You cannot totally divorce the political and the spiritual in the Middle East North Africa region, so for this special Christmas edition of 'Middle East Analysis' we are splitting the podcast into two parts.
Leading the way with the political analysis is our regular guest Dr Harry Hagopian, an international lawyer and consultant on the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States. Harry takes us to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan (yes, pushing briefly a little further south into Africa again this month) and Israel/Palestine.
The latter allows us to segue seamlessly into the second part of this episode. This is the 'Christ in Christmas' bit and who better to reflect on the true meaning, and in fact geography, of the season, than Bishop Jim Curry. Bishop Jim is a Catholic bishop who holds the Holy Land brief for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Light in the darkness, hope in times of despair, all embodied by Jesus Christ born in a stable in Bethlehem in the West Bank.
There's no ducking the realities this Christmas but our two guests do find reasons to cling to hope in tumultuous times.
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You cannot totally divorce the political and the spiritual in the Middle East North Africa region, so for this special Christmas edition of 'Middle East Analysis' we are splitting the podcast into two parts.
Leading the way with the political analysis is our regular guest Dr Harry Hagopian, an international lawyer and consultant on the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States. Harry takes us to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan (yes, pushing briefly a little further south into Africa again this month) and Israel/Palestine.
The latter allows us to segue seamlessly into the second part of this episode. This is the 'Christ in Christmas' bit and who better to reflect on the true meaning, and in fact geography, of the season, than Bishop Jim Curry. Bishop Jim is a Catholic bishop who holds the Holy Land brief for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Light in the darkness, hope in times of despair, all embodied by Jesus Christ born in a stable in Bethlehem in the West Bank.
There's no ducking the realities this Christmas but our two guests do find reasons to cling to hope in tumultuous times.
There are two ways of looking at every subject covered in this 'Middle East Analysis' podcast. Recorded just after US President Donald Trump presented his 20 (or 21) point framework for peace in Gaza, resident studio guest Dr Harry Hagopian grapples with the viability of the deal and whether it's one that offers any sort of hope for lasting peace whilst allowing for Palestinian self-determination.
Symbolism is a word that can be associated with the other topics on our radar – recognition of the State of Palestine by the UK (and 10 other states) and the aid flotilla - or Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) - that attempted to reach Gaza with Greta Thunberg and other activists onboard before being intercepted by authorities and transferred to an Israeli port.
Dr Harry Hagopian is joined by Bishop Jim Curry who is the Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Bishop Curry provides the pastoral, Dr Hagopian the political as our guests explore the fading chances of a two-state solution and whether peace is but a distant dream.
Pessoptimism is certainly the word, but Dr Hagopian is more pessimist than optimist with only a few crumbs of comfort to be found.
Middle East Analysis
You cannot totally divorce the political and the spiritual in the Middle East North Africa region, so for this special Christmas edition of 'Middle East Analysis' we are splitting the podcast into two parts.
Leading the way with the political analysis is our regular guest Dr Harry Hagopian, an international lawyer and consultant on the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States. Harry takes us to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan (yes, pushing briefly a little further south into Africa again this month) and Israel/Palestine.
The latter allows us to segue seamlessly into the second part of this episode. This is the 'Christ in Christmas' bit and who better to reflect on the true meaning, and in fact geography, of the season, than Bishop Jim Curry. Bishop Jim is a Catholic bishop who holds the Holy Land brief for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Light in the darkness, hope in times of despair, all embodied by Jesus Christ born in a stable in Bethlehem in the West Bank.
There's no ducking the realities this Christmas but our two guests do find reasons to cling to hope in tumultuous times.
