In this episode, singer Laura Elkeslassy and writer/organizer Shir look back at a decade of Mizrahi/Arab-Jewish Left organizing in New York City — from art and feminist, egalitarian prayer services to active solidarity with Palestine. Together, we dive into what it takes to move beyond the Arab–Jewish binary, reclaim our full selves, and tie our practices of return with the Palestinian struggle for the right of return.

SHOW NOTES

• Reading List on Mizrahi, Sephardi, SWANA and Arab Jews
• Shohat, Ella. On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements: Selected Writings. Pluto Press, 2017.
• Bahar, Shirly. Documentary Cinema in Israel-Palestine: Performance, the Body, the Home. I.B. Tauris / Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 
• Elkeslassy, Laura. Website.
• Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati Concert, performed and recorded in May 2021
• Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati: Divas in Exile (multimedia album). 
• Elkeslassy, Laura. Ya Ghorbati: DIvas in Exile (Vinyl Record for purchase)

GLOSSARY

• Hazzanim – Plural of hazzan, the prayer leader in a Jewish synagogue, traditionally responsible for chanting prayers and leading the congregation in song.
• Selichot – Penitential prayers recited in the days leading up to the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), often late at night or early in the morning, seeking forgiveness and reflection.
• Egalitarian Prayer – A style of Jewish prayer in which all participants, regardless of gender, have equal roles in leading prayers.
• Baqashot – A pre-dawn tradition of Mizrahi supplicatory songs. The practice draws on local Islamic devotional traditions, particularly Sufi night prayers and du‘ā’ (supplications), blending Jewish liturgy with the poetic and musical forms of the surrounding Muslim world.

CREDITS

Host & Producer: Noémie Hakim-Serfaty

Host & Producer: Rosa Schwartzburg

Producer & Sound Mix: Fivel Rothberg

Intro Music: Lo Galerian performed by Eleonore Weil

Transitions and outro Music from Laura Elkeslassy’s upcoming album Ya Ghorbati | Divas in Exile

• Sidi Habibi, folk after Salim Halali.
• Ya Ghorbati, after Ma guitare et mon pays composed by Maurice El Medioni and interpreted by Line Monty.
• Abiadi Ana, after Zohra El Fassia

Music Production: Ira Khonen Temple, Eylem Basaldi, Laura Elkeslassy.

Vocals: Laura Elkeslassy

Key, Accordion, Piano: Ira Khonen Temple

Violin : Eylem Basaldi

Oud & Taqsim: Rachid Halihal

Guitar: Yoni Avi Battat

Drums: April Centrone, Nizar Dahmani

Bass : Marwan Allam, Zoe Aqua