Today I talked to Jonathan Schanzer about his new book Gaza Conflict 2021 (Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2021).
The May 2021 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas generated headlines around the world. However, much of the reporting was uninformed and misleading, ignoring the context of history, funding, political dynamics, and other ... Show More
Jan 30
Najati Sidqi, "Memoirs of a Palestinian Communist: The Secret Life of Najati Sidqi" (U Texas Press, 2025)
In the public eye, Najati Sidqi was known as a journalist and writer, a translator of Russian classics, and an outspoken opponent of Nazism. However, Sidqi concealed a critical component of his life from the world and his family. He was an underground activist for the Palestinian ... Show More
25m 54s
Jan 29
Yossef Rapoport, "Becoming Arab: The Formation of Arab Identity in the Medieval Middle East" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Today, much of the Middle East is “Arab”—an identity that now extends across North Africa and up through the Near East to Syria. Yet how did this region become Arab? How did this identity spread? Was it due to migration, or conquest? Historian Yossef Rapoport, in his book Becomi ... Show More
41m 38s
Jan 26
Adam Bursi, "Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)
Adam Bursi’s Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam (Edinburg University Press, 2024) uses writings by early Muslims to map a history of material objects, relics, and tombs of prophetic figures as they were conceptualized in the 8th and 9th centuries. The ... Show More
56m 59s
Nov 2023
Nowhere to go, and Nowhere is Safe: The massacres of Gaza and the war between Hamas and Israel
<p>The Israeli bombardment of the people of Gaza has unleashed horrors. </p><p>Thousands have been killed, including thousands of children. There’s no end in sight, and Israel does not look like it will step away from its path. </p><p>The past 27 days in Gaza have been ... Show More
41m 36s
Jan 2024
Israel-Hamas War: 100 Days Later
Jan. 15 marks 100 days since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people. Israel then retaliated by launching a ground invasion of Gaza. More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed, and numerous others face a dire humanitarian crisis.
After ... Show More
1h 6m
Nov 2023
Understanding the U.S. Role in the Israel-Hamas War
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are again at war. The most recent iteration of the conflict, which erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, has stoked public debate throughout the world. In the United States, heated debates about the issue have play ... Show More
29m 50s
Oct 2023
Hamas, Israel and the PA at War — with Jeroen Gunning, Dana El Kurd and Uriel Abulof
<p>After a surprise attack by Hamas killed nearly 1,000 Israeli civilians, the Middle East stands on the brink of being engulfed by war. Israel’s retaliation has been no less devastating as the IDF laid siege to Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Palestinian civilians so far in a bomb ... Show More
57m 17s
Dec 2023
Two Months Later : Israel's war in Gaza and Netanyahu's political prospects
<p>The Hamas attack of 7 October shook Israel to its core. </p><p>It was a horrifying day that left at least 1,200 people dead, saw hundreds taken hostage, and a country deeply traumatised. </p><p>Israel responded with a deadly barrage of airstrikes and bombardment. Thi ... Show More
23m 58s
Nov 2023
Trouble with the 51st State: US policy on Gaza and its relationship with Israel
<p>The death toll from the conflict in Gaza passed 14,000 this week. </p><p>With a ceasefire starting on Friday evening, international diplomacy is happening, but so is the conflict. </p><p>The recent four-day ceasefire and prisoner swap was negotiated by Qatar and Isra ... Show More
33m 22s