This year, March 30th commemorates the sixth anniversary of the Great March of Return, a mass mobilization effort initiated in Gaza in 2018. This March of Return aimed to highlight the dire circumstances faced by two million Palestinians in Gaza, 70% of whom are refugees, living under a severe blockade that has rendered the Gaza Strip “unlivable”, as described by the United Nations. Years of blockade, development, and “Mowing the Lawn” policies have been exacerbated by a devastating genocide that Israel has launched against the Palestinians in Gaza, now entering its sixth month.
On March 29th Dr. Norman Finkelstein, a renowned political scientist, activist, and author of “Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom,” joined us for a conversation on the persistent neglect and dismissal of the urgent calls to end the blockade and addressed the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza before October 7th, 2023, and how years of international inaction and complicity have culminated in the current disaster in Gaza.
Norman G. Finkelstein received his Ph.D. from the Princeton University Politics Department in 1987. He is the author of many books that have been translated into 70 foreign editions, including The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, Gaza: An inquest into its martyrdom, and I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It: Heretical thoughts on identity politics, cancel culture and academic freedom. In 2020, Norman Finkelstein was named the fifth most influential political scientist in the world for the years 2000-2020.
Jehad Abusalim (Moderator) is completing his PhD in the History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies joint program at New York University. His main area of research is Palestinian and Arab perceptions of the Zionist project and the Jewish question before 1948. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Hebrew language and teaching methods from Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Palestine.
An accomplished speaker and writer, Jehad combines his passion for history with his commitment to activism and policy change work. Jehad recently edited the book “Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire” published by Haymarket Books in 2022. He has been published in +972 Magazine, Al-Jazeera English, Palestine Square, Journal of Palestine Studies, and Vox, and contributed to the anthology Gaza as Metaphor with a chapter entitled “From Fence to Fence: Retelling Gaza’s Story.” Jehad’s family continues to live in Gaza.
