A Palestinian American writer and filmmaker, Mo recently wrote a beautiful piece that garnered much admiration on Substack and elsewhere. It was the perfect moment to invite Mo for a conversation on The Debrief — something I’d been wanting to do for a while.
We centered our conversation around “A Letter from the Margins: On the price of being heard, of the story in the glosses, and the love beneath the rage.” It’s a brilliant, poignant, honest, challenging piece, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Our conversation included the following topics:
Mo’s personal background: Growing up in a prominent Jerusalemite family that found itself in Egypt, Kuwait, and Jordan following the Nakba, attending boarding school in the UK, and coming to the US to study at Berkeley with an eye to entering public service
How microaggressions against Palestinians motivated Mo’s piece: He spoke of a “dismissal of our humanity as Palestinians constantly and almost unthinkingly” and perpetually “being asked to legitimate ourselves”
The Palestinian audit: How, as a Palestinian, Mo feels that his politics — and even his existence — are constantly being “audited”
Encountering American Jews, as a Palestinian: Mo recognized a “mutual traumatic hyper-vigilance” and prioritization of education so that “if you have to leave this country you can go somewhere else and start again with just your degree.” He also noted a profound irony in Jewish American support for all social justice causes… except for the Palestinian cause
The need to recognize the context behind events — e.g. the October 7 attack — without condoning violations of human rights and international law
Genocide: Its definition, application to Israel-Palestine, and litmus tests regarding the use of the term
Zionism and its multitudes: Mo recognizes Jewish longing for a place of safety to call home — but notes “a strain of Jewish supremacy” in Zionism that not only deprives Palestinians of their freedom but also guarantees future atrocities because “you cannot subjugate a people forever”
A future of freedom, safety, and equality for all between the river and the sea: Mo believes it’s not for him to dictate whether there should be one state, two states, confederation, etc. His concern is with principles, including equality and human rights. “What matters to me is, does a citizen on the street have the same rights as a citizen next to them without looking at their ID card?”
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Mo told me (correctly!) that The Debrief has a “LOVELY audience” and he thanked folks who watched the podcast live for their great notes in the chat.
We’re both looking forward to your comments on this post, as well.
Thanks so much for watching. More soon!
Warmly,
Debra
