Podcast · History

PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine

This podcast is a deep dive into the social, economic, and political history of Palestine. Through the narration of Palestine's history, the podcast hopes to address some of the most common misconceptions about Palestine and Palestinians.

Typical length: 49 min
Language: English

Latest episode

1 hr 26 min

Martyrdom Inc Ep5 - Revolution Until Victory! (thawra hatta al nasr)

"There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen." In the wake of the six-day war and the defeat of the Arab armies, Palestinian led armed resistance took center-stage in the fight against Israel. This armed resistance would lead to two spectacular events. This episode focuses on these massively important events, and explores the impact of these events on the Palestinian people and their relationship with armed resistance.

Play episodeWhatsApp Download

Earlier episodes 29 most recent

1 hr 19 min
BONUS EPISODE: Palestine 36 - Interview with Annemarie Jacir
Annemarie Jacir is the director of Palestine 36, the first major firm to bring the Great Revolt of 1936 revolt to the big screen. I sat down with Annemarie Jacir to speak about the release of the film, Palestinian storytelling, and so much more. Enjoy!
38 min
Martyrdom Inc Ep4 - The Generation of Revolution (Jeel al Thawra)
The creation of the PLO placed new pressures on both Fatah and the Arab National Movement. This episode dives into the dawn of the Palestinian thawra (revolution) era, and the operation that birthed it.
1 hr
Martyrdom Inc Ep3 - The Birth of a Palestinian "Entity"
1964 witnessed the creation of a Palestinian representative entity. Hidden behind this well documented historic event is the story of a decades long rivalry. This episode chronicles the way in which that rivalry shaped the nature of the Palestinian entity, and indirectly sparked the emergence of modern Palestinian resistance.
51 min
Martyrdom Inc - The Three Lives of Izzidin al-Qassam (RE-POST)
In light of the Zionist state's repeated attacks on the grave of Izzidine al Qassam, I have decided to repost this episode. The episode follows the life, death, and legacy of Sheikh Izzidine al Qassam.
S4 · E2 · 1 hr 24 min
Martyrdom Inc Ep 2: Blood, Iron, and Fire
The years between 1948 and 1964 are often thought of as "the lost years", wherein a bewildered Palestinian people scrambled to pick up the pieces of their shattered world. This episode challenges this characterization and introduces listeners to the resistance movements that were birthed during this pivotal period.
1 hr 17 min
Martyrdom Inc Ep 1: Musa Kazim's Honorable Cooperation
We begin the series with a look into the life of Musa Kazim al Husseini, one of the most important Palestinians of the Ottoman and Mandate eras. His story reveals the power of what it means to cooperate, resist, remember, and forget. Follow me at @PreOccupationPod on Instagram and TikTok. Enjoy.
S4 · 4 min
Martyrdom Inc - Preamble
This preamble serves as a makeshift table of contents for the forthcoming episodes. Enjoy!
S4 · E1 · 41 min
Martyrdom Inc - Prologue
In this prologue to the Martyrdom Inc series I explore the evolution of martyrdom in the Palestinian imagination.
16 min
Israel's End-Game: The Final Solution to the Palestinian Problem
The genocide on Gaza has resumed, and Israel has unveiled its final solution to the Palestinian problem.
1 hr 26 min
BONUS EPISODE - Palestine's Rebel Republic
The Great Revolt of Palestine (1936-1939) stands as the greatest challenge to British imperial rule in the interwar period. This is a story of how the peasants of the Palestinian countryside, in partnership with urban radicals, overcame insurmountable obstacles in their struggle to drive out the British Empire from their land. While most accounts of the revolt place it as a stop on the Palestinian people's linear march toward the Nakba, this talk will focus on the innovative modes of resistance that the revolutionaries deployed in their struggle for liberation. I will be taking a hiatus from…
13 min
BONUS EPISODE - Fallout From the Ismail Haniyeh Assassination
This short episode explores how the axis of resistance will respond to the assassination of Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after 300 days of genocide.
57 min
Mini Series FINALE - A History of Palestinian Resistance Part 4 - Hamas, The Origin Story
Many people around the world first came to learn of Hamas on October 7th. Others may be old enough to conjure up memories of the Second Intifada. This final episode of the "History of Resistance" mini-series dives into the origin of Hamas and its first 15 years of existence.
1 hr 4 min
Mini Series - A History of Palestinian Resistance Part 3 - Karameh
After the Nakba, the Palestinians found themselves dazed, displaced, divided. In part three of this mini-series, we look at how Palestinian resistance rose from the ashes of the Nakba, and the internationalization of the Palestinian struggle in the twentieth century. (note: please forgive the audio quality!)
51 min
Mini Series - A History of Palestinian Resistance Part 2 - The Three Lives of Izzidine al Qassam
There is perhaps no name more synonymous with Palestinian resistance than that of Izzidine al Qassam. In part two of this mini-series, we explore the life, death, and legacy of Palestine's first martyr.
1 hr 23 min
Mini Series - A History of Palestinian Resistance Part 1 - A Sky With No Stars
As British Imperialism and Zionist setter colonialism descended upon Palestine, why was there no Palestinian Mao, Che, or Ho Chi Minh? Why did no single Palestinian figure emerge to unite the Palestinians and (successfully) stave off this threat? This mini-series opener takes a very close look at the learning landscape of Ottoman Palestine, and the learning journeys of the Palestinian notables, in an attempt to answer this question.
S3 · E3 · 39 min
Season 3 Episode 2 - Between the Desert and the Sown
The PreOccupation podcast is back, this time with some reflections on the difficulty of telling the Palestinian story, and a deep dive into one of the most neglected and ignored segments of Palestinian society. Enjoy!
S3 · E4 · 37 min
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Bedouin, Peasant, and Urban Palestinians in Late Ottoman Palestine
In this episode we look at the relationships between Bedouin, peasant, and urban Palestinians in late Ottoman Palestine. The episode will also introduce you to one Palestinian and his decades long game of cat and mouse with Ottoman authorities.
34 min
Mini-Series: "Resistance Inc." Episode 3
This three part mini-series explores the ways that resistance factions carry out their side of the information war, and the impact of the "resistance industry" on the culture of the Arabic speaking world. It is a story that will take you from Beirut to Gaza and back. Enjoy!
32 min
Mini-Series: "Resistance Inc." Episode 2
This three part mini-series explores the ways that resistance factions carry out their side of the information war, and the impact of the "resistance industry" on the culture of the Arabic speaking world. It is a story that will take you from Beirut to Gaza and back. Enjoy!
20 min
Mini-Series: "Resistance Inc." Episode 1
This three part mini-series explores the ways that resistance factions carry out their side of the information war, and the impact of the "resistance industry" on the culture of the Arabic speaking world. It is a story that will take you from Beirut to Gaza and back. Enjoy!
18 min
Bonus Episode - Three Months Into the War on Gaza
In this bonus episode, I break with the historical theme of the podcast to share some thoughts on Israel's recent assassination in Lebanon and some of the social trends that have emerged during this war.
S3 · E1 · 26 min
Season 3 Episode 1 - The Mutessarifat of al-Quds al-Sharif
It is widely known that in the 1870s, Palestine was administratively transformed into the Mutessarifat of al-Quds al-Sharif. What is much less well known is the story of how this administrative district came into existence. Join me as we take a deep dive into the administrative boundaries of late Ottoman Palestine.
S3 · 26 min
Season 3 Prologue - The Final Sultan
Season 3 is a deep dive into Palestine's "Hamidian era." That is, the period under the rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II. In this season 3 prologue, we explore the circumstances that gave rise to Sultan Abdulhamid II, and the hotly contested legacy that follows him to this very day.
S2 · E6 · 45 min
S2E6 - Season Finale Part 2 - The Annihilation of the Fellah
Last episode we saw how the notables of Palestine cleverly adjusted to the demands of modernity, emerging as winners in the Ottoman reform era. But just as the sky parted above the urban elite, storm clouds began to gather over the fellahin of the countryside. This, then, is the story of how modernity came crashing down upon the peasants of Palestine, creating a devastation so irreparable that its impact continues to be felt to this very day.
1 hr 11 min
BONUS EPISODE - Interview with "Stories from Palestine"
This interview originally aired on "Stories from Palestine", a great podcast where the host, Kristal, uncovers the mysteries of contemporary Palestine through interviews with Palestinian experts. In this interview, Kristal and I discuss the emergence of Palestinian identity. Enjoy!
44 min
S2E5 - Season Finale Part 1 - From Turban to Tarbush
The period of the Tanzimat - a time of rapid, relentless, state-sponsored modernization - ran from 1840 to 1876. In less than four decades, a highly decentralized empire that stretched across three continents made a great leap toward becoming a modern nation-state. Like all social, political, economic and technological disruptions, the modernization of Palestine came with its own set of winners and losers. This, then, is the part of the story where we finally get to see how Palestine's social classes responded to the shocks and tremors of the Tanzimat. In part 1 of the season 2 finale, we…
S2 · 56 min
S2 Interview - Usamma Makdisi and "The Age of Coexistence"
I am joined by Dr. Usamma Makdisi to discuss his most recent book "The Age of Coexistence". In this book Dr. Usamma Makdisi explores the politics of pluralism during the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world. Rather than judging the Arab world as a place of age-old sectarian animosities, "Age of Coexistence" describes the forging of a complex system of coexistence, what Makdisi calls the “ecumenical frame.” He argues that new forms of antisectarian politics, and some of the most important examples of Muslim-Christian political collaboration, crystallized to make and define the…
S2 · 58 min
S2 Interview - Andrew Delatolla and "The Making of the State in Lebanon and Syria."
Dr. Andrew Delatolla is a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Leeds. His book "Civilization and the Making of the State in Lebanon and Syria" explores the ever-shifting civilizational standards that were imposed upon the Ottomans by the West, and the implications that this had for the inhabitants of the region.
S2 · E4 · 49 min
S2E4 - The Bloody Birth of the Arabs pt 2
In part two of "The Bloody Birth of the Arabs", we explore how the violence of 1860 gave voice to a new message: "Hob al watan min al iman." Love of your nation is part of your faith. This episode is a deep dive into the local and foreign attempts to reach the children of Palestine (and beyond) using European colonialism's most successful institution; the modern school. In classrooms inside and outside of Palestine, local visionaries, Christian missionaries, and the Ottoman state found themselves competing for the hearts and minds of children, giving rise to the political movements of the…

About PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine

PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine is a English history podcast from Bassam. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Bassam
Language: English
Category: History
Typical length: 49 min
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1559134283

RSS feed Apple Podcasts

More English history

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.