Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue our coverage of the Gaza War and Israel/Palestine. Robert A. Pape, a Professor of Political at the University of Chicago specializing in international security studies (and author of such books as Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It with James Feldman; Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War) joins the show to discuss his Foreign Affairs piece "Israel’s Failed Bombing Campaign in Gaza: Collective Punishment Won’t Defeat Hamas". We discuss why, based on Pape's research, the likely outcome of Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has claimed thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, will result in radicalizing more Palestinian/bolstering support for Hamas. We'll also discuss the problems with Israel's justification for the nature of it's bombing campaign (specifically its invocation of the Allied bombing of Dresden and Hamburg in WWII), the Israeli concept paper that argued for pushing Gazans into Egypt's Sinai, the bait-and-bleed strategy of terrorism (in which a violent non-state actor seeks to engender and extreme response from a state actor in order to bolster support for itself), the Abraham Accords, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue our coverage of the Gaza War w/ guest John Robb, proprietor of the Global Guerrillas blog and author of The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization. Robb has been arguing as of late that Israel has lost the information war long-term on Israel/Palestine and that this is due to the open-source, tribal network warfare employed by critics of the Israeli state. He points towards a dramatic shift in how those under the age of 40 view Israel. In other words, support for Israel among the youth is cratering. Robb will explain his views on networked tribalism which involves three key ingredients: empathy triggers, moral framing (tribal pattern matching), and fictive kinship. This, he says, has allowed critics of Israel to make gains in the information war over Israel/Palestine. We'll also discuss the issues of antisemitism, attempts to conflate antisemitism and antizionism, the campus free speech debate over free speech, American hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's crusade against pro-Palestinian campus activists, Candace Owens' hosting Norman Finklestein on her show, Ben Shapiro, how pro-Israel advocates could conceivably even lose segments of right-wing support, manufactured hate crime incidents, and much, much more.

On this edition of the Parallax, we go over the life and career of controversial diplomat Henry Kissinger, who passed away at the age of 100 on November 29th, 2023. Although hailed by many in the U.S. Establishment as one of the most important minds in international relations and diplomacy through the 20th century, many on the Left (and even, as we shall see, some on the Right) take a more critical view of Kissinger. Namely, many left-wing activist and commentators, including, most famously, the late Christopher Hitchens, have argued Kissinger was a war criminal. In the first segment of the show, Michael C. Desch, Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre and founding director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, discusses Kissinger from an realist perspective. Kissinger, as anyone familiar with him will know, is often considered one of the prememinet realist school of international relations figures of the 20th century. Desch, however, argues otherwise making the case that Kissinger was only an "occassional realist". In this conversation we delve into what realism is, the rift between Kissinger and his realist mentor Hans Morgenthau over Vietnam, why Desch thinks realist's should look towards Morgenthau more than Kissinger for foreign policy realism, the accusation that realism is social darwinism applied to nation-states, conservatism and realist thought, a realist perspective on the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, the conflict between big L Liberalism and realism, the Thucydides quote "the strong do what they cand and the weak suffer what they must", balance of powers and realism as a theory of peace rather than war, and much, much more.  In the second segment, journalist Tim Shorrock, Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing, returns to discuss Henry Kissinger and his bloodstained legacy in international relations and foreign policy from an anti-imperialist perspective, Tim offers a scathing critique of Kissinger's life and career from Kissinger's involvement in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia, the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, the East Timor massacre, and more. We'll also delve into Kissinger and President Richard Nixon opening up the U.S.-China relationship in the 1970s, which many assess as one of the more positive moments in Kissinger's career. We also delve into why Kissinger is so well-regarded in the U.S. Establishment. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Mark Ames, journalist and co-host of the popular podcast Radio War Nerd w/ John Dolan (aka Gary Brecher), joins the show to discuss his 2014 NFSFWCORP piece "The Kings of Garbage, or, The ADL Spied on Me and All I Got Was This Lousy Index Card". Due to his anti-apartheid activism at Berkeley, Mark Ames found out in the 90s that he'd been spied upon by the ADL. His file listed him marked him as a "Pinko". This leads us into the story of Roy Bullock, an investigator who spied on anti-Apartheid activists for the Anti-Defamation League and the South African apartheid regime. Working with SFPD intelligence officer Tom Gerard (who also had a spooky background involving CIA dirty wars in Latin America), Bullock was involved in all kinds of skullduggery, including a case that almost led to the murder of a Simon Wiesenthal Center researcher so that an ADL researcher could take his job and make some extra cash. It's a wild story that involves a spy ring within the ADL spying on American anti-apartheid activists. This also takes us into a discussion of how the Irwin Sewell and the ADL had dossiers on antifascist researchers like Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, the relationship between Israel and South African apartheid, the ADL's shift from focusing on far-right movement like the John Birchers to left wing activists in Berkeley and Arab Americans, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee and the car bombing assassination of Palestinian activist Alex Odeh, Abe Foxman (national director of the Anti-Defamation League from 1987 to 2015), the FBI (and LA Times?) vs. the ADL, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt's embrace of Elon Musk (and curious comments comparing him favorably to noted antisemite Henry Ford), ADL spying on black Americans like former Congressman Ron Dellums, the ADL as part of the National Security State, philosemitic antisemitism, Israel as being its own worst enemy, the canceling of author and journalist Vincent Bevins in Germany, and more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, historian Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness, joins the show to discuss the Gaza War and the paradigm shift he beleives it has brought about. We are in a "new era", Prof. Khalidi argues. We also discuss the Biden administration's response to the bombing of Gaza. We also delve into the histories of Zionism, the state of Israel, and the Palestinian identity. Additionally, Prof. Khalidi comments on the settler-colonial paradigm and the controversies around it. Prof. Khalidi also addresses what he sees as the biggest misunderstandings and misconceptions people have about the Palestinian perspective and gives his thoughts on the October 7th Hamas attack, the 2018 Israeli Nation-State Bill, and more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Kenneth Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch from 1993-2022, joins the show to discuss the Israel-Hamas or Gaza War from an international law perspective with a focus on the issue of war crimes. We begin the conversation by discussing HRW's notable report on Israel and apartheid, which focused on the West Bank, from a few years ago. From there we delve into the question of war crimes in relation to the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Kenneth Roth will address the responsibilities of a country engaged in a war, the "Hamas uses human shields argument" employed by pro-Israel voices when Israel is criticized for disproportionate civilian casualties, the Oct. 7th Hamas attack, the question of genocide, the importance of international law and human rights in the 21st century, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza (lack of clean water and food), and much, much more.  

On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue our coverage of the Gaza War with three different segments and guests. First up, Antiwar.Com's news editor Dave DeCamp joins the show to discuss the bombshell reports by the New York Times and Israel's 972 magazine related to the war. NYT reported recently that Israel ignored vital intelligence, specifically the blueprints for a major attack, in the lead-up to the October 7th attack. Meanwhile, 972 reports on the use of AI systems to hit non-military targets in Gaza; 972 referred to it as a "massive assassination factory). We'll discuss the significance of these two stories as well as the Biden administration's response to the war and what may be going on behind the scenes. In the second segment of the show, David C. Hendrickson, the president of the John Quincy Adams Society and professor emeritus of political science at Colorado College (and author of such books as Republic in Peril, Peace Pact, Union, Nation, Empire, and most recently Freedom, Independence, Peace: John Quincy Adams and American Foreign Policy) returns to give his take on the Gaza War, the Biden administration's response to it, the Israeli intelligence failure of October 7th, the massive casualties inflicted on innocent Gazans, the different varieties of international relations realism, John Mearsheimer Vs. Henry Kissinger and liberal realism vs. a crude "the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must" realism, dissent in the State Dept. over the Gaza War, Benjamin Netanyahu, Eisenhower vs. Israel (and George HW Bush vs. Israel), Obama's problems with Netanyahu, the lack of security around Israel's southern border before October 7th, and much, much more. In the final segment of the show, Muhammad Sahimi, a contributor to Responsible Statecraft and Antiwar.Com, joins the show to discuss the Islamic Republic of Iran's response to the Gaza War and the differences in approach between the hardliner and moderate/pragmatist factions in Iran when it comes to the war, the U.S. role in the Middle East, Israel, and related issues. NOTE: In the conversation with Prof. Hendrickson I misquote Thucydides. He wrote "The strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must" not "The strong do what they can, the weak do what they must".

On this edition of Parallax Views, we turn from our coverage of the Gaza War and to cast a vital eye on the ongoing Israeli Occupation in the West Bank and the explosion of settler violence that has exploded there in the past two months. Prof. Dana El-Kurd, author of Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine and assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at University of Richmond. and Prof. Diana B. Greenwald, author of the upcoming book Mayors in the Middle: Indirect Rule and Local Government in Occupied Palestine and assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the City College of New York, join the show for an in-depth discussion of the situation in the West Bank and the plight of Palestinians there. The situation in the West Bank and settler violence supported by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir remains an important issue when discussing Israel/Palestine at this current moment of crisis. We hope you find this show informative.

On this edition of Parallax Views, freelance journalist and Haaretz contributor Etan Nechin joins the show to discuss the doctrine of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bibi's attacks on the Israeli press (including Haaretz), consolidation of media in Israel, support of the Occupation, embrace of Elon Musk and the Israeli far-right, reframing of what pro-Israel means, and more. We'll also discuss the Israeli far-right's attacks on hostages' families since the October 7th Hamas attack, Etan's thoughts on the Israeli left and his critique of the international left, the Gaza war, the situation of the Jewish diaspora, parallels between the MAGA right and the Israeli right, the settler movement, the Biden administration, and much, much more. This was recorded on 11-28-2023.

On this edition of Parallax Views, scholar Louis Fishman, associate professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York and author of Jews and Palestinians in the Late Ottoman Era, 1908-1914: Claiming the Homeland, joins the show for to discuss the latest news in Israel/Palestine, specifically the Israel-Hamas hostage/prisoner swaps and the issue of administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. We'll also discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the "From the River to the Sea" slogan debate, free speech and the one state solution vs. two state solution debate, Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti and the "Bargouhti Card", the Gaza War, the Oct. 7th Hamas attack, ceasefires and the possibility of the war continuing, and much, much more.