Advertise on podcast: PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine

"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 would emerge to take 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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This preamble serves as a makeshift table of contents for the forthcoming episodes. Enjoy!

In this prologue to the Martyrdom Inc series I explore the evolution of martyrdom in the Palestinian imagination.

The genocide on Gaza has resumed, and Israel has unveiled its final solution to the Palestinian problem.

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 posting new episodes for a little while, but I will still be traveling, speaking, and writing. Follow me at PreOccupationPod on Instagram for updates.

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.

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.

After the Nakba, the Palestinians found themselves dazed, displaced, divided. Part three of this mini series looks at how Palestinian resistance rose from the ashes of the Nakba, and internationalized the Palestinian struggle in the process.

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.