In this two-episode special, host Diana Buttu speaks with award-winning Palestinian-American writers Fady Joudah and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, who are both finalists for the 2024 National Book Awards.
Dr. Joudah and Ms. Tuffaha comprise two of the only five shortlisted writers for the 2024 National Book Award in Poetry, making this a foundational cultural honor ... Show More
Nov 12
Two Years of Genocide: Motherhood Under Fire in Gaza
Two years into Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, we listen closely to Yaqeen Baker, a mother of two little daughters, Salwa (5) and Nusaiba (2). She shares what it means to be a mother under constant Israeli fire; to love, to fear, and to hope amid the destruction. We also ... Show More
34m 20s
Jul 2025
A Conversation with Mahmoud Khalil: Student Activism in the US and the Palestinian Struggle for Freedom
Following their moral compass, student activists at Columbia demanded an end to the genocide in Gaza and called for a ceasefire. The response? Intimidation, suspensions, wrongful arrests, and, in Mahmoud’s case, being illegally detained by ICE and threats of deportation. How and ... Show More
32m 4s
Jul 2025
Voices from Gaza: Journalist Yara Eid on War, Media, and Memory
In today’s episode, we speak with Yara Eid, a young Palestinian journalist and human rights advocate from Gaza, currently based in London. Yara has worked with international organizations, including Amnesty International, and uses her platform to shed light on life under Israeli ... Show More
32m 53s
Feb 2025
Palestinian Writing From the Diaspora | Sahar Mustafah Interviews Susan Muaddi Darraj
In this episode of Ehkili, Sahar Mustafah welcomes author and editor Susan Muaddi Darraj to discuss her recent anthology, "Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing From the Diaspora." The conversation highlights the significance of amplifying Palestinian literary voices, th ... Show More
50m 4s
Feb 2025
Sumūd: Poetry, Art, Steadfastness, and Joy
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably, editors of the new book Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader. They discuss the meaning of sumūd to different people -- how it encompasses steadfastness, coping with ongoing op ... Show More
38m 14s
Aug 2024
Iman Mersal, "Traces of Enayat" (Transit Books, 2023)
Traces of Enayat (Transit Books, 2023) is a work of creative nonfiction tracing the mysterious life and erasure of Egyptian literature’s tragic heroine. It begins in Cairo, 1963. Four years before her lone novel is finally published, the writer Enayat al-Zayyat takes her own life ... Show More
1h 1m
May 2024
Mosab Abu Toha — Poems as Teachers | Ep 4
In Mosab Abu Toha’s “Ibrahim Abu Lughod and brother in Yaffa,” two barefoot siblings on a beach sketch out a map of their former home in the sand and argue about what went where. Their longing for return to a place of hospitality, family, memory, friends, and even strangers is al ... Show More
16m 29s