In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Lara Friedman asks Omar Baddar what it is like to be Palestinian American in U.S. politics, government, and media. They also discuss to what extent the issue of Palestine is undergoing a transformation across these fields, and how the Biden Administration is choosing to navigate these changes.

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Recorded June 8, 2021

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Omar Baddar is a political analyst, digital producer, and human rights advocate based in Washington, DC. He serves as the communications director for the Institute for Middle East Understanding. has previously served as deputy director of the Arab American Institute, a producer with Al Jazeera, executive director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts, and former director of the Palestine Cultural Center for Peace in Boston, MA. He holds a master’s degree in political science, with research focusing on U.S. policy toward Palestine and Israel. He has participated in dozens of panels, lectures, and debates on college and university campuses throughout the US. His media appearances include the BBC, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, Sky News, Voice of America, and other outlets, and his writings have appeared in Salon, the Huffpost, the Daily Beast, and Jadaliyya, among other platforms. @OmarBaddar

Lara Friedman (co-moderator) is the president of FMEP and a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Friedman is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. @LaraFriedmanDC