Podcasts about operation protective edge

How has the media distorted Israel's response to the October 7 Hamas attacks? In this powerful conversation from AJC Global Forum 2025, award-winning journalist and former AP correspondent Matti Friedman breaks down the media bias, misinformation, and double standards shaping global coverage of Israel. Moderated by AJC Chief Communications and Strategy Officer Belle Etra Yoeli, this episode explores how skewed narratives have taken hold in the media, in a climate of activist journalism. A must-listen for anyone concerned with truth in journalism, Israel advocacy, and combating disinformation in today's media landscape. Take Action: Take 15 seconds and urge your elected leaders to send a clear, united message: We stand with Israel. Take action now. Resources: Global Forum 2025 session with Matti Friedman:: Watch the full video. Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus: Untold stories of Jews who left or were driven from Arab nations and Iran People of the Pod:  Latest Episodes:  John Spencer's Key Takeaways After the 12-Day War: Air Supremacy, Intelligence, and Deterrence Iran's Secret Nuclear Program and What Comes Next in the Iranian Regime vs. Israel War Why Israel Had No Choice: Inside the Defensive Strike That Shook Iran's Nuclear Program Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: Manya Brachear Pashman: I've had the privilege of interviewing journalism colleague Matti Friedman: twice on this podcast. In 2022, Matti took listeners behind the scenes of Jerusalem's AP bureau where he had worked between 2006 and 2011 and shared some insight on what happens when news outlets try to oversimplify the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Then in 2023, I got to sit down with Matti in Jerusalem to talk about his latest book on Leonard Cohen and how the 1973 Yom Kippur War was a turning point both for the singer and for Israel.  Earlier this year, Matti came to New York for AJC Global Forum 2025, and sat down with Belle Yoeli, AJC Chief Strategy and Communications Officer. They rehashed some of what we discussed before, but against an entirely different backdrop: post-October 7. For this week's episode, we bring you a portion of that conversation.  Belle Yoeli:   Hi, everyone. Great to see all of you. Thank you so much for being here. Matti, thank you for being here.  Matti Friedman:   Thanks for having me.  Belle Yoeli:   As you can tell by zero empty seats in this room, you have a lot of fans, and unless you want to open with anything, I'm going to jump right in. Okay, great.  So for those of you who don't know, in September 2024 Matti wrote a piece in The Free Press that is a really great foundation for today's discussion. In When We Started to Lie, Matti, you reflect on two pieces that you had written in 2015 about issues of media coverage of Israel during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. And this piece basically talked about the conclusions you drew and how they've evolved since October 7. We're gonna get to those conclusions, but first, I'm hoping you can describe for everyone what were the issues of media coverage of Israel that you first identified based on the experience in 2014? Matti Friedman:   First of all, thanks so much for having me here, and thanks for all of the amazing work that you guys are doing. So it's a real honor for me. I was a reporter for the AP, between 2006 and the very end of 2011, in Jerusalem. I was a reporter and editor. The AP, of course, as you know, is the American news agency. It's the world's largest news organization, according to the AP, according to Reuters, it's Reuters. One of them is probably right, but it's a big deal in the news world.  And I had an inside view inside one of the biggest AP bureaus. In fact, the AP's biggest International Bureau, which was in Jerusalem. So I can try to sketch the problems that I saw as a reporter there. It would take me seven or eight hours, and apparently we only have four or five hours for this lunch, so I have to keep it short. But I would say there are two main problems. We often get very involved. When we talk about problems with coverage of Israel. We get involved with very micro issues like, you call it a settlement. I call it a neighborhood. Rockets, you know, the Nakba, issues of terminology. But in fact, there are two major problems that are much bigger, and because they're bigger, they're often harder to see. One of the things that I noticed at the Bureau was the scale of coverage of Israel. So at the time that I was at the AP, again, between 2006 and the very end of 2011 we had about 40 full time staffers covering Israel. That's print reporters like me, stills photographers, TV crews. Israel, as most of you probably know, is a very small country. As a percentage of the world's surface, Israel is 1/100 of 1% of the surface of the world, and as a percentage of the land mass of the Arab world, Israel is 1/5 of 1%. 0.2%.  And we had 40 people covering it.  And just as a point of comparison, that was dramatically more people than we had at the time covering China. There are about 10 million people today in Israel proper, in China, there are 1.3 billion. We had more people in Israel than we had in China. We had more people in Israel than we had in India, which is another country of about 1.3 billion people. We had more people in Israel than we had in all of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. That's 50 something countries. So we had more people in Israel than we had in all of those countries combined. And sometimes I say that to Jews, I say we covered Israel more than we covered China, and people just stare at me blankly, because it's Israel. So of course, that makes perfect sense.  I happen to think Israel is the most important country in the world because I live there. But if the news is meant to be a rational analysis of events on planet Earth, you cannot cover Israel more than you cover the continent of Africa. It just doesn't make any sense. So one of the things that first jumped out at me– actually, that's making me sound smarter than I am. It didn't jump out at me at first. It took a couple of years. And I just started realizing that it was very strange that the world's largest organization had its largest international bureau in the State of Israel, which is a very small country, very small conflict in numeric terms. And yet there was this intense global focus on it that made people think that it was the most important story in the world. And it definitely occupies a place in the American political imagination that is not comparable to any other international conflict.  So that's one part of the problem. That was the scope, the other part was the context. And it took me a while to figure this out, but the coverage of Israel is framed as an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conflict is defined in those terms, the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and everyone in this room has heard it discussed in those terms. Sometimes we discuss it in those terms, and that is because the news folks have framed the conflict in those terms. So at the AP bureau in Jerusalem, every single day, we had to write a story that was called, in the jargon of the Bureau, Is-Pals, Israelis, Palestinians. And it was the daily wrap of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. So what Netanyahu said, what Abbas said, rockets, settlers, Hamas, you know, whatever, the problem is that there isn't an Israeli=Palestinian conflict. And I know that sounds crazy, because everyone thinks there is.  And of course, we're seeing conflicts play out in the most tragic way right now in Gaza. But most of Israel's wars have not been fought against Palestinians. Israel has unfortunately fought wars against Egyptians and Jordanians and Lebanese and Iraqis. And Israel's most important enemy at the moment, is Iran, right? The Iranians are not Palestinian. The Iranians are not Arab. They're Muslim, but they're not Arab. So clearly, there is a broader regional conflict that's going on that is not an Israeli Palestinian conflict, and we've seen it in the past year. If we had a satellite in space looking down and just following the paths of ballistic missiles and rockets fired at Israel. Like a photograph of these red trails of rockets fired at Israel. You'd see rockets being fired from Iraq and from Yemen and from Lebanon and from Gaza and from Iran. You'd see the contours of a regional conflict.  And if you understand it's a regional conflict, then you understand the way Israelis see it. There are in the Arab world, 300 million people, almost all of them Muslim. And in one corner of that world, there are 7 million Jews, who are Israelis. And if we zoom out even farther to the level of the Islamic world, we'll see that there are 2 billion people in the Islamic world. There's some argument about the numbers, but it's roughly a quarter of the world's population. And in one corner of that world there, there are 7 million Israeli Jews. The entire Jewish population on planet Earth is a lot smaller than the population of Cairo.  So the idea that this is an Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where Israelis are the stronger side, where Israelis are the dominant actor, and where Israelis are, let's face it, the bad guy in the story, that's a fictional presentation of a story that actually works in a completely different way. So if you take a small story and make it seem big. If you take a complicated regional story and you make it seem like a very small local story involving only Israelis and Palestinians, then you get the highly simplified but very emotive narrative that everyone is being subjected to now. And you get this portrayal of a villainous country called Israel that really looms in the liberal imagination of the West as an embodiment of the worst possible qualities of the age. Belle Yoeli:   Wow. So already you were seeing these issues when you were reporter, earlier on. But like this, some of this was before and since, since productive edge. This is over 10 years ago, and here we are. So October 7 happens. You already know these issues exist. You've identified them. How would you describe because obviously we have a lot of feelings about this, but like, strictly as a journalist, how would you describe the coverage that you've seen since during October 7, in its aftermath? Is it just these issues? Have they? Have they expanded? Are there new issues in play? What's your analysis? Matti Friedman:   The coverage has been great. I really have very I have no criticism of it. I think it's very accurate. I think that I, in a way, I was lucky to have been through what I went through 10 or 15 years ago, and I wasn't blindsided on October 7, as many people were, many people, quite naturally, don't pay close attention to this. And even people who are sympathetic to Israel, I think, were not necessarily convinced that my argument about the press was right. And I think many people thought it was overstated.  And you can read those articles from 2014 one was in tablet and one was in the Atlantic, but it's basically the two chapters of the same argument. And unfortunately, I think that those the essays, they stand up. In fact, if you don't really look at the date of the essays, they kind of seem that they could have been written in the past year and a half. And I'm not happy about that. I think that's and I certainly wrote them in hopes that they would somehow make things better. But the issues that I saw in the press 15 years ago have only been exacerbated since then. And October seven didn't invent the wheel. The issues were pre existing, but it took everything that I saw and kind of supercharged it.  So if I talked about ideological conformity in the bureaus that has been that has become much more extreme. A guy like me, I was hired in 2006 at the AP. I'm an Israeli of center left political leanings. Hiring me was not a problem in 22,006 by the time I left the AP, at the end of 2011 I'm pretty sure someone like me would not have been hired because my views, which are again, very centrist Israeli views, were really beyond the pale by the time that I left the AP, and certainly, and certainly today, the thing has really moved what I saw happening at the AP. And I hate picking on the AP because they were just unfortunate enough to hire me. That was their only error, but what I'm saying about them is true of a whole new. Was heard. It's true of the Times and CNN and the BBC, the news industry really works kind of as a it has a herd mentality. What happened was that news decisions were increasingly being made by people who are not interested in explanatory journalism. They were activists. Activists had moved into the key positions in the Bureau, and they had a very different idea of what press coverage was supposed to do. I would say, and I tried to explain it in that article for the free press, when I approach a news story, when I approach the profession of journalism, the question that I'm asking is, what's going on? That's the question I think you're supposed to ask, what's going on? How can I explain it in a way that's as accurate as as possible? The question that was increasingly being asked was not what's going on. The question was, who does this serve? That's an activist question. So when you look at a story, you don't ask, is it true, or is it not true? You ask, who's it going to help? Is it going to help the good guys, or is it going to help the bad guys?  So if Israel in the story is the villain, then a story that makes Israel seem reasonable, reasonable or rational or sympathetic needs to be played down to the extent possible or made to disappear. And I can give you an example from my own experience.  At the very end of 2008 two reporters in my bureau, people who I know, learned of a very dramatic peace offer that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had made to the Palestinians. So Olmert, who was the prime minister at the time, had made a very far reaching offer that was supposed to see a Palestinian state in all of Gaza, most of the West Bank, with land swaps for territory that Israel was going to retain, and a very far reaching international consortium agreement to run the Old City of Jerusalem. Was a very dramatic. It was so far reaching, I think that Israelis probably wouldn't have supported it. But it was offered to the Palestinian side, and the Palestinians rejected it as insufficient. And two of our reporters knew about this, and they'd seen a map of the offer. And this was obviously a pretty big story for a bureau that had as the thrust of its coverage the peace process.  The two reporters who had the story were ordered to drop it, they were not allowed to cover the story. And there were different explanations. And they didn't, by the way, AP did not publish the story at the time, even though we were the first to have it. Eventually, it kind of came out and in other ways, through other news organizations. But we knew at first. Why were we not allowed to cover it? Because it would have made the Israelis who we were trying to villainize and demonize, it would have made Israel seem like it was trying to solve the conflict on kind of reasonable lines, which, of course, was true at that time. So that story would have upended the thrust of our news coverage. So it had to be made to go away, even though it was true, it would have helped the wrong people. And that question of who does this serve has destroyed, I want to say all, but much, of what used to be mainstream news coverage, and it's not just where Israel is concerned.  You can look at a story like the mental health of President Biden, right. Something's going on with Biden at the end of his term. It's a huge global news story, and the press, by and large, won't touch it, because why? I mean, it's true, right? We're all seeing that it's true, but why can't you touch it? Because it would help the wrong people. It would help the Republicans who in the press are the people who you are not supposed to help.  The origins of COVID, right? We heard one story about that. The true story seems to be a different story. And there are many other examples of stories that are reported because they help the right people, or not reported because they would help the wrong people. And I saw this thinking really come into action in Israel 10 or 15 years ago, and unfortunately, it's really spread to include the whole mainstream press scene and really kill it.  I mean, essentially, anyone interested in trying to get a solid sense of what's going on, we have very few options. There's not a lot, there's not a lot out there. So that's the broader conclusion that I drew from what I thought at the time was just a very small malfunction involving Israel coverage. But Israel coverage ends up being a symptom of something much bigger, as Jews often are the symptom of something much bigger that's going on.  So my problems in the AP bureau 15 years ago were really a kind of maybe a canary in the coal mine, or a whiff of something much bigger that we were all going to see happen, which is the transformation of the important liberal institutions of the west into kind of activist arms of a very radical ideology that has as its goal the transformation of the west into something else. And that's true of the press, and it's true of NGO world, places like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which were one thing 30 years ago and are something very different today. And it's also true of big parts of the academy. It's true of places like Columbia and places like Harvard, they still have the logo, they still have the name, but they serve a different purpose, and I just happen to be on the ground floor of it as a reporter. Belle Yoeli:   So obviously, this concept of who does this serve, and this activist journalism is deeply concerning, and you actually mentioned a couple other areas, academia, obviously we're in that a lot right now in terms of what's going on campus. So I guess a couple of questions on that. First of all, think about this very practically, tachlis, in the day to day.  I'm a journalist, and I go to write about what's happening in Gaza. What would you say is, if you had to throw out a percentage, are all of them aware of this activist journalist tendency? Or you think it's like, like intentional for many of them, or it's sort of they've been educated that way, and it's their worldview in such a way that they don't even know that they're not reporting the news in a very biased way. Does that make sense? Matti Friedman:   Totally. I think that many people in the journalism world today view their job as not as explaining a complicated situation, but as swaying people toward the correct political conclusion. Journalism is power, and the power has to be wielded in support of justice. Now, justice is very slippery, and, you know, choosing who's in the right is very, very slippery, and that's how journalism gets into a lot of trouble. Instead of just trying to explain what's going on and then leave, you're supposed to leave the politics and the activism to other people. Politics and activism are very important.  But unless everyone can agree on what is going on, it's impossible to choose the kind of act, the kind of activism that would be useful. So when the journalists become activists, then no one can understand what's what's going on, because the story itself is fake, and there are many, many examples of it. But you know, returning to what you asked about, about October 7, and reporting post October 7, you can really see it happen. The massacres of October 7 were very problematic for the ideological strain that now controls a lot of the press, because it's counterintuitive. You're not supposed to sympathize with Israelis.  And yet, there were a few weeks after October 7 when they were forced to because the nature of the atrocities were so heinous that they could not be ignored. So you had the press covering what happened on October 7, but you could feel it. As someone who knows that scene, you could feel there was a lot of discomfort. There was a lot of discomfort. It wasn't their comfort zone, and you knew that within a few weeks, maybe a month, it was gonna snap back at the first opportunity.  When did it snap back? In the story of the Al Ahli hospital strike. If you remember that a few weeks in, there's a massive global story that Israel has rocketed Hospital in Gaza and killed about 500 people and and then you can see the kind of the comfort the comfort zone return, because the story that the press is primed to cover is a story about villainous Israelis victimizing innocent Palestinians, and now, now we're back. Okay. Now Israel's rocketing hospital. The problem was that it hadn't happened, and it was that a lot of stories don't happen, and they're allowed to stand.  But this story was so far from the truth that even the people involved couldn't make it work, and it had to be retracted, but it was basically too late. And then as soon as the Israeli ground offensive got into swing in Gaza, then the story really becomes the same old story, which is a story of Israel victimizing Palestinians for no reason. And you'll never see Hamas militants in uniform in Gaza. You just see dead civilians, and you'll see the aftermath of a rocket strike when the, you know, when an Israeli F16 takes out the launcher, but you will never see the strike. Which is the way it's worked in Gaza since the very end of 2008 which is when the first really bad round of violence in Gaza happens, which is when I'm at the AP.  As far as I know, I was the first staffer to erase information from the story, because we were threatened by Hamas, which happened at the very end of 2008. We had a great reporter in Gaza, a Palestinian who had always been really an excellent reporter. We had a detail in a story. The detail was a crucial one. It was that Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians and were being counted as civilians in the death toll, an important thing to know, that went out in an AP story. The reporter called me a few hours later. It was clear that someone had spoken to him, and he told me, I was on the desk in Jerusalem, so I was kind of writing the story from the main bureau in Jerusalem. And he said, Matti, you have to take that detail out of the story. And it was clear that someone had threatened him. I took the detail out of the story. I suggested to our editors that we note in an Editor's Note that we were now complying with Hamas censorship. I was overruled, and from that point in time, the AP, like all of its sister organizations, collaborates with Hamas censorship in Gaza.  What does that mean? You'll see a lot of dead civilians, and you won't see dead militants. You won't have a clear idea of what the Hamas military strategy is. And this is the kicker, the center of the coverage will be a number, a casualty number, that is provided to the press by something called the Gaza health ministry, which is Hamas. And we've been doing that since 2008, and it's a way of basically settling the story before you get into any other information. Because when you put, you know, when you say 50 Palestinians were killed, and one Israeli on a given day, it doesn't matter what else you say. The numbers kind of tell their own story, and it's a way of settling the story with something that sounds like a concrete statistic. And the statistic is being, you know, given to us by one of the combatant sides. But because the reporters sympathize with that side, they're happy to play along. So since 2008, certainly since 2014 when we had another serious war in Gaza, the press has not been covering Gaza, the press has been essentially an amplifier for one of the most poisonous ideologies on Earth. Hamas has figured out how to make the press amplify its messaging rather than covering Hamas. There are no Western reporters in Gaza. All of the reporters in Gaza are Palestinians, and those people fall into three categories. Some of them identify with Hamas. Some of them are intimidated by Hamas and won't cross Hamas, which makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't want to cross Hamas either. So either. And the third category is people who actually belong to Hamas. That's where the information from Gaza is coming from. And if you're credulous, then of course, you're going to get a story that makes Israel look pretty bad. Belle Yoeli:   So this is very depressing. That's okay. It's very helpful, very depressing. But on that note, I would ask you so whether, because you spoke about this problem in terms, of, of course, the coverage of Israel, but that it's it's also more widespread you talk, you spoke about President Biden in your article, you name other examples of how this sort of activist journalism is affecting everything we read. So what should everyone in this room be reading, truly, from your opinion. This is Matti's opinion. But if you want to you want to get information from our news and not activist journalism, obviously The Free Press, perhaps. But are there other sites or outlets that you think are getting this more down the line, or at least better than some, some better than others?  Matti Friedman:   No, it's just The Free Press. No. I mean, it's a question that I also wrestle with. I haven't given up on everyone, and even in publications that have, I think, largely lost the plot, you'll still find good stuff on occasion. So I try to keep my eye on certain reporters whose name I know. I often ask not just on Israel, but on anything, does this reporter speak the language of the country that they're covering? You'd be shocked at how rare that is for Americans. A lot of the people covering Ukraine have no idea what language they speak in Ukraine, and just as someone who covers Israel, I'm aware of the low level of knowledge that many of the Western reporters have. You'll find really good stuff still in the Atlantic. The Atlantic has managed, against steep odds, to maintain its equilibrium amid all this. The New Yorker, unfortunately, less so, but you'll still see, on occasion, things that are good. And there are certain reporters who are, you know, you can trust. Isabel Kirchner, who writes for The New York Times, is an old colleague of mine from the Jerusalem report. She's excellent, and they're just people who are doing their job. But by and large, you have to be very, very suspicious of absolutely everything that you read and see. And I'm not saying that as someone who I'm not happy to say that, and I certainly don't identify with, you know, the term fake news, as it has been pushed by President Trump.  I think that fake news is, you know, for those guys, is an attempt to avoid scrutiny. They're trying to, you know, neuter the watchdog so that they can get away with whatever they want. I don't think that crowd is interested in good press coverage. Unfortunately, the term fake news sticks because it's true. That's why it has worked. And the press, instead of helping people navigate the blizzard of disinformation that we're all in, they've joined it. People who are confused about what's going on, should be able to open up the New York Times or go to the AP and figure out what's going on, but because, and I saw it happen, instead of covering the circus, the reporters became dancing bears in the circus. So no one can make heads or tails of anything. So we need to be very careful.  Most headlines that are out there are out there to generate outrage, because that's the most predictable generator of clicks, which is the, we're in a click economy. So I actually think that the less time you spend following headlines and daily news, the better off you'll be. Because you can follow the daily news for a year, and by the end of the year, you'll just be deranged. You'll just be crazy and very angry.  If you take that time and use it to read books about, you know, bitten by people who are knowledgeable, or read longer form essays that are, you know, that are obviously less likely to be very simplistic, although not, you know, it's not completely impossible that they will be. I think that's time, that's time better spent. Unfortunately, much of the industry is kind of gone. And we're in an interesting kind of interim moment where it's clear that the old news industry is basically dead and that something new has to happen. And those new things are happening. I mean, The Free Press is part of a new thing that's happening. It's not big enough to really move the needle in a dramatic way yet, but it might be, and I think we all have to hope that new institutions emerge to fill the vacuum.  The old institutions, and I say this with sorrow, and I think that this also might be true of a lot of the academic institutions. They can't be saved. They can't be saved. So if people think that writing an editor, a letter to the editor of the New York Times is going to help. It's not going to help. Sometimes people say, Why don't we just get the top people in the news industry and bring them to Israel and show them the truth? Doesn't help. It's not about knowing or not knowing. They define the profession differently.  So it's not about a lack of information. The institutions have changed, and it's kind of irrevocable at this point, and we need new institutions, and one of them is The Free Press, and it's a great model of what to do when faced with fading institutions. By the way, the greatest model of all time in that regard is Zionism. That's what Zionism is. There's a guy in Vienna in 1890 something, and his moment is incredibly contemporary. There's an amazing biography of Herzl called Herzl by Amos Elon. It's an amazing book. If you haven't read it, you should read it, because his moment in cosmopolitan Vienna sounds exactly like now. It's shockingly current. He's in this friendly city. He's a reporter for the New York Times, basically of the Austro Hungarian empire, and he's assimilated, and he's got a Christmas tree in his house, and his son isn't circumcised, and he thinks everything is basically great. And then the light changes.  He notices that something has changed in Vienna, and the discourse about Jews changes, and like in a Hollywood movie, the light changes. And he doesn't try to he doesn't start a campaign against antisemitism. He doesn't get on social media and kind of rail against unfair coverage. He sits down in a hotel room in Paris and he writes this pamphlet called the Jewish state, and I literally flew from that state yesterday. So there's a Zionist model where you look at a failing world and you think about radical solutions that involve creation. And I think we're there. And I think Herzl's model is a good one at a dark time you need real creativity. Belle Yoeli:   Thank God you found the inspiration there, because I was really, I was really starting to worry. No, in all seriousness, Matti, the saying that these institutions can't be saved. I mean the consequences of this, not just for us as pro-Israel, pro-Jewish advocates, but for our country, for the world, the countries that we come from are tremendous.  And the way we've been dealing with this issue and thinking about how, how can you change hearts and minds of individuals about Israel, about the Jewish people, if everything that they're reading is so damaging and most of what they're reading is so damaging and basically saying there's very little that we can do about that. So I am going to push you to dream big with us. We're an advocacy organization. AJC is an advocacy organization. So if you had unlimited resources, right, if you really wanted to make change in this area, to me, it sounds like you're saying we basically need 15 Free Presses or the new institutions to really take on this way. What would you do? What would you do to try to make it so that news media were more like the old days? Matti Friedman:   Anyone who wants unlimited resources should not go into journalism. I have found that my resources remain limited. I'll give you an answer that is probably not what you're expecting or not what you want here. I think that the fight can't be won. I think that antisemitism can't be defeated. And I think that resources that are poured into it are resources wasted. And of course, I think that people need legal protection, and they need, you know, lawyers who can protect people from discrimination and from defamation. That's very important. But I know that when people are presented with a problem like antisemitism, which is so disturbing and it's really rocking the world of everyone in this room, and certainly, you know, children and grandchildren, you have a problem and you want to address it, right? You have a really bad rash on your arm. You want the rash to go away, and you're willing to do almost anything to make it go away. This has always been with us. It's always been with us.  And you know, we recently celebrated the Seder, and we read in the Seder, in the Haggadah, l'chol dor vador, omdim aleinu l'chaloteinu. Which is, in every generation, they come at us to destroy us. And it's an incredibly depressing worldview. Okay, it's not the way I wanted to see the world when I grew up in Toronto in the 1990s. But in our tradition, we have this idea that this is always gonna be around. And the question is, what do you do? Do you let other people define you? Do you make your identity the fight against the people who hate you? And I think that's a dead end.  This crisis is hitting the Jewish people at a moment when many of us don't know who we are, and I think that's why it's hitting so hard. For my grandfather, who was a standard New York Jew, garment industry, Lower East Side, poor union guy. This would not have shaken him, because he just assumed that this was the world like this. The term Jewish identity was not one he ever heard, because it wasn't an issue or something that had to be taught. So if I had unlimited resources, what I would do is I would make sure that young Jewish people have access to the riches of Jewish civilization, I would, you know, institute a program that would allow any young Jewish person to be fluent in Hebrew by the time they finish college. Why is that so important? Why is that such an amazing key?  Because if you're fluent in Hebrew, you can open a Tanakh, or you can open a prayer book if you want. Or you can watch Fauda or you can get on a plane to Israel and hit on Israeli guys. Hebrew is the key to Jewish life, and if you have it, a whole world will open up. And it's not one that antisemites can interfere with. It does not depend on the goodwill of our neighbors. It's all about us and what we're doing with ourselves. And I think that if you're rooted in Jewish tradition, and I'm not saying becoming religious, I'm just saying, diving into the riches of Jewish tradition, whether it's history or gemara or Israel, or whatever, if you're if you're deep in there enough, then the other stuff doesn't go away, but it becomes less important.  It won't be solved because it can't be solved, but it will fade into the background. And if we make the center of identity the fight against antisemitism, they've won. Why should they be the center of our identity? For a young person who's looking for some way of living or some deep kind of guide to life, the fight against antisemitism is not going to do it, and philanthropy is not going to do it. We come from the wisest and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and many of us don't know how to open the door to that civilization, and that's in our hands. And if we're not doing it, it's not the fault of the antisemites. It's our own fault. So if I had unlimited resources, which, again, it's not, it's not going to happen unless I make a career change, that's where I would be putting my effort. Internally and not externally.  Belle Yoeli:   You did find the inspiration, though, again, by pushing Jewish identity, and we appreciate that. It's come up a lot in this conversation, this question about how we fight antisemitism, investing in Jewish identity and who we are, and at the same time, what do we do about it? And I think all of you heard Ted in a different context last night, say, we can hold two things, two thoughts at the same time, right? Two things can be true at the same time. And I think for me, what I took out of this, in addition to your excellent insights, is that that's exactly what we have to be doing.  At AJC, we have to be engaging in this advocacy to stand up for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. But that's not the only piece of the puzzle. Of course, we have to be investing in Jewish identity. That's why we bring so many young people to this conference. Of course, we need to be investing in Jewish education. That's not necessarily what AJC is doing, the bulk of our work, but it's a lot of what the Jewish community is doing, and these pieces have to go together. And I want to thank you for raising that up for us, and again, for everything that you said. Thank you all so much for being here. Thank you. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in as John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, breaks down Israel's high-stakes strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure and the U.S. decision to enter the fight. 

On Sunday, January 19th, 2025, Romi Gonen (24), Emily Damari (28) and Doron Steinbrecher (31), were reunited with their loved ones inside Israel.In this episode, I'm joined by Yaakov Lappin, In-House-Analyst at The MirYam Institute, to discuss their redemption from inside the Gaza Strip. We break down our reactions to the images of their release - including the danger in which they were placed as they were transferred from one Red-Cross vehicle to the other, surrounded by thousands of Gazans inside Gaza - the terms of the hostage-release deal as they pertain to the redeployment of the IDF, and the sacrifices made by our soldiers in order to bring us to this moment.We also note the rescue of the remains of Oron Shaul (Z"L), who was killed and held captive by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and we discuss the implications of the ceasefire on the near and long-term security of the State of Israel.Support the showThe MirYam Institute. Israel's Future in Israel's Hands.Subscribe to our podcast: https://podfollow.com/1493910771Follow The MirYam Institute X: https://bit.ly/3jkeUyxFollow Benjamin Anthony X: https://bit.ly/3hZeOe9Like Benjamin Anthony Facebook: https://bit.ly/333Ct93Like The MirYam Institute Facebook: https://bit.ly/2SarHI3Follow Benjamin Anthony Instagram: https://bit.ly/30m6uPGFollow The MirYam Institute Instagram: https://bit.ly/3l5fvED

Donation Link: Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign: http://www.ipsc.ie/support/donateThis episode takes a closer look at Khaled Juma's poignant poem, 'O Rascal Children of Gaza.' .Written in response to the violence during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the poem heartbreakingly laments the loss of Gaza's children. The episode highlights the poem's structure, the use of juxtaposition between joyful past and sorrowful present, and its stark portrayal of the silence that follows tragedy. Juma's work is analysed for its simplicity and powerful emotional appeal, showcasing the resilience and grief of the Palestinian people. The poem stands as a testament to the devastating impact of conflict on innocent lives and the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resistance and identity. Listen to more Palestinian poetry:Listen to the Episode on Mahmoud DarwishListen to the Episode on Fadwa TuqanListen to the Episode on Najwan DarwishListen to the Episode on Noor HindiFollow the Podcast:Read the Script on SubstackFollow the Podcast On InstagramFollow the Podcast on X/TwitterFollow the Podcast on TiktokThe Music In This Week's Episode:'Echoes' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday his Lebanese terror group would accept Palestinian ally Hamas's decision on Gaza hostage negotiations and would stop cross-border attacks on Israel if a ceasefire were reached. But would Israel also back down from the conflict on the north? This week marks a decade to Operation Protective Edge, which took place from July 8-August 26, 2014. Horovitz was on the ground in Gaza's Shejaiyiya neighborhood earlier this week and saw a location that one of the IDF officers he met with, Lt. Col. Ron Sayag, called a "closing of a circle" from that operation 10 years ago. What did Horovitz see inside the Strip? The results of an Israel Defense Forces probe into the onslaught and battle on October 7 in the border community of Kibbutz Be'eri, during which tanks shelled a house where Hamas was holding hostages, was presented to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Monday and were given to residents of Be'eri this morning. Borschel-Dan and Horovitz were in Kibbutz Be'eri and Kfar Aza yesterday. They discuss their impressions. For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: Nasrallah: If Hamas agrees to ceasefire with Israel, Hezbollah will also halt attacks Shejaiya is at least partly uninhabitable, but troops here say Hamas will return if it can IDF chief shown results of probe into October 7 fighting at Kibbutz Be'eri Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick. IMAGE: This handout picture released on July 11, 2024 shows an Israeli soldiers during operations in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

404 - How will this war be seen by history?Israel has fought Hamas in Gaza over and over again. There was Operation Cast Lead in 2008, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014 just to name a few. Thousands of rockets have been launched at civilian areas of Israel and Israel has counter attacked over and over again. Will the current war, Operation Swords of Iron be just another battle in this long running war? Or will this war be remembered as a moment of change in Israel and the region? Matt hosts this episode's debate, where Alan takes the position that this is a major turning point in Israeli History, and Calev argues that this will be another round in our long battles with Hamas. Am Yisrael Chai!

Joining me today is political scientist and author, Norman Finkelstein. We will be talking about Operation Protective Edge, Israel's attacks on Gaza, Israeli propaganda & Jewish opposition to the war in Gaza. You can order Norman's new book I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom at www.normanfinkelstein.com   --

Eve Harow speaks with Netanyahu's former chief of staff (and her nephew), Ari Harow (ariharow@gmail.com), on his new book ‘My Brother's Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama and the Year of Terror and Conflict that changed the Middle East Forever.' Originally written as a historical look at Israel in 2014 from someone who was at the time on the very inside of Israeli politics, the timing of the book's release gives a deeper perspective and needed context on what's happening in Israel since October 7th. The relationship with the US, internal Israeli issues and challenges, the wider focus on Iran and global Islamic Jihad are all there. Hamas's kidnapping of the 3 boys set off a chain of events, including Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014, which ended without a clear victory. And here we are today. This is an important and unique book and a must read for those searching for an understanding of critical decisions that were made nearly a decade ago that impact all of us in the present.

October 18, 2023 ~ Benjamin Anthony, former combat reservist in the IDF and served during the Second Lebanon War, Operation Pillar of Defense, and Operation Protective Edge, also the co-founder and CEO of the MirYam Institute, joins Kevin and Tom live from Tel Aviv ahead of the President's remarks there.

Today we discuss the Torah perspective on a practical vision for unity. I've heard several people over the past few days express the sentiment that perhaps the devastating situation we're in is in someway related to the recent growing fracture in our nation. I'm in no position to diagnose the situation neither from a practical-political perspective not from a divine-spiritual perspective. However, having been in Israel during Operation Protective Edge, I saw first hand how war has the power to bring us together.

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, during Mike's interview with Tablet Editor In Chief Alana Newhouse, which aired this past week, they discussed what's going on in social media in the days after Hamas attacked and killed over a thousand Israelis. Israel has since retaliated, killing at least as many Palestinians. Then we listen back to Mike's 2014 interview with Dr. Dalia Gavriely-Nuri from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She offered translations and insight into Israeli operation names such as Operation Protective Edge (2014)and Operation Pillar of Defense (2012). Israel has named its ongoing response to the Hamas October 7th attack Operation Swards of Iron. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com  To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/  Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the wake of Israel's recent armed conflict with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Gaza-based Islamist terrorist group, the Jewish State has once again faced accusations of excessive force relating to its conduct. But beyond the often hyperbolic headlines, Israel's practices in conflict are widely seen in military circles as representing among the highest levels of morality seen anywhere in the world. To help us understand more, in this week's edition of The Honest Report podcast, we sit down with Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, Co-Founder, and CEO of The MirYam Institute. Sgt. Anthony is a widely sought-after speaker around the world, known for his breadth of knowledge relating to Israel's conduct in wartime. Most notably, Sgt. Anthony is a veteran of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thehonestreport/message

Scott is a second chapter warrior and artist. After 35 years in a family business, he found himself sent to "do other things" and opened a woodshop and YouTube Content Creation studio in White Hall Maryland. He is a life-long fire responder volunteer and is currently Special Operations Lt for the Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company in Baltimore County Maryland. He has provided care as a Paramedic/Fire Fighter throughout Maryland, Connecticut and Israel most recently during Operation Protective Edge. Upon returning from that deployment with The Emergency Volunteer Project he started a whirlwind bromance with BK and the rest is history. Links:YouTube: The Crafty WeinerFB: The Crafty WeinerIG: The_Crafty_Weineremail: scott@thecraftyweiner.comweb: www.thecraftyweiner.com

In 2017, Ismail Ziada filed a civil suit at the District Court of the Hague against former Israeli military leaders Benny Gantz and Amir Eshel for their role in a 2014 strike—part of the Israeli offensive in Gaza known as Operation Protective Edge—which killed six of Ziada's family members. In 2020, the court dismissed Ziada's civil suit, arguing that, as agents of the state, Gantz and Eshel enjoy functional immunity from prosecution, and the court had no jurisdiction over the matter.Now, the Dutch court hearing his appeal has until Dec. 7 to decide whether the international legal principle of universal jurisdiction will allow him to pursue his case from the Netherlands, an enormous step forward for Palestinians trying to seek justice in Israel, where they're prohibited from addressing cases or appeals against Israel for war crimes and acts of war. TRNN contributor David Kattenburg talks to Ziada's lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, about this case and what it could mean for those seeking international justice by way of local jurisdictions.Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/a-dutch-court-may-help-deliver-justice-for-a-gazan-family-killed-in-an-israeli-strikeHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Israel's Chief Rabbis issued a letter accusing The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) of seeking to convert Jews at its annual week-long Feast of Tabernacles celebration. The celebration has been hosted by the ICEJ since 1980 when they opened their embassy, and draws thousands of Christians from around the world in support of Israel. The 2014 festival, held in the wake of Operation Protective Edge, attracted 5,000 Christians from 80 different countries. “It has come to our attention that those engaged in missionary activity under the auspices of the Christian Embassy in Israel are organizing a large conference during the days of Sukkot,” Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef wrote. “Part of this organization's goals is to convert Jews from the religion of Israel and bring them under the wings of Christianity. Such a thing is severe and contrary to the foundations of our faith, and as such must be condemned and the public must be warned.” --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yaar-ben-emmett/support

Dr. Rabbi Daniel Gordis examines Israel's relationship with President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump and the Middle East events that shaped those relationships. He explores then Secretary of State John Kerry's attempt at peace during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, the U.S. negotiated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, Netanyahu's address to … Continue reading Gordis 21 – The Obama and Trump Years →

On this episode of the "Once and Future Authors" Podcast, we are joined by Max Levin, Author and American-born Israeli soldier. Here to discuss his novel "Under the Stretcher," it allows readers to learn what life is like for an Israeli soldier today. For those who want to learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this book offers personal stories from an American-raised boy, with American values, who served in the modern Israeli army. "Under the Stretcher" takes you into the 2014 “Operation Protective Edge,” the latest of the Gaza-Israeli conflicts, through the eyes of Max Levin, who immigrated in 2012 to join the Israeli army. This book takes you step-by-step on his journey as he immigrates to Israel, learns Hebrew, and goes through many grueling try-outs to finally make it into one of Israel’s special forces units – Palchan Tzanhanim. He was then immediately thrust into this war, where he found himself fighting for his newfound friends and family. Max then had to cope with the aftermath of the war, the mourning of lost ones, and the psychological changes from being a soldier at war to a soldier at peace, trying to keep all parties safe and sound within in the dangerous West Bank. To learn more about Israel’s latest war, this book provides detailed descriptions from both the front lines and behind enemy lines, looking at some of the vital operations that unfold during the war. This book is a must for anyone interested in learning more about Israel, the Israel – Palestinian Conflict, Gaza, 2014 Operation Protective Edge, Lone Soldiers, The Israeli Army, War or Special Forces. Find Max's "Under the Stretcher" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Under-Stretcher-Max-Levin-ebook/dp/B08YXDSQWG and Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-the-stretcher-max-levin/1139022552 Watch the episode on Youtube! https://youtu.be/N4TO_4MTssA

The current Israeli offensive against Palestine in 2021 began on 10 May, making it the deadliest offensive since The Gaza war of 2014, named Operation Protective Edge. Since that date, Palestine’s death toll exceeds 200, mostly women and children, while Israel’s is currently around 10 – also including women and children. There have been mass solidarity protests across the world, and on today’s program we will bring you some highlights from the Melbourne Rally. We are going to start here with Janine Haroum, a Palestinian woman at the Melbourne rally, and then later in the program, an interview with Palestinian woman, socialist and educator, Reem Yunis

In this episode Garrison is joined by Benjamin Anthony Co-Founder and CEO of The MirYam Institute. They discuss Benjamin's personal experiences as a Jew growing up in the United Kingdom, overcoming anti-semitic attacks, his emigration to the State of Israel (making “Aliyah”), his service in the IDF (and personal perspectives on Israeli security), his role in advising the Trump administration during peace plan formation (and why he disagreed with the finalized offer), as well as his outline of the New State solution (read more here: https://www.miryaminstitute.org/nss), and its promise of peace and security for both the State of Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. As Co-Founder & CEO of the MirYam Institute, Benjamin Anthony brings considerable experience and expertise to his position in the areas of substantive, policy driven dialogue and debate about the State of Israel throughout the international community. His portfolio includes the coordination of high level briefings by senior members of the Israel defense establishment - active and retired - to elected officials; including within the US Administration, the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives, on matters relating to the state of Israel and her strategic relationship and positioning in an international context. Of particular note is the advisory role he undertook to key members of the Administration on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and potential avenues for its resolution. An I.D.F. combat reservist, Benjamin is a veteran of service in: ▪ The Second Lebanon War, 2006 ▪ Operation Pillar of Defense, 2012 ▪ Operation Protective Edge, 2014. He has served in Judea and Samaria / The West Bank and along Israel's northern border. To this day, his policy outlook is greatly informed by his military service. Since 2006, Benjamin has worked with the Israel National Police and the Israel Defense Forces to prepare, write, brief, and oversee presentations by senior ranked active officials at select graduate schools throughout the English speaking world and before international policy-makers and legislators. He first did so through Our Soldiers Speak, the precursor to the MirYam Institute, an organization he founded during the Second Lebanon War. Through his leadership, that organization generated more than 450 campus lectures in several continents. A highly sought after lecturer, Benjamin regularly speaks before audiences at Ivy League colleges and has been the keynote speaker for Israel Bonds, CAMERA, CUFI, and numerous Jewish Federations. In 2013 he spoke at the plenary session of the AIPAC Convention in Washington DC. He is a graduate of the University of Manchester, UK. Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he holds a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) from Liberty University in the United States. All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally. Please subscribe and leave a review for feedback. Thank you for listening.

We Hold These Truths has released our, 29 minute, award winning documentary for free viewing.  Out of 700 international films submitted to the 4th Ammar Popular Film Festival in Tehran, Iran,  in January, 2014, our film, Christian Zionism: The Tragedy & The Turning, Part 1, has been given a special award along with two other documentaries.  This  film exposes what should be three, obvious truths:  1. The US has a war based economy that is dependent upon the support for its many wars by Christians under the influence of Christian Zionism.  2. Christian Zionism is a corruption of traditional Christianity that has been promoted for just over 100 years, through the Scofield Reference Bible. 3. The Palestinians have been under a brutal military occupation by Israel since 1967.  An example of this brutality was an Israeli attack on Gaza that killed four and wounded 40 in 2002, that was  witnessed, videoed and reported by Charles E. Carlson, the Writer/Director of this documentary.  This attack was four years before Hamas came to power and 12 years before Israel's current attack on Gaza, "Operation Protective Edge." This planned operation has turned into a genocidal assault on Gaza with the Israelis bombing hospitals and schools, and civilian casualties hovering around 75%, while destroying the infrastructure of the world's largest, open air prison (Bob Simon of CBS News described Gaza this way in 2009 in an interview with Charlie Rose).

Ein Verbrechen, dessen Sühnung Deutschland versucht zu verhindern. Ein Standpunkt von Jochen Mitschka. Am 8. Juli 2014 begann Israel mit der Operation Protective Edge. Die Kriegsverbrechen, welche im Verlauf dieses Angriffskrieges gegen den militärisch weit unterlegenen, und unter ständiger Belagerung stehenden Gaza-Streifen insbesondere durch die Israelischen Besatzungssoldaten begangen wurden, sollen, unter anderem, vom Internationalen Strafgerichtshof in Den Haag nun, nach jahrelangem Zögern, untersucht werden. Die Zerstörung der Bombardierungen durch Israel war so dramatisch, dass Ken Roth von Amnesty International die Bilder der Zerstörung benutzt hatte, um sie in seinem Feldzug gegen Syrien einzusetzen, und zu behaupten, dass sie die Folge von Fassbomben gewesen wären. Und im Jahr 2019 wurden die Bilder noch einmal benutzt, nämlich um Wahlwerbung in einer Parlamentswahl zu machen, in der die Hauptprotagonisten sich dabei zu übertreffen suchten, welche Vernichtung sie den Palästinensern in Zukunft zufügen würden. Nicht nur Israel und die USA, sondern auch Deutschland haben sich nun vehement gegen eine solche Untersuchung des IStGH ausgesprochen. Diese Länder versuchen nach wie vor, die Untersuchung zu verhindern, Sanktionen und Drohungen dürften erst der Anfang einer Kampagne gegen den Gerichtshof sein. ... weiterlesen hier: https://kenfm.de/das-gaza-massaker-vom-8-juli-2014-i-von-jochen-mitschka Jetzt KenFM unterstützen: https://www.patreon.com/KenFMde https://de.tipeee.com/kenfm https://flattr.com/@KenFM Dir gefällt unser Programm? Informationen zu weiteren Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten hier: https://kenfm.de/support/kenfm-unterstuetzen/ Du kannst uns auch mit Bitcoins unterstützen. BitCoin-Adresse: 18FpEnH1Dh83GXXGpRNqSoW5TL1z1PZgZK Abonniere jetzt den KenFM-Newsletter: https://kenfm.de/newsletter/ KenFM ist auch als kostenlose App für Android- und iOS-Geräte verfügbar! Über unsere Homepage kommst Du zu den Stores von Apple und Google. Hier der Link: https://kenfm.de/kenfm-app/ https://www.kenfm.de https://www.twitter.com/TeamKenFM https://www.instagram.com/kenfm.de/ https://www.youtube.com/KenFM https://soundcloud.com/ken-fm See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sarit Bloom is a member of the group Women Wage Peace (WWP), which started in November 2014 after Operation Protective Edge, also known as the 2014 Gaza war. WWP is the largest grassroots movement in Israel that strives to promote a political agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sarit explains the history of the group, their aims and why it is so vital to involve women in every aspect of the peace process.Women Wage Peace WebsiteWomen Wage Peace Worldwide Supporters Facebook GroupPieces for Peace1325 From Theory to Practice Women Wage Peace Talk SecurityDonate to Women Wage PeacePray the Devil Back to Hell: the remarkable story of incredible Liberian women who came together to bring peace to their country

Sarit Bloom is a member of the group Women Wage Peace (WWP), which started in November 2014 after Operation Protective Edge, also known as the 2014 Gaza war. WWP is the largest grassroots movement in Israel that strives to promote a political agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sarit explains the history of the group, their aims and why it is so vital to involve women in every aspect of the peace process.Women Wage Peace WebsiteWomen Wage Peace Worldwide Supporters Facebook Group Pieces for Peace1325 From Theory to Practice Women Wage Peace Talk SecurityDonate to Women Wage PeacePray the Devil Back to Hell: the remarkable story of incredible Liberian women who came together to bring peace to their country 

In this Interview Khalil Bendib talks with the Israeli scholar Ilan Pappé about his book "On Palestine" which he co-authored with Noam Chomsky. Published in the aftermath of Israel's offensive on Gaza known as "Operation Protective Edge" which left thousands of Palestinians dead and cleared the way for another Israeli land grab. Khalil asks Pappe about where he agrees and disagrees with Chomsky, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the comparisons with apartheid in South Africa.

Podcaster John Metaxas interviews veteran civil rights attorney Robert Herbst about his journey from growing up in a liberal Jewish household to becoming an advocate for Palestinian rights. Bob says just as “Black Lives Matter in the U.S., Palestinian lives matter in Israel/Palestine.” He says his viewpoint changed significantly after what he calls Israel’s brutal 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. He became a member of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace. He describes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank as persistent and relentless oppression, which he likens to apartheid. He says he supports the Boycott Divest Sanction movement as a non-violent means to help Israel recover its Jewish values.

This edition of the biweekly AJC Live radio show focused on Lt. Hadar Goldin, the Israel soldier who was captured and killed by the Hamas terror group during Operation Protective Edge. AJC Westchester/Fairfield Director Scott Richman interviewed his mother Dr. Leah Goldin about her efforts to bring Hadar back for burial. Also on the show was AJC Israel Director Lt. Col. (res.)Avital Leibovich. This show aired live on WVOX 1460 AM from New Rochelle, New York on Monday, September 17, 2018 and was streamed live at www.wvox.com. All AJC Live radio shows are podcasted and can be found in the AJC Live archive at https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-live-radio-show-archive. Photo Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90.

V.P. Pence begins Middle-East tour American Vice President Mike Pence has begun his Middle East tour, and he'll been arriving in Israel later today, he's already visited leaders in Egypt and Jordan. Fighting Iran on all fronts Amb. Yosef Livne, Former Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand speaking at ILTV Studio about why Iran has been funding proxy wars and Terror groups across the Middle East, yet the oppressive regime doesn't seem to be such a priority to the international community.   Blood for blood A Palestinian family has just confirmed that they killed their own son, because he allegedly provided Israel with intelligence during the 2014 ‘Operation Protective Edge' in Gaza. 4. Jordan and Israel make amends After six months of near-frozen relations, Israel and Jordan have finally made amends. Diplomacy came to a standstill last summer when a terrorist tried to stab an Israeli guard outside Israel's Embassy in Amman. Hezbollah denounces Israeli Border Wall Hezbollah's military leader has just condemned Israel's reinforcement of its buffer wall along the border, and has even accused Israel of trying to kill a Hamas operative in southern Lebanon with a car bomb just last week. I.D.F. puts destroyed Terror Tunnel on display Israel has destroyed three Terror Tunnels from Gaza in as many months. These are typically top-secret army operations carried out under intense secrecy, but now for the first time, the army has opened a demolished Terror Tunnel for display offering a glimpse of what Israel is capable of. 7. Israeli celebrity chef opens 1st N.Y.C. Restaurant Eyal Shani, Israeli Celebrity Chef speaking via Skype at ILTV Studio about how he brought the cuisine of 'Miznon' to The Big Apple's Chelsea Market. Life in Jerusalem: Beyond the politics Ilan Greenfield, CEO of The Gefen Publishing House speaking at ILTV Studio about how the Gefen Publish House launches New Jerusalem Album. Israeli P.M tricks world famous mentalist Lior Suchard was not prepared for what Netanyahu had in store, it looks like there was one person that he could just not crack. Tel Aviv stands with penguins Tel Aviv's City Hall has just aligned itself with a very powerful cause, and have lit up an enormous symbol of a big, purple penguin all in honor of Greenpeace's ‘Penguin Awareness Day.' 11. Hebrew word Of The Day: PENGUIN | פינגווין = PENGUIN Learn a New Hebrew word every day. Today's word is "Penguin" which means "Penguin" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump war noch nicht im Amt – da sprach Jürgen Todenhöfer bei einem Mega-Event von acTVism munich in der Muffathalle über den Nahen Osten, die Rolle der USA in den Nah-Ost-Konflikten und über den Sicherheitsberater Michael Flynn, der dann bereits vier Wochen nach seinem Amtsantritt den Hut nahm. Jürgen Todenhöfer ist deutscher Autor, Journalis, Jurist, Medienmanager und Politiker der CDU. Er besuchte den Diktator Augusto Pinochet in Chile, um die Freilassung politischer Häftlinge sicherzustellen, setzte sich für die Reduktion amerikanischer und russischer Interkontinentalraketen ein und unterstützte die deutsche Wiedervereinigung. Er ist in Kriegsgebiete, in die länder des Arabischen Frühlings und zum sogenannten Islamischen Staat gereist. Er hat Bashar Al-Assad und die iranischen Ayatollahs besucht und war während des als „Operation Protective Edge“ bekannten israelischen Angriffs in Gaza. Jürgen Todenhöfer veröffentlichte zuletzt „Du sollst nicht töten“ und „Inside IS – 10 Tage im „Islamischen Staat“. Wir bringen sein Gespräch in Teilen jeden Donnerstag um 7 Uhr 20.

Kerry-Anne Mendoza is Editor-in-Chief of The Canary (www.thecanary.co). She is known for creating one of the UK’s top independent political blogs (Scriptonite Daily), for authoring the best-seller 'Austerity', and for her Middle East reporting (notably Operation Protective Edge from Gaza through the Summer of 2014). Her passions are politics, economics and current affairs, which she examines with the basic question: “How do we build a world that works for everyone?” Growing up in working class Kingswood, Kerry-anne had no idea of the ground breaking work her West Indian grandfather had done for racial integration in the city. Finding out the full story at his funeral, when she was 18, she could suddenly made sense of the pull she felt to tell the stories that raise and tackle the world’s inequalities. Kerry-Anne tells her story, from a first visit to Palestine in 2002, through a career in the banking industry, before breaking out into the Occupy movement and never looking back. Recorded at the 5x15 Bristol event in January 2017. 5x15 brings together five outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. There are only two rules - no scripts and only 15 minutes each. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

Amb. Dore Gold, Hirsh Goodman, Lt. Col. (res.) David Benjamin, and Lenny Ben-David discuss Operation Protective Edge and analyze how Israel can apply the lessons learned from the war in any future conflict.

A special Memorial Day edition of The Israel Show dedicated to Israel's fallen soldiers, featuring songs recorded in memory of specific soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge, TIS will debut the songs and share the stories behind them.

The Palestine Podcast showcases a selection of lectures, talks and interviews featuring leading experts and social justice activists active on the Palestine-Israel issue. Brought to you by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Click here to view all podcasts. Subscribe on your favourite platform! Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherAcastYouTubeDeezerTuneInPlayer.fmPocketCastsCastroRadio PublicBreakerBlubrryPodcast AddictPodbeanPodcast RepubliciHeartRadio jQuery(document).ready(function($) { 'use strict'; $('#podcast-subscribe-button-11212 .podcast-subscribe-button.modal-632417aed03cf').on("click", function() { $("#secondline-psb-subs-modal.modal-632417aed03cf.modal.secondline-modal-632417aed03cf").modal({ fadeDuration: 250, closeText: '', }); return false; }); }); ===== PP#9 - Dr. Yaser Alashqar - Eyewitness to destruction and resistance in Gaza after the 2014 Israeli attack [2014-10-29] - (Download here) INFO: Dr. Yaser Alashqar, a Palestianian academic living in Ireland, gave an insightful, important and at times infuriating, eyewitness account of the destruction, and resistance, he observed when he travelled back to his native Gaza just days after Israel's 2014 summer slaughter that killed over 2,100 Palestinians ended. The meeting will took place on Wednesday 29th October in Wynn's Hotel in Dublin, and was chaired by Martin O'Quigley, chairperson of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Palestinian academic Dr. Yaser Alashqar went home to Gaza as soon as the Israeli slaughter there ended, and collected eyewitness reports from people on the ground, as well as himself bearing witness to the devastation wrought upon the population of 1.8 million people. In this meeting he presented images and testimony to the brutality of the onslaught, and discussed many issues from the politics of reconstruction and the seemingly treacherous role of the UN, to internal Palestinian divisions, to the new phenomenon of Palestinian families and individuals migrating from Gaza in large numbers. Dr. Alashqar will also spoke about ways in which Palestinians are continuing to resist Israeli occupation, apartheid and colonisation, and how international civil society can help achieve justice and lasting peace in the region. The recent Israeli attack, called Operation Protective Edge, killed over 2,000 Palestinians and injured thousands more. According to the latest UN report, of those killed, 69% were civilians including 495 children and 253 women. It is estimated that €8b will be needed to rebuild the infrastructure in Gaza following the six weeks or relentless bombing and shelling by Israeli occupation forces. This includes the many schools, hospitals and water and power plants that were destroyed or severely damaged. About the speaker: Yaser Alashqar is a Palestinian academic from Gaza residing in Ireland. His expertise includes conflict issues, human rights, Gaza and Israeli-Palestinian politics. He has taught courses in these areas at the Marino Institute of Education and Trinity College Dublin, and has also worked with various NGOs in Ireland and Britain. The meeting was organsied by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast reflect the opinions of the speaker(s) only and do not reflect the views of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign unless otherwise explicitly stated. Dr. Yaser Alashqar and Martin O'Quigley, IPSC Chairperson in Wynn's Hotel. Credit: Fatin Al Tamimi Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherAcastYouTubeDeezerTuneInPlayer.fmPocketCastsCastroRadio PublicBreakerBlubrryPodcast AddictPodbeanPodcast RepubliciHeartRadio

The Reaction of Britain’s Universities and Trade Unions to Operation Protective Edge - Ronnie Fraser Director, Academic Friends of Israel

llison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week. The United States of Israel? Could 'Cantonization' save Israel? We discuss a proposal to slice and dice Israel into small ethnically and ideologically defined localities that would each have laws that better fit their populations. Would such a system benefit Israel's minorities? The great media parallax The coverage of Operation Protective Edge this summer looked very different on Israeli TV screens compared to American or European ones. Why is this, and should something be done to change Israeli media coverage of regional events? Calamari is kosher, right? Why did PM Netanyahu feel compelled to make this dubious statement to a journalist recently: "I do not eat unkosher foods"? Is the legitimacy of being an out-and-out secular politician diminishing? Is this a sign that secular Judaism is on the retreat? Playlist: All songs by the anarchic genius of 'Old Man River' (whom you can call Ohad Rein): Amazing Grace La You’re On My Mind Shanti Aaye

Today's guests are an inspiration. Amidst all the bad news we're bombarded with each day, it's uplifting to hear from people who have sacrificed to help others in danger. Rebecca Siegel and Ariella Applebaum are American college students who have spent many months in Israel, as volunteer medics for Magen David Adom, the emergency ambulance service that saves lives of people of all faiths. Their stay included service during Operation Protective Edge. As you can hear in their voices, they not only helped others, but were moved themselves, after these life changing experiences, to fill shoes bigger than they'd ever dreamed. Erik Levis, Communications Director for American Friends of Magen David Adom, describes this overseas volunteer program and the invaluable work of MDA.

On this editon of The Israel Show, Meir presented a moving Rosh Hashana message from Racheli Frankel, mother of Naftali HYD. He was the guy that movies are made of. Remembering Israeli super spy, Mossad agent, Mike Harrari, who passed away yesterday. A new and surprising rendition of an Israeli classic - ba'sha'na ha'ba'ah written during Operation Protective Edge, and inspiring Israeli music appropriate for the upcoming yamim noraim.

Host Noah Efron conducts a very special interview with a conscientious objector, and we pull together our favorite 'Vatacountry' segments. Acts of conscience: Summer in the slammer Noah interviews IDF reservist Gilad Halpern, who spent the summer in a military jail for conscientiously objecting to his call-up during Operation Protective Edge. How does conscientious objection in Israel map onto the political landscape? Acts of love: 'Vatacountry' best bits A personal reflection by podcast listener Andrew Wirth on art, freedom of expression, and the army in Israel; plus some of our favorite 'Vatacountry' segments about life in this infuriating country that, at the end of the day, we cannot help but love. Playlist: All songs by The Victor Jackson Show: Mechva LeNimrod Reshef HaDor HaBa Safa Shnia LeBchira

With a ceasefire now in place in Gaza, the Israeli government faces a simple question: what exactly did Operation Protective Edge achieve? For all the death and destruction in Gaza, has Israel's position been strengthened or weakened? Stephen Sackur speaks to Israel's Minister of Intelligence, Yuval Steinitz. Does Israel need a strategic rethink?Picture: Yuval Steinitz talks to Stephen Sackur, Credit: BBC

This Israeli tee shirt appeared after "Operation Cast Lead" in 2009 where over 300 Palestinian children were killed in Gaza.  We don't know what the Hebrew says, but the message reflects "A Society of Death" mentality in Israel that is explored in this podcast.  Israel's latest installment of collective punishment, "Operation Protective Edge" has resulted in over 500 children killed, a total of over 2000 killed, over 10,000 injured, over 100,000 homeless and massive damage to Gaza's infrastructure.  Also, In this podcast, Chuck Carlson looks at the planned genocide against Gaza advocated by leading Israeli politicians and the ineffective Hamas rockets that Israel uses to justify its punitive actions.

No matter how much the Zionist state of Israel's propaganda machine, our cowardly US president, Congress and main stream media try to cover up its brutal and punitive attack on Gaza, more and more people are finding out the truth that Israel's actions are barbaric. This video was taken from a rally held in Texas to support Palestinians and oppose Israel's genocidal actions in "Operation Protective Edge." Rania Masri eloquently enumerates Israel's acts of barbarism to the crowd.

Are all civilians are automatically innocent? Today on The Gist, host Mike Pesca debates a Wall Street Journal op-ed from Thane Rosenbaum, Senior Fellow and Director of the NYU Forum on Law, Culture & Society. Plus, Dr. Dalia Gavriely-Nuri from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, offers translations and insight into Israeli operation names such as Operation Protective Edge and Operation Pillar of Defense. For the Spiel, classics ruined. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The carnage continues in Gaza, where some neighborhoods are strewn with the bodies of Palestinians, and a hospital has been shelled. We'll get a report from the ground and get different perspectives on how long Israel's “Operation Protective Edge” might go on.

Asma weeps at the funeral of her brother, Gomha Abu Shalouf [Killed by the IDF in Operation Protective Edge - 7/8/2014] Image: AP/Press Association ImagesMany Grandmothers in America aren't aware of the collective punishment being unmercifully committed against the Palestinians in Gaza during Israel's latest planned assault, "Operation Protective Edge."  An estimated 75% of the casualties are civilians, with a large percentage being women and children. We try to answer a grandma who didn't think about the innocent children being killed when she parroted a question she learned from our media, "What about all the rockets Hamas launches? Doesn't Israel have a right to protect itself?"  It seems most Americans have lost the capacity to ask questions to challenge what they are being spoon fed by the US government, the main stream media and the Zionist lobby. In this program we look behind the curtain at the human tragedy side of Operation Protective Edge that should make a Grandma weep.

We Hold These Truths joined the Arizona State University chapter of Students For Justice In Palestine's rally held in Tempe, AZ to show support for the Palestinians in Gaza who are, for the third time in less than five years, being brutalized by Israel's latest supplement to their ongoing military occupation of Palestine...Operation Protective Edge.  These attacks by Israel demonstrate their affinity to making disproportional assaults against the Palestinians, and, Israel's collective punishment mentality.  You won't see this on FOX News!  So, please pass this four minute video report of the rally on to a friend. It, also, includes an appeal to the viewer to watch our award winning documentary, Christian Zionist: The Tragedy & The Turning, Part I.

(Isaiah 41;54) God's sovereign and protective grace among His people, Israel.