Citizens for Justice in the Middle East provided our inspiration for this show. For twenty years CJME has advocated for a fair and even-handed U.S. foreign policy. CJME believes an even-handed policy should recognize the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis. An even-handed policy should work for a political solution promoting those rights. Thus, CJME’s mission has been to educate people about the injustices created by the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories.
This show extends that mission. For anyone confused about the current impasse, we offer historical information that helps explain it. For anyone who has been hearing only a one-sided narrative that lacks balance and context, we offer a balanced narrative.
Accordingly, we broadcast interviews with journalists, scholars, policy experts and activists who provide perspectives from both sides. In contrast to headline news that focus on the what but not the why, our programs clarify underlying issues. The programs reveal the counter-productive role the United States has played over the years in supporting one side over the other.
Public debate about the oppression of Palestinians continues to be stifled. For this reason, we offer these programs as a resource for those seeking truthful, uncensored information about relations between Israel, Palestine and the United States. Furthermore, we hope these programs get people to listen, learn, and do their own research into what is and has been taking place in Israel Palestine.
December 1, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
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 of our interview, we talked about the Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel as a part of the recently-negotiated deal between Israel and Hamas. In the second half our interview, we turned towards the broader legal architecture of Israel’s system of military rule in the occupied Palestinian territories. We also highlighted the individual stories of some of the Palestinian political prisoners.
ListenNovember 24, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
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, described as a run-away train with no brakes and no destination.
ListenNovember 17, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
The War in Gaza through the Prism of History: An Interview with Historian Rashid Khalidi
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 is another step in a process of ethnic cleansing and depopulation long pursued by Zionist forces and the state of Israel.
ListenNovember 10, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations with Prof. Ussama Makdisi
Prof. Ussama Makdisi joins the show this week to discuss his 2011 book Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations: 1820-2001. By highlighting several historical pivot points, Makdisi charts the trajectory of US-Arab relations. This two-hundred-year-long relationship between the Arab world and United States has been fraught with tension and resentment.
ListenNovember 3, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
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 context in international law. He notes the deleterious effects on Palestine's environment of colonization before turning his attention to Israel's attempt to starve out the trapped Palestinian people in Gaza. The rhetoric of Israel's leaders and the war crimes of its military lead him to an inescapable conclusion: the Israeli government is carrying out a genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip.
ListenOctober 27, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
Telling Gaza’s Story
Film-maker Maurice Jacobsen speaks about efforts he and long-time colleagues in Gaza have been making to document the war as best they can with "We All Live in Gaza: The War Chronicles," short videos posted on the Internet. Journalist Yousef Al-Jamal talks about the recnt book he contributed to, "Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire," his growing up in Gaza, the 16-year siege and the war.
ListenOctober 20, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
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. Hamas' attack on Israel Oct 7 and its ongoing missile strikes is a war crime, as is Israel's indiscriminate bombing of and tightening siege U.S. support for Israeli actions is complicity in war crimes.
ListenOctober 6, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
Visa Waiver for Israel Violates Arab-Americans’ Rights
Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab-American Institute, discusses Arab-American 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 certain countries to travel to the United States without a visa. Arab-American, Palestinian-American and Muslim civil rights groups say Israel doesn't meet the United States' own criteria for admission and violates their rights as U.S citizens to equal protection under the law.
ListenSeptember 29, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
From the Nakba until Now: A Palestinian-Christian Perspective on the Holy Land with Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel
The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel joined Understanding Israel Palestine this week to share about his journey from his childhood in Palestine to becoming a pastor in the Presbyterian Church USA and then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, the highest elected position in the church. In the latter half our discussion, we turned our attention towards interfaith dialogue on the conflict, the theology operating in the Holy Land, and Rev. Abu-Akel's view of the current situation.
ListenSeptember 22, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
Is Israel an apartheid state: three experts weigh in
We listen to excerpts from a panel discussion about the documentary film Is Israel an Apartheid State, a panel sponsored by Voices From the Holy Land for its January 2023 online film salon. Three experts explain why Israel meets the legal definition of an apartheid state and how laws, policies and practices of the Israeli government constitute apartheid both in the occupied territories and inside what is known as Israel48. You can listen to the entire discussion at www.voicesfromtheholyland.org.
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