Occupied Thoughts Occupied Thoughts by FMEP

This session assessed the current situation on the ground in Gaza, how we got here, including the events of October 7, as well as conditions in the West Bank, along the Israel-Lebanon border, and broader regional dynamics.

Panelists: Mkhaimar Abusada (Al-Azhar University of Gaza) & Mairav Zonszein (International Crisis Group); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman

For more information and resources, please visit:

This session reviewed and analyzed the role Congress & the Executive have played vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular, both before and since 10/7/23.

Panelists: Josh Paul (former official at the U.S. Department of State), Zaha Hassan (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Tess McEnery (Middle East Democracy Center); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 4-26-2024.

For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

This session examined humanitarian conditions and issues of international law and accountability, including the ongoing genocide case before the International Court of Justice.

Panelists: Raz Segal (Stockton University), Sherine Tadrous (Amnesty International), Chris Gunness (Former UNRWA spokesperson); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-3-2024.

For more information and resources, please visit:https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

What comes next? This session examined the prospects for reconstruction and governance in Gaza as well as implications of the ongoing crisis for internal Palestinian politics and the future of the Palestinian national movement.

Panelists: Abdelhadi Alijl (Social & Political Scientist), Nour Odeh (Political Activist), Mouin Rabbani (Jaddaliya); co-moderated by MEI’s Khaled Elgindy and FMEP’s Lara Friedman. Recorded 5-10-2024

For more information and resources, please visit: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) speak with Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP) about "The Gaza Catastrophe: 2024 Congressional Briefing Series." The Congressional Briefing Series is an educational program conducted annually by the Middle East Institute’s Palestinian Affairs Program and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) to brief members of Congress and their staff on the most pressing issues facing Israel and Palestine today.

Go to this link for the full series: https://fmep.org/the-gaza-catastrophe-a-private-briefing-for-congress/

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Shraddha Joshi and Asmer Safi, two student activists organizing for Palestinian solidarity at Harvard University. Harvard is withholding both of their degrees due to their campus activism. Peter, Shraddha, and Asmer discuss the dynamics and motivations that draw students into pro-Palestinian activism, the messages that campus activists are trying to convey, and how Harvard has failed to keep campus activists safe.

Shraddha Joshi is part of Harvard's class of 2024, but her degree is currently being withheld for a year due to her involvement with pro-Palestine organizing. At Harvard, she studied Social Studies with Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights and Arabic. She has been actively organizing with Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee since her freshman year. Next fall, she intends to pursue her MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge as a Harvard-UK Fellow, although her plans are now in flux due to her degree status.

Asmer Safi is an undergraduate student at Harvard University, hailing from Pakistan, studying Social Studies and Ethnicity, Migration and Rights. He was expected to graduate in May of 2024, but his degree was withheld by the Harvard Corporation on account of his participation in Pro-Palestine activism on Harvard's campus. Asmer is also a Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan and was scheduled to matriculate at Oxford in the fall of 2024 to pursue an MPhil in Intellectual History.

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator.

Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.