Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here – "Producing Knowledge on Palestine" feat. Dana El Kurd

Release Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Dana El Kurd (with guest Shireen Sekari)

Overview

This episode of "It Could Happen Here" centers on the crucial topic of Palestinian knowledge production—exploring how knowledge about Palestine has historically been generated, preserved, and challenged within academic and public spaces. Host Dana El Kurd, a professor and researcher on Arab and Palestinian politics, is joined by Shireen Sekari, historian and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Together, they discuss the historical legacy and current obstacles facing Palestinian academics, the role of community and resistance within scholarship, and the increasingly fraught conditions under which Palestinian studies are conducted, especially in the wake of recent escalations in Gaza and heightened repression in U.S. academia.

Key Discussion Points

The Role and Legacy of the Journal of Palestine Studies

• The Journal's Origins and Mission

  • The Journal of Palestine Studies (JPS) was founded in 1971 amid a landscape of "erasure, denial, and urgency," aiming to create an international forum for free academic discussion of the Palestine question.
  • Founders included notable figures like Hisham Sharabi, Walid Khalidi, and Constantine Zreich (who named the Nakba, "the catastrophe," in 1948).
  • "The story of the founders is a really interesting one because they were people... really confronting a landscape of erasure, denial and urgency. And occupying this kind of steady, incessant pain of the original inception of the Nakba." – Shireen Sekari (03:18)

• Knowledge Production as Resistance

  • The Journal provided groundbreaking research and was ahead of its time, publishing critical revelations such as the empirical basis for Plan Dalet (the destruction of Palestinian villages).
  • “A lot of our understanding [of the conflict] that are now finally starting to seep into the mainstream were first discussed in these pages...it is a form of resistance to erasure.” – Dana El Kurd (05:39)

Marginalization of Palestinian Voices in Academia

• Systemic Barriers and Surveillance

  • Both hosts discuss the barriers Palestinian scholars face—heightened scrutiny, the need for greater rigor, and an ever-present threat of harassment and surveillance.
  • “You have to show up 10 times more ready than anybody else. It means you have to conduct yourself as if you are always being recorded." – Shireen Sekari (09:06)

• Personal Accounts of Harassment

  • Shireen shares experiences of online targeted harassment, especially post-9/11 and in light of increasing surveillance on Palestinian academics:
    • “I'd come out of my lecture... and I'd have 50 notifications, and it would just be one insult after another. And that's just part of the job.” – Shireen Sekari (15:25)
  • The historic attempts to police and silence critical discourse on Palestine are not new, and records of surveillance and harassment date back decades.

The Post–October 7 Context: Heightened Repression

• Increased Targeting within Academia

  • Since the recent escalation in Gaza, there has been a concerted effort to erase Palestinians from U.S. higher education and scholarship.
  • Widely publicized persecution of pro-Palestinian speech and punitive Title VI investigations on alleged antisemitism are discussed:
    • “There’s been a huge uptick in [Title VI] investigations... specifically about antisemitism and nothing else.” – Dana El Kurd (30:12)

• Weaponization of Antisemitism Allegations

  • The majority of these cases are shown to be “totally fraudulent,” a means of policing and silencing critical perspectives on Israel/Palestine:
    • “It’s a real policing of speech. It’s a real kind of weaponization of the charge of antisemitism.” – Shireen Sekari (31:29)

The Political Economy and Intersectionality of Knowledge Production

• Whose Knowledge Gets Validated?

  • There is a recurring pattern that Palestinian perspectives are deemed legitimate only when echoed by Israeli or Western scholars.
  • “There’s an inherent suspicion about the Palestinian scholar, the Palestinian analyst, the Palestinian knowledge producer of some kind.” – Dana El Kurd (07:38)

• Palestine as Paradigm

  • Palestine is used both as a cudgel against higher education and as a paradigm for broader struggles, including class oppression, racialization, and the right to knowledge:
    • “Palestine is a class issue.” – Dana El Kurd (23:12)
    • “All of the struggles we stand in, in solidarity with... it is intersectional, and we didn’t need Trump to teach us that.” – Shireen Sekari (24:01)

• Students’ Lived Reality

  • Many public university students are indebted, working multiple jobs, and facing housing/food insecurity—conditions echoed in their empathy with Palestinian struggle and skepticism toward institutional narratives of progress.
  • “Our students are disgruntled, they want to learn. They’ve been promised something with this college education. And even the slight bit of social mobility... is too much for this right wing.” – Dana El Kurd (23:12)

The Importance of Centering Palestinian Knowledge and Agency

• Why Palestinian Scholars Matter

  • Beyond identity, Palestinian scholars “know best what questions are relevant and they have a unique perspective on the issue” (34:28). Excluding their voices makes scholarship poorer and limits understanding.

• Rejecting Dehumanization through Storytelling

  • Centering Palestinian voices is a way to resist their exclusion from humanity and counteract violent narratives:
    • “Once you exclude people from the category of the human, it’s much easier to kill them and make them expendable... telling of the story changes the angle of vision.” – Shireen Sekari (37:07)

• Decentering European Frameworks

  • “We have to really provincialize Europe as the means and ends of all things... ask different questions and look at it from a different perspective.” – Shireen Sekari (39:20)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Journal as a Tool of Resistance:
  • “Knowledge production is just... a form of resistance to erasure.” – Dana El Kurd (05:39)
• Personal Toll of Surveillance:
  • “I’m constantly... experiencing these things and just... swallowing it, right. Just getting along with the business of every day.” – Shireen Sekari (15:25)
• Weaponization of Antisemitism:
  • “95% of [Title VI] cases have been shown to be... totally fraudulent. So, yeah, it’s a real policing of speech.” – Shireen Sekari (31:28)
• Education as Community Defense:
  • “[W]e have to take care of each other in the communities that we build.” – Shireen Sekari (39:27)
• Guidance to Students/Scholars:
  • “First and foremost, study, read, learn. Those are the critical tools that you gain that will allow you to defend yourself in a world that is intent on making you stupid.” – Shireen Sekari (39:27)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 03:18 – Background and legacy of the Journal of Palestine Studies
• 05:39 – Knowledge production as resistance and Plan Dalet research
• 09:06 – Discussing historical surveillance and academic barriers
• 15:25 – Personal stories of harassment and adjusting to its reality
• 30:12 – Post–October 7 crackdown: weaponization of antisemitism allegations
• 31:29 – Discussion of fraudulent harassment cases and the “policing of speech”
• 34:28 – Why centering Palestinian agency and scholarship matters
• 37:07 – The dehumanization problem and the power of storytelling
• 39:27 – Calls to collective study, care, and community

Final Reflections and Calls to Action

• The episode concludes with a passionate urging to defend knowledge, critically engage with Palestinian scholarship, and support Palestinian-led research spaces, notably the Journal of Palestine Studies.
• Academics and students are encouraged to remain vigilant, prioritize rigorous study, and focus on mutual care within their communities of learning and resistance.
• Dana El Kurd thanks Shireen Sekari and urges listeners to support the Journal of Palestine Studies' fundraising campaign, emphasizing such support as "a surefire way to help resist these dynamics." (40:58)

For Further Reading and Support:
Visit the Journal of Palestine Studies and check the episode’s show notes for reports and fundraising links. The conversation is ongoing—both hosts exemplify the commitment to sharing truth and resilience in the face of deep adversity.