12: From “Never Again” to “There are No Uninvolved Civilians” - the ABCs of Israel/Palestine

Elites use identity, particularly national identity, as a way of advancing their own interests, often against the interests of the populations that they pretend to represent. The Israel Palestine conflict is a stark example of this, where nationalist elites initially manipulated their respective populations into a path of violence and conflict, sabotaging the potential for peaceful coexistence and eventually leading us to the current mass slaughter in Gaza. But before we can understand this, we need an ABC of the conflict, to get a grasp of the basic events, and the conflicting historical narratives, which interpret all of these events in completely different ways, with opposite moral implications, so that we can then proceed to look at what actually happened, and what the moral implications of that are for the present and future. Doctors Without Borders in Gaza and West Bank: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/gaza-msf-provides-medical-care-and-donates-supplies-amidst-conflict/ Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: https://www.pcrf.net If you’re in the U.S. demand that your representative vote to stop the massacre. *PLEASE* SHARE AND LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS SERIES!! This episode took me almost five full time months to make - there’s no way that I can do these without you help! PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XJ6HBHFJ6C3RU PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS: https://www.patreon.com/whatispolitics KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: ko-fi.com/whatispolitics TRANSCRIPT: (TBA) BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99426446 AUDIO PODCAST: https://www.podfollow.com/worbs or search for “worbs” on your podcast app RSS FEED: http://feeds.feedburner.com/WHATISPOLITICS tweeter: @worbsintowords ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE: starsixnine.bandcamp.com https://spotify.link/uYoXHLwmkDb CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction: elites vs their “nations”. 6:09 “What else can we do?” The obvious alternative to this pointless massacre. 9:36 Elites and the role of historical narratives in perpetuating conflict 13:52 Conflicting interpretations of October 7th 15:27 Encounter Point: why peace is impossible without resolving the historical narrative 18:00 Understanding the Israel/Palestine Conflict in terms of class conflict 20:20 Series overview Narratives: The other guy started it, we’re just defending ourselves against the aggressors 21:40 The pro israel version 26:32 The pro palestinian version 28:53 Summarizing the narratives 30:05 The “duelling legitimate nationalisms” story 31:28 The “ethical pillars” of the Israeli and Palestinian narratives 33:19 Why are both sides avoiding what should be their strongest arguments? 36:39 Episode overview 37:17 The origin of the Jews 40:01 The origins of Palestine and the ancestors of the Palestinians 42:28 From Jewish Enlightenment to Jewish Nationalism / Zionism 44:22 Political vs Cultural Zionism 45:37 The end of the Ottoman Empire 46:26 From Arab Enlightenment to Arab Nationalism 47:20 Identities in Palestine / Palestinian identity 49:16 The evolution of Arab Nationalism under imperialism 51:17 The Balfour Declaration and the British shitshow in Palestine 52:48 Jewish immigration and the Holocaust 54:27 Class War: The Great Arab Revolt 1936-1939 55:07 The Peel Partition Plan of 1937 57:17 The Jewish refugee crisis and the 1947 UN partition plan 58:08 The Arab/Jewish civil war in Palestine 59:05 Israel’s declaration of independence and the Arab invasion 1:01:01 Israel’s victory and the Palestinian Nakhba 1:05:19 The Arabs remaining inside of Israel 1:08:24 From peasant “infiltrators” to fedayeen raiders 1:09:28 The 1967 war 1:11:25 The birth of the P.L.O. 1:12:38 “From the River to the Sea” among Palestinians and Israelis 1:16:00 Zionism and the Jews of the Arab world 1:20:22 From Black September to the civil war in Lebanon 1:21:53 The aftermath of 1967: the Occupation and American patronage of Israel 1:24:56 Israel’s colonization of the West Bank and apartheid 1:27:35 The occupation in West Bank and Gaza 1:30:26 The 1st Intifada 1:31:40 The PLO changes it’s tune on Israel 1:32:58 The birth of Hamas, and the origins of modern Islamic fundamentalism 1:33:52 Hamas: Israel’s and Bibi’s BFFs 1:36:47 The Oslo Accords 1:41:16 The importance of the competing narratives over the implosion of Oslo 1:45:44 From Camp David to the 2nd Intifada 1:50:07 Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza 1:51:12 The blockade of Gaza 1:52:06 Hamas’ election victory, and the Hamas / Fatah civil war 1:53:54 The status quo ante until Oct 7th 1:55:57 The October 7th massacre, and Israel’s incomprehensible failure to prevent it 1:57:18 The invasion of Gaza and the frothing declarations of Israel’s leaders 2:00:09 The humanitarian nightmare 2:02:58 Who fell into who’s trap? 2:04:00 Israel’s leaders taking advantage of this historic opportunity for ethnic cleansing 2:05:42 South Africa’s genocide charge 2:06:31 Public opinion 2:08:50 Next time