Makdisi Street – Détails, épisodes et analyse

**Note: This was recorded before the US-Israeli aggression on Iran**

The brothers welcome Farea Al Muslimi, founder of Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, research fellow at Chatham House in London, and analyst of Yemen and wider  Gulf region. We discuss the implications of the new Yemeni government formation at a time of open Saudi-UAE conflict, contextualize this within the period since the Arab uprisings and ensuing civil war and multiple international interventions that left Yemenis in a catastrophic humanitarian situation, and facing a civil and proxy war. We discuss the strategic positioning of Yemen along the Red Sea, and role of the Houthis/Ansar Allah within the regional axis of resistance and unified popular and military support against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Date of recording: Feb 11, 2026

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The brothers welcome the investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News back to the show to discuss the looming threat of a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, the various forces driving US foreign policy, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the capacity of Palestinian steadfastness to withstand either the plan for the dystopian reduction of Gaza to a wasteland of biometric concentration camps and foreign privatization and profiteering or the ongoing Israeli drive for total annihilation.

Date of recording: Feb 26, 2026

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X: @MakdisiStreet
YouTube: @MakdisiStreet
Insta: @Makdisist
TikTok: @Makdisistreet

Music by Hadiiiiii

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**NOTE: The brothers are hosting a live Q&A on NOVEMBER 18 for patrons only.  Please sign up today and drop your questions!**

The brothers welcome Melani McAlister, professor of American Studies at George Washington University, author of the new book Promises, Then the Storm and scholar of American culture and evangelical culture. They discuss the meaning and nature of Christian Zionism, Melani's own insight after growing up an evangelical in North Carolina, how she learned about Israel before discovering the question of Palestine, the diversity within the evangelical movement, the different ways American evangelicals are Zionist, the significance of the evident generational fracture over Palestine, and her sense of the indictment of American liberalism over its denial of the Gaza genocide.

Date of recording: Oct 13, 2025.

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X: @MakdisiStreet
YouTube: @MakdisiStreet
Insta: @Makdisist
TikTok: @Makdisistreet

Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome Mandy Turner, a senior researcher with Security in Context, to discuss the world of think tanks, how they operate as hegemony factories, and the divergence between public opinion and elites on the Gaza genocide

Check out her article, "Hegemony factories or independent thinkers? Western think tanks on Israel and Palestine after October 7" 

Date of recording: Sept 16, 2025.

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X: @MakdisiStreet
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Insta: @Makdisist
TikTok: @Makdisistreet

Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers discuss the "ceasefire" in Gaza, the Trump plan, and the potential contradictions between Israel and its partners and enablers.

Date of recording: Oct 21, 2025.

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X: @MakdisiStreet
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Insta: @Makdisist
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Music by Hadiiiiii


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**Producer's note: This episode was marred by technical problems and connection issues. Apologies for the sound quality**

The brothers welcome the Canadian-Palestinian lawyer and former negotiator Diana Buttu  (@dianabuttu) to the show to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and the context of the Trump-branded "peace plan" for Gaza and its historical antecedents and possible outcomes.

Date of recording: Oct 9, 2025.

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X: @MakdisiStreet
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Insta: @Makdisist
TikTok: @Makdisistreet

Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome their father, Samir Makdisi, Professor Emeritus at the American University of Beirut, to the show.  They discuss the significance of Makdisi Street—the street itself!— in Beirut's cultural history, the social and political location of Ras Beirut in the larger context of Beirut and Lebanon itself, student movements in the 1950s and 1960s, the gradual consolidation of a sectarian political culture in Lebanon and the many forms of resistance to it, and the transformations in Beirut and Lebanon since the onset of the Lebanese war in 1975.  They also discuss the history of their own family in relation to Makdisi Street, Ras Beirut, Beirut and Lebanon, in addition to Palestine and the Arab world more generally.

This episode was recorded live and produced by Layla Makdisi.

Date of recording: August 8, 2025.

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Music by Hadiiiiii

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***Producer's note: This is a preview of the latest bonus episode. Sign up on Patreon for as little as $5 a month to access this and other great bonus content.***

The brothers get together for a spirited debate on the age-old question: Is Israel a proxy of the US?

Date of recording: Sept 9, 2025.

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Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome the prominent violinist, classical musician and Professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie Michael Barenboim to have a heart-felt discussion about the relationship between classic music and dissent, his regret at not speaking out earlier in his life about Palestine, his horror at the ongoing Gaza genocide, and the implications of anti-Palestinian racism and repressive climate in Germany despite Berlin having the largest Palestinian community in Europe, the question of boycott, and the legacy and current meaning of his father and (our uncle) Edward Said's famous collaboration in creating the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin.

Date of recording: September 1, 2025.

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X: @MakdisiStreet
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Insta: @Makdisist
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Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome back to the show Michael Fakhri (@michaelfakhri), United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, to discuss the open war of starvation on Gaza, how international institutions have abjectly failed their moral and legal duties, the role of the media, and what individuals can do to hold the responsible actors to account.

Check his episode from April 2024, "Famine is never a natural occurrence"

Date of recording: Aug 26, 2025.

Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel

Follow us on our socials:

X: @MakdisiStreet
YouTube: @MakdisiStreet
Insta: @Makdisist
TikTok: @Makdisistreet

Music by Hadiiiiii

Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A