The MERIP Roundtable is a new format for the MERIP podcast featuring conversation on urgent issues in the Middle East with members of MERIP's Editorial Committee. The theme of this episode's conversation is "Recognition" -- both the widening circle of Israeli, diaspora, and Jewish figures and institutions that are belatedly recognizing the facts of the genocide in Gaza and the recent wave of G7 states who have committed to recognizing the State of Palestine. On the podcast are MERIP Editorial Committee members Lisa Hajjar, Jacob Mundy, and Sean Yom, and the conversation is led by MERIP's Executive Director, James Ryan.

Further reading recommended by the panel:

Jacob Mundy recommends Benjamin Claude Brower's A Desert Named Peace: The Violence of France's Empire in the Algerian Sahara, 1844-1902

Lisa Hajjar recommends Noura Erakat and Shahd Hammouri "The Statehood Trap" on Jadaliyya, Rabea Eghbariah "Toward Nakba as Legal Concept" in the Columbia Law Review, Mouin Rabbani's Substack and Sherene Seikaly's Editor's Note in the latest issue of the Journal of Palestine Studies.

James Ryan recommends Esmat Elhalaby, "Nakba Denial: On the Politics and History of Genocide" in Parapraxis Magazine

The MERIP Podcast features exclusive interviews with contributors to the Middle East Research and Information Project from the present and past about their work for MERIP, as well as audio from events we've conducted online and in-person that examine contemporary issues in the politics, economy, society and culture of the Middle East. Hosted by James Ryan, MERIP's Executive Director. Visit our website, www.merip.org, to read all of our work without paywalls.

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This week on the MERIP Podcast Feed we have the audio recording of our June 23rd event "Syria at the Crossroads: Regional Politics and the Movement for Palestine." This conversation was the second in our series jointly produced with SPECTRE: A Marxist Journal. It featured a discussion of the wider regional politics shaping the dynamics of the transitional regime in Syria -- including the early efforts at normalization with Israel, and the long history of solidarity between Syrian and Palestinian popular movements. Joining the conversation were Joseph Daher, Ramah Kudaimi, and Yasmeen Mobayed. The conversation was moderated by Shireen Akram-Boshar (SPECTRE) and James Ryan (MERIP).

The MERIP Podcast features exclusive interviews with contributors to the Middle East Research and Information Project from the present and past about their work for MERIP, as well as audio from events we've conducted online and in-person that examine contemporary issues in the politics, economy, society and culture of the Middle East. Hosted by James Ryan, MERIP's Executive Director. Visit our website, www.merip.org, to read all of our work without paywalls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the feed is the audio recording of our zoom event "Syria at the Crossroads: Popular Revolt, Counterrevolution, and Regional Transformation" featuring Leila Al-Shami, Wafa Mustafa, and Djene Bajalan. Syria at the Crossroads is a special event series co-produced by MERIP and SPECTRE: A Marxist Journal. This event took place May 7, 2025 and was co-moderated by James Ryan (MERIP) and Shireen Akram-Boshar (SPECTRE).

The MERIP Podcast features exclusive interviews with contributors to the Middle East Research and Information Project from the present and past about their work for MERIP, as well as audio from events we've conducted online and in-person that examine contemporary issues in the politics, economy, society and culture of the Middle East. Hosted by James Ryan, MERIP's Executive Director. Visit our website, www.merip.org, to read all of our work without paywalls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the MERIP Podcast we're featuring an interview with the Lebanese journalist Habib Battah, author of "Beirut and the Birth of the Fortress Embassy" which was published in Middle East Report Online in April 2024. Battah has recently returned to Lebanon for the first time since we published his investigation, and he spoke with MERIP Executive Director James Ryan about the role of the US Embassy in Lebanese political, cultural, and social life in the wake of Israel's ongoing war on Lebanon and in the light of the second Trump administration. This interview was recorded July 15, 2025.

Read "Beirut and the Birth of the Fortress Embassy here: https://merip.org/2024/04/beirut-and-the-birth-of-the-fortress-embassy/

The MERIP Podcast features exclusive interviews with contributors to the Middle East Research and Information Project from the present and past about their work for MERIP, as well as audio from events we've conducted online and in-person that examine contemporary issues in the politics, economy, society and culture of the Middle East. Hosted by James Ryan, MERIP's Executive Director. Visit our website, www.merip.org, to read all of our work without paywalls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in the MERIP Podcast feed we have the audio recording of our launch event for the latest issue of Middle East Report, New Gender Frontlines. Hosted by MERIP Executive Director, James Ryan, and featuring a panel with MERIP Editorial Committee member and issue editor Sabiha Allouche (University of Exeter), Rahaf Aldoughli (University of Lancaster), Paniz Musawi Natanzi (University of Pennsylvania, and Hala Shoman (University of Newcastle). The event was originally recorded on June 26, 2025. The conversation covers gender dynamics in Syria after the fall of Bashar al Asad, Afghan workers in Iranian tennis clubs, and the struggle of ordinary Gazans to conceive and bear children in the midst of Israel's genocidal war. Links to the relevant articles below:

New Gender Frontlines: https://merip.org/magazine/314/

Rahaf Aldoughli, "Syria's New Men": https://merip.org/2025/06/syrias-new-men-2/

Paniz Musawi Natanzi: "Courts of Exclusion: Working Class Masculinity and Anti-Afghan Racism in Iran" https://merip.org/2025/06/banned-from-the-game-working-class-masculinity-and-anti-afghan-racism-in-iran/

Hala Shoman: "Israel's War on Reproduction in Gaza": https://merip.org/2025/06/israels-war-on-reproduction-in-gaza-2/

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The first episode of the MERIP Podcast features an interview with Mona Tajali, a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law about her piece, “Women and Politics in Post-Jina Iran” which was published in our latest issue “New Gender Frontlines.” Interview was recorded June 24, 2025. The MERIP Podcast is hosted by James Ryan, Executive Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project. Production assistance provided by Jacob Mundy, and editorial work on MERIP's latest issue provided by Sabiha Allouche, Fida Adely, Hesham Sellam, Katie Natanel and Marya Hannun.

You can read Mona Tajali's piece here: https://merip.org/2025/06/women-and-politics-in-post-jina-iran/

You can find the latest issue of Middle East Report here: https://merip.org/magazine/314/

To support our work please visit: https://merip.org/support/

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