On May 14, 1948, Mariam Fathalla was forced to leave her ancient Palestinian town of al-Zeeb at the age of eighteen. In the year that followed, more than half of all Palestinians were expelled or killed in a series of events now known as al-Nakba (the Catastrophe).

For today’s episode, guest host Gil Halsted presents footage from the North America Nakba Tour event in Madison on Monday, April 22, 2019. In it, Mariam Fathalla (Umm Akram) tells her story with the help of translator Amena ElAshkar.

After we hear Mariam’s story, Gil spends the final moments discussing the Nakba Tour, the situation in Palestine, and what Americans can do with Barb Olson of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.