Israel and Palestine: A Political Solution

Speak, even when your voice shakes, and you feel like rage crying. This special episode provides greater historical context to Israel and Palestine, elevates voices on the frontlines of the humanitarian crisis, demands an immediate ceasefire and a united global democratic alliance to end the genocide of Palestinians, and amplifies the calls for a political solution. 

The crisis cannot be solved militarily. The bombs raining down on the open air prison of Gaza is a genocide–another Nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe”–which in 1948 saw the brutal mass forced displacement of around a million Palestinians with the founding of Israel. We’re witnessing the long awaited war by indicted corrupt criminal and Putin ally Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister, desperate to cling to power, even if that means turning Israel into another theocratic dictatorship in the region. The racist, genocidal movement that assassinated former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for signing the Oslo Accords, a path towards peace and potentially a two-state solution, brought Netanyahu to power. And now his government of Stephen Millers is determined to finish off Palestinians, mass-murdering several thousands, including a significant number of children. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken published a call for a ceasefire on Twitter, only to delete it after Republicans protested. That and more of the US response, what it means for the civilians on both sides of the conflict, the US election and more are discussed in this extra furious episode. This week’s bonus episode will include answers to questions submitted by listeners subscribed at the Democracy Defender level and higher, and a special on-the-ground look at the upcoming Virginia state elections and the recent voter-purge by Governor Glenn Youngkin. To get access to that, support the show at the Truth-teller level or higher on Patreon by subscribing at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

Show Notes:

Audio Clips: 

Ali Velshi on Israel’s apartheid of Palestinians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKkjPtleWEU

Israeli settler steals the home of a Palestinian woman in East Jerusalem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzO9KhXhiik

Doctors without Borders: A doctor in Gaza https://twitter.com/MSF_USA/status/1713396854711296310

Watch Sands of Sorrow featuring Dorothy Thompson (1950) https://www.un.org/en/exhibits/page/watch-video-%E2%80%93-long-journey

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger says that there is no military solution to Israel/Palestine: https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1712482696700842096?t=eJ1GfsWrLzCoNDfj9o-tAg&s=19

A 19 year old survivor of the Hamas massacre blamed Netanyahu, demands a political solution: https://twitter.com/BenzionSanders/status/1713255988608848069

Israel’s Ambassador to the UK denies there’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza: https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1713811260662255910?t=R8v3bQH4QwP7K5Udf7ivgQ&s=19

Israeli journalist harassed in Tel Aviv for calling for peace: https://twitter.com/orlybarlev/status/1713323223218082255

Peaceful Israeli protest broken up by police: https://twitter.com/NTarnopolsky/status/1713311362242216151?t=qB2TwZzYQJ6IU4VdKQpQWg&s=19

Yuval Noah Harari on Christiane Amanpour https://twitter.com/amanpour/status/1712538821923885287?t=GgwX7j8W-Q09JJ7P3ZuZzA&s=19

Closing clip: An Israeli who lost his parents calls for an end to the war: https://twitter.com/helenachumphrey/status/1713747777195307130?t=tmxkpSAsINT2F5nEkRalzQ&s=19

The Middle East Crisis Factory: The Iyad El-Baghdadi Interview https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2021/4/8/the-middle-east-crisis-factory-the-iyad-el-baghdadi-interview

Indicted Criminal Netanyahu Starts a War to Cling to Power https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2021/5/19/indicted-criminal-netanyahu-starts-a-war-to-cling-to-power

Peter Beinart, NYT: “Most of Gaza’s residents aren’t from Gaza. They’re the descendants of refugees who were expelled, or fled in fear, during Israel’s war of independence in 1948. They live in what Human Rights Watch has called an “open-air prison,” penned in by an Israeli state that — with help from Egypt — rations everything that goes in and out, from tomatoes to the travel documents children need to get lifesaving medical care. From this overcrowded cage, which the United Nations in 2017 declared “unlivable” for many residents in part because it lacks electricity and clean water, many Palestinians in Gaza can see the land that their parents and grandparents called home, though most may never step foot in it.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/opinion/palestinian-ethical-resistance-answers-grief-and-rage.html

Netanyahu Is Losing the War at Home Incompetence against Hamas and indifference to Israeli suffering has the public boiling over. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/in-the-israel-hamas-war-netanyahu-is-losing-at-home.html

The Real Dividing Line in Israel-Palestine https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/israel-palestine-hamas-and-hardliners-against-peace-by-slavoj-zizek-2023-10?barrier=accesspaylog

Israel is ordering Gazans to flee south. But they’re bombing us here too. Refugees from the north are already arriving in Khan Younis, where the missiles never stop and we’re running out of food, water, and power. https://www.972mag.com/gaza-flee-south-khan-younis/

Ukraine and Israel both must face a Russian foe https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/10/16/ukraine-and-israel-both-must-face-a-russian-foe/

The Massacre in Israel and the Need for a Decent Left https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/opinion/columnists/israel-gaza-massacre-left.html

The Secrets Hamas Knew About Israel’s Military: Hamas gunmen surged into Israel in a highly organized and meticulously planned operation that suggested a deep understanding of Israel’s weaknesses. Here is how the attacks unfolded. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/world/middleeast/hamas-israel-attack-gaza.html

Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza conflict https://cpj.org/2023/10/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

Israeli journalist Israel Frey attacked by far-right Israeli extremists in Tel Aviv for calling for an end to the war https://twitter.com/Ha_Matar/status/1713476098976047267?t=qmoRLraXDE8Ynm7OeSDVuw&s=19

6 Year Old Palestinian-American Boy Stabbed 26 Times by White Landlord https://abc7chicago.com/joseph-czuba-will-county-news-plainfield-murder-boy-stabbed/13921802/

2022 Saw Highest Number of Palestinians Killed in West Bank by Israeli Forces Since Second Intifada https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-04/ty-article-magazine/.premium/2022-saw-highest-number-of-palestinians-killed-by-israeli-forces-since-second-intifada/00000185-7cf9-d464-a197-fefb0f290000

Hamas starting to 'understand the severity of their situation,' says negotiator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg6LzfDHg3U

How False Testimony and a Massive U.S. Propaganda Machine Bolstered George H.W. Bush’s War on Iraq https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/5/how_false_testimony_and_a_massive

Channel 4 News: "Where is people's humanity?" Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has shared his mother-in-law’s “last video” from Gaza, as Israel warns Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an anticipated ground offensive. https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1712791120357236821?t=4_iUv0ESF6AFKB7TMQQrTg&s=19

Daniel Adamson @danielsilas Some of the most measured voices I’m hearing on here, the ones who seem most serious about ending this agony, seem to come from Israelis whose loved ones have just been murdered or abducted by Hamas. Some examples… https://twitter.com/danielsilas/status/1712601486935421077?t=1hPscVI9w--Vc4VdX7YytQ&s=19

FIGHT DISINFORMATION: Comprehensive ongoing list of the most prevalent viral imagery of Syria falsely attributed to the Israel-Gaza war. This image is of child victims of the Assad regime's gas attack against Eastern Ghouta a decade ago, not Israeli or Gazan victims of war. https://twitter.com/KareemRifai/status/1712934425489534989

Israeli settler’s attempt to justify forcible takeover of a Palestinian home sparks online anger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9q9PDBsDe8

From 2003: U.S. stays steadfast in support of Abbas https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/IHT-us-stays-steadfast-in-support-of-abbas.html

CIP Calls for Truce in Israel-Hamas Fighting to Allow for Humanitarian Relief. See our full statement below: https://twitter.com/CIPolicy/status/1713594164183486549/photo/1

Iyad El Baghdadi on Twitter: This message was written by a Palestinian to a Jewish friend. Then that Jewish friend passed it on to Palestinians friends. I don't know the person who originally wrote it. And now I'm passing it on to you. As the rhetoric becomes genocidal, root yourself in humanity. Pass it on. https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1713236580914041300

In 1996, Netanyahu became Israel’s youngest prime minister, running on a platform against flailing peace attempts, especially the Oslo accords that gave some limited autonomy to the Palestinians. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/20/benjamin-netanyahu-becomes-longest-serving-israeli-pm

Explainers: 

The origins of the Hamas-Israel war explained | ABC News Australia https://youtu.be/zsNj8DiJv-A?si=JowVDyLzjmzU9xIy

Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict | The Daily Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeZ4yXyzUG0

Revealing the history behind Hamas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUtYF0V0reg

From 2017: Mapping Middle East Peace Possibilities https://www.wsj.com/graphics/twostate/