In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jenin Younes, National Legal Director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). They focus on Freedom of Speech in the United States, looking at the Covid pandemic and speech restrictions at that time and the acceleration of the assault on speech by Israel advocates. They discuss the contours of a principled speech position in the United States today. 

Jenin Younes is National Legal Director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). She is a civil liberties attorney with a focus on free speech. In September 2025, the Washington Post published this profile of Jenin: "This free-speech defender makes enemies left and right." 

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub. 

Attacks on the First Amendment Continue

In this new episode of Occupied Thoughts (recorded 9/20/19) - recorded days after Israel's recent election - Peter Beinart explores the situation of Israel's Bedouin citizens in the Negev. He is joined by Tal Avrech, of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), an Israeli NGO working to achieve full civil rights and equality for all those living Negev/Naqab.

Occupied Thoughts: The Bedouin in the Negev, w/ Peter Beinart & Tal Avrech

From the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), Occupied Thoughts amplifies the voices of FMEP grantees and partners, offers critical framing, and promote new ideas and new angles on the many issues connected to achieving justice, security, and peace for Palestinians and Israelis. 

FMEP works to defend and support Palestinian rights, end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and ensure a just and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis. FMEP advances this goal through its grants program, public programming, and research. www.fmep.org

Attacks on the First Amendment Continue

Occupied Thoughts by FMEP