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It is very easy to consume news in a bubble. Human nature is to read, listen and watch information that fits our preconceived ideologies and ideas.
Breaking out of that bubble is easier said than done, and when it comes to the hundreds of millions of Arabic-speakers around the world, getting accurate information about Israel can be next to impossible.
Rawan Osman is looking to change that. Following October 7, the Syrian-born, Lebanese-raised commentator, now based in Germany, became an outspoken advocate for Israel and the Jewish people.
Through her active social media presence, including her accounts, Arabs Ask, Osman has used her native Arabic language to share the truth about Israel to audiences who rarely had the opportunity to get that perspective.
Osman joins us as our guest this week.
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October 7 was more than just a terrorist attack, or even the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
It represented, perhaps more than any other event, the truest opportunity to see the real face of Hamas, not just its rhetoric, but its actions.
Not only the rapes, murders, tortures, and kidnappings, but the gleeful manner in which they were carried out, filming it all for posterity and out of pride.
But October 7, now more than five months ago, seems like ancient history, certainly to much of the news media, which now has widely lost interest, including in the Israeli hostages still in Gaza.
Seeing the sites of Hamas' massacres first-hand help to bring the reality home, not just of what happened that day, but of the moral necessity in fighting Hamas.
In late January, Toronto businessman Larry Maher brought a group of Canadian journalists to Israel for a short visit, where they bore witness to what Hamas carried out, and he joins us to discuss why he brought these individuals, and what he wants such a visit to achieve.
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Over the last five months, Rahim Mohamed has become one of Canada's most recognizable opinion columnists. The Calgary-based commentator, writing in The National Post, has also made a name for himself as a vocal advocate for Israel and a harsh critic of the moral turpitude that has allowed disinformation to fester.
While commentators are entitled to their own views, but not their own facts, that simple yet profound difference has been nevertheless been lost by so many reporters and columnists alike, regardless of the platform.
In this week's podcast, Rahim joins us to discuss his perspective on the state of the news media when it comes to covering the Hamas-Israel war, how he would rate their coverage, and what his predictions for the news media in the near future look like.
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As the war rages in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel, following the simple narrative is easy.
And that narrative, that Israel is a murderous state hell-bent on genocide, may be a simpler message to understand, but it is an inversion of reality.
While some politicians take the easy path, others put facts before ideology.
In recent weeks, Kevin Vuong, an independent Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort York, located in downtown Toronto, has become one of the country's most vocal supporters, both of Israel, and of Canada's Jewish community at large.
He joins us as our guest this week to discuss what prompted him to become such a stalwart ally, his message for other politicians, and what the feedback from his constituents has been like.
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Egypt plays a towering role in the Middle East.
Not only is the country the most populous in the region, home to more than 100 million people, it is also the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, in 1979.
Egypt also plays a critical role in the current war between Israel and Hamas, bordering Gaza.
What is Cairo looking for in its relationship with Israel, with Hamas, and what role is it trying to play in the Middle East at large?
To share his expertise in the area, we are joined by Dr Ofir Winter. Dr. Winter is a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, where he specializes in Arab-Israeli relations and contemporary Egypt.
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In the current Hamas-Israel war, things are very different than before.
In previous conflicts, Israel practiced what was called "mowing the lawn," which meant degrading Hamas' capabilities, but avoiding all-out war. That is no longer the case.
But in an asymmetric war, how does that look long-term, and what power vacuum will take hold if and when Hamas is no longer in charge in the Gaza Strip?
To provide insight, we interview Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.
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For scores of Israelis, the horrors of Hamas' genocidal October 7 massacre didn't end four months ago; it continues every single day. Not just for the Israelis who continue to endure rocket fire, or who lost loved ones fighting the terror group in Gaza, but also for the families of the remaining 136 hostages in Gaza.
There are now negotiations for a possible release of this last group of hostages being coordinated by Qatar, the oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdom, which is playing a central role.
Qatar, while being home to senior Hamas leadership, is also working to secure the release of these kidnapped Israelis. This past Friday, at Qatar's Embassy in Ottawa, a gathering took place to show support for these efforts and to apply some pressure on Qatar to ensure the hostages are released.
Jodi Green, Communications and Advocacy Specialist at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, who helped organize the gathering, joins us as our guest this week.
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Since October 7, posters showing the faces and names of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas have become ubiquitous around the world, reminding the public about the true nature of the terrorist group and showing the reality of Israel's suffering.
Grotesquely, these same posters are also being widely torn down by anti-Israel activists, who oppose the humanization of Israelis, and beyond publicly naming and shaming these vandals, there wasn't much that could be done.
One Canadian mayor thought otherwise. In early November, Mayor Jeremy Levi of Hampstead, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, announced that his town would adopt a by-law penalizing the removal of the posters with a $1,000 fine. He also added that the monies raised would be donated to Israeli charities.
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What exactly is the explanation for antisemitism? No matter what excuse is cited by those seeking to demonize Jews, it fails to explain the pervasiveness and intensity of Jew-hatred, both from the extreme right and the extreme left.
But despite the inherent illogic in antisemitism, there remains a tendency to attempt to explain it and categorize it.
Our guest this week is attempting to put all that to rest. Alex Ryvchin is co-Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and an author whose recent book, The 7 Deadly Myths: Antisemitism from the time of Christ to Kanye West, seeks to guide readers through the specific myths underlining antisemitism, and in turn, help offer Jews & their allies, the news media, and the public at large the tools to understand and combat it.
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Amongst Israel's enemies, there are many fronts in war: Inaddition to the physical threats marshalled against the Jewish State such asterrorism, there are others, such as the attempts to delegitimize and demonizethe country in the eyes of the world, namely in the form of the BDS movement.
But there is yet another front, often unknown to the generalpublic: cyber warfare, where state and non-state actors attempt to cause harmto Israel via cyber attacks against important targets.
And while these threats are very real to Israel, the countryhas become a pioneer in addressing them. That's according to Chuck Freilich,Israel's former deputy national security adviser, who is also co-author of thebook, "Israel and the Cyber Threat: How the Startup Nation Became a GlobalCyber Power."
Freilich joins us on this week's podcast, andprovides a deep dive into the reality of cyber warfare beyond theheadlines, how Israel has responded so far, and the storm clouds on thehorizon.
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The social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, has often been criticized by Jewish leaders and human rights organizations for what critics say is its failure to act on addressing widespread antisemitism, particularly since coming under the ownership of Elon Musk in the fall of 2022.
But for some, simply speaking out against the social media giant isn't good enough.
In January 2023, the European Union of Jewish Students, alongside HateAid, a German non-profit organization, commenced legal action against Twitter for neglecting to remove reported hateful content from its platform, saying that its failure represents a violation of its own Terms and Conditions, as well as running afoul of German hate legislation.
Avital Grinberg, the former president of the European Union of Jewish Students who initiated the lawsuit, joined us as a guest to discuss the legal action, its chances of success, and what they are looking to achieve.
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The judicial overhaul being proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has united countless Israelis in at least one way: their strong opinions on the matter. To its supporters, the legislation represents a critical need to stand in the way of an activist and unelected judiciary. To its opponents, it is an unforgivable assault on democracy.
But is there room for compromise between the two sides, and what is taking place behind the scenes that may be missed by the international news media? In this week's podcast, we are joined by one of Israel's most foremost public intellectuals and a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Yossi Klein Halevi. He is a prominent opponent of the legislation but has also sought to close the gap between Israelis to ensure that disagreement can remain civil and with Israel's best interests always in mind.
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Thirty years ago, on September 13, 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, which were more commonly known as part of the Oslo Accords, called because they were secretly negotiated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. What are the significance of these accords three decades later, and do they help provide any hope for any future peace between Israel and the Palestinians? And what exactly caused the Oslo Accords, once seen as a promising roadmap towards negotiations, to fail?
To help share the in-depth details behind Oslo, we are joined by Maurice Hirsch. He previously served as Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria. He is currently the Director of PA Accountability and Reform Initiative at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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Israel is widely known as the Start-up nation, producing a disproportionate number of high-tech companies, and a general ambiance of ingenuity. But what exactly is Israel's secret sauce? What makes Israeli society do things differently? Many answers have been offered, including the country's small and vulnerable area, its paucity of natural resources, its focus on education, and even its military draft. But do those answers do justice to the truth?
To help us unpack Israel's secret, we are joined by Yaniv Rivlin. Yaniv is a high-tech entrepreneur who co-founded Bird, the company behind Tel Aviv's ubiquitous electric scooters, which have helped change the face of the city.
Yaniv's new book, Live Like a Startup, helps shed light on Israel's culture of innovation, and he joins us this week as our guest.
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In 2011, after a large earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing tens of thousands of people, Israeli teams were on the ground, providing critical relief and rescue operations.
That earthquake, which also created a large nuclear meltdown and the discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima, was one of the largest disasters in recent memory, but it still didn't stop Israelis from coming to the other side of the world to offer aid.
Yotam Polizer was there, leading the efforts of IsraAID, an Israeli humanitarian aid group that has become one of the most widely recognized Israeli organizations around the world, having operated in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Philippines, and elsewhere.
Today, Yotam is IsraAID's CEO, and he joins us to discusshis views on what makes Israel time and time again a heavyweight when it comes to lending a helping hand to those who need it most urgently.
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Following the 2020 Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and two new Arab partners, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, there has been speculation about which country may be next for Israel to establish relations, namely Saudi Arabia.
But there's still more potential for Israel to establish ties with a much larger Muslim-majority country: Pakistan, home to nearly 250 million people.
That's according to Mohammed Rizwan, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and political commentator, who recently co-authored an opinion column in the National Post with activist Raheel Raza, where he called on Pakistan to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.
Rizwan joins us on this week's podcast to discuss why Pakistani-Israeli diplomatic ties may not be as far-fetched as it seems.
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It happens like clockwork: whenever tensions rise in the Middle East, as they did during the spring of 2021 between Israel and Hamas, the Gaza-based Islamist terrorist group, incidents of antisemitism spike around the world.
But that doesn't mean antisemitism ceases to exist other times, or even that it remains dormant. Indeed, across the world, from North America, and particularly in Europe, though statistics vary, Jews are targeted disproportionately to their population. In some European cities, Jews are often encouraged to hide symbols of their Jewish identity.
In Germany, one person has decided that's unacceptable. Tobias Reckeweg, a non-Jewish educator in Western Germany specializing in German history and mathematics, has become an unlikely ally to the Jewish community: in recent years, he has begun donning a Star of David, a widely-recognizable Jewish symbol, in an act of solidarity.
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Tobias to discuss his small act of showing support for the Jewish community, the response from Jews and the wider public alike, and his take on what prompted him to take up the cause of advocating for Europe's Jews.
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Over the course of about four weeks beginning in August 2005, Israel underwent a profoundly traumatic experience: the Disengagement from Gaza. Critics at the time said it was tearing Israel apart. Supporters said it was difficult, but Israel had no choice.
Before long, the vacuum left by Israel in Gaza was filled by Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group which continues to run the coastal enclave with an iron fist. But was Hamas' takeover inevitable, or could it have been avoided?
And now, 18 years later, what is the legacy of the Disengagement on Israel, and how do its supporters and detractors evaluate the withdrawal from Gaza?
To help us unpack the historic decision and its aftermath, we are joined by Amotz Asa-El. He is the Jerusalem Post's senior commentator and former executive editor, is currently a fellow at the Hartman Institute and a senior editor at the Jerusalem Report.
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When exactly did the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours begin? Some detractors say that following the Six Day War, when Israel gained eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (sometimes called the West Bank), among other areas, the conflict truly kicked off, but others say Israel's establishment in 1948 was the genesis.
Still, the seeds of the conflict were planted before that, in 1936. That's according to journalist and political analyst Oren Kessler. Kessler's new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict, posits that 1936 was the year which was critical in establishing a conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
Kessler has previously served as the Arab affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, an editor, translator and writer for the English edition of Haaretz and a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank in London, and he joins us as our guest on this week's podcast.
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Arabs represent more than 20 percent of Israel's total population, and members of Israel's Arab minority have been represented across Israeli society, including politics, the judiciary, business, and the arts.
But despite enjoying equal rights under Israeli law, Israeli Arabs today face lower incomes and higher levels of violence in their community, leading some critics to falsely accuse the Jewish State of discriminating against its Arab population.
But the future of Israeli Arabs has never been brighter, thanks in part to people like Dr. Dalia Fadila. Dr Fadila is the founder of Q Schools, an institution for promoting quality education in the Arab society in Israel. She was previously president of the Engineering and Technology College and vice president of Al Qasemi teacher education college. In 2022, she received the Medal of Honour from Israel's president.
Dr. Fadila joins us as a guest to discuss Q Schools, and how her efforts are helping to pave the way for a more prosperous future for Israel's Arab population.
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