British plastic surgeon, Dr Victoria Rose, travelled to Gaza twice this year to provide life-saving medical care to children wounded by the genocide in Gaza. Rose talks about her difficult experiences of working in the Gaza Strip despite the continued attacks on healthcare facilities and medics by the Israeli military, and what the medical community is doing to try to affect change. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Palestinian American activist and adjunct professor Amin Husain. New York University suspended Husain indefinitely for statements he made off campus about Palestine. Husain is also the founder of Decolonize This Place, an art collective that promotes social justice. He talks about why Israel’s war on Gaza resonates with students and faculty on university campuses in the US, and how protest and resistance can help marginalised groups empower...

John Mearsheimer is a political scientist and influential scholar in international relations who is best known for his theory of offensive realism. Mearsheimer talks to Al Jazeera’s Rawaa Auge about the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Lebanon and how global and regional powers support and arm the belligerent parties. Mearsheimer also weighs in on the 2024 US presidential election, and the minefield that is US foreign policy. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Jeremy Scahill is an American investigative journalist and author. He co-founded Drop Site News, a non-partisan organisation dedicated to reporting on major stories while focused on accountability and accuracy. Scahill joins Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, to dissect the 2024 US presidential election, American interests in the Middle East, Israel’s war on Gaza and what the future of journalism may look like. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate in the 2024 US election. He joins Centre Stage to talk to Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle about why having more voting options is important, and what the US would be like under Libertarian governance. Oliver also offers his take on US foreign policy, how he’d tackle diplomacy with allies and addresses current conflicts. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Arab Americans are expected to play a critical role in the upcoming US presidential election. And, while they’ve traditionally voted Democrat, that seems to be changing, leading some to talk about a political chasm within the Arab American community in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza, and American support for that war. In this episode: Maya Berry (@iMayaBerry), executive director of the Arab American Institute Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

In part 2 of this episode of Centre Stage, we conclude our interview with Clive Stafford Smith, a civil rights lawyer who represents Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani American woman serving an 86-year prison sentence — a victim, says Stafford Smith, of the United States’s so-called “war on terror”. In this episode: Clive Stafford Smith (@CliveSSmith), civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Maryam Nemazee (@MaryamNemazee), presenter at  Al Jazeera ...

In part 1 of this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Clive Stafford Smith, a civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. His best-known client is Aafia Siddiqui, who he says is a victim of circumstance, and should never have ended up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list after the 9/11 attacks in the US.  In this episode: Clive Stafford Smith (@CliveSSmith), civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Maryam Nemazee...

Refik Hodzic is a journalist, filmmaker and an expert in transitional justice who has also worked as a spokesperson for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Hodzic joins us on Centre Stage, where he draws parallels between the Bosnian genocide and the war in Gaza, discusses the role of Western governments in achieving justice, and explains why young people are his only hope.  In this episode: Refik Hodzic (@davidahearst), journalist, filmmaker and an expert in...

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of The Middle East Eye, David Hearst. His career spans decades of reporting on Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Hearst talks about why he thinks we’re currently witnessing the collapse of the Western governance model, and how the mistakes of the West are linked to the war on Gaza.  In this episode: David Hearst (@davidahearst), veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of The Middle East Eye Rawaa...

The trailblazing leader of Slovenia who became the country’s first female president did it without the backing of a political party. President Natasa Pirc Musar had a diverse career as an attorney, journalist and former information commissioner. A staunch advocate for human rights, President Musar talks about Slovenia’s recent recognition of Palestine, and why a reform of the UN Security Council is needed.  In this episode: Natasa Pirc Musar (@nmusar), President of Slovenia Rawaa Auge...

In this episode of Centre Stage, the former president of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, explains how being a medical doctor has helped shape his political career, and why the Arab Spring has been a failure — “everywhere”. Moncef Marzouki was Tunisia’s first president after the Arab Spring uprisings. But less than a decade after he was sworn in, and following a coup, Tunisia’s new government stripped him of his passport and issued an international warrant for his arrest for incitement to overthrow...

For six months, people have watched Israel’s war on Gaza and heard words like genocide, apartheid, and ICJ become part of the daily news lexicon. For some, it can be difficult to follow and fully understand. Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney, an associate professor at Rutgers University, and an advocate for justice and equality for Palestinians. Speaking on Centre Stage with host Rawaa Auge, Erakat explains the colonial structure of rule in Palestine and the UN’s mandate there. In this...

Diana Buttu is an international lawyer, a former legal adviser to the PLO, and a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause. Buttu debunks the myth that hostilities in Gaza began only after the October 7 attacks, looks at what’s behind the defunding of UNRWA, and challenges Israel’s often-repeated claim of having the most “moral army in the world.” In this episode: Diana Buttu (@dianabuttu), international lawyer Rawaa Auge (@Rawaak), presenter at Al Jazeera Digital Connect with...

Mustafa Barghouti joins us on Centre Stage. He talks with to us about confronting Israeli oppression, the realities of what he calls Israel’s “system of fascists” and he hints at his political future.  In this episode: Mustafa Barghouti (@MustafaBarghou1), secretary general and co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative Rawaa Auge (@Rawaak), presenter at Al Jazeera Digital Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Ilan Pappé. He’s an Israeli historian and professor at the University of Exeter. Pappé is known for his outspoken views on the Israeli-Palestinian question - drawing both praise and criticism. He’s the author of several books including "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", in which he challenges the traditional Israeli narrative over the establishment of Israel in 1948. In today’s episode, Pappé discusses the dangers of the Zionist ideology and its...

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese. She is an international lawyer with a focus on human rights, migration and the displacement of refugees. Albanese has been vocal and critical of Israel and its partners. Her assessments are blunt. And when describing Israel's actions in war, she does not hold back. In this episode: Francesca Albanese (@FranceskAlbs), UN special rapporteur on the occupied...

In this episode of Centre Stage, Harry Hagopian talks about the interfaith mosaic of Islam, Judaism and Christianity within the Israel-Palestine context and describes his role during the Oslo Accords. He also sheds light on the often forgotten, if not also overlooked or neglected, indigenous Christian population of the Holy Land. Harry Hagopian, an Armenian Christian originally from Jordan, is an international lawyer based in the UK and the former Assistant General Secretary of the Middle...

Omar Shakir is the Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. He has spent years documenting and investigating human rights abuses and Israeli crimes against humanity across Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. He joins us to explain the processes and difficulties in carrying out his job as well as provide an overview of the long list of crimes Israel has committed against Palestinians. In this episode: Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir), Israel and Palestine director at...

Dr. Omar Suleiman talks about the oppression of pro-Palestinian voices in the West, the growing Islamophobia and how it lends itself to racism. In this episode: Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman504), American Muslim scholar and civil rights leader Dareen Abughaida (@DareenAG),  Principal Presenter at Al Jazeera English  This episode is produced in partnership with the Islam and Muslims Initiative, an international platform that connects Muslims and non-Muslims in the realms of religion,...

We sit down with Peter Oborne to discuss the role of the media in shaping the narrative around the war on Gaza and the growing divide in the West between political stance and public opinion. Oborne has authored several books including The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class. He was also the former chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph and currently writes a political column for Middle East Eye.  In this episode: Peter Oborne (@OborneTweets),...

We sit down with former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy to discuss the war in Gaza from historical, inter-faith, and geopolitical perspectives. Levy served under Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during Oslo B negotiations. He also discusses the Palestinian right of return, the consequences of the Oslo negotiations and addresses anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.  In this episode: Daniel Levy, President of the US/Middle East Project, Former Israeli Negotiator Dareen...

In this episode, we hear from Palestine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot as he reflects on the war in Gaza, the double standards it exposed, the road to peace and responds to questions about Palestinian leadership and the decades-long aspiration for statehood and self-determination. In this episode: Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot), Palestine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Sandra Gathmann (@SandraGathmann), Al Jazeera Digital Presenter  This episode is produced in partnership...

In this episode of Centre Stage, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta shares his experience as a surgeon in different hospitals in Gaza during the ongoing Israeli war. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta is one of the world’s leading specialists in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The British-Palestinian surgeon is a passionate and active humanitarian and has worked as a war surgeon in numerous war zones including Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, he has dedicated his time to...