S3 E37. Humanitarian Horror in Gaza

This is the third podcast this week focusing on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. We will be dropping a fourth tomorrow - and interview with the amazing Andrew Fox. And then might catch our breath for a day or two. But as a senior Israeli foreign affairs official commented tonight during a television interview, Israel is dealing with a “diplomatic tsunami.” He has never seen anything like it. In decades. And the reason for this surge in international pressure? The humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

There’s no question that Israel has managed this crisis disastrously. But what Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib‒a native son of Gaza‒understands is that Hamas bears primary responsibility for this disaster. The terror group ruling the Strip has long used food as a control method over the population. And Hamas does not care. At all. About the welfare of its people. If it did they would have negotiated a ceasefire by now. Hamas cares about one thing. Staying in power. And to do that, they must keep the hostages captive… and control their own people mercilessly.

Ahmed and I get into the complex reality on the ground that led to and perpetuates this crisis. There are no angels. But there are devils.

Food, in the Gaza Strip, is power. And Hamas will fight to the bitter end to control access to food. No matter the toll it takes on Palestinian civilians.

Another fascinating conversation with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. It’s complicated.

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Podcast Notes

I have included links and texts here to three of Alkhatib’s recent posts on X that are brilliant. Read them. They are enlightening and he is a very clear-eyed analyst. If an Israeli wrote these they’d be dismissed. But from Alkhatib, they carry weight and credibility. I think they are remarkable.

Guest bio

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib leads Realign For Palestine, a groundbreaking new project at the Atlantic Council. This project challenges entrenched narratives in the Israel-Palestine discourse and develops a new policy framework for rejuvenated pro-Palestine advocacy. Realign For Palestine aims to cultivate a new generation of Palestinian voices committed to a two-nation solution, nonviolence, and radical pragmatism.

Alkhatib serves as a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, where he writes extensively on Gaza’s political and humanitarian affairs, is an outspoken critic of Hamas, and a promoter of a radically pragmatic approach to peace and Palestinian statehood as the only path forward between Palestinians and Israelis. His writing and opinions have been published and featured across the US, Israeli, and international press, and his views are prominently featured across social media platforms, with his accounts that have tens of thousands of engaged followers.

Alkhatib holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in intelligence and national security studies. He grew up in Gaza City and left Gaza in 2005 to attend college in the United States as an exchange student. Much of Ahmed’s experience is influenced by having grown up in Gaza during the Oslo peace process, and the difficulties resulting from Oslo's failure, and the rise of Hamas and Islamism in Gaza.

Following the deadly October 7 massacre, Alkhatib’s life was deeply impacted when three different airstrikes killed 33 of his immediate and extended family members. Still, he has made a deliberate choice to be part of breaking the cycle of dehumanization and defying the cycle of hatred, incitement, violence, and revenge. In his presentations to students, policymakers, and thought leaders, Alkhatib exemplifies how others can exercise individual responsibility, spread empathy, and engage peacefully in the often-divisive Israel and Palestine discourse.

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