The Dilemma of Palestinian Representation and Moral Language in Politics

On violence and the lack of political resolution.   Regular guest Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss why the Israel/Palestine conflict is so intractable – and why it draws so much attention. Alex then explains why, lamentably, there is no side worth choosing.   We then delve into various key points: 

• why Hamas was becoming irrelevant and how the 7 October attack was an attempt to combat that; 
• why violence is necessary but the Palestinians are in a catch-22; 
• how the West is implicated in the violence and callousness on show; 
• why the Palestinians are the most oppressed and forgotten people; 
• why Hamas is not an anticolonial freedom struggle; and 
• what is the right way to compare this to Ukraine.

Links:

• No end in sight: Israel’s search for a Gaza strategy, Lawrence Freedman, FT (attached)
• The House of Zion, Perry Anderson, NLR
• Whither Palestine, David Polansky, Strange Frequencies