UNRWA remains the backbone of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, providing food, medical care, education, clean water, and psychosocial support to more than a million Palestinians caught in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Efforts to dismantle or delegitimize the agency threaten to deepen civilian suffering and undermine the delivery of lifesaving aid.
Today’s podcast guest is Dr. Dania Arayssi, a Senior Research Fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and a scholar of Middle East political economy and participation. She also serves as an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and teaches at George Washington University. Her research focuses on Middle East politics, with particular expertise in Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Hezbollah.
In this episode, we discuss the fragmentation of the order and power that used to exist in the Middle East, the efforts of Iran to spread their influence and power in an attempt to hold on to the old order, the possibility of a NATO-like alliance in the Middle East, and the potential for security arrangements like the Mecca Agreement eventually encompassing Israel alongside its neighbors.
Listen now; link in bio.
The Netanyahu government`s policies of dispossession, widespread destruction, displacement, killings, and terror against Palestinian civilians betray the moral inheritance of Judaism. They endanger Jews worldwide by creating the poisonous impression that all Jews are complicit in Israel’s atrocities and giving unprecedented rise to antisemitism.
Sudan is facing one of the world`s worst humanitarian catastrophes, yet millions of civilians remain without adequate protection. Since the conflict erupted in April 2023, tens of thousands have been killed, more than 10.5 million people have been displaced within the country, and millions more have fled across borders.
I agree with Barack Obama’s criticism of Donald Trump’s White House makeover. Obama humorously compared Trump’s extravagant decorations to what the White House might look like if Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. The comparison is funny, but the message behind it is serious. Trump’s obsession with gold, luxury, and grandeur reflects how he approaches power: as something to display rather than a responsibility to serve. The White House belongs to the American people, not to the president occupying it. While millions of Americans struggle with rising living costs, Trump is more concerned with projecting wealth and power. Obama’s joke exposes something troubling about Trump’s presidency: the transformation of public service into a spectacle of personal vanity and stupidity.
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Seems Obama didn’t care how the White House looked, he is jealous Trump did it and he didn’t. Although he did put in a basketball court, for his own personal use. Trump put in a ballroom for all Presidents to use and fixed the rose garden so reporters wouldn’t have to walk through soggy grass.
they'll have to take a shovel to the white house after he's gone.
I am not surprised by Trump’s vulgar comments about Nicki Minaj’s body. What disturbs me more is the crowd cheering as the president of the United States degrades a woman. At a Michigan rally, he reportedly called her backside. The issue extends beyond Trump’s long record of allegations and controversies involving women. It is the normalization of degrading behavior—and the willingness to celebrate it. How did we get to a point where such language earns applause instead of condemnation? When audiences cheer a president’s vulgarity, they do more than excuse it: they help sustain a political culture that turns disrespect into entertainment and treats the humiliation of women as an applause line.
1 CommentComment on Facebook
it's not normal. nothing about trump is normal
Imagine spending decades building a career, only to discover that your experience matters less because you are a woman getting older. A Human Rights Watch report exposes a troubling reality in South Korea: women face a double burden of age and gender discrimination. Many are pushed into lower-paying, insecure jobs, denied opportunities, and left financially vulnerable as they approach retirement. In 2024, women earned, on average, 31% less than men. Among workers in their late 50s, the wage gap reached a staggering 50%. Why should a woman's professional value decline as her experience grows? Age should bring recognition, respect, and opportunity—not exclusion. Yet for too many women, decades of hard work end in economic insecurity. Women's rights do not expire with age. Neither should their opportunities.
1 CommentsComment on Facebook
Saudi Arabia has executed Hassan al-Faraj for alleged offenses dating back to when he was just 14 years old. According to Human Rights Watch, his conviction was marred by allegations of torture, forced confessions, and violations of fair-trial rights. Another, Yousef al-Manasif, faces imminent execution for alleged offenses committed when he was 15 and 16. At least three others remain on death row for alleged childhood offenses. International law prohibits executing people for crimes committed before age 18. Yet Saudi Arabia continues to impose death sentences in such cases, despite repeated international condemnation. A justice system that executes people for alleged childhood offenses. Where are the US, UN and the EU? Why aren’t they publicly condemning the Saudis' beastly human rights violations? They must demand an immediate halt to these executions.
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
