Arab Talk With Jess & Jamal

Journalist and filmmaker Lia Tarachansky discusses settler colonialism in Israel, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem and Amnesty International's report accusing Israel of apartheid. Jess and Jamal examine President Vladimir Putin's endgame, in order to declare victory and withdraw Russian troops and tanks from the border with Ukraine.

Jess & Jamal discuss why leading Israeli politicians have warned for years that their country was sliding into apartheid, yet US lawmakers have been attacking Amnesty International's Apartheid Report. Professors Rabab Abdulhadi and Larry Hanely explain why the administration at San Francisco State University has been trying to dismantle the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies program (AMED.)

Dr. Stavit Sinai, an anti-Apartheid Israeli activist, discusses how international activists were able to shut down UAV Engines in the UK, which is owned by Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest arms manufacturers and purveyor of war crimes. Jess & Jamal discuss Amnesty's Apartheid Report. Amnesty is expected to join the Human Rights Watch and the Israeli rights group B’Tselem in accusing Israel of the international crime of apartheid.

Jess & Jamal discuss the global impact of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Russia denies it is preparing to invade its neighbor, despite stationing around 100,000 Russian troops at various locations along the border, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.

Jess & Jamal discuss the Israeli clampdown on Bedouin protesters in the Naqab (Negev), as they demonstrate against Israel’s “forestation project” which they refer to as a “land-grab” and “creating new facts on the ground.” They also discuss the recent Israeli attacks on Hollywood star Emma Watson after her Palestinian solidarity post.

Photojournalist and author Phil Pasquini discusses Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) Islamophobic remarks calling Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) a member of the “jihad squad” and likening her to a bomb-carrying terrorist. Jess & Jamal discuss “beauty-washing” in Israel as controversy over the Miss Universe pageant heats up.

Palestinian-American civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf talks about her congressional bid in Michigan’s Thumb region (10th District.) Jess & Jamal discuss previously undisclosed airstrikes in Syria carried out days before the fall of ISIS in 2019 that killed multiple civilians, including women and children, according to US Central Command.

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi comments on SFSU President Mahoney’s decision to uphold the University’s acceptance of Big Tech’s increasing control over academic discussion, and its complicity with Zionist organizations. Jess and Jamal discuss Israel’s surveillance effort in the occupied West Bank to monitor Palestinians by integrating facial recognition with a growing network of cameras and smartphones. And why was Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely was booed and shamed at the London School of Economics?

Elsadig Elsheikh, Director of the Global Justice Program at the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, discusses the recent coup in Sudan. Egyptian-American rising star Shereen Ahmed talks about her acting journey and her role as Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady,” now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. http://www.orpheumtheatersanfrancisco.org/events/my-fair-lady-6/

Palestinian-American human rights activist discusses Israel’s targeting of six Palestinian NGOs that it labeled as “terrorist organizations.” Jess & Jamal talk about Al-Yusufiyah cemetery part of which Israel plans to convert into a theme park. Palestinians say the project encroaches on a centuries-old Muslim graveyard beneath the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi talks about his latest documentary, “The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation.” The film builds the handbook of the perfect occupier, based on testimonies from Israeli soldiers and archive footage. Find out where to see the film here: https://www.facebook.com/The-first-54-years-an-abbreviated-manual-for-military-occupation-110161757790646/ Jess and Jamal discuss why it has been a bad week for supporters of Apartheid, as acclaimed Irish novelist Sally Rooney refuses to allow the Israeli publishing house that handled her previous novels to publish her most recent book, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” due to Israel’s Apartheid practises.

Journalist Daoud Kuttab discusses the Pandora Papers, a massive leak of more than 11 million confidential files to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which revealed the secret offshore holdings of a host of rulers across the Middle East. Jess & Jamal discuss the whitewashing and sportswashing of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), three years after the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And the world’s “favorite uncle,” the late Israeli PM and President Shimon Peres, was a sexual predator, according to former ambassador and Labor MK Colette Avital.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, says that President Biden’s Middle East policy is just sugar-coated business as usual. “The president’s actions speak louder than his lofty rhetoric on democracy and human rights, as autocrats cash in,” according to DAWN. Jess & Jamal discuss a motion passed by the British Labor Party calling for sanctions against Israel for practicing Apartheid against Palestinians. And, why was a Capitol rioter who recorded a video of herself saying she was looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to shoot her in the friggin’ brain” only charged with a misdemeanor in federal court?

Attorney Stanley Cohen explains why a group of lawyers, activists and researchers from various countries submitted a petition to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on September 16, demanding that the African Union revoke its recent decision to admit Israel as an observer state. Jess & Jamal discuss a standalone bill introduced by US Democrats to provide Israel with $1 billion for its Iron Dome missile system, after the funding was struck off a government spending bill amid pressure from progressive lawmakers. Also, a US veteran of the War on Iraq publicly calls out George W. Bush for lying to the American people.

The Palestine Museum founder, Faisal Saleh, shares his vision of researching and preserving Palestinian history, culture, and art. To learn more: https://www.palestinemuseum.us/ Virtual online auction: https://pmu.betterworld.org/auctions/ihs-pmus-auction Jess & Jamal examine US foreign aid, as the Biden administration contemplated imposing new conditions on aid to Egypt due to human rights abuses, while US Congress progressives renewed effort to prohibit the delivery of US-made bombs to Israel due to its targeting of civilians in Gaza.

Brazilian Political Cartoonist Carlos Latuff talks about his activism and lifework, which spans from South America to the Middle East and beyond. Learn more about Carlos https://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/ Jess and Jamal discuss the escape of six Palestinians from high-security Israeli prison. They also reflect on the global impact of 9/11, twenty years on.

Professor Abdelkader Berrahmoun from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California explains the reasons and historical background that led to the recent diplomatic breakdown between Algeria and Morocco. Jess & Jamal evaluate the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was described by President Biden as an “extraordinary success.” They also discuss the recent meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said that he will work to convince Biden to abandon his plan to reenter the Iran nuclear deal. Our guest Samuel M. Hickey from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation argues the opposite in his article, “How Iran’s Research Reactors Prove the Nuclear Deal is Still Working.” Jess & Jamal discuss the recent demonstrations to end the Israeli blockade on Gaza. And did Rep. Rashida Tlaib send the right message to Mahmoud Abbas?

Heather Barr, interim co-director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, discusses the plight of Afghan women after the Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan. She spoke to us from Pakistan. Jess & Jamal discuss what went wrong in Afghanistan. They also talk about the resurgence of Covid in Israel, as former Israeli PM Netanyahu vacations in the US.

Author Mona Hajjar Halaby talks about her newly published book, “In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home.” Mona is a Palestinian-American educator specializing in conflict resolution in the classroom, as well as a social historian. Jess & Jamal discuss new Israeli attempts to draw the United States into conflict with Iran. They also talk about the Taliban’s blitz across Afghanistan, as American negotiators are trying to extract assurances from the Taliban that they will not attack the US Embassy in Kabul if they overrun the capital.