Arab Talk With Jess & Jamal

Adam Shapiro, advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) discusses the federal lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) regarding admitting Israel to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, stating that it is not following the law in applying the definition of reciprocity for Israel. The Waiver has also drawn strong pushback from 4 Democratic Senators who wrote that Israel has failed to meet the requirements of reciprocity for U.S. citizens with Palestinian residency.

Arabic violin virtuoso Georges Lammam discusses his upcoming performance, "Dreaming the Diaspora: An Arab Immigrant’s Journey from Beirut to San Francisco." Georges talks about his story as a Palestinian refugee born in Lebanon, after his family was forced to leave their ancestral home in Haifa, Palestine during the Nakba in 1948. Georges’ journey is presented through the lens of cultural arts. To learn more and purchase tickets: https://dancemissiontheater.org/2023/07/30/oct-20-22-dreaming-the-diaspora/

Human rights attorney and activist Stanley Cohen discusses how it is that media organizations and governmental agencies in the U.S. still consider the ADL to be the standard bearer of human and civil rights, despite its dark history.

Investigative journalist Asa Winstanley discusses his recent book, "Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn." Winstanely explains how the most aggressive onslaughts on Corbyn were made by Israel proxies presenting as local British political and community organizations, and were coordinated with either the Israeli Embassy or its other government affiliates.

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi discusses her recent article in Mondoweiss (co-authored with Dr. Heike Schotten) “Why we created the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism”, and explains why such an institute is long overdue to provide counter narratives to propaganda used by the Israel lobby. The institute will also distinguish between Judaism and Zionism. She also talks about the ongoing campaign by San Francisco State University to muzzle programs and classes about Palestine.

Professor David Miller discusses his recent sacking by the University of Bristol and how Israel advocacy and lobby groups are increasingly weaponizing “anti-semitism” to silence all criticism of Israel in academia. Miller has brought an employment claim against Bristol for unfair termination.

Journalist Amira Hass explains why for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, self-defense against Jewish violence is a criminal offence subject to arrest, trial, imprisonment and heavy fines, while more prominent Israelis label Israel an Apartheid regime.

Richard Silverstein, editor of the Tikun Olam blog, discusses why US politicians are parading their Zionist allegiance with urgency as Israel is in dire need of damage control to shed its racist and apartheid labels.

Professor Avi Shlaim discusses his recent book, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew, as he revisits his family’s idyllic days in Iraq before they were unwittingly swept into the mass emigration of Iraqi Jews into newly-created Israel. The family’s cultural shock was traumatic, and their fortunes were reversed forever.

Co-directors Eric Axelman and Sam Eilertsen talk about their newly-released documentary "Israelism", which follows the evolution of the beliefs of two young American Jews. Their unquestioning support of Israel gradually erodes as they become increasingly aware that the Zionist State is based on the past and ongoing occupation and oppression of the indigenous Palestinians. Upcoming Screenings: https://www.israelismfilm.com/screenings

Israeli American author and activist Miko Peled discusses the recent attacks by Israeli settlers who rampaged through Palestinian villages in a pogrom, torching homes, cars, olive groves and firing on villagers, killing one and injuring scores of others.

Award-winning journalist Daoud Kuttab discusses his recent article in Aljazeera , "Waiving US visas for Israelis would be a mistake." Kuttab explains that based on Israel's egregious record discriminating against Americans 'that the US should not give up protecting its own citizens just to present another political gift to the Israeli government.' https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/6/14/waiving-us-visas-for-israelis-would-be-a-mistake

The remains of the Palestinian village of Tantura now lie under Dor Beach, an Israeli seaside resort about 20 miles south of Haifa. 75 years ago, on May 22, 1948, Zionist militia occupied this village as part of a year-long campaign of ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians and the destruction of over 500 villages. Forensic Architecture’s Lead Palestine Researcher discusses their comprehensive analysis of the available cartographic, testimonial, and photographic evidence related to the Palestinian village of Tantura before and after the Palestinian Nakba in 1948. For more information: https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/executions-and-mass-graves-in-tantura-23-may-1948

Israeli journalist Oren Ziv discusses his recent article in +972 Magazine, “After backlash, conference drops Israeli archeologist for settlement university ties.” Ziv describes Israel’s increasing violation of international law in supporting excavations on the Palestinian land it occupies. Jess and Jamal explore the controversy involving Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd founder. They discuss Waters' advocacy for Palestinian self-determination and the ensuing backlash from pro-Israel groups, especially after his recent concerts in Berlin and Germany.

Jess & Jamal discuss al-Nakba or "catastrophe," when 75 years ago roughly 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of their ancestral homes and land by Zionist gangs in 1948. Three-quarters of a century later, the number of Palestinian refugees now stands at over 8 million, including those displaced in 1948 and 1967, making them the largest and oldest unsettled refugee population in the world.

Dr. Steven Feldman, Professor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, discusses his experience with the State of Arkansas, which denied his honorarium when he refused to sign the pledge to not support BDS after he gave a Zoom lecture to medical students at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Feldman actively supports boycotts and believes it is his constitutional right to do so. ***The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.

Civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf talks about the smear campaign that was launched against her by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee decrying her “anti-Israel rhetoric,” after participating on a panel at Detroit’s Bloomfield Hills High School’s day-long event on equity and diversity, she spoke to her experience growing up as a Palestinian-American.

Investigative journalist and best-selling author James Bamford discusses his recent article in The Nation, “The Candidate and the Spy”, which details negotiations and meetings between Roger Stone and Netanyahu’s secret intelligence agent from May 2016 up through the elections in November. His most recently released book is "Spyfail: Foreign Spies, Moles, Saboteurs, and the Collapse of America’s Counterintelligence."

Jewish Israeli activist and co-founder of Boycott from Within Ronnie Barkan explains the motives driving Israel's new fascist government and its association with followers of the late American-born Meir Kahane and Jewish extremist groups who assert that a temple must be built in al-Aqsa's place.

Dr. Sai Englert explains why democracy has never existed in Israel and what the current uproar really involves. He recently published an article in The Middle East Eye “Israeli crisis: This is not about democracy, it's about liberal Zionist supremacy.” https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-crisis-not-about-democracy-liberal-zionist-supremacy