“From Palestinian independent cinema to Hollywood blockbusters, she has carried Palestine with her onto every screen—never compromising, never erasing who she is.”

In Episode 69 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim and Hanan are honored to be joined by Hiam Abbass, the award-winning Palestinian actress whose extraordinary career spans some of the most important films and television series of our time.

Hiam Abbass has appeared in landmark Palestinian films such as Paradise Now and The Lemon Tree, while also breaking barriers in global cinema and television with roles in Blade Runner 2049, Succession, and many more. Most recently, she stars in Anne-Marie Jacir’s powerful new film Palestine 36, continuing her lifelong commitment to telling Palestinian stories with integrity and courage.

This conversation is about art as resistance, visibility without compromise, and the power of Palestinian voices in spaces that were never designed to include them.

Hiam Abbass’ Work:

Palestine ‘36 → watermelonpictures.com/films/palestine-36

Bye Bye Tiberias → imdb.com/title/tt22857256/

Hiam Abbass’ Social Media:

Facebook → facebook.com/HiamAbbassActress/

X (Twitter) → x.com/Hiam_Abbass

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #HiamAbbass #PalestinianCinema #PalestinianActors#Palestine36 #FreePalestine #EndTheOccupation #Gaza#ArtAsResistance #PalestinianCulture #ArabCinema#Succession #BladeRunner2049 #ParadiseNow #TruthInFilm

“She’s known to many as the co-founder of The Enlightenment Podcast, but Hanan Kattan is so much more—a visionary entrepreneur, award-winning film producer, and cultural advocate reclaiming Palestinian identity through art, cuisine, and now literature.”

In Episode 68 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Shamim sits down with Hanan Kattan, the podcast’s founder and co-host, to discuss her brilliant new book, Palestine Revealed, which uncovers hidden histories and challenges mainstream narratives about Palestine.

Hanan’s career spans multiple creative and cultural industries. She is an award-winning film producer whose projects—including Despite the Falling Snow (starring Rebecca Ferguson and Charles Dance)—have won over 50 international awards. She is also the creator of Tabun Kitchen, a modern Palestinian restaurant in London’s Soho, which sought to reclaim Palestinian culinary heritage from cultural appropriation while earning accolades like Lots Magazine’s Restaurant Award and a nomination for one of London’s best new casual dining concepts.

This is a deeply personal and illuminating conversation about Palestinian identity, heritage, and liberation, offering insight that is missing from mainstream narratives.

Hanan Kattan’s Work:

Palestine Revealed → palestinerevealed.com

Produced Films → enlightenment-productions.com

Hanan Kattan’s Social Media:

Facebook → facebook.com/hananfkattan

Instagram → instagram.com/hananfkattan

X (Twitter) → x.com/HananFKattan

Palestine Revealed Social Media:

linktr.ee/palestinerevealedbook

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #HananKattan #PalestineRevealed #PalestinianHeritage #FreePalestine #PalestinianCulture #CulturalResistance #PalestineHistory #Gaza #EndIsraeliOccupation #PalestinianEntrepreneurs #ArtAndActivism #PalestinianCuisine #PalestinianStories

In Episode 67 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are honored to be joined by Cherien Dabis, the Emmy-nominated Palestinian-American filmmaker, writer, and actress whose work has reshaped how Palestinian stories are told on screen.

Cherien’s latest film, All That’s Left of You, shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, is being hailed as a definitive cinematic chronicle of Palestinian dispossession, memory, and survival. The film confronts the realities of loss, exile, and endurance with rare emotional honesty and artistic power.

Her debut feature Amreeka won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at Cannes and became the most screened Arab-directed film in U.S. cinema history. Since then, Cherien has built a remarkable career bridging independent Palestinian cinema and mainstream Hollywood, directing episodes of major television series including Ramy, Only Murders in the Building, and Ozark.

This is a vital conversation about storytelling, erasure, and why Palestinian narratives matter now more than ever.

Cherien Dabis’ Work:

All That’s Left of You → watermelonpictures.com/films/all-thats-left-of-you

Amreeka → amazon.com/Amreeka-Yussuf-Abu-Warda/dp/B002T921C0

Cherien Dabis’ Social Media:

Facebook → facebook.com/cheriendabis

Instagram → instagram.com/cheriendabis

X (Twitter) → x.com/CherienDabis

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #CherienDabis #PalestinianCinema #AllThatsLeftOfYou #Amreeka #FreePalestine #Gaza #PalestinianStories #EndTheOccupation #CinemaAsResistance #ArtAndJustice #Palestine #IsraelGaza #OscarShortlisted

“She helped run one of the most transformative political campaigns in modern U.S. history—and then turned her attention to a different battlefield: culture. From Capitol Hill to Hollywood, she is helping reshape how Palestine is seen, heard, and defended.”

In Episode 66 of The Enlightenment Podcast, hosts Hanan and Shamim are honoured to be joined by Rania Batrice, a Palestinian-American political strategist, organiser, and cultural advocate who went from serving as Deputy Campaign Manager for Bernie Sanders to mobilising Hollywood’s most influential artists and cultural workers for Palestine.

Rania played a key role in one of the most significant progressive political movements in U.S. history. Since then, she has redirected her strategic expertise toward cultural organising, working behind the scenes to help actors, filmmakers, musicians, and public figures speak out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, despite intense censorship, intimidation, and career threats.

In this episode, we explore how art, politics, and advocacy intersect, and why culture has become one of the most powerful battlegrounds in the global struggle for Palestinian liberation. Rania explains how narrative control shapes public opinion, why Hollywood matters politically, and what it takes to build effective solidarity in an era of mass repression of pro-Palestinian voices.

This episode is about power, storytelling, and resistance—and how movements grow when political strategy, culture, and moral clarity come together. At a time when Gaza is under genocide and truth is under attack, Rania Batrice’s work shows how culture can become a tool for liberation rather than complicity.

Rania Batrice’s Work:

Website → batrice.associates/rania

Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF) → pcrf.net/donate

Rania Batrice’s Social Media:

Facebook → facebook.com/raniabatricepage

Instagram → instagram.com/rbatrice

X (Twitter) → x.com/RaniaBatrice

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #RaniaBatrice #FreePalestine #GazaGenocide #PalestineSolidarity #HollywoodForPalestine #ArtAsResistance #CulturalActivism #EndIsraeliApartheid #CeasefireNow #PoliticalStrategy #BernieSanders #TruthToPower #PalestinianLiberation

“She picked up a paintbrush at fourteen, inside a besieged strip of land the world prefers to see only through rubble and statistics. What emerged instead were explosions of colour—women, nature, memory, and life—painted from inside Gaza itself.”

In Episode 65 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are honoured to be joined by Malak Mattar, a young Palestinian artist from Gaza whose work has become one of the most recognisable visual languages of contemporary Palestinian resistance.

Born in Gaza in 1999, Malak is a self-taught artist who began painting as a teenager during Israel’s repeated assaults on the Strip. In just a few years, her vibrant, emotionally charged paintings have reached international audiences, exhibited across Europe and beyond. Her work is instantly recognisable for its bold use of colour, recurring imagery of women and nature, and its deep grounding in Palestinian daily life, memory, and survival.

Malak’s art does not document destruction—it insists on presence. It speaks to hope, resilience, femininity, and the lived experience of growing up under siege, offering a powerful counter-narrative to how Gaza is usually portrayed in Western media.

This episode is a reminder that Palestine is not only a site of suffering—but of imagination, creativity, and enduring life.

Malak Mattar’s Work:

Website → malak-mattar.com

Etsy → etsy.com/shop/MalakArtStore

Malak Mattar’s Social Media:

Facebook → facebook.com/people/Malak-Mattar / facebook.com/MalakMattarArtist

Instagram → instagram.com/malakmattarart/

X (Twitter) → x.com/MalakMattarart

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #MalakMattar #PalestinianArt #Gaza #ArtAsResistance #GazaUnderSiege #FreePalestine #PalestinianArtists #WomenInArt #CultureIsResistance #PalestinianCulture #GazaGenocide #EndTheOccupation #VisualResistance

“In July 2025, two Israeli soldiers were dancing at a music festival in Belgium. Hours later, they were in handcuffs—being questioned by federal police on war crimes charges. For the first time in 77 years, a European country arrested Israeli soldiers for crimes committed against Palestinians.”

In Episode 64 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are joined by Dyab Abou Jahjah, the Lebanese-Belgian activist, writer, and political organiser who is co-founder of the Hind Rajab Foundation—an organisation that is fundamentally reshaping how war crimes against Palestinians are pursued under international law.

For more than three decades, Dyab has fought for Palestinian rights—from grassroots organising in Antwerp to legal advocacy at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Through strategic legal filings, jurisdictional challenges, and relentless pressure on European institutions, the Hind Rajab Foundation has launched what many consider the most serious legal challenge to Israeli impunity in generations.

This conversation is about more than one arrest—it’s about the collapse of impunity, the power of legal resistance, and why accountability is no longer theoretical.

Dyab Abou Jahjah Works:

Hind Rajab Foundation → https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/donate

March 30 Movement → https://30-3.org/

Hind Rajab Foundation Social Media:

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/HindRajabFoundation/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/hindrajabfoundation/

X/ Twitter → https://x.com/HindRFoundation

Dyab Abou Jahjah Social Media:

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/aboujahjah/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/aboujahjah/

X/ Twitter → https://x.com/Aboujahjah

Youtube → https://www.youtube.com/@AbouJahjahD

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #DyabAbouJahjah #HindRajabFoundation #WarCrimes #AccountabilityNow #EndIsraeliImpunity #JusticeForPalestine #FreePalestine #GazaGenocide #InternationalLaw #ICJ #ICC #HumanRights #ArrestWarCriminals #Palestine

“For six years, he documented Israeli war crimes when most institutions refused to look. Then, in the middle of a genocide the world claimed was ‘too complicated,’ he helped organise something many said was impossible—a sold-out Wembley Arena concert, 12,500 people strong, raising £1.5 million for Palestine.”In Episode 63 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are joined by Frank Barat — documentary filmmaker, activist, organiser, and one of the most important behind-the-scenes figures in the global Palestine solidarity movement.Frank spent six years documenting Israeli war crimes through the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, helping to build one of the most comprehensive people’s archives of international law violations. He has edited landmark books with Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, and many others, preserving testimony and analysis that mainstream institutions worked hard to suppress.Just three months ago, Frank helped pull off what many believed could never happen: a sold-out Wembley Arena benefit concert for Palestine, featuring major artists and raising £1.5 million for Palestinian relief—proving that culture, when mobilised with integrity, remains one of the most powerful tools of resistance.Frank is also Executive Producer on Annemarie Jacir’s acclaimed new film Palestine 36, which recently premiered to standing ovations and is a must-see on the big screen.This episode is about movement-building, cultural resistance, and what it really means to stand with Palestine when it matters most.Frank Barat’s Works:On Palestine → https://bit.ly/3MwCT0Y Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement → https://bit.ly/3KTYm3p Other Mentioned Books and Films:Understanding Power: The Indispensible Chomsky → https://bit.ly/3KsfZHzPalestine 36 → https://www.watermelonpictures.com/films/palestine-36The Voice of Hind Rajab → https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36943034/All That’s Left of You → https://www.watermelonpictures.com/films/all-thats-left-of-you The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #FrankBarat #Palestine36 #RussellTribunal #CulturalResistance #ArtistsForPalestine #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine #EndTheOccupation #SolidarityInAction #StopTheGenocide #IsraelPalestine #AntiColonialism #TruthToPower #BDS

“In October 2023, while the world watched Gaza burn from their screens, one man walked into the inferno. A plastic surgeon who could have been earning millions on Harley Street instead chose to operate—43 days straight—under relentless bombardment. Sometimes without anesthesia. Sometimes sleeping on operating tables, wiped down with disinfectant. Today, that surgeon, now Rector of the University of Glasgow, joins us.”

His eyewitness testimony helped bring Gaza’s genocide case to the International Court of Justice. Germany banned him. France banned him. Pro-Israel groups attempted to end his medical career. His only ‘crime’: speaking out and bearing witness to the genocide in Gaza.

In Episode 62 of The Enlightenment Podcast, Hanan and Shamim are honored to be joined by Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon and one of the world’s leading experts in conflict medicine. Dr. Abu Sitta has worked in 12 war zones and, over the past two years, has become perhaps the most indispensable medical witness to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.

This episode is a devastating, urgent, and necessary conversation about truth-telling under fire and the courage it takes to document a genocide in real time.

Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah's Work:

The Ghassan Abu-Sittah Children’s Fund → https://gascf.org/

American University of Beirut Global Health Institute → https://ghi.aub.edu.lb/

The Enlightenment Podcast Social Media:

feedlinks.link/enlightenmentpodcast

#TheEnlightenmentPodcast #GhassanAbuSittah #DrAbuSittah #GazaGenocide #Gaza #Palestine #ConflictMedicine #MedicalWitness #EndTheOccupation #FreePalestine #StopTheGenocide #GazaUnderAttack #HealthcareUnderSiege #ProtectMedicalWorkers #TruthToPower #ICJGenocideCase #IsraelPalestine