Lord Sacks: moral responsibility

last friday morning (28th august), 7.47-7.50am, on bbc radio 4
thought for the day from former chief rabbi lord sacks

“… Which brings us back to the Bible: when a society condones the glamorization of violence, we have to think long and hard before we can say, Our hands did not shed this blood.”

Amanpour: religious violence

last thursday morning (27th august), on cnn international tv
amanpour (presented by simon schama)
includes …

“Religious tolerance: at a cross-roads? Discussion on the rise of religious violence“

including contributions from …
• former chief rabbi lord sacks
• interfaith leader and gandhi center peace prize-winner akbar ahmed, ibn khaldun chair of islamic studies at american university, washington

Wadi Qelt

yesterday morning (saturday 29th), 11.38-11.54am, on bbc radio 4
from our own correspondent (presented by kate adie) includes …

“We’ve been meeting some of the hermits and holy men still living in caves amid the sandy wastes and rocky mountains of Wadi Qelt, on the West Bank.”

HARDtalk: Suha Arafat

this afternoon (friday 28th), 2.06-2.30pm, on bbc world service radio (freeview channel 710 or 107) (repeated – for no apparent reason – from january 2015 on bbc news television)
hardtalk: suha arafat

“In a special edition of HARDtalk, Zeinab Badawi is in Malta to speak to Suha Arafat – the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Ten years after his death, Mrs Arafat gives a rare broadcast interview about their marriage, why she believes he was assassinated and why she has chosen to live in Malta and not amongst the Palestinian people who so revered her husband.”

Outlook: Palestinian circus

this evening (wednesday 26th), 8.15-8.22pm, on bbc world service radio (freeview channel 710 or 107) (repeated from 12.15pm)
outlook (presented by matthew bannister) includes …

“Circus shows are not normally part of Palestinian culture. But now two young performers are aiming to change that. Fadi Zmorrod and Ashtar Muallem are staging a show called B-orders using physical agility to tell stories about their experiences of living in the Palestinian Territories. They’ve brought their show to the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, where Kim Chakanetsa went to meet them.”

PM: hilltop youth

this afternoon (tuesday 25th), 5.37-5.42pm, on bbc radio 4
pm (presented by eddie mair) includes …

“Last month, an arson attack in the occupied West Bank killed a Palestinian baby and his father. It brought wider attention to a small group of young Jewish settlers who in the past conducted acts of vandalism but who now advocate violence against Moslems and Christians, and to try to undermine the Israeli state.”

including contributions from …
• bbc reporter yolande knell
• settler activist daniella weiss
• mark regev
• abdul al-addin, of the night watch in the village of qusra

Outlook: Eman Mohamed

this evening (tuesday 25th), 8.33-8.41pm, on bbc world service radio (freeview channel 710 or 107) (repeated from 12.33pm)
outlook (presented by jo fidgen) includes …

“Eman Mohamed, who now lives in the United States, has chosen a highly unusual career for a Palestinian woman – in fact, she says she is the first Gazan woman to become a photojournalist. Her photos of the conflicts in Gaza have been published in international newspapers and magazines.
But there was a lot of resistance to her going into the business. She even had to bargain to get a camera when she was offered her first job.”

(see also http://blog.ted.com/eman-mohammed/)

Newshour: inheriting trauma

this afternoon (sunday 23rd), 1.41-1.45pm, on bbc world service radio (freeview channel 710 or 107)
newshour (presented by julian marshall) includes …

“Holocaust victims’ traumas could be passed on“

… interview with:
• rachel yehuda, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at mount sinai hospital, new york

Breaking the Mould

this morning (sunday 23rd), 9.30-10.00am, on bbc world service radio (freeview channel 710 or 107)
breaking the mould (presented by jane little) (2nd of 3 episodes, about 3 christian jewish and moslem female religious leaders in America who are challenging the establishment) (in the heart and soul series)

“Rabbi Sharon Brous was voted America’s most influential Rabbi in 2013.
She tells Jane Little about her decision to become a Rabbi and discusses the ideas she holds about Judaism and how social justice has challenged the orthodoxy within her faith.
She also explains how she reaches out to young Jews who feel they have lost touch with or become disenfranchised from the religion and how she is now trying to draw them back by re-emphasising what she calls “the basics” of their faith.
She explains why she did not want to head a traditional synagogue and why she set up the IKAR Jewish community in Los Angeles to challenge the traditional ways of worship, and how she views her faith and the role of a Rabbi.”

FOOC: selfies at Auschwitz

yesterday morning (saturday 22nd), 11.33-11.38am, on bbc radio 4
from our own correspondent (presented by kate adie) leads with …

“Steve Evans reflects, amongst other things, on people taking selfies at Auschwitz and at other atrocity sites”