Are vegans being hypocritical? Is Israel really the most vegan place in the world? What is vegan washing? And, what exactly does it mean to be vegan as it relates to all of this?

In this conversation, Diana Edelman and Palestinian vegan Waseem Hijazi discuss the intersection of veganism and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

They explore the challenges of being an intersectional vegan and the criticism faced when speaking out about social justice issues beyond animal rights. They also highlight the hypocrisy within the vegan community and the need for accountability.

The episode highlights the need for vegans to speak up against the oppression and violence faced by Palestinians and not use animal rights as a justification for it. The discussion also touches on the role of the vegan community in advocating for justice and the dangers of vegan washing and platforming individuals who defend the Israeli regime. The conversation concludes with a call to action to support the liberation of all oppressed nations.

References:

• 2014 - ⁠Former IOF soldier about the most moral army⁠
• 2016 - ⁠Vegan Revolution before and after Gary Yourofsky⁠
• 2018 - ⁠Apartheid wall affects the animals too⁠
• 2020 - ⁠Weapon testing on animals⁠
• 2023 - ⁠90% of animals in Gaza killed or starved⁠

About Waseem Hijazi:

Waseem Hijazi is a Palestinian vegan food blogger and recipe developer. He's the founder of ⁠Plant Based Arab⁠, where he documents the traditional naturally-vegan Arabic recipes and teaches how to veganize the meat-and-dairy based cultural dishes. His mission is to make it easier for Arabs to make the switch towards a plant based diet, and introduce (or remind) vegans around the world of the vegan Arab cuisine. During his own journey in learning about veganism and the importance of advocating for animal liberation, he began realizing the connection of oppression - as it relates to the endless injustice we witness (or even sometimes contribute to) within our life. This eventually led to also learning about how animal rights can sometimes be abused to justify the oppression of other living beings - which goes against the basis of veganism: anti-speciesism.

Recognizing the effect this has on everyone - humans, animals, and all that this planet inhabits - has become a major part in Waseem's efforts to educate about the dangers of Vegan Washing, highlighting the Israeli occupation's role in that, and what we (as vegans) should be doing to stop it.

Follow Diana Edelman:

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⁠Threads⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

⁠Vegans, Baby⁠

Follow Waseem Hijazi:

⁠Instagram⁠

⁠Tiktok⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

⁠Plant Based Arab⁠

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What happens when you're a collegiate athlete who struggles with diet culture and an eating disorder and then become a chef? Emily Hersh, a chef featured on "Hell's Kitchen" season 20, joins host Diana Edelman to talk all things about weight, including eating disorders, fatphobia, toxic kitchens, working with celeb chef Gordon Ramsey and so much more.

Follow Diana Edelman:

⁠⁠https://instagram.com/thedianaedelman⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://tiktok.com/@thedianaedelman⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://threads.com/thedianaedelman⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/dianaedelmanhosts⁠⁠

⁠⁠vegansbaby.com⁠⁠

Follow Emily Hersh:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/_chefemilyhersh⁠

⁠Eating My Feelings⁠

About Emily:

Emily is a Houston-based, Manhattan-trained plant-forward chef. She is known for taking regular dishes and transforming them into creative yet simple eats where the vegetable is the star. At just 22, she was handpicked to compete on ⁠Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen⁠ with Gordon Ramsay and finished as a top 7 finalist.

Cooking means more to Emily than just creating. She discovered her love of cooking through recovering from an eating disorder. Through plant-based cooking, she understood that food is something that can be used to help others thrive holistically. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a community health and wellness specialization, Emily attended The Natural Gourmet Institute NYC.

​

Emily has experience in restaurants, food media, recipe development, and hosting. She ​has been mentored by culinary experts such as Gordon Ramsay, Amanda Cohen, Michelin Star Chef Owner of ⁠Dirt Candy⁠ and Iron Chef Canada, and ⁠Jason Dady⁠, successful restaurateur and chef featured on Iron Chef America.

Emily has a YouTube Series called "⁠The Self-Help Chef⁠". Emily and her guests, both friends and experts in the health and wellness field, talk candidly and openly about everything health and wellness while cooking a plant-based dish. Some of the dishes they have cooked include Creamy Gnocchi in Vodka Sauce, ​Mini Hand Rolls, and Indian Curry with a Fragrant Homemade Curry Paste.

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On this episode of Emergency Drinks with host Diana Edelman, PhD student in clinical psychology and a queer, reconstructionist Jewish woman, Katherine (Katie) Bogen joins the conversation to talk about unraveling the indoctrination of Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The two share their experiences being raised Jewish and participating in Birthright, their indoctrination into Zionism and unlearning the propaganda they were taught. They discuss Palestinian life before Oct. 7 and the oppression and apartheid, as well as the genocide and how and why the speak out, along with the backlash from the Zionist Jewish community.

Follow Diana Edelman:

⁠https://instagram.com/thedianaedelman⁠

⁠https://tiktok.com/@thedianaedelman⁠

⁠https://threads.com/thedianaedelman⁠

⁠https://youtube.com/c/dianaedelmanhosts⁠

⁠vegansbaby.com⁠

Follow Katherine Bogen:

⁠@k.w.bogen⁠

⁠@sexualityscholar⁠

⁠https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JqtFwYQAAAAJ&hl=en⁠

About Katherine:

Katherine (Katie) Bogen is a PhD student in clinical psychology and a queer, reconstructionist Jewish woman. She supports abuse survivors in achieving joyful, consensual, and fully-embodied intimate lives. Beyond her (widely published) academic work, Katie organizes international feminist psychology conferences, speaks at national political campaign events, and shares her storytelling, poetry, and social criticisms with millions on Instagram and TikTok. Raised in an American Jewish household by the son of a Holocaust survivor, Katie has spent a decade interrogating Zionism and building community with anti-carceral human rights activists worldwide. She holds a BA in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics and grassroots social movements and an MA in clinical psychology, emphasizing evidence-based trauma treatments. Katie integrates anti-carceral, anti-racist, and anti-colonial feminist principles into her activism, clinical work, and scholarship. She is committed to the full political enfranchisement of Palestinians and Jews, from the river to the sea and around the globe.

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