Unpacking Zionism

Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
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Produced by the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, this podcast features conversations with scholars, activists, and artists about their insights into Zionism. Unpacking Zionism is a process and a long-term commitment that we at the Institute are making to the Palestinian liberation struggle and the struggles of all people affected by Zionism. To resist the current moment of Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we must understand Zionism. So join us on this journey as we are Unpacking Zionism one episode at a time. Please subscribe to Unpacking Zionism so you never miss new episodes. To learn more about the Institute and to access episode notes and transcripts, visit our website https://criticalzionismstudies.org

  1. APR 23

    In Flames: On Anti-Anti-Zionism with Sean Malloy & Emmaia Gelman

    Episode's resources: https://mondoweiss.net/2025/12/stop-calling-right-wing-criticism-of-israel-anti-zionism/

    26 min

  2. APR 14

    Empire’s Laboratory: ‏الأرض اللي بطعمي The land that feeds

    In this episode, Alex and Lara talk with Danya Nadar about the ways Zionism  is implicated in the ongoing destruction and plunder of land and resources in Guatemala, especially  through imported land-based practices and irrigation technologies, and  the ways that Indigenous people continue to resist. Bio: Danya Nadar is an Egyptian-Canadian PhD candidate affiliated with the Institute of Development Policy (IOB) at the University of Antwerp since 2020. From 2009, Danya worked as a documentary film and news producer focusing on social and political economy topics in North Africa and east of the Mediterranean, and where she is also part of the revolutionary media collective mosireen.org. In 2018 she switched careers to pursue her passion, conducting research alongside Indigenous peasant farmers. She was a research fellow (2019-2020) at the International Development Research Centre in Canada which allowed her to continue the research she had started in occupied Palestine (2018-2019) on ancestral knowledges related to seeds, land tenure, gendered social dynamics, and alternative/parallel food networks. Her current research looks at the interconnected ways food is weaponized by relationally comparing the colonization of Palestine (past to present) with that of Ch’orti’ territories in Guatemala’s east, and the ways ancestral knowledges related to land, seeds, and cosmo vision to resist land encroachment and dispossession towards reconstitution of ancestral territories. Show notes: https://agroecologynow.net/agricultural-research-in-times-of-the-eu-race-to-arms/ Antony Loewenstein book: https://antonyloewenstein.com/books/the-palestine-laboratory-how-israel-exports-the-technology-of-occupation-around-the-world/

    40 min

  3. MAR 17

    Empire’s Laboratory: Palestine has always been a global phenomenon

    Nadim Bawalsa is a historian of modern Palestine and the author of Transnational Palestine: Migration and the Right of Return before 1948 (Stanford University Press, 2022), winner of the 2023 Nikki Keddie Book Award and the 2023 Palestine Book Award. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Shownotes: Nadim's book: https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/transnational-palestine Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism by Peter Winn: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/weavers-of-revolution-9780195045581 Between Arab and White: Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora by Sarah Gualtieri ucpress.edu/book/9780520255340/between-arab-and-white Extra readings from Nadim: Nadim Bawalsa with the Arab Center Washington DC: https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/transnational-palestine/ On the limits of Palestinian-Chilean solidarity with Palestine today: https://fromtheperiphery.com/2025/09/29/206-the-limits-of-palestinian-ness-w-pablo-abufom/ A special issue in JPS on Palestinian migration before 1948: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpal20/46/2?nav=tocList

    41 min

  4. MAR 5

    In Flames: On Iran and Intersectional Anti-Imperialism with Manijeh Moradian

    Episode's resources: Iran and the US Anti-War Movement https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/25872/Iran-and-the-US-Anti-War-Movement Iran in Crisis: Seven Essays on the Obstacles to Freedom https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/47192/Iran-in-Crisis-Seven-Essays-on-the-Obstacles-to-Freedom-Introduction Raha Iranian Feminist Collective https://www.rahafeministcollective.org/ Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions, and State Repression https://web.archive.org/web/20230209153914/http://havaar.org/category/campaign/ https://www.instagram.com/feminists4jina/ https://www.instagram.com/decolonize_anarchism/

    26 min

  5. MAR 5

    Introducing: In Flames

    Introducing a new series of podcast shorts: In Flames. Episodes are anti-Zionist hot takes on what's happening right now. With rotating hosts from the Institute's Collective and Advisory Board. Subscribe so you don't miss new episodes.

    1 min

  6. MAR 3

    Empire’s Laboratory: Walking with Palestinians, Zapatistas, Panthers, and jaguars

    In this episode, Alex and Lara interview Linda Quiquivix about radical histories and traditions of resistance to colonialism, with a focus on Zionism and its instantiations in Latin America. Palestine 1492: A Report Back by Linda Quiquivix, available for free here: https://wildoxbooks.org/books/palestine-1492/ Jimmy Johnson & Linda Quiquivix, "Israel and Mexico Swap Notes on Abusing Rights" found here: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-and-mexico-swap-notes-abusing-rights/12475 For Zapatista communiques see: https://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/ Mentioned in the episode: México Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization, found here: https://utpress.utexas.edu/9780292708433/

    43 min

  7. FEB 16

    The Anti-Defamation League’s Attacks on Professional Associations: What to Know and How to Respond

    This episode is a recording of a webinar titled "The Anti-Defamation League’s Attacks on Professional Associations: What to Know and How to Respond," hosted by Scholars for Justice and Human Rights in Professional Associations on February 9, 2026. The focus of the session was the Anti-Defamation League's November 2025 report falsely alleging that over a dozen professional academic associations were riddled with antisemitism, based on interviews with a small number of pro-Israel voices inside these associations. Panelists discussed how we should understand the ADL today — an organization that once claimed to serve civil rights but is now partnering directly with the white nationalist right — and how we can configure resistance. The panelists included Emmaia Gelman, Amira Jarmakani, Isaac Kamola, and Lara Deeb, with commentary from Amy Hagopian and Roy Eidelson of SJHRPA. Emmaia Gelman is director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, co-chair of the American Studies Association Academic and Community Activism Caucus, and author of The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State (forthcoming from the University of California Press). Amira Jarmakani is a professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and affiliated faculty with the Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies and LGBTQ+ studies at San Diego State University. She is a core member of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism and a Member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective. Isaac Kamola is a professor of Political Science at Trinity College. He currently directs the American Association of University Professors’(AAUP) Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, which is committed to the pursuit of knowledge free from intimidation and retaliation. Lara Deeb is a professor of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at Scripps College. She co-chairs the Middle East Studies Association’s Task Force on Civil and Human Rights. The task force tracks the changing political and legal context as it impacts scholars of the Middle East and produces resources to support faculty and students. Amy Hagopian is a professor emeritus in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. She has been a leader in the American Public Health Association for over two decades, recently serving as chair of the editorial board of the Association’s journal. Last year, after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association’s International Health Section, the Association revoked her membership when an anonymous complainant claimed they were made to feel unsafe by her work for Palestinian health justice within the Association. Roy Eidelson is the past president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence of the American Psychological Association. He is the author of Doing Harm: How the World's Largest Psychological Association Lost Its Way in the War on Terror. Video recording available here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jbInc34588

    1h 20m

  8. FEB 3

    Empire’s Laboratory: The Bombs Dropped in West Asia Explode at Home

    In this first episode, ICSZ founding collective member, Lara Sheehi, is joined by advisory board member and co-host, Alex Aviña. Using Alex’s concept and analysis of the Palestine-Mexico border as an orienting frame, they talk about why this series feels especially urgent now, and also discuss his newest analysis about the US imperial aggression on Venezuela. Alex Aviña, “Notes from the Palestine-Mexico Border,” NACLA (Sept 3, 2025), https://nacla.org/notes-from-the-palestine-mexico-border. Alex Aviña, “The Cult of Hercules-Mammon is Back,” Foreign Exchanges (Jan 13, 2026), https://www.foreignexchanges.news/p/the-cult-of-hercules-mammon-is-back.

    42 min
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About

Produced by the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, this podcast features conversations with scholars, activists, and artists about their insights into Zionism. Unpacking Zionism is a process and a long-term commitment that we at the Institute are making to the Palestinian liberation struggle and the struggles of all people affected by Zionism. To resist the current moment of Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we must understand Zionism. So join us on this journey as we are Unpacking Zionism one episode at a time. Please subscribe to Unpacking Zionism so you never miss new episodes. To learn more about the Institute and to access episode notes and transcripts, visit our website https://criticalzionismstudies.org

Information

  • Creator
    Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Unpacking Zionism

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