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“I’m an Australian Jew and I care deeply about Israeli and Palestinian lives. Can I ask you a question about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza right now?”<br><br>Since 7 October 2023, Ittay Flescher, an Australian Jewish peace educator and journalist has received message after message which have more or less begun like this.&nbsp; One of them came from Hannah Baker, a family lawyer in Melbourne with a big heart who cares deeply about all the humans who call this place home.<br><br>After many messages back and forth, they decided to turn their conversations into a podcast.&nbsp;<br><br>With a clear bias towards promoting voices of tolerance and coexistence, this podcast seeks to be a conversation starter for those who seek to break beyond the binaries and labels of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine that often accompany such conversations.&nbsp;<br><br>Ultimately, this podcast seeks to comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable.</p>
One year on from October 7, Hannah and Ittay reflect on the past year, expressing their fears, hopes and disappointments.
And a very exciting announcement: Ittay has written a book! "The Holy and the Broken: A cry for peace from a land that must be shared" is now available for pre-order at ittay.au
2025 Australian Book Tour Dates:
Perth - February 2
Sydney - February 6
Melbourne - February 9
Podcast feedback is always welcome at fromtheyarra@gmail.com
For more updates and special events, follow us at @fromtheyarra
Hello listeners,
For our final episode of From The Yarra to the Mediterranean Sea, we want you to be a part of the conversation. We have created a survey, which will take 3 minutes to complete (we timed it). We will be speaking about the results on our last episode which we plan to record this weekend so have your say and be part of the conversation.
https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/148SPRz8
In peace from Melbourne and Jerusalem
Hannah and Ittay
In our tenth episode, Ittay speaks with Ahmed Fouad Al-khatib, a U.S. citizen from Gaza and a Middle East political analyst. Ahmed has a master’s degree in intelligence studies from American Military University and has written and contributed extensively to publications on Gaza’s affairs in U.S., Israeli, Jewish, and Arab outlets.
In this episode, Ahmed speaks to Ittay about his childhood experience attending the UNWRA schools of Gaza, which is a timely discussion as we have been hearing and seeing a lot about UNWRA in the news. ( For those unaware, UNWRA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees).
Both Ittay and Ahmed touch on the many challenges facing Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups at this time, and provide some suggestions as to how we can learn to build bridges so that we can move forward together.
We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Further reading:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/as-a-gazan-i-still-believe-israelis-and-palestinians-must-talk/
Comments welcome at fromtheyarra@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram at @fromtheyarra
In this episode, we have teamed up with the incredible Ibrahim and Amira, co-hosts of the podcast "Unapologetic - The Third Narrative" to bring you "Unapologetically, From the Yarra River to the Mediterranean Sea".
Ibrahim and Amira are Palestinian-Israeli Citizens, who are unapologetic about their views and vision for a better future for all those who live between the river and the sea.
In this episode we have honest conversations about what the term "resistance" means, the Boycott Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Zionism, Justice and so much more.
We are so proud of this episode and extremely grateful for Ibrahim and Amira sharing their thoughtful, kind and empathic views for the future of this land.
We know it's a long one but it is SO worth the listen!
A big thank you to Ben Levitt for his support in editing this episode.
Feedback is welcome at fromtheyarra@gmail.com
It’s the episode we know many of you have been waiting for.
Welcome to episode 8 of From the Yarra River to the Mediterranean Sea: “Strong Opinions, Weakly Held with Elica Le Bon”.
Elica is an Iranian attorney, activist and artist who is currently living in LA. She has over 150,000 followers on Instagram which is where we discovered her in the weeks following October 7 sharing content from “both sides”.
In this conversation, we explore Elica’s experience of looking through the current war through the eyes of an Iranian who wants justice, freedom and equality for all. We also discuss identity politics, the Truth vs Harmony spectrum and social media activism.
We want to acknowledge that Hannah recorded this podcast episode on unceded Wurundjeri land and we pay our deepest respect to elders, past and present.
RESOURCES:
Dr Emily - Truth Vs Harmony on the Imperfects podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7iXjJ8EO9jsDk17biWHV5m?si=-Xrg9Vp7QKGYx79ip33oKg
Questions and feedback are welcome via email to fromtheyarra@gmail.com or on Instragram @fromtheyarra
Elica can be found on Instagram @elicalebon
Following on from our conversation with Moaz Inon in the previous episode, Hannah and Ittay closely examine the various "solutions" that currently exist in the public domain that can help us move from a state of war to a state of peace.
RECOURCES
Haaretz Video featuring maps of all solutions explored: "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: One state, two states and other possible solutions"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpBHYkra_qs
Not Two States, Not One State: A New Way Out of Disaster for Israelis and Palestinians, By Dahlia Scheindlin, Nov 30, 2023
Questions and comments are welcome at fromtheyarra@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram for episode updates at @fromtheyarra
In this episode, we welcome Israeli peace activist Maoz Inon onto the podcast.
Maoz lost both his beautiful parents, Bilha and Yakovi Inon on October 7. They were two of the first people killed on that horrific day when a Hamas rocket landed directly on their house in Moshav Nativ Ha’asara. Since suffering the pain of their loss, Maoz has been campaigning against revenge and for reconciliation.
Maoz speaks about his life before the war as a successful entrepreneur and founder of the Abraham Hostel’s network and shares how he saw his whole life as preparation for what happed on October 7. Maoz now sees himself as a "naive man with a plan" which is one of the most powerful forces known to humanity.
Resources:
Two States, One Homeland
https://www.alandforall.org/english/?d=ltr
A Guide for Hosting a Together for Humanity Peace vigil in your city
https://togetherforhumanity.co.uk/resources/
Welcome back to From the Yarra River to the Mediterranean Sea - Episode 5: Building Trust
Lana Ikelan is a Palestinian Journalist and graduate of the Tomorrows Women peace building dialogue program. In this episode, she speaks about her experiences growing up in Jerusalem, how this war has shaped her relationships with Jewish friends, and her hopes for the future.
RECOURCES:
For more information about Tomorrow's Women:
https://tomorrowswomen.org
Video on the status of East Jerusalem
https://www.timesofisrael.com/state-of-jerusalem-the-maqdasyin/
Comments and feedback are welcome at fromtheyarra@gmail.com
In this episode of "From the Yarra River the Mediterranean Sea", we interview Israeli map designer and peace builder Mushon Zer Aviv. We first came across Mushon after reading a powerful article he wrote called “Your Empty is Killing us” which explores the importance of holding space for YES AND statements during this war.
In the second half of the episode, we have a discussion between ourselves about what it means to be connected to land and the links we have seen between Palestinians, Israelis and Australia's First Peoples.
We also discuss the Australian Left and how we feel their advocacy has been, at times, somewhat one-sided.
In what has been a particularly tragic week for both Israelis and Palestinians, we hope this conversation again gives our listeners hope that another way is possible.
This episode will likely comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable, so have a listen to it in a space where you can breathe, process and reflect.
In this episode, we discuss:
RESOURCES
For further reading, we recommend looking at this piece by Adam Raz about the legacy of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement on our current situation
In the lead up to our next episode with Mushon Zer Aviv, please read:
https://medium.com/@mushon/your-empathy-is-killing-us-1a50a4fc0488
We welcome feedback, comments and questions at:
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
