Podcast - Understanding Israel Palestine Archives • KKFI

The show is hosted by Citizens for Justice in the Middle East, a local group that has advocated for 20 years for a fair and even-handed U.S. foreign policy that recognizes the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis. Our program offers interviews with journalists, scholars, policy experts and activists to offer multiple perspectives, and to clarify the underlying issues that are often obscured by headline news.

Who Are the Palestinian Political Prisoners with Tala Nasir

Tala Nasir, lawyer at Addameer, Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association sheds light on the issue of the Palestinian political prisoners. Addameer, the Arabic word for conscience, is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. In the first half...

12/01/2023

By Eamon OrmsethComments Off

U.S. Policy on Gaza a Run-Away Train with No Brakes or Destination

Khaled Elgindy, director of the program on Israeli-Palestinian Affairs at the Middle East Institute, discusses mounting violence in the West Bank, the crack-down on free speech inside Israel, the ongoing war and looming prospect of starvation in Gaza and a shambolic U.S. policy, characterized as a run-away train with no...

11/24/2023

By Margot PattersonComments Off

The War in Gaza through the Prism of History: An Interview with Historian Rashid Khalidi

The Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, historian Rashid Khalidi discusses the current Israel-Hamas war in the context of the past century of Israeli settler colonialism and Palestinian resistance. The current war has seen Israel push Palestinians in Gaza from the north to the south and...

11/17/2023

By Margot PattersonComments Off

Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations with Prof. Ussama Makdisi

In his 2011 book Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations: 1820-2001, Professor Ussama Makdisi of University California Berkeley wrote, “No matter how one turns the kaleidoscope of US-Arab relations, one always returns, or is returned to, the picture of Palestine.” In his book Makdisi highlights several historical pivot...

11/10/2023

By Eamon OrmsethComments Off

100 Years of Zionist Colonization of the Holy Land: The Longue Durée with Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh

Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh of Bethlehem University discusses the longue durée of the progressive Zionist colonization of the Holy Land. He highlights the current siege-like situation in the ghetto of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, before going on to discuss the numerous Israeli assaults in the West Bank and their...

11/03/2023

By Eamon OrmsethComments Off

Telling Gaza’s Story

Independent film-maker Maurice Jacobsen speaks about efforts he and long-time Palestinian colleagues in Gaza have been making to document the war in Gaza. He has been posting on the Internet short videos integrating current footage of the war sent to him by the Media Goup in Gaza with scenes of...

10/27/2023

By Margot PattersonComments Off

International Law and the War in Gaza

Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied by Israel since 1967, Michael Lynk discusses international law as it applies to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas as well as Hamas' ongoing missile strikes on...

10/20/2023

By Margot PattersonComments Off

Visa Waiver for Israel Violates Arab-Americans’ Rights

Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab-American Institute, discusses Arab-Americans' outrage at the Biden administration's announcement Sept. 27th that it is accepting Israel into the U.S. visa waiver program, a program which allows citizens from select countries to travel to the United States without a visa. Arab-American, Palestinian-American and U.S....

10/06/2023

By Margot PattersonComments Off