The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.17 David Dobrik, The Truth About the Israeli-Palestinian "Conflict", & Today's News

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

Go to https://Stamps.com and use my code PHIL to get a 4-week trial plus free postage and a digital scale! SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter!  http://www.DeFrancoDailyDownload.com -- WATCH Troy Hunt Podcast: https://youtu.be/XVd8mRErzcE  WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW   LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com  WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips  -- 00:00 - Likely The Final Update To Dobrik/Wittek Situation 03:26 - NYC Pride Bans Police From Event 04:50 - SCOTUS To Hear New Case Against Roe v Wade 07:01 - Sponsor 08:01 - Israel & Palestinian “Conflict” Escalates 12:20 - Social Media Reactions To Israel/Palestine 14:57 - My Opinion On Israel/Palestine -- ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com  ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  Jeff Wittek Says He Will Not Sue David Dobrik: https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/jeff-wittek-confirms-he-wont-sue-david-dobrik-after-life-threatening-accident-1574951/ NYC Pride Parade Bans NYPD From Its Events Until 2025 To Create “Safer Spaces” https://roguerocket.com/2021/05/17/nyc-pride-parade-bans-nypd/ SCOTUS to Hear Key Roe v. Wade Challenge: https://roguerocket.com/2021/05/17/supreme-court-roe-v-wade/ Tensions Escalate Between Israel and Palestine: https://roguerocket.com/2021/05/17/toll-mounts-in-gaza-conflict/ Bella Hadid Attends Pro-Palestine Protest: https://roguerocket.com/2021/05/17/bella-hadid-israel-palestine/ ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ Long Working Hours Led to 745,000 Lives Lost in a Single Year, Study Finds https://roguerocket.com/2021/05/17/who-ilo-long-hour-report/ ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxx Enright Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor ———————————— #DeFranco #BellaHadid #DavidDobrik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So this is one of those shows where I gotta just kind of say two things at the top. One, it's one of those times where I'm gonna ask you to please feed the algorithm gods, like, comment on the video in relation to the story and definitely share the hell out of it. The last thing we talk about today, especially, is something that could get this entire show suppressed and I think it's important that we get it out to as many people. And two, what I would ask is with that final story,

please watch the entire piece, including my opinion and kind of take away at the end. I know that it is going to alienate some people, but it is far more important to me that I don't promote a false equivalency out of fear that some might see me as biased. You know, sometimes I've looked back and I've definitely been guilty of that in the past, but hey, growth.

Yeah, with that said, let's just jump into it at first with the lighter stuff. And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is what I believe has to be one of the final updates with the David Dobrik-Jeff Wittek situation. And there, if you don't remember, Dobrik, in an attempt to make some sort of vlog, accidentally slammed Wittek into a metal excavator

and nearly killed Wittek. It left him severely injured. He thought he was gonna lose his eye for a bit. Well, of course, with this story, as well as previous scandals, the court of public opinion kind of got involved. David Dobrik losing a lot of sponsorships, having to step down from his company.

It was also this lingering question of will Jeff Wittek sue David Dobrik? Because I mean, Dobrik was in the wrong here. And what we learned here is that Jeff Wittek is not and will not be suing David Dobrik. With Wittek saying in a live stream that his doctor brought up the possibility of suing. And he said.

I was like, no, like that never crossed my mind. Like what we were doing was dumb and I'm dumb for putting my life in David's hands and what David did was dumb. But just the way I was raised, you know, maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing, but I'm loyal. With Winnick saying that his parents taught him not to sue,

especially if something was an accident, and continuing, When Dr. Eamon heard what I said about that, he was like, if you sue people, you mentally stay hurt. And that was good advice. Jeff continuing that while some people told him that the outlook is dumb, he says the money that he would get from a lawsuit

wouldn't make him happier, and all it would do was hurt his friendship with David. And as far as my opinion on this, one, regarding Jeff Wittek kind of like staying loyal to a friend or having his boys back or whatever you want to call it, that's a really personal thing for someone. And I can't really comment on that

because I don't have their relationship. Though I have friendships with other people that I probably would be worried about them and cover their back even if they hurt me. Also for Jeff, what probably makes it easier is that from like the kind of shit show of the last few months, or I mean for him, it's like been like a year,

he's come out of all of this pretty fantastic. His viewership is up, subscribers are up, public opinion about him is great, which was really kind of a 180 prior to this. Right, there were a lot of questions, his name was getting dragged through the mud because of the Dirty Dom situation. Also people have talked about there possibly

being a situation where his financial interests are tied to the success of David Dobrik and Dispo. And so ultimately, yeah, it's really a personal decision. I can't comment on that. But two, to that quote, "'If you sue people, you mentally stay hurt.'" I think that's bullshit. One of the very few regrets I have in my life

is not suing a company that fucked me over. And a big part of the reason why I didn't sue is I thought it was just gonna be mentally taxing on me. And I was worried that there was gonna be a potential splashback on Friends that, I don't know, I thought it might alienate some people. But that said, really the main takeaway from this story is David Dobrik is actually one of the luckiest

motherfuckers on the planet. And I really hope that he learns something from everything that happened over the last few months and he doesn't just see himself as the victim of the situation. But yeah, like with all things, time will tell. Then we had organizers of New York City's Pride Parade saying that they're banning law enforcement

from participating in their events and reducing police presence on scene. Saying in a statement, New York City Pride seeks to create safer spaces for the LGBTQIA plus and BIPOC communities at a time when violence against marginalized groups, specifically BIPOC and trans communities has continued to escalate.

And adding the sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to provide can instead be threatening and at times dangerous. But that ban reportedly set to last until 2025 when police participation will be reviewed further. And on top of that, organizers are also seeking to keep on-duty officers a block away from their celebrations.

And saying that with this, instead of using the NYPD for security and first response, organizers will reallocate those services to trained private security community leaders and volunteers. And adding that they will only use the NYPD in absolutely necessary situations and as mandated by city officials. And with all of this, you had the Gay Officers Action League,

which advocates for LGBTQ plus officers in New York, calling the move shameful and saying, "'Heritage Pride' is well aware that the city would not allow a large scale event to occur without police presence. So the response to activist pressure is to take the low road by preventing their fellow community members

from celebrating their identities and honoring the shared legacy of the Stonewall riots. And meanwhile, you had a spokesperson for the NYPD saying, our annual work to ensure a safe, enjoyable pride season has been increasingly embraced by its participants. The idea of officers being excluded is disheartening and runs counter to our shared values of inclusion and tolerance.

That said, we'll still be there to ensure traffic safety and good order during this huge complex event. Then in what could prove to be massive, we should talk about the Supreme Court announcing this morning that it will consider a pivotal challenge that could potentially gut Roe v. Wade. But because this notably is the first abortion case that the court six to three conservative majority will hear.

And as far as the specifics, the case in question centers around a 2018 law passed by Mississippi's conservative legislature that banned most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for severe fetal abnormality, but not with instances of rape or incest. Following this, Mississippi's only abortion clinic sued, arguing that the law was unconstitutional under Roe,

as well as the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Right, in those cases, the court ruled and subsequently reaffirmed that states could not ban abortion before the fetus can live outside the womb, which is generally around 24 to 28 weeks. That led to both the district judge and a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreeing and striking down the case.

The state then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the sole clinic only provided abortions at up to 16 weeks, so few women were affected. And here's the thing, while that may be true in Mississippi, this case goes way beyond just one state. The Mississippi is one of several Republican-led states that have approved restrictions that violate past SCOTUS rulings

on fetal viability since 2019. And while yes, all have been blocked or struck down by courts and none have gone into effect, that has been part of the plan. The ultimate goal has been to get these cases, or really specifically at least one case, to the Supreme Court. And with this specific decision to take up the challenge,

the Supreme Court explicitly is saying that it would examine whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional. Meaning that if this new six to three conservative majority rules in favor of Mississippi, it could easily pave the way for more states to pass laws and significantly limit when people can get abortions without the risk of those laws being held up in court.

Like I said, this has been the plan. I mean, you even had a district judge who first ruled on the case explicitly saying in his decision to block the law, the state chose to pass a law it knew was unconstitutional to endorse a decades long campaign fueled by national interest groups to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Which is why you have so many experts today saying

the SCOTUS decision to take up the case represents the most significant ruling on the topic since the 1992 ruling nearly three decades ago. But as far as what will ultimately happen there, we're gonna have to wait. The Supreme Court will likely hear the case this fall and then issue a decision next summer. So with this story, I wanna ask you two questions. One, what do you think will happen?

And two, what do you want to happen? Where do you stand on this issue? But from that, I wanna take a second to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Stamps.com. Did you know that with Stamps.com, you can get up to 40% off post office rates and up to 66% of UPS rates? That's right, major savings on UPS shipping as well.

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And then we should definitely talk about what's happening between Israel and Gaza heavily escalating over the weekend. Right, so like most things with this whole situation, when this all started will lead you down a rabbit hole. But the quick version here is that Hamas was upset about how Israel treated worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and over Israeli settlers pushing Palestinians out of their homes

in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. This led to Hamas issuing an ultimatum that Israel ignored and the group then launched rockets into Israel. And since then a ton has happened. And unfortunately I cannot cover everything, but we are gonna cover some of the biggest headlines here. First and foremost, over the last week, at least 1300 Palestinians in Gaza have been injured,

200 killed, including more than 50 children. As a matter of fact, nearly one out of every four deaths happened on Sunday when a tunnel used by Hamas was targeted by Israel and collapsed, destroying the housing above it. Reportedly, Hamas's tunnels extend for hundreds of miles, are well-built, and are used as defensive structures. Israel reportedly targeting them with airstrikes and using ground forces to collapse them at strategic points.

And in a statement around this, you have the Israeli military saying that Hamas intentionally locates its terrorist infrastructure under civilian houses, exposing them to danger. But after the building's collapsed, Israel said that it would re-examine how it destroys the tunnels to try and prevent such casualties. And notably the claim that Hamas hides its military assets

among civilian infrastructure is not new. Hamas has been long accused of doing it throughout history. And it is actually often true, but at the same time, Israel very much prioritizes targeting Hamas' offensive capabilities over nearly everything else. With it also claiming that it lets residents of the area know it's about to be targeted so they can evacuate. But that doesn't seem to always actually happen.

It still leaves many residents without a home, helping Gaza to be one of the most impoverished areas of the world. Also, I mean, another similar story we saw is that Israel targeted and bombed Al Jazeera's headquarters in Gaza on Saturday. Notably, the building is, or I guess rather was, also used by the Associated Press and other outlets.

And here, you also have Israel claiming that the building was used to house Hamas military assets and that they gave advance warning to allow people to evacuate. Unfortunately, that strike did not lead to any casualties, but either way, that attack drew widespread condemnation worldwide. You have people like Gary Pruitt,

the Associated Press president saying, the world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what transpired today. With him also demanding that Israel actually provide proof that Hamas was using the building for military assets. Going on to say, we have no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building.

This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk. This bombing has also caused reporters without borders to issue a statement calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate with its secretary general adding that deliberately targeting media outlets

constitutes a war crime. Also, in addition to what's happening there, the attacks and death toll have not only been happening in Gaza. To date, reportedly nearly 3000 rockets have been fired at Israel. Though, many of those have been destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome defense system,

but some have also hit targets leading to at least 10 Israeli deaths. And while all of that is happening, Israel is experiencing some of its worst sectarian violence in years. Throughout the country, Israelis and Palestinians have clashed on the streets, leading to stores being vandalized, many injuries, including what can really only

be described as lynchings. One of the disturbing trends with all of this, beyond like the general violence, is that when this is happening, when it's Israelis doing it, the police are often reported helping them out, leading to a disturbing balance of power that mirrors the ongoing military conflict.

To be fair, this violence is often done by small segments of society, for example. In Israel, it is most often by ultra radical Jewish settlers who help push this conflict to where it is by pushing Palestinians out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. Now, as far as the international response, across the world, leaders have called

for the fighting to stop, with the United Nations trying to issue a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. But actually, the United States has blocked that at least three times by using our position on the Security Council. And actually looking at the US's stance even further, President Joe Biden made it clear in phone calls

with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas that the US supports Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas's rocket attacks. With Abbas pushing back against Biden, apparently asking him to intervene and put an end to what he referred to as Israeli attacks on Palestinian people everywhere. With the White House yesterday emphasizing

that it was still committed to a two state solution. Also around the world, there have been large protests in support of either side. While most of the protests have been peaceful, some have led to actions that worried officials. One pro-Israel event in Toronto led to demonstrators getting assaulted. In Germany, for example, one protest led to Israel's flag

being burned, causing the foreign minister to condemn the acts. Also tweeting out on Friday that those who burned the flags also burned the values of our basic law. And while with this situation, we kind of have to wait to see what's gonna happen next. The one thing we know will happen is that the death toll will continue to rise.

We have Israel sending more and more ground troops to the region, both sides vowing to continue fighting. But actually where I'm going to end this story is with a different kind of fighting around this situation. That is the fight around public perception and public opinion of what is happening. You're seeing Israel's social media teams kind of just going full steam ahead.

I was watching TikTok yesterday. I thought I was watching something that was like a Nike ad. It was like 15 seconds to text someone back, 15 seconds to fold a shirt, and 15 seconds to run away from Hamas's rockets. As well as posting videos with captions like what's really going on in Israel. And even noting in that video that social media

has been inundated with regular people and celebs promoting the plight of the Palestinian people. And actually they've gone even further there specifically pointing to individual celebrities. Bella Hadid, for example, has gotten a lot of attention, both positive and extremely negative. She posted about and joined a pro-Palestinian march in New York.

Bella's father is Palestinian. And over the past couple of days, she's been posting about her Palestinian family, sharing photos and writing that they were taken out of their homes in 1948 and had to become refugees. And when sharing photos of the march she attended over the weekend, she had the caption, "'The way my heart feels to be around this many beautiful,

"'smart, respectful, loving, kind, and generous Palestinians "'all in one place. "'It feels whole, we are a rare breed. "'It's free Palestine till Palestine is free." At one point, even live streaming the march, and actually this got the attention of the state of Israel's official Twitter account. With them taking aim at Bella and shooting out the tweet,

"'When celebrities like Bella Hadid advocate "'for throwing Jews into the sea, "'they are advocating for the elimination "'of the Jewish state. "'This shouldn't be an Israeli-Palestinian issue. "'This should be a human issue. "'Shame on you.'" With them further arguing that they're saying this

because she joined in on a chant that says, "'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.'" Arguing that that phrase is used by people calling for the elimination of Israel. However, Palestinian activists have argued against some of the criticisms of this phrase, including that some call it anti-Semitic, saying that it refers to the political

and geographic landscape of Palestine and Israel, not the religious landscape. Noting that Palestinian activists use it to call for the rights of Palestinians in those borders. Gigi Hadid has also been on the receiving end of a lot of harassment, people accusing her of being anti-Semitic, advocating for the killing of people in Israel.

And to this, she ended up responding, "'I condemn anti-Semitism. "'I am not trying to kill you, nor would I ever want that. "'I do not wish any more deaths upon Israelis, "'just as I feel about Palestinians. "'What I do want is equal rights for Palestinians. "'There are also Jewish Palestinians and Christian Palestinians as there was coexisting with my father's

Muslim Palestinian family when he was born in Palestine in 1948. I wish you peace. Also with this, we've actually seen a large number of Jewish Americans speaking out against the Israeli government. Even seeing the likes of YouTube's own Ethan Klein tweeting, "'The Israeli government is making me sick.

"'Even if Hamas is operating out of a civilian building, "'it doesn't justify the total destruction "'of that building. "'It's inhumane. "'Netanyahu is a piece of shit warmonger and needs to go. "'As a dual citizen, I love Israel and the Israeli people. "'They deserve a government that actually believes in peace "'and not force and violence.'"

Personally, I will say, whether it be an Ethan Klein or really any other Jewish American, I think it is helpful when they speak out because it illustrates this incredibly important point that what the Israeli government is doing in the name of the Jewish people is separate from the will of many of those people. And that criticisms of violence perpetrated

by that government is not antisemitic in and of itself. And it's like, no, those are two different things. I think it's really important we get that common ground because there are a lot of legitimate reasons to be disgusted by and criticize the Israeli government. Because while I think there are a lot of legitimate reasons to be disgusted by and criticize the Israeli government. Because while I think there are certain avenues here, I mean, people like John Oliver had said this,

certain areas that you can kind of both sides this thing, you can't do that with the whole situation. One side has killed significantly more civilians and children. One side specifically targeted a building that housed news organizations, Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, and has not provided proof as to the reason why they were destroyed.

One side has been kicking people out of their family homes that they've had for decades. And one side is memeing the absolute devastation and destruction and death that it's been bringing. And understand when I criticize the Israeli government, this isn't me talking about all Jewish people. It's me, just like Hamas does not represent every Palestinian, the Israeli government

does not represent every Jewish person. And the unfortunate truth is that America, or at least the American government, is somewhat complicit. We give $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel every year. Hell, even at the Washington Post reporting today that the Biden administration has now approved $735 million worth of precision guided weapons to be sold to Israel.

Right, so we're doing that. You've got Biden saying, keep doing what you're doing. The United States blocking a call for a joint statement to call for a ceasefire. I mean, I almost want to call this insane, but really the best descriptor is it feels like the United States is complicit in what appears to be war crimes.

But yeah, that's some of the story, some of the reactions, a little bit of my personal opinion. And now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts with all of this? And ultimately with this story, or honestly, anything else that stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below, because this is the end off to you. What are your thoughts with all of this? And ultimately with this story, or honestly anything else that stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below,

because this is the end of the show. As always, a massive thank you for watching, liking, subscribing, all the good stuff. Looking forward to watching you covered right here. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.