The InnerView
Hanan Ashrawi: “Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza” | The InnerView
Imran Garda travels to Ramallah to talk with veteran Palestinian activist and politician Hanan Ashrawi who says Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been conducting a genocidal war in Gaza. For decades, Ashrawi was one of the faces of Palestinian negotiations for statehood. Now no longer involved within the PA structure, she harshly criticizes her former colleagues in the Palestinian Authority, blaming their ineffectiveness for why many Palestinians choose to support Hamas, a group seen as “doing something” in the face of occupation.
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Georgia: Between The West and Russia | The InnerView
As a small country in the Caucasus, Georgia is no stranger to being caught between Russia and Western powers. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it brought flashbacks for Georgians — of their cities being bombed, of Russian tanks rolling across their border in 2008. Memories of war and occupation. It also was a reminder that in 2008 the United States and its allies promised much, but delivered little. That geopolitical challenge facing Tbilisi has increased anxiety among the Georgian people and has renewed questions about a choice Georgians feel they need to make. In which direction do they see their future? Imran Garda travels to Georgia where he meets protesters and sits down with two politicians on opposite sides to hear their arguments: former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Georgian Dream lawmaker Levan Makhashvili. Makhashvili says the ruling party, Georgian Dream, is being pragmatic and wants to survive. Georgian Dream stands accused by opposition leaders and even its Western friends of election fraud and steering the country toward Russia. The government claims it’s all a distortion of reality. But with Russia still occupying parts of Georgian territory and the recent introduction of the controversial “foreign agents” law that Human Rights Watch calls a law designed to “extinguish critical voices” and seems to mimic similar legislation in Russia, it has pushed some young people over the edge. They have taken to the streets to say they want a clear commitment away from Russia and towards Europe. For months, waving EU flags and defying their government, thousands of Georgians have protested outside parliament against what they say is an alarming slide away from Europe—and into Russia’s shadow. Giorgi Gakharia was once Prime Minister and oversaw a clampdown on dissent when he was Interior Minister. This time around, he stands with the dissenters, saying Georgian Dream is not merely being pragmatic and has made an active decision to be anti-West. On this episode of The InnerView we listen to Gakharia's criticisms and Makhashvili’s defense of the current policy and the controversial law. Can Georgia balance its interests, and the reality of its geography? Can Georgian Dream still keep Georgia’s dream of the European Union alive without upsetting Russia?
Expelled Ambassador: We are being punished for who we are as South Africans | The InnerView
"An ambassador does not sit passively and allow lies to be spread about his country...it's not an accident that former prominent South Africans are prominent MAGA engineers." Now "persona non grata" in the United States, former South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool sits down for an exclusive interview with Imran Garda in Cape Town. Rasool opposes Elon Musk and the Trump administration's claim of Afrikaner persecution and white genocide in his country, and has no regrets about the comments that led to his high profile expulsion from the United States. The former Ambassador explains what he calls the global "phenomenon" of white grievance and supremacism that is being amplified by the Trump administration and addresses the "race-baiter" epithet used by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his tweet announcing Rasool's expulsion. The two discuss the events leading up to his expulsion from the US and Rasool explains why he believes South Africa is being punished by the United States — both economically and politically. He says the country was deemed "impudent" for even thinking of taking US ally Israel to the ICJ and describes how he was told by Trump officials that the door to discussing trade would only open once South Africa retracts its lawsuit at the International Court of Justice. "What hurts the Trump administration is that the last victims of colonialism, apartheid and supremacy, have the first voice against a genocide in the Middle East." Can South Africa avoid further retribution, while still holding onto its stated values? Or does it have to bend the knee to Trump in order to save itself?