#1419 Losing support for the indefensible (Israel and Palestine)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2021
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 5/25/2021
Today we take a look through a wide-angle lens at the current flareup of the conflict in Israel and Palestine including a discussion of disparate power dynamics, lived experience in Palestine, the creation story of Hamas, understanding the definition of apartheid and recognizing how the reactions in American politics and media are shifting.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)
BestOfTheLeft.com/Refer Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy!
OUR AFFILIATE LINKS:
BestOfTheLeft.com/Descript CHECK OUT OUR FANCY PRODUCTION SOFTWARE!
BestOfTheLeft.com/Blinkist GET KEY INSIGHTS FROM THOUSANDS OF BOOKS!
BestOfTheLeft.com/Bookshop BotL BOOKSTORE
BestOfTheLeft.com/Store BotL MERCHANDISE!
BestOfTheLeft.com/Advertise Sponsor the show!
SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Michael Brooks takes a question on Israel - The Mill Series - Air Date 3-9-20
The Mill Series hosted Michael Brooks at Lafayette College on Thurs Feb 27, 2020.
Ch. 2: Life and Death in Occupied Palestine - Deconstructed - Air Date 5-21-21
On May 7, Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem during the evening prayer. Hamas responded a few days later by launching rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel retaliated with its own strikes, and the violence escalated.
Ch. 3: Blowback: How Israel Helped Create Hamas - The Intercept - Air Date 2-20-18
Did you also know that Hamas — which is an Arabic acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement” — would probably not exist today were it not for the Jewish state?
Ch. 4: Is Israel Guilty Of Apartheid Against Palestinians - AJ+ - Air Date 5-14-21
Although it’s most famously associated with the white supremacist regime that used to rule South Africa, apartheid is actually a crime with specific conditions. In this explainer, we look at what those conditions are and whether they truly apply to Israel
Ch. 5: Focus on Palestine feat. Mohammad Alsaafin - Chapo Trap House - Air Date 5-20-21
Felix is joined by journalist for AJ+ Mohammad Alsaafin for a wide ranging discussion on Palestinian resistance and the future of Zionism and the Palestinian cause.
Heather Digby Parton will be here to run down the biggest stories of the week.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 7: Debunking Israel's Human Shield Defense in Gaza Massacre - Empire Files - Air Date 5-19-21
Abby Martin gives 5 points that evaporate Israel's assertion that the civilians it kills in Gaza were "human shields."
Ch. 8: The U.S. Media Has A Palestine Problem - AJ+ - Air Date 5-22-21
Israeli occupation of Palestine tends to be a touchy subject for news media, so much so that they break journalistic standards and writing etiquette just to avoid implicating one party another
BONUS
Ch. 9: Curation Lesson #1: Definitions
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments playing a logical deduction guessing game in celebration of Towel Day
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:06.8 | take a look through a wide-angle lens at the current flare-up of the conflict in Israel |
| 0:12.5 | and Palestine, including a discussion of disparate power dynamics, lived experience in Palestine, |
| 0:19.8 | the creation story of Hamas, understanding the definition of apartheid, and recognizing |
| 0:26.0 | how the reactions in American politics and media are shifting. Clips today include a segment |
| 0:32.4 | from the Mill series featuring the late great Michael Brooks, deconstructed the intercept, |
| 0:39.6 | AJ Plus, Chapo Trap House, Ring of Fire Radio, and the Empire Files. |
| 0:45.4 | Ask someone with a Jewish background. How do you feel about Bernie's plan for Israel, |
| 0:59.1 | especially as someone concerned with foreign policy? I love it. It's an absolutely |
| 1:02.8 | necessary. My Jewish values teach me to oppose apartheid. |
| 1:07.1 | Okay. Could you elaborate, please? For me, my politics are built on a base of economic |
| 1:19.2 | justice and really anti-racism and some ways as distinct from some of this sort of woke |
| 1:27.4 | stuff in a way. When I was already, I grew up, I was pretty connected to left politics, |
| 1:37.1 | so I always knew growing up about the travesty that was the human rights situation there. |
| 1:43.8 | And I knew that people had think people I admired, like Nelson Mandela said, South Africa |
| 1:48.8 | is going to not be properly free until the Palestinian's are free. In 2006, I read a piece |
| 1:55.6 | by a guy named Tony Jut in the New York Review of Books, who was a really important Jewish |
| 2:00.8 | scholar. And he just said, like, the argument was that like literally this is childish. |
| 2:09.0 | Like the idea that you have an ethno state or a religious state, if you're committed |
| 2:16.9 | to any type of broad-based social, economic, equity, and civil society, it doesn't work. |
| 2:24.7 | No matter how justified, of course there's justification because of Jewish history for |
| 2:28.9 | Israel. There's justification for Kurdistan because of Kurdish reality. There's justification |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jay Tomlinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jay Tomlinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.