Hey, I'm Noam Weisman, and this is Unpacking Israeli History, the podcast that takes a deep dive into some of the most intense, historically fascinating, and often misunderstood events and stories linked to Israeli history.

This episode of Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Andreon, Larry Gill, and Jody and Ari Storch.

If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History, or if you just want to say, hey, be in touch at Noam at Unpacked.media. Before we start, as always, check us out on Instagram on TikTok on YouTube, all the places. Just search Unpacking's Early History and hit the follow or subscribe button. Okay, Yala. Let's do this. are prepared and anxious to meet the representatives of our neighbors without any preconditions.

There are people in Israel and elsewhere say it's impossible to make peace between the Arabs and Israel or the Jewish people.

I think they're home.

I am not in my normal studio right now.

I'm traveling.

I'm actually in Baltimore, Maryland,

and I have the opportunity to be in conversation

with my dear friend, Habibretta Gore.

The reason we had to have this conversation over the weekend

is because we had to reflect on a story

that many of us have been hearing about,

many people have been curious about, many people have reached out about.

The recent Nicholas Christoph piece in the New York Times about alleged sexual abuse

and torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons was one of those stories that we had to cover.

I was dreading reading it after October the 7th, after the videos, after the kidnappings,

after the sexual violence committed against Israelis,

there is a part of me that wants to shut down when I hear accusations thrown back at Israel,

especially now in a world where so many Jews

feel like the rules are different for us, where accusations spread before facts do, where Israelis

often viscerally feel the profundity of Greek philosopher Escalis, who declared 2500 years ago

...