In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor holds a quick conversation with FMEP President Lara Friedman in which they discuss the U.S.’s “blockade of a blockade” in the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of thinking that seems to characterize it; the Israeli effort to undo Oslo, undo the Gaza “disengagement”, and undo the withdrawal from Lebanon; and the question of whether Israel considers Turkey to be a peer competitor.

For a little more recent analysis from Lara Friedman, see Lara’s observations about Israel’s history and how it informs policy and this April 9, 2026 panel at the Arab Center DC in which Lara spoke, “Trump’s Second Term: Upending Democracy, Development, and Diplomacy.”

Lara Friedman is FMEP’s president. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, She is a leading authority on the Middle East, with particular expertise on U.S. foreign policy in the region, on Israel/Palestine, and on the way Middle East and Israel/Palestine-related issues play out in Congress and in U.S. domestic politics, policies, and legislation. Lara is also a preeminent subject-matter expert in the area of anti-Palestinian legislation and “lawfare,” including the weaponization and instrumentalization of the definition of and concerns about antisemitism. Lara’s research on lawfare and antisemitism-related topics – which she makes available to the public – is widely cited and widely recognized as the authoritative data in the field. Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut.

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com.