What Hamas Doesn’t Want You to Know

Whispered in Gaza: A Conversation with Joseph Braude and Ahed Alhendi

In this episode of Peaced Off, Orly Ravid and I had the honor of speaking with two remarkable voices for change in the Middle East: Joseph Braude and Ahed Alhendi from the Center for Peace Communications (peacecoms.org). Their organization is doing groundbreaking work, amplifying the voices of civilians living under militia rule — particularly in Gaza — in ways that mainstream and Western media often cannot or will not.

Joseph Braude, the founder of the Center, brings deep expertise in the intersection of Arab culture and politics. A Yale and Princeton alum, fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, Joseph spent seven years at Moroccan National Radio and even studied in Tehran. He’s been a consistent voice in Arab media and policy circles, authoring books and commentary on the region’s evolving dynamics.

Ahed Alhendi, an economist by training and Syrian social entrepreneur, brings his own unique lens. From organizing artists in post-ISIS Syria to developing 3D-printed prosthetics for war survivors, Ahed has dedicated his life to recovery and reform in the Arab world. At the Center, he serves as a senior fellow and remains a frequent contributor to Arab and Western media.

Their mission is as bold as it is essential: to ensure that the only voices heard from places like Gaza aren’t just the ones with the megaphone — i.e., Hamas. Instead, the Center amplifies the whispers of everyday civilians who oppose extremism and long for a peaceful future. As Joseph noted, both extremes of the American political spectrum often dehumanize Gazans — the far left by conflating all civilians with Hamas sympathizers, and the far right by claiming there are “no innocents” in Gaza.

In 2022, long before October 7, the Center began discreetly interviewing hundreds of Gazans. To protect identities, they transformed these testimonies into powerful animations and audio-visual pieces — stories of life under fear, repression, and resistance.

What they’ve created is not just advocacy. It’s restoration of dignity, one voice at a time.

Orly Ravid is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Film Collaborative.
Abe Gurko is a producer, activist, and writer whose book, Won’t Be Silent — Don’t Stop ’Til It Matters, has also become his mantra. He promotes dialogue at the intersection of culture, politics, and storytelling.