Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Dana El Kurd (University of Richmond) and Professor Nader Hashemi (Georgetown University) about how the current war increases Iran’s “soft power," why Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reacting differently to Iran and Israel, and why American hegemony remains in the Middle East.  ​​Dana El Kurd is an associate professor at the University of Richmond in the Department of Political Science, and a senior nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington. Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Harrison Mann, a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned from the Biden Administration in protest of his office's support for Israel's war in Gaza. Ahmed and Harrison discuss the seeming impunity of the elite making policy decisions and recommendations and the effort by senior Biden Administration officials to position themselves for power in the next administration. They also talk about the possibilities and realities of accountability for war crimes in Palestine. See also Harrison Mann's recent Zeteo article, "Biden’s Genocide Squad Must Be Stopped Before They Strike Again" and his August 2024 interview with FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart about Harrison's decision to resign and why government officials continue to implement policies they consider immoral. Harrison Mann is a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest at his office's support for Israel's war in Gaza. He is currently with the group Win Without War and is a contributor at Zeteo. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Omar Shakir, Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), about DAWN's new report on the revolving door between AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and U.S. and Israeli governmental institutions and the roles AIPAC plays in U.S. politics and public discourse. They also look at instances of conflation between Jewish people and AIPAC (including, for instance, by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro), as well as new and growing toxicity of the AIPAC brand and how that toxicity affects other political groups, such as J Street. See the new DAWN report, New Data Highlights AIPAC Ties to the U.S., Israeli Governments (5/20/26). Omar Shakir is the Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), the organization founded by the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that seeks to change US policy in the Middle East and hold human rights abusers in the region accountable. Prior to his current role, Omar served for nearly a decade as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with analyst Ben Lorber about the definition of antisemitism today and how it compares to Islamophobia as well as the dynamics around finding common cause with white nationalists.  See also "Joe Kent, who resigned over the Iran war, is not your ally" (Religion Dispatches, April 2026, by Kate Bitz, Elianna Boskoff, and Ben Lorber);  Ben Lorber works as a Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates a progressive thinktank focusing on antisemitism and white nationalism. He is also the co-author of Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism (2024). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Matt Duss and Zuri Linetsky about the destabilizing nature of the Abraham Accords; the evolution of the security dilemma and how integration may drive destabilization by fostering aggressive behavior; and whether the Abraham Accords undermined the reinstatement of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - the Iran nuclear deal) by the Biden Administration. Also see: How the Abraham Accords Fueled A New Era of Conflict (Foreign Policy, May 2026), by Matt Duss and Zuri Linetsky; The End of the Axis of Abraham (Foreign Affairs, May 2026), by H. A. Hellyer. Matt Duss is the Executive VP at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. Zuri Linetsky is head of research and analytics for Dandelion Works and an expert on geopolitics and international security. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with journalist Maya Rosen and analyst Natasha Soffer-Roth about the groups behind the nascent effort to establish Israeli settlements in Lebanon, the US-to-Israel pipeline of radical Zionists (such as Meir Kahane, Baruch Goldstein, and others), and the role that secular Israelis play in pursuing settlement policies.  For more, see: "Support for Settlement of Lebanon Goes Mainstream in Israel," Maya Rosen, Jewish Currents, April 2026; "How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream," Natasha Soffer-Roth, +972 Magazine, May 2025;  And these two FMEP podcasts with Natasha Soffer-Roth: "Extremism in Israel" (February 2023) and "Mainstreaming the Extreme: How Meir Kahane’s Vision of Jewish Supremacy Conquered Israeli Politics" (March 2021);  Maya Rosen an assistant editor at Jewish Currents. Natasha Soffer-Roth (formerly Roth-Rowland) is director of research and analysis at Diaspora Alliance. She has a PhD in History from the University of Virginia, where she wrote her dissertation on the Israeli- and American-Jewish far right Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Mahmoud Mushtaha, a journalist and researcher from Gaza, and Obada Shtaya, the co-founder and CEO of the West Bank-based Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Mahmoud recently published two articles that focus on the thousands of people still missing in Gaza, drawing in part from research that Obada's institute conducted. Ahmed, Mahmoud, and Obada speak about the people who have been disappeared in Palestine and the social impact on survivors, and they discuss their backgrounds and experiences as Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. Mahmoud's recent articles: "Hassan Took a Bike Ride. Now He’s One of the Thousands Missing in Gaza," Wired Magazine (March 2026); "What Happens When You Can’t Get a Death Certificate in Gaza," Wired Magazine (March 2026); Obada Shtaya is Co-Founder and CEO of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress. Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Palestinian journalist and researcher from Gaza, and the author of Sobrevivir al genocidio en Gaza (“Surviving the Genocide in Gaza”), his first book, published in Spanish. Their partnership is a product of the Palestine Reporting Lab. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.