Episode 049 - A Seat at the Table with Ahmed Eldin

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Palestinian journalist, documentary filmmaker, and GQ heartthrob, Ahmed Eldin. Ahmed joins us to discuss his upcoming documentary (which is still under wraps) and how the terminology surrounding Israeli apartheid and occupation of Palestine is shifting in the public arena. We chat about overt and subtle media censorship from Instagram deprioritizing certain videos to outright banning accounts, and the inability to speak freely when working in a major newsroom. We cover some of the most recent egregious double standards from the Russia/Ukraine situation. We also talk about how Palestinian resistance has been criminalized in an effort to scare people away from talking about justice for Palestine. We end with a lighthearted conversation about how the Palestinian people are not waiting around for their so-called leaders to take action. Individual Palestinians both on the ground and in exile are taking liberation into their own hands.

Books/Videos

• Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (website)

• Ep. 15 - Royal House of Mandela Stands with Palestine with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela (Palestine Pod)

• Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (website)

• The Muslim-American Moment (video with Ahmed and Representative Rashida Tlaib)

• Mohammed El-Kurd’s full speech for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (Youtube)

• Irish MP Richard Boyd Barrett calls out the double standards on Ukraine and Palestine (Youtube)

Articles

• End U.S. Complicity in Israel's Abuses of Palestinians (Movement for Black Lives)

• Israel/Palestine: Facebook Censors Discussion of Rights Issues (Human Rights Watch)

• Silwan: 170 members of a Palestinian family face eviction in three neighbourhoods (Middle East Eye)

• A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution (Human Rights Watch) 

• A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid (B’Tselem)

• Apartheid in the Occupied West Bank: A Legal Analysis of Israel’s Actions (Harvard Law School: International Human Rights Clinic)

• Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity (Amnesty International)

• Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid – UN human rights expert (United Nations Human Rights)

• Israel-Gaza: How much money does Israel get from the US?  (BBC)

• US official warns Israel: “Don’t be last haven for dirty money fueling Putin’s war” (Times of Israel)

• Full text: Ukraine President Zelensky’s speech to Israeli lawmakers (Times of Israel)

• Israel, Fearing Russian Reaction, Blocked Spyware for Ukraine and Estonia (New York Times)

• Vogue slammed for “censoring” Palestine from Gigi Hadid Instagram post (The New Arab)

• Facebook appoints ex-Israel official to its Oversight Board (Middle East Monitor)

• Facebook employees questioned apparent restrictions on Palestinian activist's account: Documents (ABC news)

• Jewish Google employees call for tech giant to publicly support Palestinians (Times of Israel)

• Instagram Making Algorithm Changes After Being Accused Of Censoring Pro-Palestine Content (Republic World)

• Ukraine war: For Facebook, violence against invaders is okay...unless they’re Israeli (The New Arab)

• Facebook Complying With 95% of Israeli Requests to Remove Inciting Content, Minister Says (Haaretz)

• Revealed: Facebook’s secret blacklist of “dangerous individuals and organizations” (The Intercept)

• US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Palestinian right to self-defense (TRT Twitter)

• White House says Ukrainians have right to resist while Congress moves to send Israel $4.8 billion (Mondoweiss)

• Facebook allows war posts urging violence against Russian invaders (Reuters)

• Hillary Clinton on Russian bombing of hospitals (Twitter)

• Hillary the Hawk: A History (Foreign Policy)

• Hillary Clinton calls the Russian bombing of maternity hospital a “war crime”: Here’s the sordid US track record she conveniently glosses over (OpIndia)

• The Sunday Read: What Rashida Tlaib Represents (The Daily)