Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Ilan Pappe, professor of history at the University of Exeter and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, to discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel’s continuing bombardment of the people of Gaza, their expanding attack in the West Bank, global pro-Palestine action, the GOP’s speakership clown car, SAG-AFTRA’s strike, crime rates, and local news funding, before parsing through the hilarious task that is being a republican talking to media right now. Professor Pappe then joins, diving right into Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on October 7th, including the media’s persistent revenge narrative arming the population for a compassionless siege on Gaza, the pervasive understanding by Israeli civilians that the Israeli army and government can’t and won’t protect them, and why – despite seeing the necessity – the Israeli public is not open to a discussion of alternatives to Israeli occupation. Stepping back, Professor Pappe then walks Sam and Emma through the genesis of the Zionist movement as an attempt to redefine Jewish identity as a nationality amid increasing persecution (and national-identity building) in 19th-century Europe, tackling backing of the project by European states and the US during the onset of the 20th Century, as they sought a clean expulsion of Jews from Europe, with an extra emphasis for the British on expanding their sphere of influence. After expanding on the Western-led colonial structure of the establishment of Israel – particularly in the ethnic cleansing of local populations – Ilan Pappe walks through the thriving cosmopolitan world of pre-Israel Palestine, one in which communities and religions coexisted, as a proper pretext for a discussion of the following eviction and cleansing of these local populations in the leadup to the Nakba in 1948, also touching on the use of Europe’s own crimes against Jewish people as a justification for the violence being imposed upon the Palestinians from 1948 on. Wrapping up, Sam, Emma, and Professor Pappe explore the obvious failings of an Israeli two-state solution, why a single multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy with full rights for Palestinians is the only viable option, and how Israel and Palestine are reading the international responses to the occupation.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma parse through the devastating numbers on Israel’s leveling of Gaza, watch the US try to defend vetoing a ceasefire to the UN, and Ilhan Omar’s response to another callous questioning of her empathy for Palestinians. After a longer conversation on the failure of the Democratic establishment’s response to Israeli war crimes, Sam and Emma spend a little time basking in the shame and incompetence of the House GOP, plus, your IMs!

Check out Ilan's 2017 book "Ten Myths About Israel", free for download here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/370-ten-myths-about-israel

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