All Things Palestinian Podcast

Last spring, Fernwood Publishing announced a new book, Advocating for Palestine in Canada: one of the first-ever books about Palestinian solidarity work in Canada.  Michael Bueckert, one of Debrief’s regular hosts wrote a chapter in the book looking at how Israel seeks to deflect and dismiss criticisms of its oppressive and apartheid practices.  This subject matter is also the focus of Michael’s PhD dissertation.  Join us as Michael discusses his chapter, and learn how today’s apologists for Israel take an approach eerily similar to that taken by apologists for apartheid South Africa. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading

Is Canadian media biased towards Israel and against Palestinians? Where does bias come from, and how can we challenge it? On this episode, Michael and Tom are joined by Passage’s Davide Mastracci, author of a chapter on Canadian media and pro-Israel bias in the book Advocating for Palestine in Canada (Fernwood, 2022). We talk about the role of journalists, editors, corporate owners, and lobby groups in pushing media coverage to be favourable to Israel, and how these factors undermine reporting on Israel’s human rights abuses. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading

In this episode, we are joined by Saeed Teebi, a writer and lawyer based in Toronto who has recently released a highly celebrated book of short stories entitled, “Her First Palestinian.”  Teebi’s book is a collection of stories about diaspora Palestinians struggling to find their place as immigrants to Canada.  It is also one of five books shortlisted for the $60,000 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Prize for Fiction this year.  The title story in the book, "Her First Palestinian," was also shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize.  Teebi was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait and has lived in Canada since 1993. Continue reading

Tom and Michael discuss a recent report authored by Michael and its implications for upcoming votes on Palestinian human rights at the United Nations General Assembly. The report, based on documents obtained through an access to information request, found that Canada’s career foreign affairs officials are highly critical of Canada’s staunchly pro-Israel record, and have been pushing for a change in the government’s approach. We break down the report’s findings and what they say about Canada and its reputation on the international stage. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading

Shadia Qubti is a Palestinian from Nazareth who is currently completing a degree in Interreligious and Indigenous Studies at Vancouver School of Theology in Canada.  Prior to coming to Canada, Shadia studied International Relations and English Language at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, as well as Conflict Resolution and Nonviolent Action at Trinity Dublin College in Ireland. She has worked for over 10 years in policy initiatives and peacebuilding in various organizations, both local and international, working with both Palestinians and Israelis. Through her academic and professional work, Shadia seeks to amplify the voices of Palestinian women and create open discussions about the struggles that they face. Much of her work revolves around reconciliation, identity and political mobilization with a certain focus on Palestinian Christians. Continue reading

On this episode, Michael and Tom are joined by Sheryl Nestel and Rowan Gaudet of Independent Jewish Voices Canada to talk about their new report on the suppression of speech on Palestine on Canadian campuses. We look at how pro-Israel groups have used harassment and intimidation against pro-Palestine academics to create a “chilly” atmosphere for debate. We talk about how students have been affected by these attacks and discuss the role of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism in suppressing speech. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading

Abeer Barakat is a Palestinian lecturer of English at the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza and is a PhD candidate at the University of Putra Malaysia.  Abeer is an activist for the Palestinian cause and has done amazing activism work in the field of female empowerment and has provided mothers and children impacted by attacks on Gaza with continuous psychological support.  She as well has published a number of academic articles about the Palestinian-Israeli media discourse. Abeer is also apart of Rose2Rose, a Malaysian women NGO that is working for the support of the Palestinian women and children, through education and is a part of MyCARE Malaysia which is a Humanitarian Aid Non-profit organization. In this episode, Abeer joins Nur and Tom to talk about the work she initiated when it comes to providing psychological aid and empowerment to Gazan citizens, its impact, and how Canadians can offer help. Continue reading

Shawky Fahel came to Canada in the 1960’s and started his first business in 1979 with a $1000 loan and nothing more than a few carpet and paint supplies.  Based in Waterloo, ON, Shawky became successful businessman, political activist and philanthropist who has received innumerable awards over the years, both at the local and national level, for his various contributions.  Yet amidst all this busyness and success, he has remained committed to improving the lives of Palestinians, both in Palestine and in the diaspora in Canada.  His most recent philanthropic gesture – one that we’ll discuss during our conversation – was a donation of $100,000 to launch a Foundation for Palestinian Studies at the University of Waterloo.  Continue reading

Two months ago, Fernwood Publishing announced a new book, Advocating for Palestine in Canada: one of the first-ever books about Palestinian solidarity work in Canada.  Tom Woodley, one of Debrief’s regular hosts wrote a chapter in the book discussing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that lie before the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada.  With Michael on vacation, our podcast engineer Madeleine Moffatt takes the microphone to interview Tom about his chapter, and to explore the potential opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the movement. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading

On this episode, Michael and Tom are joined by Jasmin Zine to talk about her new book on Islamophobia and the 9/11 generation. We discuss how Islamophobia is more than just “fear” or “hate” towards Muslims, and why we should understand it as a “structure of oppression.” We also talk about the surveillance that Muslims students face on campus, the gendered nature of Islamophobia, and evaluate whether Canada is doing enough to address white supremacist and anti-Muslim violence. If you can, rate us and write a nice review if you like what you hear. It helps other people find our podcast and learn about the issues. Here are the instructions on how to find, rate, review and share the podcast on eight different platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn, Deezer, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and iHeartRadio. Continue reading