Marketing the Israeli Occupation – Part Two: Media and the Palestine Problem

Thomas Suárez is a London-based historical researcher as well as a professional Juilliard- trained violinist and composer. He is a former faculty member of Palestine’s National Conservatory of Music and former West Bank resident. Thomas authored Palestine Hijacked: How Zionism Forged an Apartheid State from River to Sea (2022), Writings on the Wall: Palestinian Oral Histories (2019), and State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel (2016). One of his three books on the history of cartography, Early Mapping of Southeast Asia (2012), is considered the standard text on the subject.

Alex McDonald is an American who grew up in Europe, traveled to Palestine, and wrote 2 books on the language used to support Israel’s narrative: How I Learned to Speak Israel: An American’s Guide to a Foreign Policy Language and When They Speak Israel: A Guide to Clarity in Conversations about Israel. Alex is involved in changing how Israel and Palestine are taught in U.S. schools and serves on the steering committee of Voices from the Holy Land. As a Gaza Freedom Flotilla participant, he was crew on Mairead in 2018, and sailed from Norway to the U.K. on Handala in 2023.

Dale Sprusansky is the managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. He reports on the U.S.–Israel relationship and its impact on the Palestinian people and the broader Middle East. Dale received his B.A. in Political Science from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. He has lived in Egypt and traveled extensively throughout the region.

Katie Halper (moderator) is a New York City–based writer and video correspondent. She hosts The Katie Halper Show (WBAI radio) and cohosts the podcast show Useful Idiots. Katie was first censored by The Hill TV and then fired from its morning broadcast, Rising, after she submitted a commentary in which she stood up for US Representative Rashida Tlaib (who had said that Israel is an apartheid state). Katie is a film producer and codirector of the documentary Commie Camp (2013), about a summer camp that provides a progressive, Yiddish-speaking environment to kids.