Connections Episode 33
The Struggle for Human Rights in the Middle East
Mouin Rabbani Interviews Sarah Leah Whitman
On Wednesday, 13 April Jadaliyya co-editor Mouin Rabbani and Sarah Leah Whitson discussed human rights in the Middle East. This episode of Connections examines the current state of human rights in the Middle East, the struggles to attain individual and collective rights in the region, and efforts to hold violators to account.
Connections offers timely and informative interviews on current events and broader policy questions, as well as themes relevant to knowledge production. It combines journalism, analysis, and scholarship.
Guest
Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Previously, she from 2004-2020 served as Executive Eirector of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division.Whitson has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and human rights. She has published widely on human rights and foreign policy in the Middle East in international and regional media, including The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post,Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She appears regularly on Al-Jazeera, BBC, NPR, MSNBC, and CNN. Previously, Whitson worked in New York for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Whitson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and sits on the boards of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, Artistic Freedom Initiative, Freedom Forward, ALQST for Human Rights, and the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights.
Host
Mouin Rabbani has published and commented widely on Palestinian affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He was previously Senior Analyst Middle East and Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group, and head of political affairs with the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria. He is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine.
Previous Episodes
Connections Podcast Episode 1: The Biden Administration and the Middle East with Noam Chomsky
Connections Podcast Episode 2: The Politics of Holy Cities with Mick Dumper and Maha Samman
Connections Podcast Episode 3: Apartheid Israel with Norman Finkelstein
Connections Podcast Episode 4: Israel-Palestine: A Turning Point? with Nathan Thrall
Connections Podcast Episode 5: Investigating Israel with Lori Allen
Connections Podcast Episode 6: The US Congress, Israel, and the Palestinians with Lara Friedman
Connections Podcast Episode 7: Palestine at the Crossroads with Hanan Ashrawi
Connections Podcast Episode 9: Lebanon in Crisis with Nadya Sbaiti
Connections Episode 10: Crisis in Tunisia with Houda Mzioudet
Connections Episode 11: A Planet in the Balance with Jeffrey D. Sachs
Connections Episode 12: Focus Afghanistan with Benon Sevan
Connections Episode 13: Asylum in the USA with Basileus Zeno
Connections Episode 14 - Digital Espionage: A Global Pandemic with Marwa Fatafta
Connections Episode 15: The Lasting Legacies of US Torture with Lisa Hajjar
Connections Episode 16: Whither Yemen? with Helen Lackner
Connections Episode 17: A Decade of Upheaval with Nabih Bulos
Connections Episode 18 — Iran: Domestic and Foreign Politics with Ali Vaez
Connections Episode 22: Narrations of Palestine with Alison Glick and Nora Lester Murad
Connections Episode 23: The Global Far Right with Cas Mudde
Connections Episode 24: Crises in The Maghreb with Samia Errazzouki
Connections Episode 25: War Economies with Mark Taylor
Connections Episode 26: Libya in the Balance with Claudia Gazzini
Connections Episode 27: Israel's Sacred Terrorism with Remi Brulin
Connections Episode 28: Tunisia's New Autocracy with Mohammed Haddad
Connections Episode 29: Crisis in Afghanistan with Ali Latifi
Connections Episode 30: Yemen’s Endless War with Safa Al Ahmad
Connections Episode 31: Sudan Today with Khalid Mustafa Medani
Connections Episode 32: Protecting Cultural Heritage with Heghnar Watenpaugh