Occupied Thoughts

Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
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From the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), Occupied Thoughts amplifies the voices of FMEP grantees and partners, offers critical framing, and promote new ideas and new angles on the many issues connected to achieving justice, security, and peace for Palestinians and Israelis. FMEP works to defend and support Palestinian rights, end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and ensure a just and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis. FMEP advances this goal through its grants program, public programming, and research. www.fmep.org

  1. 1D AGO

    Gaza's Disappeared

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Mahmoud Mushtaha, a journalist and researcher from Gaza, and Obada Shtaya, the co-founder and CEO of the West Bank-based Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Mahmoud recently published two articles that focus on the thousands of people still missing in Gaza, drawing in part from research that Obada's institute conducted. Ahmed, Mahmoud, and Obada speak about the people who have been disappeared in Palestine and the social impact on survivors, and they discuss their backgrounds and experiences as Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. Mahmoud's recent articles: "Hassan Took a Bike Ride. Now He’s One of the Thousands Missing in Gaza," Wired Magazine (March 2026); "What Happens When You Can’t Get a Death Certificate in Gaza," Wired Magazine (March 2026); Obada Shtaya is Co-Founder and CEO of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Palestinian journalist and researcher from Gaza, and the author of Sobrevivir al genocidio en Gaza (“Surviving the Genocide in Gaza”), his first book, published in Spanish. Their partnership is a product of the Palestine Reporting Lab. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

    57 min

  2. APR 23

    The Roots of Israel’s Aggression Against Lebanon

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Bard College Professor Ziad Abu-Rish about the roots of Israel’s aggression against Lebanon. They discuss why Israel has been attacking Lebanon since 1948, why Hezbollah continues to fight Israel, and why the Lebanese military can’t disarm Hezbollah. They draw upon this article that Ziad recently published in The Public Source, “Sovereignty Without Defense: The Army, the State, and Hezbollah’s Weapons." 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 MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Ziad Abu-Rish is Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies and Director, MA Program in Human Rights and the Arts at Bard College. He is a scholar of the modern Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. His research centers around state formation, economic development, and popular mobilizations, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan. His teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses in human rights; comparative state formation; various themes in Middle East studies; and research methodologies. Abu-Rish is the author of The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence (Stanford University Press, 2026). He co-created (with artist Tania El Khoury) The Search for Power, a touring lecture performance and sound installation exploring the history of electricity in Beirut. Abu-Rish is also coeditor of The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (2012) and Critical Voices: A Collection of Interviews from and on the Middle East (2015). Abu-Rish has also authored several articles appearing in Middle East Report and Review of Middle East Studies and chapters in edited volumes on the political economy of the Middle East, the Arab uprisings, and teaching Middle East history. Abu-Rish also serves as coeditor of Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya e-zine, and codirector of the Lebanese Dissertation Summer Institute. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

    48 min

  3. APR 20

    Europe Reckons with the "Israel Impunity Tax"

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman is joined by political analyst/commentator Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), for a far-ranging conversation about Europe's equities, concerns, and options with respect to current events in the Middle East (the US/Israel war on Iran, Israel's wars on Lebanon and Gaza, and Israel's escalation in the West Bank) including with respect to US-Europe relations. Follow Daniel's work on Substack - https://substack.com/@daniellevy2

    39 min

  4. APR 16

    Iran War - A regional tour d'horizon with Omar Rahman

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Middle East policy journalist, analyst, and author Omar Rahman about the Iran War and its impacts in the region. Their conversation explores: Iran-U.S. diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and challenges to ending this war. The Trump Administration's blockade of Iran's blockade of the Straits of Hormuz The impact of the Iran War on the policies/interests/unity of Gulf states Israel's war on Lebanon and its impacts for the region The rapidly expanding/shifting Overton window with respect to support for Israel in the U.S. Also see Omar's articles referenced in the podcast: His 4/7/26 article in Foreign Policy: The Gulf’s Wartime Unity Is Unraveling: https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/07/iran-united-states-gulf-uae-qatar-bahrain-saudi-oman-war/ His 4/15/26 article in the National Interest: In Blockading Iran, the US Forgot About China: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/in-blockading-iran-the-us-forgot-about-china His 3/4/26 co-authored piece in Foreign Policy: Security Alliances With the U.S. Have Made Gulf States More Vulnerable: https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/04/iran-united-states-war-gulf-states-alliances/

    1h 4m

  5. APR 13

    The Iran Blockade and Israel's War Logic

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor holds a quick conversation with FMEP President Lara Friedman in which they discuss the U.S.'s "blockade of a blockade" in the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of thinking that seems to characterize it; the Israeli effort to undo Oslo, undo the Gaza "disengagement", and undo the withdrawal from Lebanon; and the question of whether Israel considers Turkey to be a peer competitor. Lara Friedman is FMEP’s president. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, She is a leading authority on the Middle East, with particular expertise on U.S. foreign policy in the region, on Israel/Palestine, and on the way Middle East and Israel/Palestine-related issues play out in Congress and in U.S. domestic politics, policies, and legislation. Lara is also a preeminent subject-matter expert in the area of anti-Palestinian legislation and “lawfare,” including the weaponization and instrumentalization of the definition of and concerns about antisemitism. Lara’s research on lawfare and antisemitism-related topics – which she makes available to the public – is widely cited and widely recognized as the authoritative data in the field. Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com.  Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

    21 min

  6. APR 10

    Iran, the DNC, and Prospects for a Ceasefire: A conversation with Matt Duss

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with foreign policy analyst Matt Duss about whether the US has lost the war on Iran and whether the Israelis drove the US's entry into the war. They talk about prospects for Democratic party intervention on the war and the ways in which US policy towards Israel may be changed over time, looking at party politics as well as elections. Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

    38 min

  7. APR 7

    Censorship, Repression, and Migration of Jewish Israelis

    In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with journalist Oren Ziv (+972 Magazine/Local Call & Activestills) about the dynamics of reporting on war and living in Israel. Drawing on a recent article Oren published on +972, "‘Our coverage is not truthful’: How Israel is censoring reporting on the war," the two discuss the realities of the war with Iran and the challenges of reporting on it inside of Israel amidst direct government censorship and harassment of journalists and activists by police as well as deputized, armed vigilantes. They talk about the ways that the the Israeli administration normalizes permanent war with Iran and Hezbollah for the Jewish Israeli public, similar to the ways that permanent war with Palestinians has been normalized. They discuss how different sectors of Jewish Israeli society relate to information about the genocide in Gaza and abuse of Palestinians more broadly, including what some choose not to know, what some celebrate, and what others are coming to accept. They also look at the trend of both leftwing and more mainstream Israelis who are emigrating from Israel, noting that the numbers are as yet unknown but seem to be growing. Finally, they talk about solidarity activism and organizing among Israelis, including how they approach more mainstream Israeli society.  Oren Ziv is a photojournalist, reporter for Local Call and +972 Magazine, and a founding member of the Activestills photography collective. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com.  Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

    1h 3m

  8. APR 6

    Challenging Anti-Palestinian Repression in the UK & Europe

    In this episode of FMEP's Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Amira Abdelhamid, Director of Research & Monitoring at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC). The ELSC is the first and only independent organization defending and empowering the Palestine solidarity movement across Europe through legal, research, and advocacy support. Check out the ELSC online at https://elsc.support/ and on X at https://x.com/elsclegal Lara and Amira talked about the ELSC, it's work challenging anti-Palestinian repression in the UK and Europe, and about the recently launched database, Britain’s Index of Repression and the previously launched database, Germany's Index of Repression [check out both databases at https://www.index-of-repression.org/ -- developed/published in partnership with Forensic Architecture (https://forensic-architecture.org/( and Forensis (https://counter-investigations.org/)], as well as ELSC's recent report: On All Fronts: The Multi-Sited Repression of Palestine Solidarity in Britain -- https://elsc.support/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/On-All-Fronts-The-Multi-Sited-Repression-of-Palestine-Solidarity-in-Britain.pdf.

    50 min
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About

From the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), Occupied Thoughts amplifies the voices of FMEP grantees and partners, offers critical framing, and promote new ideas and new angles on the many issues connected to achieving justice, security, and peace for Palestinians and Israelis. FMEP works to defend and support Palestinian rights, end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and ensure a just and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis. FMEP advances this goal through its grants program, public programming, and research. www.fmep.org

Information

  • Creator
    Occupied Thoughts by FMEP
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    352
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Occupied Thoughts

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