Join a conversation with Mohammed, my first Palestinian Hebrew student and get an inside critical thinker not only about the Israeli occupation, but also about the lack of moral framework in the Palestinian leadership. and discover...

• What was it like growing in the second intifada next to the refugee camp with the biggest number of suicide bombers?
• Why did Mohammad's father and uncles sit at the Israeli prison?
• Which terminology should we use when referring to suicide bombers, and what kind of violence, and against whom, is legitimate in resistance against the occupier?
• How meeting Israelis activists from Combatants for Peace changed everything Mohammed knew and heard about Israelis?
• Why not knowing about Israeli activists, and learning about Israelis only as European settlers, serves the status quo on the Palestinian side?
• and what can change if more Palestinians become aware of Israeli activists?
• How can Mohammad's Hebrew learning inspire us when thinking about a different future?

Jordanian (-Palestinian?) Salma is living in the UK, working as a teacher and studying Hebrew. Join a fascinating conversation about democracy in Arab societies, Palestinian refugees in Jordan and discover how the wrong translation of Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem, into Arabic has made Salma suspicious, and eventually want to learn Hebrew..!

Discover…

• What are honour killing and what are the consequences for a woman who speaks to a non-relative man? Does it happen in Arab, Muslim or any honour-based societies?
• Can we expect Jordan to become a democracy? Can democratic systems work in Jordan and other conservative societies, whose values often contradict democratic values?
• What is like driving in Jordan, and what does it have to do with camels, lanes and democracy?
• Why do most Jordanian descendants of Palestinians define themselves as Palestinians, and why Salma does not? And what are the shades of Palestinians in Jordan?
• What happened to Salma (Al-Tabari)’s grandparents after leaving Tiberias in 1948?
• Is Hebrew a language of the Middle-East, and will it be used by any person living in Israel/Palestine in the future?

After the US has offered Indonesia an increase of aid by up to $2 billion if it normalised ties with Israel, the question of normalisation with Israel remains. But what do Indonesians think about it, and how are Indonesians divided about this issue?

Join a conversation with Gilang Lukman, the first Indonesian to study MA in Middle East in Oxford University and a Peace Advocacy Fellow of the Balfour Project, and get an idea why in Indonesia, despite living far away from the middle east,  Israel-Palestine is such a concerning issue among global conflicts, and how it divides communities there.

 Listen to Gilang speaking about:

• Why are some pro Palestinian activists in Indonesia fascinated about the Hebrew language?
• Why did the Palestinian embassy in Indonesia protest against the use of their national symbols?
• How was the pro-Israeli camp emerged in Indonesia?
• Is learning Hebrew providing an Indonesian Muslim the credentials to speak to the non-muslim population?
• Why have some Christian Indonesians changed their name to Hebrew names, and have started greeting saying ‘Shalom’? and what does it say about them?
• Why, for some Muslims, it would be theologically problematic to say “marry Christmas” but not “Chag Sameach”?
• How does their own history of colonisation affect how Indonesians see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
• What does “Jewish territorialism” mean (hint: Let the Jews have a state outside of Palestine…), and why is Gilang sympathetic to this idea?
• What would Gilang respond to Israelis who feel that “there are so many Muslim states – why is it wrong to have 1 Jewish state?”?
• Who are the 3 segments of Indonesian society who would support normalisation with Israel? 
• Will there be any benefit in normalising relations with Israel for future Palestinian independence?