As UN experts are warning about genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza and despite israel's long track record of bombing palestinian civilians, this episode will cover France's support to the ongoing massacre. Who is behind it? What are France's interests in this position? How about Europe, is this new? After WWII, the mantra was "never again…

This episode is my personal appreciation of Hip Hop and how it played a fundamental role in my political upbringing. Though I traced back the lessons I learned from Public Enemy, KRS One among others, I could not resist the temptation of sharing with my audience a brief history of French Hip Hop in Paris, Marseille and the area I am from, the South…

The recent raid against French journalist Ariane Lavrilleux for exposing the SIRLI operation has made headlines about the repression of a free press in France. The SIRLI operation is a long running collaboration between the French military and the Egyptian dictatorship. In the name of fighting terrorism, highly trained French military personnel was…

On August 31st, the newly apointed Minister of Education Gabriel Attal started his mandate by launching a campaign against abayas, or long dresses, supposedly worn by radicalised Muslim students. Where is this prohibition coming from? What are its political aims and what does it say about France, its war against French Muslims and the future of Fre…

Sabine Vorin, a cleaning agent, was found dead, alone, in the toilets of the Naguib Mahfouz municipal library in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, on September 17, 2018. What her death revealed, was the terror and racism faced by Black and Arab workers at the City Hall of Paris and how the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and the Mayor of the 20th arron…

Reviewing the presidential campaign, the election, the debates, the state of the Left and what the 2022 elections say about France. Read the full analysis on The New Arab: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/macrons-victory-paved-oppression 'The levels of respectability that the National Rally has garnered was all too visible during the president…

Guest: Jean Beaman, Author of "Citizen Outsider" and researcher on race and racism in France and the US. Many have called out the blatant double standards on refugees by western powers. While refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia were violently rejected by countries like the US, France or the UK, those coming from the Ukraine were immediat…

Following our previous episode "Muslim Clerics and the Arab Revolutions", my guest Dr Usaama Al Azami, Lecturer in Contemporary Islamic Civilisation at the University of Oxford and author of "Islam and the Arab Revolutions" came back to carry the conversation towards the notions of "legitimate authority" and its limits, obedience and dissobedience,…

As the Arab Revolutions were unfolding, various Muslim clerics took a public position to either support or condemn them, if not out right call for their repression in blood. Dr Usaama Al Azami, Lecturer in Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and author of "Islam and the Arab Revolutions" joined me to discuss the rationale follo…

Guest: Khalil Dewan, head of investigations at Stoke White Lawyers (London)After the bombing of a wedding celebration in the town of Bounti, Mali that left 19 civilians dead, a damning UN report contradicted claims by the French government that armed extremists were on site. To this, France has consistently refuted the accusation and has stuck to i…

Shedding light on how nazi ideology has inspired the BJP in power and how the collapse of Indian democracy did not happen overnight. Md Asif Khan, an Anti Islamophobia Activist came on the show to describe the ongoing persecution of religious minorities in India especially Muslims, their lynchings, the violence of "mob cows", the poisonous conspira…

“This anti separatism bill reminds me of the Muslim ban under Trump” Channel Andrews, Professor of Law at the University of Pariss Assas Channel Andrews is an American attorney based in Paris, France, where she teaches law at Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). Prior to moving to France, she served as Assistant Counsel in the Governor’s Office of…

"...there is a deeper, more damaging force at play: our assimilation into the capitalist structure via globalisation..."* *Mariem Massmoudi, civil society activist working for democratic governance & religious freedom in the Middle East and North Africa. She writes on critical political & social theory, comparative democracy studies, and Islamic & …

From 9/11 to the Paris Attacks in 2015, from the Patriot Act to the state of emergency in France and in light Macron's racist policies, a transatlantic look at Muslims in the West. This podcast is independent thanks to our donors, please be one of them and help us sustain this project, from 1€ without commitment: www.cjl.ong/en/donation Jonathan Br…

As the French Senate has passed a series of amendments against the Muslim headscarf, foreign flags in weddings and even threats againts organizations on political grounds, where is this legislative brutality coming from and where is France going? This podcast is independent thanks to our donors, please be one of them and help us sustain this projec…

Malia Bouattia is the former head of the National Union of Students (NUS) in the UK. She was the first female Black British and Muslim leader of the historic student union in a landmark election that took place in 2016. She brought forward the issue or race, class and gender and was a leading voice for better access to education especially for mino…

What does it say about a country when the current Minister of Interior Gerald Darmanin singles out the far right leader Marine Le Pen for being "too soft on Islam and in need of vitamines"? When the far left leader Jean Luc Mélenchon has a forty year track record of supporting anti-Muslim controversies to the point of supporting Marine Le Pen when …

Let’s stop pretending the attempted coup is “unamerican” or a shocking surprise. Guest: Tory Russell, Movement For Blak Lives Organizer After Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill to contest Joe Biden’s election and left 5 people dead and an outraged political and media elites, questions remain on what this event reveals and what the aftermath woul…

How the historic institution is a symptom of the ills of French society and the French government’s relation with Muslims. Of all the media, it is to Charlie Hebdo that the rector of the Grand Mosque (of Algiers) of Paris Chems Eddine Hafiz went to call out and blame his friends from the French Council of the Muslim Faith for the failure of his "ch…

Guest: Dr Hatem Bazian, Hatem Bazian is a co-founder and Professor of Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College, the 1st Accredited Muslim Liberal Arts College in the United States. In addition, Prof. Bazian is a lecturer in the Departments of Near Eastern and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr…

Staint Louis based organizer Tory Russell returns to “Le Breakdown with Yasser Louati” podcast for a discussion around the ongoing evolutions of the Black Lives Matter Movement and what explains the split between “Black Lives Matter” and “Movement For Black Lives”. Tory has been a staunch advocated for an independent grasroots from the grip of the …

Lara Elborno reminds us why she is more defiant than ever. SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN TO LE BREAKDOWN on: iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Google podcast, Stitcher, Radio Public, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean and all major podcasting platforms. Paris based Palestinian-American Lawyer Lara Elborno joined Le Breakdown with Yasser Louati to give her comm…

Lindsey Tramuta is an american journalist who has been living in Paris since 2006. She is a culture & travel journalist, author, podcaster, and editorial consultant. Lindsey also wrote The New Paris: the People, Places & Ideas Fueling a Movement (Abrams, 2017) which made it to the Amzon bestseller list and The New Parisiennes: the Women & Ideas Sha…

The term "separatism" was first used by Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of the anti-Police brutality and anti-racism rallies that took place in Paris in the aftermath of the assassination of George Floyd. Rather than addressing a century old demand to justice and equality, France's president accused the marchers of attacking the integrity of the n…

"You take our votes for granted" Saint Louis based and Black Lives Matter co-founder Tory Russell came back to #LeBreakdown as the US presidential is reaching unprecented levels. In this episode, Tory Russell brings with him the latest developments from the protests he is taking part in and how the current political climate is not promising for non…

Reclaiming Arabness in "When We Were Arabs", Guest: Massoud Hayoun “I am a Jewish Arab. For many, I’m a curiosity or a detestable thing. Some say I don’t exist, or if I did, I no longer do.” This how Massoud Hayoun, a Los Angeles based journalist begins his book titled “When We Were Arabs” (The New Press). Admitting that the book puts him in the po…

Guest: Dr. Peniel Joseph, Author of «The Sword and The Shield », Professor of History at the University of Texas Austin, Founding Director Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. His past publications include: Waiting ’Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America and Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack O…

France may admire what’s going on in the US, but she ought to look at the racism on her own soil. In this discussion, Dr Maboula Soumahoro, lecturer in English and American Litterature at the University of Tours, gives her analysis on France’s fascination with events in the US but also on France’s hypocrisy when it comes to racism.We need to questi…

Guest: Tory Russell, Mission Manager, International Black Freedom Alliance (IBFA) As the police killing of George Floyd has sparked sparked a historic upheaval across the United States and across the Western world, seasoned activists are already thinking of the step ahead of the emotional momentum. The Ferguson uprising and before it, the one that …

French elites easily call out racism and police brutality in the US or elsewhere but they have no lessons to give when we see what’s going on here. As thousands tool to the street to call out police brutality in France and as anger is being expressed across the United States following the death of George Floyd, this podcast analyzes the deep roots …

“The war was just paused”, this is how my guest today, journalist Mersiha Gadzo describes the situation in Bosnia as the Serbian far right is again beating the drums of war. With the release of the Srebrenica Memorial’s report on the SREBRENICA GENOCIDE DENIAL REPORT (2020), it is shocking for many that the horrific massacres of Muslims in Srebreni…

In this first episode of The Breakdown, we analyse France's inability to cope with the covid19 crisis and how a combination of ideological blindness, political cynicism, greed and incompetence lead to the death of over 25,000 people as of May 2nd. From the declaration of a WHO expert's that "there will be no epidemic in France" despite all evidence…