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A weekly podcast focused on long-form interviews on history, pop culture and society affecting the MENA region and diaspora communities. It aims to inform and illuminate the region through a non-newsy lens, exploring the MENA region's past, present and future and its people. Each episode begins with a question and an introduction to an expert who will attempt to answer it.
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Can Zionism survive the current war in Gaza? Israeli historian Ilan Pappé believes it can’t. In fact, he argues that the liberation of Palestine is an inevitability. Pappé is the author of 24 books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and most recently published two books: ‘Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic’ and ‘A Very Short History …
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Before the formation of the Israeli Defence Forces in 1948, there were three underground Zionist militias - The Haganah, the Irgun and the Lehi. They differed in tactics and beliefs, and at times fought with each other - but together they terrorised Palestinian villages and executed bombings and assassinations against the British to force them to g…
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Can Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump without ending the war in Gaza? That could be up to a handful of key swing states, including Michigan, home to 150,000 Arab-American voters. This is a community that has never had a political voice in Washington, that is, until now. A group of activists, community organisers and political insiders have come tog…
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Does Elon Musk have too much power over how we communicate online? Is he using that power to fuel dangerous far-right conspiracies? This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we’re joined by Marc Owen Jones, social media analyst, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University in Doha. Over the last few weeks, he’s been documenting the Southpo…
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What is the price tag for convincing Iran to back down? The US is desperately trying to keep a lid on the heightened tensions in the Middle East, following Israel’s assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Hanieyeh in Iran’s capital, and the airstrike on a Beirut suburb that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the gambler a…
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Two assassinations. Two capital cities. Less than 24 hours. One struck an apartment in downtown Beirut, killing a woman and two children - targeting a Hezbollah senior commander. Then just hours later, a strike in the heart of Tehran, assassinating Hamas’ most high profile figure, and its political chief - Ismail Hanieyah. Israel has claimed the fi…
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Just days out from a historic general election expected to usher in a Labour government for the first time in 14 years - we speak to one of its most vocal and fiery MPs - Naz Shah. Shah has been the MP for Bradford West since 2015 - after beginning her career as a carer with the NHS and a community advocate - campaigning among other things for the …
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Can a lone 24 year old Palestinian take on the Labour Party? That’s what Leanne Mohamad is determined to do, campaigning as an independent candidate in the safe Labour seat of Ilford North at the upcoming general elections. It’s no small feat - she’s up against Wes Streeting, a senior party heavyweight and a man tapped by many as Keir Starmer’s suc…
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Jeremy Corbyn was the Labour MP for North Islington for 40 years - his entire political career. But not anymore. Now, he’s campaigning against his former party, trying to convince his lifelong voters to abandon the party that abandoned him. After he was suspended from the Labour Party by his former shadow minister Keir Starmer, Corbyn chose to stan…
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In 2004, Les Roberts smuggled himself into Iraq as his own government was in the midst of bombing and occupying the country. His mission was to find out how many civilians had been killed in the devastating US-led invasion, because Western media was refusing to cover it. When he published his findings in the Lancet Report, that between 100,000 and …
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We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval - one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest campuses in the world. They’re all fighting for Gaza, and against an increasingly isolated Israeli government and its Western backers. So are we witnessing …
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Fiona Lali wants to bring down the British government, as well as capitalism. The marxist organiser turned independent candidate in the upcoming UK general elections says there’s a link between the powerful protest movement for Palestine and the widespread anger felt by young people and workers alike. Lali went viral in May when she confronted form…
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Will Benjamin Netanyahu face justice at the Hague? The International Criminal Court on Monday issued arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders over their actions in Gaza and on 7 October, accusing them both of committing war crimes. It’s an unprecedented move, the first time a US-ally has been pursued by the ICC. Prosecutor Karim Khan says…
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Winston Churchill is one of the most biographed figures in modern history, and held up as an orator and wartime strategist that turned the tide against Hitler and Nazi Germany. But how accurate is this image? And is it hiding a darker reality? This week on The Big Picture, we sit down with British-Pakistani writer, political activist and public int…
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“I was definitely raised to be a Jewish leader of some kind.” With college campuses all over the US gripped by intense battles around free speech, antisemitism and Palestinian rights - the voices of young Jewish Americans have led the way. One of the boldest and most prominent voices is that of Simone Zimmerman. Zimmerman was raised in a conservati…
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Did Iran fall into Israel’s trap when it attacked on Saturday, or did it outmanoeuvre Netanyahu? Are we on the brink of regional war, or can the US contain the spill? When Israel bombed an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on 1 April, killing top Iranian commanders, many saw it as bait laid out by Benjamin Netanyahu to force a direct confrontati…
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Is Europe ‘nostalgic for a racist past’ when it didn’t have to apologise for its colonialism? In this week’s episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with renowned Australian anthropologist Ghassan Hage. Hage is currently fighting against the prestigious Max Planck Society in Germany over accusations of ‘antisemitism’ over his critiques of Israel. T…
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In this episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with Sadiq Khan for a wide ranging conversation about Labour’s election hopes, his political regrets and his vision for the future of London. Sadiq Khan wants to make history by winning a third term as London’s mayor - but his confidence is shaky. A winter of mass protests, a smear campaign in the med…
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How do you humanise people facing unimaginable odds? That was the task Plestia Alaqad gave herself when she first put on her press vest on October 7. Freshly graduated from journalism school and dreaming of a bright future, she suddenly found herself in the middle of a war zone, with the eyes of the world watching. Armed with her phone and internet…
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In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein to talk about how for decades, Israel used its occupation of Palestinians as a testing ground for new weaponry, which it then packages and sells to governments around the world. In fact, Loewenstein argues that since its inception, Israel built …
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What does coverage of Gaza tell us about how the West sees the rest of the world? A recent report into mainstream news coverage found Islamophobic and anti-Arab language was widely used in coverage of the events after 7 October, with Israeli victims described using emotive language 11 times more than Palestinian victims. It also documented how pro-…
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Why are Western societies so fearful of Islam and Muslims? One can answer this question by examining history, particularly that of European colonial powers, and the ways in which they justified their actions in the Global South by painting its peoples and religions as alien and in need of reformation. Another answer can be found in the murky ties b…
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How deep does racism run within the Labour Party? Since the start of the Gaza war, there's been a growing anger within British Muslim communities at Labour's perceived lack of leadership on the Palestinian issue, and on the calls for a ceasefire. Under Sir Keir Starmer, the opposition party has towed the government line, publicly supporting Israel'…
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This week on the Big Picture, we speak with British political activist, author and deputy chair of the Stop The War Coalition, Chris Nineham. Nineham was instrumental in organising the historic anti-war demonstrations in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq - which saw millions flood the streets in major cities across the globe - and is considered the…
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It is impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the ongoing war in Gaza - the death toll, the horrific footage, the world’s inability to bring it to an end. That is compounded for Palestinians, many with family members directly impacted, who feel they’ve always been seen through a racist and islamophobic lens, and that speaking out is a political act w…
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What does it take to shift the UK’s position on Palestine? One lawmaker, Layla Moran, has a deeply personal drive to fight for change. Her relatives have been trapped in a Gaza Church for days, surrounded by Israeli snipers and tanks and running out of food and water. Moran has been fighting to change the position of her Liberal Democrats Party for…
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Can Western leaders be held to account for their role in the Gaza war? This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with one lawyer determined to do just that, and who has already put many of them on public notice. Tayab Ali is Solicitor Advocate, a partner at the London Law firm Bindmans LLP and the director of the International Centre of Jus…
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Joe Biden has pursued a ‘no red lines’ policy in his support for Israel’s war in Gaza, despite it being deeply unpopular among his own voters. The growing anger in Arab and Muslim American communities in key swing states has pushed many to vow they won’t vote for him in the 2024 Presidential elections. While only making up 1% of the population - it…
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Josh Paul created a big stir when he resigned from the US State Department in protest of the sale of weapons to Israel. In a highly publicised letter, he said the rush to arm Israel’s war in Gaza was “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory” The former arms trade expert, who helped the US train the Iraqi police and the Palestinian Autho…
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Is there a path back from the brink for Israel and Palestine? Under the blinding influence of fury and revenge after the October 7 attack, Israel has waged a relentless war in Gaza which killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 1.5 million people. But beyond its stated aim to eliminate Hamas, there seems to be no plan for what h…
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Are there Hamas tunnels under hospitals? Did Israel give up Gaza in 2005? Did the Palestinians reject their own state? This week on The Big Picture, we examine a widely shared interview with Hillary Clinton, praised as informative and illuminating. Except most of what she says about Gaza isn’t true - so why is she misleading the public? It could be…
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Are Western leaders sleepwalking into a disaster in the Middle East? As regional tensions surge amid Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, its allies in the US and Europe have refused calls to de-escalate the conflict and prevent the staggering toll on human life from spiralling further. Western countries vowed to stand by Israel as it responds to the …
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On Wednesday, the world woke up to newspapers plastered with a horrific headline about ‘40 Israeli babies decapitated by Hamas’. But was the story true? We dig into the dizzying, circular debate around the darkest story of an already devastating week and ask whether journalists fulfilled their duty to fact-check it, or instead helped Israel justify…
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The history of Palestinian liberation movements is paved with setbacks, betrayals and bitter rivalries. What began as an attempt to unify the resistance against Israeli occupation has over time been undermined by regional and global political interests, ideological differences and disagreements over the justification, and use, of guerilla tactics. …
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What is the fate of Imran Khan? After more than a year of political turmoil following his ousting, the embattled former Pakistani leader is in prison, fighting dozens of charges from corruption to sedition to selling state secrets. He’s also been barred from taking part in the country’s upcoming elections, and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, i…
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Ireland’s fight for independence from British rule has defined how it sees itself in the world - as a liberated people compelled to fight against oppression everywhere. This sentiment formed its proud stance of ‘neutrality’, which saw it refuse to engage in World War II, and defines its strong and vocal support for the fight against Apartheid - fir…
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How far would you go to protect a client? When Muhammad Rabbani, a human rights advocate, was stopped and interrogated on his way back to the UK after working with a high profile client, it was an experience he was familiar with. As a Muslim and an activist, he'd been stopped at the airport many times before. This time however, when he refused to g…
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Has the Labour Party turned its back on the Left? Following the disastrous election loss to Boris Johnson in 2019, the party emerged from the ashes promising to shed itself of its past and the image of one man - Jeremy Corbyn. His successor Sir Keir Starmer has instead defined his leadership directly in opposition to Corbyn, leaning towards the cen…
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How do you challenge the might of the Chinese state? For decades, the Uyghur Muslims have fought to preserve their culture, their language and their religion in the face of China’s rising power and control. Since 2013, sweeping crackdowns have turned the once-autonomous region which calls itself ‘East Turkestan’ into a heavily militarised zone, whe…
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Can we trust the AI to watch over us? Artificial intelligence and machine learning technology have entered into a new era, advancing at a rate none of us can comprehend or keep up with. Tech companies, governments and police forces are racing to own and turn these advances into cutting edge security and mass surveillance systems, while legislators …
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For thousands of years, Jewish communities lived and thrived in the Arab world, and were integral to shaping its history, culture and economy. But when Israel was established, more than 260,000 Arab-Jews fled their homes, and their history has largely been forgotten. So what happened in the 1950s that forced the vast majority of them to leave? This…
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Putin, NATO and the threat of nuclear war - has the world entered a new reality? More than a year and a half ago, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, destabilising energy markets, food security and diplomacy. But attempts by the US to rally the world behind Ukraine have failed, with many former allies choosing instead to sit on the side…
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What happens when a dictator uses drug trafficking as a tool of diplomacy? The psychoactive drug known as Captagon has exploded across the Middle East and Europe, leading many countries to clasify it as an ‘epidemic’. The highly-addictive pill used to be made in Turkey and Latin America, but that slowly changed after the Syrian Civil War. Today, 80…
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Could the BDS movement soon become illegal in the UK? Under a new bill, the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, boycotting foreign countries will become illegal for public bodies, which would include councils, unions and student organisations. The law specifically protects Israel from being targetted, and bars public bodies …
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Are we witnessing the beginning of a new Palestinian uprising? The Israeli raid on Jenin this week marked a sudden escalation of violence in an increasingly tense West Bank, with calls for armed insurrections in several Palestinian cities. 12 people, including three children, died in Jenin, adding to the toll of more than 100 Palestinians that have…
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On the frontlines of technological leaps are often people in power - governments, police, intelligence agencies and militaries - trying to use new research to advance the ways in which they operate. But what happens when these powers aren’t used for good? Who can keep the powerful in check in a global digital age? In this episode of The Big Picture…
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Kurdish political groups and militias have been fighting for independence for more than a century, pitting them against the governments of four countries: Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. These groups rallied around the idea of a ‘Greater Kurdistan’, though critics say this romanticised homeland never really existed and that modern Kurds should accept…
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Do Muslims have a place in the so-called ‘cultre war’? In many Western countries, a battle has waged between progressives and conservatives jostling in the political sphere and online. Many young Muslims have found themselves embroiled in these same conversations on gender, sexuality and tradition, creating a schism that threatens to divide their c…
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Four years after the Christchurch terror attacks, Aya al-Umari is fighting to change her brother’s story from ‘victim’ to ‘hero’.Hussein al-Umari was killed on 15 March in an act of white supremacy that claimed the lives of 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand. Despite local and international attention shifting elsewhere, the survivors and families…
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After nearly four years of delay, the independent review into the UK’s counter-terror programme ‘Prevent’ has been published. The highly controversial strategy has been slammed by Muslim groups for creating an environment of fear and suspicion around ordinary citizens, who have been questioned in their workplaces, schools and medical facilities as …
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