Samar talks to Rabab Abdulhadi a professor at the University of San Francisco about Nawal el Saadawi the Egyptian Feminist who recently passed away. Nawal was not only an Arab Feminist but also a Feminist who influenced global Feminism who was a towering figure when it came to the cause. Nawal was also a controversial figure for her anti Hijab and anti religious stances.

Nawal discussed issues ranging from female circumcision, the adverse repercussions of colonialism, the Palestinian issue and racism. Nawal greatly influenced Rabab through her books. She received a lot of praise when it came to her stance on the Palestinian issue and being very anti colonialist but at the same time received a lot of criticism for representing Feminism in a very Islamophobic way, condemning the Hijab and women who wear the Hijab.

Samar and Rabab delve into the idea of how she was considered a Feminist even though she did not support a woman’s right to be religious or to wear a Hijab if they wish. Rabab concludes that Nawal falls under the basket of ‘Colonial Feminism’ as she frames a woman in a way that satisfies western liberal values. Rabab gives many examples of how she had colonial views and Eurocentric visions that propagate Islamophobia.

Samar and Rabab then discuss the topic of female circumcision. Nawal goes in great detail about her experience with circumcision and how it clearly had a traumatic effect on her life. Rabab argues that female circumcision is not a common practice in the Middle East outside Egypt and that it is not related to Islam and is more of a cultural practice. Rabab also believes that female circumcision is always used by Western societies against Third World Indigenous people that pushes colonialist agendas. Nawal’s circumcision stance falls in line with this colonialist view.

Rabab then talks about how Feminist Western interference usually creates more harm than good. She gives an example of a Nigerian woman who gives birth out of wedlock where a lot of locals called for her punishment. When Western Feminist groups interfered with the issue it only made matters worse and they were asked by local Feminist groups to stop interfering and in fact the issue was resolved in favor of the Nigerian woman when the Local Feminism groups were left to resolve it. Usually western Feminist groups create issues that locals have to end up cleaning up instead of actually benefiting local communities.

Going back to Nawal el Saadawi, Rabab knew her and believed that Nawal only believed her own truth. She was not always willing to have the open mind and even consider the opposing arguments. Rabab believes its dangerous to adopt Nawal's views that portray Islam as anti progressive, oppressive and anti-feminist, especially since there are many examples of the opposite throughout history.

On the other hand to conclude Rabab talks about the positive impact that Nawal had on the world. People on social media discussed how Nawal opened their minds regarding many women’s rights issues. Nawal had impacts on feminist theory, women’s issues and she framed the issue of women’s justice as part and parcel of justice for all. She was also insistent on discussing racism and colonialism not just in Egypt and the Arab World but the world as a whole.

Fri, Mar 26th, 2021

A Conversation with Rabab Abdulhadi about Nawal El Saadawi

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress.

Samar talks to Lara about the Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream issue and how they will no longer operate in the occupied territories. They are known to take stances on social justice issues and this time around they released a statement saying they will not renew their distribution contract with a local Israel country. This created outrage among the Israeli’s and the retaliations were extreme claiming that the company was being anti-Semitic, and the new Israeli president even called it economic terrorism. This isn’t the first time they call the boycotts economic terrorism as they have a history of calling anything pro-Palestinian ‘terrorism’ even though these are non-violent acts. 

Ben and Jerry, the founders are Jewish, however they sold the company to Unilever the British conglomerate. Both Unilever and Ben and Jerry are aligned in terms of values regarding this move, which was evident in the statement issued by Unilever. The reaction by the Israelis was a replay to when Airbnb pulled out of the occupied regions. 

The motive behind the choice to not operate in occupied territories is different from one company to another. However most European companies follow the international law regarding that matter, which states that the Jewish settlements are illegal and they cannot build cities in areas where there is a native population. Europe has been clear that they shouldn’t operate in areas with Jewish settlements. 

There have been attempts by Israeli authorities to ask US authorities to penalize Ben and Jerry’s for their boycotting. These kinds of attempts to penalize boycotting is an ongoing effort where they have asked US authorities to change laws to prevent companies from boycotting Israel. It has been concluded a while back that these laws are unconstitutional. Divestment is another law that people are looking at, which includes removing all the invested funds that a state has from those companies. Unless Ben and Jerry’s do not comply with Israeli authorities that may happen, but it most probably will not hurt their bottom line. 

Lara talks about FMEP’s endgame. Organizations and governments alike must address the situation today, which is that Palestinians are living in an Apartheid system with no human rights and no political rights. Israelis are working to maintain permanent control in the West Bank and not towards a Two-State Solution. The Ben and Jerry issue really highlights the situation today and which is why the Israeli reaction is so extreme. The FMEP works to highlight the current situation and works to improve it.

Thu, Jul 22nd, 2021

Talking to Lara Friedman About Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream

اليمين والحزب الجمهوري يهاجمان ثلاثة سيدات وصلن للونجرس الامريكي

رشيدة والهان والكساندريا

هل شهادة محامي ترامب بداية النهاية؟

اسرائيل ترتعب

كتاب ميشيل اوباما الاكثر مبيعا في امريكا

ملخص كتاب مات جميع الهنود الحقيقيون و ٢٠ خرافة عن الامريكيين الاصليين

ملخص كتاب ال ١٠٠ عام حرب على فلسطين

Samar is hosting the Pakistani born Muslim Saadia Faruqi who now resides in Texas. Saadia is a children's books author and her aim is to portray the differences in cultures and the struggles that people from different backgrounds can face in the United States.  

Starting with her ‘Yasmin’ series about a Pakistani American family and Yasmin the little girl who goes through daily challenges as a girl from an immigrant family, to ‘A Place at the Table’ about the immigrant experience written with a Jewish American author talking about how immigrants are treated based on the color of their skin. Also ‘A Thousand Questions’ that discusses how a first generation immigrant may not be comfortable neither in the United States or their country of origin.   

Samar also talks to Saadia about her Blue Minarets project that acts as a vehicle for people to publish their art, poems, or literature. Many writers find it difficult to get published especially during their early days of writing and Blue Minarets is an entry point that helps people get their work out in the world.  

All this and more in this inspiring talk with Saadia Faruqi.

True Talk 18/9/2020: An Interview with Saadia Faruqi

Samar talks with Rashid Khalidi who is a Palestinian American historian of the Middle East, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.. Today we’re talking to him about his book ‘The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017’ 
 
Samar starts off by asking why he wrote this book to begin with. This book is different than the academic books he wrote before. It was time to write something that was accessible to those who aren't academics. In the book he also summarizes the 6 wars that were launched on Palestine from 1917 to 2017. The purpose of the book is to change the perception of the Palestinian- Israeli issue. It shows that this is not a struggle between two people it is a struggle to implant a new group mainly Europeans to supplant the indigenous population. 

Samar then talks about the jumping board of the book which is that the Zionist movement constantly needed the support of superpowers to succeed with their colonization and wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support. This was realized from the very beginning where at first got the support of France, Germany and the ottoman empire, later Great Britain with the Belfour agreement, and then the USA and Soviet Union.  

Samar then asks Khalidi about the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people during the British rule and later on during the creation of the state of Israel. When the Palestinians revolted against British rule in 1936 100,000 British troops were assigned in Palestine and wiped out 1/10 of the male Palestinian population which crushed the resistance by 1939. Israel continued this ethnic cleansing ultimately forcing the majority of the 1.3 million Arabs to leave their home country and weren't allowed to re-enter the country.  

Khalidi then goes on to talk about the transition from Britain to the US as a superpower.  Before the second world war Britain starts withdrawing from the region to focus on the war with Germany and issued the White Paper which limited Jewish immigration among other things. This triggered the Zionist movement leadership to start looking for new supporters or sponsors and the United States and the Soviet Union replaced the British.  Khalidi then talks about Resolution 242 and states that even though the international community believe that the Palestinians should have accepted the resolution Khalidi believes that it is in fact a sanction and an eraser of the Palestinians. 

Khalidi moves onto the Oslo accord and Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’. The concessions of 1978 in Camp David had already decided the fate of the Palestinian people. It showed that the Israeli occupation is legitimate, the Palestinians had no control over water, airspace, land etc. therefore the Oslo accord did not push the Palestianian cause forward.  He moves on to talk about how the ‘Deal of the Century’  is a joint declaration of war by US and Israel.  It signifies a formal public approval by the American people and allows the Israelis to maximize their objectives.   

Finally, Samar asks Khalidi if he thinks the Palestinians have lost hope and if the resistance will continue. The Israeli colonial movement is not linked to a mother country, different from British colonial rule for example. It is also unlike the US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian colonies where the original indigenous population became overwhelmed with a new population. The Palestinians are still there and constitute a large portion of the population, therefore the resistance still continues.

Fri, Jul 3rd, 2020

True Talk 3/7/2020: An Interview with Rashid Khalidi

الاعلام الامريكي في حيص بيص

A Conversation with Massoud Hayoun

Samar talks to Massoud Hyyoun, a journalist based in LA, winner of numerous awards. He is an Arab Jew and is the writer of the book ‘When We Were Arabs’. 


Massoud talks about the reasons he wrote the book which was actually co-authored with his Grandmother. The 2014 attacks on Gaza being the main driver behind writing the book. Through the book he tries to clarify that being  Arab and Jewsish are not mutually exclusive. He shows how throughout history the two groups are intertwined come from the same land and culture. Over the years many forces have systematically tried to create this clear distinction between the two groups, weaponizing the ‘de-arabization’ of Jews to further colonize the Middle East. Failure for people to understand the nuances of Arab Jew is actively killing people in Palestine. 

The major hero of the book is Oscar, Massoud’s grandfather. He lived in Egypt up until 1950 and was forced to leave when Arab Jews were no longer welcomed in the country. Oscar raised Massoud as his son and Oscar is the only father Massoud ever knew. Oscar was born in Alexandria, Egypt under British occupation (Egyptians were second class citizens in their own country at the time). He was raised in a very Europeanized, colonized Egypt, where all religions were accepted. He left Egypt for France, Palestine and then the US. 

The British colonization meant that all Egyptians were treated as second class citizens. This was the British mandate at the time where all non-Europeans were treated as inferior citizens. Even though the west used to portray itself as the beacon of hope and support towards minorities, in reality that wasn’t the case. 

As Oscar grew up Egypt was basically between French and British rule. The French historically began de- arabization of the Jewish elite in Egypt. It started off with the Alliance Israelite schools in the Arab region which taught their students that they were not part of their indigenous people with whom they grew up and lived with and they were part of a Jewish nation that existed transnationally.  This was led by the French in Egypt and was later reversed in the sense that they wanted to arabize the Jews to unite with Muslims and Christians against the British so they could swoop in and take over after the British protectorate was removed. 

Over time life in Egypt became unbearable for a Arab Jew and Oscar was forced to leave Egypt for Palestine.  He left Egypt to Palestine through France as it wasn’t allowed to go straight to Palestine from Egypt at the time. After having a busy life in Egypt it was a struggle to have nothing to do in Palestine. He stayed there for a couple of years but couldn’t remain in occupied Palestine as he did not relate to the country and felt it was completely detached from the image he had about it. 

As an ideology Oscar couldn’t relate to Zionism as he was an apolitical person. He didn't believe in the idea that Arab Jews should be stripped from their indegenious identities and instead support a transnational Jewish identity. Furthermore the treatment that Arab Jews received from other Jews in Palestine did not help with Oscar’s outlook towards Zionist. For example DDT was sprayed on Eastern European Jews and Arab Jews as they were seen as backward. Some Jews from Tunisia and areas in Europe were not even considered real Jews because they practiced Judaism in a similar way to Christians. The idea that transnational Jewish people existed across the world wasn't intuitive to Oscar's generation and needed to be taught to them.

Samar Dahmash Jarrah

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