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.
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.
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The killing of prominent Guatemalan anti-corruption lawyer Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa is a chilling reminder of the dangers facing those who challenge powerful interests. On October 17, the 43-year-old former prosecutor was shot dead at a sports complex in Guatemala City. Solórzano Foppa spent years exposing corruption, investigating tax evasion, and challenging powerful political and criminal networks. His assassination has renewed fears about political violence, intimidation, and the erosion of the rule of law. Human Rights Watch is demanding a prompt, thorough, and credible investigation that identifies not only the gunmen but anyone who ordered or facilitated the killing. When those who fight corruption are murdered, justice itself is under threat. Guatemala must ensure accountability and end the cycle of impunity.
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Israel’s next election will decide far more than who governs. It will help determine whether the country can reclaim its democratic foundations, restore its international standing, and fulfill its founding promise—or continue down a path that endangers the very future its leaders claim to defend
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Human Rights Watch’s 2026 assessment documents an intensified crackdown on independent media, political opponents, and civil society, alongside widespread reports of torture and ill-treatment committed with impunity. Repression also reaches citizens abroad: Human Rights Watch reviewed eight convictions issued between July 2025 and March 2026 that sentenced exiled critics to six to sixteen years in prison in proceedings raising serious due-process concerns. For precision, frame either case as “grave abuses that deserve far greater public attention,” rather than “abuses nobody is talking about.” UN bodies and human rights organizations are documenting them; the stronger argument is that abuse persists despite that scrutiny.
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