The New Arab Voice is back!

This week we look at the recent sectarian violence that engulfed the Syrian coast and targeted the country's Alawite community and the violence that hit in the south, which targeted the country's Druze community.

We examine the causes of the violence, the response by the state, where the state's response went wrong, and what it means for the future of this new Syria.

Joining us to guide us through the violence on the coast, we speak with Dr. Rahaf Aldoughli (@r_aldoughli), a Lecturer in Middle East and North African studies at Lancaster University (@LancasterUni), and Senior Editor for the Middle East Section at Cogent Social Sciences.

And to explain what happened in the south, we speak with Dr. Nanar Hawach (@NanarHawach), Senior Analyst for Syria at International Crisis Groups (@CrisisGroup).

All five episodes of our special series Sanaa's Odyssey are out now, you can listen to them via The New Arab, or search for 'Sanaa's Odyssey', wherever you get your podcasts.

This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge).

Theme music by Omar al-Fil with additional music from Audio Network.

To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TNAPodcasts or email podcast@newarab.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode five of Sanaa's Odyssey, a special series from The New Arab.

For the final episode of Sanaa's Odyssey, we travelled to Cairo, to meet with Sanaa in person.

When we spoke, a ceasefire had been agreed between Israel and Hamas, although, there was little hope that it would hold.

In her Cairo apartment, we spoke with Sanaa about how she feels about the war now that she has escaped, the tragedies that she has experienced, how she feels about Hamas, prospects for peace, and what she wants from the future.

Sanaa's Odyssey is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

You can follow The New Arab's podcast on X, and email us podcast@newarab.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode 4 of our new podcast, Sanaa's Odyssey.

You can subscribe to Sanaa's Odyssey on all podcast platforms.

By April 2024, Sanaa and her family decided that it was time to get out of Gaza.

They had experienced seven months of the brutal conflict, been forced from their homes, and lost countless friends and family members.

At the time, the only way out of Gaza was through the Rafah border crossing. And while deciding to leave was one thing, the actually task of crossing, was a whole different matter.

In episode four of Sanaa's Odyssey, we follow Sanaa and her family as they navigate the murky business of migration and difficult decisions they had to make when it came time to cross.

Sanaa's Odyssey is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

You can follow The New Arab's podcast on X, and email us podcast@newarab.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode 3 of our new podcast, Sanaa's Odyssey.

You can subscribe to Sanaa's Odyssey on all podcast platforms.

As the war in Gaza continues to rage, Sanaa has to continue working as a journalist.

Sanaa has been working as a journalist for 19 years, and while she has witnessed many wars in Gaza, the current conflict has been the most difficult to report on. Already forced from her home, she had to struggle to continue to produce stories, while also wondering how she was going to be able to charge her phone, or find a signal to send a story. At the same time, she had to protect herself and her family from Israeli airstrikes, as best as she could, which appeared to be targeting journalists.

In episode three of Sanaa's Odyssey, we talk to Sanaa about her career as a journalist, what it means to be a journalist in Gaza, and how this war was different from everything that came before.

Sanaa's Odyssey is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

You can follow The New Arab's podcast on X, and email us podcast@newarab.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode 2 of Sanaa's Odyssey, a brand new series from The New Arab.

You can subscribe to Sanaa's Odyssey on all podcast platforms.

On episode two of Sanaa's Odyssey, we follow Palestinian freelance journalist Sanaa Kamal as her and her family try to survive the war in the Gaza.

Sanaa was forced from her home in the early days of the war, but this was just the start of her struggles. She needed a new place for to stay, and avoid the constant Israeli bombardments. It was an almost impossible task.

Every day was a struggle. It was a struggle to find somewhere safe. It was a struggle to find food to eat. It was a struggle to keep moving and holding any sort of hope. And as she struggled to stay alive, thousands of people, including those who she knew and loved, were being killed.

Sanaa's Odyssey is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

You can follow The New Arab's podcast on X, and email us podcast@newarab.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode one of Sanaa's Odyssey; a brand new series from The New Arab.

You can subscribe to Sanaa's Odyssey on Apple, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

The war in Gaza began on October 7th 2023.

Sanaa Kamal watched it happen from her balcony as she drank her morning coffee. That day would be the start of a nightmare for her and her family.

On this episode of Sanaa's Odyssey, Palestinian freelance journalist Sanaa Kamal tells us what it was like in Gaza when the war began. The rockets being fired from Gaza, as part of the Hamas-led attack, when the Israeli bombs started falling, the first time she was forcibly displaced from her home, and the memories and belongings that she left behind.

Sanaa's Odyssey is a new five-part series from The New Arab in London, about one women's tale of survival, her work as a journalist in the most dangerous reporting environment in the world, and her desperate attempt to keep her family together, in the face of a brutal Israeli onslaught.

Sanaa's Odyssey is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

You can follow The New Arab's podcast on X, and email us podcast@newarab.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe now to be notified when new episodes are available.

Available on Apple, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcast.

Sanaa Kamal is a freelance journalist, who was born and raised in Gaza.

She has lived through a series of wars in Gaza, but nothing like the war that followed the Hamas-led attacks of October 7th.

In this five-part podcast from The New Arab in London, Sanaa tells her story. From the first day of the war, escaping her home, and narrowly avoiding attacks, to finding a way for her and her family survive as the bombs continued to rain down and the food began to run out, to trying to continue her work as a journalist, and report on a tragedy that was tearing her life apart.

Producer: Hugo Goodridge.

To get in touch with the producers, follow us on social media at @TNAPodcasts or email podcast@newarab.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the return of President Donald Trump, we also saw the return of the 'maximum pressure' campaign.

The maximum pressure campaign was the hallmark of Trump's Iran foreign policy during his first term, and took the form of a raft of sanctions, which targeted individuals and the country's economy.

This week on The New Arab Voice podcast, we look at what the return of Trump means for Iran, if the regime can survive four more years of Trump, and what the Iranian regime is doing to mitigate and circumvent the sanctions.

To help us navigate Iran and the maximum pressure sanctions, we speak with Alex Vatanka (@AlexVatanka), a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst), specialising in Iran, and the author of The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry since 1979.

This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge).

Theme music by Omar al-Fil with additional music from Audio Network.

To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TNAPodcasts or email podcast@newarab.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.