Dive into complex narratives of the Israel-Palestine conflict, as the host addresses pressing questions and critiques. Explore the moral dilemmas of warfare and the human cost behind the headlines. Analyze the rise of right-wing sentiment in Israel and its implications for violence against Palestinians. Discuss the challenges of navigating language and terminology in activism, and uncover the historical intricacies of settler responsibility. This conversation urges critical analysis and empathy amidst a polarized landscape.
00:00
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Rashid Khalidi's Hostile Interview
David Bragg interviews Palestinian historian Rashid Khalidi, who fervently defends the Palestinian viewpoint but is unprepared for layperson questions.
Khalidi's elite background shows in his academic tone and frustration with non-expert questioning.
insights INSIGHT
Pointlessness of Gaza Assault
Israel's assault on Gaza is driven by revenge, aimless, and strategically pointless even from a safety viewpoint.
The October 7 Hamas attack succeeded because Israeli border troops were absent, showing a tactical failure by the IDF.
insights INSIGHT
Israel's Mowing the Lawn Policy
Israel's "mowing the lawn" policy entails periodic military strikes to keep Gaza subdued on a minimal sustenance diet.
This destructive cycle fuels continual violence and fails to address any political solution.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
This book by Rashid Khalidi provides a comprehensive history of the conflict in Palestine, focusing on the colonial war waged against the Palestinians by the Zionist movement and later Israel, backed by Britain and the United States. It challenges traditional interpretations by framing the conflict as a colonial war against the indigenous population rather than a clash between two equal national movements. The book draws on archival materials, family histories, and the author's own experiences to offer a new perspective on the ongoing conflict.
The Dawn of Everything
A New History of Humanity
David Wengrow
David Graeber
This book offers a dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging fundamental assumptions about social evolution, the development of agriculture, cities, the state, democracy, and inequality. Graeber and Wengrow argue that traditional theories of human history, such as those posited by Hobbes and Rousseau, are not supported by anthropological or archaeological evidence. Instead, they show that humans have lived in large, complex, but decentralized societies for millennia, often without ruling elites or hierarchical systems. The authors draw on extensive research in archaeology and anthropology to reveal a history that is more varied and hopeful than previously assumed, emphasizing human experimentation with different social arrangements and the potential for new forms of freedom and societal organization.
This is a Q&A where I respond to questions and critiques about episode 12: The ABC’s of Israel/Palestine (https://youtu.be/OLr_VCqnId0) and also go off on a whole bunch of related tangents.
I purposefully don’t monetize my channel in order to spare you the annoying ads, and it takes me months to make the scripted episodes, so please help if you can!
13:28 Hamas’ 2020 conference on what to do after victory
14:31 Oct 7 happened because the IDF was AWOL
15:56 israeli vs palestinian propaganda
18:12 Israelis unconsciously aware that the war is just for revenge
20:26 Mowing the lawn and keeping Gazans on a diet
22:12 Why I don’t cover current events
24:54 How hard it is to figure out what’s true with Israeli/Palestine history:
27:32 Did Zionists do terror against Jews in Baghdad to convince Jews to emigrate?
28:34 Did Israel steal Yemeni Jewish babies to give to holocaust survivors?
33:50 What I’m bringing to the table
36:15 Israeli views on Arab civilian casualties, 2002 vs 2024
43:09 Hamas isn’t nationalist
43:29 Hamas vs Fatah members’ teeth
44:01 Hamas did not “win by a landslide”
46:40 the Hannibal directive
51:52 victories for activism: forcing Israel to let more aid into gaza
55:22 BEGIN Q&A
55:56 left and right / the social psychology of voting
57:20 critique: i “both sidesed” the conflict
57:53 cancer eviction story
59:35 could we make a little interpersonal violence legal?
1:01:08 why present both sides?
1:09:58 cancel culture in pro-Israel politics
1:18:12 academia’s role in neutralizing activism
1:20:33 “you don’t understand the nuances” David Graeber critiques
1:22:47 pomo as poetry, not scholarship
1:27:20 back to cancel culture
1:28:48 Gina Carano
1:32:46 Cancel culture in palestinian activism: 972+ Project Lavender article
1:35:18 cancelling Norman Finkelstein
1:37:44 back to Q and A
1:38:23 why is the US so involved in the Israel/Palestine conflict?
1:46:26 why don’t i call it genocide?
2:13:58 The culpability of the original zionist settlers vs holocaust refugees and jews from the arab world
2:19:48 Atlantic article disputing that Israeli leaders made genocidal statements
2:33:29 Do Arabs in Israel really have equal rights?
2:43:51 75 years of occupation since 1967?Whose land is it?
2:48:39 college “leftist” activists supporting hamas uncritically
3:01:57 “we must support a liberation movement, no matter how reactionary it gets”?
3:04:26 Are American settler colonialists guilty 250 years later?
3:12:07 From authoritarian child rearing to children raising their parents: why do we always do everything idiotically?
WHAT IS POLITICS? 
