Join me tomorrow, Friday 6:00pm ET for a live Q&A on Palestine. We will be streaming on my Twitter account and on my YouTube channel. We will be taking questions both live and from this post on Substack. To comment here, you must be a paid subscriber. Hope to see you there!
How many countries do you think will cease all recognition of Israel by stopping trade, diplomatic relations etc, and can that, if enough do that, lead Israel to ceasing to be?
America can't because the American government is infiltrated with Israel first Jews ....no secret war plans against Israel can happen without the Israeli leadership finding out immediately. Further, if other countries or coalition decided to attack Israel or her nuclear weapons bases they would be in a faced off militarily with America for the same reason because Israeli Jews have infiltrated the US government
So who will stop this genocide?
How will it end?
Think about the Israelis completing this genocide and the prescident that sets for the rest of the global south. Well, or any place else for that matter. !
Question number two how do you feel about the United States removing somehow anyone loyal to Israel who supported this genocide I mean removing them from their powerful positions somehow. Maybe through ICC or ICJ
Remember, Christian Zionists far outnumber Jewish ones. Also, are you suggesting that some political or judicial body of the United States remove those in power loyal to Israel and supportive of the genocide ? Because that will never happen. Who would do this ? And the U.S.A. would fight any measures by the ICC or ICJ to do so, in any fashion - as it already is regarding the ICC arrest warrant applications for Netanyahu and other Israeli office holders.
i'm pretty sure Christian Zionism came from jews. so it's kind of the same one of the other who cares they're committing genocide
you call them anything you want ... call them unga bunga Zionists who cares what they're called they're committing genocide. They're not OK. They need to be removed from power. they're complicit.
I am presently making phone calls for Jamaal Bowman. As you must know, his opponent, George Latimer, is taking around $25 million in AIPAC and Republican funds. Occassionally I'll get someone challenging me (I tell them my last name, unfortunately, and it's a Jewish last name) and telling me that Bowman is anti-Semitic because he supports a ceasefire in Gaza. He says that Hamas raped people across the border and asks if I support rapists. But when I mention AIPAC he yells, "You're talking about 'Jewish money'! How anti-Semitic are you? Do you know how anti-Semitic this country has become? It's everywhere!" I realize that I shouldn't have engaged him, but could you, in your usual calm way, respond to his comments? He also brought up the fact that Israel has been a haven for the Jews who were kicked out of the Arab countries. Israelis and others wonder why those countries don't take in the Palestinians. I know that these other countries aren't required to take in Palestinian refugees, even though some of them have taken them in. My fear: Israel will make the election of Trump more likely, and he and his son-in-law will build a resort in Gaza, hiring the remaining Palestinians to work there. Please assuage my fears if you would. Thank you!
Hi Marcia - it's appalling that you had to endure such an unpleasant encounter. While I'm by no means an expert like Mr. Hedges is (and I really hope he does comment on this as well), I'd like to share what I've learnt over the years to counter the nonsensical talking points that you had to put up with.
First, they use the anti-Semitism smear tactic and put words in your mouth because they really can't engage with the facts (they'd have to make overtly genocidal statements to defend the indefensible). So the next time somebody throws the anti-Semitism slur at you - all you have to ask them is: "and I'm sure you were just as rambunctious in calling out anti-Jewish bigotry when unite the right marchers were chanting 'Jews will not replace us' in Charlottesville or when POTUS45 invited the holocaust denier Nick Fuentes to Mar-a-lago or when MJT went off on her rant about 'Jewish space lasers' causing the California wildfires." Odds are they wouldn't have objected one bit to any of this.
The mass rapes claim has been repeatedly debunked. You can check out Grayzone, the Intercept, Electronic Intifada, the Al-Jazeera investigation into October 7th and the likes. The Times of London most recently also published a piece refuting this baseless allegation (the first mainstream Western publication to do so, see: https://youtu.be/JZTTBuWgn0o?si=bJm8lGNXuMpQ3kUJ). Furthermore, the Israelis have been using widespread sexual abuse to torture Palestinian hostages (yes - they're hostages, many are held in administrative detention without charge and without trial for months if not years) as recently reported by CNN (an outlet that certainly isn't sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, see: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd/index.html). A few months ago, former state department official Josh Paul spoke about an what was done to an NGO that investigated the sexual abuse of a 13 year old Palestinian child in an Israeli prison on the same network as well (see: https://youtu.be/Zrb_cb6-rHI?si=RRI2Vj0-ARq8f1CB). So if anyone throws the 'rapist supporter' smear at you, all you have to say is: "Those claims have been thoroughly debunked as atrocity propaganda. But given that you're rightfully speaking out so vociferously against rape, I'm sure you'll unequivocally support demanding that Palestinian women and children held captive in Israeli prisons should not have objects shoved into their private parts. Or does it only matter to you when the victims are of a certain ethnic or religious background?" More often than not, when the Israelis level an accusation - they're guilty of exactly the same thing (human shields being another prime example, see: https://www.btselem.org/topic/human_shields).
As for West Asian and North African Jews being 'kicked out' of their homelands, there is some historical scholarship that's been done on this subject to debunk this myth as well. Long story short, Israel had to covertly engineer conditions in Iraq, Yemen etc. to get the Arab (or Mizrahi) Jews to move to Israel because not enough European Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Israel after the WWII (see: https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/truth-behind-israeli-propaganda-expulsion-arab-jews#google_vignette). British Israeli historian Avi Shlaim (who is an Iraqi Jew by origin) has also written about how the role of the Zionists in causing the exodus of 120,000 Jews from Iraq in 1950-51 (see: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-jews-attacks-zionist-role-confirmed-operative-police-report). This narrative is used to draw a false equivalence between what happened to Arab Jews in the late 1940s and 1950s and the mass acts of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Zionists in 1947-49 and again in 1967.
As for AIPAC money - here's a factsheet which talks about how much money has been spent on election campaigns from the horse's mouth (which can be downloaded from their website, see: https://aipacorg.app.box.com/s/3bnlheso6zkiicp3znpbrqqdqhku698j). They openly talk and publish information of how much money they've spent on supporting pro-Israel candidates. So the next time someone gets all worked up about the 'Jewish money' trope, just direct them to the AIPAC website. And don't forget to ask if they've reported Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Jair Bolsanaro and the likes to the ADL for repeatedly using George Soros as a strawman and dogwhistling the anti-Semitic 'globalist plot' trope (which is just the 'Jewish money' trope repackaged to sound less overtly racist in this day and age).
There are upwards of six million Palestinian refugees in neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan etc.). They don't want to resettle in other countries (Arab or otherwise) because they want to go back to their homes in their ancestral homeland from which they were forcibly kicked out of. I think if you were to ask most refugees of any origin (even if they have acquired citizenship of another country through an asylum programme), the overwhelming majority would much rather have never left in the first place. People do not choose to become refugees. Conditions deteriorate so drastically that they're compelled to leave their homelands.
Arab neighbours in large part haven't done more for two reasons. First, they're militarily much weaker than the Israelis to shift the balance of power sufficiently enough to demand any meaningful concessions from them (after getting defeated in 1973, Egypt had little choice but to settle with getting the Sinai back by signing the Camp David accord in 1979). Second, many have been pacified with bribes (a.k.a financial aid which largely benefits corrupt elites in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf monarchies and so on) to remain on the sidelines. More broadly speaking, there's a reason why much of the West has supported despotic regimes in the Arab world for decades - because if they had to take the sentiment of the Arab street into account, these governments would use what they have (oil, strategic location and the likes) as leverage to extract concessions that matter to their people. Needless to say, these despots have cynically used the Palestinian cause to pacify their own populations as and when it is politically expedient.
My apologies for such a lengthy response to the deeply unpleasant encounter that you had. Unfortunately - it's likely that something like this might recur if you're working on the Bowman campaign. While I clearly lack the 'calmness' that Mr. Hedges does, I nonetheless hope that you find some of what I shared helpful and informative in countering defamatory and derogatory slurs that are used to silence those speaking up against the horrific injustices that have been meted out on Palestinians for a century. Curious to hear what Mr. Hedges has to say in response as well.
Yes, thanks. As a kid I was bathed in Israeli propaganda. Most of us were. So much guilt over the Holocaust. I have many relatives in Israel and lived there myself in the mid-70s, playing the cello in the Jerusalem Symphony. So all this really hits home.
The person I spoke to is correct about one thing--anti-Semitism/Israel. But I don't blame people. I imagine, if Israel no longer existed (something some people are predicting happening in 20 years) who would take them in? I think of the settlers stomping on noodles. It's funny/pathetic. I'm against wasting food, and this image really bothers me. It's a slap in the face of the hundreds of people who worked to get those noodles to Palestine --the farmers, the packagers, the port workers. And then just stomped on! Let alone the people who could have been prevented from starving to death! The answer to the question, though, is, maybe the US? (I'm Jewish. That's why I answer a question with another question!) Anyway, what a tragic mess. I'm grateful for your knowledge and perspective.
Do you think there might be ways we, who yearn deeply for freedom and healing for Palestine and for all people, might kindle awareness of the mental health conditions that drive settler colonialism and genocide? People with unhealed trauma of which they are not conscious can sometimes do terrible things to others and to themselves because they are interiorly blocked from inner resources that could give rise to recognizing a need for personal change and to seeking diplomacy rather than egregious violence and lies as their modus operendi.
Hi Chris, recently, there’s been great fanfare surrounding the news that Intel is pausing the $25 billion expansion of its manufacturing operations in Israel. This is good news indeed. Corporations like Intel hold a unique position in global capitalism and U.S. Empire given the unique commodity they produce (microchips) and the outsized role they plan in perpetuating Israel apartheid. However, the BDS National Committee posted on Instagram that this represents the “Biggest BDS Victory Ever.”
I’m concerned that the BDS movement isn’t critically analyzing how and why these things actually happen. My sense is that Intel’s decision has very little to do with pressure from the BDS movement, and everything to do with a much wider confluence of factors. After all, Intel is near-impossible to boycott because there’s very little agency we have as retail customers when buying Intel products — not to mention that the military and other corporations are large buyers of Intel products. It’s also unclear whether divestment truly impacts Intel’s corporate decision-making given the State’s role as a major investor of capital. The State pumps large sums of capital into corporations like Intel through legislation such as the CHIPS Act. This blunts the power and influence of individual and institutional investors. If only we developed a clear-eyed analysis of Intel and its actions, we might better understand how corporations like Intel function and how to undermine them in furtherance of Palestinian liberation.
My question is: How should we think about — and what should we do in the face of — giant tech companies that both perpetuate Israeli apartheid and are so enmeshed with State power that they become difficult targets for the BDS movement?
Is the collpase of the US empire a prerequisite for Israel to stop its genocide? Would Israel's economy have enough resources and time to build up a local arms industry in such a case? Should international pressure to prevent the massacre not make enough headway to stop millions from starving, do you think that rival powers in the region, notably Iran, could and would counter Israel militarily?
How do you plan to cover Gaza/Palestine/Israel now knowing what you know from your experience, the state of modern technology, and Israel’s extensive targeting of journalists? What advice would you give a younger version of yourself if you were just starting out as a reporter, headed to work in an extremely hostile environment in the Levant?
What do you feel are the most important informational black holes that journalists need to shine light into right now, especially with regard to Palestine/Israel, or more generally? What are most reporters missing?
What do you see as the critical skills and tools journalists need to double down on in order to counter AI, deepfakes, and the expanding universe of misinformation? Do you see certain new technologies as particularly useful in combating propaganda, or a radical emphasis on empathetic storytelling?
First and foremost, thank you, thank you, thank you! As a long time admirer I look forward to all your programs. Sadly, I am often confused by tech issues. It took me awhile to find your Q & A.
When I did it was a previous one. As there was no date, I find this true on many youtubes, it wasn't until I listened awhile I realized this. Fiddled around for quite awhile and finally was on today's, June 21. My fault. My 91 year old brain can't keep up with the times. Most of my energy is spent working on local and state issues. I've found there are many who are well aware of our government's dysfunction. There are multiple groups who are trying to address the real issues. One national one, Move to Amend, goes back to 2010. They are all in their separate cocoons. They need someone to organize them. What seems to be missing is a charismatic leader. Do all movements need a Jesus or a Hitler? BTW do you remember Doris Haddock (Granny D)? She was the person who exposed me to the influence of corporate money and influence in government. Wishing you and your family well. Keep educating us.
This morning Al Jazeera English released a new documentary – “The Night Won’t End” – takes an in-depth look at attacks on civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the United States’ role in the war. The film follows three Palestinian families as they recount the horrific experiences they have endured under relentless Israeli assault, including the family of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, the young Palestinian girl who made headlines when it emerged in January that she had been trapped in a car with family members killed by Israeli ground troops. You can watch the documentary on Al Jazeera English’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFpW5zoFXA&t=1569s (1:18:36).
Before the release of the documentary, DemocracyNow!’s Amy Goodman interviewed the director - Kavitha Chekuru and the leading correspondent - Sharif Abdel Kouddous. She also played an excerpt of the film that starts with the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/21/the_night_wont_end. DemocracyNow! is one of the few U.S. media outlets that regularly broadcasts interviews from inside Gaza and the West Bank and provides a voice for Palestinian journalists.
Amy ends the interview with this message:
“Remember, when you watch coverage in the corporate media of what’s happening in Gaza, count how many times that network tells you, whatever the network, whether we’re talking Fox, MSNBC, CNN, how many times do they tell you their reporters are not allowed in Gaza unaccompanied. This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Our guests have been Sharif Abdel Kouddous, correspondent on the new Al Jazeera Fault Lines documentary, The Night Won’t End, and Kavitha Chekuru, the film’s director.”
It seems self-evident to me that the world majority is overrun and overwhelmed by warmongering and profiteering (which are essentially the same thing) differing only in armament and materiel.
With your firsthand experience and acute understanding of the powers and forces involved in this evil enterprise, apparently US corporatocracy as its power nexus, what can 'we the people' do, if anything, to end the savagery of this greatest evil, especially as it's being unleashed in Palestine, Gaza, and Ukraine today?
Your book American Fascists thoroughly explains both their disturbing distortion of Christ’s teachings and their danger to the United States. Is Zionism an equivalent distortion of Judaism and a danger to Israel’s “democracy?”
If Netanyahu told Joe Biden to jump off the Empire State Building, do you think he would do it?
P perhaps he would if he could find it. He probably would get lost in Queens.
You're funnier than I am :)
Great idea ! A suicide pact, even better.
How many countries do you think will cease all recognition of Israel by stopping trade, diplomatic relations etc, and can that, if enough do that, lead Israel to ceasing to be?
Who will stop this genocide?
America can't because the American government is infiltrated with Israel first Jews ....no secret war plans against Israel can happen without the Israeli leadership finding out immediately. Further, if other countries or coalition decided to attack Israel or her nuclear weapons bases they would be in a faced off militarily with America for the same reason because Israeli Jews have infiltrated the US government
So who will stop this genocide?
How will it end?
Think about the Israelis completing this genocide and the prescident that sets for the rest of the global south. Well, or any place else for that matter. !
Question number two how do you feel about the United States removing somehow anyone loyal to Israel who supported this genocide I mean removing them from their powerful positions somehow. Maybe through ICC or ICJ
Remember, Christian Zionists far outnumber Jewish ones. Also, are you suggesting that some political or judicial body of the United States remove those in power loyal to Israel and supportive of the genocide ? Because that will never happen. Who would do this ? And the U.S.A. would fight any measures by the ICC or ICJ to do so, in any fashion - as it already is regarding the ICC arrest warrant applications for Netanyahu and other Israeli office holders.
i'm pretty sure Christian Zionism came from jews. so it's kind of the same one of the other who cares they're committing genocide
you call them anything you want ... call them unga bunga Zionists who cares what they're called they're committing genocide. They're not OK. They need to be removed from power. they're complicit.
Thank you, Chris Hedges.
I am presently making phone calls for Jamaal Bowman. As you must know, his opponent, George Latimer, is taking around $25 million in AIPAC and Republican funds. Occassionally I'll get someone challenging me (I tell them my last name, unfortunately, and it's a Jewish last name) and telling me that Bowman is anti-Semitic because he supports a ceasefire in Gaza. He says that Hamas raped people across the border and asks if I support rapists. But when I mention AIPAC he yells, "You're talking about 'Jewish money'! How anti-Semitic are you? Do you know how anti-Semitic this country has become? It's everywhere!" I realize that I shouldn't have engaged him, but could you, in your usual calm way, respond to his comments? He also brought up the fact that Israel has been a haven for the Jews who were kicked out of the Arab countries. Israelis and others wonder why those countries don't take in the Palestinians. I know that these other countries aren't required to take in Palestinian refugees, even though some of them have taken them in. My fear: Israel will make the election of Trump more likely, and he and his son-in-law will build a resort in Gaza, hiring the remaining Palestinians to work there. Please assuage my fears if you would. Thank you!
Hi Marcia - it's appalling that you had to endure such an unpleasant encounter. While I'm by no means an expert like Mr. Hedges is (and I really hope he does comment on this as well), I'd like to share what I've learnt over the years to counter the nonsensical talking points that you had to put up with.
First, they use the anti-Semitism smear tactic and put words in your mouth because they really can't engage with the facts (they'd have to make overtly genocidal statements to defend the indefensible). So the next time somebody throws the anti-Semitism slur at you - all you have to ask them is: "and I'm sure you were just as rambunctious in calling out anti-Jewish bigotry when unite the right marchers were chanting 'Jews will not replace us' in Charlottesville or when POTUS45 invited the holocaust denier Nick Fuentes to Mar-a-lago or when MJT went off on her rant about 'Jewish space lasers' causing the California wildfires." Odds are they wouldn't have objected one bit to any of this.
The mass rapes claim has been repeatedly debunked. You can check out Grayzone, the Intercept, Electronic Intifada, the Al-Jazeera investigation into October 7th and the likes. The Times of London most recently also published a piece refuting this baseless allegation (the first mainstream Western publication to do so, see: https://youtu.be/JZTTBuWgn0o?si=bJm8lGNXuMpQ3kUJ). Furthermore, the Israelis have been using widespread sexual abuse to torture Palestinian hostages (yes - they're hostages, many are held in administrative detention without charge and without trial for months if not years) as recently reported by CNN (an outlet that certainly isn't sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, see: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd/index.html). A few months ago, former state department official Josh Paul spoke about an what was done to an NGO that investigated the sexual abuse of a 13 year old Palestinian child in an Israeli prison on the same network as well (see: https://youtu.be/Zrb_cb6-rHI?si=RRI2Vj0-ARq8f1CB). So if anyone throws the 'rapist supporter' smear at you, all you have to say is: "Those claims have been thoroughly debunked as atrocity propaganda. But given that you're rightfully speaking out so vociferously against rape, I'm sure you'll unequivocally support demanding that Palestinian women and children held captive in Israeli prisons should not have objects shoved into their private parts. Or does it only matter to you when the victims are of a certain ethnic or religious background?" More often than not, when the Israelis level an accusation - they're guilty of exactly the same thing (human shields being another prime example, see: https://www.btselem.org/topic/human_shields).
As for West Asian and North African Jews being 'kicked out' of their homelands, there is some historical scholarship that's been done on this subject to debunk this myth as well. Long story short, Israel had to covertly engineer conditions in Iraq, Yemen etc. to get the Arab (or Mizrahi) Jews to move to Israel because not enough European Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Israel after the WWII (see: https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/truth-behind-israeli-propaganda-expulsion-arab-jews#google_vignette). British Israeli historian Avi Shlaim (who is an Iraqi Jew by origin) has also written about how the role of the Zionists in causing the exodus of 120,000 Jews from Iraq in 1950-51 (see: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-jews-attacks-zionist-role-confirmed-operative-police-report). This narrative is used to draw a false equivalence between what happened to Arab Jews in the late 1940s and 1950s and the mass acts of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Zionists in 1947-49 and again in 1967.
As for AIPAC money - here's a factsheet which talks about how much money has been spent on election campaigns from the horse's mouth (which can be downloaded from their website, see: https://aipacorg.app.box.com/s/3bnlheso6zkiicp3znpbrqqdqhku698j). They openly talk and publish information of how much money they've spent on supporting pro-Israel candidates. So the next time someone gets all worked up about the 'Jewish money' trope, just direct them to the AIPAC website. And don't forget to ask if they've reported Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Jair Bolsanaro and the likes to the ADL for repeatedly using George Soros as a strawman and dogwhistling the anti-Semitic 'globalist plot' trope (which is just the 'Jewish money' trope repackaged to sound less overtly racist in this day and age).
There are upwards of six million Palestinian refugees in neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan etc.). They don't want to resettle in other countries (Arab or otherwise) because they want to go back to their homes in their ancestral homeland from which they were forcibly kicked out of. I think if you were to ask most refugees of any origin (even if they have acquired citizenship of another country through an asylum programme), the overwhelming majority would much rather have never left in the first place. People do not choose to become refugees. Conditions deteriorate so drastically that they're compelled to leave their homelands.
Arab neighbours in large part haven't done more for two reasons. First, they're militarily much weaker than the Israelis to shift the balance of power sufficiently enough to demand any meaningful concessions from them (after getting defeated in 1973, Egypt had little choice but to settle with getting the Sinai back by signing the Camp David accord in 1979). Second, many have been pacified with bribes (a.k.a financial aid which largely benefits corrupt elites in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf monarchies and so on) to remain on the sidelines. More broadly speaking, there's a reason why much of the West has supported despotic regimes in the Arab world for decades - because if they had to take the sentiment of the Arab street into account, these governments would use what they have (oil, strategic location and the likes) as leverage to extract concessions that matter to their people. Needless to say, these despots have cynically used the Palestinian cause to pacify their own populations as and when it is politically expedient.
My apologies for such a lengthy response to the deeply unpleasant encounter that you had. Unfortunately - it's likely that something like this might recur if you're working on the Bowman campaign. While I clearly lack the 'calmness' that Mr. Hedges does, I nonetheless hope that you find some of what I shared helpful and informative in countering defamatory and derogatory slurs that are used to silence those speaking up against the horrific injustices that have been meted out on Palestinians for a century. Curious to hear what Mr. Hedges has to say in response as well.
Yes, thanks. As a kid I was bathed in Israeli propaganda. Most of us were. So much guilt over the Holocaust. I have many relatives in Israel and lived there myself in the mid-70s, playing the cello in the Jerusalem Symphony. So all this really hits home.
The person I spoke to is correct about one thing--anti-Semitism/Israel. But I don't blame people. I imagine, if Israel no longer existed (something some people are predicting happening in 20 years) who would take them in? I think of the settlers stomping on noodles. It's funny/pathetic. I'm against wasting food, and this image really bothers me. It's a slap in the face of the hundreds of people who worked to get those noodles to Palestine --the farmers, the packagers, the port workers. And then just stomped on! Let alone the people who could have been prevented from starving to death! The answer to the question, though, is, maybe the US? (I'm Jewish. That's why I answer a question with another question!) Anyway, what a tragic mess. I'm grateful for your knowledge and perspective.
Do you think there might be ways we, who yearn deeply for freedom and healing for Palestine and for all people, might kindle awareness of the mental health conditions that drive settler colonialism and genocide? People with unhealed trauma of which they are not conscious can sometimes do terrible things to others and to themselves because they are interiorly blocked from inner resources that could give rise to recognizing a need for personal change and to seeking diplomacy rather than egregious violence and lies as their modus operendi.
Hi Chris, recently, there’s been great fanfare surrounding the news that Intel is pausing the $25 billion expansion of its manufacturing operations in Israel. This is good news indeed. Corporations like Intel hold a unique position in global capitalism and U.S. Empire given the unique commodity they produce (microchips) and the outsized role they plan in perpetuating Israel apartheid. However, the BDS National Committee posted on Instagram that this represents the “Biggest BDS Victory Ever.”
I’m concerned that the BDS movement isn’t critically analyzing how and why these things actually happen. My sense is that Intel’s decision has very little to do with pressure from the BDS movement, and everything to do with a much wider confluence of factors. After all, Intel is near-impossible to boycott because there’s very little agency we have as retail customers when buying Intel products — not to mention that the military and other corporations are large buyers of Intel products. It’s also unclear whether divestment truly impacts Intel’s corporate decision-making given the State’s role as a major investor of capital. The State pumps large sums of capital into corporations like Intel through legislation such as the CHIPS Act. This blunts the power and influence of individual and institutional investors. If only we developed a clear-eyed analysis of Intel and its actions, we might better understand how corporations like Intel function and how to undermine them in furtherance of Palestinian liberation.
My question is: How should we think about — and what should we do in the face of — giant tech companies that both perpetuate Israeli apartheid and are so enmeshed with State power that they become difficult targets for the BDS movement?
Is the collpase of the US empire a prerequisite for Israel to stop its genocide? Would Israel's economy have enough resources and time to build up a local arms industry in such a case? Should international pressure to prevent the massacre not make enough headway to stop millions from starving, do you think that rival powers in the region, notably Iran, could and would counter Israel militarily?
How do you plan to cover Gaza/Palestine/Israel now knowing what you know from your experience, the state of modern technology, and Israel’s extensive targeting of journalists? What advice would you give a younger version of yourself if you were just starting out as a reporter, headed to work in an extremely hostile environment in the Levant?
What do you feel are the most important informational black holes that journalists need to shine light into right now, especially with regard to Palestine/Israel, or more generally? What are most reporters missing?
What do you see as the critical skills and tools journalists need to double down on in order to counter AI, deepfakes, and the expanding universe of misinformation? Do you see certain new technologies as particularly useful in combating propaganda, or a radical emphasis on empathetic storytelling?
Thank you for your dedication and courage.
If the genocide in Gaza is successful, what can we expect the ripple effects to be across the “democratic” world?
First and foremost, thank you, thank you, thank you! As a long time admirer I look forward to all your programs. Sadly, I am often confused by tech issues. It took me awhile to find your Q & A.
When I did it was a previous one. As there was no date, I find this true on many youtubes, it wasn't until I listened awhile I realized this. Fiddled around for quite awhile and finally was on today's, June 21. My fault. My 91 year old brain can't keep up with the times. Most of my energy is spent working on local and state issues. I've found there are many who are well aware of our government's dysfunction. There are multiple groups who are trying to address the real issues. One national one, Move to Amend, goes back to 2010. They are all in their separate cocoons. They need someone to organize them. What seems to be missing is a charismatic leader. Do all movements need a Jesus or a Hitler? BTW do you remember Doris Haddock (Granny D)? She was the person who exposed me to the influence of corporate money and influence in government. Wishing you and your family well. Keep educating us.
This morning Al Jazeera English released a new documentary – “The Night Won’t End” – takes an in-depth look at attacks on civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the United States’ role in the war. The film follows three Palestinian families as they recount the horrific experiences they have endured under relentless Israeli assault, including the family of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, the young Palestinian girl who made headlines when it emerged in January that she had been trapped in a car with family members killed by Israeli ground troops. You can watch the documentary on Al Jazeera English’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFpW5zoFXA&t=1569s (1:18:36).
Before the release of the documentary, DemocracyNow!’s Amy Goodman interviewed the director - Kavitha Chekuru and the leading correspondent - Sharif Abdel Kouddous. She also played an excerpt of the film that starts with the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/21/the_night_wont_end. DemocracyNow! is one of the few U.S. media outlets that regularly broadcasts interviews from inside Gaza and the West Bank and provides a voice for Palestinian journalists.
Amy ends the interview with this message:
“Remember, when you watch coverage in the corporate media of what’s happening in Gaza, count how many times that network tells you, whatever the network, whether we’re talking Fox, MSNBC, CNN, how many times do they tell you their reporters are not allowed in Gaza unaccompanied. This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Our guests have been Sharif Abdel Kouddous, correspondent on the new Al Jazeera Fault Lines documentary, The Night Won’t End, and Kavitha Chekuru, the film’s director.”
Just watched the live broadcast, thanks again Chris for all your efforts with all the current insanity.
What do you think of the latest Munk debate on the question that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic
It seems self-evident to me that the world majority is overrun and overwhelmed by warmongering and profiteering (which are essentially the same thing) differing only in armament and materiel.
With your firsthand experience and acute understanding of the powers and forces involved in this evil enterprise, apparently US corporatocracy as its power nexus, what can 'we the people' do, if anything, to end the savagery of this greatest evil, especially as it's being unleashed in Palestine, Gaza, and Ukraine today?
Chris have you read the book: On Zionist Literature by Ghassan Kanafani?
Your book American Fascists thoroughly explains both their disturbing distortion of Christ’s teachings and their danger to the United States. Is Zionism an equivalent distortion of Judaism and a danger to Israel’s “democracy?”