Some More News - REVISITING SOME NEWS: How To Maybe Criticize Israel?

Episode Date: October 27, 2023

Here's a re-release of the audio of our episode from June 11, 2019, titled "How to Maybe Criticize Israel?" with new commentary from Cody and Katy. We'll be back with new episodes of "Some More News" and "Even More News" next week!Watch the original episodes on YouTube: Uncomplicating the "Complicated" Palestine/Israel Conflict:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INCXqWzH5vkHow to Maybe Criticize Israel?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6YD0n5z-MI https://www.pcrf.net/http://Anera.org Check out our MERCH STORE: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/somemorenewsSUBSCRIBE to SOME MORE NEWS: https://tinyurl.com/ybfx89rh  Subscribe to the Even More News and SMN audio podcasts:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/some-more-news/id1364825229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ebqegozpFt9hY2WJ7TDiA Follow us on social media:Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomeMoreNewsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/SomeMoreNews/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomeMoreNews/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@somemorenews

Hello and welcome to an audio episode of Some More News, the show that 40% of you listen to in the background while having sex and or masturbating to times you've had sex. Yes, we do have those statistics. We know when you come. And here's some news! It's time to recklessly transition this introduction into the Israel and Palestine conflict in our part two of a two-part re-release of two one-part episodes of Some More News that we've titled two one-part episodes of re-releases of Some More News episodes part two. We're workshopping that still or rather we should have I guess really should have thought of that before i'm sitting here reading it anywho on june 11th 2019 we released an episode titled how to maybe criticize israel it was once again written by katie golden who we apparently love to torture with this subject and actually it came out before the first episode we chose to re-release entitled uncomplicating the

complicated palestine israel conflict feel free to go back and listen to that if you haven't before the first episode we chose to re-release entitled Uncomplicating the Complicated Palestine-Israel Conflict. Feel free to go back and listen to that if you haven't. Or don't. Or do. So here's a question. Why did we release these out of order? Is it because we're a bunch of drunks? Sorta. But more so, it just seemed weird to start with this one after we so recently witnessed a horrendous attack on Israeli citizens. Because despite a lot of our commentary being focused on the government of and some of the people in, and the general policies and situation in Israel, murder is bad. You know? And every life lost creates an unimaginable rift in the lives of everyone around them.

The entire point here is to stop and condemn the violence inflicted on everyone, not just by one group. So why then are we so focused on Israel? Well, this episode and the previous one explains that. And to expand a bit, Israel not only has more resources and power over the people of Gaza, but are being directly supported with our tax dollars.

They also happen to be the occupying force, which I would argue is also bad. And in every other circumstance throughout history, that has been considered to be wrong. Apartheids, open air prisons, occupying someone else's home. There's no moral ambiguity around those things, except in this one case that happens to involve our allies. And as we keep pointing out,

it's apparently impossible to talk about this without a lot of people accusing you of supporting Hamas or celebrating the deaths of Israelis, which is weird because there are people in Israel who are speaking out against Netanyahu for the gradual genocide and ethnic cleansing he is inflicting on Palestinians. It's not anti-Semitic, nor does it support Hamas

to point out that there is a group of people currently occupying, displacing, and containing another group of people against their will. And that occupation has led to a great deal of suffering. And we should find a way to stop that suffering, for both Israeli and Palestinian citizens, without resorting to a fucking genocide. I don't know, maybe I'm a big, softy beatnik, but I would rather not do a genocide.

Um, yeah, put me down as a no for the whole genocide thing. If such a document exists, put me on it. No is my answer. Anyway, please enjoy the episode titled, How to Maybe Criticize Israel. Hey, so we've got about, uh, 20 minutes. Let's solve Israel-Palestine! The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a multifaceted issue. After World War II, Jewish people were understandably looking for a homeland in the wake of centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust.

And while this is true, what's often overlooked is that Israel wasn't formed in response to the Holocaust. Its beginnings were in the late 1800s, and in fact Christian Zionism, specifically regarding Israel and Jerusalem, preceded the Jewish movement. Israeli historian Anita Shapira writes, as the first step to world redemption seems to have originated among a specific group of evangelical English Protestants that flourished in England in the 1840s. They passed this notion onto Jewish circles. This concept of Christian Zionism remains strong in the 20th century. In 1917, British General Edmund Allenby conquered Jerusalem from the Ottomans.

Newspapers at the time hailed this victory. They titled General Allenby, Richard the Lionhearted, and praised him for saving the Holy Land from the infidels. They even called it the Last Crusade because the Crusades were good. So many people die. Anyways, in the early 1900s, Zionism became popular amongst Jews due to the horrific pogroms in Russia.

It was also widely supported amongst Christians who believed in the literal translation of the Bible that declared after Jerusalem is saved from the infidels, that God will return the Holy Land to the chosen people, the Jews. This will eventually herald the apocalypse, yadda yadda yadda, Christians will be raptured and spend eternity in heaven listening to Kid Rock. Ball with the ball, the bang-a-dang, diggy diggy diggy, shut the boogie shut up, drop the boogie, yeah! in heaven listening to Kid Rock. If that's not a second coming, I don't know what is. So Christians wanted Jews to settle in the Holy Land because of biblical prophecies, and Jews wanted to settle in the Holy Land because they were sick and tired of being persecuted and killed and stuff. The only problem was that there were already people living there,

the Palestinian Arabs. They considered Zionism to be a threat, which came to a head in 1918 after the Mandate for Palestine, a League of Nations mandate in which Britain assumed control and established borders, using the old British tradition of splitting territory by tying a pen to the tail of an excited badger and letting her rip. Palestinian Arabs were also alarmed by the Balfour Declaration, a statement by

the British government in 1917 which supported creating a national home for the Jews in Palestine. Also the Hebrew labor movement solidified their fears, which was a campaign to hire Jewish workers over Arab labor, excluding the native Arab population from economic activity. As you can see, the history of Israel and Palestine has always been, uh, fraught. You have the Jewish population, who understandably wanted to set up a territory for themselves to evade persecution. Then you had the Zionist, Christian, British, colonialist interests, who had little interest in being conscientious and humanitarian. And importantly, you had the Arab Palestinians, who understandably saw Zionist settlement

and forced economic isolation as a threat to their livelihoods. This history is important in understanding some of the bizarre US politics surrounding Israel and Palestine. In a new segment we like to call Don't look in the YouTube comments section, folks! This is gonna be a rough one!

So, let's talk about the semi-recent controversy surrounding Ilhan Omar's tweets. Ilhan Omar once tweeted in 2012, "'Israel has hypnotized the world.'" And more recently, in reference to why the GOP is threatening to punish those in Congress who criticize Israel she wrote it's about the Benjamins baby followed by a musical note emoji and the accusation is that Omar is making reference to the anti-semitic tropes of Jews being manipulative and using money to control politics but this accusation brings up a larger question of whether you can criticize Israel and pro-Israel lobbying groups without being anti-Semitic.

With her all-about-the-Benjamin's-baby tweet, Ilhan Omar was, if you believe her statements explaining her tweet, criticizing pro-Israel lobbying groups, not Jews as a whole. And the whole point of a lobbying group is to use money to influence politics. So it's hard to say if this is actually intentional anti-semitism. And in terms of the Israel has hypnotized the world tweet, the language could be interpreted as playing into Jewish puppet master tropes. But it's also the same language we use to criticize governments all the time. Terms like hypnotized, mesmerized, puppeteered, or manipulated have been used to describe various governments and administrations, so it's not a term that's exclusively used as a dog whistle. But given the history of Jewish people

being stereotyped as being manipulative, it'd be more sensitive to use other language, something she's admitted to. So could she have worded it better? Yes, absolutely. Is she secretly anti-Semitic? We can't read her mind, and no, but she's explicitly said she was referring to Israel and AIPAC, not Jews as a whole, despite very honest people claiming she said, quote,

the Jews hypnotized the world, which she has not said, you absolute f***ing liars. And she's spoken to Jewish community leaders, apologized for her statements, saying, anti-Semitism is real, and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of antisemitic tropes. My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole." But, you know, maybe this is all just disingenuous backpedaling in reaction to the flack she's getting. If only, if only we had a video recording clearly stating her opinions about the Jewish community and Israel from before the controversy. Holy, that was quick.

Apparently, in February of 2017, when we still used videotapes, she spoke out about a bill that would ban Minnesota from contracting with vendors participating in BDS, Boycott, Divest, Sanction, that boycotts companies that profit from occupied territories. She praised the bill's stated purpose to combat anti-Jewish discrimination, but opposed the part of the bill that would ban vendors participating in BDS, saying it was their right to participate in the protest.

Quote, to support the Jewish community in this time of need. Because as my community is struggling with a particular ban that the president wants to put on us, the Jewish community has been side by side, fighting with us, making sure that we have the resources that we need. Because I think there is a particular connection in brotherhood and sisterhood that Muslims and Jews have. One that is fundamentally based in our shared space in history, our shared land, and one that we will never forget. But what governments do, and what is based in systems, are very different. Due to Ilhan Omar's statements like this, and the fact that Jewish Americans have become increasingly critical of Israel, there are many Jewish groups that support Ilhan Omar,

such as Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. Jewish activist and member of Jews of Color and the Sephardi Mizrahi Caucus, Rebecca Pierce said, if our definition of anti-Semitism is reduced to are you criticizing Israel, you have no ability to grapple with someone like Richard Spencer. This is a particularly significant statement, given that Richard Spencer is actually a vocal supporter of Israel.

Do we have a clip of Richard Spencer? Become kind of a symbol? That's right, the white supremacist with a haircut known as the greased-up possum calls himself a white Zionist, praising Israel's white ethnostate model. He's especially fond of Netanyahu's nation-state law, that officially defines Israel as a Jewish state, and reserves the right to self-determination exclusively for Jewish people, a move that has upset Israel's 21% Arab population and other people. Spencer has said this move has showed a path for Europeans and that he wants a similar nation

exclusively for whites, saying, I want us to have a secure homeland for us and ourselves, just like you want a secure homeland in Israel. So does this mean that Richard Spencer isn't a reprehensible anti-Semite who probably smells like chicken grease and wet wipes? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo saying Jews are vastly overrepresented in what you could call the establishment and that they're responsible for the fact that white people are being dispossessed from this country. Cool, cool, cool. Do we have that clip of... Become kind of assembled? Yeah, that's the stuff right there. So some white supremacists support Israel, but it's honestly not fair to use guilt by association. They're a bunch of lunatics whose rantings and ravings deserve as much attention as a negative review scrawled in feces in the bathroom of a Denny's.

It's important to note that just as supporters of Israel can be anti-Semitic, critics of Israel are not necessarily anti-Semitic. A 2013 Pew study found that 48% of Jewish Americans polled did not think Israel was trying to make peace with Palestine. Of course, some might try to erase Jewish critics of Israel by calling them self-hating Jews, a term which the Jewish person who wrote this episode would like me to say is, quote, actually pretty anti-semitic. Also, I do hate myself, but it has nothing to do with being Jewish. It's because I stole this joke from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Why are many American Jews and others in opposition to Israel's policies? According to Jewish Voice for Peace, there are humanitarian issues such as the over 250 Palestinian civilian protesters, 41 of whom were children, killed by Israeli forces during the Great March of Return, a mostly unarmed peaceful protest.

There's also the charge that Gaza is an open-air prison, where the Palestinian inhabitants are denied basic necessities such as medication and water that isn't 98% undrinkable, as well as being denied the same rights as Israeli citizens. There are claims that the reason Israel must fire on protesters, bomb Gaza, and cut off supplies is due to the actions of Hamas. Hamas is a violent, militant, fundamentalist group that has had de facto authority over Gaza since 2007. Hamas is responsible for firing rockets at Israel and has killed 27 Israeli civilians between 2004 and 2014. One of the reasons the casualty rate is so low is due to Israel's massive amount of bomb shelters, the Iron Dome,

an air defense system that blows up rockets aimed at Israel. It's important to note that while Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since 2001, a March 2013 public opinion poll found that the majority of Palestinian civilians do not support the attacks. Only 38% accept their use, and over 80% support nonviolent protest.

So while Hamas's violent actions can't be excused, there's a clear mismatch in the power of Hamas's forces and Israel's forces. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has been tracking deaths due to the Israel-Palestine conflict and has found that 23 out of 24 conflict deaths have been Palestinian. This isn't to discount Israeli casualties. Every death is a tragedy, but the power imbalance is very clear. And it demonstrates how you can think Hamas is a group of dick-swinging assholes, but still condemn Israel's aggressive military actions towards Palestine, especially when the IDF attacks peaceful protesters. And this

isn't just a humanitarian concern, it's practical as well. It seems that support for Hamas only increases following violent conflicts. A 2014 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that support for Hamas' leader spiked from 53% to 62% following a massive Israeli military operation and 50-day war that left thousands of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis dead. Before this, in 2008, support for Hamas had actually started to decline. This seems to indicate that aggressive military operations undermined more peaceful grassroots movements in Palestine and only strengthens Hamas's hold on Gaza. It's weird that like people would support the people seemingly protecting them from death via other people.

So maybe we shouldn't encourage brash drastic policies that only exacerbate an already volatile situation. And sadly, now is the part of the episode where we have to talk about the president. Gah! You see, the Trump administration is using claims of antisemitism to try to suppress criticism of their far-right wing Israel policy. Under my administration, the unbreakable alliance between the United States and Israel has never been stronger. So before I sign the presidential proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights,

I'd like to ask Prime Minister Netanyahu to say a few words. So what is Golan Heights? Is it a biopic of a guy named Golan who tries to win the Olympic high jump? No, of course not, you f***ing idiot! It's actually this occupied territory between Syria and Israel. Here's a brief, overly simplified history lesson. Golan Heights was militarily seized by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War with Syria. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law, effectively annexing the territory.

The problem, this was not done in accordance with international law. The UN still considers it Syrian territory and declares the Golan Heights Law null and void and without international legal effect. Trump's unilateral move in recognizing Golan Heights as belonging to Israel flies in the face of the UN resolution and international law. Although this is mostly a symbolic gesture, it does have very real and serious implications. It undermines the validity of international

law, a potentially dangerous precedent. It also tanks any peace deals between Palestine and Israel. Instead, the US declaring that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel shows Palestinians that the US is not acting in good faith and will unilaterally and unconditionally support Israel. As you can imagine, I totally support the other side no matter what they do is not the best position for a broker of peace to take.

If anything, this move only increases tensions between Israel and Palestine, gives propaganda to Hamas, and emboldens Netanyahu and the far-right-wing Israeli government to allow more aggressive settlements, or even to annex part of the West Bank, something he literally said he would do, a move that would at least create more conflict and death, if not an outright war. Wait! The US carelessly does things

that could end up sparking civil war in the Middle East? Wowee, and holy heckaroo! So, Trump's decision is, at best, highly risky, and at worst, a cynical political calculation to rile up his base and bolster support for Netanyahu. It could also be an attempt to turn Israel into a partisan issue, which it actually hasn't been. Mainstream Democrats and Republicans have both supported Israel, either unconditionally

or with soft conditions. Neither party really imposes any consequences should Israel continue with settlements or shoot unarmed protesters, although Democrats have started to critique Israel on these issues. The new emerging left, including Ilhan Omar, is becoming even more critical, and Americans in general have also seen a shift in attitude. In 2015, 47% of Americans described Israel as an ally. In 2019, that number dropped to 37%. And in 2018, 38% of liberal Democrats sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israel.

So in order to both quash dissent on Israel and to attack the left, moderate Democrats and Republicans who have always used claims of antisemitism to attack sympathy towards Palestinians have gone from subliminal to liminal to superliminal. Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism. Superliminal?

I'll show you. Hey you! Join the Navy! Uh, yeah, alright. I'm in. It's not just the right that employs the tactic of equating criticism of Israel or AIPAC as being anti-semitic. Chuck Schumer said, "'When someone looks at a neo-Nazi rally "'and sees some very fine people among its company, "'we must call it out.

"'When someone suggests money drives support for Israel, "'we must call it out.'" Not only is it a bit melodramatic to equate neo-Nazis to critics of Israel, it's also ironic given the fact that Schumer made this statement at APAC, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the US. APAC itself spends roughly $3.5 million a year promoting pro-Israel special interests.

And though that may not seem like a lot, the real money is what's contributed by its pool of wealthy pro-Israel donors. APAC functions not only as a lobbying group, but as an organization that helps donors connect with politicians. While APAC doesn't directly donate to political campaigns, its donors and the PACs that it helps organize do. And it's estimated that in 2018 these donors spent over 22 million dollars in contributions and lobbying. Like a lobbying group. So pro-Israel lobbying groups do literally spend money

to influence politics, and this is not nor should be an attack on Jewish people who may or may not support Israel, and most of whom have nothing to do with AIPAC, but maybe Schumer and those who call this anti-Semitic are acting in good faith. After all, there really are anti-Semitic tropes regarding Jewish people and money. I mean, there's even bigoted terms like shekels, a Hebrew term for currency,

that's been co-opted by white nationalists to be a racist dog whistle hinting at the influence of Jewish money. Although I suppose nobody in politics would be stupid and hateful enough to actually say It'll mean you sell three extra books, you make three extra shekels. Hey, at least Chuck Schumer condemned this anti-Semitic statement, and House Democrats issued a resolution denouncing Eric Trump's what they didn't. Uh, yeah, of course, of course, of course they didn't. Well, this is just one isolated incident. Maybe they just missed it. I'm sure there aren't any other examples of conservatives using anti-Semitic tropes like

referencing the conspiracy theory that Jewish George Soros is puppeteering forced multiculturalism, the conspiracy theory that motivated the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Do you think somebody's trying to get in there, man? Do you think everybody's trying to get in there? I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't... I don't know who, but I wouldn't be surprised. A lot of people say yes. Okay, well, at least he didn't call neo-Nazis and their associates very fine people. No, yep, wait, he did do that. He definitely, definitely did do that.

Well, at least he didn't imply that Jewish Americans aren't Americans. You see, Ilhan Omar has been accused of using the dual loyalty trope, of implying that Jewish people are loyal to Israel. Why has she been accused of this? Because she's criticized American pro-Israel lobbying groups, which somehow means she thinks all Jewish people are loyal to Israel. That seems like a bit of a stretch,

sometimes so stretchy, in fact, that people will claim that she accused all Jews of having dual loyalty, putting dual loyalty in quotes, implying that she said those words ever, despite her literally never saying those words ever. So yeah, bit of a stretch. I mean, but it's not like she implied that Jewish citizens are actually Israeli citizens. You'd have to be an incredibly stupid politician to do that.

And let me guess, you're about to show me a clip of Donald Trump telling the American Republican Jewish Coalition that Netanyahu is their prime minister, implying that they're not real US citizens, the very sort of dual loyalty anti-Semitism that Republicans have been without evidence accusing Ilhan Omar of. But I stood with your prime minister at the White House. There it is. And can we get a stinger of Fox News very bluntly and literally accusing Ilhan Omar of dual loyalty? Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who you referred to, they, it's almost as though they think they're representing another country.

Yeah, that's the stuff. So Trump and Fox News are a collective of racist maggots parading around in human flesh vehicles, but what's new? Trump's got a Trump. It's not like there are examples of blatant anti-semitism actually coming from Israel's leaders, like Netanyahu or his family. That would be... that would be... that would be... completely absurd. We're, uh, we're gonna find out that it's actually the case, yeah? Yeah? Yeah? Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu, posted a meme of George Soros' head superimposed over the happy merchant image,

a virulently anti-Semitic image depicting a Jewish person rubbing his hands together, usually used by white nationalist forums such as Stormfront and 4chan. The image seemed to imply that Soros was part of some kind of Jewish reptilian global conspiracy, which, I'm sorry, like, we're still accusing people of being reptilians? That is ridiculous, alright? Don't you know that it's the boar people who are pulling all of the strings? Do your research, people!

Anyways, Yoyor took the meme down after heavy criticism, but he was defended by, uh, ooh, David Duke, cool. Well, you can't help who jumps to your defense, alright? But you can't help who you have dinner with. Y right? But you can help who you have dinner with. You know your Netanyahu broke bread with Sebastian Gorka. Gorka is known for his impossibly large head and for his support for the Hungarian Guard, a neo-fascist, anti-Semitic paramilitary group. Maybe Netanyahu's son is just going through that rebellious,

making friends with probable Nazis phase. Unfortunately, Netanyahu himself seems rather Machiavellian. "'We don't need AIPAC anymore,' Benjamin Netanyahu mused "'to one of his advisors a few months ago. "'We have enough support in the United States "'from the evangelicals. "'I'd happily give up on AIPAC "'if we didn't need to counteract J Street.'"

Netanyahu's also given to counteract J Street. Netanyahu's also given um... Hitler a sort of mulligan on that whole Holocaust thing. In a speech for the World Zionist Congress, Netanyahu claimed that in 1941 the Mufti of Jerusalem was the real architect behind the Holocaust. Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jew. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, if you expel them, they'll all come here, to Palestine. According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked, what should I do with them? And the Mufti replied, burn them.

And it's important to note that the vast majority of historical scholars do not think Husseini had anything to do with Hitler's final solution, and there has been no corroboration of this dialogue between them ever taking place. This whole, Hitler didn't even want to kill Jews, is a pretty weird flex on Netanyahu's part, but okay. So, is this to say Netanyahu and his son are anti-Semitic? No. More realistically, he's acting in the way that politicians do, making cold strategic calculations that promote their far right-wing agenda, even if it means having odd bedfellows with anti-semites like, um, like Hitler, kind of. And that means that we should be wary when

critics of Israel are labeled as anti-semites because it's a term that has been abused or ignored depending on which side of supporting the Israeli government you land on. This is a problem not only because it silences dissent, but because anti-Semitism is a very real issue. Reducing the meaning of it to simply indicate whether you're pro or anti-Israeli policy while ignoring the actual vitriolic cases of anti-Semitism

is a deeply cynical and dangerous political philosophy. As a final note about the motivation for this video, the writer of this episode wanted me to say this. I'm gonna pretend it's written down here. I remember going to the family cabin with my dad and family. A neighbor once came up and knocked on our door, not knowing we were Jewish. My dad answered and listened as this neighbor went on a rant about how Jews were ruining the community. My dad was

terrified. Here he was, Jewish, with two young children and his wife, miles and miles from any potential help. He was afraid of what this man, our neighbor, might do if he found out my dad was Jewish. I remember the times I received comments for being Jewish high school friends claiming Jews started most of the wars, that Jews killed Jesus, and that's why people don't like them.

The idea that someone could hate me just because of my ancestry has always been a frightening, sobering reality, and having that terrible specter of hatred used as a callous political tool to silence dissent regarding Israel's policy makes me feel used, dehumanized, and angry. I realize that bearing my feelings here is pretty heavy,

so to lighten the mood, I'm going to write some funny words in this script for Cody to say. Poop, butt cheek, wiener farts, turd dangle, nipples, and finally, deez nuts. Thanks everybody! I've been news. Time to uh, check out that comment section. I bet it's real nice down there. Don't read the comments. And we're done. We are done with Israel and Palestine forever. Yep.

Nothing more to say about that anymore. Conflict solved. We did it! Big thanks to Katie Golden for solving it with that script. Expect Biden to call you about giving you a medal of freedom or doing that weird shoulder-rubbing, hair-sniffing thing he used to do with people before someone told him to stop. Remember?

Remember how Biden used to just manhandle people? Those were the days. Anywho, we hope this successfully held you off long enough for us to feverishly whip together a new episode about the current situation. No doubt written by Katie Golden, due to the many, many, many, many pieces of blackmail we have about her.

While there was a lot that we've already said that we felt was still relevant, there's still a lot we want to say that we haven't. And so we will say those things in the future when some time has passed. We don't think it's unreasonable to take a breath and let the facts rise to the top, nor do we think it's unreasonable to highlight the history of Israel's occupation in Palestine, or to point out that it's hard to mourn any of these attacks when they are immediately met with even more attacks and even more death. And the goal for everyone should be to de-escalate the brutality and find justice and peace, not revenge, not bloodlust, and we should condemn everyone seeking that, especially

the people on the sidelines using this conflict for their own gain. Justifying their bigotry or hate or rapture fetish or fucking shareholder value by taking one side or another. This conflict didn't happen naturally. People were occupied and those occupiers were supported and enabled by other countries, ours included. And as we stand back and squabble and exploit, children are killed. Lives are devastated. Violence is increased and perpetuated, and we need to have a serious conversation about what is actually going on

and how to fix it. A conversation that a lot of people don't want to have, because for some people it's actually easier and preferred to have a genocide about it. To learn absolutely nothing from the last time we overreacted to a terrorist attack and allowed our emotions to snowball into fury and blind violent retribution. And that's wild, because we've made like so many stories about how that's bad. That new Ninja Turtles movie was specifically about how unconditional hatred for a broad group of people inevitably leads to genocide. See, Splinter, being a rat, decided that all humans are bad because they treated him like vermin, and then realizes that the villain has the exact same motivation for eradicating all humans, and that he can't inflict his generational trauma onto his turtle children because it might

perpetuate a cycle of violence that would lead to genocide. And now that I describe it out loud, I think that the new Ninja Tur turtles movie is specifically about the israel palestine conflict wow movies are neat and movies stories art have been saying this message for decades we all decided to teach children these lessons revenge is bad and just causes more pain and in some cases you actually get tricked into fucking your own daughter you remember that film remember wild film? Remember? Wild film. Not, wait, sorry, sorry.

Not, that's not Ninja Turtles. I'm talking about Oldboy. Splinter doesn't even have a daughter, I don't think. And even if he does, I doubt he would have sex with her. Unless that's something rats do? I don't know. Wait. I don't know.

All right. Well, that's how we're ending this. Sorry. Tune in next week when we will, will no joke be doing a boar episode because that's apparently what we chose to cover next on accident it just turned out that way okay also gotta say extremely messed up that like eight percent of you were still able to come while we were talking just now what is wrong with you all right bye