Guests: Sima & Mai, Young Ambassadors for Peace / Parents Circle –Families Forum

Hosts: Alexandria, Mert & Efe

Sima and Mai are Young Ambassadors for Peace with the Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF), an organization of over 800 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families who have each lost a close relative to the conflict. Mai's grandfather, Haim Perry, an artist and peace activist from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken hostage on October 7 and killed after four months in captivity. His uncle Daniel Darlington was killed at the Nova Festival the same day. Sima's 14-year-old brother was killed by an Israeli soldier, a loss that profoundly affected her family. Despite these tragedies, both dedicate themselves to reconciliation and dialogue, promoting peace, understanding, and coexistence. Through the Young Ambassadors program, they share this message in schools and communities across Israel, Palestine, and beyond.

In this final episode: We listen with the heart. The first and last words of this podcast belong to the people who have lost a loved one but still remain comitted to justice and peace. We begin and end the series with the human reality of the conflict, remembering that real people grieve and endure on both sides. Their stories, losses, and resilience have inspired this journey. The young olive tree on our podcast cover, growing in the desert, reminds us of the hope Sima and Mai bring to Israel and Palestine—the wounded and “magical land between the river and the sea” (Mai) they call home.

This episode was recorded July 23, 2025.

We dedicate our Podcast series to Sima & Mai, Udi Goren, Khalil Sayegh. To Tal’s wife Ela and their children Niv, Einav, Udi, and Lotan; to Khalil Sayegh’s mother and siblings; to Mai’s and Sima’s families; to her mother Bushra.

We dedicate this podcast to the blessed memory of:

Tal Chaimi,

Lara Sayegh,

Jeries Sayegh,

Mahmoud,

Haim Perry,

Daniel Darlington.

Efe, Mert, and Alexandria speak with Mai and Sima about their personal losses, the journey of healing, and their work fostering dialogue, understanding, and hope across deep divides.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Eyal Naveh – Tel Aviv University

Hosts: Yusuf & Mert

Bio: Eyal Naveh is an Israeli historian and educator specializing in history education in conflict contexts. He has taught at Kibbutzim College of Education and Tel Aviv University, where he served as Head of the Department of General History and Chair of the General and Interdisciplinary Studies Program. Naveh is co-director of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, UC Berkeley, Cornell, the University of Toronto, Venice International University, and the University of Vienna. He is best known as a co-creator of the groundbreaking history textbook Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine (2012), developed with Israeli traumatologist Prof. Dan Bar-On and Palestinian sociologist Prof. Sami Adwan. The book presents Israeli and Palestinian perspectives side by side, enabling students to engage with complex, conflicting narratives without flattening differences. It has received international recognition as a model for post-conflict history education.

In this episode: Yusuf and Mert speak with Prof. Naveh about the creation, use, and relevance of the groundbreaking history textbook Side by Side. They discuss collaborating with Israeli and Palestinian educators, the challenges of presenting contrasting narratives, and the book’s reception in schools and academia locally and internationally. The conversation explores the role of history education in conflict regions, political polarization, and teaching empathy, critical thinking, and complex truths to new generations. Prof. Naveh reflects on divisions since October 7, the shrinking space for peace education, and lessons for educators and students in Germany.

This episode was recorded July 22, 2025.

LInks:

Prof. Dr. Eyal Naveh: https://english.tau.ac.il/profile/enaveh

Prof. Dr. Sami Adwan: https://www.torgnysegerstedt.se/en/main-article-sami-adwan/

Prof. Dr. Dan Bar On: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Bar-On https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/allgemein/pionier-des-dialogs/

Adwan, Sami, Dan Bar-On, and Eyal Naveh, editors. Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine. The New Press, 2012. https://thenewpress.org/books/side-by-side/?v=eb65bcceaa5f

Peace Research Foundation in the Middle East: https://www.vispo.com/PRIME/index.htm

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone, PhD, Author & Psychotherapist

Hosts: Alexandria & Yusuf

Bio: Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D., is a Jungian psychotherapist, rabbi, and a leading figure in the international Jewish Renewal movement. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in St. Louis, she is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor—her mother escaped Nazi Germany on the last Kindertransport, and her Jewish American father was one of the liberators of Bergen-Belsen. She is also the younger sister of the radical feminist pioneer Shulamith Firestone.

Ordained in 1992 by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Firestone integrates Jewish mystical traditions, feminist insights, and contemporary psychology to address inherited trauma. She is the author of the award-winning Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma (2019), which received the 2020 Nautilus Gold Award in Psychology and the Jewish Women’s Caucus Book Award from the American Association for Women in Psychology.

Her work explores trauma, spirituality, feminism, and healing, providing practical tools for individuals and communities to transform inherited wounds.

In this episode: Alexandria and Yusuf speak with Rabbi Dr. Firestone about trauma, inheritance, and healing. They explore her journey to becoming a rabbi and psychotherapist, and how trauma affects families, communities, and societies. Rabbi Firestone explains intergenerational trauma through family stories, collective memory, and epigenetics, highlighting that trauma can be transformed through awareness and intentional healing. The conversation covers Jewish collective trauma, historical persecution including the Holocaust, and contemporary crises such as October 7 and the Gaza war, examining retraumatization and suffering in both Jewish and Palestinian communities. She reflects on the challenges of healing amid ongoing conflict, the roles of justice, empathy, and ending violence, and shares insights on ritual, dialogue, and resilience, offering hope for young people navigating uncertain times.

This episode was recorded March 13, 2025.

Links:

Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone: https://www.tirzahfirestone.com/

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Yael Danieli (UN Senior Representative)

Host: Alexandria, Mert & Efe

Bio: Dr. Yael Danieli is a truly historic figure as a world-renowned clinical psychologist who has transformed the study of trauma through her pioneering work on the transgenerational impact of the Holocaust. She co-founded the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, establishing the world’s first psychological care program for survivors, and in 2014 founded the International Center for the Study, Prevention, and Treatment of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. Creator of the Danieli Inventory for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma, she has redefined research on inherited trauma across cultures.

A trailblazing victimologist, Dr. Danieli has advised the UN, the International Criminal Court, all international genocide tribunals, and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is the only living person who has helped establish all existing victims’ rights tools in international law and contributed to reparative justice in some of the world’s most troubled regions. In 2021, she received the Human Rights Leadership Award from the Manhattan Borough President and the Arts4All Foundation.

In this Episode: Alexandria, Efe, and Mert speak with Dr. Danieli from Berlin, 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. She reflects on growing up in British Mandate Palestine, witnessing the arrival of Holocaust survivors, and experiencing the early years of Israel—experiences that shaped her lifelong dedication to trauma and resilience. The conversation explores her pioneering work in psychological care, including the development of the Danieli Inventory, the International Center, and her advisory roles in international law. Core trauma concepts discussed include the “conspiracy of silence,” coping styles, and intergenerational trauma. Dr. Danieli addresses the profound psychological impact of October 7 on Jewish communities, the rise in antisemitism and deep sense of betrayal, and the situation in Gaza. She also discusses Sadat’s 1977 Knesset speech, in which he described the “psychological wall” of fear, noting that it represents 70% of the Middle East conflict. Throughout, she emphasizes reparative justice and society’s responsibility to respond to human suffering, offering listeners rare insight from a historic and authoritative voice in trauma studies and international justice.

This episode was recorded July 24, 2025.

Links:

https://www.dryaeldanieli.com/

International Center for MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma: https://icmglt.org/

Dr. Danieli asks the hosts to read key findings from a study she conducted for the UN Human Rights Commissioner on the “Necessary Elements of Healing after Massive Trauma.” She explains that these findings are based on extensive research across diverse post-conflict contexts, highlighting the psychological, social, and moral elements essential for recovery at the individual, societal, national, and international levels. She later emphasizes that acknowledging both Israeli and Palestinian pain requires applying these findings to both sides, holding them together, and stressing that effective healing must address the suffering of all communities involved at all levels. https://tinyurl.com/y9bra9m6

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Michael Sfard – Human Rights Lawyer, Tel Aviv

Hosts: Mert & Yusuf

Bio: Michael Sfard is Israel's leading human rights lawyer, known for representing activists, major human rights and peace organizations before Israel’s Supreme Court and in international forums. His practice focuses on strategic litigation against occupation, racism, and discrimination. A graduate of the Hebrew University and University College London, he has received the Emil Grinzweig Human Rights Award and authored The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine, and the Legal Battle for Human Rights (2018). He serves as a commissioner with the International Commission of Jurists. He is the grandson of the sociologist and Holocaust survivor Zygmunt Bauman, and the son of parents who were expelled from Poland in 1968 for their participation in student protests, a background that connects him to a family tradition of critical thinking and engagement with justice.

In this episode: Mert, and Yusuf speak with Michael Sfard about the power and limits of law in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sfard shares why he became a human rights lawyer, and how international law has shaped – and struggled with – questions of justice, occupation, and rights. The conversation traces the evolution of international law and Israel’s legal system, examines what law says about military occupation and Gaza’s contested status, and unpacks recent rulings and warrants from the ICJ and ICC. He offers insights into the daily life in the West Bank, reflecting on how realities have shifted since October 7. Finally, he asks whether law can still serve justice in an uneven world – and what message he would give to a new generation of justice-seekers.

This episode was recorded June 10, 2025.

Links:

Michael Sfard: https://www.sfard.co.il/en

ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (17 July 2024): https://tinyurl.com/54nf99ru

ICERD Artikel 3: https://tinyurl.com/muw46yvf

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Nahed Samour, Radboud University, NL

Host: Yusuf

Bio: Dr. Nahed Samour is an internationally recognized legal scholar. She studied law and Islamic studies in Bonn, Birzeit/Ramallah, London, Berlin, Harvard, and Damascus, and completed her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt. She has conducted postdoctoral research in Helsinki, Göttingen, and Berlin, and taught as junior faculty at the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School. Currently, she conducts research and teaches at Radboud University in the Netherlands, focusing on constitutional law and international law.

In this Episode: Yusuf speaks with Dr. Nahed Samour about the experiences of the Palestinian community in Germany since October 7 and the international legal assessment of the latest developments in Israel and Gaza. Dr. Samour explains the legal foundations of the concept of genocide, the ICJ’s preliminary measures in South Africa’s case against Israel, and the standards for proving genocidal intent. She also discusses the international responsibility of states supplying weapons to parties in conflict, historical comparisons with Bosnia and Myanmar, and the mechanisms in international law designed to prevent or stop an ongoing genocide. Another key topic is the ICC arrest warrants issued against Hamas leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Dr. Samour explains the potential legal implications of these decisions and finally, she examines the ICJ advisory opinion on the occupation of the Palestinian territories, its significance under international law, and consequences for German foreign policy.

This episode was recorded March 20, 2025.

Links:

Dr. Nahed Samour: https://racereligionresearch.org/research-project/researchers/nahed-samour

UN Genocide Convention: https://tinyurl.com/rv8puxnj

ICJ Provisional Measures, South Africa v. Israel (26 Jan. 2024): https://tinyurl.com/2aesmt7n

ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (17 July 2024): https://tinyurl.com/54nf99ru

ICERD Artikel 3: https://tinyurl.com/muw46yvf

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Claus Kreß (University of Cologne / International Court of Justice)

Hosts: Philip, Yusuf & Efe

Bio:
Prof. Claus Kreß is a leading scholar of international law. He holds the Chair for Criminal Law and International Law at the University of Cologne and directs the Institute for Peace Research and Security Law. He has held guest professorships at Cambridge, Melbourne, Kyoto, and Columbia. His research on the use of force, the law of armed conflict, and international criminal law is reflected in over 200 publications. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall College, Cambridge.

Kreß has played a central role in shaping international criminal law, serving as a delegate for Germany during the drafting of the Rome Statute, helping define the crime of aggression adopted in 2010, and acting as Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. He has also been appointed ad hoc judge in the ICJ genocide case The Gambia v. Myanmar and has received multiple honorary doctorates as well as the M.C. Bassiouni Justice Award. He is a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

In this episode:
In this legal anchor episode, hosts Efe, Philip, and Yusuf speak with Prof. Kreß about key concepts of international law, its institutions, and jurisprudence concerning Israel and Palestine. They explore the Rome Statute, the differences between the ICJ and ICC, and the definitions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Prof. Kreß analyzes the October 7 Hamas attacks, the status of Gaza after 2005, and ICC charges against Hamas and Israeli officials. He explains the difficulty of proving genocidal intent, referencing the Srebrenica genocide, and discusses the ICJ’s evaluation of South Africa’s case against Israel and its 2024 advisory opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The conversation also addresses Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, risks to international law from sanctions against ICC officials, and broader challenges to the rules-based international order. Prof. Kreß concludes by emphasizing the importance of youth engagement to safeguard and strengthen the future of international justice.

This episode was recorded July 3, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Claus Kreß: https://iipsl.jura.uni-koeln.de/en/people/director

UN Genocide Convention: https://tinyurl.com/rv8puxnj

ICJ Provisional Measures, South Africa v. Israel (26 Jan. 2024): https://tinyurl.com/2aesmt7n

ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (17 July 2024): https://tinyurl.com/54nf99ru

IVth. Geneva Convention (1949), Article 49 (6): "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.“ https://tinyurl.com/542zardk

ICERD Artikel 3: https://tinyurl.com/muw46yvf

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Guests: Dr. Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International & Dr. Julia Duchrow, Secretary General, Amnesty International, Germany

Hosts: Alexandria, Mert & Yusuf

Bio: Dr. Agnès Callamard is a globally recognized human rights expert and current Secretary General of Amnesty International. She previously served as UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, leading the landmark investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Callamard also directed Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression initiative and is a leading voice on international law and accountability.

Dr. Julia Duchrow is Secretary General of Amnesty International Germany and a legal scholar specializing in human rights advocacy. She formerly led Amnesty Germany’s Policy and Advocacy division and headed Human Rights and Peace at Brot für die Welt. Duchrow has represented Germany on the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency board and advised the German Foreign Office on civilian crisis prevention, emerging as a prominent voice on human rights, civil liberties, and Germany’s role in international justice.

In this Episode: Recorded on July 14, 2025, hosts Yusuf, Alexandria, and Mert speak with Dr. Callamard and Dr. Duchrow about the human rights situation since Oct 7 in Israel, Gaza, the Westbank, Germany, the US and Iran.

Amnesty International's 2022 Apartheid report was widely criticized in Germany, esp. for extending the legal allegation of apartheid to Israel proper. Another essential point of criticism was its retrospective analysis that gives "the impression that all measures to institutionalize the described system were deliberately and intentionally implemented from the founding of the state onward. This largely obscures the conflict dynamics that repeatedly contributed to worsening the situation and prevented alternative developments."

Cf: https://www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2022A13/

To explore multiple perspectives, we also recommend to listen to our episode with Eyal Benvenisti (Ep. 36), a leading authority on the laws of occupation.

This episode was recorded July 18, 2025.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms and the state of jurisprudence are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Nazih Musharbash – President of the German-Palestinian Society

Hosts: Philipp & Mert

Bio: Nazih Musharbash is the President of the German-Palestinian Society. He served for many years as a school principal and as coordinator for school development and evaluation at the Weser-Ems regional authority. Musharbash lives in Bad Iburg and was a member of the city council for 34 years as well as a county councilor in Osnabrück for more than 25 years. In 1997, he was elected to the Lower Saxony state parliament as a member of the SPD. In 2025, he received the Courage Award of the Committee Courage in his hometown of Bad Iburg.

In this Episode: Recorded June 20, 2025, hosts Philipp and Mert welcome Nazih Musharbash, President of the German-Palestinian Society. He speaks about his personal background, his decades of work in politics and education, and what motivated him to strengthen German-Palestinian relations. They reflect on the aftermath of October 7 and the Gaza war, the challenges of making Palestinian perspectives heard in Germany, and the broader role of the German-Palestinian Society today.

Drawing on his experience as a school principal, Musharbash also offers insights into how schools can create space for multiperspectival approaches to Israel/Palestine and how memory culture might be expanded to include Palestinian experiences. The conversation also explores media representation and prospects for political solutions—from the viability of a two-state model to grassroots initiatives. Musharbash closes with a hopeful outlook, encouraging young people to resist prejudice, value education, and stay engaged in the pursuit of justice and peace.

This episode was recorded March 14, 2025.

Links:
German-Palestinian Society:
https://dpg-netz.de/

Please also check out our other episodes in the political debate chapter to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Alena Jabarine – Journalist and Author

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Alena Jabarine, born in 1985 in Hamburg, is a German-Palestinian journalist, author, and Middle East expert. She studied Political Science in Hamburg and earned a Master’s in International Relations in Barcelona. After a traineeship at NDR, she worked as a radio and TV reporter and contributed to NDR Info, STRG_F, Panorama 3, Monitor, StudioM, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, and Spotify Originals.

She has received multiple awards, including the Kurt-Magnus-Preis (2016), MedienSpiegel (2016), Juliane-Bartel-Medienpreis (2018), and the Grimme Online Award (2021). From 2020–2022 she lived in Ramallah, reporting on everyday life and politics for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Since May 2024, she curates Gaza Talks at the Berliner Ensemble. In May 2025, her autobiographical book Der letzte Himmel. Meine Suche nach Palästina (Ullstein, 2025) became a Spiegel bestseller, establishing her as one of the most prominent Palestinian voices in Germany today.

In this Episode: Alena Jabarine shares her insights on the devastation of Gaza and the escalating crisis in the West Bank following October 7. She discusses how Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank, and Germany have experienced the aftermath of the attacks, the challenges faced by families, and the harshly criticized work of organizations such as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. She reflects on the intersection of pro-Palestinian advocacy and public perception with freedom of expression, and considers what lessons society and schools can draw to support Palestinian communities in Germany.

This episode was recorded on July 9, 2025.

Links:
Jabarine, Alena. Der letzte Himmel: Meine Suche nach Palästina [The Last Sky: My Quest for Palestine]. Ullstein Verlag, 2025
https://www.ullstein.de/werke/der-letzte-himmel/hardcover/9783550203145?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The book title references:
Darwish, Mahmoud. “The Earth Is Closing On Us.” Translated by Abdullah al‑Udhari, in Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry. Ed. Adonis, Samih al‑Qasim, and Mahmoud Darwish. London: Saqi Books, 1984, pp. 12‑13.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Gil Shohat, M.A. – Director, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Israel

Hosts: Mert & Efe

Bio: Gil Shohat (b. 1988, Bonn) is a historian and political scientist specializing in modern Israeli and German political culture. He studied in Munich, Exeter, and Berlin and has researched anti-colonial activism and Marxist historiography in Britain. Since 2021, he has directed the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Israel, contributing insights on politics, education, and civil society. Shohat regularly publishes and speaks on German memory culture, antisemitism, racism, and Israel-Palestine dynamics in Germany.

In this Episode: Recorded June 20, 2025, Efe and Mert discuss with Shohat the political climate in Israel, the ongoing impact of October 7, and regional dynamics including tensions with Iran. Shohat reflects on Israeli society, public opinion, and the trajectory of support for the Gaza war, challenges facing Arab Israelis, and shifts in the West Bank, the military, intelligence services, and the Knesset.

He also addresses international responses, including the ICJ’s acceptance of South Africa’s genocide case and human rights reports, offering nuanced reflections. Turning to Germany, Shohat analyzes public and political reactions, debates over pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and tensions between free speech and antisemitism, including the current debate about definitions of antisemitism. The episode closes with Shohat’s perspective on Germany’s engagement with Israel and Palestine and the role of education in promoting informed understanding.

This episode was recorded July 15, 2025.

Links:
Gil Shohat, M.A.: https://www.rosalux.de/profil/es_detail/3IPF6THMKG/ma-gil-shohat?cHash=71e51c08171ebd2fa1c7dc735b09d793

Comparison of the three main definitions of antisemitism (IHRA, JDA, Nexus): https://thirdnarrative.org/three-definitions-of-antisemitism-a-comparison/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Omri Boehm – The New School for Social Research (New York)

Bio: Omri Boehm, born in Israel, studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University and completed his PhD at Yale. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the New School and a prominent public intellectual on Israel/Palestine, democracy, and identity debates. His books include Haifa Republic – A Democratic Future for Israel and Radical Universalism: Beyond Identity, which received the 2024 Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding. Boehm is known for his ability to articulate complex problems with conceptual precision while remaining accessible to broader audiences.

In this Episode: Recorded March 21, 2025, hosts Efe and Yusuf speak with Prof. Boehm about the Gaza war, the collapse of the ceasefire efforts, the humanitarian catastrophe, and the wave of U.S. student protests—the largest since Vietnam. He critiques identity politics and postcolonial frameworks that treat Israel solely through a settler-colonial lens, reflecting on where these models illuminate and where they constrain. Boehm addresses genocide accusations, ICC warrants, and the ICJ’s South Africa case, distinguishing legal processes from political mobilization aimed to delegitimize Israel. The episode concludes with his proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian federation—the “Republic of Haifa”—grounded in Kant’s concept of friendship, and with advice to younger generations on how to pursue justice and peace with moral courage and intellectual honesty.

This episode was recorded March 21, 2025.

Links:

Boehm, Omri. Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel. New York Review Books, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/mr2pzdza
Original German edition: Israel – eine Utopie – Propyläen Verlag (2020) https://tinyurl.com/yjcavs8c

Boehm, Omri. Radical Universalism: Beyond Identity. New York Review Books, 2025 https://tinyurl.com/mr45uyhf
German edition: Radikaler Universalismus: Jenseits von Identität – Propyläen Verlag (2022) https://tinyurl.com/4bnn7tty

Freundschaft in finsteren Zeiten https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2024-03/leipziger-buchmesse-omri-bohm-judentum-freundschaft

Harvard Caps Poll, Oct 19, 2023 https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HHP_Oct23_KeyResults.pdf

Münster Police brochure on genocide accusation as “Volksverhetzung” (§130 StGB) https://muenster.polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/2024-01/231227_lka_informationsbroschure-nahostkonflikt.pdf

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guests: Sharon Booth, CEO Solutions – Not Sides, Mohamed Ali Amla, Public Affairs Director, Solutions – Not Sides

Hosts: Mert, Alexandria, Yusuf

Bio:
Sharon Booth is the Founding Executive Director of Solutions – Not Sides, a leading UK NGO fostering constructive dialogue about Israel/Palestine in schools. She studied Theology and Religious Studies at Cambridge University, taught English in Tunisia, worked on youth publishing initiatives in Amman, and served at the British Embassy. She holds a master’s with distinction from King’s College London, specializing in nationalism and religion. In 2010, she founded Solutions – Not Sides to empower students to engage in non-partisan, solutions-focused learning.

Mohammed Ali Amla is the Public Affairs Director at Solutions – Not Sides, overseeing public affairs, crisis communication, strategic partnerships, and youth leadership programs. With over twenty years of experience in faith and policy, he is a researcher, educator, and practitioner. He founded Lita’arafu and Christian Muslim Encounters, advising widely on interfaith dialogue, conflict resolution, peace-building, and community leadership. He focuses on equipping young people to become bridge-builders while addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and structural inequality.

In this episode:
Mert, Alexandria, and Yusuf speak with Sharon Booth and Mohammed Ali Amla about Solutions – Not Sides’ mission and work. They discuss the NGO’s non-partisan, values-driven, and solutions-focused approach, including youth-led workshops and programs such as the Bridge Builders Programme and the Olive Branch Award. The conversation examines strategies for addressing bias, antisemitism, anti-Muslim racism, and for teaching empathy and critical thinking in schools. The guests share insights from classrooms and campuses across the UK, reflecting on broader international implications. Listeners gain practical guidance for creating safe spaces, fostering solutions-oriented thinking, and empowering young people to engage critically and empathetically with one of the world’s most contested conflicts.

This episode was recorded September 1, 2025.

Links: https://solutionsnotsides.co.uk/

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guests: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov – Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA

Hosts: Yusuf & Efe

Bio: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov, born in Israel in 1954, is a world-leading scholar of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He served in the Israeli army during the 1973 Yom Kippur War before studying history at Tel Aviv University and earning his doctorate from Oxford on Wehrmacht war crimes. His research examines how violence unfolds through armies, ideologies, neighbors, and communities. His landmark book Anatomy of a Genocide (Simon & Shuster, 2018) studies the town of Buczacz, his mother’s birthplace, as a case of local-level genocide; it won the National Jewish Book Award and the Yad Vashem International Book Prize. His most recent book, Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine (Yale University Press, 2023), is available in German translation.

In this episode: Yusuf and Efe discuss with Prof. Bartov the personal and political dimensions of studying mass violence. They explore his family history and its influence on his scholarship, the evolution of the concept of genocide, and why he considers the events in Gaza to constitute genocide. He also addresses rising campus protests in the U.S., debates around antisemitism and authoritarianism, and broader challenges in public discourse. The conversation concludes with insights on Holocaust and genocide education.

This episode was recorded on April 16, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov, Brown University: https://history.brown.edu/people/omer-bartov

Anatomy of a Genocide: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anatomy-of-a-Genocide/Omer-Bartov/9781451684544

Genozid, Holocaust und israel-Palästina https://www.suhrkamp.de/buch/omer-bartov-genozid-holocaust-und-israel-palaestina-t-9783633543359

Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine (English): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/genocide-the-holocaust-and-israelpalestine-9781350332317

Bartov calling Oct 7 an “act of genocidal violence”: https://www.zeit.de/2025/25/omer-bartov-benjamin-netanjahu-nahostkonflikt-kritiker-instrumentalisierung-holocaust/seite-2

Bartov, NYT, July 15, 2025: I’m a Genocide Scholar. I know it when I see it: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/opinion/israel-gaza-holocaust-genocide-palestinians.html

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Kenneth S. Stern, Director, Bard Center for the Study of Hate

Host: Yusuf

Bio:
Professor Kenneth Stern is the Director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, which also supports Bard College Berlin. He is an attorney, author, and leading global expert on antisemitism and extremism. For 25 years, he directed the division on antisemitism and extremism at the American Jewish Committee and later led the Justus & Karin Rosenberg Foundation. Stern was the lead drafter of the working definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016.

He served as a special advisor to the defense team in the landmark London Holocaust denial case David Irving v. Deborah Lipstadt and testified before the U.S. Senate in 2024 and 2025 on the rise of antisemitism. Stern was also an invited presenter at the White House Conference on Hate Crimes. His books include A Force Upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate (University of Oklahoma Press, 1996), a National Book Award nominee, and The Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate (University of Toronto Press, 2020)—widely regarded as an essential guide to campus discourse. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Guardian.

In this Episode:
Marking the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Yusuf speaks with Professor Stern about antisemitism, extremism, and political polarization in a divided world. Stern reflects on the global surge in antisemitism since October 7, 2023, and its implications for Jewish communities and democratic societies.

The conversation addresses how antisemitism is tracked and expressed on U.S. and German campuses and explores the balance between protecting students and preserving free speech. Stern discusses the influence of social media, debates around the IHRA definition, and how to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitic rhetoric. Drawing on decades of experience, he outlines how governments, universities, and civil society can respond to rising hate and democratic erosion.

This episode was recorded on August 28, 2025.

Links:
Stern, Kenneth S., editor. Simply Human: Understanding Hatred and How to Combat It. University of Toronto Press, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487551834

Stern, Kenneth S. The Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487507367

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing – September 17, 2024:
https://tinyurl.com/yyvvtt5n

Sway: AI tool that helps students have difficult conversations on campus
https://www.swaybeta.ai/demo
https://tinyurl.com/73hk4rpd

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Benjamin Fischer – Founding President, German Jewish Student Union; Former President, European Union of Jewish Students; European Consultant for Digital and Minority Rights

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Benjamin Fischer is a European advisor on digital and minority rights, focused on countering online hate and strengthening civil society through data-driven and innovative activism. As Program Director of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, he had led initiatives supporting these goals. Fischer chairs the Advisory Board at CeMAS (Center for Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategy) and serves on several curatorial boards.

He was the founding president of the Jewish Student Union Germany, president of the European Union of Jewish Students, and a member of the Executive Committee of the World Jewish Congress, representing over 160,000 Jewish students from 35+ countries before the UN, European Parliament, and Knesset. His work emphasizes coalition-building with other minority groups, including Romnja, Armenian, and Jewish–Muslim dialogue initiatives.

In this Episode: Efe and Philip speak with Benjamin Fischer about the impact of the October 7 attacks on Jewish life. He addresses the rise in antisemitism, polarization, and challenges for students and civil society. Fischer shares his family’s North African heritage and the often-overlooked story of Jewish expulsions from the region—echoing the broader Mizrahi Jewish experience. Drawing on his leadership in Jewish student and minority networks, he reflects on strained alliances since October 7, the fight against online hate, and the need for education that defines Jewish identity beyond the Holocaust or Israel.

This episode was recorded on July 11, 2025.

Links:
CeMAS:
https://cemas.io/

Annual Antisemitism Report 2024 by RIAS:
https://tinyurl.com/yhr9chjf

KOAS Study (Sept. 2025): Impact of October 7 on Jewish and Israeli Communities in Germany:
https://tinyurl.com/58cdzfkk

Jewish Student Union Germany (JSUD):
https://www.jsud.de/

European Union of Jewish Students:
https://www.eujs.org/

Antisemitism on TikTok (bpb.de):
https://tinyurl.com/38n32nyd

Comparison of IHRA, JDA & Nexus Definitions of Antisemitism:
https://tinyurl.com/48tdkus6

For more on the Farhud and the expulsion of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, listen to our episode with Norman Stillman.

Please also check out other episodes in our political debate chapter to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Volker Weiß – Historian, Author, Hamburg

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Dr. Volker Weiß is a historian, journalist, and leading analyst of authoritarian and far-right movements in Germany and beyond. He studied literature, social and economic history, and psychology at the University of Hamburg, later teaching in Hamburg, Leipzig, and Munich. In 2021, he was Guest Professor at the Institute for Contemporary History, University of Innsbruck. Weiß writes for major outlets such as Die Zeit, taz, and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

His 2017 book Die autoritäre Revolte. Die Neue Rechte und der Untergang des Abendlandes (The Authoritarian Revolt: The New Right and the Decline of the West) was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. His latest work, Das Deutsche Demokratische Reich. Wie die extreme Rechte Geschichte und Demokratie zerstört (2025) (The German Democratic Reich: How the Extreme Right Destroys History and Democracy), topped the German nonfiction bestseller lists. His research explores contemporary authoritarianism through historical continuities and ideological frameworks.

In this Episode: Efe and Philip speak with Dr. Weiß about the Israel–Palestine conflict within the broader context of global authoritarianism and the “authoritarian revolt.” He unpacks concepts such as metapolitics and cultural hegemony, tracing how extremist ideas migrate across eras and regions. The discussion examines intersections between far-right ideologies and current debates around Israel, antisemitism, and the Gaza escalation since October 7.

Dr. Weiß outlines ideological parallels between far-right movements in Germany, Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East, showing how historical alliances, nationalism, and identity politics shape modern conflicts. The conversation also touches on media polarization, the political use of antisemitism, and how narratives around Hamas and Israel are mobilized by various actors. Offering both historical and contemporary insights, Dr. Weiß situates these dynamics within the long arc of democratic erosion and extremist revival.

This episode was recorded June 12, 2025.

Links:
Weiß, Volker. Massaker und Message. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Oct 2023
https://tinyurl.com/2rud6ut7

Weiß, Volker. Die autoritäre Revolte: Die Neue Rechte und der Untergang des Abendlandes. Klett-Cotta, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/44443drd

Weiß, Volker. Das Deutsche Demokratische Reich: Wie die extreme Rechte Geschichte und Demokratie zerstört. Klett-Cotta, 2025
https://tinyurl.com/5adj9u7w

Please also check out other episodes in our political debate chapter for multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Dr. Eyal Benvenisti, Tel Aviv University / Yale Law School

Host: Yusuf

Bio: Professor Eyal Benvenisti is a leading authority in international and constitutional law and human rights. Born in Jerusalem in 1959, he earned his LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1984), and his LL.M. (1988) and J.S.D. (1990) from Yale Law School. He has held major academic roles, including Whewell Professor of International Law and Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge (2016–2024). Previously, he served as the Anny and Paul Yanowicz Professor of Human Rights at Tel Aviv University and as the Hersch Lauterpacht Professor of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has also taught at Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Toronto. His research explores the laws of occupation, sovereignty, and the relationship between domestic and international legal systems. He served as a legal advisor to Israel during the preliminary measures stage before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the South Africa v. Israel case.

In this Episode: Professor Benvenisti examines the legal and humanitarian dimensions of the October 7 attacks and their aftermath. He analyzes whether the events could meet the legal threshold for genocidal intent under international law and discusses Israel’s military response, statements by Israeli officials, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza—including issues of aid blockades and starvation. The conversation explores the ICJ’s proceedings in South Africa v. Israel, the provisional measures ordered in January 2024, and the broader implications for state responsibility and international law. Professor Benvenisti also assesses proposed plans for Gaza’s future—such as the “Humanitarian City” and possible reoccupation—and reflects on the genocide discourse regarding Gaza within Israel and abroad, the recognition of Palestine by Western states, and the challenges facing international law in today’s geopolitical climate.

This episode was recorded on August 14, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Eyal Benvenisti
https://law.yale.edu/eyal-benvenisti
https://english.tau.ac.il/profile/ebenve

Provisional Measures of the ICJ (South Africa v. Israel), January 2024:
https://tinyurl.com/49a288p6

ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Status of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (July 2024):
https://tinyurl.com/3862h9m9

On “Operation Gilead’s Chariots”:
https://tinyurl.com/k4nfcjnr

Public Statement by International Law Experts on Oct 7 as Potential Genocide:
https://tinyurl.com/msen7c5p

Please also check out our other episodes in the political and legal debate chapter to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest:
Prof. Dr. Johannes Becke, Ben-Gurion Chair for Israel and Middle East Studies, Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies

Hosts: Efe & Leif

Bio: Prof. Johannes Becke is a political scientist and leading expert on Israel and Middle East studies in the German-speaking world. He studied political science and Romanic Languages in Heidelberg, at the University of Illinois, and at Cairo University. After completing his PhD in 2014 at Freie Universität Berlin, he conducted research at Tel Aviv University and Oxford. He holds the Ben-Gurion Chair for Israel and Middle East Studies at Heidelberg University and is a co-opted member of the Faculty of Philosophy. His research focuses on Israeli politics, Arab-Israeli relations, and state- and nation-building in the Middle East and North Africa.

In this episode: Prof. Becke reflects on the Hamas massacre of October 7 and its historical significance, discussing Israel’s security and political failures and the attacks’ impact on Israeli society. He examines Hamas’s structure, ideology, and international networks, as well as Israel’s military strategy in Gaza. The discussion addresses international reactions, the role of regional powers such as Qatar and Iran, and the International Criminal Court. The episode concludes by considering possible futures: Gaza’s political order after the war, internal consequences for Israel, and the prospects for a two-state solution.

This episode was recorded April 14, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Johannes Becke / Ben-Gurion Chair: https://www.hfjs.eu/professuren/ben-gurion-lehrstuhl-fuer-israel-und-nahoststudien/team/lehrstuhlinhaber/prof-dr-johannes-becke.html

Please also explore our other episodes in the political debate chapter to explore multiple perspectives.

On the ideological roots and structure of Hamas, listen also to the episodes with Dr. Joseph Croitoru and Prof. Dr. Dr. Gudrun Krämer

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan, Humboldt University of Berlin / German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM)

Hosts: Efe & Leif

Bio: Naika Foroutan is a leading German scholar of migration. She is Professor of Integration Research and Social Policy at Humboldt University of Berlin and leads the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM). Since 2017, she has directed the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), Germany’s largest migration research network. Her work focuses on post-migrant societies, minority and Islam policies, radicalization, racism, and Islamism. She has received multiple awards, including the Berlin Integration Prize (2011), Fritz Behrens Foundation Research Prize (2012), Höffmann Academic Prize (2016), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Lund (2025).

In this episode: October 7, 2023, marked a turning point: antisemitism and racism surged worldwide and in Germany, while the situation in Gaza deepened polarization. Prof. Foroutan presents findings from the National Monitoring of Discrimination and Racism, showing how racialized perceptions shape media, protests, and institutions. She discusses antisemitic content on TikTok, the interplay of war and prejudice, and the instrumentalization of antisemitism for anti-migration agendas. She addresses double standards in free speech, pressures on universities, risks of authoritarian politics, and social media’s amplifying role. Sharing personal family experiences in Iran during the 12-day war, she concludes with a call for a “de-escalation of language” and emphasizes solidarity and pluralism as essential to countering antisemitism and racism without undermining fundamental rights.

This episode was recorded on July 3, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Naika Foroutan: https://tinyurl.com/26uhv5k3
German Center for Integration and Migration Research: https://www.dezim-institut.de/
Nationaler Rassismus und Diskriminierungsmonitor: https://www.rassismusmonitor.de/
Annual Report on Islamophobia 2024 (CLAIM Alliance): https://www.claim-allianz.de/aktuelles/publikationen/
Annual Report of Antisemitic Incidents 2024 (RIAS): https://tinyurl.com/yhr9chjf
Comparison of Antisemitism Definitions (IHRA, JDA, Nexus): https://tinyurl.com/48tdkus6

Please also check out our other episodes for multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guests: Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot – Professor of Jewish Philosophy, University of Lille / Dr. Hannah Tzuberi – Scholar of Judaic and Islamic Studies; Co-Principal, Orthodox Lauder Beth Zion School, Berlin

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Prof. Elad Lapidot is a philosopher focusing on Jewish thought, antisemitism, and knowledge-politics. He earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne, taught in Bern and Berlin, and is Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College. His books include Jews Out of the Question: A Critique of Anti-Anti-Semitism (2021), Heidegger and the Jews (with Micha Brumlik), and the first Hebrew translation/commentary of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (with Roi Bar).

Dr. Hannah Tzuberi studied Judaic and Islamic Studies at the Free University of Berlin. She researches contemporary European Jewry, collective memory, and secularism. She co-edited Jewish Friends: Contemporary Figures of the Jew (2020) and co-leads Berlin’s Orthodox Lauder Beth Zion School, the first orthodox school in German-speaking Europe since the Shoah, part of the Khahal Adass Jisroel synagogue and community center, which survived an attempted antisemitic arson attack after October 7, 2023.

In this episode: October 7, 2023, reshaped Jewish life worldwide and intensified debates on memory, responsibility, and political belonging. Dr. Tzuberi and Prof. Lapidot discuss the aftermath—from attacks on Jewish institutions in Berlin to anxieties in Israel.

Lapidot presents theories of antisemitism by Adorno, Sartre, and Arendt, critiquing approaches that reduce Jews to antisemitic projections and risk erasing Jewish knowledge. Tzuberi introduces the “figure of the Jew” and critiques Germany’s self-referential memory culture. They explore rigid victim-perpetrator roles, including the “figure of the Palestinian,” and their impact on justice and identity politics.

They reflect on the moral imperative “Never again!" at the heart of memory culture and Walter Benjamin’s reading of Klee’s Angelus Novus, the Angel of History. Finally, the two guests share their co-founding of the Association of Palestinian and Jewish Academics and its mission and purpose.

This episode was recorded on July 21, 2025.

Links:
Dr. Hannah Tzuberi: https://fu-berlin.academia.edu/HannahTzuberi
Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot: https://pro.univ-lille.fr/elad-lapidot
Martin Buber on the Hebron massacre of 1929: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/geist-soziales/martin-buber-zu-den-antisemitischen-massakern-von-1929-19309954.html
Berlin Center for Intellectual Diaspora: https://intellectualdiaspora.org/de/about/
Lapidot, Anti-Anti-Semitismus: Eine philosophische Kritik, Matthes & Seitz Berlin, 2021 https://www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de/autor/elad-lapidot.html

Please also check out our other episodes for multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Magda Teter, Chair of Judaic Studies and History, Fordham University

Hosts: Yusuf & Mert

Bio: Professor Magda Teter is a leading historian of antisemitism. Recommended by David Nirenberg for this conversation, her scholarship explores the historical roots and systemic impact of antisemitic tropes. She is the author of Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism (2023) and Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth (2020), which won the National Jewish Book Award, the Ronald Bainton Prize (2021), and the George L. Mosse Prize (2021). Teter has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute. She has served as co-editor of the Association for Jewish Studies Review, Vice-President for Publications of the Association for Jewish Studies, and is currently President of the American Academy for Jewish Research.

In this episode: Professor Teter traces the history of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. She examines early antisemitic narratives, including the blood libel myth, their evolution under Christian theology, and their enduring influence on Western thought and societal structures. The discussion explores conspiracy theories about Jewish power, the intersection of antisemitism and racism, and the concept of Christian supremacy as a framework for understanding antisemitism as systemic knowledge. Contemporary antisemitism is also addressed, including manifestations in anti-Israel discourse, challenges of defining antisemitism today, and forms beyond the Western world. The conversation highlights the role of Christian institutions in perpetuating prejudice, the persecutions leading to Zionism, and continuities and ruptures culminating in the Holocaust. Teter provides historical context and critical tools to understand antisemitism without centering perpetrators.

This episode was recorded on June 26, 2025.

Links:
Teter, Magda. Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth, Harvard UP, 2020 https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674240933
Maps and historical sources tracing the blood libel myth https://thebloodlibeltrail.org/the-sources/
Teter, Magda. Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism, Princeton UP, 2023 https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691242583/christian-supremacy?srsltid=AfmBOoqh4cjyrZcaR0nTZhFbs2zvBP4ina1vpbiwkNWGw-gRAUDbPMrr

Further resources:
Nirenberg, David. Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, W. W. Norton, 2013 https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393347913?utm_source=chatgpt.com/about-the-book

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gudrun Krämer (FU Berlin)

Hosts: Efe & Yusuf | Moderator: Mohamed Ibrahim

Bio: Prof. Gudrun Krämer is one of the most influential historians of the Middle East and Germany’s leading scholar of Islamic studies. Her work has shaped global scholarship on Palestine, Islamism, and Islamic political thought. Her landmark A History of Palestine (C.H. Beck, 2015; Princeton UP, 2008) stands out internationally—no other work combines a broader historical scope with greater analytical depth. Der Architekt des Islamismus: Hasan al-Banna und die Muslimbrüder (C.H. Beck, 2022) is the first full biography of the founder of modern Islamism, as analytically brilliant as it is politically relevant. Her Geschichte des Islam (C.H. Beck, 2024) was included by Thomas Kerstan in his “Canon of the 21st Century.” Krämer is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the German Sciences and Humanities Council, and co-editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill, 2007–present). Among her many honors are an honorary doctorate from Tashkent Islamic University, the Gerda Henkel Prize (2010), and the Historisches Kolleg Award (2025), the highest distinction in historical scholarship in Germany.

In this episode: Prof. Krämer provides a concise historical overview of the Israel-Palestine conflict and key debates. She discusses the formation of Palestinian identity, Jerusalem’s political and religious significance, and the development of Zionism. The episode covers the Ottoman and British Mandate periods, the Balfour Declaration, the Great Arab Revolt (1936–39), and responses to the Peel (1937) and UN (1947) partition plans. She analyzes the Nakba and the 1947–48 war, their social and political effects, and the rise of movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Krämer engages contested narratives—including the settler-colonial paradigm, Plan Dalet, and Hajj Amin al-Husseini’s legacy—and reflects on the October 7 massacre, the devastation of Gaza, and ongoing regional dynamics.

Technical note: A recording issue affects the first 20 minutes, during which some words are inaudible, though the overall meaning remains clear. Questions removed from the final audio are available as a transcript (see: Catholic Academy). After minute 20, audio quality returns to normal.

This episode was recorded on September 16, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Gudrun Krämer: https://www.fu-berlin.de/presse/expertendienst/experten/k/kraemer-gudrun/index.html
A History of Palestine: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691150079/a-history-of-palestine
Geschichte Palästinas: https://www.chbeck.de/kraemer-geschichte-palaestinas/product/14087153
Der Architekt des Islamismus: https://www.chbeck.de/kraemer-architekt-islamismus/product/33198220
Geschichte des Islam: https://www.chbeck.de/kraemer-geschichte-islam/product/36194843

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Björn Krondorfer, Northern Arizona University

Hosts: Yusuf & Efe

Bio: Björn Krondorfer is the Endowed Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion from Temple University and studied Protestant Theology in Frankfurt/Main and Göttingen, Germany. Krondorfer is internationally recognized for his work on post-Holocaust reconciliation, historical trauma, and dialogue among Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians. He brings descendants of Holocaust victims and perpetrators into conversation and extends these dialogues to include Palestinian narratives. He is the author of Unsettling Empathy: Working with Groups in Conflict (2020), Reconciliation in Global Context (2018), and The Holocaust and Masculinities (2020), and facilitates workshops, field encounters, and critical pedagogy that put dialogue into practice. He is the co-chair of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies (2020-to date) and the President of the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (2023-to date).

In this episode: Yusuf and Efe speak with Prof. Krondorfer about engaging groups affected by historical trauma and conflict, including descendants of Holocaust victims and perpetrators, as well as Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians. They explore intergenerational, transgenerational, historical, and cultural trauma, and how these traumas shape relationships across generations. Krondorfer explains his method of “Unsettling Empathy,” which engages conflicting truths and power dynamics while fostering ethically grounded, emotionally aware dialogue. The discussion covers silenced Palestinian narratives in Germany, Germany’s responsibility toward Israel, and the triangular relationship including Palestinian experiences. Listeners gain insight into how historical wounds, empathy, and self-awareness can transform dialogue, the importance of holding conflicting truths simultaneously, and practical lessons for educators, mediators, and those seeking to bridge deep divides.

This episode was recorded July 31, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Björn Krondorfer: https://in.nau.edu/martin-springer/staff/about-the-director/

Unsettling Empathy. Working with Groups in Conflict (Bloomsbury, 2020): https://tinyurl.com/mnwdjyhd

https://lernen-aus-der-geschichte.de/International/content/12232

Review by Dani Kranz: https://tinyurl.com/mrxtkmpw

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guests: Rabbi Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama (FU Berlin) / Pastor Sally Azar (Jerusalem) / Prof. Dr. Ufuk Topkara (HU Berlin)

Hosts: Alexandria & Mert

Bios:
Rabbi Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama is a historian, author, and rabbi, former director of the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin, former chairman of the Jewish Community of Berlin, and former board member of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The son of a Holocaust survivor, he led the General Rabbinical Conference (2019–2023) and has served as Jewish Chair of Germany’s Coordination Council for Christian-Jewish Societies (GCJZ) since 2016. He co-founded the House of One, the first shared house of prayer for Jews, Christians, and Muslims worldwide, and received the Moses Mendelssohn Medal in 2019.

Pastor Sally Azar, born in Jerusalem, is the first female Palestinian pastor in the Holy Land, serving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. She leads the English- and Arabic-speaking congregation at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, engages in interreligious dialogue, and is a member of the Council of the Lutheran World Federation and the Board of the ACT Alliance.

Prof. Dr. Ufuk Topkara is Junior Professor of Comparative Theology at the Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt University. He studied History and Philosophy at Humboldt University Berlin and Harvard, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Humility & Conviction in Public Life Program at the University of Connecticut, and a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion, University of Virginia. He was formerly a visiting scholar at UCLA and at Johns Hopkins University’s American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

In this Episode: We take an in-depth look at Jerusalem, a city of profound religious, historical, and political significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The guests discuss its sacred origins, depiction in religious texts, and evolution through conquest, diaspora, and pilgrimage. The conversation explores Jerusalem’s contemporary role in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities, including eschatological visions and opportunities for interfaith dialogue. Through personal reflections, guests share how Jerusalem shapes faith, identity, and approaches to conflict resolution. Listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the city from multiple religious perspectives and learn how it can foster connection, dialogue, and hope rather than division.

This episode was recorded on July 21, 2025.

Links:
Rabbi Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama: https://nachama.de/rabbiner-andreas-nachama
House of One: https://house-of-one.org/
Pastor Sally Azar: https://chrismon.de/artikel/56949/was-macht-palaestinensern-hoffnung-pfarrerin-sally-azar-weiss-es
Prof. Dr. Ufuk Topkara: https://www.islamische-theologie.hu-berlin.de/de/ueber-uns/copy_of_mitarbeitende-des-bit/1693201

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Moshe Zimmermann, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hosts: Philip & Efe

Bio: Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, born in 1943 in Jerusalem, comes from a family that emigrated from Nazi Hamburg to Palestine in 1938. He served as Professor of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was Director of the Richard Koebner Center for German History (1986–2012). He is one of Israel's most distinguished historians and an internationally leading expert on German-Jewish history, antisemitism, nationalism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His major works include Die Deutschen Juden 1914-1945 (1997) and Deutsche gegen Deutsche. Das Schicksal der Juden 1938-1945 (2008). He has received numerous awards, including the Humboldt Research Award, the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prize of the DAAD, the Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize, and the Theodor Lessing Prize for Criticism.

In this Episode: Hosts Philip and Efe speak with Prof. Zimmermann about the Israel-Palestine conflict from 1967 to the present. The discussion covers Israel’s conflicts with the Palestinians, neighboring Arab states, and Iran, and how these tensions evolved. Key topics include the Six-Day War (1967), the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights, Israel’s occupation policies, settlement expansion, and the Yom Kippur War.

The episode also explores the role of the PLO, the 1982 Lebanon War, the rise of Hezbollah, the First and Second Intifadas, the Oslo Accords, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the rise of Hamas, the ongoing Gaza crisis, Israel-Iran relations, shifts in Israeli domestic politics, and the effects of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Prof. Zimmermann provides historical context, political analysis, and a clear understanding of the conflict’s evolution from 1967 to today.

This episode was recorded July 1, 2025.

Links:

Die Deutschen Juden 1914-1945 (Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1997) https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1524/9783486702071/html

Deutsche gegen Deutsche. Das Schicksal der Juden 1938-1945 (Aufbau-Verlag, 2008) https://iupress.org/9780253062307/germans-against-germans/

Deutsche Israelpolitik: Die Stunde der Wahrheit ist gekommen (Die Zeit, 2025) https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2025-08/deutschland-israelpolitik-existenz-grundprinzipien-waffenlieferung-gazastreifen

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Stiftung Wissenschaft & Politik

Hosts: Efe & Mert

Bio: Dr. Muriel Asseburg is one of Germany’s leading Middle East experts and a respected authority on conflict analysis and policy advising. She is a Senior Fellow in the Africa and Middle East Research Group at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) and leads the working group "Autocratization as a Challenge for German and European Politics." Dr. Asseburg regularly advises the German government on foreign policy and is frequently consulted by the media. Her research on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, regional security, and Middle East political developments is widely recognized for its depth and policy relevance.

In this Episode: We explore the conflict from the Balfour Declaration to 1967, covering the British Empire’s role, the UN Partition Plan, the Nakba, and the Jewish exodus from Arab countries and Iran. Dr. Asseburg examines the rise of Palestinian movements like the PLO and Hamas, alongside Israeli developments, including the emergence of the Likud party and the religious right. The discussion highlights how historical decisions and international actors continue to shape current regional dynamics, offering a nuanced understanding of this phase of the conflict.

This episode was recorded on March 7, 2025.

Links:
Dr. Muriel Asseburg / Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik: https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/researcher/muriel-asseburg

Books by Dr. Muriel Asseburg:

Der 7. Oktober und der Krieg in Gaza: Hintergrund, Eskalation, Folgen (2024) https://www.chbeck.de/asseburg-7-oktober-krieg-gaza/product/37890657

Der Nahostkonflikt: Geschichte, Positionen, Perspektiven (2016) https://www.chbeck.de/asseburg-busse-nahostkonflikt/product/39820426

Palästina und die Palästinenser: Eine Geschichte von der Nakba bis zur Gegenwart (2021) https://www.chbeck.de/asseburg-palaestina-palaestinenser/product/38057897

Other Publications:
https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/researcher/muriel-asseburg#publications
https://www.bpb.de/themen/kriege-konflikte/dossier-kriege-konflikte/54655/nahost/

Further Resources suggested in the podcast:

Shlaim, Avi. Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew (2023) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Three-Worlds/Avi-Shlaim/9780861548101?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Explore our other episodes for multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Joseph Croitoru, Journalist & Author, Freiburg i.Br.

Hosts: Efe & Ysusuf

Bio: Dr. Joseph Croitoru, born 1960 in Haifa, is a historian, author, and journalist. He studied history, art history, and Judaic studies in Jerusalem and Freiburg im Breisgau and earned a doctorate on the history of suicide attacks. For decades, he has reported as a Middle East expert for major media outlets such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He is a leading authority on Hamas and Hezbollah and his work is a standard reference for understanding their structure, ideology and role in the region. His most recent book on Hezbollah is the first comprehensive reference in German. His clear analysis and exceptional historical depth, make him one of Germany’s most outstanding experts on the Middle East conflict. In 2021, he was awarded the Peace Prize of the Geschwister Korn and Gerstenmann Foundation for his literary work promoting peace.

In this episode:  In this episode, we talk with Dr. Croitoru about the origins, ideology, structures, and strategies of Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as their roles in regional, international, and Israeli politics. We examine historical developments, the events of October 7, 2023, current dynamics, and possible future perspectives. Special focus is given to Croitoru’s recent books, which have significantly shaped the discourse on Islamist movements in the Middle East and the struggle over Jerusalem. We also explore the financing and external support of Hamas and Hezbollah, with an emphasis on the strategic roles of Iran and Qatar. This includes their funding, provision of weapons, political backing, and influence on Israeli politics through proxy actions and regional power dynamics.

This episode is was recorded on November 14, 2025.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman, Emeritus of Judaic History at the University of Oklahoma

Hosts: Yusuf & Efe

Bio: Prof. Norman A. Stillman is a world-leading historian of Jewish life in the Islamic world. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma and author of The Jews of Arab Lands and The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. He was the founding editor of the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, the most comprehensive reference ever assembled on the subject. His scholarship spans Muslim–Jewish relations, Judeo-Arabic culture, and Sephardic history.

In this episode: We examine the flight and expulsion of roughly 850,000 Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (1940s–1970s). Prof. Stillman explores tensions before 1948, including antisemitism, the influence of European fascism, the Farhud in Baghdad, and the Holocaust’s impact. He discusses departures from Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and Morocco, highlighting political pressures, violence, and migration factors. The episode also covers challenges faced by Jewish refugees in Israel, their integration and cultural adaptation, and the memory and framing of the exodus. Listeners gain insight into a pivotal demographic shift shaping modern Israel, where nearly half of the Jewish population traces its roots to these regions.

This episode was recorded on August 12, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman: https://tinyurl.com/aufmzrpp

Stillman, Norman A. The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1979. https://tinyurl.com/mr2jubac

Stillman, Norman A. The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003. https://tinyurl.com/tcy83r4e

Stillman, Norman A., ed. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2010. https://tinyurl.com/53dzzxd6

Stillman, Norman A., et al., eds. Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. 2 vols. ABC-CLIO/Bloomsbury, 2005. https://tinyurl.com/yeyv3kct

Academia.edu: https://tinyurl.com/3n5krzjn

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Adel Manna – Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

Hosts: Yusuf & Mert

Bio: Professor Adel Manna is a leading scholar of modern Palestinian history, combining archival research with Palestinian oral histories and family narratives. He authored Nakba and Survival (2016; English: 2022) and co-authored Two Sides of the Coin: Independence and Nakba 1948 (2011) with Prof. Motti Golani. His work explores sensitive historical truths with rigor and respect for multiple perspectives.

In this Episode: Recorded in Berlin’s Neukölln district, this episode explores the Nakba and its lasting impact. Prof. Manna begins with his family history, including his father witnessing an atrocity in Majd al-Kurum, and traces 1947–48 from a Palestinian perspective. Topics include displacement, dispossession, refugees, and contested interpretations of Plan Dalet—seen by Israeli scholars like Benny Morris as defensive, but by many Palestinian historians as a blueprint for displacement. The episode highlights memory preservation through family stories and oral histories and shows why the Nakba remains central to Palestinian collective memory and identity.

This episode was recorded on July 16, 2025.

Links:

Manna, Adel. Nakba and Survival: The Story of Palestinians Who Remained in Haifa and the Galilee, 1948–1956. University of California Press, 2022. PDF

Zurayk, Constantine K. The Meaning of the Disaster. Khayat's College Book Cooperative, 1956. Archive

Review of Manna by Benny Morris: Haaretz

Responses by Israeli historians: Ofer Ashkenazi, Daniel Blatman

Morris, Benny. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2004. PDF

Other 1948 resources: Flapan, Segev, Schlaim, Pappe, Morris. Monde Diplomatique

Please also check out our episodes on 1948 with Derek Penslar, Muriel Asseburg and Gudrun Krämer.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team. Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Anita Haviv-Horiner, author, education expert, and daughter of Holocaust survivors

Hosts: Philip & Mert

Bio: Anita Haviv-Horiner was born in Vienna to Holocaust survivors and immigrated to Israel at the age of 19. She studied literature in Tel Aviv and worked at the Holocaust memorial Massuah, the Museum of the Jewish People, and Beit Terezin. She founded the education agency Israel Encounter Programs in 1992 and works as a freelance educator on antisemitism, Holocaust remembrance, and Israeli society. Her books include Europa – nichts Neues? and Solidarität heißt Handeln.

In this episode: We explore Holocaust survivors and their descendants in Israel and their impact on society. Anita Haviv shares personal insights as a daughter of survivors and reflects on decades of interviews. Topics include trauma transmission across generations, survivor reception in Israel, Holocaust education, the social and economic realities of survivors, and civil society’s response to the October 7 attacks. The episode provides a nuanced perspective on memory, resilience, and the ways historical trauma continues to shape Israeli society.

This episode was recorded June 6, 2025.

Links:
Anita Haviv / Israel Encounter Programs: https://www.anitahaviv.com/
Solidarität heißt Handeln: https://www.bpb.de/shop/buecher/schriftenreihe/552455/solidaritaet-heisst-handeln/
In Europa nichts Neues?: https://www.bpb.de/system/files/dokument_pdf/SR10775_In_Europa_nichts_Neues_2022_web.pdf

Further Resources:
Alfred Kantor, The Book of Alfred Kantor: https://mjhnyc.org/blog/painting-the-holocaust-remembering-alfred-kantor-and-his-sketchbook/
Vedem, Kamarád, Domov – children’s underground magazines from Terezín: http://www.vedem-terezin.cz/kamarad/index-en.html
"I Never Saw Another Butterfly": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Never_Saw_Another_Butterfly
Eichmann Trial awareness: https://wwv.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/eichmann/awareness-of-the-holocaust.asp
ZikaronBaSalon – remembrance in living rooms: https://www.zikaronbasalon.com/en/home-2/

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Derek Penslar, William Lee Frost Chair of Jewish History, Harvard University

Hosts: Alexandria, Mert, Yusuf

Bio: Professor Derek Penslar is a world-leading historian of Zionism and Jewish history. His research explores the political, social, and emotional dimensions of Zionism, Jewish military history, and the global impact of the 1948 war. Notable works include Zionism and Technocracy: The Engineering of Jewish Settlement in Palestine, 1870‑1918 (1991), Jews and the Military: A History (2013), Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader (2020), and Zionism: An Emotional State (2023). He served twice as President of the American Academy for Jewish Research and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

In this episode: We explore the period around 1948, examining how the Holocaust reshaped Zionism and international support for Jewish self-determination. Professor Penslar discusses Holocaust survivors in Displaced Persons Camps, the UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181), the outbreak and memory of the 1948 war, and the emotional currents shaping Zionist thought. Topics include international reactions to Israel’s founding, contested narratives of 1948, the reception of survivors in Israel, and the role of memory in shaping national identity. He also engages critically with the settler-colonial framework.

This episode was recorded June 18, 2025.

Links:
https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/derek-penslar

Further resources:
Biltmore Declaration (1942): https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-206268/
Resolution 181: Palestine Plan of Partition with Economic Union: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-185393/
The term "Nakba": Zureiq, Ma’na al-Nakba (1948): https://archive.org/details/zurayk-nakba

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives:

On the White Papers and the Holocaust: Michael Brenner, Oren Kessler
On 1948: Adel Manna, Muriel Asseburg, Gudrun Krämer

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Oren Kessler – historian, journalist, and author, fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Hosts: Efe & Yusuf

Bio: Oren Kessler is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. He has served as Arab Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, editor and translator at Haaretz, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, and Deputy Director for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Kessler holds a BA in History from the University of Toronto and an MA in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies from Reichman University, Israel. His work blends scholarly rigor and accessible storytelling, and has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New Republic. Palestine 1936 has received critical acclaim, including the Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of 2023, Booklist’s Best Books of the Year, finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards, the Sophie Brody Medal, the 2024 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and was named one of the ten best non-fiction books of 2025 by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

In this episode: We explore the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936–1939). Kessler explains British Mandate policies, the emergence of Palestinian national identity, and early Jewish institution-building. He examines the revolt’s causes, leadership, and key figures, highlighting Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and his later collaboration with Nazi Germany. Topics include the Peel Commission, the 1939 White Paper, the Evian Conference, and the broader Holocaust context. The discussion provides insight into how these events shaped Arab-Jewish relations and the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This episode was recorded on July 23, 2025.

Links:
Oren Kessler: https://www.orenkessler.com/
Kessler, Oren. Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. Rowman & Littlefield, 2023.
Kessler, Oren. Palästina 1936: Der Große Aufstand und die Wurzeln des Nahostkonflikts. Translated by Norbert Juraschitz, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2025.

Further resources:
Peel et al. (1937), Report of the Palestine Royal Commission (Cmd. 5479). https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/Cmd5479.pdf
Musa Alami: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Alami

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives:

On the Arab Revolt: Simon Fuchs, Victor Kattan, Gudrun Krämer
On the White Papers, the Holocaust, and Jewish Refugees: Michael Brenner, Derek Penslar, Anita Haviv
On the Mufti of Jerusalem: Gudrun Krämer
On 1948: Derek Penslar, Adel Manna, Muriel Asseburg, Gudrun Krämer

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Victor Kattan, Assistant Professor of Public International Law, University of Nottingham

Hosts: Yusuf & Efe

Bio: Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Nottingham and Deputy Director of the Nottingham International Law and Security Centre. He is a leading scholar of Mandate-era international law, having advised the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department and provided testimony to the UK Parliament and UN bodies. He has taught at Yale-NUS College, NUS Law, and SOAS, and serves on the editorial board of the Asian Journal of International Law and as Area Editor for the Middle East and Islam for Oxford Bibliographies of International Law. His scholarship, including a monograph, four edited books, and 30+ articles, has been cited by the ICJ, ICC, and international organizations.

In this episode: We explore the British Mandate for Palestine (1917–1948) and its impact on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Prof. Kattan examines the Mandate’s legal and political foundations — including the Sykes–Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, and the League of Nations system. He then discusses key developments under the Mandate: the Arab Revolt, the growth of Zionist institutions under Mandate law, limits on Palestinian rights, British immigration and land policies, and Palestinian political movements. The discussion shows how law, empire, and resistance shaped the conflict from a Palestinian perspective.

This episode was recorded on July 25, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Victor Kattan: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/people/victor.kattan
Sykes-Picot Agreement: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/232358BACBEB7B55852571100078477C.pdf
Balfour Declaration: https://www1.udel.edu/History-old/figal/Hist104/assets/pdf/readings/14balfour.pdf
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-199699/
League of Nations Mandate: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp
Mandate for Palestine (1922): https://content.ecf.org.il/files/M00301%20-%20Text%20of%20the%20British%20Mandate%20for%20Palestine%20(1922).pdf

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Dr. Per Leo, Historian & Author, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Per Leo studied history, philosophy, and Slavic Studies in Freiburg and Berlin, earning his PhD in 2009 at Humboldt University. His novel Flut und Boden (2015), which reflects on his grandfather Friedrich Leo, an SS-Sturmbannführer, and the family’s history during the Nazi era, was shortlisted for the 2014 Leipzig Book Fair Prize and received several awards. Since 2021, Leo has critically examined German culture of remembrance in the context of the Middle East conflict and migration, notably in his essay Tränen ohne Trauer (2021). He writes for leading publications including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, Die Welt, and Neue Rundschau, and lives in Berlin with his family as a freelance author. He is a 2024/2025 fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) where he examines how schools deal with the Israel/Palestine conflict.

In this episode: Efe and Philip speak with Dr. Per Leo about how the Israel-Palestine conflict is addressed in Berlin schools. Drawing on his research and conversations with teachers, parents, and students, Dr. Leo examines how the conflict is taught, how schools both reflect and diverge from broader societal discourse, and the challenges educators face in navigating such a sensitive topic. He reflects on the distinction between memory culture and critical historical consciousness, the importance of the Beutelsbach Consensus in teaching such a contested topic, and the necessity of embracing multiple perspectives.

This episode was recorded July 11, 2025.

Links:

Dr. Per Leo: https://www.wiko-berlin.de/fellows/akademisches-jahr/2024/leo-per

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Awad Halabi, Wright State University

Hosts: Yusuf, Efe, Mert

Bio: Awad Halabi is Associate Professor at Wright State University, where he established a minor in Middle East and Islamic Studies. His research focuses on Palestine under Ottoman and British rule, exploring identity, memory, resistance, and religious festivals. His book Palestinian Rituals of Identity: The Prophet Moses Festival in Jerusalem, 1850–1948 examines how Palestinians forged collective identity through rituals and shared space. He received the Malcolm Kerr Dissertation Award and Wright State’s International Education Award.

In this episode: We explore Palestinian life, identity, and politics before 1948. Professor Halabi examines everyday life under the Ottoman Empire and British Mandate, including social hierarchies, class, and gender roles. He traces the Nabi Musa Festival, a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Prophet Moses, that became a site of identity formation, religious practice, and interreligious coexistence. The discussion covers early Palestinian responses to Zionism, including Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi’s 1899 letter to Herzl, and changes under British rule. Professor Halabi reflects on missed opportunities for coexistence and the legacies of this formative period.

This episode was recorded on July 2, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Awad Halabi: https://people.wright.edu/awad.halabi
Halabi, Awad. Palestinian Rituals of Identity: The Prophet Moses Festival in Jerusalem, 1850–1948. University of Texas Press, 2023. https://utpress.utexas.edu/blog/2022/12/01/halabi-on-ritual-colonialism-palestinian-identity/
Norris, Jacob. “The Rise and Fall of Nabi Musa.” Jerusalem Quarterly, no. 95, Autumn 2023, pp. 129–133. https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/The%20Rise%20and%20Fall%20of%20Nabi%20Musa.pdf

We did not have time to cover the 1920 Nabi Musa Festival, which ended in riots in Jerusalem from 4–7 April 1920. During these events, violent attacks against Jews resulted in the deaths of five Jews and four Muslims and left roughly 200 people injured. British responses drew widespread criticism. The Haganah was founded in June 1920 in part as a reaction to these riots.

The 1929 Hebron massacre further deepened the rift between the two societies and brought an end to the centuries-old Sephardic Jewish community there. Tom Segev describes the 1920 riots as “the opening shot for the struggle over the land of Israel.”

Cf. Tom Segev, Once Upon a Time in Palestine: Jews and Arabs Before the Establishment of the State of Israel, 4th ed., Pantheon, 2006, pp. 142–161.

Please also check our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Michael Brenner, Professor of Jewish History and Culture, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / American University Washington, D.C.

Hosts: Philip & Yusuf

Bio: Michael Brenner is Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and at American University in Washington, D.C. He is one of the world’s leading experts on Zionism. He is an elected fellow of the Bavarian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy for Jewish Research and is the International President of the Leo Baeck Institute. His books include In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea, A Short History of the Jews, Prophets of the Past, and Zionism: A Brief History. He co-authored the four-volume German-Jewish History in Modern Times, which won the National Jewish Book Award, and has edited nineteen volumes. Beyond academia, Prof. Brenner is a prominent public voice on antisemitism, racism, and memory politics in Germany and Europe.

In this episode: This episode explores Zion and Zionism within Jewish self-determination. Prof. Brenner discusses the religious meaning of Zion, its role in the diaspora, and continuous Jewish presence in Palestine over two millennia. He traces thinkers such as Moses Hess, political Zionism under Herzl, and leaders of Cultural Zionism like Ahad Ha’Am. The discussion covers movement currents, reception among Jews, reactions in the Arab world, colonial influences, and the Balfour Declaration. Topics include Jewish migration before/during the Holocaust, Israel's role for survivors, and global Jewish attitudes after 1948. Finally, Brenner reflects on contemporary Zionism, its influence on Israeli society, and the responsibilities of education and remembrance in Germany eighty years after the Holocaust. This episode offers a concise introduction to the intellectual, political, and historical dimensions of Zionism.

This episode was recorded on June 24, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Michael Brenner: LMU München: https://tinyurl.com/2bmdjay7 American University, Washington, D.C. https://tinyurl.com/4p4wcuf5

Further Resources:
Herzl, Theodor. Der Judenstaat and Altneuland. Edited by Shlomo Simonsohn, Dover, 1987. https://tinyurl.com/3ay4h3zc
Herzl, Theodor. Altneuland: Roman. Wien: M. Breitenstein, 1902. https://tinyurl.com/3xkt53x3
Brenner, Michael. Geschichte des Zionismus. 4th updated ed., C.H. Beck, 2016. https://tinyurl.com/4j76u9rp

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman, Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies, University of Oklahoma

Hosts: Yusuf & Efe

Bio: Prof. Norman A. Stillman is a world leading authority on Jewish life in the Islamic world. He is Professor Emeritus of Judaic History at the University of Oklahoma and author of seminal works including The Jews of Arab Lands and The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. He also served as founding editor of the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, the most comprehensive reference ever assembled on the subject. His scholarship spans Muslim-Jewish relations, Judeo-Arabic culture, and Sephardic history, shaping generations of students and researchers.

In this episode: This episode explores the long history of Jewish life in the Middle East and North Africa, tracing communities that flourished for over two millennia across cities like Baghdad, Cairo, Tunis, Aleppo, and Sana’a. Professor Stillman offers an overview of Jewish-Muslim relations from the rise of Islam through the early modern period, highlighting the legal, social, and cultural frameworks that shaped daily life. Topics include the dhimmi system, traditions of Muslim anti-Judaism, and periods of coexistence and cultural exchange-most notably the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where Muslims, Jews, and Christians advanced philosophy, science, and medicine. At its high points, Jewish life in Muslim societies was safer and more vibrant than in Christian Europe. Stillman also examines the effects of European colonialism, Arab nationalism, and early Zionist movements on regional Jewish communities. This episode provides a foundational understanding of the historical, cultural, and religious contexts framing centuries of complex Jewish-Muslim interaction in the Arab world.

This episode was recorded on August 12, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Norman Stillman: https://marquistopeducators.com/2024/05/10/norman-stillman/
Stillman, Norman A. The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Jewish Publication Society, 1979. https://www.zvab.com/9780827601987/Jews-Arab-Lands-History-Source-0827601980/plp
Stillman, Norman A. The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. Jewish Publication Society, 2003. https://www.zvab.com/Jews-Arab-Lands-Modern-Times-Stillman/32274722665/bd
Stillman, Norman A., ed. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill, 2010. https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/ejio
Stillman, Norman A., et al., eds. Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. ABC-CLIO / Bloomsbury Academic, 2005. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/antisemitism-9781851094394/
Academia.edu: shorturl.at/y9hNG

Please also explore our other episodes to discover multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.
Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Professor Simon W. Fuchs – Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hosts: Alexandria & Efe

Bio: Professor Simon W. Fuchs is a historian specializing in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. He earned his PhD at Princeton University in 2015. He has held positions at the University of Cambridge and the University of Freiburg and is currently Associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A member of the German Young Academy, Fuchs specializes in the intellectual history of Islam, connecting the scholarly traditions of South Asia and the Middle East. His research draws on Arabic, Persian, and Urdu sources. He is currently writing a global history of the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979).

In this episode: This episode explores the long prehistory of Palestine, tracing early human settlements, archaeological findings, and genetic studies linking ancient populations with contemporary groups. Professor Fuchs also provides a first broad overview from the emergence of Zionism to the foundation of Israel, highlighting formative stages of the conflict. Topics include the continuity of Jewish life after the Roman expulsion, the origins of the term “Palestine,” relations among local groups, the influence of monotheistic religions, successive empires, Ottoman administration, the Balfour Declaration, British Mandate policies, and the contested settler-colonial paradigm. This episode offers a foundational understanding of the historical, cultural, and political developments that shaped the region before the modern conflict.

This episode was recorded on February 28, 2025.

Links:
Prof. Dr. Simon Fuchs: simonwolfgangfuchs.com/ simonwolfgangfuchs.huji.ac.il
Fuchs, Simon Wolfgang. In a Pure Muslim Land: Shi'ism between Pakistan and the Middle East. University of North Carolina Press, 2019. https://simonwolfgangfuchs.huji.ac.il/publications/pure-muslim-land

Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

On Canaanites and archaeogenetics: Gudrun Krämer
On Palestinian identity and life during the Ottoman period and British Mandate: Awad Halabi, Michael Brenner, Victor Kattan, Derek Penslar, Muriel Asseburg, Gudrun Krämer
On the history of Zionism: Michael Brenner, Awad Halabi, Victor Kattan, Oren Kessler, Derek Penslar, Anita Haviv

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Alex de Waal, Executive Director, World Peace Foundation, Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University

Hosts: Yusuf & Mert

Bio: Professor Alex de Waal is a leading authority on famine, mass atrocities, and the intersection of humanitarian crises and international law. He directs the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University’s Fletcher School and has conducted field research in Sudan, Ethiopia, Syria, and other conflict zones. Author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine, his work has shaped global understanding of how famine is both created and prevented. His research combines academic rigor, field expertise, and legal insight, particularly on the use of starvation as a weapon of war. He has written widely on famine, human rights, and conflict prevention, making him one of the foremost voices on mass atrocities worldwide.

In this episode: Recorded on August 7, 2025, this emergency chapter examines the unfolding starvation in Gaza. Professor de Waal explains why the current famine is both extreme and man-made, breaking down the military, bureaucratic, and logistical mechanisms driving mass starvation. He situates the crisis within international law, outlining the legal implications of starvation as a weapon and the responsibilities of all parties, including Germany and international civil society. The conversation also addresses reports of hostages being denied food and medical care, the verification of humanitarian data in a polarized context, and what immediate actions are needed to prevent further deaths. Finally, de Waal speaks directly to young people and civil society about the role they can play in responding to this urgent crisis.

This episode was recorded August 7, 2025.

Links:
Alex de Waal @ Fletcher School: https://facultyprofiles.tufts.edu/alex-dewaal
Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine (Polity, 2018): https://worldpeacefoundation.org/publication/mass-starvation-the-history-and-future-of-famine/
World Peace Foundation: worldpeacefoundation.org

Further Resources:
IPC: ipcinfo.org
FAO · UNICEF · WFP · WHO Joint Statement: https://www.who.int/news/item/22-08-2025-famine-confirmed-for-first-time-in-gaza
Sen, Amartya. Poverty and Famines. OUP, 1981: https://academic.oup.com/book/32827

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Alena Jabarine, Journalist and Author

Hosts: Philip & Efe

Bio: Alena Jabarine, born in 1985 in Hamburg, is a German-Palestinian journalist, author, and Middle East expert. She studied Political Science in Hamburg and earned a Master’s in International Relations in Barcelona. After a traineeship at NDR, she worked as a radio and TV reporter and contributed to NDR Info, STRG_F, Panorama 3, Monitor, StudioM, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, and Spotify Originals. She has received multiple awards, including the Kurt-Magnus-Preis (2016), MedienSpiegel (2016), Juliane-Bartel-Medienpreis (2018), and the Grimme Online Award (2021). From 2020-2022 she lived in Ramallah, reporting on everyday life and politics for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Since 2024, she has curated Gaza Talks at the Berliner Ensemble. In May 2025, her autobiographical book Der letzte Himmel. Meine Suche nach Palästina became a Spiegel bestseller, establishing her as one of the most prominent Palestinian voices in Germany today.

In this episode: Alena Jabarine shares her personal experiences as a Palestinian in Germany after October 7, reflecting on the impact of the attacks on her family in Israel and on the West Bank. She discusses how the events have shaped the lives of Palestinians in Germany, including experiences of discrimination, tensions in schools and workplaces, and media representation. She also reflects on pro-Palestinian protests, freedom of expression, and the role of German society, politics, and schools in responding to these developments.

This episode was recorded on July 8, 2025.

Links:

Jabarine, Alena. Der letzte Himmel: Meine Suche nach Palästina [The Last Sky. My Quest for Palestine]. Ullstein Verlag, 2025.

https://www.ullstein.de/urheberinnen/alena-jabarine

The Title of the Book is a reference to:

Darwish, Mahmoud. “The Earth Is Closing On Us.” Translated by Abdullah al‑Udhari, in Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry. Ed. Adonis, Samih al‑Qasim, and Mahmoud Darwish. London: Saqi Books, 1984, pp. 12‑13.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Dr. Michel Friedman, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences — Jurist, Philosopher, Author, Media Host, Public Intellectual

Hosts: Efe & Philip

Bio: Prof. Dr. Dr. Michel Friedman is one of Germany’s most prominent public intellectuals. Born in Paris in 1956 as the son of Holocaust survivors rescued by Oskar Schindler, most of his family was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, he has served as Vice President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, President of the European Jewish Congress, member of the CDU federal executive board, and editor of the Jüdische Allgemeine. He is Professor of Real Estate and Media Law at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, author, philosopher, and award-winning TV host. A passionate defender of democracy and minority rights, he has been a leading critic of antisemitism, racism, and populism. In January 2025, after the CDU/CSU parliamentary group passed its migration plan with AfD votes, Friedman resigned, denouncing a “dramatic breach of taboo.” He received the Federal Cross of Merit, the German Television Award, the Goethe Plaque of Frankfurt (2024), and is an Officer of the French Legion of Honor.

In this episode: Prof. Friedman reflects on Jewish experiences in Germany since October 7, 2023. We discuss how the Hamas attack reawakened trauma across Jewish communities and intensified antisemitism in schools, campuses, and public spaces. He shares personal memories as the son of Holocaust survivors, and speaks about challenges facing Jewish students and professionals today. We ask how society should respond to polarization, the responsibilities of schools and universities, and what he would tell Jewish youth questioning their future in Germany. Friedman also analyzes threats to democracy and open society, what still gives him hope, and the one sentence he would place in every school and public institution.

This episode was recorded on June 3, 2025.

Links:

Friedman, Michel. Mensch! Liebeserklärung eines verzweifelten Demokraten. Berlin Verlag, 2025. michelfriedman.info

Friedman, Michel. Judenhass: 7. Oktober 2023. Berlin Verlag. michelfriedman.info/judenhass/

On the Rise of Antisemitism in Germany:

Annual Report of Antisemitic Incidents in Germany 2024 by RIAS: PDF

RIAS Analysis since October 7: PDF

KOAS Zwischenbericht on 7 October 2023 impacts: PDF

Please check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives.

Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 (Prof. Claus Kreß); contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Khalil Sayegh, founder and executive director of The Agora Inititative, Washington, D.C.

Hosts: Efe & Mert

Bio:
Khalil Sayegh is a Palestinian Christian born and raised in the Gaza Strip in a refugee family, displaced during the 1948 Nakba. He lived through the Second Intifada, the 2008 Gaza War, and the rise of Hamas before moving to the West Bank and later to Washington, D.C. Today, he is one of the most prominent Gazan voices in the United States. His analysis appeared in the BBC, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Le Monde, and La Croix. The Parliament of the World’s Religions has described him as a moral leader with a “deep-rooted passion for justice and peace.” His quest for truth led him to an outlook in which he “deeply empathized with both Palestinians and Israelis regarding their experiences of the conflict,” as the Jewish Federation has highlighted.

Khalil Sayegh holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics from American University in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in democratization and political violence. He is the founder of The Agora Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering equal rights, security, and prosperity for both Palestinians and Israelis.

In this episode:
Khalil Sayegh shares his deeply personal story of growing up in Gaza as a Christian, living through war, and losing his sister Lara, his father Jeries, and many relatives and friends during the current devastation of Gaza. He speaks about the human realities in Gaza before and after October 7, the rise of Hamas, and what the outside world often misunderstands about Gazans. We discuss his journey from Gaza to Washington, his work with The Agora Initiative, and his views on both the global student protests and the local protests against Hamas, which he vocally supports. Finally, Khalil Sayegh reflects on hope, dialogue, and his vision for a shared future for Palestinians and Israelis.

This episode was recorded on June 11, 2025.

Links:

The Agora Initiative: https://theagorainitiative.org/about

Dedication:

We dedicate this Podcast to all victims and survivors of October 7, the hostages and their families, to all innocent civilians killed in Gaza and their grieving families and friends. To our dear guests Udi Goren, Khalil Sayegh, Sima and Mai who shared their losses so powerfully with us. To their families: Tal’s wife Ella Haimi, their children Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan who never got the chance to meet his father. To Khalil Sayegh’s mother and siblings, to Mai’s and Sima’s family, to her mother Bushra.

To the blessed memory of: 

Tal Haimi, Lara Sayegh, Jeris Sayegh, Mahmoud, Danny Darlington, and Haim Perry.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Udi Goren, Member of the steering committee of Bring Them Home Now!, the largest initiative of hostage families in Israel.

Host: Yusuf

Udi Goren is an Israeli photographer, author, travel guide, and former professional volleyball player who has become a leading voice in the campaign to free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. His cousin, Tal Haimi, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the October 7 Hamas attack and later confirmed killed, with his body still held in Gaza until October 20, 2025. Udi Goren is an elected member of the steering committee of Bring Them Home Now!, the largest initiative of hostage families, representing them in the Knesset and the media worldwide.

In this episode:
We speak with Udi Goren about October 7, his cousin Tal, his family’s personal tragedy, and the struggle of the hostage families. He shares insights into life in the kibbutzim before and after October 7, the challenges of grief and activism, and hopes for international solidarity. We discuss the work of Bring Them Home Now!, and what message he wants to send to young people in Berlin, home to both a large Palestinian diaspora and a vibrant Israeli community.

This episode was recorded on April 2, 2025.

Links:

https://stories.bringthemhomenow.net/

As a peace activist, Udi Goren works with Solutions - not Sides, the leading British NGO educating about the Israel-Palestine Conflict in Schools. Thanks to Udi Goren’s recommendation, we met the founder Sharon Booth and Mohamed Ali Amla who is responsible for the NGO’s youth programs. You can explore their important work in Episode 49. 

https://solutionsnotsides.co.uk/

Dedication:

We dedicate this Podcast to all victims and survivors of October 7, the hostages and their families, to all innocent civilians killed in Gaza and their grieving families and friends. To our dear guests Udi Goren, Khalil Sayegh, Sima and Mai who shared their losses so powerfully with us. To their families: Tal’s wife Ella Haimi, their children Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan who never got the chance to meet his father. To Khalil Sayegh’s mother and siblings, to Mai’s and Sima’s family, to her mother Bushra.

To the blessed memory of: 

Tal Haimi, Lara Sayegh, Jeris Sayegh, Mahmoud, Danny Darlington, and Haim Perry.

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Recorded on August 4, 2025, this dedication reflects the death tolls reported by OCHA at that time, when 50 hostages were still being held by Hamas.

As we prepare to publish our podcast, October 13, 2025, marked a turning point: after two long years of anguish, Israeli hostage families finally saw their loved ones return. While some families are still awaiting the remains of their loved ones, there was immense joy on this day. For Gazans, it was a moment of great relief amid ong oing devastation. Though the Peace Plan leaves many questions unresolved, people celebrated this day of relief across Israel and Palestine.

It is a profound gift for us that, after a year of bearing witness to these unfolding catastrophes, we could witness these deeply emotional moments of relief that reunited families on both sides.

We continue to pray and hope for a just peace, for security, dignity, and equality for all who call Israel and Palestine home.

We dedicate this Podcast to all victims and survivors of October 7, the (former) hostages and their families, to all innocent civilians killed and injured in Gaza and their grieving families and friends.

To our dear guests Udi Goren, Khalil Sayegh, Sima and Mai who shared their losses so generously and so powerfully with us.

To their families:
Tal’s wife Ella Haimi, their children Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan, who never had the chance to meet his father.
To Khalil Sayegh’s mother and siblings.
To Mai’s and Sima’s family, to her mother Bushra.

To the blessed memory of:

Tal Haimi,
Lara Sayegh,
Jeries Sayegh,
Mahmoud,
Danny Darlington and
Haim Perry.

Guests: Mohamed Ibrahim – Political Scientist and Educator; recipient of the Flechtheim Award for Democracy & Human Rights 2015

Sapir Huberman – Mediator, Curator, Scholar & Educator

Host: Efe

Bio: Mohamed Ibrahim is a political scientist specializing in international cooperation. For over 15 years, he has led workshops on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Israeli colleagues and works as an interreligious and intercultural trainer in Jewish-Muslim and Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. He has facilitated workshops for the Ehrlich-Ludwig-Studienwerk and Avicenna Studienwerk and moderated a Jewish-Muslim discussion group at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and raised in Germany, he received the Flechtheim Prize for Democracy and Human Rights in 2015 with Shemi Shabat for his dialogue work. He is one of the most respected voices for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in Germany.

Sapir Huberman is an Israeli mediator, curator, scholar, and cultural educator who develops educational programs on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish history, and Jewish life. She is pursuing a PhD in Literature and Cultural Studies at Justus Liebig University Giessen. Born in Tel Aviv as a descendant of Holocaust survivors, she has lived in Berlin for several years. The recent escalation of the Middle East conflict is deeply personal for her, as her siblings survived the October 7 massacre in a safe room in Kibbutz Beeri.

Together, Sapir Huberman and Mohamed Ibrahim create dialogue spaces that foster understanding through multiperspectivity, enabling nuanced engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They listen and reflect with care, cultivating spaces that hold the conflicting emotions arising from vastly different lived experiences.

In this episode: We speak with Mohamed Ibrahim and Sapir Huberman about their personal and family connections to Israel and Palestine and their work facilitating dialogue.

This episode was recorded September 7, 2025.

Links:

Mohamed Ibrahim: https://www.jmberlin.de/interview-tandemfuehrungen-ausstellung-jerusalem https://taz.de/Nahostkonflikt-und-Holocaust-an-Schulen/!5033577/

Sapir Huberman: https://il.linkedin.com/in/sapir-huberman-711b904

To contact both: NahostImDialog@gmx.de

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Welcome to our Israel/Palestine Podcast. In this mission statement, we introduce ourselves — Alexandria, Efe, Yusuf, Philip, and Mert — and speak about our learning journey developing this podcast series during our graduation year in Berlin-Neukölln, a district where Israel and Palestine are painfully present.

This Welcome note sets the stage for our series' exploration of history, law, human realities, and the complex challenges of understanding a conflict that echoes across generations.

This project emerged in the context of the Oberstufenforum (Upper Secondary Forum) at the Catholic Academy of Berlin, a platform fostering exchange between academia and schools. The most comprehensive shownotes with all cross references can be found on our main site at the Catholic Academy. The comment section is disabled on all platforms as we have not the capacity to facilitate discussions.

All 50 episodes will be released on December 30.

For any questions or feedback, contact us at: israel.palestine.podcast@gmail.com

Here is an outline of the principles that have guided our work, accompanied by a teacher.

A MULTI-PERSPECTIVE JOURNEY

This project follows a multi-perspective approach that reflects the complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Guided by the Beutelsbach Consensus, we aim to make visible what is controversial in academia and politics to empower students to develop empathy and think critically rather than be overwhelmed by opinion.

The podcast unfolds through eight chapters in 51 episodes that explore the human, historical, political, legal, psychological, and educational dimensions of this conflict. Together, they highlight the moral urgency of the current situation and make civil society’s perspectives for a just peace visible.

We don't claim to be comprehensive, nor do we intend to lecture anyone. We're simply sharing our own learning journey – in the hope that others can learn from our guests as well.

Within the historical chapter, we pursued two complementary lines: one rooted in collective narratives and one coming from an analytical distance. Both can intersect and enhance each other. Both are represented by recognized scholars. We moved from the big picture to the close-up, focusing on the Mandate and 1948 as these periods are most relevant to understand current debates.

The political and legal episodes focus on analytical depth rather than ideological polarity, showcasing complex and nuanced positions, while reflecting controversies.

Multiperspectivity, however, never means neutrality: Human rights and international law are the foundation of responsible multiperspectivism.

To help us navigate this complex field, the project is guided by two anchor episodes.
🔹 All contested historical matters are addressed by the world renowned historian Prof. Gudrun Krämer, author of the acclaimed reference work “A History of Palestine. From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel” (C.H. Beck 2015 / Princeton University Press 2008).
🔹 All contested legal matters are addressed by Prof. Claus Kreß, one of the principal academic authorities on international criminal law, co-author of the Rome Statute, Special Advisor to the ICC, and Judge ad hoc at the ICJ.

Our work has been AI assisted, verified by experts. It was led by five student hosts and guided by a teacher. All final decisions were made by the students.

These podcast interviews were recorded over the course of an entire year during a rapidly evolving situation. The recording date for each episode is noted in the show notes.

All interviews were either based on students’ own questions, complemented by the teacher to ensure a coherent learning arc, or conducted as research assignments inspired by questions that emerged along the way. In this way, every interview was like a lesson hosted by the students.

Guests: Jouanna Hassoun / Shai Hoffmann – Trialog / Gesellschaft im Wandel gGmbH

Hosts: Philip, Bünyamin

Bio: Jouanna Hassoun is the founder of Transaidency, a German-Palestinian organization promoting intercultural dialogue, empowerment, and human rights education. She regularly facilitates dialogue formats in schools.

Shai Hoffmann is a Social entrepreneur, educational activist, and podcast host (Über Israel und Palästina sprechen). Known for innovative political dialogue initiatives such as the Bus der Begegnungen and Tiny Space Über Israel und Palästina sprechen, he brings together people who rarely engage with one another.

Together, Jouanna and Shai run the project Trialog, visiting schools since October 7 to discuss the massacre, the ongoing devastation of Gaza, and its impact on Muslim and Jewish life in Germany. Their aim is to create spaces where students can ask difficult questions, explore multiple perspectives, and see that both Jewish and Palestinian experiences matter. Their work and experiences are documented in a common book. They have both received numerous awards for the commitment for human rights and peace education.

In this episode: We speak with Jouanna Hassoun and Shai Hoffmann about their personal and family connections to Israel and Palestine, how these shaped their identities in Germany, and their first encounters with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They share their experiences conducting dialogue and human rights education in schools: what works, typical challenges, and surprising student reactions. They discuss how the current attacks on international law affect democracy education and the challenges teachers face when engaging with controversial issues in classrooms and why they should not avoid speaking about the Middle East conflict. Finally, Jouanna and Shai share their short- and long-term visions for Israel and Palestine, highlighting the importance of dialogue, humanity, and principled engagement in times of crisis.

This episode was recorded April 14, 2025.

Links:

Shai Hoffmann: https://shaihoffmann.de/

Jouanna Hassoun: https://www.instagram.com/jouannahassoun/?hl=de

Trialog: https://israelpalaestinavideos.org/trialog-buch

Transaidency e.V.: https://transaidency.org/trialoge-israel-palaestina/

Gesellschaft im Wandel gGmbH: https://www.gesellschaftimwandel.org/

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel, Bildungsstätte Anne Frank / Frankfurt UAS

Hosts: Philip & Efe

Bio: Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel is an educator, historian, and publicist. Since 2010, he has been the Director of the Anne Frank Educational Center in Frankfurt am Main and also serves as Professor of Transnational Social Work at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. He is considered one of the most important voices in Germany when it comes to issues of remembrance culture, antisemitism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in education and culture. For his work, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2024 and together with his wife Saba-Nur Chema the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal in 2025.

In this episode: We speak with Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel about the current escalation in the Middle East and its impact on politics, society, and education in Germany. Together we explore why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict provokes such deep divisions worldwide, how antisemitism and racism surface in this context, and what challenges schools are facing. Prof. Mendel discusses how teachers can reflect existing controversies in a multiperspectival way that allows students to engage critically and form their own opinions. We also look at political measures such as bans on symbols and restrictions on freedom of expression, and ask how educators should address the contentious debate surrounding the term genocide.

This episode was recorded August 4, 2025.

Links:

Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel: https://www.meronmendel.de/

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.

Guest: Alexandra Senfft – Author; vice-chair of the Study Group on Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust PAKH 

Hosts: Efe & Philip 

Bio: Alexandra Senfft is a German writer and free-lance journalist, a Middle East expert, and political author. She studied Middle Eastern Studies and worked as a non-partisan Middle East adviser for the Green Party in the Bundestag/German parliament, later serving as UNRWA observer in the West Bank and UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza until 1991. Senfft has worked extensively in Israel as a journalist and expert, served on the board of the German-Israeli Working Group for Peace in the Middle East, and collaborated with Israeli psychologist Dan Bar-On in the Storytelling in Conflict program, bringing descendants of Holocaust victims and perpetrators into dialogue, later extended to Israelis and Palestinians. Her books include Schweigen tut weh (2007, Silence Hurts), Zwischen Antisemitismus und Islamophobie (2008, Between Antisemitism and Islamophobi), Der lange Schatten der Täter (2016, The Long Shadow of the Perpetrators), and Onkel Pauls Geigenbogen. Die Familiengeschicht eines preußischen Sinto (2019, Great Uncle Paul’s Violin Bow). She is vice-chair of the Study Group on Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust PAKH and a board member of the Lagergemeinschaft Dachau (camp community of Dachau) and founder and board member of Parents Circle Friends Germany,. In this episode: Efe and Philip speak with Alexandra Senfft about the long shadow of the Nazi era and intergenerational consequences in Germany. Senfft reflects on being the first grandchild of a Nazi perpetrator to publicly confront her family history, exposing the silence and denial shaping many perpetrator families. The conversation explores familial silence, perceptions of responsibility, and societal implications of unaddressed trauma and guilt. Senfft discusses her work in the framework of Holocaust intergenerational studies, her UNRWA experience in Westbank and Gaza, lessons from Dan Bar-On’s dialogue-based conflict resolution, and how dialogue between Germans, Israelis and Palestinians can help address complex inherited emotions and attitudes. 

This episode was recorded July 2, 2025.

Links:

Alexandra Senfft: https://alexandra-senfft.de/

Disclaimer:
Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team.

Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.