Podcasts about Oslo Accords

Trump's Gaza plan is in danger of going the way of the Oslo Accords, argues US journalist Chris Hedges: Never to be implemented beyond the first phase. Hedges tells host Steve Clemons that there are no guarantees that the US-brokered deal “will actually thwart the genocidal project that Israel is intending to carry out in Gaza and … the West Bank”. While a parade of US officials visited Israel to signify commitment to the ceasefire, Israel continued to restrict food and medicine to millions of Palestinians, and Israeli forces continued to occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel's rebirth in 1948, the world has witnessed one failed peace plan after another — from the fragile armistice lines of the early wars to the broken promises of Oslo, the cold treaties of Jordan and Egypt, and now the latest so-called “peace agreement” with Hamas. Each attempt has promised security and stability, yet every one has collapsed under the same ancient truth: man cannot make peace without God.Video Version Available immediately upon release at 9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT athttps://rumble.com/v6zzy9u-israels-failed-peace-plans-1948-to-the-coming-true-peace.html?mref=3j2hwn&mc=dxcv1This powerful four-part Revelation Radio special, “Israel's Failed Peace Plans: From 1948 to the Coming True Peace,” walks through the history of every major peace effort — from the War of Independence, the Camp David and Oslo Accords, to the Abraham Accords and today's negotiations — through the clear prophetic lens of Scripture.Hosts JD Williams and David Paxton, both members of the Evangelical Press Association and part of KRRB Revelation Radio locally and nationally, reveal how each failed treaty fulfills ancient prophecy and sets the stage for the final covenant spoken of in Daniel 9:27 — the false peace that will usher in the Tribulation.Through passages from Zechariah, Isaiah, Daniel, 1 Thessalonians, and Revelation, this episode uncovers the prophetic timeline leading to the only lasting peace Israel will ever know: the reign of the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.When the world cries “Peace and safety,” destruction will come suddenly. But when Christ returns, swords will be beaten into plowshares, and Jerusalem will finally rest under the rule of her Messiah.For more information or to support our ministry, visit www.lastchristian.net — home of The Last Christian Radio Show and the global outreach of KRRB Revelation Radio.

Since Israel's rebirth in 1948, the world has witnessed one failed peace plan after another — from the fragile armistice lines of the early wars to the broken promises of Oslo, the cold treaties of Jordan and Egypt, and now the latest so-called “peace agreement” with Hamas. Each attempt has promised security and stability, yet every one has collapsed under the same ancient truth: man cannot make peace without God.Video Version Available immediately upon release at 9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT athttps://rumble.com/v6zzy9u-israels-failed-peace-plans-1948-to-the-coming-true-peace.html?mref=3j2hwn&mc=dxcv1This powerful four-part Revelation Radio special, “Israel's Failed Peace Plans: From 1948 to the Coming True Peace,” walks through the history of every major peace effort — from the War of Independence, the Camp David and Oslo Accords, to the Abraham Accords and today's negotiations — through the clear prophetic lens of Scripture.Hosts JD Williams and David Paxton, both members of the Evangelical Press Association and part of KRRB Revelation Radio locally and nationally, reveal how each failed treaty fulfills ancient prophecy and sets the stage for the final covenant spoken of in Daniel 9:27 — the false peace that will usher in the Tribulation.Through passages from Zechariah, Isaiah, Daniel, 1 Thessalonians, and Revelation, this episode uncovers the prophetic timeline leading to the only lasting peace Israel will ever know: the reign of the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.When the world cries “Peace and safety,” destruction will come suddenly. But when Christ returns, swords will be beaten into plowshares, and Jerusalem will finally rest under the rule of her Messiah.For more information or to support our ministry, visit www.lastchristian.net — home of The Last Christian Radio Show and the global outreach of KRRB Revelation Radio.

Arab and Muslim leaders are on board. Israel says yes. But the Trump-Netanyahu peace deal needs a ‘terrorist death cult’ to lay down its arms. Foreign editor Greg Sheridan charts the way forward. View an edited transcript of this episode, plus photos, videos and additional reporting, on the website or on The Australian’s app. This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Tiffany Dimmack. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Joshua Burton, Stephanie Coombes and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a UN commission concludes that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and international pressure grows with more nations, including the UK, moving toward recognising a Palestinian state, is there any hope for a two-state solution?Can Israel and Palestine ever coexist side by side in peace, or has the violence, mistrust and the events of October the 7th and its aftermath made that dream impossible?In this special extended episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined in Jerusalem by Alan Baker, a former legal adviser to Israel's foreign ministry who helped draft the Oslo Accords, Yariv Oppenheimer, a human rights lawyer, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, the head of Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, and the former managing editor of the Jerusalem Post Tovah Lazaroff. In relation to some of the claims made in the podcast, Israel's Foreign Ministry has categorically rejected the UN commission's report calling it "distorted and false" and Israel has always strenuously denied all claims of genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid in relation to the Palestinian people.

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - It Was Never About Crime feat. Prop - Abundance, Or How To Sell Tech Fascism To Liberals - ICE Partners with Israeli Phone Hacking Spyware - Recognizing Palestine as a State: Meaningful Farce feat. Dana El Kurd - Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #33 You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: It Was Never About Crime feat. Prop https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-025-00534-6#Sec9 https://www.thebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/baltimore-homicides-drop-WTR3QQN7LRGFXOVCGAAMNYMUBE/ https://theconversation.com/data-driven-early-intervention-strategies-could-revolutionize-phillys-approach-to-crime-prevention-258756 https://genius.com/Freeway-what-we-do-lyrics https://www.baltimorepolice.org/about/baltimore-police-crime-plan https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/16/baltimore-violent-crime-trump Abundance, Or How To Sell Tech Fascism To Liberals https://thebaffler.com/latest/whats-the-matter-with-abundance-harris?ref=newintermag.com https://newintermag.com/abundance-big-techs-bid-for-the-democratic-party/#fn16 https://archive.vn/zgPJ8 https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Abundance-Ecosystem-Report-Final.pdf https://www.semafor.com/article/08/17/2025/with-the-argument-the-left-gets-a-new-publication http://www.thinktankwatch.com/2022/01/washingtons-newest-think-tank-institute.html https://www.vcinfodocs.com/venture-capital-extremism https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/who-is-behind-the-growing-abundance-movement/ https://www.vcinfodocs.com/the-tech-fascist-axis https://www.abundancedc.org/speakers https://www.vcinfodocs.com/the-tech-fascist-axis https://archive.vn/GKRmw#selection-377.0-377.19 https://www.theargumentmag.com/about https://prospect.org/economy/2024-11-26-abundance-agenda-neoliberalisms-rebrand/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/dc-attorney-general-inks-first-settlement-realpage-price-fixing-lawsuit-2025-06-02/ https://www.economicliberties.us/press-release/economic-liberties-launches-2025-end-rental-price-fixing-campaign/ https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/ https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-realpage-algorithmic-pricing-scheme-harms-millions-american-renters https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-realpage-algorithmic-pricing-scheme-harms-millions-american-renters https://techfascism.substack.com/p/the-network-state-and-infrastructure ICE Partners with Israeli Phone Hacking Spyware https://ssd.eff.org/ https://citizenlab.ca/2025/03/a-first-look-at-paragons-proliferating-spyware-operations/ https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of-paragons-ios-mercenary-spyware-finds-journalists-targeted/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/trump-immigration-ice-israeli-spyware https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/exclusive-ice-has-reactivated-its https://www.wired.com/story/ice-paragon-solutions-contract/ https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/Mythical-Beasts.pdf https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/paragon https://red-dot.capital/portfolio https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/07/29/paragon-is-an-nso-competitor-and-an-american-funded-israeli-surveillance-startup-that-hacks-encrypted-apps-like-whatsapp-and-signal/ https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14093-prohibition-use-the-united-states-government-commercial-spyware-that https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/eff-statement-ice-use-paragon-solutions-malware Recognizing Palestine as a State: Meaningful Farce feat. Dana El Kurd Noura Erekat and Shahd Hammouri in Jadaliyya - https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/46838 Paul Poast in World Politics Review - https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/palestine-state-recognition-france/ NPR report - https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5485359/france-uk-palestine-state-explainer European Society of International Law on occupation - https://esil-sedi.eu/prolonged-occupation-or-illegal-occupant/#:~:text=The%20occupying%20power%2C%20throughout%20the,consistent%20with%20its%20trustee%20responsibilities. Daniel Kurtzer on the Oslo Accords - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/20/magazine/israel-gaza-oslo-accords.html Hanan Ashrawi on the Oslo Accords - https://www.972mag.com/hanan-ashrawi-oslo-accords/ Polling of Palestinians May 2025 - https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2095%20press%20release%206May2025%20ENGLISH.pdf Dana El Kurd and Pablo Abufom for The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/palestinians-leader-mahmoud-abbas-president Tanja Aalberts on sovereignty - Constructing Sovereignty between Politics and Law - 1st Edition - Tanj Jared Kushner “Peace to Prosperity” plan - trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Peace-to-Prosperity-0120.pdf Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #33 https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/422/873/ https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/customs-and-border-protection-settles-federal-lawsuit-american-citizens-racially https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/l.g.m.l.-v.-noem--a-hearing-diary ttps://qz.com/higher-investment-means-hyundai-could-get-2-1-billion-1850832920 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/10/hyundai-factory-ice-raid-legal-visa https://www.wired.com/story/far-right-reactions-charlie-kirk-shooting-civil-war/ https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/11/us/charlie-kirk-shooting-news https://x.com/mkraju/status/1965108206969241953 https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/1963635111112446449 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-considering-banning-trans-people-buying-guns-us-media-2025-09-04/ https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/politics/transgender-firearms-justice-department-second-amendment https://archive.ph/kI2Uo https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/rfk-jr-hhs-to-link-autism-to-tylenol-use-in-pregnancy-and-folate-deficiencies-e3acbb4c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yok1fhPICAYSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dive into the third episode of AJC's latest limited podcast series, Architects of Peace. Go behind the scenes of the decades-long diplomacy and quiet negotiations that made the Abraham Accords possible, bringing Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Morocco, together in historic peace agreements.  On September 15, 2020, the Abraham Accords were signed at the White House by President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain. In this third installment of AJC's limited series, AJC CEO Ted Deutch and Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson—who stood on the South Lawn that day—share their memories and insights five years later. Together, they reflect on how the Accords proved that peace is achievable when nations share strategic interests, build genuine relationships, and pursue the greater good. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  Read the transcript: https://www.ajc.org/news/podcast/from-the-white-house-lawn-architects-of-peace-episode-3 Resources: AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace - Tune in weekly for new episodes. The Abraham Accords, Explained AJC.org/CNME - Find more on AJC's Center for a New Middle East Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow Architects of Peace on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace You can reach us at: podcasts@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: Ted Deutch: It was a beautiful day and there was this coming together, this recognition that this was such an historic moment. It's the kind of thing, frankly, that I remember having watched previously, when there were peace agreements signed and thinking that's something that I want to be a part of. And there I was looking around right in the middle of all of this, and so excited about where this could lead. Manya Brachear Pashman: In September 2020, the world saw what had been years, decades in the making, landmark peace agreements dubbed the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and two Arabian Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Later, in December, they were joined by the Kingdom of Morocco. Five years later, AJC is pulling back the curtain to meet key individuals who built the trust that led to these breakthroughs. Introducing: the Architects of Peace. Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Accompanied by the Prime Minister of the State of Israel; His Highness the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, and the Minister of the Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain.  Manya Brachear Pashman: The guests of honor framed by the South Portico of the White House were an unlikely threesome. Two Arab foreign ministers and the Prime Minister of Israel, there to sign a pair of peace agreements that would transform the Middle East.  Donald Trump: Thanks to the great courage of the leaders of these three countries, we take a major stride toward a future in which people of all faiths and backgrounds live together in peace and prosperity. There will be other countries very, very soon that will follow these great leaders. Manya Brachear Pashman: President Trump's team had achieved what was long thought impossible. After decades of pretending Israel did not exist until it solved its conflict with the Palestinians, Trump's team discovered that attitudes across the Arab region had shifted and after months of tense negotiations, an agreement had been brokered by a small circle of Washington insiders. On August 13, 2020, the United Arab Emirates agreed to become the first Arab state in a quarter century to normalize relations with Israel. Not since 1994 had Israel established diplomatic relations with an Arab country, when King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a treaty, ending the state of war that had existed between them since Israel's rebirth. A ceremony to celebrate and sign the historic deal was planned for the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020. Before the signing ceremony took place, another nation agreed to sign as well: not too surprisingly the Kingdom of Bahrain.  After all, in June 2019, Bahrain had hosted the Peace to Prosperity summit, a two-day workshop where the Trump administration unveiled the economic portion of its peace plan – a 38-page prospectus that proposed ways for Palestinians and Arab countries to expand economic opportunities in cooperation with Israel.  In addition to Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all participated in the summit. The Palestinians boycotted it, even as Trump's senior advisor Jared Kushner presented plans to help them. Jared Kushner: A lot of these investments people are unwilling to make because people don't want to put good money after bad money. They've seen in the past they've made these investments, they've tried to help out the Palestinian people, then all of a sudden there's some  conflict that breaks out and a lot of this infrastructure gets destroyed. So what we have here is very detailed plans and these are things we can phase in over time assuming there's a real ceasefire, a real peace and there's an opportunity for people to start making these investments. Manya Brachear Pashman: Now Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain would open embassies, exchange ambassadors, and cooperate on tourism, trade, health care, and regional security. The Accords not only permitted Israelis to enter the two Arab nations using their Israeli passports, it opened the door for Muslims to visit historic sites in Israel, pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, and finally satisfy their curiosity about the Jewish state. Before signing the accords, each leader delivered remarks. Here's Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani: For too long, the Middle East has been set back by conflict and mistrust, causing untold destruction and thwarting the potential of generations of our best and brightest young people. Now, I'm convinced, we have the opportunity to change that. Manya Brachear Pashman: UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan echoed that sentiment and also addressed accusations by Palestinian leadership that the countries had abandoned them. He made it clear that the accords bolstered the Emirates' support for the Palestinian people and their pursuit of an independent state. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan:  [speaking in Arabic] Manya Brachear Pashman: [translating Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan] This new vision, he said, which is beginning to take shape as we meet today for the future of the region, full of youthful energy, is not a slogan that we raise for political gain as everyone looks forward to creating a more stable, prosperous, and secure future. This accord will enable us to continue to stand by the Palestinian people and realize their hopes for an independent state within a stable and prosperous region. Manya Brachear Pashman: The Truman Balcony, named for the first American president to recognize Israel's independence, served as the backdrop for a few iconic photographs. The officials then made their way down the stairs and took their seats at the table where they each signed three copies of the Abraham Accords in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. The brief ceremony combined formality and levity as the leaders helped translate for each other so someone didn't sign on the wrong dotted line. After that was settled, they turned the signed documents around to show the audience. When they all rose from their seats, Prime Minister Netanyahu paused. After the others put their portfolios down, he stood displaying his for a little while longer, taking a few more seconds to hold on to the magnitude of the moment. Benjamin Netanyahu: To all of Israel's friends in the Middle East, those who are with us today and those who will join us tomorrow, I say, ‘As-salamu alaykum. Peace unto thee. Shalom.' And you have heard from the president that he is already lining up more and more countries. This is unimaginable a few years ago, but with resolve, determination, a fresh look at the way peace is done . . . The blessings of the peace we make today will be enormous, first, because this peace will eventually expand to include other Arab states, and ultimately, it can end the Arab Israeli conflict once and for all. [clapping] [Red alert sirens] Manya Brachear Pashman: But peace in Israel was and still is a distant reality as Palestinian leadership did not participate in the Accords, and, in fact, viewed it as a betrayal. As Netanyahu concluded his speech to the audience on the White House Lawn, thousands of miles away, Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 15 rockets fired by terrorists in Gaza, at least one striking Israel's coastal city of Ashdod. Iran's regime condemned the agreement. But across most of the region and around the world, the revelation that decades of hostility could be set aside to try something new – a genuine pursuit of peace – inspired hope. Saudi journalists wrote op-eds in support of the UAE and Bahrain. Egypt and Oman praised the Abraham Accords for adding stability to the region. Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain commended the monumental step. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the deal for paving the way toward a two-state solution. AJC's Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson was one of more than 200 domestic and foreign officials on the White House Lawn that day taking it all in. The guest list included members of Congress, embassy staff, religious leaders, and people like himself who worked behind the scenes – a cross section of people who had been part of a long history of relationship building and peacemaking in the Middle East for many years. Jason Isaacson: To see what was happening then this meeting of neighbors who could be friends. To see the warmth evident on that stage at the South Lawn of the White House, and then the conversations that were taking place in this vast assembly on the South Lawn. Converging at that moment to mark the beginning of a development of a new Middle East. It was an exciting moment for me and for AJC and one that not only will I never forget but one that I am looking forward to reliving. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason, of course, is talking about his confidence in the expansion of the Abraham Accords. Through his position at AJC he has attended several White House events marking milestones in the peace process. He had been seated on the South Lawn of the White House 27 years earlier to watch a similar scene unfold -- when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat met to sign the Oslo Accords with President Bill Clinton. Yitzhak Rabin: What we are doing today is more than signing an agreement. It is a revolution. Yesterday, a dream. Today, a commitment. The Israeli and the Palestinian peoples who fought each other for almost a century have agreed to move decisively on the path of dialogue, understanding, and cooperation. Manya Brachear Pashman: Brokered secretly by Norway, the Oslo Accords established mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which claimed to represent the Palestinian people. It also led to the creation of a Palestinian Authority for interim self-government and a phased Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank and Gaza.  Jason Isaacson: I mean, 1993 was a tremendous breakthrough, and it was a breakthrough between the State of Israel and an organization that had been created to destroy Israel. And so it was a huge breakthrough to see the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree to a process that would revolutionize that relationship, normalize that relationship, and set aside a very ugly history and chart a new path that was historic. Manya Brachear Pashman: While the Oslo Accords moved the Israelis and Palestinians toward a resolution, progress came to a halt two years later with the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. In July 2000, President Clinton brought Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Camp David to continue discussions, but they could not agree.  In his autobiography, “My Life,” President Clinton wrote that Arafat walked away from a Palestinian state, a mistake that Clinton took personally. When Arafat called him a great man, Clinton responded “I am not a great man. I am a failure, and you made me one." Arafat's decision also would prove fatal for both Israelis and Palestinians. By September, the Second Intifada – five years of violence, terror attacks, and suicide bombings – derailed any efforts toward peace. Jason says the Abraham Accords have more staying power than the Oslo Accords. That's clear five years later, especially after the October 7 Hamas terror attacks sparked a prolonged war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Two years into the war, the Abraham Accords have held. But Jason recalls feeling optimistic, even as he sat there again on the South Lawn. Jason Isaacson: It's a different kind of historic moment, maybe a little less breathtaking in the idea of two fierce antagonists, sort of laying down their arms and shaking hands uneasily, but shaking hands. Uneasily, but shaking hands. All those years later, in 2020, you had a state of Israel that had no history of conflict with the UAE or Bahrain. Countries with, with real economies, with real investment potential, with wise and well-advised leaders who would be in a position to implement plans that were being put together in the summer and fall of 2020. The Oslo Accords, you know, didn't provide that kind of built in infrastructure to advance peace. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason pointed out that the only source of conflict among the signatories on the Abraham Accords was actually a point of mutual agreement – a frustration and desire to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians. UAE and Bahrain were part of the League of Arab States that had sworn in 2002 not to advance relations with Israel in the absence of a two-state solution.  But 18 years later, that had gone nowhere and leaders recognized that perhaps it would be more beneficial to the Palestinian cause if they at least engaged with Israel. Jason Isaacson: I had no fear, sitting in a folding chair on the White House Lawn on September 15, that this was going to evaporate. This seemed to be a natural progression. The region is increasingly sophisticated and increasingly plugged into the world, and recognizing that they have a lot of catching up to do to advance the welfare of their people. And that that catching up is going to require integrating with a very advanced country in their region that they have shunned for too long. This is a recognition that I am hearing across the region, not always spoken in those words, but it's clear that it will be of benefit to the region, to have Israel as a partner, rather than an isolated island that somehow is not a part of that region. Donald Trump: I want to thank all of the members of Congress for being here … Manya Brachear Pashman: AJC CEO Ted Deutch also was at the White House that day, not as AJC CEO but as a Congressman who served on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and chaired its Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism. Ted Deutch: It was a beautiful day and there was this coming together, this recognition that this was such an historic moment and it's exactly the kind of thing, frankly, that  I remember having watched previously, when there were peace agreements signed and thinking that's something that I want to be a part of. And there I was looking around right in the middle of all of this, and so excited about where this could lead. Manya Brachear Pashman: Despite his congressional role, Ted learned about the deal along with the rest of the world when it was initially announced a month before the ceremony, though he did get a tip that something was in the pipeline that would change the course of the committee's work. Ted Deutch: I found out when I got a phone call from the Trump administration, someone who was a senior official who told me that there is big news that's coming, that the Middle East is never going to look the same, and that he couldn't share any other information. And we, of course, went into wild speculation mode about what that could be. And the Abraham Accords was the announcement, and it was as dramatic as he suggested. Manya Brachear Pashman: It was a small glimmer of light during an otherwise dark time. Remember, this was the summer and early fall of 2020. The COVID pandemic, for the most part, had shut down the world. People were not attending meetings, conferences, or parties. Even members of Congress were avoiding Capitol Hill and casting their votes from home. Ted Deutch: It was hard to make great strides in anything in the diplomatic field, because there weren't the kind of personal interactions taking place on a regular basis. It didn't have the atmosphere that was conducive to meaningful, deep, ongoing conversations about the future of the world. And that's really what this was about, and that's what was missing. And so here was this huge news that for the rest of the world, felt like it was out of the blue, that set in motion a whole series of steps in Congress about the way that our committee, the way we approach the region. That we could finally start talking about regional cooperation in ways that we couldn't before. Manya Brachear Pashman: The timing was especially auspicious as it boosted interest in a particular piece of legislation that had been in the works for a decade: the bipartisan Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act. Approved by Congress in December 2020, around the same time Morocco joined the Abraham Accords, the law allocated up to $250 million over five years for programs advancing peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians and supporting a sustainable two-state solution. Passed as part of a larger appropriations bill, it was the largest investment of any single country in Israeli-Palestinian civil society initiatives. Ted Deutch: Here we were having this conversation about increasing trade and increasing tourism and the countries working more closely together and being able to freely fly back and forth on a regular basis – something that we've seen as the tourism numbers have taken off. The trade has taken off. So it really changed what we do. Manya Brachear Pashman: The other thing Ted recalls about that day on the White House lawn was the bipartisan spirit in the air. Although his own committee didn't tend to divide along party lines, Congress had become quite polarized and partisan on just about everything else. On that day, just as there was no animus between Israelis and Arabs, there was none between Republicans and Democrats either. And Ted believes that's the way it always should be. Ted Deutch: It was a bipartisan stellium of support, because this was a really important moment for the region and for the world, and it's exactly the kind of moment where we should look for ways to work together. This issue had to do with the Middle East, but it was driven out of Washington. There's no doubt about that. It was driven out of the out of the Trump administration and the White House and that was, I think, a reminder of the kind of things that can happen in Washington, and that we need to always look for those opportunities and when any administration does the right thing, then they need to be given credit for it, whether elected officials are on the same side of the aisle or not. We were there as people who were committed to building a more peaceful and prosperous region, with all of the countries in the region, recognizing the contributions that Israel makes and can make as the region has expanded, and then thinking about all of the chances that we would have in the years ahead to build upon this in really positive ways. Manya Brachear Pashman: On that warm September day, it felt as if the Abraham Accords not only had the potential to heal a rift in the Middle East but also teach us some lessons here at home. Even if it was impossible to resolve every disagreement, the Abraham Accords proved that progress and peace are possible when there are shared strategic interests, relationships, and a shared concern for the greater good.   Ted Deutch: I hope that as we celebrate this 5th anniversary, that in this instance we allow ourselves to do just that. I mean, this is a celebratory moment, and I hope that we can leave politics out of this. And I hope that we're able to just spend a moment thinking about what's been achieved during these five years, and how much all of us, by working together, will be able to achieve, not just for Israel, but for the region, in the best interest of the United States and in so doing, ultimately, for the world. That's what this moment offers. Manya Brachear Pashman: In the next episode, we meet Israelis and Arabs who embraced the spirit of the Abraham Accords and seized unprecedented opportunities to collaborate. Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jason Isaacson, Sean Savage, and the entire AJC team for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to Architects of Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at podcasts@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us.

When Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat met in Washington to sign the first Oslo Accords in 1993, it was supposed to usher in a new era of peace and lay the groundwork for a more stable Middle East. Three decades later, the Accords are primarily remembered as a failure. Nahlah Ayed and guests discuss what went wrong, and what lessons the Oslo Accords hold for the future.

Tune into the second episode of AJC's newest limited podcast series, Architects of Peace. Go behind the scenes of the decades-long diplomacy and quiet negotiations that made the Abraham Accords possible, bringing Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Morocco, together in historic peace agreements.  Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, U.S. Army General Miguel Correa, and AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson unpack the first Trump administration's Middle East strategy, share behind-the-scenes efforts to engage key regional players, and reveal what unfolded inside the White House in the crucial weeks before the Abraham Accords signing. Full transcript: https://www.ajc.org/news/podcast/behind-the-breakthrough-architects-of-peace-episode-2 Resources: AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace - Tune in weekly for new episodes. AJC.org/AbrahamAccords - The Abraham Accords, Explained AJC.org/CNME - Find more on AJC's Center for a New Middle East Listen – AJC Podcasts: AJC.org/ForgottenExodus AJC.org/PeopleofthePod Follow Architects of Peace on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace You can reach us at: podcasts@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: Donald Trump: I think we're going to make a deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand. Manya Brachear Pashman: In September 2020, the world saw what had been years – decades – in the making: landmark peace agreements dubbed the Abraham Accords -- normalizing relations between Israel and two Arabian Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Later, in December, they were joined by the Kingdom of Morocco. Five years later, AJC is pulling back the curtain to meet key individuals who built the trust that led to these breakthroughs. Introducing: the Architects of Peace. Shortly after he was elected in 2016 and before he took office, President Donald Trump nominated his company's former bankruptcy attorney David Friedman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. He gave Friedman two simple tasks.  Task No. 1? Build peace across the Middle East by normalizing relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Task No. 2? Solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict that a half dozen previous White House residents had failed to fix.  After all, according to conventional wisdom, the first task could not happen before the second. The future of cooperation between Israel and 20-plus other Arab countries hinged on peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.  Here's former Secretary of State John Kerry. John Kerry: There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace. Everybody needs to understand that. Manya Brachear Pashman: Ambassador Friedman disagreed with this conventional wisdom. David Friedman: We were told initially by most countries that the road to peace began with the Palestinians. This was a hypothesis that I rejected internally, but I thought: ‘OK, well, let's just play this out and see where this can go. And so, we spent a couple of years really working on what could be a plan that would work for Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians, you know, rejected discussions early on, but we had a lot of discussions with the Israelis. Manya Brachear Pashman: The son of a rabbi who grew up in Long Island, Ambassador Friedman had been active in pro-Israel organizations for decades, He had advised Trump on the importance of the U.S.-Israel bond during the 2016 presidential election and recommended nothing less than a radical overhaul of White House policy in the region. Not long after his Senate confirmation as ambassador, that overhaul commenced. In February 2017, President Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House – his first invitation to a foreign leader —  and a symbolic one. After their meeting, they held a joint press conference. Donald Trump: With this visit, the United States again reaffirms our unbreakable bond with our cherished ally Israel. The partnership between our two countries, built on our shared values. I think we're going to make a deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand. That's a possibility. So, let's see what we do.  He doesn't sound too optimistic. But he's a good negotiator. Benjamin Netanyahu: That's the art of the deal. Manya Brachear Pashman: Nine months later, President Trump made another symbolic gesture -- recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital city and moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Though such a move had been approved by Congress in 1995, no president had ever acted upon it. When Trump's son-in-law, businessman, and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner opened conversations about that ‘bigger and better deal,' Palestinians refused to participate, using the pretext of the Jerusalem decision to boycott the Trump administration. But that didn't stop Ambassador Friedman and others from engaging, not only with Israel, but with Arab countries about a new path forward. AJC's Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson, who has been building bridges in the region since the early ‘90s, recalls this strategy at the time. Jason Isaacson: It was very clear for many months, 2019 on into early 2020, that there was a team working under Jared Kushner in the White House that was going from country to country in the Gulf and North Africa, looking to make a deal, looking to make deals that would lead to normalization with Israel, would involve various benefits that the United States would be able to provide. But of course, the big benefit would be regional integration and a closer relationship with the United States. Manya Brachear Pashman: The pitch for a new path forward resonated in the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf country of 10 million residents, some 11% of whom are Emiratis — the rest expats and migrants from around the world. The UAE had designated 2019 the Year of Tolerance, an initiative aimed at promoting the country as a global capital for tolerance and respect between diverse cultures and nationalities. That year, the Emirates hosted a historic visit from Pope Francis, and 27 Israeli athletes competed in the 2019 Special Olympics World Games held in the capital city of Abu Dhabi.  The pitch also resonated in Bahrain. In June of that year, during a two-day workshop in Bahrain's capital city of Manama, the Trump administration began rolling out the results of its Middle East tour – the economic portion of its peace plan, titled "Peace to Prosperity." Jason Isaacson: The White House plan for Peace to Prosperity was a kind of an early set of ideas for Israeli Palestinian resolution that would result in a small, but functional Palestinian state, created in a way that would not require the displacement of Israelis in the West Bank, and that would involve large scale investment, mostly provided by other countries, mostly in the Gulf, but not only, also Europe, to advance the Palestinian economy, to integrate the Palestinian and Israelis' economies in a way that had never happened. And there was discussion that was taking place that all led up to the idea of a very fresh approach, a very new approach to the regional conflict. Manya Brachear Pashman: The 38-page prospectus set ambitious goals — turning the West Bank and Gaza into tourism destinations, doubling the amount of drinkable water there, tripling exports, earmarking $900 million to build hospitals and clinics. The Palestinians, angered by Trump's recognition of Jerusalem and viewing the Manama workshop as an attempt to normalize Arab-Israel ties while sidelining their national rights, boycotted the meeting and rejected the plan before ever seeing its details.  But the workshop's host Bahrain, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates participated, to varying degrees. Trump's team rolled out the rest of the plan in January 2020, including a map of land carved out for Palestinians and for Israel. The plan enabled Palestinians and Arab countries to expand economic opportunities. It enabled Israel to demonstrate that it was open to cooperation. It enabled the Trump administration to illustrate the opportunities missed if countries in the region continued to let Palestinian leadership call the shots. David Friedman: The expectation was not that the Palestinians would jump all over it. We were realistic about the possibility, but we did think it was important to show that Israel itself, under some circumstances, was willing to engage with the Palestinians with regard to a formula for peace that, you know, had an economic component, a geographic component, a governance component.  Manya Brachear Pashman: The Palestine Liberation Organization accused the United States of trying to sell a "mirage of economic prosperity.” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh criticized the Arab leaders attending the al-Manama conference, saying "The (Palestinian) people, who have been fighting for 100 years, did not commission anyone to concede or to bargain.” But that's the thing. Arab leaders weren't there solely on behalf of the Palestinians. They wanted to learn how their own countries' citizens could enjoy peace and prosperity too. David Friedman: The real point of all this that got the Abraham Accords jump started was not the fact that the Palestinians embraced this, but more so that they rejected it in such a way that enabled these other countries to say: ‘Look, guys, you know what? We can't be more pro-Palestinian than you.' Here you have, you know, the U.S. government putting on a table a proposal that gets you more than halfway there in terms of your stated goals and aspirations. Maybe you don't like all of it, that's fine, but you're never going to get everything you wanted anyway. And here's the first government in history that's willing to give you something tangible to talk about, and if you're not going to engage in something that they spent years working on, talking to everybody, trying to thread the needle as best they could. If you're not willing to talk to them about it, then don't ask us to fight your fight. There's only so far we can go. But we thought that putting this plan out on a table publicly would kind of smoke out a lot of positions that had historically been below the surface. And so, beginning right after the 28th of January of 2020 when we had that ceremony with the President's vision for peace, we began to really get serious engagement. Not from the Palestinians, who rejected it immediately, but from the countries in the region. And so that's how the Abraham Accords discussions really began in earnest. Manya Brachear Pashman: AJC had been saying for years that if Arab leaders truly wanted to foster stability in the region and help the Palestinians, engaging with Israel and opening channels of communication would give them the leverage to do so. Isolating Israel was not the answer. Nothing underscored that more than the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst global health crisis in a century. As everyone around the world donned N95 masks and went into self-imposed isolation, some governments in the Middle East concluded that isolating innovative countries like Israel was perhaps not the wisest or safest choice.  In May 2020, UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said as much during a virtual webinar hosted by AJC. Lana Nusseibeh: Of course, we've had Israeli medics participate in previous events in the UAE, that wouldn't be unusual. And I'm sure there's a lot of scope for collaboration. I don't think we would be opposed to it. Because I really think this public health space should be an unpoliticized space where we all try and pool our collective knowledge of this virus. Manya Brachear Pashman: A month later, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash echoed that sentiment, during AJC Global Forum. Anwar Gargash: I think we can come to a point where we come to a given Israeli government and we say we disagree with you on this, we don't think it's a good idea. But at the same time there are areas, such as COVID, technology, and other things that we can actually work on together. Manya Brachear Pashman: Not surprisingly, the UAE was the first Arab country to begin negotiating with the White House to normalize relations with Israel. However, talks that summer hit a stalemate. Israel was moving forward with a plan to annex a significant portion of the West Bank, including Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley. Even though President Trump himself had cautioned Prime Minister Netanyahu to hold off, Ambassador Friedman was not about to stop them.  David Friedman: I thought that the idea of Israel walking away from its biblical heartland. Anything that required Israel to make that commitment was something I couldn't support. I was so dead set against it. Israel cannot, as a price for normalization, as great as it is, as important as it is, Israel cannot agree to cede its biblical heartland. Manya Brachear Pashman: Not only was this personal for Ambassador Friedman, it was also a major incentive for Israel, included in the Peace to Prosperity plan. The ambassador didn't want to go back on his word and lose Israel's trust.  But annexation was a dealbreaker for the Emirates. In June, UAE's Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba wrote a column speaking directly to the Israeli public. He explained that the UAE wanted diplomatic relations with Israel – it really did – but unilateral annexation of land that it considered still in dispute would be viewed as a breach of trust and undermine any and all progress toward normalization.  David Friedman: It was a kind of a tumultuous period, both internally within our own team and with others, about what exactly was going to happen as a result of that Peace to Prosperity Plan. And even if there was an agreement by the United States to support Israeli annexation, was this something that was better, at least in the short term? Manya Brachear Pashman: Otaiba's message got through, and the team ultimately agreed to suspend the annexation plan — not halt, but suspend — an intentionally temporary verb.  In addition to writing the column, Otaiba also recommended that a friend join the negotiations to help repair the trust deficit: General Miguel Correa, a U.S. Army General who had spent part of his childhood in the Middle East, served in the Persian Gulf War and as a peacekeeper maintaining the treaty between Israel and Egypt. General Correa had joined the National Security Council in March 2020 after serving as a defense attaché in Abu Dhabi. He had earned the respect of Emiratis, not as a dealmaker so much as a lifesaver, once orchestrating a secret rescue mission of wounded Emirati troops from inside Yemen. Among those troops, the nephew and son-in-law of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, the then-de facto ruler and now the current president of the UAE. Kushner and Friedman had never met Correa.  Miguel Correa: I didn't know them, and they didn't know me. No one else had any military experience on the team. I had a unique perspective of the Arab side of the equation.  And had relationships. So, it was a match made in heaven.  Jared, David Friedman, these guys obviously understood Israeli politics and understood the Israeli side, and somewhat Jewish American side. I could provide a different dynamic or a different view from the Arab side, as someone who's kind of grown up with this. It really got serious when the team came together and, and we could start working on real, concrete things. Manya Brachear Pashman: Months of negotiations had already unfolded. It was already late July, first of August, when General Correa became the last person to join the tiny circle of a half dozen negotiators – kept intentionally small to keep a lid on the conversations. It's hard to keep a secret in Washington. David Friedman: The secrecy here was very, very important, because to be honest with you, I think anything bigger than that group of six or seven, we would have put it in jeopardy. Manya Brachear Pashman: In this situation, leaks not only threatened the deal, they could threaten lives. Though word trickled out that a deal was in the works, no one guessed just how transformational the result might be. In General Correa's opinion, the UAE had the most to lose. Miguel Correa: That was the concern that, frankly, guys like me had, that, I hurt a nation of good people that is incredibly tolerant, that builds synagogues and churches and Sikh temples, or Hindu temples, and tolerance 101, that everybody can pray to who they would like to pray to.  And I was worried that all these extremists were going to come out of the woodwork and hurt that trajectory in the UAE, that was going to be a great nation with or without the normalization. But this ruler said: ‘No, no, it's the right thing to do. Peace is the right thing to do.' Manya Brachear Pashman: General Correa actually had quite a few concerns. He didn't want the negotiations to be hijacked for political gain. He wanted leaders to have a security and public relations response in place before anything was announced. And the agreement? It lacked a name. Miguel Correa: A lot of it has to do with my military side. We love to name cool task forces, and things like that. And then I felt like: ‘Hey, it has to be something that rolls off the tongue, that makes sense and that will help it, you know, with staying power. Let's do something that ties the people together. There was going to be a shock, a tectonic shock that was going to occur. From 1948, we're going to do a complete 180, and wow. So what do we do to take the wind away from the extremists? As a guy who's fought extremism, militant extremism, for most of his military career, I figured, hey, we've got to do what we can to frame this in a super positive manner. Manya Brachear Pashman: To the general's dismay, no one else shared his concern about what to call their project. A lot was happening in those last few weeks. Landing on a name – not a priority. On the morning of August 13, once all the details were hammered out, the team sat in the Oval Office waiting to brief the President before it was announced to the world. David Friedman: It came about 10 minutes before the end, we were all sitting around the Oval Office, waiting for this announcement about the UAE. And somebody, not me, said: ‘Well, we need a name for this,' and I said, why? And they said, ‘Well, you know, you have the Oslo Accords, you have the Camp David Accords. You need a name.' And I said, you know, Who's got an idea? And General Miguel Correa, he said: ‘How about the Abraham Accords?' And I said: ‘That's a great name.' And then we had a rush to call the Israelis and the Emiratis to make sure they were OK with it.  Five minutes later we're broadcasting to a few hundred million people this groundbreaking announcement. And the President looks at me and says, ‘David, explain why you chose the Abraham Accords?' So that was when we explained what the name was, which I hadn't really thought of until that point. We just thought it was a good name.  So at that point I said, ‘Well, you know, Abraham was the father of three great religions. He's referred to as Abraham in English, and Ibrahim in Arabic, and Avraham in Hebrew. And no single individual better exemplifies the opportunity and the benefits of unity among all peoples than Abraham.' And that was sort of on the fly how we got to the Abraham Accords. Manya Brachear Pashman: General Correa said he chose a name that would remind people of all faiths that what they have in common far outweighs what separates them. It was also important that the name be plural. Not the Abraham Accord. The Abraham Accords.  Even if only one country – the UAE – was signing on at that moment, there would be more to come. Indeed, Bahrain came on board within a month. Morocco joined in December.  Miguel Correa: I felt in my heart that this has to be more than one. As a guy that's been affected by this extremism and it allowed this, this craziness and that people decide who can get to know who and and I felt like, No, we can't allow this to be a one-shot deal. We have to prove that this is an avalanche. This could be sustained, and this is the way it should be. Everyone has to come into this one way or another. And it's not, by the way, saying that, hey, we're all going to walk lockstep with Israel. That's not the point. The point is that you have a conversation, the leaders can pick up the phone and have that conversation. So it has to be, has to be plural. By the way, this is the way that it was. This isn't new. This isn't like a crazy new concept. This is the way it was. It's not an introduction of Jews in this region, in society. This is a reintroduction. This is the way it's supposed to be. This is what's happened for thousands of years. So why are we allowing people to take us back, you know, thousands of years? Let's go back to the way things should be, and develop these relationships. It makes us all better. Manya Brachear Pashman: Next episode, we step out from behind the scenes and on to the South Lawn of the White House where leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Israel and the U.S. signed the Abraham Accords, while the world watched in awe. Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jason Isaacson, Sean Savage, and the entire AJC team for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to Architects of Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at podcasts@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us. Music Credits: Middle East : ID: 279780040; Composer: Eric Sutherland Frontiers: ID: 183925100; Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI); Composer: Pete Checkley (BMI) Meditative: ID: 115666358; Composer: DANIELYAN ASHOT MAKICHEVICH (IPI NAME #00855552512), UNITED STATES BMI Arabian: Item ID: 214336423; Composer: MusicForVideos Arabian Strings: ID: 72249988; Publisher: EITAN EPSTEIN; Composer: EITAN EPSTEIN Desert: Item ID: 220137401; Publisher: BFCMUSIC PROD.; Composer: Andrei Marchanka Middle East Violin: ID: 277189507; Composer: Andy Warner Arabic Ambient: ID: 186923328; Publisher: Victor Romanov; Composer: Victor Romanov Oriental: Item ID: 190860465; Publisher: Victor Romanov; Composer: Victor Romanov Mystical Middle East: ID: 212471911; Composer: Vicher    

Listen to the first episode of AJC's new limited podcast series, Architects of Peace. Go behind the scenes of the decades-long diplomacy and quiet negotiations that made the Abraham Accords possible, bringing Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Morocco, together in historic peace agreements.   Jason Isaacson, AJC Chief of Policy and Political Affairs, explains the complex Middle East landscape before the Accords and how behind-the-scenes efforts helped foster the dialogue that continues to shape the region today. Resources: Episode Transcript AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace - Tune in weekly for new episodes. The Abraham Accords, Explained AJC.org/CNME - Find more on AJC's Center for a New Middle East Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow Architects of Peace on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace You can reach us at: podcasts@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: Jason Isaacson: It has become clear to me in my travels in the region over the decades that more and more people across the Arab world understood the game, and they knew that this false narrative – that Jews are not legitimately there, and that somehow we have to focus all of our energy in the Arab world on combating this evil interloper – it's nonsense. And it's becoming increasingly clear that, in fact, Israel can be a partner. Manya Brachear Pashman: In September 2020, the world saw what had been years – decades – in the making: landmark peace agreements dubbed the Abraham Accords -- normalizing relations between Israel and two Arabian Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain.  Later in December, they were joined by the Kingdom of Morocco. Five years later, AJC is pulling back the curtain to meet key individuals who built the trust that led to these breakthroughs. Introducing: the Architects of Peace. Manya Brachear Pashman: On the eve of the signing of the Abraham Accords, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson found himself traveling to the end of a tree filled winding road in McLean, Virginia, to sip tea on the back terrace with Bahraini Ambassador Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. Jason Isaacson: Sitting in the backyard of the Bahraini ambassador's house with Dr. Al Zayani, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain and with Shaikh Abdulla, the ambassador, and hearing what was about to happen the next day on the South Lawn of the White House was a thrilling moment. And really, in many ways, just a validation of the work that AJC has been doing for many years–before I came to the organization, and the time that I've spent with AJC since the early 90s.  This possibility of Israel's true integration in the region, Israel's cooperation and peace with its neighbors, with all of its neighbors – this was clearly the threshold that we were standing on. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you're wondering how Jason ended up sipping tea in such esteemed company the night before his hosts made history, wonder no more. Here's the story. Yitzchak Shamir: The people of Israel look to this palace with great anticipation and expectation. We pray that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Middle East; that it will signal the end of hostility, violence, terror, and war; that it will bring dialogue, accommodation, co-existence, and above all, peace. Manya Brachear Pashman: That was Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir speaking in October 1991 at the historic Madrid Peace Conference -- the first time Israel and Arab delegations engaged in direct talks toward peace. It had taken 43 years to reach this point – 43 years since the historic United Nations Resolution that created separate Jewish and Arab states – a resolution Jewish leaders accepted, but Arab states scorned. Not even 24 hours after Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria attacked the new Jewish state, which fought back mightily and expanded its territory. The result? A deep-seated distrust among Israel, its neighboring nations, and some of the Arab residents living within Israel's newly formed borders. Though many Palestinian Arabs stayed, comprising over 20 percent of Israel's population today, hundreds of thousands of others left or were displaced. Meanwhile, in reaction to the rebirth of the Jewish state, and over the following two decades, Jewish communities long established in Arab states faced hardship and attacks, forcing Jews by the hundreds of thousands to flee. Israel's War of Independence set off a series of wars with neighboring nations, terrorist attacks, and massacres. Peace in the region saw more than a few false starts, with one rare exception.  In 1979, after the historic visit to Israel by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, he and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin joined President Jimmy Carter for negotiations at Camp David and signed a peace treaty that for the next 15 years, remained the only formal agreement between Israel and an Arab state. In fact, it was denounced uniformly across the Arab world.  But 1991 introduced dramatic geopolitical shifts. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which had severed relations with Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967, diminished its ability to back Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In the USSR's final months, it re-established diplomatic relations with Israel but left behind a regional power vacuum that extremists started to fill. Meanwhile, most Arab states, including Syria, joined the successful U.S.-led coalition against Saddam Hussein that liberated Kuwait, solidifying American supremacy in the region and around the world. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which claimed to represent the world's Palestinians, supported Iraq and Libya.  Seizing an opportunity, the U.S. and the enfeebled but still relevant Soviet Union invited to Madrid a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, along with delegations from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Israel. Just four months before that Madrid meeting, Jason Isaacson had left his job on Capitol Hill to work for the American Jewish Committee. At that time, AJC published a magazine titled Commentary, enabling Jason to travel to the historic summit with media credentials and hang out with the press pool. Jason Isaacson: It was very clear in just normal conversations with these young Arab journalists who I was spending some time with, that there was the possibility of an openness that I had not realized existed. There was a possibility of kind of a sense of common concerns about the region, that was kind of refreshing and was sort of running counter to the narratives that have dominated conversations in that part of the world for so long.  And it gave me the sense that by expanding the circle of relationships that I was just starting with in Madrid, we might be able to make some progress. We might be able to find some partners with whom AJC could develop a real relationship. Manya Brachear Pashman: AJC had already begun to build ties in the region in the 1950s, visiting Arab countries like Morocco and Tunisia, which had sizable Jewish populations. The rise in Arab nationalism in Tunisia and rebirth of Israel eventually led to an exodus that depleted the Jewish community there. Emigration depleted Morocco's Jewish community as well.  Jason Isaacson: To say that somehow this is not the native land of the Jewish people is just flying in the face of the reality. And yet, that was the propaganda line that was pushed out across the region. Of course, Madrid opened a lot of people's eyes. But that wasn't enough. More had to be done. There were very serious efforts made by the U.S. government, Israeli diplomats, Israeli businesspeople, and my organization, which played a very active role in trying to introduce people to the reality that they would benefit from this relationship with Israel.  So it was pushing back against decades of propaganda and lies. And that was one of the roles that we assigned to ourselves and have continued to play. Manya Brachear Pashman: No real negotiations took place at the Madrid Conference, rather it opened conversations that unfolded in Moscow, in Washington, and behind closed doors in secret locations around the world. Progress quickened under Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In addition to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, reached in 1994, secret talks in Norway between Israel and PLO resulted in the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements signed in 1993 and 1995 that ended the First Intifada after six years of violence, and laid out a five-year timeline for achieving a two-state solution. Extremists tried to derail the process. A Jewish extremist assassinated Rabin in 1995. And a new terror group  launched a series of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Formed during the First Intifada, these terrorists became stars of the Second. They called themselves Hamas. AP News Report: [sirens] [in Hebrew] Don't linger, don't linger. Manya Brachear Pashman: On March 27, 2002, Hamas sent a suicide bomber into an Israeli hotel where 250 guests had just been seated for a Passover Seder. He killed 30 people and injured 140 more. The day after the deadliest suicide attack in Israel's history, the Arab League, a coalition of 22 Arab nations in the Middle East and Africa, unveiled what it called the Arab Peace Initiative – a road map offering wide scale normalization of relations with Israel, but with an ultimatum: No expansion of Arab-Israeli relations until the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 armistice lines and a so-called right of return for Palestinians who left and their descendants.   As the Second Intifada continued to take civilian lives, the Israeli army soon launched Operation Defensive Shield to secure the West Bank and parts of Gaza. It was a period of high tension, conflict, and distrust. But behind the scenes, Jason and AJC were forging ahead, building bridges, and encountering an openness in Arab capitals that belied the ultimatum.  Jason Isaacson: It has become clear to me in my travels in the region over the decades that more and more people across the Arab world understood the game, and they knew that that this false narrative that Jews are not legitimately there, and that somehow we have to focus all of our energy in the Arab world on combating this evil interloper – it's nonsense. And it's becoming increasingly clear that, in fact, Israel can be a partner of Arab countries. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason led delegations of Jewish leaders to Arab capitals, oversaw visits by Arab leaders to Israel, and cultivated relationships of strategic and political consequence with governments and civil society leaders across North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. In 2009, King Mohammed VI of Morocco bestowed on him the honor of Chevalier of the Order of the Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco. Jason's priority was nurturing one key element missing from Arab-Israeli relations. An element that for decades had been absent in most Middle East peace negotiations: trust.   Jason Isaacson: Nothing is more important than developing trust. Trust and goodwill are, if not synonymous, are so closely linked. Yes, a lot of these discussions that AJC's been engaged in over many years have been all about, not only developing a set of contacts we can turn to when there's a crisis or when we need answers to questions or when we need to pass a message along to a government. But also, develop a sense that we all want the same thing and we trust each other. That if someone is prepared to take certain risks to advance the prospect of peace, which will involve risk, which will involve vulnerability. That a neighbor who might have demonstrated in not-so-distant past animosity and hostility toward Israel can be trusted to take a different course. Manya Brachear Pashman: A number of Israeli diplomats and businesspeople also worked toward that goal. While certain diplomatic channels in the intelligence and security spheres stayed open out of necessity – other diplomats and businesspeople with dual citizenship traveled across the region, quietly breaking down barriers, starting conversations, and building trust.  Jason Isaacson: I would run into people in Arab capitals from time to time, who were fulfilling that function, and traveling with different passports that they had legitimately, because they were from those countries. It was just a handful of people in governments that would necessarily know that they were there. So yes, if that sounds like cloak and dagger, it's kind of a cloak and dagger operation, a way for people to maintain a relationship and build a relationship until the society is ready to accept the reality that it will be in their country's best interest to have that relationship. Manya Brachear Pashman: Privately, behind the scenes, signs emerged that some Arab leaders understood the role that Jews have played in the region's history for millennia and the possibilities that would exist if Muslims and Jews could restore some of the faith and friendship of bygone years.  Jason Isaacson: I remember sitting with King Mohammed the VI of Morocco just weeks after his ascension to the throne, so going back more than a quarter century, and hearing him talk with me and AJC colleagues about the 600,000 subjects that he had in Israel. Of course, these were Jews, Israelis of Moroccan descent, who are in the hundreds of thousands. But the sense that these countries really have a common history. Manya Brachear Pashman: Common history, yes. Common goals, too. And not for nothing, a common enemy. The same extremist forces that have been bent on Israel's destruction have not only disrupted Israeli-Arab peace, they've prevented the Palestinian people from thriving in a state of their own and now threaten the security and stability of the entire region. Jason Isaacson:  We are hopeful that in partnership with those in the Arab world who feel the same way about the need to push back against extremism, including the extremism promoted, promulgated, funded, armed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, that we can have enough of a network of supportive players in the Arab world, in the West. Working with Israel and working with Palestinian partners who are interested in the same future. A real future, a politically free future, where we can actually make some progress. And that's an ongoing effort. This is a point that we made consistently over many years: if you want to help the Palestinian people–and we want to help the Palestinian people–but if you, fill in the blank Arab government official, your country wants to help the Palestinian people, you're not helping them by pretending that Israel doesn't exist.  You're not helping them by isolating Israel, by making Israel a pariah in the minds of your people. You will actually have leverage with Israel, and you'll help the Palestinians when they're sitting at a negotiating table across from the Israelis. If you engage Israel, if you have access to the Israeli officials and they have a stake in your being on their side on certain things and working together on certain common issues. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason says more and more Arab leaders are realizing, with some frustration, that isolating Israel is a losing proposition for all the parties involved. It has not helped the Palestinian people. It has not kept extremism at bay. And it has not helped their own countries and their own citizens prosper. In fact, the limitations that isolating Israel imposes have caused many countries to lag behind the tiny Jewish state. Jason Isaacson: I think there was just this sense of how far back we have fallen, how much ground we have to make up. We need to break out of the old mindset and try something different. But that before the Abraham Accords, they were saying it in the years leading up to the Abraham Accords, with increasing frustration for the failure of Palestinian leadership to seize opportunities that had been held out to them. But frankly, also contributing, I think, to this was this insistence on isolating themselves from a naturally synergistic relationship with a neighboring state right next door that could contribute to the welfare of their societies. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense, and it denied them the ability to move forward. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason remembers the first time he heard an Arab official utter the words out loud – expressing a willingness, daresay desire, to partner with Israel. Jason Isaacson: It took a long time, but I could see in 2016, 17, 18, 19, this growing awareness, and finally hearing it actually spoken out loud in one particular conference that I remember going to in 2018 in Bahrain, by a senior official from an Arab country. It took a long time for that lesson to penetrate, but it's absolutely the case. Manya Brachear Pashman: In 2019, Bahrain hosted an economic summit where the Trump administration presented its "Peace to Prosperity" plan, a $50 billion investment proposal to create jobs and improve the lives of Palestinians while also promoting regional peace and security. Palestinians rejected the plan outright and refused to attend. Bahrain invited Israeli media to cover the summit. That September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, AJC presented its inaugural Architect of Peace Award to the Kingdom of Bahrain's chief diplomat for nearly 20 years. Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, told Jason that it was important to learn the lessons of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and late Jordanian King Hussein, both of whom signed peace treaties with Israel. He also explained the reason why Bahrain invited Israeli media.  Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa: President Anwar Sadat did it, he broke a huge barrier. He was a man of war, he was the leader of a country that went to war or two with Israel. But then he knew that at the right moment he would want to go straight to Israeli and talk to them. We fulfilled also something that we've always wanted to do, we've discussed it many times: talking to the Israeli public through the Israeli media.  Why not talk to the people? They wake up every day, they have their breakfast watching their own TV channels, they read their own papers, they read their own media, they form their own opinion.    Absolutely nobody should shy away from talking to the media. We are trying to get our point across. In order to convince. How will you do it? There is no language of silence. You'll have to talk and you'll have to remove all those barriers and with that, trust can be built. Manya Brachear Pashman: Jason had spent decades building that trust and the year to come yielded clear results. In May and June 2020, UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh and UAE Minister of State Dr. Anwar Gargash both participated in AJC webinars to openly discuss cooperation with Israel – a topic once considered taboo.  So when the Abraham Accords were signed a few months later, for Jason and AJC colleagues who had been on this long journey for peace, it was a natural progression. Though no less dramatic.  Sitting with Minister Al Khalifa's successor, Dr. Al Zayani, and the Bahraini ambassador on the evening before the White House ceremony, it was time to drink a toast to a new chapter of history in the region. Jason Isaacson: I don't think that that would have been possible had there not been decades of contacts that had been made by many people. Roving Israeli diplomats and Israeli business people, usually operating, in fact, maybe always operating with passports from other countries, traveling across the region. And frankly, our work and the work of a limited number of other people who were in non-governmental positions. Some journalists, authors, scholars, business people, and we certainly did a great deal of this over decades, would speak with leaders in these countries and influential people who are not government officials. And opening up their minds to the possibility of the advantages that would accrue to their societies by engaging Israel and by better understanding the Jewish people and who we are, what we care about, who we are not.  Because there was, of course, a great deal of decades, I should say, centuries and millennia, of misapprehensions and lies about the Jewish people. So clearing away that baggage was a very important part of the work that we did, and I believe that others did as well. We weren't surprised. We were pleased. We applauded the Trump administration, the President and his team, for making this enormous progress on advancing regional security and peace, prosperity. We are now hoping that we can build on those achievements of 2020 going forward and expanding fully the integration of Israel into its neighborhood. Manya Brachear Pashman: Next episode, we hear how the first Trump administration developed its Middle East policy and take listeners behind the scenes of the high stakes negotiations that yielded the Abraham Accords.  Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jason Isaacson, Jon Schweitzer, Sean Savage, and the entire AJC team for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to Architects of Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at podcasts@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us. ___ Music Credits: Middle East : ID: 279780040; Composer: Eric Sutherland Middle East Violin: ID: 277189507; Composer: Andy Warner Frontiers: ID: 183925100; Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI); Composer: Pete Checkley (BMI) Middle East Tension: ID: 45925627 Arabic Ambient: ID: 186923328; Publisher: Victor Romanov; Composer: Victor Romanov Arabian Strings: ID: 72249988; Publisher: EITAN EPSTEIN; Composer: EITAN EPSTEIN Inspired Middle East: ID: 241884108; Composer: iCENTURY Middle East Dramatic Intense: ID: 23619101; Publisher: GRS Records; Composer: Satria Petir Mystical Middle East: ID: 212471911; Composer: Vicher    

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. And yet, the Israeli government just approved almost 3,500 more of these homes. Meanwhile, settler violence against Palestinians is rising. So, who are the settlers and why are they allowed to exist outside the law?

  Jim has a 5 part series on the Middle East since JFK on his Substack The Debacle of the Middle East vs JFK Read the Article Here The USS Liberty Incident Massacres over the years in that area The Oslo Accords were the solution in the quest for peace JFK visited Palestine in 1939 "Dimona" the secret atomic weapons site deception Stealing the Atom Bomb: How Denial and Deception Armed Israel Buy at amazon.com Highly enriched uranium stolen from Apollo, near Pittsbugh Pennsylvania JFK wanted to be fair to both sides in the Middle East LBJ became Israel's greatest backer up to that time, reversing JFK's position Barry Chamish wrote "Who Murdered Yatzhak Rabin" Read here on the Internet Archive Listener questions answered. Jim DiEugenio wrote "Fletcher Prouty vs The ARRB" Read the article Here Malcom Blunt discusses Fletcher Prouty Watch interview clip Here New Documentary "Fletcher Prouty's Cold War" Watch Here Fletcher describes his contributions to the film JFK in a 3 minute clip Download Video Clip  

On this episode of Old Newscast, we look at how the Oslo peace process failed. Changes in Israeli leadership and disagreement on issues like Jerusalem, Palestinian statehood and Israeli settlements undermined the process and continue to echo today.Adam speaks to Jane Corbin from BBC Panorama and BBC Chief International Correspondent who were reporting during the peace process.You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereGet in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a whatsapp on +44 0330 123 9480.New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bit.ly/3ENLcS1 Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Shiler Mahmoudi with Chris Flynn. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

On this episode of Old Newscast, we go back to September 13 1993, when long term enemies Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister and Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO shake hands on the White House lawn.They shook hands after decades of violence and publicly acknowledged a peace process that produced a set of agreements known as the Oslo Accords. The handshake came about after a series of secret negotiations held in Norway, where negotiators from both sides lived together until they came to an agreement.Adam speaks to Jane Corbin from BBC Panorama, who had the inside scoop during the secret negotiations, and BBC Chief International Correspondent who reported on the peace process. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereGet in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a whatsapp on +44 0330 123 9480.New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bit.ly/3ENLcS1 Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Shiler Mahmoudi with Chris Flynn. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Send us a textI went on line and looked up the Oslo Accords signed by President Bill Clinton, PLO Leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin. It was an important moment that has faded now in its importance as the Israeli conflict with Hamas has taken centerstage. I thought it interesting to read what Artificial Intelligence wrote about the accords, that this episode will also allow you to relive as they happened. "The Oslo Accords were a pair of agreements signed in 1993 and 1995 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that aimed to establish a framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first accord, signed in 1993, involved mutual recognition and established the Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza. The second, signed in 1995, further defined the interim period and outlined areas of Palestinian self-rule. Ultimately, the accords aimed for a final peace agreement, including the establishment of a Palestinian state, but this goal has not yet been achieved. Key aspects of the Oslo Accords:Mutual Recognition:The Oslo I Accord marked the first time Israel and the PLO formally recognized each other. Palestinian Authority (PA):The agreements led to the establishment of the PA, which was intended to be an interim self-governing body for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Interim Period and Final Status Talks:The accords outlined an interim period, during which the PA would assume some governing responsibilities, with the expectation that final status negotiations would address issues such as borders, refugees, Jerusalem, and settlements. Israeli Withdrawal:The accords included provisions for Israeli troop redeployment from parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Two-State Solution:While not explicitly stated in the initial agreement, the accords were intended to pave the way for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel. " Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcastsThanks for listening!!

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu. They discuss Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have long navigated Israeli racism and have faced accelerated repression over the last 22 months that has included arrests, threats, and efforts to impeach Palestinian Knesset Member Ayman Odeh and undermine Palestinian political participation inside of Israel. They talk about responses to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, including recent protests and hunger strikes led by Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as growing numbers of Jewish Israelis who are naming Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. They also look at the new diplomatic wave led by many Western states promising to recognize a Palestinian state and, specifically, how that state recognition is juxtaposed against the International Court of Justice's rulings on Israeli occupation. Finally, Diana reflects on the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the reckoning on those agreements that has never occurred.  Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, analyst, and writer. She is also the Communications Director in Palestine for the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Previously, she served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Hilary Rantisi grew up in Palestine and has been involved with education and advocacy on the Middle East since her move to the US. She is a 2025 Fellow at FMEP and was most recently the Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) and co-instructor of Learning in Context: Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Israel/Palestine at Harvard Divinity School. She has over two decades of experience in institution building at Harvard, having been the Director of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School of Government prior to her current role. She has a BA in Political Science/International Studies from Aurora University and a master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Before moving to the US, Hilary worked at Birzeit University and at the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. There, she co-edited a photo essay book Our Story: The Palestinians with the Rev. Naim Ateek. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

As the school year kicks off, Adam Louis-Klein shares his unexpected journey from researching the Desano tribe in the Amazon to confronting rising antisemitism in academic circles after October 7. He discusses his academic work, which explores the parallels between indigenous identity and Jewish peoplehood, and unpacks the politics of historical narrative.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC. 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:  War and Poetry: Owen Lewis on Being a Jewish Poet in a Time of Crisis An Orange Tie and A Grieving Crowd: Comedian Yohay Sponder on Jewish Resilience From Broadway to Jewish Advocacy: Jonah Platt on Identity, Antisemitism, and Israel 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:   Adam Louis-Klein is a PhD candidate in anthropology at McGill University, where he researches antisemitism, Zionism, Jewish peoplehood, and broader questions of indigeneity and historical narrative. His work bridges academic scholarship and public commentary, drawing on field work with indigenous communities in the Amazon and studies in philosophy at Yale, The New School and the University of Chicago.  He writes on translation and the politics of peoplehood across traditions, and is committed to developing a Jewish intellectual voice grounded in historical depth and moral clarity. He blogs for The Times of Israel, and he's with us today to talk about his experience emerging from the Amazon, where he was doing research after October 7, 2023, and discovering what had happened in Israel. Adam, welcome to People of the Pod. Adam Louis-Klein:   Thank you so much for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here on this podcast with the American Jewish community. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So tell us about the research that you are doing that took you into the depths of the Amazon rainforest. Adam Louis-Klein:   So I work with a group called the Desano people who live in the Vaupés region, which is a tributary of the upper Rio Negro. Part of it's in Brazil, part of it's in Colombia today. I went there because I was really interested in trying to understand how people were often seen at the margins of the world, the periphery of the global economy. See themselves and their own sort of role in the cosmos and in the world in general.  And what I found actually is that these people see themselves at the center of it all, as a unique people, as a chosen people. And that was something that really inspired me, and later led me to rethink my own relationship to Jewish peoplehood and chosenness, and what it means to be a kind of indigenous people struggling for survival and recognition. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So were you raised Jewish? Did you have a Jewish upbringing? Adam Louis-Klein:   Yeah, I was raised as kind of a cultural and reform Jew. I wouldn't say that Israel was super present in our lives, but we did travel there for my younger brother's Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel, and that did have an impression on me. And then later on, I wear a wristband of Brothers for Life, which is a charity for injured Israeli soldiers. But as time went on, I got involved in these radical academic scenes.  And you know, my own field, anthropology, has fundamentally turned against Jewish peoplehood and Israel, unfortunately. But it was really in the Amazon, actually, that my journey of Teshuvah and rediscovering my Jewishness and the importance of Jewish peoplehood was really re-awoken for me. Manya Brachear Pashman:   You were involved in these radical circles. Did you ascribe to some of the beliefs that a lot of your academic colleagues were ascribing to? Did you start to question the legitimacy of Israel or the actions of the Israeli government?  Adam Louis-Klein:   I think I started to ascribe to them in a kind of background and passive way. In the way that I think that many people in these communities do. So I had actually learned about Israel. I did know something. But as I wanted to kind of ascribe to a broader social justice narrative, I sort of immediately assumed when people told me, that Israelis were the ones doing the oppression and the injustice, that that had to be true. And I didn't question it so much.  So it's ironic that those spaces, I think, that are built around critical thought, have become spaces, in my opinion, that are not so critical today. And I think we really need a critical discourse around this kind of criticism, sort of to develop our own critical discourse of what anti-Zionism is today. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So what inspired the research? In other words, so you're involved in these radical circles, and then you go and immerse yourself with these tribes to do the research. What inspired you to do it, and was it your Jewishness? Adam Louis-Klein:   So I think what led me to anthropology was probably a kind of diasporic Jewish sensibility. So I'd studied philosophy before, and I was very entrenched in the Western tradition. But I was kind of seeking to think across worlds and think in translation. I've always kind of moved between countries and cities, and I think that's always been an intuitive part of who I am as a Jew.  And anthropology was founded by Jews, by Franz Boas, Emile Durkheim, Claude Lévi-Strauss, so I think that's kind of part of what brought me there. But I ended up rediscovering also the meaning of, you know, homeland as well, and what it means to be part of a people with a unique destiny and relationship to territory and land. And that made me understand Zionism in a completely new light. Manya Brachear Pashman:   And did you understand it when you were there? Did you come to these realizations when you were there, or did you start to piece all of that together and connect the dots after you emerged? Adam Louis-Klein:   So part of my research looks at how indigenous people engage with Christian missionaries who try and translate the Bible into indigenous languages. So when that encounter happens, it's actually quite common throughout the world, that a lot of indigenous people identify with the Jewish people quite strongly. So this might sound a little counterintuitive, especially if someone's used to certain activist networks in which indigeneity is highly associated with Palestinians, Jews are treated now as settler colonists, which is basically the opposite of indigeneity. And that's become a kind of consensus in academia, even though it seems to fly in the face of both facts and our own self understanding as Jews. So I saw that in the Amazon, in the way people at the margins of the world who might not already be integrated in the academic, activist kind of scene, sort of organically identify with the Jewish people and Israel.  And they admire the Jewish people and Israel, because they see in us, a people that's managed to maintain our cultural identity, our specific and distinct civilization, while also being able to use the tools of modernity and technology to benefit us and to benefit the world. So I think that also kind of disrupts some primitivist notions about indigenous people, that they should remain sort of technologically backwards, so to speak. I think that they have a more nuanced approach. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I guess, what did you discover when you did emerge from the Amazon? In other words, October 7 had happened. When did you emerge and how did you find out? Adam Louis-Klein:   So I'd been living in a remote Desano village without internet or a phone or any connection to the outside world for months. And then I returned a couple days after October 7 to a local town, so still in the Amazon, but I was signing onto my computer for the first time in months, and I remember signing onto Facebook and I saw the images of people running from the Nova Festival. And that was the first thing that I saw in months from the world. So that was a very traumatic experience that sort of ruptured my sense of reality in many ways, but the most difficult thing was seeing my intellectual milieu immediately transform into a space of denial or justification or even just straightforward aggression and hate to anyone who showed any solidarity with Israelis in that moment, or who saw it as a moment to to say something positive and inspiring and helpful about the Jewish people. That was actually seen as an act of violence.  So I went to Facebook, and I don't remember exactly what I said, I stand with the Jewish people, or with Israelis, or Am Yisrael Chai, or something like that. And many people in my circles, really interpreted that as an aggression. So at that point, it was really strange, because I'd been living in the Amazon, trying to help people with their own cultural survival, you know, their own struggle to reproduce their own civilization in the face of assimilation and surrounding society that refuses to validate their unique identity. And then I came back to the world, and I was seeing the exact same thing happening to my own people.  And even stranger than that, it was happening to my own people, but in the language of critique and solidarity. So the very language I'd learned in anthropology, of how to support indigenous people and sort of to align myself with their struggles was now being weaponized against me in this kind of horrible inversion of reality. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Had you sensed this aggressive tone prior to your time in the Amazon and when you were involved with these circles? Adam Louis-Klein:   No, I'd never witnessed anything like this in my life, and so it took some real searching and going inward, and I was still in the jungle, but encountering all this anti-Zionist hate online from people I thought were my friends. And I had to really ask myself, you know, maybe I'm in the wrong, because I've never seen people act like . . .  people who are scholars, intellectuals who should be thinking critically about antisemitism. Because antisemitism, you know, we talk a lot about in the academy, critical race theory. So we look at ideologies, tropes, and symbols that are used to dehumanize minority groups, and we learn to be skeptical.  So we learn that there are discourses that speak at times, in languages of reason, of justice, even that are actually biased, structurally biased, against minorities. So then I was deeply confused. Why did these same people not know how to apply those same analytics to Jews? And not only did they not know how, they seemed to think it was offensive to even try. So that was really strange, and I had to kind of think, well, you know, maybe I'm wrong, you know, I think there's a process of they've attempted to sort of stabilize this consensus at such a degree. That Israel is committing genocide, that Israel is a settler colonial entity that is fundamentally evil, basically. And Israelis are fundamentally oppressors. They've created a space it's almost impossible to question them.  And it took me a long time to emerge and to come to that realization that I think anti-Zionism is really a discourse of libel, fundamentally. And these accusations, I wouldn't say, are offered in good faith. And it's unfortunately, not much use to try and refute them. And so instead, I started writing, and I started trying to analyze anti-Zionism itself as an object of critique and as an ideology that we can deconstruct. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So did this change the course of your academic research? In other words, you said you started writing, are you writing academic articles, or is it more The Times of Israel blog and your more public writings? Adam Louis-Klein:   So I've been writing publicly. I started writing on Facebook, and then the readership on Facebook started to grow, and then I sent it to the Times of Israel. And I do have some plans lined up to try and get this material out in the academic context as well. Because I think that's really important, that we build parallel academic spaces and our own language of academic legitimacy. Because I think that academic language, and as well, that kind of activist language, critique of oppression is valuable, but it's also culturally hegemonic today. And so I think that as Jews, if we abandon that language, we will have trouble telling our story. So I think there are also projects like this. I'd like to mention the London Center for the Study of contemporary antisemitism. I think that's a great model. So they're doing serious academic work on contemporary antisemitism, not just classical antiSemitism, which we're all familiar with, Neo Nazis, etc. You know, what does it look like today? You know, red triangles, Hamas headbands. This is a new language of hate that I think we need to be on top of. Manya Brachear Pashman:   In fact, you presented a paper recently, there, correct, at the London Center, or at a conference sponsored by the London Center? Adam Louis-Klein:   Yeah, I did. I presented a paper. It was called the Dissolving the Denotational Account of Antisemitism. So denotational means, what words refer to. Because what I found very often is that it's a trope that's become really familiar now. Anti-Zionists, they say, we don't hate Jews, we only hate Zionists. We don't hate Judaism, we hate Zionism. We're not antisemitic, we're critical of Israel.  So these distinctions that are made are all about saying, you can't point to us as attacking Jews, because our language is such that we are denoting we are referring to something else. So in my talk, I was trying to explain that I like look at anti-Zionism more like a symbolic anthropologist. So when an anthropologist goes and works with an indigenous culture, we look at the kinds of symbols that they use to articulate their vision of the world. The Jaguar, for example, becomes a symbol of certain kinds of potency or predation, for example. So I look at anti-Zionism in the same way. It's not important to me whether they think they're referring to Israel or Jews. What's important to me is the use of conspiratorial symbols, or a symbol of child killing, for example. So we see that classical antisemitism accused Jews of killing children. Anti-Zionism today constructs Israelis as bloodthirsty and desiring to kill children. So when we see that, we see that even if they say not Jews, Zionists, they're using similar symbols that have mutated. So I think that's what I'm trying to track, is both the mutation of classical antisemitism into anti-Zionism, and also the continuities between the two. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Did you ever experience antisemitism from your academic circles or really anywhere in life through from childhood on? Adam Louis-Klein:   Not particularly. So I went to a northeastern prep school, and we were, there were very few Jews, so I think we were sort of seen as another to the kind of traditional northeast New England aristocracy. But it wasn't something that overt, I would say. I think that antisemitism is something that occurs more so in cycles. So if you look at the 19th century, emancipation of Jews and integration of Jews into society, that was the up part of the cycle, and then the reaction to that came on the down part of the cycle. So unfortunately, I think we're in the same thing today.  So Jews have very successfully assimilated into American society and became very successful and integrated into American society. But now we're seeing the backlash. And the backlash is taking a new form, which is anti-Zionism, which allows itself to evade what classical antisemitism looks like, and what we're used to identifying as classical antisemitism. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I do want to talk about the word indigenous or indigeneity. Jews celebrate the creation of Israel as a return to their indigenous homeland, and Palestinians also consider it their indigenous homeland. So how are their definitions of indigeneity, how are those definitions different or distinct? I mean, how are their experiences distinct from each other's and from the people and the tribes with whom you immersed yourself in the Amazon? Adam Louis-Klein:   So I think indigeneity, in its fundamental meaning, captures something very real that's common to tons of different groups across the world. Which is a certain conception of the way that one's genealogical ancestry is connected to a specific territory where one emerged as a people, and through which one's own peoplehood  is defined. So as Jews, our own peoplehood is connected to the land of Israel. It's the Promised Land, it's the place where our civilization first flourished, and it's the place we've always looked to return to. And so that is very similar to indigenous groups around the world.  Now, at the same time, I think there's another concept of indigeneity that gets thrown in and sometimes confuses the issue a little bit, and that's that being indigenous relates to a specific history of dispossession, usually by European colonialism, starting in the 16th century. Now, in fact, there have been many colonialism throughout history. So there have been Islamic civilization practiced widespread colonialism. The Romans practiced colonialism. The Babylonians. But there is a tendency to only look at this form of colonialism.  And now when we look at the Middle East, what we find then is these analytics are becoming confused and applied in strange ways. So we see that Palestinians, for example, their genealogical traditions, they understand themselves as tribally derived from tribes in Arabia that expanded with Muhammad's conquest, and that's very common. And Arabian culture and Arabic language is what they practice.  And so at that level, from a factual perspective, Palestinians are not indigenous in the genealogical sense. However, there's a tendency to believe, since Jews have a state today, then since they appear not as dispossessed, because Jews have actually repossessed our ancestral land, that Jews can't be indigenous. But so I think that's a confusion. The basic understanding of what indigenous means, and largely what the UN definition is based on, is this notion of continuous identification with the territory.  So I really think that this isn't so much a question of who can live where. I think Palestinians' right to live in the land has largely been recognized by the UN Partition Plan in 1947, or the Oslo Accords, and other peace deals, but it's a question of conceptual clarity and fact. And so at this level, I believe that the UN and other institutions should formally recognize Jews as indigenous to the land of Israel. Manya Brachear Pashman:   You have written, and I want to read this line, because it's so rich you have written that the recursive logic of an antiSemitic consensus builds upon itself, feeds on moral certainty, and shields its participants from having to ask whether what they are reproducing is not justice at all, but a new iteration of a very old lie. I. So are there other examples of that phenomenon in academia, either currently or in the past? Adam Louis-Klein:   So what I was trying to grasp with that was my sense of despair in seeing that it was impossible to even point to people, point people to fact within academia, or debate these issues, or explain to non Jews who Jews even are. So I got the sense that people are talking quite a lot about Jews, but don't seem to really care about our voices.  So some of that writing that you're quoting is an attempt to understand anti Zionism, not just not only as libel, but also as a kind of practice of exclusion, where Jews feel silenced in spaces. And where, where for all the talk of Academic Freedom versus antisemitism, which I think can sometimes be a tricky issue, I believe that Jews own academic freedom has fundamentally been violated by this discourse so that recursive logic is the way rumor and repeating slogans and repeating notions, regardless of their factual content, like the Jews or settler colonists, sort of builds on itself, as well as on social media, with this algorithmic escalation until it's almost impossible to talk back to it.  So an example would be in 2024 the American Anthropological Association had its big conference, and the Gaza genocide was the main theme. But it wasn't a theme we were all going to go and debate. It was a theme that we assumed was true, and we were going to talk about it as a thing in the world, and then the Society for cultural anthropology released an issue with the exact same premise.  It was glorifying Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and Nasrallah of Hezbollah. And then, interestingly enough, just the other day, they released another edition, which was about settler colonialism, and saying, We want to come back to this issue and and reaffirm that settler colonialism applies to Israel and Palestine against people who are attacking the concept, and we're against the exceptionalization of Israel in their terms.  And so I searched through the document, but I couldn't find anywhere where Jews were talked about as indigenous, not even as a fact, but even as a claim. I couldn't find anywhere in this journal where Jew it was even acknowledged that Jews might believe that we are indigenous. So it's almost as if the very notion is just completely erased by consciousness within academia. Which is quite frightening. Manya Brachear Pashman:   And do you feel able to push back on that. In other words, as a fellow anthropologist, are you able to ask, why is this omitted from this paper, from this journal? Adam Louis-Klein:   No, because they will simply ignore you. So that's why I believe these parallel spaces are so important and what I see my work trying to do is to help build a Jewish intellectual discourse. And unfortunately, I think we have to start a little bit internally. So we've been somewhat ghettoized.  But if we build up that space, and construct these spaces where we have, where we can share the same premises and we don't have to argue from the bottom up every time. I think that will give us strength and also more clarity on our own understanding of what's happening. You know, both of the level of what is anti-Zionism, what is this new discourse? And at the level of, how can we speak from Jewish peoplehood as a legitimate place to even theorize from or build academic theories from. Manya Brachear Pashman:   You mentioned earlier that you held on to doubt. You kept open the possibility that Israel is in the wrong here, and you were watching for, looking for signs or evidence that your colleagues were correct. But as you've watched the horrors unfold, and wondered to yourself whether maybe Israel isn't really defending itself, why have you not concluded that that is indeed the case? Why have you reached the opposite conclusion? Adam Louis-Klein:   Yeah, so I talked earlier about using, like a critical race theory analysis, so thinking about ideologies and the kind of tropes they're using and the way they're talking about Israelis, but I think that's only one part of the picture. So what I noticed is, one, they didn't want to do that kind of analysis, but two, they also weren't interested in empirical fact. So when I would sometimes try and do that analysis like this. This sounds like antisemitic, right? They would say, oh, but it's true. Israel is doing this stuff. Israel is intentionally killing Palestinian children. Israel is going completely beyond the laws of war. This is a genocide of unique proportions. Completely irrational and exaggerated statements.  They also didn't want to engage with fact. I spent a lot of time digging up the sources of this material, given disinformation. For example, the Al-Ahli incident, where it was claimed by the Hamas health ministry that Israel had intentionally bombed the Al-Ahli hospital, killing 500 people. Al Jazeera promoted it. Western outlets also promoted it, and I had people all over my wall attacking me, saying that I'm justifying this by standing with Israel. And I saw what happened after, which was that they looked into it. The casualty count was tragic, but it was far lower than reported. It was about 50 people, and it was an Islamic Jihad rocket, so Israel was not even responsible.  So I think that any rational person who sees what happened in that incident becomes skeptical of everything else they're being told and of the information circuits. And so when I also saw that the people who were talking about the Gaza genocide, weren't seemed completely unfazed by that. That made me have to rethink also what they were doing, because if they're unfazed by something like that, that suggests this isn't a truth that they're being forced to acknowledge, it sounds a bit more like a truth that has its own sort of incentive to believe in despite fact, rather than being pushed towards it because of fact. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I'm curious, if you went back to the people that you had been immersed with and had been studying for the matter of months before October 7, did you go back to them and tell them what had happened, or did they somehow know what had happened? And I'm just curious if there was any kind of response from them? Adam Louis-Klein:   Interesting. Yeah, I speak with them regularly, on a regular basis. They don't know exactly what's happened. I think they see sometimes news, but it's largely their understanding, is that there's a lot of wars in the Western world. And they ask why? Why is there so much war? Why is there so much suffering?  I mean, they were particularly interested in in the Ukraine war, because they couldn't wrap their head around why Putin was doing this, which I think is pretty similar to a lot of people, but they do see, some of them see Israel as kind of, you know, a figure of strength, and compare Israel almost to their own notions of ancestral, sort of potency or power. So they have a very different understanding of the relationship between, let's say, power and victimhood. They don't necessarily fetishize being powerless. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Tell me a little bit about this tribe, these people that you spent time with.  Adam Louis-Klein: So the Desano there, they're one of a number of many ethnicities who inhabit the Northwest Amazonian region in northwest Brazil and southeast Columbia. They live in an extremely complex world in which there are over 25 languages in the region. And they have a very unique form of marriage, where you have to marry someone who speaks a different language than you. And so any community has a kind of nucleus of people who speak the same language, and they're from the same tribe. But the women in the community all speak different languages and come from different tribes.  So I think it's a kind of space where you have to think across difference. You're constantly confronted with people who are other than you, who are from different tribes and different communities, as well as the relationship between the Western world and the indigenous world itself. And I think that's really part of the promise of anthropology, like coming back to what I was saying earlier about a diasporic Jewish sensibility, I think it's also just a Jewish sensibility. Part of being a distinct people is that we need to think with other people, and I think that includes Muslims and Arabs and Christians as well. Manya Brachear Pashman:   That is such an enlightened approach that they have taken to marriage. Isn't that what marriage is all about, crossing those differences and figuring out and they just do it from the very beginning. And I'm also curious, though, are they also mixing with Western cultures. In other words, have they broadened that, or do they keep it within those villages? Adam Louis-Klein:   Yeah, so they've taken on a lot of features of the surrounding, Colombian Spanish language culture, and that is the struggle today. Because there's a lot of economic pressures to move to the towns and the cities in order to get work and employment. And that can pose problems to the reproduction of the traditional village community.  And so that's part of what we've been struggling with and part of the project with them. So we're currently translating an old book about anthropology, about them into their language, so they have the Bible, which was translated into the language by missionaries. And now we also want to translate their own cultural material into their language so that can help them preserve the language and preserve their own cultural knowledge. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So what's next for you, Adam? Adam Louis-Klein:   So I'm hoping to continue writing and to continue getting out this work. I'm hoping to also work with grassroots organizers to try to put some activist meat onto this opposition to anti-Zionism. So I believe that, as I was talking about parallel academic spaces are really important, I also think it's important to be able to speak back to anti-Zionism with activist language. Not only the academic side, but the activist side. So I'm working with the group now, a decentralized group, developing infographics, memes, things that can circulate to educate people about anti-Zionism as the new form of antisemitism today. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Thank you for taking on this work and for sharing your story. Adam Louis-Klein:   Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.  

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - Palestine’s Stolen Future - The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It) - Protest, Immigration Enforcement, and the Unhoused Community - The Minnesota Assassination & Evangelical Terrorism - Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #24 You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: Palestine's Stolen Future Raz Segal on genocide - https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide Omer Bartov on genocide – https://www.democracynow.org/2024/12/30/omer_bartov_israel_gaza_genocide Amos Goldberg on genocide - https://thefirethesetimes.com/2025/05/25/intent-holocaust-studies-and-the-gaza-genocide-w-amos-goldberg/ Khaled Elgindy on Biden’s “bear hug” - https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/10/10/biden-israel-hamas-war-gaza-us-policy/ Bezalel Smotrich on population transfer - https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-says-gaza-to-be-totally-destroyed-population-concentrated-in-small-area/ Nissim Vaturi on population transfer - https://www.timesofisrael.com/occupy-expel-settle-minister-mks-at-far-right-rally-call-to-empty-gaza-of-gazans/ Arab Peace Initiative - https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=a5dab26d-a2fe-dc66-8910-a13730828279&groupId=268421 Arab Center Washington – “The Biden Administration and the Middle East in 2023” - https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-biden-administration-and-the-middle-east-in-2023/ Mike Huckabee on Palestinians - https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/mike-huckabee-palestinian-comments-trump-israel-ambassador Steve Witkoff making deals with Hamas - https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-says-witkoffs-gaza-ceasefire-proposal-must-lead-end-war-2025-05-31/ Adam Boehler “we are not an agent of Israel” - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/09/adam-boehler-hamas-israel-talks Philippe Lazzarini on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-gaza-aid-distribution-has-become-death-trap Doctors without Borders on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/siege-gaza-msf-denounces-new-aid-mechanism-proposed-us-and-israel Jake Woods, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, resigns - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/26/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-group-jake-wood-resigns Saudi Minister on Two-State Solution - https://www.mofa.gov.sa/en/ministry/news/Pages/His-Highness-the-Foreign-Minister-A-Two-State-Solution-is-the-Only-Path-to-Achieving-a-Just-and-Lasting-Peace-in-the-Regio.aspx France & Saudi sponsor peace conference - https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-855969 Qatari foreign minister on Saudi sponsored peace conference - https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250613-qatar-france-fms-underscore-importance-of-upcoming-un-two-state-solution-conference-as-real-opportunity-for-peace/ The Oslo Accords and the Palestinian Authority background - https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/31121/x-oslo-process-and-establishment-palestinian-authority Yitzhak Rabin’s final address to the Knesset - https://www.palquest.org/en/historictext/24965/yitzhaq-rabin%E2%80%99s-address-knesset-after-israeli-palestinian-agreement Mapping Palestinian Politics – European Council on Foreign Relations - https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/plo/ “Abbas is America’s Man” - https://jewishcurrents.org/abbas-is-americas-man Tariq Dana – “Lost in Transition: The Palestinian National Movement After Oslo” - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/from-the-river-to-the-sea-9781978752658/ Wendy Pearlman – “Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement” - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/violence-nonviolence-and-the-palestinian-national-movement/0F8D188C7D514D49F68D827066E0FABD BDS call - https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/pacbi-call Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research – September 2023 poll - https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2089%20English%20Full%20Text%20September%202023.pdf Interview with Ukrainian outlet “Commons” - https://commons.com.ua/en/intervyu-z-danoyu-el-kurd/ Protests against Hamas – July 2023 - https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/07/30/thousands-of-marchers-in-gaza-in-rare-public-display-of-discontent-with-hamas_6073136_4.html Protests against Hamas - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/middleeast/anti-hamas-protests-gaza-intl-latam Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research – May 2025 poll - https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2095%20press%20release%206May2025%20ENGLISH.pdf Changes in PLO structure and new Vice President role - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/palestinians-leader-mahmoud-abbas-president Polling on Hussein Al-Sheikh - https://pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2092%20English%20full%20text%20July2024.pdf Palestinian National Conference - https://ncpalestine.org/ A Land for All - https://www.2s1h.org/en Israeli backed gangs in Gaza - https://zeteo.com/p/who-is-abu-shabab-meet-the-gaza-gangster The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It) Trans Income Project: https://www.transincomeproject.org/donate https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/planned-parenthood-trump-lawsuit https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/one-big-beautiful-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-affordable-care-act-immigrants/#:~:text=The%20bill%20would%20require%20states%20that%20have,individual)%20and%20138%25%20of%20that%20amount%20($21%2C597).&text=The%20Senate%20bill%20would%20allow%20states%20to,who%20seek%20emergency%20room%20care%20for%20nonemergencies. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/05/16/school-choice-expansion-in-budget-bill-puts-federal-stamp-on-gop-priority/ https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/trumps-budget-bill-attack-public-schools-working-families-and-immigrants https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-egregious-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/ https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-devastate-public-schools https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-senate-passed-a-federal-voucher-program-whats-in-it/2025/07 https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/not-beautiful-trumps-budget-forces-a-national-voucher-plan-on-america/ https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5397175/trump-federal-voucher-private-school https://itep.org/trump-megabill-expensive-private-school-vouchers/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/how-trump-s-big-spending-bill-will-overhaul-repayment-for-millions-of-student-loan-borrowers/ar-AA1HXbVa?cvid=7271B17CDE424D63B5C23D6A3D1E71B7&ocid=msnHomepage https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-signs-big-tax-cut-spending-bill-law-july-fourth-ceremony-rcna216753 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/05/trump-budget-bill-states-border-security/84463777007/ https://newrepublic.com/post/197412/donald-trump-big-beautiful-budget-bill-devastating-poll https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-senate-reconciliation-bill/ https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-senate-passed-reconciliation-bill-affect-rural-areas/ https://www.cbpp.org/research/medicaid-and-chip/senate-reconciliation-amendment-would-cut-hundreds-of-billions-more-from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/ https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/house-reconciliation-bill-immigration-border-security/ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-in-the-big-bill-that-just-passed-the-senate The Minnesota Assassination & Evangelical Terrorism 00155d0deff0 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25976535-boelter-federal-affidavit/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250614161224/https://www.pguards.net/leadership-team https://youtu.be/Sh01z1t2l3w?si=vSme9mqCPmeDROqp https://www.startribune.com/timeline-how-an-early-morning-assault-against-minnesota-lawmakers-unfolded/601373039 https://www.startribune.com/melissa-hortman-shooting-vance-boelter-suspect/601373342 https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/vance-boelter-due-back-in-federal-court-thursday-afternoon/ https://www.wired.com/story/shooting-minnesota-melissa-hortman-vance-boelter/ https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/17/us/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-invs https://web.archive.org/web/20230723010430/https://www.redliongroupdrc.com/# Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #24 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jewish Policy Center hosted a webinar featuring Professor Harold Rhode, an expert in Middle Eastern history and culture, to discuss the recent developments involving the Hebron sheikhs, tribal dynamics in the West Bank, and the broader Middle Eastern context, including Syria and the Druze. Key points from the discussion include: Hebron Sheikhs and Tribal Dynamics In Middle Eastern society, loyalty is to family, clan, and tribe, not nationality or land. The Hebron sheikhs, representing local clans, have proposed creating an autonomous “Hebron Emirate” in cooperation with Israel, recognizing it as a Jewish state. These sheikhs view the Palestinian Authority (PA) as foreign and illegitimate, imposed on them by outsiders through the Oslo Accords. The PA is perceived as weak in Hebron, and the sheikhs have governed themselves effectively for generations. Clan structures dictate marriage, loyalty, and governance, making Western political models like individual rights hard to apply. Implications for the Palestinian Authority The PA has dismissed the Hebron initiative as Israeli propaganda. However, the reality on the ground suggests strong opposition to PA rule from local clans. Efforts to crush or dismiss these tribal leaders could backfire, weakening the PA further. Broader Regional Dynamics and Gaza Similar clan-based governance could be applied in Gaza, provided Israel supports and protects cooperative families. Past Israeli failures to protect allies (e.g., during withdrawal from southern Lebanon or early Gaza operations) undercut potential partnerships. To succeed, Israel must demonstrate strength and reliability, which are critical virtues in the Middle East. Violence and Power in the Region Peace, as understood in the West, doesn’t exist in Middle Eastern political culture. The best outcome is enforced calm through strength. Groups like Hamas and PA operate as power players, and only decisive action garners respect and compliance. Syria, the Druze, and Israel's Strategic Posture Recent attacks on Syria's Druze drew a strong Israeli response, cementing Israel's role as a protector of Druze communities. Israel's reaction contrasted with its silence on atrocities against the Alawites, underscoring its selective engagement based on alliances and strategic interests. The conversation also referenced differences between various Muslim sects and longstanding historical grievances. Western Misunderstandings U.S. and Western policy tends to prioritize democratic elections and individual rights, which do not align with the group-based logic of Middle Eastern societies. Examples include the unintended consequences of forcing elections in Gaza (leading to Hamas's rise) and undermining allies through misplaced idealism (Jimmy Carter and the Shah of Iran). American notions of goodwill are seen as weakness in the region. Solution Framework Peace in the region comes through strength, respect for local power structures, and enforcing order rather than imposing Western democratic ideals. Israel can work with tribal structures to create security and economic cooperation, as long as it respects their methods and provides firm support. Recommendations for Further Reading  Professor Rhode highly recommends Bernard Lewis's work, especially “The Return of Islam” (Commentary, 1976), for understanding the deeper cultural and ideological foundations of Middle Eastern thinking. He also wrote a short book, “Modern Islamic Warfare,” available for free at harold-rode.com. The webinar underscored the need for nuanced understanding of local structures, the power of tribal and group loyalties, and the role of strength in fostering stability in the Middle East. The recap of this webinar was generated by computer. 

In this marathon episode, Ghost unpacks the tangled narratives around Epstein's disappearance from the headlines. He traces the saga back to Robert Maxwell, laying out how British intelligence created Maxwell's empire to spy on the Soviets, then explores how Epstein and Ghislaine may have replicated that template as Mossad assets running a state-sponsored blackmail operation. Ghost plays fresh clips of Trump and Pam Bondi, dissecting their dismissive responses to Epstein questions and arguing this could be deliberate narrative bait to lull the real power brokers into complacency. The show then pivots to Netanyahu's White House visit, analyzing how Trump's public deference masks a deeper strategy of leverage. Ghost details the factions vying for power in Israel, Naftali Bennett, Benny Gantz, and Yair Lapid, and why Netanyahu's unpopularity ironically makes him easier for Trump to manipulate. From the long history of America arming Iran and Iraq to the Oslo Accords and the manufactured Iranian boogeyman, Ghost lays out how decades of foreign policy theater have locked the region in perpetual crisis. Packed with historical context and fresh analysis, this episode challenges conventional narratives about the Middle East and the real endgame behind today's headlines.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. Our final episode examines the framework of the Oslo Accords and, as Hamas became the main force articulating opposition, the response of the Left. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life. Our fifth episode focuses on the period from the First Intifada, arguably the high-point of the Palestinian left-wing movement, to the Oslo Accords. Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

In this episode for our Conflicted Community, we continue our survey of the Israel-Palestine question with another interview, as Thomas Small engages with Rob Geist-Pinfold, a lecturer in defense studies and international security. This week we focus particularly on the Israeli settler movement. The conversation delves into the historical roots of the settler movement, its evolution from a secular to a religiously motivated initiative, and the intricate relationship between settlers and the Israeli state. The discussion also touches on the impact of the Oslo Accords and the shifting dynamics of Israeli politics in relation to Palestinian statehood.  They also discuss the division of the West Bank, and the influence of the settler movement on Israeli politics, in what Rob terms a kind of State Capture. They discuss the evolving role of far-right politics in Israel, particularly in the context of the October 7th attacks, and how these events have shifted Israel's grand strategy towards a more aggressive foreign policy, especially in Syria. The conversation highlights the implications of these dynamics for the future of the region and the ongoing challenges faced by both Israelis and Palestinians. To listen to the full episode, you'll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don't forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Conflicted is proudly made by Message Heard, a full-stack podcast production agency which uses its extensive expertise to make its own shows such as Conflicted, shows for commissioners such as the BBC, Spotify and Al Jazeera, and powerfully effective podcasts for other companies too. If you'd like to find out how we can help get your organisation's message heard, visit messageheard.com or drop an email to hello@messageheard.com! Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this edition of Parallax Views, host J.G. Michael engages renowned Israeli pollster Dahlia Scheindlin in a revealing discussion on the evolution of Israeli civil society and its dynamic relationship with both Palestinian civil society and internal societal shifts within Israel. Drawing from her insightful essay, “The Rise, Weakening, and Resurgence of Civil Society in Israel,” Dahlia navigates the complex interplay of historical, political, and social forces that have shaped civic life in the region. - Internal Transformation: Explore how the transition to the Likud government in the 1970s led to the weakening of Israel's welfare state, creating a vacuum that civil society eagerly filled with new social and political initiatives. - Historical Perspectives: Trace the development of Israeli civil society from its Zionist origins through the transformative eras of the Oslo Accords and beyond, while examining how these shifts have paralleled, intersected, and at times clashed with Palestinian civic movements. - Interplay of Resistance and Repression: Learn how grassroots resistance against occupation as well as anti-democratic movements in Israel has fueled a dynamic interplay between Israeli and Palestinian civil societies, fostering both collaboration and contention in the quest for justice and democratic reform. - Legislative and Social Backlash: Understand the impact of autocratic policies and legislative attacks under Netanyahu's government, which not only suppressed dissent but also galvanized a renewed civic activism among diverse groups. - Turning Points and Future Prospects: Delve into the dramatic civic mobilization following the events of October 7, 2023, and explore what this resurgence means for the future of democratic engagement and cross-community solidarity in a divided society. This episode offers a compelling narrative that weaves together historical context, political resistance, and the powerful role of civic action in shaping both Israeli and Palestinian futures. We will also discuss Dahlia's recent trip to the United States, where she is currently on a speaking tour. Additionally, Dahlia and will discuss into the gap between the perspectives of diaspora populations vs. those living in Israel/Palestine. You can currently obtain an ebook download of Suppressing Dissent, which features Dahlia's essay, for FREE at the Carnegie Endowment website. Contributors include such previous Parallax Views guests as Nathan J. Brown, Dana El Kurd, and Dahlia Scheindlin as well as Lara Friedman, Marwa Fatafta, Yael Berda, Jessica Buxbaum, and many others.

Sal Assante dives into the Gaza-Israel-Palestine conflict in Episode 104 of We The Patriots Podcast. From the fragile ceasefire to Hamas's origins in 1987 and the stalled Oslo Accords, we explore the human cost and U.S. involvement, including Trump's divisive proposals. This episode offers a critical look at the Middle East's enduring struggle, questioning the path to peace amid rising casualties and ethical dilemmas. Tune in for a thoughtful analysis of this complex crisis.

On this edition of Parallax Views, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Zaha Hassan returns to the program alongside first-time guest Yousef Munayyer, a Senior Fellow at the Arab Center Washington D.C., to discuss the new book she co-edited with H.A. Hellyer entitled Suppressing Dissent: Shrinking Civic Space, Transnational Repression, and Palestine-Israel. Yousef is a contributor to the Suppressing Dissent and, amongst other things, he will discuss his piece in the book entitled "Closing Spaces Beyond Borders: Israel's Transnational Repression Network". Zaha will discuss a number of topics related to the book as well including her contribution, co-written with Layla Gantus, called "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Israel's Occupation and Palestinian Authoritarianism on Community Organizing and NGOs". The conversation will begin, of course, with a discussion of a case that makes this book timelier than ever: the detainment of Columbia University pro-Palestinian student protester Mahmoud Khalil by the Trump administration. From there we will discuss such issues as the Israeli-based NSO Group's infamous Pegasus spyware being used against Palestinian civil society organizations, the long shadow of the Oslo Accords, the interplay between the Israeli occupation and the governance in Gaza and the West Bank, revisiting Zaha's paper on the Human Rights-centric approach to dealing with Israel/Palestine, the debanking of Palestinian civil society individuals and organizations, the Palestinian Authority vs. Palestinian civil society, and much, much more. You can currently obtain an ebook download of Suppressing Dissent for FREE at the Carnegie Endowment website. Contributors include such previous Parallax Views guests as Nathan J. Brown, Dana El Kurd, and Dahlia Scheindlin as well as Lara Friedman, Marwa Fatafta, Yael Berda, Jessica Buxbaum, and many others.

"Killing and Starving children is not Jewish. Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel." Since many people don't have time to read full articles anymore, I want to start by linking to two poignant interviews I've had the privilege of conducting over the last few years: - Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, the first Palestinian doctor to work in an Israeli hospital: lost his wife to leukaemia aged just 43, leaving him with their 8 children. Just four months later,during the 2008-9 Gaza War, three of his daughters and one niece were killed. And yet Izzeldin has dedicated his life to using health as a vehicle for peace.  https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/1612726 - Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, Israeli, are members of The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF), due to the most painful loss of their daughters at different times due to the intractable Israel and Palestine conflict. They have become 'brothers' and advocate constantly for solidarity and peace in their land. https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/2171062 Last week saw the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It also saw the return of Palestinians to the north of Gaza. This juxtaposition of events hits hard. The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz had 56 survivors of the camp in attendance; down from 200 survivors for the 75th anniversary. We are losing the voice of those who experienced violence, discrimination, hatred and genocide first hand in these camps of torture and death. Of course we must add it was not only Jews that suffered in these camps. Meanwhile, anti-semitism is on the rise since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza and Lebanon. This sudden attack on 7 October was not out of nowhere of course. It follows in a line of attacks on both sides, and in the greater region, over decades, despite various ‘agreements', ‘accords', political handshakes… nothing has yet brought peace. On my show this week I have four strong and learned voices on the region, the culture and the law: - Dalia Hader, a Palestinian living in Luxembourg who is asking for petition signatures here so that the Government of Luxembourg discusses this topic in the chamber: “Luxembourg must sanction Israel for its policies in Palestine.” https://www.petitions.lu/petition/3231 - Martine Kleinberg, President, Jewish Call for Peace a.s.b.l. - Dr. Michel Erpelding, International lawyer specialising in this region - Dr. Engy Ali, President of MSF Luxembourg Dalia Hader, is a Palestinian from Jerusalem but grew up primarily in Amman, Jordan. Like so many Palestinians, families often move if they have a choice as it becomes untenable to ‘live' and raise a family in Israel / Palestine. Current records show the state of Palestine to have about 5.5 million inhabitants. The Palestinian diaspora is numbered at about 7.4 million. About one third of Palestinians living in Palestine are under the age of 15; only about 3% live to be over 65. We discuss one definition of genocide with Dr. Michel Erpelding, which targets the killing of children to minimise population growth. Access to care and medication Dr. Engy Ali, President of Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF Luxembourg, is specialised in Critical Care medicine and public health, working for over 20 years in the medical and humanitarian field; 12 years with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders. She has worked in Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Haiti, Liberia, DRC, Philippines, Pakistan, Gaza and Europe.   The MSF team in Gaza have lost 9 members since 7 October 2023. This loss is deeply felt by the MSF family as they dedicate their lives to giving access to health to all, equally. ‘Access to care and medication' is, according to Dr. Ali, the driving force of MSF. Dr. Ali reminds us that MSF has been present in Gaza for years. She herself was working Gaza in 2020, trying to organise medical evacuation programmes for complex trauma cases (but then Covid 19 happened.) “Our humanitarian action in Gaza is guided by our core humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, but we do not stay silent about humanitarian crises as in Gaza. We publicly speak out and report attacks on healthcare facilities, shortages of medical supplies, and obstacles to access care, ensuring that humanitarian needs are recognized.” The testimonials you hear in this interview are from from Nadia Abo Mallouh, MSF medical coordinator from Rafah, and Abu Abed, Deputy Medical Coordiantor. Impunity reinforces antisemitism Martine Kleinberg, President of Jewish Call for Peace (JCP) has worked unceasingly to increase the clamour of Jewish voices that do not want to be connected with the direction of Israel's government and want to work with Palestinians for peace. This is a growing movement around the world with the Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Not in My Name refrain. https://jewishcallforpeace.lu Martine is herself trained in conflict resolution and prevention.  JCP is a founding Member of the European Jews for Palestine launched in October 2024, with more than 20 organisations in 14 European countries, a member of Global Jews for Palestine, and a Member of Luxembourg Collectives for Palestine. On 1 February Martine organised a conference to discuss: “Exploiting Memory: the Holocaust and the distortion of antisemitism” In organising this event, Martine faced cultural decision makers in Luxembourg who did not want their venue associated with such open conversations. Neimënster said no; the Culture Bar said yes. Neimenster said this event did not “correspond to their values…the title leads to negative interpretations against associations and institutions partnered with Neimënster. As a public establishment we remain a neutral entity and cannot be associated with this type of event” Martine is extremely clear in her own reckoning of what the Israeli government are doing to use Judaism as an instrument of war: “I refuse the instrumentalization of my Jewish identity for colonialist supremacist purpose, that has nothing to do with Judaism. My commitment is the solidarity with the oppressed and deconstruction of antisemitic prejudices.” Martine believes strongly that there is a “weaponization of the Holocaust memory and antisemitism by Israel, to gain impunity, which is destroying international law”. “Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel.” Martine Kleinberg is aghast on why almost no religious leaders, of all religions, cannot speak out with clarity that the violence against a trapped civilian population in Gaza is indefensible and wrong Does International Law have any power anymore? Michel Erpelding, is a legal scholar in the history of international law, with an additional degree in Middle Eastern studies, and works on international law particularly related to colonialism and individual rights. We speak about the definitions of international lawyers and the International Criminal Court of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and apartheid.   Israel was viewed by the UN, well before 7 October 2023, as an occupying power in Gaza, and as such remained bound by international law to meet the essential needs of the civilian population. Israel can control water going into Gaza. It can exert decisive control over Gaza via land, air and sea. We explore the notion of ‘double standards' in political discourse when it comes to annexation (for example, Putin annexing Crimea; Netanyahu annexing East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank). Naturally the 7 October attacks by Hamas was the catalyst to this most recent war, but there is also the legal notion of ‘proportionality' in war. Dr. Erpeling and Dalia discuss why the Oslo Accords of 1995 did not work. “Oslo led to a clearer apartheid reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem” says Dalia, and goes on to say how certain Palestinian segregation means one cannot drive on certain roads, cannot visit certain parts of Palestine without the ‘right' passport, requires a certain number plate, will be held up for hours at check-points to be humiliated, and so the layers of discrimination continue. This un-ending story of war sits in a region where, fundamentally, humanity has been abandoned. And this humanity at its core, will find not much difference between Israelis and Palestinians, just like the Irish and Northern Irish, just like the Ukrainians and Russians. When the Ukraine war started, how often did we hear the line, “But they are our brothers and sisters?”  Humanity is a source of life and support. Borders, walls, check-points, active discrimination and suppression are not the acts of humans who, with a religion or not, know what is right in their heart. Let's end with a recent poll in the French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, which showed that when 986 people aged between 16 and 24 were questioned about the Holocaust, one in five had never heard of it (18%), and almost one in five had heard of it without knowing more (17%). Let's try to remember what has gone before.  Let's try to break the circles of hatred in history. Get in touch  Contact Lisa on LinkedIn or via her website. Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast. Watch on RTL Play. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am.

In this episode, we speak with Darryl Li about some of his essays. We begin by discussing his work and experiences in Palestine. His transformation from an NGO worker in the early 2000s to a scholar and political activist. Li explores the interpolation of Jewishness into a racial category globally. He also explores the Law of Return, which allows any Jew in the world to not only settle in Israel but also to enjoy superior rights to the land than Palestinians. The conversation covers the evolution of Palestinian armed resistance, particularly in Gaza, and the shift in Israeli strategies from direct occupation to economic strangulation and remote control bombardment. Li explains how Israel's reliance on Palestinian labor has fluctuated, leading to the importation of migrant workers from other countries, which weakened Palestinian leverage in resistance negotiations. He also addresses the impact of the Oslo Accords, which created the Palestinian Authority, and how it has undermined anti-Zionist critique by implicitly accepting Zionism. Additionally, Li touches on the intersection of the black freedom struggle and Jewish assimilation in the U.S., noting how Holocaust memory culture—in service of zionist imperialism—has helped elevate anti-Semitism above other forms of racial, ethnic, and religious antagonisms. Darryl Li is active in Palestine solidarity work in the United States as an organizer, lawyer, and writer. He lived in the Gaza Strip from 2001 to 2002 and made regular visits until 2011 working for various NGOs, especially the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Darryl's day job is teaching anthropology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press 2020).   To support our work please become a patron of the show for as little as $1 per month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism   Links:   On Law and Racial Capitalism in Palestine    Disengagement and the Frontiers of Zionism   The Rise and Fall of Baby Boomer Zionism

Netanyahu's social contract has collapsed, and Israelis are in a state of shock.That is how former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy sees the outcome of 15 months of war in Gaza, after a ceasefire was brokered without Hamas conceding defeat.Instead, Israelis watch the scenes of Hamas militants celebrating in fresh uniforms and wonder what exactly did their Prime Minister achieve after promising nothing short of a total victory.Meanwhile, the abject failures of the Biden Administration in their deeply unpopular Gaza policy were undermined by the seeming ease of Trump's ability to force Netanyahu to accept a deal that was on the table since May 2024.But as Levy says, this says less about Trump's power as it does Netanyahu's vulnerability.This week on the Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with the former Israeli peace negotiator and the president of the US-Middle East Project Daniel Levy.Daniel Levy was part of the negotiating team during the Oslo Accords in the mid-90s. He was then a Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister's office and a lead drafter of the model peace agreement, known as the Geneva Initiative.If you'd like to read Amos Harel's analysis on the IDF's push for a ceasefire, you can read it here: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-01-22/ty-article/.premium/despite-operational-successes-in-gaza-the-next-idf-chief-will-inherit-an-army-in-crisis/00000194-8abc-dee1-aff7-ebff04f10000We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our show. Reach us by email at mh@middleeasteye.org or find us on instagram @BigPictureMee.You can also watch all our episodes on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySj3cO0OSOHZAOgD1WTDixG

Send us a textIn today's class Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the qualities that made Moses the ultimate leader of the Jewish people, as demonstrated in three defining episodes from his early life. Moses' unwavering commitment to confronting injustice, even at great personal risk, offers timeless lessons on leadership and moral responsibility. As we face the terror threatening our brothers and sisters in Israel, Moses' example provides a powerful framework for navigating the tension between compassion and righteous might, underscoring that peace is achieved not through appeasement but by confronting evil head-on.Key Takeaways:1. Leadership Requires Action: True leaders, like Moses, act decisively in the face of injustice, regardless of the context or the identities of those involved.2. Moral Courage: At times, moral violence is necessary to protect the innocent and uphold justice, as in the case of Moses defending a Hebrew slave.3. The Dangers of Appeasement: History shows that appeasing evil leads to greater suffering, as demonstrated by the Oslo Accords and similar policies.4. A Balance of Strength and Compassion: While Isaiah's vision of peace inspires us, the path to achieving it sometimes demands force, as articulated by the prophet Joel.5. Timeless Leadership Model: Moses' early life teaches us that a leader must be willing to sacrifice personal comfort to confront evil and protect the vulnerable.#Israel #BibleStudy #Moses #Exodus #Torah #TorahLessons #Leadership #moshe #MoralResponsibility #MoralCourage#Isaiah #Joel #osloaccords #jewishleadership #MoralCourage #Peace Create Harmony This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life's blessings and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showGot your own question for Rabbi Bernath? He can be reached at rabbi@jewishndg.com or http://www.theloverabbi.comSingle? You can make a profile on www.JMontreal.com and Rabbi Bernath will help you find that special someone.Donate and support Rabbi Bernath's work http://www.jewishndg.com/donateFollow Rabbi Bernath's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ybernathAccess Rabbi Bernath's Articles on Relationships https://medium.com/@loverabbi

This is my interview with author and historian Dr. James Gelvin , professor of Middle Eastern history at UCLA. [ This episode was originally released in December 2020. Professor Gelvin will be coming back for an episode next season to give an update on what's occurred in the past four years. ] The episode is centered around the Israel and Palestine conundrum, but touches upon the rich and ancient culture of the region known as Palestine and the recent normalization of relations that the Trump administration announced with the state of Israel. There's also a detour into the state of the Middle East as a whole, if the Arab spring has run dry, how the middle east is the most food insecure region in the world, which segued into how neo-liberal policies create much civil and economic unrest. Along with thought provoking ideas on revolutions and nationalism. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know (0:00) - Episode Introduction (6:24) - Traveling (10:14) - Framing the Israel-Palestine Conflict (16:24) - Identity and Nationalism (20:27) - The Legacy of the Ottoman Empire (34:12) - The Creation of Nations (38:39) - The Six Day War and it's Relevance (46:03) - The Water Wars & The Arab Spring (56:46) - Has the Arab Spring Run Dry? Tunisia as an Outlier (59:27) - Understanding Neoliberalism and its Emergent Effects (1:17:23) - Oslo Accords and Trump's Impact (1:41:05) - Land for Peace Formula, Israel's Policy of Deterrence (1:44:01) - Saudi Arabia's Diversification Efforts

Natan Sharansky is a renowned human rights activist, former Soviet dissident, Israeli politician, and author. In 1977, Sharansky was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor in a Soviet prison for the crime of advocating for human rights and the right for Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. After nine years of imprisonment, under harsh conditions and including long periods of solitary confinement, Sharankly was released in 1986 as part of a political prisoner exchange between the Soviet Union and western nations. Upon his release, he emigrated to Israel, where he became a prominent figure in Israeli politics and global Jewish advocacy.  In this wide-ranging interview, Sharansky discusses pressing geopolitical issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the nature of anti-Semitism on university campuses, and the role of the United States in supporting Israel and the broader free world. He also reflects on the 1977 Oslo Accords, the resilience of Israeli society amid ongoing threats, and the enduring significance of freedom and identity in Sharansky's life and worldview. Sharansky also examines America's responsibility as a leader in the free world, the challenges posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions, and the deeper cultural and spiritual threads that unite the Jewish people. Recorded on November 18, 2024.

In this re-release, we delve into the Oslo Accords, a pivotal moment in Israeli-Palestinian history that promised peace but now feels more elusive than ever. Amidst the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict and regional instability, we explore the complexities, missed opportunities, and enduring challenges that continue to shape the quest for peace in the Middle East. Can we still dare to hope for a resolution? ------------- Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R1WuODAcUUbYGMBnTfD2Yj4N_VRBZZVSLG4nTOdISiM/edit?usp=sharing

Since 1948, Israel has imposed policies and measures to control and hamper the Palestinian economy. In this episode of “This is Palestine,” host Diana Buttu speaks to Ali Hamdallah, a prominent Palestinian economist and analyst. Buttu and Hamdallah discuss the various ways Israel intentionally targets and controls the Palestinian economy to obstruct Palestinian sovereignty. In the episode, we hear how Israel's theft of Palestinian land and natural resources is directly related to blocking the Palestinian people's ability to have a self-sufficient economy. Buttu and Hamdallah break down the infamous Oslo Accords and discuss how in actuality the Oslo Accords provide Israel with the tools and infrastructure to control the Palestinian economy including trade and production forcing Palestinians to be dependent on Israel. Listen to this episode to get a deep dive into one of the most vital aspects of Israel's control of Palestinian life. Thank you for listening to 'This is Palestine'!  Follow our host Diana Buttu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianabuttu%C2%A0 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimeu/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIMEU Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theIMEU/ Visit our website: https://imeu.org

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the second of what has become a three-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), The Dig's series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. This episode takes us from the disastrous Oslo Accords through the 2000 Camp David Summit and the eruption of the Second Palestinian Intifada. Then the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terror, the US destruction of Iraq, the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War, and the rise of Islamic State. A century of Western imperialism had undermined Arab revolutionary movements and governments; the new millennium brought two decades of US-led war that destroyed the Arab state system. Atop its wreckage was the explosion of sectarian violence and murderous authoritarianism across the Arab East. Hope still resides in the power of popular renewal.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigBuy Visualizing Palestine at haymarketbooks.org Buy Exit Wounds at UCPress.edu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The genocide in Gaza has brought the issue of Israel — and what it represents for Jewish people — into the forefront of Jewish communities worldwide. The powerful influence of the Israel lobby on Israel’s image in the United States makes this issue highly contentious and deeply complex. In this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, host Robert Scheer and Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), a nonprofit dedicated to fostering peace between Israel and Palestine, explain — as two Jewish individuals — how they navigate these complex issues, both in their professional work and personal lives. Drawing on her experience working with the U.S. Foreign Service in Jerusalem around the time of the Oslo Accords, Friedman offers a complex view of the politics of the situation. Friedman discusses not only the evolving Jewish relationship to Israel but also the plight of the Palestinians who are often subjected to displacement, violence and death. Friedman highlights a critical distinction when discussing the Oslo Accords: unlike most treaties, which are based on a balance of interests, the Israel-Palestine agreement is rooted in a balance of power. This dynamic, which heavily favors Israel, was recognized by Friedman: “I think that became very clear as the underlying dynamic of Oslo very, very quickly.” When it comes to interpreting Israel, Friedman points out the difficulty in engaging with its defenders. “The entirety of Israel's existence has been grounded in a series of narratives, and it's almost a pick a long menu for which narrative best suits you at what moment,” she tells Scheer. The narrative turning Hamas’ recent attack on Israel into a justification of the genocidal attack on Gaza has made it very difficult for anti-Zionist or non-Zionist Jews to express themselves. Friedman conveys her frustration: “I'm now living in a world where it doesn't matter what your level of faith is, it doesn't matter what your genealogy is, it doesn't matter your self identification. If you're not deeply Zionist in your political outlook, then you're not really a Jew.”

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the second of what has become a three-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), our series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. This episode takes us from the disastrous Oslo Accords through the 2000 Camp David Summit and the eruption of the Second Palestinian Intifada. Then the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terror, the US destruction of Iraq, the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War, and the rise of Islamic State. A century of Western imperialism had undermined Arab revolutionary movements and governments; the new millennium brought two decades of US-led war that destroyed the Arab state system. Atop its wreckage was the explosion of sectarian violence and murderous authoritarianism across the Arab East. Hope still resides in the power of popular renewal. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy Visualizing Palestine at haymarketbooks.org Buy Exit Wounds at UCPress.edu

The brothers welcome Yara Hawari (@yarahawari), Co-director of Al-Shabaka, to discuss how the Oslo Accords transformed Palestinian civic life, the emergence of the PA from the PLO, the significance of the increasing number of political and social ruptures among Zionist settlers, and what role the Global South can play in the movement to liberate Palestine. This episode is co-published with Al-Shabaka's Rethinking Palestine podcast Watch the episode on our YouTube channel Date of recording: Sept 2, 2024. Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii *Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest bonus episode.*  

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the first of a two-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), our series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today's installment covers the Iranian Islamic Revolution's huge impact across the Arab East alongside Saudi and Egyptian efforts to foster religious conservative movements in an effort to supplant and suppress the secular nationalist left. Plus the Iran-Iraq War, the mujahideen in Afghanistan, the First Intifada, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the first US-led invasion of Iraq, and the PLO's march toward the Oslo Accords–and how Hamas and Islamic Jihad stepped into the resulting vacuum, picking up a Palestinian armed struggle the PLO had renounced.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigBuy Nuclear Is Not The Solution at versobooks.comBuy The Wannabe Fascists at UCPress.edu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the first of a two-part epilogue to Thawra (Revolution), our series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today's installment covers the Iranian Islamic Revolution's huge impact across the Arab East alongside Saudi and Egyptian efforts to foster religious conservative movements in an effort to supplant and suppress the secular nationalist left. Plus the Iran-Iraq War, the mujahideen in Afghanistan, the First Intifada, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the first US-led invasion of Iraq, and the PLO's march toward the Oslo Accords–and how Hamas and Islamic Jihad stepped into the resulting vacuum, picking up a Palestinian armed struggle the PLO had renounced. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy Nuclear Is Not The Solution at versobooks.com Buy The Wannabe Fascists at UCPress.edu

The one time Palestinians and Israelis were apparently close to peace was in 1993 at the signing of the Oslo Accords. 30 years on, peace has never looked as unlikely as it does now, which begs the question, what was in these 'peace' agreements and can they really have been as comprehensive as they are often nowadays made out to be? In this episode, we take a look at the context and the specifics of the Oslo Accords themselves, painting a picture to show that their downfall was not only expected, but inevitable.

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Friday, July 5, 2024.TRNN has partnered with Loreto to syndicate and share her daily news digest with our audience. Tune in every morning to the TRNN podcast feed to hear the latest important news stories from Canada and worldwide.Find more headlines from Nora at Sandy & Nora Talk Politics podcast feed.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcastReferenced articles:Story 1 - 150 anomalies have been found at the site of the former residential school at Pimicikmamak.Story 2 - Strike at the LCBO for the first time in the Crown's history.Story 3 - Pro-Palestinian protesters at Western refuse to leave.Story 4 - Israel moves to make the biggest land grab in the West Bank since the Oslo Accords.Story 5 - With a small percentage of the popular vote, Labour careens to victory in the UK.

To international law expert Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University, all the arguments that make Israel out to be an occupying force collapse under the weight of a single, simple fact: A country cannot occupy territory to which it has a legal claim. Listen as Kontorovich speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the legal issues surrounding occupation as well as the moral issues of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. They also discuss the crazy-quilt legal environment of jurisdiction in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords of 1993. Finally, they explore the likely outcomes of current proposals for a Palestinian state in the West Bank.

It's an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Regina Kunzel, professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Yale University, to discuss her recent book In the Shadow of Diagnosis: Psychiatric Power and Queer Life. Then, she speaks with Beshara Doumani, professor of Palestinian studies at Brown University, to discuss the 76th anniversary of the Nakba. First, Emma runs through updates on South Africa's ICJ appeal to stop Israel's Rafah invasion, growing public dissent from Biden allies to his support of Israel's genocide, the US' detainment of an anti-zionist Israeli academic, Bob Menendez's genius legal tactic, the assassination attempt on Slovakia's Prime Minister, Trump's legal woes, Argentinian homophobic hate crimes, and Louisiana gerrymandering, before watching CNN try to save face on their coverage of the violence against student protesters. Professor Regina Kunzel then dives right into the history of the psychiatric industry, from its roots as a custodial care industry (asylums, etc) in the 19th Century, through its slow battle for professional legitimacy over the first half of the 1900s, exploring how this push for legitimacy saw the industry lay claim to a wide range of “problems in living” such as anxiety, depression, and (importantly) homosexuality and gender nonconformity. Expanding on this, Professor Kunzel tackles the presentation of queerness as a “treatable” mental disorder, one that would eventually be codified as a personality disorder (alongside pedophilia and sadism) with the introduction of the DSM in 1952, before stepping back to look at the role World War II, and more specifically the emphasis on mental health screenings, had in giving state-backed legitimacy to the psychiatric industry writ large, and in its particular pathologization of queer identity. After looking at the central role de-pathologizing homosexuality played in the gay rights movement of the 1970s, and the side-effect of gender “deviance” taking a back seat to homosexuality, Professor Kunzel wraps up with the re-emergence of the medical and psychiatric attack on queer identity with the mainstreaming of transphobic politics over the last decade. Professor Beshara Doumani then joins, walking through the 76 years of Palestinian oppression and ethnic cleansing since the 1948 Nakba, with the original event seeing the expulsion of over 80% of Palestinians from their homes, the end of the Palestinian state (and Palestinian society), and the creation of the State of Israel in the vacuum left by British colonial rule. Continuing the conversation, Professor Doumani contextualizes the central role the Nakba plays in Palestinian trauma and oppression to this day, exacerbated and brought to the fore with the following “earthquakes” of the 1967 Six-Day War, which saw hundreds of thousands more Palestinians ethnically cleansed, and the Oslo Accords complete isolation of Palestinians between the river and the sea. After diving deeper into the particular failure of the 2-state “solution,” Professor Doumani walks Emma through the specific repression he's faced as a Palestinian academic, and the tremendous increase it has seen in the wake of October 7th. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they watch British bigot Mike Graham boot Arab-Israeli Jew Avi Shlaim from his program for being honest about Israeli apartheid. Alec from Western New York explores the evolution of his perspective on anti-zionism, Mike in Denver on the second coming of meme-stock, and Bumble creator discusses the alienating future of AI-infused dating. Plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Regina's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo212129044.html Hear Beshara speak more about the Nakba here: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/05/15/al-nakba-palestinians Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Help out the state of Utah by telling them what you see in public bathrooms here!: https://ut-sao-special-prod.web.app/sex_basis_complaint2.html Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That's an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Happy Monday! Sam & Emma host Teresa Ghilarducci, director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) at The New School, to discuss her recent book Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the State Department's Leahy Law report, the contradictory evacuation orders coming out of Gaza, internal dissent in the Biden Administration, Trump-Biden polling, Trump's legal woes, Katie Britt, labor action, and Nancy Mace, also diving into the Biden Administration's changing position on Israel's war. Teresa Ghilarducci then joins, diving right into the recent report on Social Security trust's longevity, and unpacking the myths of the US' supposed “retirement crisis,” before exploring why the incredible low-end wage growth and robust employment of the post-2020 US economy has proven to be the best formula for funding any retirement system. Next, Ghilarducci steps back as she, Sam, and Emma walk through the primary issue facing Social Security's funding: the $168k income cap. Teresa parses through how this cap cuts off vast quantities of income in the US from the reaches of Social Security, with folks like Elon Musk covering their yearly payment before January 1st is half over, the additional source of income of capital gains revenue that remains untouched by Social Security, and the minimal impact that eliminating either of these restrictions would have on economic activity. After an extensive conversation on the shift in US retirement from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, how that change shifted the risk on the shoulders of the employees, and why employers have such a drastically better capacity to handle said risk, Ghilarducci tackles the false narrative around the state of retirement age and labor in the US, and wraps up with the central elements of her “Grey New Deal” plan to reaffirm the value of the US labor force. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss the gaping Candace Owens-sized hole in the Daily Wire's newest production, Lindsay Graham discusses nuking Gaza, and watch a Zionist Joe Scarborough get put in his place by his father-in-law over the Oslo Accords. They also watch Kowalski from Nebraska discuss his Senate campaign live on KETV, tackle Trump's return to his roots (lying about his crowd size), and listen to Tim Pool discuss the negatives (calls the Bible antisemitic) and positives (calls the Quran antisemitic) of the US' new Antisemitism bill, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Teresa's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo212888995.html Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Help out the state of Utah by telling them what you see in public bathrooms here!: https://ut-sao-special-prod.web.app/sex_basis_complaint2.html Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammed Nasrallah, whose family is trying to leave Gaza for Egypt: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mohammed-nasserallah-and-family-go-to-egypt Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code TMR. That's https://Nutrafol.com, promo code TMR. Henson Shaving: It's time to say no to subscriptions and yes to a razor that'll last you a lifetime. Visit https://HENSONSHAVING.com/MAJORITY to pick the razor for you and use code MAJORITY and you'll get two years' worth of blades free with your razor–just make sure to add them to your cart. 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Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Rashid Khalidi, professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, to discuss his 2020 book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, and his views on the Israel-Gaza conflict as it stands now. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the Supreme Court keeping Trump on the ballot for November, the GOP primary, the US airdropping aid to Gaza, Super Tuesday, Haiti's State of Emergency, the GOP's struggle to run the House, and the major anti-trust victory over the Jet Blue-Spirit merger, also parsing through Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tentatively wading into the “temporary ceasefire” conversation. Professor Rashid Khalidi then joins, first stepping back to explain why he began his work on Palestinian resistance in 1917, well before the establishment of the state of Israel, looking at the central role of the West – namely Britain and the US – in support and facilitating the violent establishment and maintenance of a Zionist apartheid state. Beginning in 1917, Professor Khalidi then works his way through the history of Palestinian's last century of struggle, first exploring occupation under the British mandate, the role of European nationalism and anti-semitism in facilitating the Balfour declaration and the establishment of a Zionist state, and the combination of violent British and Zionist repression against Palestinians, alongside mass ethnic cleansing, in the decades leading up to World War II. After touching on the evolution of both the Palestinian nationalist movement and the extremist zionist cause over this era, Rashid walks Sam and Emma through Israel's various extreme massacres and ethnic cleansing that occurred leading up to and during the 1948 Nakba, the role of the one-sided UN Partition plan in pushing the start of the catastrophe, and the devastating impact it had on the state of the Palestinian nationalist movement. Next, Professor Khalidi, Sam, and Emma look at the evolution of Israel's apartheid rule and ethnic cleansing over the two decades before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the impact of that war in furthering the devastation, before looking at the rebirth of the Palestinian nationalist movement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization and First Intifada. After tackling the failure of the Oslo Accords (and the negotiations around them), Professor Khalidi runs through the major influence of US politics in all evolutions of the conflict in the second half of the century, a trend that would grow in the wake of the Second Intifada in 2000, and continues to this day, before wrapping the interview up with a quick assessment of the central role of the US in facilitating the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the role of the other Arab states in the region. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma talk with John from San Antonio as he previews major Super Tuesday races including finding Feinstein's replacement and progressive battles in Texas, New York, North Carolina, and more. They also watch CNN's Christiane Amanpour nail Netanyahu's Special Advisor on Israel's involvement in the Flour Massacre, and Jesse Watters spotlights Tulsi Gabbard for Trump's VP. Trump stumbles over the Q-Anon anthem, Tyler from Washington explores the new era of social media, and Mitch McConnell's GOP colleagues begin to demand he align with Trump's agenda, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Rashid's book here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627798556/thehundredyearswaronpalestine Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/; if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com Check out the Letterhack's YouTube page and catch John from San Antonio appearing on the show!: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLetterhack Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new Check out filmmaker and friend of the show Janek Ambros's new documentary "Ukrainians in Exile" here: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/ukrainians-in-exile-doc/ Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Factor: Head to https://factormeals.com/majority50 and use code majority50 to get 50% off. 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Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the problems with issue polling and issues with political journalism; the chaos and conflict of Sam Altman and OpenAI; and the failure of the Oslo Accords and perpetual struggle between Israel and Palestine. Send us your Conundrums: submit them at slate.com/conundrum. And join us in-person or online with our special guest – The Late Show's Steven Colbert – for Gabfest Live: The Conundrums Edition! December 7 at The 92nd Street Y, New York City. Tickets on sale now!   Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Nate Cohn for The New York Times: The Crisis in Issue Polling, and What We're Doing About It and We Did an Experiment to See How Much Democracy and Abortion Matter to Voters Claire Cain Miller and Francesca Paris for The New York Times: The Great Disconnect: Why Voters Feel One Way About the Economy but Act Differently The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank Eli Saslow for The New York Times: A Jan. 6 Defendant Pleads His Case to the Son Who Turned Him In Brian Beutler for the Off Message newsletter: The 2024 Election Is About Real Things Charlie Warzel for The Atlantic: The Money Always Wins and Karen Hao and Charlie Warzel: Inside the Chaos at OpenAI John Dickerson and Jo Ling Kent for CBS News Prime Time: What Sam Altman's ouster from OpenAI could mean for the tech world Pranshu Verman, Nitasha Tiku, and Gerrit De Vynck for The Washington Post: Sam Altman reinstated as OpenAI CEO with new board members  Louise Matsakis and Reed Albergotti for Semafor: The AI industry turns against its favorite philosophy Emily Bazelon for The New York Times Magazine: Was Peace Ever Possible?  Ezra Klein for The New York Times's The Ezra Klein Show podcast: The Best Primer I've Heard on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Efforts Oslo on HBO John Dickerson for CBS Mornings: Former President Jimmy Carter: “America will learn from its mistakes” The Lady Bird Diaries on Hulu Eleanor Roosevelt in a Coal by Bettman and The George Washington University's Case Study: Eleanor Roosevelt's Visit to Coal Mine (1935)   Here are this week's chatters: John: Julia Simon for NPR: ‘It feels like I'm not crazy.' Gardeners aren't surprised as USDA updates key map and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: USDA Unveils Updated Plant Hardiness Zone Map Emily: Liran Samuni and Martin Surbeck in Science: Cooperation across social borders in bonobos and The Bonobo Sisterhood: Revolution Through Female Alliance by Diane Rosenfeld  David: City Cast Executive Producer, Nashville, Executive Producer, Austin, and Events Director, remote and The National WWII Museum: WWII Veteran Statistics  Listener chatter from Dimitri in Boulder, Colorado: University of Evansville: Library of Congress Recognizes Plagiarized University of Evansville Archaeologist After 90 Years and Jessica Blake for Inside Higher Ed: Female Archaeologist's Work Receives Overdue Recognition—90 Years Later   For this week's Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk about the death of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and her 77-year marriage with Jimmy Carter. See also Rick Rojas for The New York Times: The Carters' Hometown Mourns for the Love of a Lifetime and Peter Baker: Rosalynn Carter Helped Shape the Role of the Modern First Lady. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with James Sturm about Watership Down: The Graphic Novel. See also James Sturm and Joe Sutphin in The New York Times: In Times of Danger, There's Strength in Numbers.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth  Research by Julie Huygen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices