The Race and Rights Podcast

A complex array of domestic, regional, and international factors contributed to the rise of Hafez Al Assad as president of Syria in 1970 and the ultimate demise of his son, Bashar Al Assad on December 8, 2024 – thirteen years after the Syrian people unsuccessfully rose up peacefully as part of the regional phenomena commonly referred to as the Arab Spring.  Located at the center of geopolitical competition between Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the nation of Syria will continue to play an instrumental role in regional politics, which in turn impacts U.S. interests in the oil-rich Middle East. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/ [https://saharazizlaw.com/])  speaks with Professor Omar Dahi about what lies ahead for the Syrian people, who like  other Arabs in the region, yearn for self-governance, peace, and security for their nation. Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html]  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr]  Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

In what a growing consensus of international legal scholars describe as a genocide [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/], the systematic destruction of Gaza by the Israeli military has killed over 55,000 Palestinians and injured over 100,000 Palestinians in less than 15 months.  The Israeli government’s severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip have produced unprecedented malnutrition, disease, and starvation of 2.3 million Palestinians. While only a few mainstream American media outlets have covered what has come to be known as the Second Nakba – harking back to Israeli militia's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 – even fewer journalists have covered the experiences of the Palestinian diaspora in North America. Host Sahar Aziz [https://saharazizlaw.com/] talks with Dr. Ghada Ageel, who was born and raised in Gaza, about the pain and trauma experienced by Palestinians in Canada, the United States, and other diasporic communities as they witness the Israeli army’s horrific violence against their families and friends trapped in Gaza.   Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html]  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr]  Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]  #Palestine #Gaza #Genocide #Israel #CSRR

On December 8, 2024, the Syrian people overthrew Bashar Al Assad, bringing to an end a brutal fifty-four-year dictatorship.  Although the Syrian people partook in the wave of revolutions during the Arab Spring, their efforts to bring about democracy in Syria were hijacked by a host of external actors in what deteriorated into a violent proxy war between Russia, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. As a result, over 300,000 Syrians were killed, and 13 million Syrians became refugees or internally displaced within the country, as explained in CSRR’s 2019 report “Toward Empowerment and Sustainability: Reforming America’s Syrian Refugee Policy [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/issues/toward-empowerment-and-sustainability/].”  Our guest, Feras Mousilli, is the founder and managing partner of the Lloyd & Mousilli law firm, a recipient of a Fulbright award from the U.S. State Department, and a leader in the Syrian diaspora in the United States.  Mr. Mousilli provides the unique perspectives of Syrian Americans who have been waiting for the fall of the Assad regime for decades.   He offers his insights into what led to the overthrow of Bashar al Assad and what to expect next in Syria. Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights by following us and making a donation:  Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html]  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr]  Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

The present state of the unfulfilled peace brokering process between Palestine and Israel stands to undermine any meaningful progression toward the two-state solution proffered by dominant actors in the West. Host Sahar Aziz [https://saharazizlaw.com/], in discussion with the former Egyptian Ambassador Hesham Youssef, explores the argument that Western ambivalence to the issue of Palestinian sovereignty has significantly eroded the path toward a peace agreement. #Palestine #Israel #Gaza #CSRR Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights by following us and making a donation:  Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html]  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr]  Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Israel has effectively blinded it to the most detrimental factors to the dissolution of the peace-brokering process, most notably the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian sovereignty and the legitimacy of international human rights law. Host Sahar Aziz [https://saharazizlaw.com/] will discuss these complex dynamics with author and political scientist Khaled Elgindy by decentering a unilateral perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a socio-historical lens. #Palestine #BlindSpot #Gaza #Israel #KhaledElgindy Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights by following us and making a donation:  Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html]  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr]  Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr]  Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr]  Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]