. The conference
brought together people from across the country and the
world to critically assess the pro-Israel lobby and the U.S.
government's unflinching support for Israel. There were
several incredible speeches given by activists, artists,
journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the talk
delivered by
Radhika Sainath
on the topic "The
Israel lobby's attacks on freedom of speech and successful
legal challenges". In her talk, Radhika analyzed events on
college campuses and elsewhere that constitute an assault on
free speech and exercise a chilling effect on students,
professors, and others who attempt to discuss or organize
against Israeli apartheid and other forms of repression. She
explained —and how often—Palestine Legal responds to the
campaign against freedom of speech that is being waged
throughout the United States.
Radhika Sainath is a senior staff attorney at
Palestine Legal. Her writing has appeared in Jacobin,
The Nation and Huffington Post. She's working on her first
novel, set in Palestine during the Second Intifada. |
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Date: |
March 1, 2022  |
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Topic: |
Richard Wolff and
Gerald Horne: After Three Decades of NATO Menacing its
Border, Russia Draws a Line and Pushes Back in
Ukraine... What's Next... Follow the Money... Plus Headlines
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air a recent episode from the
award-winning, weekly hour “On The Ground: Voices of
Resistance from the Nation's Capital”, on the
Ukrainian/Russian crisis, and guests take on the US behavior
in this crisis, given the history of the US invading,
occupying, and supporting aggressions against other
countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya,
and Palestine.
Esther Iverem, producer and host of “On The Ground: Voices
of Resistance from the Nation's Capital” speaks with two
distinguished guests during the February 25, 2022 episode
about the Ukrainian/Russian Crisis:
Professor Richard D. Wolff,
economist, author, visiting Professor in the Graduate
Program in International Affairs of the New School
University, New York City, and host of the weekly show,
Economic Update, and
Professor Gerald
Horne, the
Moores Professorship of History and African American Studies
at the University of Houston, and author of several
publications. We will also hear remarks from
Leela Anand,
the Southern Regional Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition. |
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Date: |
February 22, 2022  |
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Topic: |
New Evidence Showing Anti-Muslim Hate Group Used Paid
‘Spies’ to Surveil Prominent Muslim Leaders & Groups for
More Than a Decade
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will share with you the
information released by the
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),
detailing new evidence showing the anti-Muslim hate group IPT working with the Israeli
government, spent more than a decade and hundreds of
thousands of dollars to surveil and spy on prominent Muslim
organizations and leaders, including then-Rep. Keith
Ellison.
CAIR revealed the new spying evidence during a press
conference held on January 12, 2022, at which
Edward Ahmed
Mitchell,
Attorney and National Deputy Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, and Nihad
Awad,
Executive Director and co-founder of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, participated.
CAIR also revealed that two individuals, a former IPT
staffer and a Muslim who worked as a spy for IPT, have come
forward to confess, apologized for their involvement, and
provided detailed information about the hate group’s
activities and motivations.
On
December 21, 2021, Arab Voices aired a segment on how the
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
uncovered and disrupted a hate group’s effort to infiltrate
and spy on over a dozen mosques and Muslim American
organizations. That anti-Muslim hate group is the
Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), led by Steven
Emerson, a far-right extremist who has been described as an
anti-Muslim activist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
CAIR had revealed that IPT has been collaborating with
Israeli intelligence to spy on US organizations. CAIR’s
investigation at that time revealed that the executive and
legal director of its Ohio Chapter, Romin Iqbal, had been
secretly working with IPT, secretly sharing
confidential information about CAIR’s civil rights work,
strategic plans, and private emails. |
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Date: |
February 15, 2022  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Steve Sabella on
Art, Exile and Palestinian Identity
In
this episode, Arab Voices guest host Hanan Awad
interviews Steve Sabella on Art, Exile and Palestinian
Identity.
Steve
Sabella is an award-winning Palestinian artist and
writer (born in Jerusalem, Palestine), and is well-known as
the author of the award-winning memoir,
The Parachute Paradox (2016) tackling the
colonization of the imagination. The book won the 2017 Eric
Hoffer Award and the 2016 Nautilus Book Awards for best
memoir. In addition, Sabella has published several academic
essays that deal with the concept of exile and identity. His
research focuses on the genealogy and archaeology of the
image. Sabella is an international artist that uses
photography and photographic installations as his primary
forms of expression. He has had many exhibits throughout
Palestine as well as internationally, most notably through
the collections of the British Museum in London, the Arab
Museum of Modern Art in Doha, the Arab World Institute in
Paris, and the Contemporary Art Platform.
Hanan Awad is a Palestinian American street photographer,
whose photos have been exhibited around the world. Here
photos capture the tragedy of the physical and cultural
forced displacement of Palestinians and narrate their
resilience and resistance against the colonialist occupation
of Palestine. |
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Date: |
February 8, 2022  |
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Topic: |
The War in Yemen: One Year into the Biden Administration
Demand
Progress,
Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft,
co-sponsored a panel discussion on February 4, 2022, on "The
War in Yemen: One Year into the Biden Administration".
The event featured
Hassan El-Tayyab with
Friends Committee on National Legislation (moderator),
Dr. Aisha Jumaan with
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation,
Bruce Riedel with the
Brookings Institution,
Dr. Annelle Sheline with the
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and
Dr. Marcus Stanley with the
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The
panelists offered updates on the war and blockade on Yemen,
the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and the US's role;
highlighted stories from the ground in Yemen; analyzed the
Biden administration’s policies over the past year; and
offered perspectives on what role Congress can play in
ending U.S. involvement in the war and blockade.
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks delivered at
that panel discussion. To view the entire event and listen
to the the Question and Answer session that followed the
remarks,
click here.
Event Description:
One year after the Biden administration announced an end to
U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive
operations in Yemen, critical forms of U.S. military support
remain, including ongoing spare parts transfers and
maintenance for Saudi warplanes. As the war approaches the
seven-year mark, the conflict continues to escalate and
Yemeni civilians suffer the consequences. This event will
offer reflections on the Biden administration’s Yemen
approach over the past year and discuss steps Congress can
take to resolve the crisis.
Our conversation comes at a desperate moment with roughly
16.2 million Yemenis at risk of famine. The UN warned in
March 2021 that 400,000 children under the age of 5 would
perish from severe acute malnutrition without urgent action.
Despite growing pressure from lawmakers, civil society, and
Yemeni-American activists against the Saudi blockade of
Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition only allowed 5% of Yemen's
fuel needs into its Red Sea ports in December and conducted
multiple airstrikes on Sana’a Airport, closing the runway to
UN-aid flights. The lack of fuel has driven the price of
food and water beyond the reach of many Yemenis,
exacerbating malnutrition and starvation. Over 15,000 Yemeni
civilians were displaced by the conflict in December, and
over 350 civilians were killed directly by the conflict. |
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Date: |
February 1, 2022  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Federal Judge Blocks the State of Texas from Enforcing its
anti-BDS Law against a Texas Businessman
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the remarks delivered at a press conference held on
January 31, 2022, by the
Council on American Islamic
Relations after a federal judge
ruled on January 28, 2022,
that Texas Anti-BDS Law Violates Free Speech Rights. We
will air the remarks of
CAIR
Attorney and National Deputy Director
Edward Ahmed
Mitchell,
CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir
Abbas,
Chairman of CAIR Texas-Houston John
Floyd,
and Director of Operations at CAIR-Houston
William White.
The
Judge’s ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the
Council on American Islamic Relations on behalf of the owner
of A&R Engineering and Testing firm, Rasmy Hassouna, who has
done more than two million dollars of business with the City
of Houston over the last 20 years, but was unable to renew
the contract with the city of Houston because he refused to
sign the state imposed oath not to boycott Israel.
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2nd Segment:
New Report by Amnesty
International: “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians:
Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity”
Amnesty
International, a non-governmental organization focused on
human rights, with more than 10 million members and
supporters around the world, released a new report on
February 1, 2022, labeling Israel an Apartheid State. The
280-page report is titled “Israel’s apartheid against
Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against
humanity”.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about that
newly released report, and air an audio statement from
Amnesty International that was released with the new report.
This is not the first time a prominent and internationally
recognized non-governmental organization issues such a
report labeling Israel an Apartheid State. In 2021, two other reported were published by Human
Rights Watch titled "A Threshold Crossed: Israeli
Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution",
and another report released by the Israeli Human Rights
group B’tselem documented Israeli Apartheid against
Palestinians in its report "A regime of Jewish supremacy
from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is
Apartheid".
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Date: |
January 25, 2022  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
2nd Arab Bazaar - Interview with Bashira Idelbe
We
will speak with Bashira Idelbe, board member and events
director with the Palestinian American Cultural Center in
Houston, Texas, about the upcoming 2nd Arab Bazaar scheduled
to be held on February 12, 2022, at the Arab American
Cultural & Community Center (ACC), 10555 Stancliff Rd.,
Houston, Texas 77099.
Discover and Support Arab-owned businesses showcasing their
products to Houstonians and strengthen the Arab community in
Houston.
The 2nd Arab Bazaar is co-hosted by the
Palestinian American
Cultural Center and the
Arab American Cultural & Community
Center.
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2nd Segment:
Protests Against the Israeli Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
and the Saudi-led War in Yemen
We
will talk about the ongoing Israeli ethnic cleansing of
Palestine, the ongoing home demolitions in occupied
Jerusalem and other occupied Palestinian cities, and the
forced displacement of Palestinians from their land.
We will air some of the remarks delivered at a recent
Houston and New York protests to stand with the residents of
occupied Palestine (two protests amongst dozens held in
different cities in the US and around the world recently).
The protesters also called for an end to the US-supported
Saudi-led war on Yemen. We will air remarks delivered by
representatives from Students for Justice in Palestine at
the University of Houston, Palestinian Youth Movement,
Palestinian American Council, Malaya Movement Texas, Jewish
Voice for Peace, Texas People's Party, Al-Awda New York: The
Palestine Right to Return Coalition, and other individuals. |
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Date: |
January 18, 2022  |
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Topic: |
Award Winning Pacifica Documentary: I Have A Dream
In
honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we will air the award
winning Pacifica Radio documentary, I Have A Dream, produced
3 days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929, and was
assassinated on April 4, 1968. Dr. King was one of the
greatest civil rights leaders.
In 2013, Pacifica Radio commemorated the 50th anniversary of
the 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights, by airing a
unique recording from Pacifica Radio historic collection, I
Have A Dream documentary. Pacifica Radio special also
featured a conversation with Dr. Clayborne Carson, Stanford
University Professor and Director of the Martin Luther King,
Jr., Research and Education Institute.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the 2013
Pacifica Radio special, which included the award winning
documentary, I Have A Dream. |
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Date: |
January 11, 2022  |
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Topic: |
"Path of Love in Islam: Rumi and His Ancestors" by Dr. Omid
Safi
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston hosted an online lecture on
November 23, 2021, titled “Path of Love in Islam: Rumi and
His Ancestors”, by Dr. Omid Safi.
Omid Safi is a Professor of Sufism and contemporary Islam at
Duke University. His most recent book on Persian Sufism is
Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical
Tradition, which was published by Yale University Press.
He has two forthcoming books on Rumi and Kharaqani. Omid
leads spiritually oriented tours to Turkey and Morocco
through Illuminated Tours, and teaches courses online on
subjects ranging from Rumi and Sufism through Illuminated
Courses.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air that lecture.
The event also featured thoughts and commentary on the
lecture by Dr. Emran El-Badawi, Chair of the Modern and
Classical Languages department, and program director and
associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the
University of Houston, followed by a question and answer
session, and you can watch the entire event
here. |
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Date: |
January 4, 2022  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Speech at Palestine Rally
The
late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African Anglican
bishop and theologian, known for his work as an
anti-apartheid and human rights activist, passed away on
December 26, 2021, at the age of 90. Not only did Desmond
Tutu speak against white nationalist Apartheid system in
South Africa, but he also spoke loudly against the Israeli
occupation and apartheid, and he supported Palestinian human rights. Tutu
also called for a global boycott of "Israel" and urged the
Episcopal Church not to invest in firms that support the
Israeli occupation. Tutu once said "I have been to the
Occupied Palestinian territory, and I have witnessed the
racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so
much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under
the racist system of Apartheid". He also spoke against the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. In
1984, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize
for his work.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air one of the
Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s speeches delivered at a rally for
Palestine held in South Africa in 2014.
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2nd Segment:
Holding South Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable
We
will also air a talk by John Dugard, titled “Holding South
Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable”. John Dugard is a South
African Professor of international law and an outspoken
critic of apartheid. He became a member of the U.N.’s
International Law Commission in 1997. From 2000 to 2018 he
served as Judge ad hoc in the International Court of
Justice, and from 2001 to 2008 he was the U.N. Human Rights
Council's special rapporteur on Human Rights in the
Palestinian Territories. He has written several books on
apartheid, human rights and international law. His memoir,
Confronting Apartheid: A Personal History of South Africa,
Namibia and Palestine, was published in 2018.
Professor John Dugard delivered his talk on “Holding South
Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable” in April 2021, at the
annual conference held to discuss Israel, its US Lobby and
apartheid, sponsored by the American Educational Trust,
publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,
and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy. |
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Date: |
December 28, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Holy Land Trust with Elias Deis
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will listen to a
conversation with Elias Deis titled “Holy Land Trust”, where
he talks about Palestinian Christians and what they are
facing today, population in occupied Palestine and around
the world, Christian Zionism, role of Christians in the west
and how Christian Zionism affects Palestinian Christians in
occupied Palestine, and much more.
We will also air the question and answer session that
followed his talk (moderated by Said Arikat, member of the
Palestine Center Committee, and a long time writer and
analyst for the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds).
This talk was organized by the
Jerusalem Fund, and was held on December 14, 2021.
Elias Deis
Born into a Christian family with a long history of
nonviolent resistance in Beit Sahour, Elias Deis’ life was
shaped during the First Intifada, watching his father and
his community find the path towards justice through peaceful
resistance. It was through his Christian upbringing, holding
onto Jesus’s sacred words of “loving thy neighbor,” that led
Elias into a life journey of engaging his community in
transformation.
Through this challenge, he staked out a path of education
that would lead him directly into the middle of peacemaking,
seeking a deeper understanding of the nature of the
violence, the historical roots, and how generational trauma
contributes to cycles of unrest and bloodshed. Watching his
father Shafeeq lead by example by organizing within the
tax-resistance movement in Beit Sahour, being arrested
several times, presented him a real-life example of how a
community can combat violence in real ways, preparing him to
be a community leader. |
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Date: |
December 21, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Anti-Muslim Hate Group, IPT, Collaborates with Israel,
Infiltrates & Spies on Muslim American Organizations
The
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest
Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, revealed on
December 16, 2021, that it has uncovered and disrupted a
hate group’s effort to infiltrate and spy on over a dozen
mosques and Muslim American organizations. This anti-Muslim
hate group is the Investigative Project on Terrorism
(IPT), led by Steven Emerson, a far-right extremist who has
been described as an anti-Muslim activist by the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
CAIR also revealed that this IPT anti-Muslim hate group has
been collaborating with Israeli intelligence to spy on U.S.
organizations.
CAIR’s investigation revealed that the executive and legal
director of its Ohio Chapter, Romin Iqbal, had been secretly
working with IPT hate group, sharing confidential
information about CAIR’s civil rights work including
surreptitiously recorded conversations, strategic plans, and
private emails. CAIR-Ohio fired Romin Iqbal on December 14,
2021.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will share with you
remarks by CAIR’s national officers on how they uncovered
IPT’s collaboration with Israel to infiltrate and spy on
Muslim American Organizations, and how they discovered the
mole in its Ohio chapter who has been collaborating secretly
with IPT.
We will listen to the remarks of
Edward Ahmed
Mitchell, Attorney
and National Deputy Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Nihad
Awad, Executive Director and co-founder of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, and
Lena Masri, National
Litigation Director, General Counsel and Acting Civil Rights
Director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Their
remarks were delivered at a press conference held by CAIR on
December 16, 2021. We will also air the questions and
answers that followed their remarks. |
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Date: |
December 14, 2021  |
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Topic: |
In this episode of Arab Voices,
we will air some of the remarks delivered at two events organized by
the United Nations over the past two weeks
on Palestine. We will listen to the remarks of Mohammed El-Kurd,
Palestinian activist, journalist and writer, delivered at
the special meeting held on November 29, 2021, at the United
Nations, in observance of the International
Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
We will also air the remarks of Michelle Bachelet,
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on
the situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, delivered on December 7, 2021, at a special
briefing organized by the United Nations Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian
People.
In addition, we will air the remarks of Wessam Ahmad
with Al-Haq organization, Saleh Higazi with Amnesty
International, Omar Shakir with Human Rights Watch,
and Michael Sfard, Israeli Human Rights Lawyer,
delivered on December 7, 2021, at a special event titled
“Supporting Human Rights Defenders in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory: Reality, Challenges, and
Obligations”, organized by the United Nations Committee on
the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian
People.
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Mohammed El-Kurd
Palestinian
activist, journalist and writer who grew up in Sheikh Jarrah
in occupied east Jerusalem, Palestine. His work has been
featured in The Guardian, This Week In Palestine, Al-Jazeera
English, The Nation, and the forthcoming Vacuuming Away Fire
anthology, among others. Mohammed graduated from the
Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Writing,
where he created Radical Blankets, an award-winning
multimedia poetry magazine. He is currently pursuing an
M.F.A. in Poetry from Brooklyn College. His poetry-oud
album, Bellydancing On Wounds, was released in collaboration
with Palestinian musical artist Clarissa Bitar.
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Michelle Bachelet
On
September 1, 2018, Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions
as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Bachelet was elected President of Chile on two occasions
(2006–2010 and 2014–2018). She was the first female
president of Chile. She served as Health Minister
(2000-2002) as well as Chile’s and Latin America’s first
female Defense Minister (2002–2004). In 2011, she was named
the first Director of UN Women, an organization dedicated to
fighting for the rights of women and girls internationally.
Michelle Bachelet has a Medical Degree in Surgery, with a
specialization in Pediatrics and Public Health.
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Wessam Ahmad
Director
of the Applied Center for International Law of Al-Haq and
Coordinator of Al-Haq’s Business and Human Rights Program.
He has been working as a human rights advocate with Al-Haq
since 2006. His area of research focuses on the economic
incentive structure perpetuating the colonization of
Palestine along business lines. Mr. Ahmad holds a BA and
Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University and an LLM
from the Irish Center for Human Rights in Galway.
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Saleh Higazi
Head
of the Jerusalem Office (Israel/Palestine) at Amnesty
International and its MENA Deputy Regional Director. He is
also an advisor to the Al-Quds University Human Rights
Clinic where he worked as academic coordinator and lecturer.
He has also worked as a Public Relations Officer in the
Office of the Ministry of Planning in Ramallah. He holds an
MA in human rights from the University of Essex and a BA in
philosophy and political science from Lawrence University.
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Omar Shakir
Israel
and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch. He
investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Prior to his current
role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Centre for
Constitutional Rights, where he focused on U.S.
counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of
Guantanamo detainees. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria,
Mr. Shakir holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he
co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of U.S.
drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International
Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. He also holds an
MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of
Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from
Stanford.
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Michael Sfard
An
Israeli lawyer and political activist specializing in
international human rights law and the laws of war. He has
served as counsel in various cases on these topics in
Israel. He has represented a variety of Israeli and
Palestinian human rights organizations, movements and
activists before the Israeli Supreme Court. He has brought
many cases to challenge the Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian territory and represented hundreds of Israeli
soldiers who have refused to serve in the OPT. Mr. Sfard and
his law office provide legal counsel for the Israeli human
rights NGO Yesh Din and is a legal counsel for Peace Now.
Michael Sfard’s recent legal opinion, commissioned by Yesh
Din, concluded that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is
a form of apartheid, constituting a crime according to
international law. In 2018, he published "The Wall and the
Gate: Israel, Palestine, and the Legal Battle for Human
Rights". |
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Date: |
December 7, 2021  |
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Topic: |
ACC's 25th
Annual Unity & Friendship Gala
- Rising Stronger
The
Arab American Cultural and Community Center (ACC) in Houston
held its 25th Annual Unity and Friendship Gala on
December 4,
2021. The
Gala Chairs were Hadia Mawlawi and Rola Georges. The
Mistress of Ceremonies was Sonia Azad with WFAA Dallas.
During the Gala, the ACC celebrated the rich Culture and
People of Lebanon. This year’s ACC honorees were Mrs. & Mr.
Brigitte and Bashar Kalai (2021 ACC Outstanding Community
Service Award), Mr. Burhan Ajouz (2021 ACC Outstanding
Business Award), and Dr. Sherif Zaafran (2021 ACC Lifetime
Achievement Award). The event also included silent auction
and live performance by the National Arab Orchestra.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will listen to most of the remarks
delivered at the Gala, including the remarks of
Jill Yaziji,
ACC President, and ACC honorees
Brigitte and Bashar Kalai
(introduced by Dr. Waleed Gaber),
Burhan Ajouz (introduced by
Dr. Aziz Shaibani), and
Dr. Sherif Zaafran
(introduced be Dr. Abdel K. Fustok). |
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Date: |
November 30, 2021  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Conversation with Dr. Salim Tamari about the Shrines in
Palestine
In
this episode of Arab Voices, our guest will be the
distinguished Palestinian sociologist and historian,
Professor Salim Tamari, who also serves as a Research
Associate for the
Institute for Palestine Studies, and is the editor of
the Jerusalem Quarterly.
Hosting the conversation with Professor Tamari is Hanan Awad.
They will talk about the Makamat, Shrines, or House of High
Places in Palestine.
Hanan Awad is a Palestinian American street photographer,
whose photos have been exhibited around the world. Hanan’s
photos capture the tragedy of the physical and cultural
forced displacement of Palestinians and narrate their
resilience and resistance against the colonialist occupation
of Palestine.
Hanan had interviewed Professor Salim Tamari previously
about his book “The Storyteller of Jerusalem” where they
explored the life, culture, music, and history of Jerusalem
in Palestine (1904-1948). That interview is archived on our
website,
ArabVoices.net. |
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Date: |
November 23, 2021  |
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Topic: |
"Damascus:
A History in Words" by
Dr. Dana Sajdi
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston held the AAEF
Paul Kardoush Annual Memorial Lecture on November 11, 2021,
at the University of Houston. The lecture was titled "Damascus:
A History in Words", and the speaker was Professor Dana
Sajdi, a prominent historian teaching at Boston College.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air that lecture.
Professor Dana Sajdi is a prominent historian
teaching at Boston College. She is the author of The
Barber of Damascus: Nouveau Literacy in the
Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Levant (Stanford University
Press, 2013) and the editor of Ottoman Tulips, Ottoman
Coffee: Leisure and Lifestyle in the Eighteenth Century (IB
Tauris, 2014). Her current book project, In Defense of
Damascus: Arabic Textual Cityscapes offers a new history
of the venerable city between the 12th and 20th centuries,
drawing on a long and uninterrupted tradition of prose
topographies. |
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Date: |
November 16, 2021  |
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Topic: |
New
Lawsuit against Houston & Texas over Anti-BDS Law
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air the remarks
delivered at a press conference held on November 1, 2021, by
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announcing
a new lawsuit filed on October 29, 2021, against the City of
Houston and the State of Texas on behalf of a business who
was unable to renew its contract with the City of Houston
because they refused to sign the state imposed oath not to
boycott Israel. CAIR filed the motion for a temporary
restraining order on behalf of A&R Engineering and Testing
firm that was asked by the City of Houston to sign an
anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) clause in its
contract. We will hear the remarks delivered at the press
conference by the owner of A&R Engineering and Testing firm,
Rasmy Hassouna,
who is of Palestinian heritage and has done more than two
million dollars of business with the City of Houston over
the last 20 years, as well as the remarks of CAIR Senior
Litigation Attorney
Gadeir Abbas
and Chairman of CAIR Texas-Houston
John Floyd.
The recent lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic
Relations is not the first in Texas or the nation against
many state laws nationwide designed to block the growing BDS
movement in the United States and worldwide in defense of
Palestinian human rights. In 2019, CAIR won a landmark
victory in a lawsuit over the first version of the Texas law
on behalf of Bahia Amawi, the Texas speech language
pathologist who lost her job because she refused to sign a
“No Boycott of Israel” clause. During this episode of Arab
Voices, we will also air potions of the interview we
previously conducted with attorney
John Floyd
with CAIR-Houston and Bahia
Amawi
talking about that lawsuit and the landmark victory. |
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Date: |
November 9, 2021 |
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Arab Voices was preempted on
Tuesday, November 9, 2021, for
a special Pacifica Radio Archives National Fund Drive that
aired on all Pacifica stations in the U.S. Our next show
will be on Tuesday, November 16, 2021. |
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Date: |
November 2, 2021  |
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Topic: |
"Concerning the Political
in
Art" by Rabih Alameddine
The
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston held the Nijad and Zeina Fares
Arab-American Educational Foundation Annual Distinguished
Lecture in Modern Arab Studies on October 28, 2021 at the
University of Houston. The lecture was titled "Concerning
the Political in Art". The speaker was Rabih Alameddine,
Lebanese-American author of six critically acclaimed novels
and Kapnick Distinguished Writer in Residence at the
University of Virginia Creative Writing Program.
In this episode of Arab Voices, we will air that talk.
Rabih Alameddine is the author of six critically acclaimed
novels, most recently
The Wrong End of the Telescope (Grove Atlantic,
2021), which Publisher’s Weekly called, “profound and
wonderful,”
The Angel of History (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016),
An Unnecessary Woman (Grove Press, 2014), The
Hakawati (Knopf, 2008),
I, The Divine (W.W. Norton, 2001), and
Koolaids (Picador, 1998). He is also the author of a
book of short stories,
The Perv (Picador, 1999.)
Rabih's
work has been awarded the Arab American Book Award in 2015
and 2017, the Lambda Literary Award in 2017, and was a
finalist for the National Book Award in 2014.
Born in Amman, Jordan, Rabih grew up in Lebanon and Kuwait,
lived in England, then moved to the United States. He earned
a degree in engineering from UCLA and an MBA in San
Francisco before becoming a painter and novelist. In 2002,
Rabih received
a Guggenheim Fellowship. Rabih
is currently the Kapnick Distinguished Writer in Residence
at the University of Virginia’s Creative Writing Program. |
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Date: |
October 26, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Apartheid Israel Classifies
Six World-Renowned Palestinian NGOs as "Terrorist
Organizations"
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about the
outrageous classification of six world-renowned Palestinian
non-governmental civil society organizations (Addameer,
Al-Haq,
Defense for Children International-Palestine,
Union of Agricultural Work Committees,
Bisan Center for Research and Development,
Union of Palestinian Women Committees) as "terrorist
organizations" by Apartheid Israel, the reaction it
generated, and the calls on Israel to rescind its decision.
Over the years, Arab Voices interviewed staff from some of
these organizations. As a matter of act, the first guest
that appeared on Arab Voices during the first show in April
2002 was Hanan Elmasu, who was at that time a member
of the Board of Trustees of Addameer. The latest interviews
occurred in 2021: In September 2021, we interviewed Sahar
Francis with Addameer, and in May 2021, we interviewed
Aseel AlBajeh, Legal Researcher and Advocacy Officer
at Al-Haq. These interviews are archived on our website,
ArabVoices.net.
During this episode of Arab Voices, we will also listen to
some of the remarks delivered at a joint event organized by
the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and Palestinian
civil society. The event was held on October 4, 2021, and
was titled “Restricting Civic Space: Addressing the
Israeli Escalation of Attacks against Palestinian Human
Rights Defenders”. The speakers were
Haya
Omari,
Legal Researcher at Al-Haq providing overview of Israel's
attacks on human rights defenders and civil society, as well
as Israel's Apartheid measures,
Khaled
Quzmar,
Director of Defense for Children International-Palestine,
speaking on the Israeli attacks on his organization,
Sahar
Francis,
Director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights
Association, discussing cases of attacks on organizations
and arrests and detentions of human rights defenders, and
Michael Lynk,
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, speaking on the
protection offered by international law in protecting the
work done by human rights defenders. |
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Date: |
October 19, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Stop the War! An Event to Mark
20 Years of the War on Terror
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will air some of the remarks
delivered at a special event organized by
Stop
The War Coalition held on September 18, 2021 in the UK
to mark 20 years of the "War on Terror". The event addressed
several topics including Iraq, Islamophobia and Civil
Liberties, and The Future. The remarks we will air are for:
Haifa
Zangana,
an Iraqi writer, painter, and political activist, known for
her novel Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London
about political repression, violence and exile.
Kate Connelly,
writer and historian who led school student strikes in the
British anti-war movement in 2003.
Sami
Ramadani,
an Iraqi-born lecturer in sociology and writes on Iraq and
Middle East current affairs. He was a political exile from
Saddam's regime but campaigned against US-led sanctions and
the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He is a member of the
steering committee of Stop the War Coalition.
John
Rees,
British political activist, academic, journalist and writer
who is a national officer of the Stop the War Coalition, and
founding member of Counterfire.
Weyman
Bennett,
co-convenor of Stand Up To Racism and joint secretary of
United Against Fascism.
Kareem
Dennis
(better known by his stage name Lowkey), a British-Iraqi
rapper and activist from London.
Shabbir Lakha,
Stop the War officer, a People's Assembly activist and a
member of Counterfire.
Zarah
Sultana,
British Labour Party politician and a Member of Parliament
for Coventry South. |
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Date: |
October 12, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Holocaust Museum Houston
removes Latinx Artists from a panel discussion because of
Palestine, and “In The Sun” Art Symposium panel discussion
featuring local artists and community organizers
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will talk about “In
The Sun” art symposium and exhibition held in
Houston by CASP (Collective Artists in Solidarity with
Palestine), and PYM (Palestinian Youth Movement). The event
was organized after the Holocaust Museum Houston cancelled
Latinx artists' participation in a panel discussion because
the artists wanted to speak about Palestine. We will listen
to some of the remarks by
Mohammed Nabulsi
with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Palestinian
American Cultural Center,
Lina Assi
with the Palestinian Youth Movement,
Angel
Lartigue,
visual artist,
Bria Lauren,
visual artist,
Mariposa
Tejada,
poet and land & water defender, and
Ryan Crane,
performance artist and organizer.
The Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) opened an exhibition in
April 2021 called “Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of
Conflict”. Few weeks later (in May 2021), HMH posted a
message on its social media account condemning the rise of
antisemitism across America and the world. The statement was
posted after Israel launched a deadly and destructive attack
on the besieged Gaza Strip that caused outrage across the
world.
One of the Latinx artists, Angel Lartigue, who was also
scheduled to speak at a panel discussion at HMH, asked HMH
to release another statement indicating they are an ally for
Palestine and ending apartheid. HMH did not respond to the
request, and when the Latinx Artists participating in HMH
exhibition said they would speak about Palestine at a panel
discussion scheduled at HMH, they were removed from the
panel. Six Latinx Artists pulled their work from the
exhibition, drafted a statement (Collective artists in
solidarity with Palestine) that was signed by dozens of
artists from around the globe. In that statement, they
demand not just Holocaust institutions but all cultural art
centers to stand in solidarity with Palestine and question
the role and accountability of such institutions. Their
statement said “We advocate for the abolition of the settler
colonial state of Israel and pose the following questions:
How can The Holocaust Museum Houston stand against apartheid
and ally to Palestine? What is the role of US-based
Holocaust institutions in relation to Palestinian
liberation?”
A coalition with Palestinian artists, poets, and activists
was then born. CASP (Collective Artists in Solidarity with
Palestine) collaborated with PYM (Palestinian Youth
Movement), and formed “In The Sun” exhibition (held at the
Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston) that explores
themes of generational struggle, ancestral lineages, and
social regeneration through a lens of decolonization and
popular resistance. |
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Date: |
October 5, 2021  |
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Topic: |
“The Future of Islam and
Muslim-West Relations: Why does it Matter?” by Dr. John Esposito
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will listen to a speech by
Dr. John Esposito on “The Future of Islam and Muslim-West
Relations: Why does it Matter?".
Dr. Esposito is Professor of Religion and International
Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He
is Founding Director of the Alwaleed Center for
Muslim-Christian Understanding in the Walsh School of
Foreign Service. He previously served as President of the
American Academy of Religion and Middle East Studies
Association of North America, and also served as consultant
to the U.S. Department of State and other agencies, European
and Asian governments, corporations, universities, and media
worldwide and ambassador for the UN Alliance of
Civilizations and was a member of the World Economic Forum’s
Council of 100 Leaders and E. C. European Network of Experts
on De-Radicalisation. Dr. Esposito authored more than 50
books, including The Future of Islam, Islamophobia and the
Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century, Who Speaks for
Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (with Dalia
Mogahed), Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, The
Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Islam and Politics; Makers
of Contemporary Islam and Islam and Democracy (with John O.
Voll), What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, Asian Islam
in the 21st Century (John Voll & Osman Bakar), Islam: The
Straight Path; Islam and Democracy and Makers of
Contemporary Islam (with J. Voll); Modernizing Islam (with
F. Burgat) Political Islam: Revolution, Islam and Secularism
in the Middle East (with A. Tamimi), Islam, Gender, and
Social Change and Muslims on the Americanization Path and
Daughters of Abraham (with Y. Haddad), and Women in Muslim
Family Law.
The speech we will air was delivered at a public event held
in 2017 at Assumptions University in Canada. |
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Date: |
September 28, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Dr. Edward Said: "Palestine and the
Universality of Human Rights"
This
week marks the 19th anniversary of the passing of Professor Edward Said, and on this occasion, we will air today one of the last major speeches he delivered few
months before he died. The talk was titled "Memory,
Inequality, and Power: Palestine and the Universality of
Human Rights". He delivered that speech at the University of
California, Berkeley on February 19, 2003.
Professor Said is an internationally renowned writer,
author, and scholar, whose writings about the Middle East
and its relationship with the West have gone far to open new
roads in academia and to influence public opinion. Dr.
Edward Said was a giant figure in the Arab-American
community, and for Arabs in the Middle East and across the
world. During the course of his life, he articulated a
vision of Palestine and the Arab world that not only
recalled the significant contributions of the region’s
people but also offered hope for the future. Edward W. Said
was Professor of English and Comparative Literature at
Columbia University. He died on September 25, 2003, in New
York. |
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Date: |
September 21, 2021  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Sahar
Francis (in Ramallah)
Sahar
Francis is the Director of
Addameer
Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. She is a
Human Rights Lawyer, based in Ramallah, in occupied
Palestine.
We will talk with Sahar about the thousands of Palestinian
Political Prisoners (including women and children) held in
Israeli jails, their ill treatment, torture, physical and
mental abuse, round-the-clock interrogations, lack of food
and health services, administrative detention, collective
punishment, and more.
We will also talk about the great escape by six Palestinian
political prisoners from one of the “most secure” Israeli
prisons, who have been recaptured since their escape earlier
this month.
In addition, we will talk about the arrests made by the
Palestinian Authority of some Palestinians who were
protesting the murder of Palestinian activist Nizar Banat,
who was killed hours after he was arrested by the
Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank in June 2021. |
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Date: |
September 14, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
"Spying on Muslim &
Arab Americans" with Abdeen Jabara
Since 9/11, the FBI has subjected the Muslim, Arab, and
South Asian communities to surveillance. Sending
infiltrators and confidential informants into mosques and
other community spaces absent any evidence of criminal
wronging, it’s clear that for the FBI race, religion, and
national origin are inherently suspicious in the War on
Terror. However, the FBI’s history of targeting Muslim and
Arab Americans goes back long before 9/11. As early as 1972,
Richard Nixon had ordered mass surveillance of Arab
Americans as part of “Operation Boulder.”
We will air
today a special episode from
Still Spying Podcast
titled Spying on Muslim & Arab Americans. It is a
conversation with
Abdeen Jabara, a longtime civil rights
attorney, past president of the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, and former board member of
the Center for Constitutional Rights, who not only fought
against surveillance and discrimination on behalf of others,
he himself was spied on by the FBI and the NSA.
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2nd Segment:
CAIR on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, and Results of
Nationwide Survey of American Muslims
The
Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest
Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, held a press
conference on September 10, 2021, at its national
headquarters in Washington, D.C., to mark the anniversary of
the September 11, 2001, attacks and to discuss the results
of its nationwide survey of American Muslims about their
perspectives and experiences over the past twenty years.
Today on Arab Voices, we will air the remarks delivered at
that press conference by
Nihad Awad,
Executive Director and co-founder of CAIR. We will also
listen to
Robert McCaw,
CAIR’s Government Affairs Director, revealing the results of
the new
nationwide survey of American Muslims about their
perspectives and experiences over the past twenty years. |
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Date: |
September 7, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Abed
Ayoub
During the
first segment, we will interview Abed Ayoub, National Legal
and Policy Director at the
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest Arab
American grassroots organization in the United States
committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent
and promoting their rich cultural heritage.
We will speak with Abed about the effect of the 9/11 attacks
on Arab and Muslim Americans over the past 20 years. We will
talk about the rise in hate crimes, discrimination,
surveillance, policies and changes in laws and governmental
actions taken after 9/11 that affected Arab and Muslim
communities, media influence and how it played a role with
its negative coverage of Arabs and Muslims, the US "war on
terror", and more.
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2nd Segment:
Lindsay Koshgarian
During
the second segment, we will speak with Lindsay Koshgarian,
Program Director for the
National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy
Studies, and co-author of the newly released report “State
of Insecurity: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11”.
We will speak with Lindsay about the newly released report “State
of Insecurity: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11”.
The report reveals that "Over the 20 years since 9/11, the
U.S. has spent $21 trillion dollars on foreign and domestic
militarization. Of the $21 trillion the U.S. has spent on
foreign and domestic militarization since 9/11, $16 trillion
went to the military (including $7.2 trillion for military
contractors), $3 trillion to veterans’ programs, $949
billion to Homeland Security, and $732 billion to federal
law enforcement). We will also talk about the Different
Choices listed in the report of where this money could be
spent "the next 20 years present an opportunity to
reconsider where we need to reinvest for a better future." |
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Date: |
August 31, 2021  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Interview with Matthew
Hoh
In
this episode of Arab Voices, we will interview Matthew Hoh
about the war on Afghanistan, the US withdrawal, the wars on
Yemen, Iraq and other countries, American interventionist
policy, war profiteers, the Military-Industrial Complex,
U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East, and more.
Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the
Center for
International Policy and a member of the
Eisenhower Media
Initiative. He is a former marine and State Department
official who in 2009 resigned his position with the State
Department in Afghanistan in protest of the Afghan War. In
2010, he received the Ridenhour Prize for Truth Telling. He
is also is a member of the Board of Directors for the
Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member
for Expose Facts. Hoh writes on issues of war, peace and
post-traumatic stress disorder recovery. |
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Date: |
August 24, 2021  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Sliman Mansour on
Palestinian Art and Resistance
In
this episode of Arab Voices, guest host Hanan Awad
interviews Sliman Mansour on Palestinian Art and Resistance.
Sliman Mansour is one of the most prominent and influential
Palestinian artists of his time. As part of the Palestinian
struggle, his art reflects the brutal reality of Palestine
and her people, highlighting the Palestinian identity under
military occupation. Sliman’s art has become a worldwide
phenomenon, having been exhibited throughout the world.
During the first Intifada of 1987 Sliman became known as the
“artist of the Intifada” since he helped start the ‘New
Vision’ art movement. |
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Date: |
August 17, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Symposium on Age of
Coexistence
(part 2 of 2)
Last
week on Arab Voices, we aired some of the remarks delivered
at the symposium held in April 2021 on Professor Ussama
Makdisi's book "Age
of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the
Modern Arab World”. We
aired the remarks of Professor
Judith Tucker
with Georgetown University, Professor
Cemil Aydin
with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and
Dean
Amal Ghazal
with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Today on Arab Voices, we will air the remarks of Professor
Ilan Pappé
with the University of Exeter, and the remarks of the book
author, Professor
Ussama Makdisi. We
will also air some of the questions and answers that
followed their talk.
The symposium was hosted by the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston, and was moderated by
Professor Abdel
Razzaq Takriti,
Director of the Arab-American Educational Foundation (AAEF)
Center for Arab Studies, and AAEF Chair in Modern Arab
History at the University of Houston. |
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Date: |
August 10, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Symposium on Age of
Coexistence
(part 1 of 2)
In
April 2021, the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston hosted a symposium on Professor
Ussama Makdisi's book "Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical
Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World". It
featured contributions from the author, Professor
Ussama Makdisi,
as well as distinguished scholars Professor
Ilan Pappé
(University of Exeter), Dean
Amal Ghazal
(Doha Institute for Graduate Studies), Professor
Judith Tucker
(Georgetown University), and Professor
Cemil Aydin
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). The event was
moderated by Professor
Abdel Razzaq
Takriti,
Director of the Arab-American Educational Foundation (AAEF)
Center for Arab Studies, and AAEF Chair in Modern Arab
History at the University of Houston.
Today on Arab Voices, we will air part 1 from that
symposium, and we will air part 2 next week. |
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Date: |
August 3, 2021  |
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Topic: |
9/11 at 20: So, Why
Did We Attack Iraq?
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air a segment from Keeping Democracy
Alive with Burt Cohen, a podcast titled “9/11 at 20: So,
Why Did We Attack Iraq?” In this podcast, Burt Cohen
interviews historian
Larry Hartenian
whose new book is titled George W Bush Administration
Propaganda for an Invasion of Iraq: The Absence of Evidence.
He explains that Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others rejected any
evidentiary standards. Intelligence was tailored,
politicized, and shaped to fit a narrative predetermined by
the White House. They knew there was no evidence of
connection to 9/11. So a precedent was set for Trumps
reality. Have any lessons been learned? |
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Date: |
July 27, 2021  |
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Topic: |
The Blockade of Yemen Continues: Updates on the crisis and
what Congress can do about it
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air a portion of an event held on
July 22, 2021, hosted by
Demand
Progress Education Fund. The event was titled “The
Blockade of Yemen Continues: Updates on the crisis and what
Congress can do about it”.
Despite growing pressure from lawmakers and civil society
against the Saudi blockade of Yemen, during the entire month
of May no fuel tankers were permitted to enter Hodeidah
port. While the Biden Administration has promised to end US
support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war, and has publicly
acknowledged opposition to the blockade, there has been no
confirmation that the US has meaningfully pressured Saudi
Arabia to lift the blockade nor has the US fully ended
support for the Saudi-led coalition. Meanwhile, the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis continues in Yemen.
The Panelists were
Hassan El-Tayyab
with Friends Committee on National Legislation,
Elias Yousif
with the Center for International Policy,
Shireen Al-Adeimi,
with Michigan State University, and
Marcus Stanley
with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The
panelists offered updates on the blockade, ongoing
humanitarian crisis, and the US’s role. They also
highlighted stories from the ground in Yemen; discussed
recent developments towards a peace deal; and offered
perspectives on what role Congress can play. |
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Date: |
July 20, 2021  |
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Topic: |
The Palestinian Nakba:
From Ethnic Cleansing in 1948 to Apartheid in 2021
The
Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. held
a talk on the
topic "The Palestinian Nakba: From Ethnic Cleansing in
1948 to Apartheid in 2021" on May 19, 2021, with Dr.
Shafeeq Ghabra. On this episode of Arab Voices, we will
air a portion of that discussion.
Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra discussed the history of the Nakba and
what it means to Palestinians. During his presentation he
answered some major questions on the establishment of
Israel, the forced ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian
population, stories about the land, and refugees. He
concluded with an analysis of the present situation in
Palestine as a case of ongoing and deepening ethnic
cleansing and apartheid. This event was moderated by Said
Arikat.
Dr.
Shafeeq Ghabra
has been a Professor of Political Science at Kuwait
University since 1987, and was a founding president of the
American University of Kuwait from 2003 to 2006. He also
directed the Kuwait Information Office in Washington, DC
from 1998 to 2002, as well as the Center of Strategic
Studies at Kuwait University from 2002 to 2003. Dr. Ghabra
earned his BA from Georgetown University in 1975, his MA
from Purdue University in 1983, and his PhD in Political
Science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987. He
is the author of eight books and numerous studies, including
Palestinians in Kuwait: The Family and the Politics of
Survival and The Nakba and the Emergence of the Palestinian
Diaspora in Kuwait. Dr. Ghabra has also been a regular
columnist and guest of various international and Arab media
outlets since 1988.
Said Arikat
is a Member of the Palestine Center Committee, and the
Washington bureau chief for the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds,
a daily for which he is a writer, columnist, and analyst. He
previously served as spokesman and director of public
information for the United Nations Assistance Mission for
Iraq, and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at
American University in Washington, DC. |
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Date: |
July 13, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Debate:
Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air an episode from
Alternative Radio, an award-winning weekly public
affairs program. It is a debate on the motion “Anti-Zionism
is Anti-Semitism“ held at the Emmanuel Centre in London. The
debate features two speakers for the motion:
Melanie Phillips,
journalist, broadcaster and author, and
Einat
Wilf,
Israeli politician, and former Knesset member, and it also
features two speakers against the motion:
Mehdi Hasan,
journalist and broadcaster, and
Ilan
Pappe,
Israeli historian, and university professor. |
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Date: |
July 6, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Emergency Rally For Palestine
We will listen to
a few remarks from some of the participants in the emergency
rally held in Houston, Texas on Monday, July 5, 2021, in
support of the Palestinian people of Silwan in occupied
Jerusalem, and against Israeli demolitions of Palestinian
businesses and homes.
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2nd Segment:
Obit: Ramsey Clark’s Appeal for Peace – STOP the War on Iraq
– Let Iraq LIVE!
From
TUC Radio:
Rebroadcast in memory of Ramsey Clark
Former U.S. attorney general and longtime human rights
lawyer Ramsey Clark died on April 10, 2021 at the age of 93.
He served as attorney general from 1967 to 1969. After
leaving office, Clark became a leading critic of U.S.
foreign policy. “The world is the most dangerous place it’s
ever been because of what our country has done, and is
doing” he said.
Maria Gilardin recorded him in San Francisco on October 12, 2002 – He
said that when George Bush declared his war on terrorism he
made the most lawless step in the history of the United
States. Ramsey Clark warned of another war on Iraq – both
for the poor and tortured people of that country and for us,
for our own safety and for our souls. In spite of huge peace
demonstrations across the world – war began on March 19,
2003.
Few people knew Iraq as well as Ramsey Clark. While the
bombs fell on Iraq in 1991 he traveled 2000 miles by car. He
returned to Iraq every year to see the effect of the
sanctions and weekly US/UK bombings. He visited hospitals
and devastated neighborhoods. |
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Date: |
June 29, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Yemen: Famine and
Future
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air an episode from CODEPINK Radio
titled “Yemen: Famine and Future”.
CODEPINK Radio airs on our sister stations WBAI in New
York and WPFW in Washington, D.C.
In this episode of CODEPINK Radio (recorded in May 2021)
they talk about Yemen with
Hassan El-Tayyab
from FCNL (Friends
Committee On National Legislation) and
Iman
Saleh from
Yemeni Liberation Movement. Iman was in DC on a hunger
strike, and in this episode of CODEPINK Radio you will hear
from Iman about that experience, and you will also hear
about action for Yemen happening in Congress from Hassan El-Tayyab.
We will also listen to
CODEPINK
cofounder
Medea Benjamin
who attended General Dynamics annual general meeting in
Reston, Virginia and confronted the CEO and the board with
questions about the company's weapon sales to Saudi Arabia
and other repressive regimes. |
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Date: |
June 22, 2021  |
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Guest/
Topic: |
Conversation with Dr. Salim Tamari by guest host Hanan Awad
In
this episode of Arab Voices, guest host Hanan Awad in
conversation with Palestinian sociologist and historian
professor Salim Tamari. Our conversation with Professor
Tamari will revolve primarily around his book “The
Storyteller of Jerusalem” as we explore the life,
culture, music, and history of Jerusalem in Palestine
(1904-1948).
Salim Tamari is a Professor of Sociology (Emeritus) at
Birzeit University in Palestine. He also serves as a
Research Associate for the
Institute for Palestine Studies, and is editor of the
Jerusalem Quarterly.
Hanan Awad is a Palestinian American street photographer,
whose photos have been exhibited around the world. Her
photos capture the tragedy of the physical and cultural
forced displacement of Palestinians and narrate their
resilience and resistance against the colonialist occupation
of Palestine. |
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Date: |
June 15, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
TX-22 Stands with Palestine & Protest of Rep. Troy Nehl
We will listen to the key remarks delivered
at the protest held on June 12, 2021 outside the office of
Congressman Troy Nehl, who represents the 22nd Congressional
District of Texas. The participants protested his support
for Israel's human rights abuses, Israel’s Killing of
Palestinian Civilians, Ethnic Cleansing and Apartheid. We
will listen to the remarks of
Kamal Khalil
(Palestinian American Council),
Amina Ishaq
(An-Nisa),
Ambreen
Hernandez
(Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR-Houston),
Abdullah
Najjar
(MAS Katy Center), and
Ayman Kabire
(Islamic Society of Greater Houston). We will also listen to
a brief statement from
Judge O'Neill
Williams
with the Texas 268th District Court, who attended the
protest.
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2nd Segment:
Debunking Israel’s ‘Human Shield’ Defense in Gaza Massacre
We will listen to a segment from the
Empire
Files titled "Debunking Israel’s ‘Human Shield’ Defense
in Gaza Massacre", in which Abby Martin gives 5 points that
evaporate Israel's assertion that the civilians it kills in
Gaza were "human shields."
Abby Martin is Director
and Creator of
The
Empire Files, journalist, filmmaker, and former teleSUR presenter.
On May 24, 2021, Abby Martin won a federal free speech
lawsuit against Georgia's
unconstitutional "anti-BDS" law filed in 2020. The
judge ruled that the University System of Georgia violated
Abby Martin's constitutional rights when it cancelled her
speaking engagement on a college campus because she refused
to sign a state-mandated oath pledging not to engage in
boycotts of Israel. The lawsuit was filed on her behalf by
the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-Georgia),
CAIR Legal Defense Fund and the Partnership for Civil
Justice Fund. |
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Date: |
June 8, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
"Houston: Naksa Day Protest" at Boeing & Lockheed Martin
On
June 5, 2021, several organizations lead by the Palestinian
Youth Movement, organized a protest in front of Boeing
Company in Clear Lake/Houston to commemorate the 54th
anniversary of the 1967 war and ongoing expulsion of
Palestinians from their land by racist Apartheid Israel, and
also protest Boeing’s new plan to sell $735 million worth of
precision guided missiles to Israel, especially as Israel
uses the weapons to commit genocide and war crimes against
the Palestinians in occupied Palestine. Hundreds of people
attended the protest. The protesters also marched 1.3 miles
walking from Boeing to Lockheed Martin to protest its
weapons sales to Israel, and then walked back 1.3 miles to
Boeing. We will air today some of the remarks delivered at
the protest by
Mohammed Nabulsi
with the Palestinian Youth Movement and Palestinian American
Cultural Center and one of organizers for the event, and
also listen to the remarks of
Patrick Higgins,
a PhD Candidate at the University of Houston who is
currently finishing his dissertation on Palestinian
perceptions on US imperialism in the Arab World from the
1950s to the early 1970s, and how those perceptions shaped
theory and strategy of the Palestinian cause.
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2nd Segment:
Muna El-Kurd's Remarks at Human Rights Council
Muna
El-Kurd spoke on May 27, 2021 at a special session of the
United Nations Human Rights Council on the grave human
rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including occupied East Jerusalem, and today we will listen
to her remarks.
Muna El-Kurd is a Palestinian Journalist, activist, and
resident of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem, who has
been actively protesting and refusing to leave her own house
in occupied Jerusalem despite Israel’s repeated attempts at
forcing her out of her own house. On Sunday, June 6, 2021,
the Israeli occupation forces stormed her house in Sheikh
Jarrah and arrested her and her brother, Mohammed El-Kurd,
who is also very active against the Israeli atrocities and
ethnic cleansing, and took them both to Israeli
interrogation, then released them.
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3rd Segment:
Issam Younis' Remarks at Human Rights Council
Issam
Younis also spoke on May 27, 2021 at the special session of
the United Nations Human Rights Council on the grave human
rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including occupied East Jerusalem, and today we will listen
to his remarks.
Issam Younis is the Director for Al-Mezan Center for Human
Rights in Gaza, and the Head of the Independent Commission
for Human Rights of Palestine. During the 2014 Israeli war
on Gaza, Israel killed Issam’s father, step mother, and his
4-year-old niece.
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4th Segment:
Dr. Rashid Khalidi's Briefing at UN Security Council
The
United Nations Security Council, asked Professor Rashid
Khalidi to brief the Council on May 27, 2021, on the steps
necessary to implement United Nations resolutions, and
provide peace and security for all in Palestine, and today
we will listen to his remarks.
Professor Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of
Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York,
editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, and author of
many books including The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A
History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017. |
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Date: |
June 1, 2021  |
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Topic: |
National March for Palestine
Today
on Arab Voices, we will listen to the remarks of some of the
participants at the “National March for Palestine” held on
May 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C., and attended by more than
35,000. It was led by
American Muslims for Palestine and
US Council of
Muslim Organizations, along with partners and allies of
more than 130 organizations from across the United States.
They called on President Biden and the U.S. Congress to hold
Israel accountable for its war crimes in Gaza.
We will listen to the remarks of
Phyllis Bennis
(Institute of Policy Studies, and Jewish Voice for Peace),
Dr. Hatem
Bazian
(American Muslims for Palestine),
Zeina Ashrawi
Hutchison
(Virginia Coalition for Human Rights), Amer Zahr (New
Generation for Palestine, NGP Action),
Anthony Lorenzo
Green
(Black Lives Matter DC),
Nihad Awad
(Council on American-Islamic Relations),
Lisbeth Melendez
Rivera
(Jewish Voice for Peace),
Maher Massis
(Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace), and
Lamis Deek
(Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition).
We will also air the remarks of the
Reverend
Father Fouad Saba
of St. George Orthodox Church, delivered at the Palestine
rally held in Illinois on May 21, 2021. |
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NEW TIME SLOT on KPFT!
Beginning Tuesday, June 1, 2021,
Arab Voices
will be airing at
10 p.m. central time
on
Tuesdays.
There have been major changes to
KPFT's programming schedule by the new general manager that
went into effect on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, and has affected
many shows at KPFT Houston 90.1 FM.
Arab Voices was moved to 10 p.m. central time on Tuesdays
from its 6 p.m. timeslot on Wednesdays.
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Date: |
May 26, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Refaat Alareer
(in Gaza)
Interview
with Refaat Alareer (in Gaza, occupied Palestine) about the
dire situation in the besieged Gaza Strip as a result of the
latest Israeli bombardment and war crimes, in which Israel
killed 253 Palestinians, including 66 children, 39 women and
17 elderly, and injured nearly 2,000. More than 40,000
Palestinians were forced to take shelter in United
Nations-run schools in Gaza to escape the Israeli
bombardment. The United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 17,000 residential and
commercial units (including 24 health facilities) in the
Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed during the 11-day
Israeli bombardment. It is estimated that more than 80,000
Palestinians have lost their homes or had their homes
seriously or partially damaged. In the occupied West Bank
and East Jerusalem, 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli
occupation forces, and nearly 8,500 were wounded over the
past few weeks.
Refaat Alareer is co-editor of the book Gaza Unsilenced
and was the editor of (and a contributor to) Gaza Writes
Back, a collection of short stories. Refaat received his
M.A. degree in Comparative Literature from the University
College of London, and his Ph.D. in English Literature from
the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He has been teaching world
literature, comparative literature, and both fiction and
non-fiction creative writing at the Islamic University of
Gaza since 2007. Refaat Alareer is a native of Gaza City’s
Shijaieh neighborhood.
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2nd Segment:
"Houston Stands with
Palestine" Rally Remarks
We
listen to the voices of several participants in the “Houston
Stands with Palestine”
rally held in Houston on May 22, 2021. The rally was
organized by the
Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA, and was co-sponsored
by other organizations including the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of Greater
Houston, Palestinian American Cultural Center, Palestinian
American Council, Students for Justice in Palestine at the
University of Houston, Palestinian Youth Movement, Muslim
American Society, and American Muslims for Palestine. The
rally was held in the Galleria area and was attended by more
than 4,000 people. It was the third protest and rally in one
week in Houston. |
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Date: |
May 19, 2021  |
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Although Arab Voices was
preempted on KPFT 90.1 FM on Wednesday, May 19 for a special
"Execution Watch" live coverage of the planned Texas
execution of Quintin
Jones, I produced a one-hour program (recorded Wednesday)
since Arab Voices is syndicated on more than 20 radio
stations in different states, and you can listen to that
hour directly at
https://arabvoices.net/archives/ArabVoices051921.mp3.
You will hear
voices from some of the participants
at two huge protests and rallies attended by thousands in
Houston over the past few days, and voices from occupied
Jerusalem (Mariam
Afifi, Activist,
Musician and Contrabassist at the Palestine Youth Orchestra)
and Gaza (Hamdi
Shaqqura, Deputy
Director for Program Affairs at the Palestinian Center for
Human Rights-Gaza) on what is happening there. Both Mariam &
Hamdi spoke at the “Palestine in Resistance: Voices of
Anticolonial Mobilization” webinar organized by the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Center for Arab Studies
at the University of Houston, The Jerusalem Fund &
Palestine Center, UCSB Center for Middle East Studies, and
the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab
Studies at Rice University. |
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Date: |
May 12, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Suhaila (in Sheikh Jarrah)
We
will speak with Suhaila (in
Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem), a Palestinian woman
and a member of one of the families that Israel decided to
expel and force her out of her house in Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood in Occupied Jerusalem, and give her house and
other Palestinian houses to Zionist Israeli Colonizers. We
will talk about Sheikh Jarrah, the decision by Israel to
force her and her family out of her own house, Israeli
ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and more.
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2nd Segment:
Rami Almeghari
(in Gaza)
We
will speak with Rami Almeghari, independent journalist,
commentator, and university lecturer who is in Gaza, occupied Palestine,
about the horrific situation in the besieged Gaza Strip from
the non-stop Israeli bombings that have killed at least 65
Palestinians including 15 children and 5 women, destroyed
numerous homes, apartments, businesses, a bank, buildings
that house local & foreign media/press agencies, and
residential high rise, leaving hundreds of Palestinians
families homeless. |
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Date: |
May 5, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st Segment:
Aseel AlBajeh (in Palestine)
A
discussion with Aseel AlBajeh,
Legal Researcher and Advocacy Officer at
Al-Haq
organization in Palestine.
We will speak with Aseel about the ongoing ethnic cleansing
of Palestine by the Israeli Zionist settler-colonial
project, the plans to force Palestinian families out of
their homes from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied
East Jerusalem, home demolitions, the steadfastness of
Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, and more.
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2nd Segment:
Rev. Dr. Alex Awad
We will
speak with Reverend Alex Awad about the Israeli measures in
occupied Jerusalem, and the plans to force Palestinian
families out of their homes from
Sheikh Jarrah,
the attacks on Christian and Muslim worshippers in
Jerusalem,
Christian Zionism, Evangelical support for Israel in the US,
what people can do, and more.
Reverend Dr. Alex Awad is a retired United Methodist
Missionary, who served as pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist
Church, dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, and
director of the Shepherd Society. He is also a member of the
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, and author of two
books, Through the Eyes of the Victims and
Palestinian Memories. Both books reveal the realities of
life under Israeli military occupation. |
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Date: |
April 28, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Israeli
Apartheid
The newly released historic report by Human Rights Watch:
"A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes
of Apartheid and Persecution", and the recommendations
it includes. Earlier this year, the Israeli Human Rights
group B’tselem documented Israeli Apartheid against
Palestinians in its report "A regime of Jewish supremacy
from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is
Apartheid"
Congresswoman Betty McCollum's new legislation
“Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and
Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act“
(H.R.2590). McCollum’s legislation prohibits Israel from
using U.S. taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank and
East Jerusalem for: the military detention, abuse, or
ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military
detention; to support the seizure and destruction of
Palestinian property and homes in violation of international
humanitarian law; or, to extend any assistance or support
for Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory
in violation of international humanitarian law.
Susan Abulhawa's remarks on why Israel is an apartheid state,
delivered this month at the “END US SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI
APARTHEID?" conference. Abulhawa is a Palestinian American
poet, writer, activist, and author.
Former Congressman Brian Baird's remarks on how Israel and
its U.S. lobby assert authority over Congress,
his visits to Gaza, especially his shock at seeing the
American International School in Gaza flattened by Israel
using American-made bombs, his efforts to investigate the
murder of his constituent Rachel Corrie, and more. |
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Date: |
April 21, 2021  |
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Topic: |
The
Early History of the Arab-American Community
The
month of April is National Arab-American Heritage Month, a
celebration and recognition of Arab Americans, their rich
culture, heritage, and contributions. Arab Americans have
always been, and for hundreds of years, a vital part of the
American society. Today and in recognition of that, we will
air a lecture titled "The Early History of the Arab-American
Community" by Professor Akram Khater. He delivered that
lecture in 2019 at the Nijad and Zeina Fares Arab-American
Educational Foundation Annual Distinguished Lecture in
Modern Arab Studies at the University of Houston.
Akram Khater Ph.D. (UC Berkeley) is University Faculty
Scholar, Professor of History, Khayrallah Chair in Diaspora
Studies, and Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese
Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University. His
books include Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender and the
Making of a Lebanese Middle Class, 1861-1921; A History of
the Middle East: A Sourcebook for the History of the Middle
East and North Africa; and Embracing the Divine: Passion and
Politics in the Christian Middle East. He is the editor of
the International Journal of Middle East Studies, has
completed a 2012 PBS documentary on the history of the
Lebanese community in North Carolina, was the senior curator
for a museum exhibit on the same topic that opened on
February 21, 2014, and was also the curator of the traveling
exhibit, The Lebanese in America, which has toured six US
cities, and will continue to tour through 2019. |
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Date: |
April 14, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Ramadan & National Arab American Heritage Month
We will talk about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its
importance, what it means to Muslims and why they fast,
President Joe Biden's message on Ramadan, and more.
We will also talk about and highlight the National Arab
American Heritage Month (April). We will talk about
Arab Americans, their contributions, culture, heritage,
resources for enhancing the understanding of Arab American
history, arts, culture and contributions, local & national
organizations with planned events during April, U.S. State
Department's declaration on National Arab American Heritage
Month, and more.
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2nd Segment: The Arab Uprisings
Revisited (Part 2 of 2)
We will air the remarks delivered
during part 2 of “The
Arab Uprisings Revisited”
event held in January 2021 at the
Baker Institute for Public Policy. It was a two-part
series event sponsored by the Baker Institute Center for the
Middle East. Experts examined the legacy of the Arab
uprisings that started 10 years ago and their impact across
the region today. The first panel discussion (aired last
week on Arab Voices) focused on
youth, protests and governance, and part 2 explored the
geopolitics and the region's shifting alliances.
Part 2 discussion was moderated by
Dr. A.Kadir Yildirim,
fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, whose
main research interests include politics and religion,
political Islam, the politics of the Middle East and Turkish
politics.
The speakers were
Dr. Steven Cook,
Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for the Middle East and
Africa Studies and Director of International Affairs
Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at
the Council on Foreign Relations,
Dr. Michele Dunne,
Director and Senior Fellow at the Middle East Program at
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and
Dr. Peter Mandaville,
Senior Research Fellow at Berkeley Center for Religion,
Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University, and
Professor of Government and Politics at Schar School of
Policy and Government at George Mason University and
Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Center for Middle East
Policy at the Brookings Institution. |
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Date: |
April 7, 2021  |
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Topic: |
The Arab Uprisings
Revisited (Part 1 of 2)
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air the remarks delivered at “The
Arab Uprisings Revisited”
event held in January 2021 at the
Baker Institute for Public Policy. It was a two-part
series event sponsored by the Baker Institute Center for the
Middle East. Experts examined the legacy of the Arab
uprisings that started 10 years ago and their impact across
the region today. The first panel discussion focused on
youth, protests and governance, and that is what we are
going to air today.
The event was moderated by
Dr. Kelsey Norman,
fellow for the Middle East, and Director of the Women's
Rights, Human Rights & Refugees Program at the Baker
Institute for Public Policy.
The speakers were
Sunil John,
Founder of ASDA'A BCW and President of Middle East for BCW,
Dr. Amaney
Jamal,
Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics at Princeton
University and Director of Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for
Peace and Justice, and
Dr. Shibley
Telhami,
Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the
University of Maryland and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the
Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
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Date: |
March 31, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Yemen: Six Years of
War
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air the remarks delivered at the
Yemen: Six Years of War
event held on March 26, 2021.
The speakers were
Dr. Aisha Jumaan
with Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation,
Mohamed Alwazir
with Arabian Rights Watch Association,
Dr. Shireen Aladeimi,
Yemeni-American Activist and Professor,
Medea Benjamin
with CODEPINK, and
Hassan El-Tayyab
with Friends Committee On National Legislation.
Topics discussed: Why the war on Yemen continues, the
Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen: Impact on Population's Health,
the latest peace initiatives, the blockade as it relates to
the prospects for peace in Yemen, the US role on the war on
Yemen, what you can do to be part of the anti-war movement
to make real change, and more.
The event was hosted by Yemeni Alliance Committee,
Massachusetts Peace Action, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, SF
Bay Anti-War, DSA International Committee, Students for
Yemen, and Democratic Socialists of America: San Francisco. |
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Date: |
March 24, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Stop Asian Hate
Today
on Arab Voices, and in solidarity with the Asian-American
Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, we will share various
remarks and statements from various organizations regarding
the increase in discrimination and hate crimes against the
Asian-American Pacific Islander community in the United
States. According to
Stop
AAPI Hate, at least 3,800 hate incidents were reported
against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide
over the past year.
We will share statements and remarks from
The Arab American Cultural and Community Center
(ACC),
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC),
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC), and
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
We will also air some of the remarks delivered at the "Stop
Asian Hate" vigil and rally held
in Houston on March 20, 2021, hosted by
OCA-Greater Houston,
an organization that works to advance the
social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific
Americans. We will listen to Audrey Pan
with OCA-Greater Houston, Ayda Pinardag with Asians
Against Domestic Abuse, Eti Gulati with March For Our
Lives Houston, Liz Peterson with Houston Coalition
Against Hate, Angela Johnson with Texas Organizing
Project, Joseph Say with Our Revolution Brazoria,
Brandon Mack with Black Lives Matter Houston,
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al
Green, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia,
Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, and Texas
Representative Gene Wu. |
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Date: |
March 17, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
Kathy Kelly
She
is a long-time peace activist and author. She is former
Co-Coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence,
founder of Voices in the Wilderness, and previously
served as coordinator of Iraq Peace Team. At times,
her activism has led her to war zones and prisons. Kathy had
visited Iraq many times, as well as Afghanistan and the
occupied Palestinian territories. In 2011, she was a
passenger on the “Audacity to Hope” as part of the US Boat
to Gaza project. She also attempted to reach Gaza by flying
from Athens to Tel Aviv, as part of the Welcome to Palestine
effort, but the Israeli government deported her back to
Greece. Kathy Kelly, along with other Voices activists
formed 70 delegations that openly defied economic sanctions
by bringing medicines to children and families in Iraq. She
and her companions lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003
“Shock and Awe” bombing. Kelly has also joined with
activists in various regions of the country to protest U.S.
drone warfare by holding demonstrations outside of U.S.
military bases. In 1988, she was sentenced to one year in
federal prison for planting corn on nuclear missile silo
sites, and spent three months in prison in 2004 for crossing
the line at Fort Benning’s military training school. Kelly
is also author of the book "Other Lands Have Dreams: from
Baghdad to Pekin Prison", and has been repeatedly nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize.
We will speak with Kathy Kelly about the wars on Iraq that
started over 30 years ago (this week marks the start of the
2003 war on Iraq), the ongoing suffering of the Iraqi people
as a result of these wars, holding those accountable for the
crimes committed against the Iraqi people, and finding ways
to atone for war crimes, including reparations.
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"Rachel Corrie Slated for Demolition" by Amber Poole & State
Dept. response to ICC Investigation
This
week also marks the 18th anniversary of the murder of Rachel
Corrie, a U.S. peace activist who was crushed to death by
the Israeli occupation in the occupied Gaza Strip in
Palestine on March 16, 2003. On that day, Rachel Corrie was
protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home when an
Israeli bulldozer crushed her to death. In her memory, we
will air a special prose by Amber Poole titled "Rachel
Corrie Slated for Demolition".
We will also air the response of the US State Department to
the International Criminal Court (ICC) about its decision to
launch an investigation into Israeli war crimes in the
occupied Palestinian territories, and how the spokesperson
handled a question from a journalist about where should the
Palestinians go if not to the ICC. |
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Date: |
March 10, 2021  |
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Topic: |
"Colonial
Christianity: Doctrine of Discovery and Christian Zionism"
This is a talk by
Erica Littlewolf
and
Jonathan Brenneman
delivered at a convention organized by the Mennonite Church
USA. It explores the parallels between European colonialism
of North America and the Israeli occupation, as well as the
underlying Christian theology that supports both. It will
connect the histories and current events of these parallels
yet unique situations.
Jonathan Brenneman is a Palestinian-American Christian
activist, who used to be coordinator of
Israel/Palestine Partners in Peacemaking for Mennonite
Church USA, and is currently FOSNA's communications manager.
Erica Littlewolf (born on the Northern Cheyenne reservation
to a Native American father and European/Jewish mother) is
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Central States Indigenous
Vision Circle coordinator. |
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Date: |
March 3, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st Segment:
Part 2 of 2: Q&A session that followed Marc Lamont Hill's
Houston Talk
Last
week on Arab Voices, we aired the remarks of Dr. Marc Lamont
Hill delivered at the University of Houston on
Black-Palestinian solidarity and some of the questions and
answers that followed his talk. Since then, Arab Voices
received several requests from listeners asking us to air
the remaining questions and answers, so today, we will do
so. The remaining questions asked of Marc Lamont Hill were
on Black internationalism, capitalism, US-Israeli relations,
Israel's influence on American politics, US decisions to
move its embassy to Jerusalem and cut UNRWA funding,
settlement expansion and changing facts on the ground, the
role of the media in social movements, nations rights and
people’s rights to exist, effect of Donald Trump on
destabilizing the Middle East, the two-state solution, how
to challenge imperialism and white supremacy on college
campuses, reviving the anti-war movement, how to tie college
campus and community organizing, BDS movement, the struggle
for liberation, solidarity politics, and more.
The Q&A session also includes a few remarks from
Dr. Abdel
Razzaq Takriti,
Historian, Associate Professor, the inaugural holder of the
Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab
History, and the Founding Director of the Center for Arab
Studies at the University of Houston, and his question on
the history of the Palestinian revolution and other
liberation struggle.
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2nd Segment:
Abby Martin on "Truth Behind SNL’s Controversial Israel
Joke"
We will air Abby Martin's response to the outcry against
Michael Che's joke that aired during the February 20, 2021
episode of Saturday Night Live about medical apartheid in
Israel, where he said "Israel is reporting that they've
vaccinated half of their population. I'm gonna guess it's
the Jewish half.".
Abby Martin is
Director and Creator of The
Empire Files,
journalist, filmmaker, and former teleSUR presenter. In
2020, she filed a federal free speech lawsuit against
Georgia's unconstitutional "anti-BDS" law. |
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Date: |
February 24, 2021  |
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Topic: |
Part 1 of 2: Marc Lamont Hill's
Houston Talk
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air the remarks of Dr. Marc Lamont
Hill delivered at the University of Houston on
Black-Palestinian solidarity in April 2019 at an event
organized by
Defend Our Voice,
a coalition of multiple student organizations at the
University of Houston. These remarks
were never aired before, so you get to hear them for the
first time. We will also air a few of the questions and
answers that followed his talk. At that event, Dr. Marc
Lamont Hill talked about activism, his speech at the United
Nations, his firing from CNN, his visit to occupied
Palestine and what he witnessed there, differential
treatment of Palestinians in Israel, life under Israeli
occupation, criticism of human rights violations, criticism
of Israel, anti-Semitism, the Afro-Palestinian community,
and more.
Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is an academic, author, activist, and
television personality. He is a Professor of Media Studies
and Urban Education at Temple University in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. He was the host of the syndicated television
show Our World with Black Enterprise, and hosts the online
Internet-based HuffPost Live. He is also a BET News
correspondent, and a former political commentator for CNN
and Fox News.
In November 2018, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill was fired from his
position as a commentator for CNN, one day after he spoke at
the United Nations at a special meeting of the Committee on
the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian
People, in which he called for equal rights for all in
historic Palestine.
Dr. Marc Lamont Hill has a new book co-authored with
Mitchell Plitnick titled "Except for Palestine: The Limits
of Progressive Politics".
KPFT continues its
Winter Membership
Drive and Arab Voices needs your support.
Please consider a contribution to support KPFT by calling
713-526-5738 or do it online at
www.kpft.org. |
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Date: |
February 17, 2021 |
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KPFT experienced power outage
due to the severe winter storm in Houston. As a result,
Arab Voices did not air on February 17. Our next show will
be on Wednesday, February 24.
It is Winter Membership
Drive for KPFT and Arab Voices needs your support.
Please consider a contribution to support KPFT by calling
713-526-5738 or do it online at
www.kpft.org. |
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Date: |
February 10, 2021  |
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Topics: |
It is Winter Membership
Drive
for KPFT and Arab Voices needs your support.
Please consider a contribution to support KPFT by calling
713-526-5738 or do it online at
www.kpft.org.
Today on Arab Voices, we will air some recordings and
interviews conducted previously covering various topics with
distinguished guests about Bahrain and United Arab Emirates
normalization with Israel, Yemen, Iraq, and Palestine:
Reverend Erica Williams,
Social Justice Activist with Black Christians for Palestine,
message delivered at a meeting at the United Nations
Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People.
A portion of an interview conducted previously with
Dr. Khalil Jahshan,
Palestinian-American political analyst and media
commentator, who serves as the Executive Director of the
Arab Center Washington D.C., about why Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates normalized relations with Israel.
A portion of an interview conducted previously with
Dr. Shireen Al-Adeimi,
an assistant professor of education at Michigan State
University, about the war on Yemen.
A portion of
Dr. Sinan Antoon's
talk on "Iraq Afterwards: Epistemic Violence and Poetic (In)Justice"
delivered at the University of Houston at an event sponsored
by The Center for Arab Studies and the Arab-American
Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History at the
University of Houston. |
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Date: |
February 3, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st
Segment:
Black History Month: “Amanda Gorman Looks for Change” & “The
Hill We Climb”
February is Black History Month, and today we will air Dr.
Synnika Lofton’s latest Topical Poem of the Week episode
“Amanda Gorman Looks For Change”, where he lifts up the
youngest inaugural poet African-American Amanda Gorman, who
performed her poem, "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration
of President Joe Biden. We will also air Amanda Gorman’s
"The Hill We Climb" poem.
2nd Segment:
Spoken Words on
Yemen by Artist Esa Mighty
We will air spoken words on Yemen from Yemeni-American
Artist Esa Mighty. He delivered the spoken words at “The
World Says No to War on Yemen Global Online Rally” held on
January 25, 2021, and attended by thousands of people from
around the globe.
3rd Segment:
Spying on Muslim &
Arab Americans
We will air a special episode from Still Spying Podcast
titled Spying on Muslim & Arab Americans. It is a
conversation with Abdeen Jabara, a longtime civil rights
attorney, past president of the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, and former board member of
the Center for Constitutional Rights, who not only fought
against surveillance and discrimination on behalf of others,
he himself was spied on by the FBI and the NSA.
Since 9/11, the FBI has subjected the Muslim, Arab, and
South Asian communities to surveillance. Sending
infiltrators and confidential informants into mosques and
other community spaces absent any evidence of criminal
wronging, it’s clear that for the FBI race, religion, and
national origin are inherently suspicious in the War on
Terror. However, the FBI’s history of targeting Muslim and
Arab Americans goes back long before 9/11. As early as 1972,
Richard Nixon had ordered mass surveillance of Arab
Americans as part of “Operation Boulder.”
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Date: |
January 27, 2021  |
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Topic: |
The World Says No to
War on Yemen - Global Online Rally
Today
on Arab Voices, we will air most of the remarks delivered at
"The World Says No to War on Yemen - Global Online Rally"
held on Monday, January 25, 2021, and attended by thousands
of people from around the globe.
Over 300 organizations from 28 countries have also signed
the call to action against the war on Yemen, making it
the biggest international anti-war co-ordination since the
campaign against the Iraq war.
The remarks we will air are from prominent voices that
participated from different countries to speak out against
the catastrophic war in Yemen. We will listen to
Apsana Begum,
Member of the British Parliament,
Lindsey German
with Stop the War Coalition,
Yanis Varoufakis,
with DiEM25 in Europe,
Ahmed Al-Babati,
British-Yemeni Soldier,
Dr. Cornel West,
an American philosopher, political activist, social critic,
author, and public intellectual,
Kate Hudson,
General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament,
Congressman Ro Khanna,
John Finucane,
Sinn
Féin Member of the Parliament,
Daniele Obono,
Member of the French National Assembly,
Dr. Shireen Aladeimi,
Yemeni-American Activist and Professor, and
Jeremy Corbyn,
a lifelong campaigner for peace and justice, holding roles
in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament, and Stop the War Coalition. Jeremy served as
Leader of the British Labour Party and Leader of the
Opposition from 2015 to 2020. |
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Date: |
January 20, 2021  |
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Guests/
Topics: |
1st
Segment:
Chip Gibbons
An
expert on US Constitutional law, journalist, researcher, and
a longtime activist. He is the
Policy Director of
Defending Rights & Dissent. Chip has led a successful
campaign to defeat a proposed unconstitutional anti-boycott
bill in Maryland. He has advised both state and federal
lawmakers on the First Amendment implications of pending
legislation. His work has appeared in
Jacobin,
In These Times,
and
The Nation.
Chip authored the report "Still
Spying on Dissent: The Enduring Legacy of FBI First
Amendment Abuse".
We will speak with Chip about the new proposed “domestic
terrorism” legislation, what it means, why it would make
things worse, the FBI's "terrorism investigations" into
nonviolent groups while failing to thwart attacks by others,
state surveillance powers, and more.
Gibbon's organization, Defending Rights & Dissent, is one of
137 civil and human rights organizations that are
opposing the new domestic terrorism legislation.
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2nd
Segment:
Jehan Hakim
Yemeni
American based in California, and
Chair of the Yemeni
Alliance Committee, which advocates for ending the US
support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen by raising awareness
and pushing legislation. Previously, she served as the
Community Advocate with Asian Americans Advancing
Justice-Asian Law Caucus to support communities through
educational programs, community organizing initiatives and
empowerment and advocacy, and also served with the American
Association of Yemeni Students and Professionals.
We will speak with Jehan about the crisis in Yemen, the
ongoing war and genocide in Yemen, the upcoming
World Says No to War on Yemen Global Day of Action
scheduled for January 25, 2021, the Biden administration’s
stance towards the war on Yemen, how to stop it, and more. |
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Date: |
January 13, 2021  |
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Topics: |
1st
Segment:
Remarks & Commentary on last week's attack on the U.S.
Capitol
We will talk about last week's disastrous event at the U.S.
Capitol during the certification proceedings of
President-elect Joe Biden, and will share statements and
comments from a few organizations and individuals, including
a statement and community advisory by
the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC), statement from the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR National), and a community safety alert
issued by the local chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Houston), statement from
the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), commentary
from James Zogby, President of the Arab American
Institute (AAI), and latest commentary from Sahar
Aziz, Professor of Law and Chancellor's Social Justice
Scholar & Director of the Center for Security, Race, and
Rights at Rutgers University Law School on "The FBI's
Racialized Priorities Endangered Our Democracy". In that
commentary, Aziz analyzes past week's siege on the Capitol,
and asks where was the FBI in the months leading up to the
violent siege on the Capitol?
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2nd
Segment:
Insurrection: A New Day
of Infamy, Rooted in Centuries Old White Supremacy!
We
will
air an episode from
Building Bridges
radio program that airs on our sister station WBAI in New
York on white supremacy and white nationalism. The episode
is titled "Insurrection: A New Day of Infamy, Rooted in
Centuries Old White Supremacy!". The guest is Eric Ward,
Executive Director and Senior Fellow at the Southern Poverty
Law Center and Race Forward, and Executive Director of
Western States Center. Eric Ward is a nationally-recognized
expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements,
hate violence, and building toward an inclusive democracy.
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3rd
Segment:
American | |