Yasmine Mohammed Podcast

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the author of the book The Arab Case for Israel. He champions immediate, unconditional, and comprehensive peace between every Arab nation and the Jewish state.
​Hussain joins Yasmine to discuss his book and to share with us why he believes peace with Israel is the only path to progress.  They will also ponder questions around Islam and Democracy. Is Islam compatible with democracy? Does Popper's Paradox perfectly encapsulate the issue with immigration of Islamists to western nations? How can democracy defend itself? Is democracy inherently vulnerable to ideologies like Islamism?
 Raised in Beirut, Baghdad, and Baalbek, cities that have repeatedly served as epicenters of the Middle East’s most seismic conflicts, Hussain’s research focuses on Arab affairs, spanning Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Sudan.
His career launched as a reporter, and later managing editor, at Beirut’s The Daily Star. In Washington, he helped launch and manage the congressionally funded Arabic satellite network Alhurra Iraq before leading the Washington bureau of the Kuwaiti daily Alrai. He has also served as a Visiting Fellow at London’s Chatham House.
 Hussain’s articles in English have appeared in several outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He also publishes regularly in Arabic media. He holds a degree in history and archaeology from the American University of Beirut and is fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abdulhussainhussain
Twitter: https://x.com/hahussain
Explore more of Hussain’s latest policy research and analysis at https://www.fdd.org/

Loay Alshareef is an Arab Muslim peace advocate, historian, and social media influencer whose mission is to bridge divides between Muslims and Jews and to champion peace in the Middle East.
He will be joining Yasmine to discuss how antisemitic Muslims are spreading their hate to the west and how that hate is leveraged in the conflicts with Israel and Iran.
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia to a Saudi Egyptian family that once held many radical views, Loay experienced a turning point in 2010 after living with a Jewish family in France. That experience reshaped his worldview and inspired his lifelong commitment to peace.
He began his media career in Saudi Arabia, working across fields such as language education, history and tourism before dedicating himself fully to peace advocacy and promoting the Abraham Accords.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lalshareef
Twitter: https://x.com/lalshareef

Hamza Abu Howidy is a Palestinian activist, writer, and educator from Gaza. He works to challenge extremism and promote dialogue between Muslims and Jews. A former political prisoner under Hamas, Hamza’s personal journey took him from radicalization to peace advocacy, leading him to dedicate his work to exposing the human cost of ideological warfare.  His writings and social media activism combine lived experience with sharp political analysis, focusing on Palestine-Israel, antisemitism, and the future of coexistence.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamzahowidyy
Twitter/X: https://x.com/HowidyHamza

Salima was born in the UK to a strict Bangladeshi Muslim family. Her parents forced her to memorize the Quran, attend mosque, and wear the hijab from a very young age. She and her siblings were physically abused by their mother and kept isolated from other children their age.​
When her parents began discussing a marriage to a cousin, she decided to run away with her sister. Because Salima was under 18, social services became involved and helped the two sisters escape safely. Unfortunately, the abuse continued in the foster system, and she had to leave her foster home to protect herself.​
Today, Salima lives a life she once only dreamed of, sharing a home with her partner and their two dogs. She now speaks out about the abuse she endured to shed light on the realities faced by women with backgrounds like hers.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salima_alam

Sarit Gad grew up in a Jewish home in Miami, Florida, always drawn to the nostalgia of her ancestors who came from Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon. Her family did not pass down stories, but she always knew they had left the region and she carried that quiet history with her.
The old warnings about Jewish hatred felt like distant echoes from another time, shadows she believed the world had already outgrown.
She believed deeply in coexistence and peace. It was not until October 7th, while interning at the United Nations in New York, that the full complexity of reality became impossible to ignore.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saritmedia/