Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, Ralph Leonard, a contributor to publications like UnHerd, Sublation Magazine, and Aero Magazine, joins the show to discuss a potpourri of topics related to Israel/Palestine including the uses and abuses of antisemitism, Hamas and the misunderstanding of Frantz Fanon, the Nakba (or Catastrophe) of 1948), the Likud Party and Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionism, Jabotinsky's Iron Wall essay, what Jabotinsky admits about the grievances of Palestinians that his modern day heirs in the Likud Party don't, Avraham Stern and the Haavara Agreement, the Israeli New Historian Benny Morris and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, clashing nationalisms in the Israel/Palestine issue, his UnHerd article "Hamas apologists have misunderstood Frantz Fanon", Zionist paramilitary groups like the Stern Gang & Lehi and Irgun, Jabotinsky Vs. the mainstream left-wing Zionists, the spectrum of Zionist thought historically and the triumph of Revisionist Zionism, Ralph's tweet that "The recent political conflict within Israel has basically been a struggle between the state of Judea & the state of Israel", the "eradicate Hamas" rhetoric used by the Israeli government, the ethics of violence and the debate around armed conflict, Israel's kibbutzim, comparisons between Israel/Palestine & Algeria and Israel/Palestine & Liberia, revenge bombing in Gaza, blowback, the cold realistic strategic view on Israel's Gaza operation, the Palestinians won't be willingly driven into the Sinai and the belief that trying that would lead to stability is foolish, the one-state dystopia vs. the one-state utopia, the fragmentation of Palestinian politics, and more,

On this edition of Parallax Views, political blogger Ettingermentum joins the show to discuss his piece "The President Who Stood Up To Israel and Won". We discuss President George HW Bush's rocky relationship with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of the Likud Party, the young Benjamin Netanyahu, Bush-era Secretary of State James Baker, AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Commitee), Bush's "New World Order" and the Middle East, how Bush responded to pro-Israel lobbying that painted him as anti-Israel, why Ettingermentum disagrees with the idea that AIPAC cost Bush re-election, Yitzhak Rabin, unconditional support for Israel vs conditional support, Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Israeli far-right, Obama's relationship with Netanyahu, the Camp David 2000 Summit and Clinton official Robert Malley's account of why it fell apart (he claims it wasn't all on Arafat), the October 7th Hamas attack and the Tet Offensive, Netanyahu vs. Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Right's attacks on Israeli intelligence Shin Bet, Israel's unsustainable status quo, claiming they've "gone woke", Benny Gantz, and the real lesson of Bush's checkmating of AIPAC and Shamir. Clarification for James Baker's controversial comments: Did James Baker Really Say ‘F*** the Jews’? New Book Clarifies U.S. Diplomat’s Infamous Quote - U.S. News - Haaretz.com (archive.ph)  

On this edition of Parallax Views, the coverage of the Gaza War and Israel/Palestine continues in this double feature. First up, Prof. Juan Cole, well-known commentator on the Middle East and South Asia from the Informed Comment blog, gives his commentary on conditions in Gaza, anti-Palestinian racism in America, the Palestinian identity, double standards, whether it is actually possible to eradicate Hamas, Netanyahu's "Annihilate Amalek" rhetoric, and why the cycle of violence will continue short of a Palestinian state being recognized. In the second segment Shireen Hunter, affiliate fellow at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, joins us to discuss some of the points made in her insightful (some would say prophetic) May 2022 Responsible Statecraft piece "Unresolved Palestinian issue remains a major source of Mideast tension". We will also discuss the need for a peace to be brought about PRIMARILY by a dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis as opposed to Israelis and other Arab States, Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, the "Axis of Resistance", the cost of occupation, the Al-Aqsa mosque and the role of religion in the current iteration of the Israel/Palestine issue, the need to look at the Israel/Palestine issue as one about land/territory rather than metaphysics, the Palestinian identity, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist Chris Gelardi of New York Focus, the nonprofit publication that asks the questions "Who Runs New York?", joins us to discuss the investigation he co-wrote with Julia Rock entitled "New York’s Ties to Israel Bring the Gaza War Home". Chris and I delve into the network of nonprofits, major companies, and wealthy individuals in New York who are aiding the illegal settlements in the West Bank. Moreover, we delve into NY political figures like Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul, and Rep. Ritchie Torres and their relationships to Israel and lobbies like AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. Other issues discussed include the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) pro-Palestine protests, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction) movement and free speech, lack of media coverage in New York about these issues, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft's Eli Clifton returns to discuss his latest piece of reporting, co-published by The Gurdian and Responsible Statecraft, entitled "Wall Street eyes big profits from Israel-Hamas war". We'll also discuss the issue of monopoly capitalism as it relates to the weapons/defense industry, Morgan Stanley and TD Bank, shareholders and the problem with stakeholder capitalism or so-called "ethical capitalism", how the current war in Gaza could have domestic consequences politically at home (especially for Joe Biden's re-election chances), the possibilities of the Israel-Hamas War turning into a broader regional conflict, Hezbollah commander Nasrallah's speech last Friday, and more!

On this edition of Parallax views, Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (Ret.) returns to discuss Israel/Palestine, the bombing of Gaza, U.S. foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel special relationship, blowback and terrorism, the self-perpetuating nature of government power, and her experiences in the Pentagon that led her to blow the whistle on the corruption of military intelligence and creation of a disinformation apparatus by ideological actors in the Office of Special Plans (OFS) in the early years of the George W. Bush administration leading up to the Iraq War.

On this edition of Parallax views, journalist Ali Rizk joins us from Beirut, Lebanon to discuss the speech given by Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah this past Friday and his Responsible Statecraft article "Why Hezbollah doesn't want a full-scale war. Yet.". We'll be discussing Hezbollah involvement in the Israel/Hamas War or Gaza War so far as well as the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran (and why Rizk think calling Hezbollah and Iranian proxy is an oversimplification), Hezbollah's relationship with the Houthis in Yemen and Iraqi Shia militias, past tensions between Hamas and Hezbollah (ie: Syria), Hezbollah's redlines, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's change in rhetoric since the most recent visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and whether this means the war is wrapping up, how sectarians are brought together by the Palestine/Palestinian issue, and more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Ambassador Chas Freeman, a retired diplomat with a stories career and a visiting scholar at the Watson Institute for International Relations and Public Affairs, returns to discuss the bombing of Gaza by Israel in retaliation for the October 7th Hamas attack. We also discuss his critique of the U.S.-Israel special relationship, which he argues is harmful towards to both the interests of the United States and Israel. In the final portion of the conversation Amb. Freeman discusses how pro-Israel lobby elements, namely the Zionist Organization of America, applied a pressure campaign against his being the chair of the National Intelligence Council in the Obama administration. Amb. Freeman's full bio (courtesy the Watson Institute): Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm), acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Chargé d'affaires at both Bangkok and Beijing.  He began his diplomatic career in India but specialized in Chinese affairs.  (He was the principal American interpreter during President Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972.)   Ambassador Freeman is a much sought-after public speaker (see http://chasfreeman.net) and the author of several well-received books on statecraft and diplomacy. His most recent book, "America's Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East" was published in May 2016. "Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige," appeared in March 2013. "America’s Misadventures in the Middle East" came out in 2010, as did the most recent revision of "The Diplomat’s Dictionary," the companion volume to "Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy." He was the editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on "diplomacy." Freeman is a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, chargé d’affaires a.i. at Bangkok and Beijing, acting U.S. commissioner for refugee affairs and director of program coordination and development at the U.S. Information Agency. He was the principal American interpreter during the late President Nixon’s 1972 opening of U.S. relations with China. Chas Freeman studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Taiwan and earned an A.B. magna cum laude from Yale University as well as a J.D. from the Harvard Law School. He chairs Projects International, Inc., a Washington-based firm that for more than three decades has helped its American and foreign clients create ventures across borders, facilitating their establishment of new businesses through the design, negotiation, capitalization, and implementation of greenfield investments, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, franchises, one-off transactions, sales and agencies in other countries.

On this edition of Parallax Views, former CIA and State Department analyst Melvin A. Goodman, known for his book Whistleblower at the CIA: An Insider's Account of the Politics of Intelligence, returns to the program to discuss a number of issues related to the Middle East, Israel/Palestine, and U.S. foreign policy. We begin the conversation by discussing the nature and potential causes for the Israeli intelligence failure of October 7th, 2023, the day that the Hamas attack occurred. From there we delve into a number of different topics including Goodman's trip to Israel in the 1970s, state terror, Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, the two-state and one-state solutions, how Republicans deal with Israel as compared to Democrats, Biden's approach to Israel/Palestine, the USS Liberty incident, the bombing/siege of Gaza, pro-Israel lobbying efforts, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Chief of Staff under Colin Powell during the Bush administration, returns to the show to discuss his thoughts and commentary on the latest Middle East news with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and Israel's bombing of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attack of October 7th. We'll be discussing the Biden admin's dealing with the Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden's "bearhug strategy", the far-right nature of the Netanyahu government and figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, neoconservatism and Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, the Likud Party, the one-state and two-state solutions, the siege/bombing of Gaza, and, much, much more. This was recorded shortly after Biden called for a "humanitarian pause" to the war.