Live with ASI: Episode 9 Digest – May 2021

New Article Submission

Thank you for your interest in Jadaliyya. We welcome all submissions. The most significant requirement is for Jadaliyya submissions to be analytically compelling and offer a perspective or argument that has not been covered at length either on Jadaliyya or elsewhere. Because of the volume of submissions, well-written pieces are prioritized. Length is flexible, 1000 to 2500 words is the average range. However, we will accept longer pieces. Once submitted, several members of the editorial committee will review your piece and one of them will inform you of the decision.
Author Details
Article Details
Select Countries
Select Keywords
Select Topics
Only RTF, Word, and Pages documents accepted.

Recommended image size: 762x800 px

Location of each image should be indicated in the text of the article via a square bracket caption that includes: (1) a description of the image; (2) the photographer/designer and source of the image. Please note we only use images you as the author have the right to use, which usually means those of your own creation or those published under Creative Commons. Alternatively, you need specific permission from the copyright holder.
Please read the Release Form and provide an electronic signature [your full name] below to confirm that you accept its terms
Required
Hyperlink words in your article if they refer to links on the internet. We encourage more, rather than less, links (try to avoid footnotes—embed them as hyperlinks if possible)

Article added successfully.

Pages Menu BETA
May 7, 2021
Live with ASI: Episode 9 Digest – May 2021

Live with ASI: Episode 9 Digest – May 2021

By : Arab Studies Institute


Live with ASI is a monthly broadcast program that showcases recently published content from the Arab Studies Institute’s various branches. This content includes articles, reviews, pedagogical resources, podcasts, and more. Also featured in the broadcast are brand new interviews and discussions with authors and contributors.

In this episode, which marks the final show of our first season, hosts Bassam Haddad and MK Smith highlight the newest issue of Status/الوضع, introduce a brand new podcast, share New Text Out Now interviews, and point out must-read Jadaliyya articles. What’s more, the duo interviews a diverse group of scholars, including Jillian Schwedler, Ziad Abu-Rish, Jessica Holland, Noura Erakat, Owain Lawson, Brittany Cook, Yousef Munayyer, and Samia Errazzouki. As always, this episode also features a media analysis segment with Adel Iskandar and Malihe Razazan, an international current affairs segment with Carly A. Krakow, and a graduate student-focused segment with Cat Haseman.

All of the materials mentioned in the broadcast are listed here, categorized by their themes. Also listed are additional recent materials that we highly recommend.

 

Ten Years On Project (3:17)

Disciplinary Woes and Possibilities: Political Science in the Context of the Uprisings

 

 

Jillian Schwedler discusses the shortcomings of mainstream political science in addressing the Arab Uprisings.


On 27 April, ASI held the fourth signature panel in the Ten Years On project. As we’ve featured in previous episodes, the Ten Years On project brings together seventeen of our partners to produce resources for educators, researchers, students, and journalists to more critically understand the Arab Uprisings, and their various dimensions, over the past decade.

This fourth panel, titled “Disciplinary Woes and Possibilities: Political Science in the Context of the Uprisings,” was organized by the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory at the University of Chicago and the Department of Political Science at The American University in Cairo. The panelists discussed the limitations of mainstream political science in grappling with the Arab Uprising, and how to begin addressing those limitations.

 

Must-Reads (7:41)

This episode of Live with ASI featured three must-read Jadaliyya articles from April 2021. First, in “UNRWA Once Again in International Spotlight,” Francesca Albanese and Samar Muhareb convey their expectations regarding the upcoming UNRWA conference, and they urge the international hosts to use the opportunity to chart out a vision that goes beyond “managing the refugee problem” and toward a comprehensive and involving refugee voices.


Second, in “The Revival of Moorish Empire and the Moroccan Far Right,” Cristina Moreno-Almeida looks at social media and meme culture to explore the presence and messaging of the far-right in Morocco. She calls for rethinking the Moroccan political spectrum with a serious consideration of the role of digital fascism. 


Third, in a Quick Thoughts piece, Cat Haseman interviews Adel Iskander about Al Jazeera’s new right-leaning digital channel, diving into Al Jazeera’s history as well as the American conservative news landscape.

 

100 Years of Lebanon (9:23)

 Jadaliyya Co-Editor, Ziad Abu-Rish, joins the broadcast to discuss a recent collaborative live event reflecting on one century of Lebanon.


To commemorate Lebanon’s 100th birthday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University organized a panel of scholars from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to reflect on Lebanon’s history and present.

The panelists shared their particular expertise and addressed continuities and key shifts over the last century of Lebanon’s existence as a state. Unfortunately, the recording of the amazing panel won’t be published for a while, so we have the next best thing for you: the panel’s organizer-extraordinaire, Ziad Abu-Rish, is here to talk with us.

●      LIVE EVENT - 100 Years of Lebanon (22 March)

 

Knowledge Production Project (KPP) (13:33)

 

Jessica Holland, Knowledge Production and Pedagogy Manager at the Forum on Arab and Muslim Affairs, joins Bassam and MK live to discuss exciting developments with the Knowledge Production Project (KPP)

 

The Knowledge Production Project (KPP) was founded in order to address issues that arise in producing, disseminating, and accessing knowledge. KPP is a platform encompassing five interactive search and visualization tools that provide users with unprecedented access to sources of knowledge about the Middle East. Through KPP, users are able to search for specific topics, explore networks of think tanks and government bodies, seek out websites and blogs, and identify research patterns.

●      Knowledge Production Project

 

Environment Page Anniversary (19:26)

 

Environment Page Co-Editors Owain Lawson and Brittany Cook spoke on the founding of the page, the content the page has produced over the past year, and where the page will go from here.


Jadaliyya celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Environment Page. Over the past year, the page Co-Editors have sought to cultivate a space for engaging critical questions about environmental issues in the region. The page has produced expertly researched articles, innovative roundtables, the “Environment in Context” podcast series, live events, interviews, and more.

 

Transnational Times Podcast (25:06)

 

Noura Erakat joins LWA in-studio to discuss her new podcast as well as interesting details from the first episode.


This episode debuted a new podcast, Transnational Times. Hosted by Jadaliyya Co-Editor Noura Erakat, this series will examine the various dimensions of transnational solidarity through engaging discussions with activists on the ground, scholars, public intellectuals, and journalists committed to the study and practice of transnationalism.

Noura interviewed Darryl Li regarding Li’s new book, The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity. They discussed the politics of transnational Islamist fighters, their universalist ideals, and reflections on solidarity under US domination.

●      LIVE EVENT - Transnational Times Podcast Host Noura Erakat Interviews Darryl Li: The Universal Enemy (16 April)

 

Reevaluation or Retreat? How a Biden Administration will Approach Israel/Palestine Featuring (32:23)

 

Yousef Munayyer joins live to recap his recent event about the Biden administration’s current and projected policies in Israel/Palestine.


ASI co-sponsored an event hosted by GMU’s Middle East and Islamic Studies program titled “Reevaluation or Retreat?”, in which Yousef Munayyer discussed the aftermath of four years of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, what sorts of challenges the current Biden administration is facing, and what this context could mean for the future of US policy on Palestine.

●      LIVE EVENT - Reevaluation or Retreat? How a Biden Administration will Approach Israel/Palestine Featuring Yousef Munayyer

 

Connections Podcast: Politics of Holy Cities (39:06)

 

Host MK Smith interviews Maha Samman about the second episode of Connections Podcast.


On last month’s show, we debuted a brand new Connections podcast hosted by Jadaliyya Co-Editor Mouin Rabbani, which combined journalism, analysis, and scholarship to offer timely and informative discussions on current events and broader policy questions.

For the podcast’s second episode, Mouin Rabbani spoke to Maha Samman and Mick Dumper regarding the politics of holy cities and discussed the interaction of conflict, religion, and political power.

 

Khmissa Panel: The Other Side of Political Detention in Morocco (46:12)


 

Jadaliyya Co-Editor Samia Errazzouki returned to the show to speak on the significance of this event and the experiences of families of political prisoners, and gave a few words on the Maghreb Page and ASI.


Last month, an event organized by the Khmissa feminist collective and Jadaliyya featured a conversation with family members of incarcerated activists and journalists in Morocco. The discussion provided insight into the ways in which family members of the imprisoned struggle in the face of state repression.

 

Pedagogy (52:50)


 

In anticipation of the forthcoming Pedagogy JadMag, MESPI offered a sneak-peek into the mag with advanced publishing for one of the featured interviews. In “Teaching the Mediterranean,” Jacob Bessen interviews Julia Clancy-Smith on her teaching experiences and approaches. We will link the sneak-peak in the digest, but be sure to read the entire piece when the Pedagogy JadMag is released in the summer.


MESPI also released a new Engaging Books Series of titles from New York University Press on the Arab Uprisings.

 

Media Segment: Pressing Matter (55:24)

 

Adel and Malihe discuss critical perspectives on contemporary media trends during their monthly recurring segment.


Last month we debuted our new media segment, Pressing Matter, which features excerpts from a new monthly podcast hosted by Adel Iskandar and Malihe Razazan that addresses critical issues in the media. In their third episode, Malihe and Adel discuss World Press Freedom Day, and analyze the insights and issues demonstrated by the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

As usual, we aired the first five minutes of their new episode during the show, and the full episode will be published shortly on Jadaliyya and Status/الوضع.

 

The Catch-Up with Carly A. Krakow (1:02:40)

 

Carly A. Krakow analyzes international current affairs in her recurring segment, “The Catch-Up with Carly A. Krakow.”


In this month’s installment of “The Catch-Up,” Carly A. Krakow discussed lead poisoning from water contamination due to lead pipes as a pressing example of ongoing environmental racism, following Joe Biden’s announcement of a proposal to replace all lead pipes in the United States. She also addressed the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, and Chauvin’s appeal this past week. Next, she covered the dire situation in India as the country has surged past 20 million cases of COVID-19.

Carly shared the exciting news that her segment is being launched in a new form as its very own video podcast! Stay tuned for further updates about the launch … coming soon!


Grad Student Corner (1:15:17)

Cat Haseman speaks directly to students during her monthly segment. 


It’s finals season, so this month Cat kept it short and sweet, pointing out ways graduate students can maximize ASI’s online platforms to collate research sources for their final papers.

As always, keep up with the latest news via Jadaliyya’s media roundups:

 

NEWTONs (1:17:49)

NEWTONs (New Texts Out Now) offer exclusive looks and in-depth analysis from scholars about their recent publications. This month seven authors offered up insights into their research motivations and methodologies.

Here is a list of all the NEWTON interviews that came out in the month of April:

 

  • ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR

    • Live with ASI: Episode 2.5 Digest — November 2021

      Live with ASI: Episode 2.5 Digest — November 2021

      We are very happy to share with everyone that this month marks Jadaliyya’s 11th birthday! Over the last 11 years, Jadaliyya has grown tremendously in ways we truly could never have imagined. Stay on the lookout for an 11th anniversary post on Jadaliyya that will highlight a year of knowledge production and celebrate the many activists, journalists, and scholars who have collaborated and published scholarship over the past year

    • Live with ASI: Episode 2.4 Digest — October 2021

      Live with ASI: Episode 2.4 Digest — October 2021

      Live with ASI is a monthly broadcast program that showcases recently published content from the Arab Studies Institute’s various branches. This content includes articles, reviews, pedagogical resources, podcasts, and more. Also featured in the broadcast are brand new interviews and discussions with authors and contributors.

    • Live with ASI: Episode 2.3 Digest – September 2021

      Live with ASI: Episode 2.3 Digest – September 2021
      Live with ASI is a monthly broadcast program that showcases recently published content from the Arab Studies Institute’s various branches. This content includes articles, reviews, pedagogical resourc
Feb 16, 2011 Lebanon
Jadaliyya Reports By :
Jadaliyya Reports

Past is Present: Settler Colonialism Matters!

On 5-6 March 2011, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its seventh annual conference, "Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine." This year`s conference aims to understand Zionism as a settler colonial project which has, for more than a century, subjected Palestine and Palestinians to a structural and violent form of destruction, dispossession, land appropriation and erasure in the pursuit of a new Jewish Israeli society. By organizing this conference, we hope to reclaim and revive the settler colonial paradigm and to outline its potential to inform and guide political strategy and mobilization.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often described as unique and exceptional with little resemblance to other historical or ongoing colonial conflicts. Yet, for Zionism, like other settler colonial projects such as the British colonization of Ireland or European settlement of North America, South Africa or Australia, the imperative is to control the land and its resources -- and to displace the original inhabitants. Indeed, as conference keynote speaker Patrick Wolfe, one of the foremost scholars on settler colonialism and professor at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, argues, "the logic of this project, a sustained institutional tendency to eliminate the Indigenous population, informs a range of historical practices that might otherwise appear distinct--invasion is a structure not an event."[i]

Therefore, the classification of the Zionist movement as a settler colonial project, and the Israeli state as its manifestation, is not merely intended as a statement on the historical origins of Israel, nor as a rhetorical or polemical device. Rather, the aim is to highlight Zionism`s structural continuities and the ideology which informs Israeli policies and practices in Palestine and toward Palestinians everywhere. Thus, the Nakba -- whether viewed as a spontaneous, violent episode in war, or the implementation of a preconceived master plan -- should be understood as both the precondition for the creation of Israel and the logical outcome of Zionist settlement in Palestine.

Moreover, it is this same logic that sustains the continuation of the Nakba today. As remarked by Benny Morris, “had he [David Ben Gurion] carried out full expulsion--rather than partial--he would have stabilised the State of Israel for generations.”[ii] Yet, plagued by an “instability”--defined by the very existence of the Palestinian nation--Israel continues its daily state practices in its quest to fulfill Zionism’s logic to maximize the amount of land under its control with the minimum number of Palestinians on it. These practices take a painful array of manifestations: aerial and maritime bombardment, massacre and invasion, house demolitions, land theft, identity card confiscation, racist laws and loyalty tests, the wall, the siege on Gaza, cultural appropriation, and the dependence on willing (or unwilling) native collaboration and security arrangements, all with the continued support and backing of imperial power. 

Despite these enduring practices however, the settler colonial paradigm has largely fallen into disuse. As a paradigm, it once served as a primary ideological and political framework for all Palestinian political factions and trends, and informed the intellectual work of committed academics and revolutionary scholars, both Palestinians and Jews.

The conference thus asks where and why the settler colonial paradigm was lost, both in scholarship on Palestine and in politics; how do current analyses and theoretical trends that have arisen in its place address present and historical realities? While acknowledging the creativity of these new interpretations, we must nonetheless ask: when exactly did Palestinian natives find themselves in a "post-colonial" condition? When did the ongoing struggle over land become a "post-conflict" situation? When did Israel become a "post-Zionist" society? And when did the fortification of Palestinian ghettos and reservations become "state-building"?

In outlining settler colonialism as a central paradigm from which to understand Palestine, this conference re-invigorates it as a tool by which to analyze the present situation. In doing so, it contests solutions which accommodate Zionism, and more significantly, builds settler colonialism as a political analysis that can embolden and inform a strategy of active, mutual, and principled Palestinian alignment with the Arab struggle for self-determination, and indigenous struggles in the US, Latin America, Oceania, and elsewhere.

Such an alignment would expand the tools available to Palestinians and their solidarity movement, and reconnect the struggle to its own history of anti-colonial internationalism. At its core, this internationalism asserts that the Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism can only be won when it is embedded within, and empowered by, the broader Arab movement for emancipation and the indigenous, anti-racist and anti-colonial movement--from Arizona to Auckland.

SOAS Palestine Society invites everyone to join us at what promises to be a significant intervention in Palestine activism and scholarship.

For over 30 years, SOAS Palestine Society has heightened awareness and understanding of the Palestinian people, their rights, culture, and struggle for self-determination, amongst students, faculty, staff, and the broader public. SOAS Palestine society aims to continuously push the frontiers of discourse in an effort to make provocative arguments and to stimulate debate and organizing for justice in Palestine through relevant conferences, and events ranging from the intellectual and political impact of Edward Said`s life and work (2004), international law and the Palestine question (2005), the economy of Palestine and its occupation (2006), the one state (2007), 60 Years of Nakba, 60 Years of Resistance (2009), and most recently, the Left in Palestine (2010).

For more information on the SOAS Palestine Society 7th annual conference, Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine: www.soaspalsoc.org

SOAS Palestine Society Organizing Collective is a group of committed students that has undertaken to organize annual academic conferences on Palestine since 2003.

 

[i] Patrick Wolfe, Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of an Ethnographic Event, Cassell, London, p. 163

[ii] Interview with Benny Morris, Survival of the Fittest, Haaretz, 9. January 2004, http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=5412