The Mondoweiss Podcast

Today we have two interviews from our US correspondent, Michael Arria.  First he speaks with Josh Ruebner about the shifting politics around U.S. aid to Israel, and later, he checks in with the victim of an anti-Palestinian smear campaign at Florida State University. We begin with U.S. aid to Israel. The fight in Congress continues to build over the billions of dollars we send to Israel every year. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is the latest to call for conditioning US aid to Israel, joining other high profile figures such as Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others. At the same time, however, a high-profile delegation of Democrats in the House Representatives were in Israel meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. This trip was sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and they have been furiously promoting it online over the past several days. Many, if not all of the Congress members on the trip filmed videos for AIPAC’s social media channels in which they profess their love and admiration for Israel. Phil Weiss, our founder and senior editor, said they looked like hostage videos. So, what is happening with the issue of aid funds for Israel? Michael spoke to Josh Ruebner about the history of US aid to Israel and the emerging fractures in Congress over this enormous amount of money. Josh is the author of Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State? and Shattered Hopes: Obama’s Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace. He is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. Then to Florida. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently announced that it was opening an investigation into Florida State University's handling of a smear campaign targeting one of its students. Ahmad Daraldik was elected FSU student senate president in June 2020, but immediately faced backlash from campus groups, pro-Israel organizations, and even local politicians over his criticisms of Israel. Social media posts Daraldik made as a child, while facing Israeli oppression, were dug up in the process. Michael spoke to Ahmad about the smear campaign, his original complaint, and the historic Education Department probe. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Bowman, Sanders and 12 reps demand Biden 'shift policy' over Israel's 'systemic violence against Palestinians', Phil Weiss The Democratic consensus on Israel is beginning to fracture, but leadership is not budging on issue, Michael Arria Leading liberal Zionist voices call for ending U.S. aid to Israel, Mitchell Plitnick The Shift: Establishment voices question military aid to Israel, Michael Arria Historic civil rights complaint filed against FSU over anti-Palestinian environment, Michael Arria Florida lawmakers are trying to oust FSU’s Palestinian student senate president over a post he made as a 12-year-old, Michael Arria Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn  

Mondoweiss was founded by Phil Weiss, a career journalist, while he was on staff at The New York Observer. In 2006 a wealthy young man named Jared Kushner bought the Observer. After tolerating Phil’s writing on Israel for a brief period, Phil was forced out by Kushner, but he was allowed to keep his blog. Phil is a magnanimous guy and he credits Kushner with freeing him from the world of mainstream journalism to pursue his interest in Israel and the fascination with it that much of American Jewish society clings to. We get asked a lot about the name of the site, Mondoweiss. It was the name of the blog version when it was hosted at the Observer and Phil kept it when he left. One definition of the word “mondo” is “very, or extremely”. So the name “Mondoweiss” was meant as a lighthearted joke that the site would be “extremely Weiss”, because initially Phil was the only author. But the site has grown and evolved into a full-fledged news and analysis publication with staff in the United States and Palestine. We are one of the only U.S.-based publications with a full Palestine news bureau and not simply one reporter in the region. So Jared Kushner might have hoped to prevent Phil from gaining an audience for critical takes on Israel, Zionism, and the American Jewish community, but instead he helped launch an important media outlet in the struggle for Palestinian freedom. This episode of the podcast features an extended interview with Phil, conducted by Miko Peled, the veteran Israeli anti-occupation campaigner. They discuss the origins of Mondoweiss, how Zionism destroyed American Jewish culture, and many other topics. It was originally published on Miko’s podcast in January of this year in three parts. We are excited to share it with you here in one program. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Visit Miko Peled's website Subscribe to Miko's podcast Jared Kushner fired me over Israel ten years ago, Phil Weiss Read more from Phil Weiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Bluesky  

Israel’s military invasion of the Jenin Refugee Camp, dubbed “Operation Home and Garden” came to an end late Tuesday night. It left at least 12 Palestinians dead, and one Israeli soldier. Israel has, predictably, declared the operation a success. They say 120 Palestinians were arrested and weapons caches were destroyed, including bomb making materials. The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said: “in the last two days we interrupted the weapon production process, seized thousands of bombs, some small and some large, and destroyed dozens of factories, workshops and laboratories.” Our reporters have not yet been able to verify his claim that “dozens” of locations related to the armed resistance in Jenin were destroyed. While the military and political leadership in Israel gloats, Palestinians in Jenin are telling a different story of the largest attack on the camp  since 2002’s Operation Defensive Shield. In this assault, Israel deployed up to 2,000 troops backed by armored vehicles, attack helicopters, and warplanes. They turned family homes into sniper positions. They fired tear gas and live ammunition into hospitals- in one case rendering the Emergency Room facilities unusable and forcing staff to treat injured people in the building’s main hallway. They destroyed large portions of the refugee camp’s vital infrastructure, digging up roads throughout the camp with armored bulldozers, knocking out segments of the electrical system, and damaging key water pipelines. As the story from inside the camp emerges, it is clear that this invasion was not an easy one for the region’s most powerful military. The resistance groups in the camp appear to have put up a strong defense, preventing the Israeli military from exercising full control over the area. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government may have thought they would have a repeat of the 2002 invasion. They clearly did not. Today I’m joined by our Palestine News Team to discuss all of these events and what the ramifications are, politically, for Palestinians, Israelis and the international community. Yumna Patel is our Palestine News Director, based in Bethlehem. Faris Giacaman is our Managing Editor, based in Ramallah. Mariam Barghouti is our Senior Palestine Correspondent, currently in the United States. And Tareq Hajjaj is our Gaza Correspondent, based in Gaza City. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show ‘The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated’: an eyewitness account from the Israeli assault on Jenin - Mustafa Sheta Will Gaza respond to Israel’s operation in Jenin? - Tareq Hajaj ‘The Nakba reborn’: What a Palestinian journalist saw while covering the Jenin invasion - Mahammad Abed Biden plays Netanyahu’s lapdog– but many in U.S. are critical of Jenin onslaught - Phil Weiss Israel might try to make Jenin the new Gaza - Yumna Patel Video: Palestinians in Jenin confront PA after deadly Israeli invasion - Ahmad Al-Bazz Jenin: the fight over the capacity to resist - Abdaljawad Omar Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Tumblr  

Alice Rothchild is doctor, writer, filmmaker and activist who has spent decades in key social justice movements. She is the author of three books,  Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience was released in 2007, On the Brink: Israel and Palestine on the Eve of the 2014 Gaza Invasion, came in 2014, and Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine, was published in 2017. This year Cune Press will publish her first young adult novel, Finding Melody Sullivan. It is the story of a half-Jewish, half-Catholic, 16-year-old girl told against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Phil Weiss spoke to Alice recently about the book, and about her journey from a Conservative Jewish upbringing in New England to become an outspoken activist for Palestinian freedom. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Visit Alice Rothchild’s website to learn more about her writing. Watch the documentary, Voices Across the Divide. Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn  

The Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem encompasses several key sites central to Islam, including the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site for Muslims, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have ascended to heaven, where he spoke to God. The compound sits on the Temple Mount, where the ancient Hebrew temple once stood. Today we have a conversation with our Palestine news team about the events surrounding Al Aqsa during Ramadan this year. As readers of our site and listeners to this podcast are surely aware, the Israeli government carried out several raids of the Al Aqsa compound in the last few weeks, leaving one Palestinian dead and hundreds injured and arrested. The Zionist propaganda machine has been working overtime to paint Palestinians as poor caretakers of these sacred spaces, claiming that children playing soccer, or the very presence of fireworks prove that they don’t deserve to be there in the first place. Yumna Patel, our Palestine News Director, leads the discussion with Mariam Barghouti in the West Bank, Tareq Hajjaj in Gaza, and myself. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Israel attacks Al-Aqsa two nights in a row, beating worshipers at holy site, Mariam Barghouti Palestinians fear war is near as Israel attacks Gaza during Ramadan yet again, Tareq Hajjaj These are the settler groups seeking to take over the Aqsa Mosque compound, Jeff Wright Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

Protests continue in Israel. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked back his government’s push to overhaul the Israeli judicial system, but did not abandon the effort. Instead, the government will take it up again in a few months when the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, returns from its spring recess. As part of the agreement to delay the legislation, a new national guard force will be created under the control of the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Dr. Yara Hawari, senior political analyst at the Palestinian thinktank Al-Shabaka, says, "Itamar Ben-Gvir is an extremist, he’s someone who has consistently called for violence against Palestinians throughout his political career." In today’s episode, Mondoweiss Palestine News Director Yumna Patel speaks with Dr. Hawari about developments in the protests, and what they mean for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and apartheid. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Analysts say Palestinians will pay the price for Israeli ‘democracy’, Yumna Patel Knesset passes bills shrinking Supreme Court powers and strengthening Shin Bet, Mariam Barghouti ‘Soft gloves’ police treatment of Jewish protesters reveals Israeli racism, Phil Weiss Why the main players behind the Israeli protest movement are bringing the confrontation to a head, Razi Nabulse Balad-Tajammu’ party says Israeli protest movement is fighting for “a democracy for Jews only”, Jonathan Ofir Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn  

In February, Students for Justice in Palestine held their 12th annual conference in Los Angeles for a weekend of critical discussion, movement building, and political education. Michael Arria spoke with a member of the group's steering committee about the themes of the conference, the state of Palestine activism on U.S. campuses, and the victories of 2022. After that, we’ll hear about the Stop Cop City protests in Atlanta, and the links between the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange and Israeli police. Adam Horowitz spoke to Kamau Franklin, an activist and organizer in Atlanta involved in the Stop Cop City movement. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show National Students for Justice in Palestine Stop Cop City Movement Atlanta 2 Palestine panel discussion (video) Inside GILEE, the US-Israel law enforcement training program seeking to redefine terrorism, Anna Simonton Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Tumblr  

We have two interviews in this episode. First, I’ll talk to Mondoweiss’s Palestine News Director, Yumna Patel, about her new video report published today titled On The Brink: Jenin’s rising resistance. Then we’ll hear from Ahmad Abuznaid, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, about their legal battle with the Jewish National Fund. First, to the Jenin refugee camp. On January 26 the Israeli army conducted a deadly invasion into the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. In the span of a few hours, the army shot and killed 9 Palestinians. A 10th Palestinian died a few days later from injuries sustained during the raid. It was one of the deadliest single invasions into the Jenin camp, and in the West Bank, in years. It came on the heels of a year-long effort by the Israeli military to quash the resurgence of Palestinian armed resistance. The Jenin refugee camp has a long history of armed resistance to Israel’s occupation. Yumna traveled to Jenin just days after the deadly raid to speak to the people there and hear about what they experienced. Then, back to the United States. In 2019 the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and a group of American Israelis sued the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) over its support for the nonviolent BDS movement. The US Campaign is a fiscal sponsor of the Boycott National Committee, which has ties to various groups in Palestine. According to the lawsuit, some of those groups are terrorist organizations responsible for fire bomb attacks on land owned by the Jewish National Fund in Israel. Activists say this is simply the latest attempt to suppress human rights work. Earlier this month Diala Shamas, a lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights and one of the attorneys representing the US Campaign, told The Guardian, “The goal here is to harass the US Campaign [for Palestinian Rights]. This is something that we’re seeing more broadly: smearing human rights advocates with accusations of terrorism, and efforts to drag human rights advocates and protesters into court, into extended litigation that distracts them from their advocacy. In the Palestine context we see that happening a lot, both in the United States and by Israel." In 2021 the case was dismissed by a federal court in Washington DC, but the JNF appealed and it's now back in court. Mondoweiss’s US correspondent Michael Arria spoke with US Campaign Executive Director Ahmad Abuznaid about the legal proceedings, the history of the JNF, and the wider context of this fight. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show View our new video report, "On The Brink: Jenin's Rising Resistance" US Campaign for Palestinian Rights A US human rights group is being sued by pro-Israel organizations over an alleged connection to ‘balloon terror, Michael Arria ‘We will not be silenced, siloed, or stopped’: federal judge tosses lawsuit targeting Palestinian rights group, Michael Arria Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Tumblr  

Last year Tony Greenstein published a book that was the culmination of many years of research, titled “Zionism During the Holocaust: The Weaponization of Memory in the Service of State and Nation”. The book examines in great detail the Holocaust mythology that Israel promotes and deploys in a strategic manner to neutralize and smear intellectual and political criticisms of its human rights violations. Greenstein has long pedigree. He has been an anti-Zionist in Britain for more than 40 years. He is a founding member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the biggest organization in the UK focused on Palestinian human rights. An author and blogger and son of a rabbi, Greenstein is also an active trade unionist. In this episode, Phil Weiss speaks to Tony Greenstein about his new book. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and Links mentioned in the show Tony Greenstein's blog Tony Greenstein's articles at Mondoweiss Buy "Zionism During the Holocaust: The weaponisation of memory in the service of state and nation" from a local bookstore on Bookshop.org Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Podchaser and leave us a review and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Palestine Letter West Bank Dispatch Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Tumblr  

In this 50th episode of the Mondoweiss Podcast, our founder and senior editor Phil Weiss speaks to Matthew Teller about his new book, Nine Quarters of Jerusalem: A New Biography of the Old City. The book mixes travel writing and history with the savage politics of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in a city loved by people all over the world. Teller is a British journalist who worked for years in the Middle East. His reports have appeared in the BBC, the Times of London, The Guardian and many other places. - - - - - Support our work Help us continue our critical independent coverage of events in Palestine, Israel, and related U.S. politics. Donate today at https://mondoweiss.net/donate Articles and links mentioned in the show Matthew Teller’s website Follow Matthew on Mastodon and Twitter Purchase the book, Nine Quarters of Jerusalem Subscribe to our free email newsletters. Share this podcast Share The Mondoweiss Podcast with your followers on Twitter. Click here to post a tweet! If you enjoyed this episode, head to Podchaser, leave us a review, and follow the show! Follow The Mondoweiss Podcast wherever you listen Amazon Apple Podcasts Audible Deezer Gaana Google Podcasts Overcast Player.fm RadioPublic Spotify Stitcher TuneIn YouTube Our RSS feed We want your feedback! Email us Leave us an audio message at SparkPipe More from Mondoweiss Subscribe to our free email newsletters: Daily Headlines Weekly Briefing The Shift tracks U.S. politics Follow us on social media Facebook Mastodon Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn