The Young Turks - Hawks & Doves

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

You’re vital to our work. Support as a member: https://go.tyt.com/signup. Israel says it will launch an offensive on Rafah if Hamas doesn't release hostages by Ramadan. Pelosi says that the U.S. is ...not responsible for Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. Pro-Israel group targets Post reporter." HOST: Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian), Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. All right, well, I'm the Young Turks. Jake Hugh Granite with you guys, lots of news as usual, of course, some dramatic, some fun. All right, Anna, take it away. We begin with the dramatic because now it has become abundantly clear that some members of the Israeli government do not see rescuing hostages as a top priority. So let's talk about who it is
Starting point is 00:01:11 and what he said. Far right Israeli finance minister Basilel Smotrich has now sparked fury after he stated that getting the Israeli hostages back home is not the top priority. And he said this during an interview just today. Now that led to outrage and we'll get to that outrage in just a moment, but let's get to what he specifically said. In this interview, he said, it's not the most important thing, meaning saving the hostages and bringing them back home. Why make it a competition? Why is it so important at the moment? We need to destroy Hamas. That is very important. Smokic also lashed out at those who are calling for a deal, a ceasefire, if you will that would bring the hostages home at any price, saying that at any price is a problem,
Starting point is 00:02:01 we have to return the hostages and we have to put pressure on Hamas. Now Smotrich's comments were so extreme that even Benny Gantz took issue with them and released a statement of his own, saying that the return of the hostages is not only our goal in the war, it is our moral imperative as a country and as a people. It is the most urgent thing. We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home. Now, Jank, you and I have been saying from almost the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, that it doesn't appear as though saving the hostages is a priority. Because remember, the hostages are in the Gaza Strip.
Starting point is 00:02:41 Everything that the Palestinians are dealing with right now, the hostages are also dealing with. That includes the blockage of any humanitarian aid. That includes the aerial bombardments, that includes the shelling. So we know that some of the hostages, although it's unclear how many, have died as a result of some of the military activity that Israel has carried out in the Gaza Strip. So we kept pointing to that as, hey, if they really care about bringing the hostages home, it doesn't really seem like it, given the brutal acts that are being committed in Gaza, which again, the Israeli hostages would have to deal with alongside Palestinian civilians. So what are your thoughts on this, Jank, because I'm really curious to see if this is going to lead to more of an uprising in Israel. There has been more and more protests. Yeah. So first of all, Israel's not a monolith, as we've said a billion times.
Starting point is 00:03:32 And Benny Gantz is both frustrating. He's part of the unity government. And it also says awful things from time to time. He's the one out there saying there isn't going to be a Palestinian state. But he is more left wing than the other monstrously right wing politicians in Israel. And that's why he's speaking out against this. And he's angling himself to one day maybe provide an alternative. To which I say, I'll take it. So if there's any voice that eventually leads to a person who's got a chance at winning Israeli elections saying,
Starting point is 00:04:14 we want two states, we need to eventually end the occupation. That's the only thing that's ever going to change anything. We have to put pressure on our government, American government, to put pressure on the Israeli government to go in that direction. But if they stay with this kind of right-wing government, there's no hope at all. Smotrich and Ben-Govier, to name two of the most prominent cabinet ministers, are monsters.
Starting point is 00:04:39 One of them was already convicted in terrorism charges and celebrates Israeli terrorists. I mean, just, that's Ben Gavir. Smotrich here just says the quiet part out loud. Remember what their original explanation was? No, we have to kill 29,000 Palestinians. The great majority of them are innocent civilians and our women and children.
Starting point is 00:05:06 We have to kill them because we're trying to rescue the hostages. Well, Smotrich just gave it away. He's like, oh, I don't even care about the hostages. And by the way, the actions of this right when government of Israel shows that. They don't care about the hostages at all. They rescued three and killed three. So they're a net zero so far. Doesn't even look like they're trying to get the hostages.
Starting point is 00:05:27 And now it's confirmed. They're like, we don't care. We just want to kill Palestinians. And we want to destroy Gaza. Muslim America and I was talking to today said, oh, the Democrats want credit because they're telling Israel to stop after nine out of 10. people in Gaza are homeless. You want credit because it's not 10 out of 10? And so it's not complicated for anyone who isn't biased or lives in Washington.
Starting point is 00:05:55 The right wing government of Israel is trying to absolutely destroy Gaza. And by the way, after that, there are plans that America now claims they're trying to stop of moving settlers in and just taking Gaza. So that's who this government is. So I want to get to what the family members who are justified in their outrage are saying in response to Smotritch's statements. As you can imagine, they're absolutely furious with him following the publication of his comments, family members of the hostages who were holding a vigil outside the defense ministry in Tel Aviv, reacted furiously, moving to block several main roads and protest.
Starting point is 00:06:38 They also issued a call to the general public to come and join them in a protest of fury against the government and threatened to set the streets on fire. And look, I want to, I want to note one other thing, you know, over the weekend, some of the largest protests occurred in Israel in regard to Netanyahu. They want to oust him. They do not want him to be the leader of Israel. And I think that they're correct in their assessment. They were also, protesting the military activity, the IDF's activity in Gaza. Not everyone in Israel, luckily, is in favor of what the Israeli government and the IDF is carrying out. So, Jank, when you say that, you know, Israelis are not a monolith, I think it's really important to emphasize that point because that's something that doesn't get talked about enough. And even though there still is widespread support for the war in Gaza, there is a growing body of people in Israel
Starting point is 00:07:32 who are looking at what's happening and they're realizing, yeah, this whole goal of defeating or destroying Hamas seems pretty far-fetched. And in fact, support for Hamas has been growing as a result of what Israel's been carrying out in Gaza. And so that's something to keep in mind. Eli Albag, who is an 18, who's 18-year-old daughter, Leary, is still being held by Hamas, stated the following, Mr. Smotrich, let them take your children, and I will stand in the road and shout. It's not the most important thing. And I mean, that's a good way of putting it. I mean, imagine, I can't even imagine the pain and the suffering these family members have been dealing with, knowing that their loved ones have been held hostage in a region that has been bombed. I mean,
Starting point is 00:08:24 80% of the residential buildings in Gaza are now either destroyed or damaged. The lack of humanitarian aid, the lack of fresh, clean water to drink, I would be beside myself. So I absolutely sympathize with these people and I feel terrible that they're being led by a government that very clearly doesn't have their best interest in mind. I know that Netanyahu only thinks of himself and how the continuation of this war is his best hope in staying in power. And that's what's so sick about all of this. Power, that's all it's about. I do think that there are some who believe that the military operations in Gaza are important and that it is working and they support Netanyahu and doing what he's doing. But I'm specifically talking about Netanyahu and what his genuine goals are. Yeah. So look, if you think 29,000 dead Palestinians is not enough, what do you want me to tell you?
Starting point is 00:09:21 Do you want me to tell you pretty little lies about how you, that's a moral position to have? Sorry, I'm in the truth telling business. It's not a moral position to have. Okay, look, there's extremists on both sides. So there's the people who say, you're never allowed to criticize Israel. If you do, you're an anti-Semite. Well, it's a government. Governments do bad things and sometimes terrible things.
Starting point is 00:09:47 Sorry, you don't get the immunity idol because you called it a Jewish state and then make it immune from criticism for the rest of time. It's not a thing, I don't care that you think it's a thing, I'm not going to do it, okay? Then you have the other extremists who are like, oh, the Jews are on the world and the Jews this and the Jews that. That's not how it works? Well, okay, if all the Jews are on the world, how come there are poor Jews in Israel? How come there's middle class Jews in Israel, in America and everywhere else? How come they didn't get the memo? Like, none of it makes any sense.
Starting point is 00:10:18 How come Israel's divided? I thought the Jews were in some sort of conspiracy in Kabbal. They're not, they're not. There's different people with different opinions within Israel, within the Jewish community, obviously. Now, to those people, I would say, but yes, but if you have Netanyahu, Ben-Govir, and Smotrich are representing you, these are guys who are genocidal, who are clearly racist, they despise Palestinians. If you claim that Netanyahu and Smotritch and Ben-Govir don't despise Palestinians, you're on a different planet, I can't even talk to you because you don't understand words.
Starting point is 00:10:53 Or you don't care about language words you, MAGA times 10, if you don't think those three guys absolutely despise Palestinians. So if that's your government, what do you want us to tell you? Because you're telling the world, this is who we are. We're deeply racist. We don't care about anybody's lives, including our own. We didn't protect Israel on October 7th. We knew it was coming. We didn't do anything.
Starting point is 00:11:20 We're not going to protect the hostages. The only thing we care about is our own power and how many Palestinians can we kill? If those are your representatives, you're not putting your best face forward. And as your friend and ally, I would tell you, please stop. You're driving hatred all across the world. These are not the best people representing you. There's amazing people that could represent you. And I don't even need amazing.
Starting point is 00:11:45 I just need non-genocidal. It's not too much to ask for. And look, guys, let's keep it real. We just glanced at it yesterday in the show. But there's a story about how the Israeli government is now selling rights to maritime waters off the Palestinian coast. By international law, that is Palestinian territory. But the Israelis are saying, yeah, but probably people connected in that, you know, it's not going to the Israeli people. It's going to go to the people who are in power and their buddies who are going to make money off those contracts.
Starting point is 00:12:21 They're just starting to steal Palestinian natural resources for their own profit. So who in the Israeli government is part of that theft? I don't know. And the Israeli people should find out because apparently they care a lot more about that and things along those lines. The hatred, the money, the corruption, the greed, all of that. And they're putting a terrible face on Israel. terrible. So I would ask the good people of Israel, for God's sake, please, for Israel's sake, let alone those poor Palestinians. Get rid of these guys and get someone who cares about
Starting point is 00:12:55 your own citizens, let alone the Palestinians. Well, let's move on to the upcoming ground invasion into Rafa and the United States, doing what it does best, vetoing peace resolutions. Israel has vowed to press ahead with a ground offensive in the city of Rafa, where around one and a half million Palestinians are now living. Most of them displaced and exhausted, many of them hungry. This young girl says she came to ruffer after Israeli tanks fired on a school where she was sheltering. Well, Algeria had brought forth another resolution before the UN Security Council, hoping that they would vote in favor of an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, for the third time, the United States vetoed that effort. Now, in response to that veto, the U.S. decided to put out a rival resolution, but they have
Starting point is 00:14:15 absolutely no urgency in getting it passed before the U.N. Security Council. So I want to get into those details because apparently the U.S. resolution would see the Security Council underscore its support for a temporary, not a permanent, a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable based on the formula of all hostages being released and calls for lifting all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. Now, there are some statements in regard to Israel doing a ground operation in Rafa. It's important to keep in mind that Rafa is where a million displaced Palestinians have gone to. In the video that we showed you earlier, you saw these, you know, massive encampments.
Starting point is 00:15:05 That's essentially where Palestinians are living now. Unsanitary conditions, lack of humanitarian aid, absolutely torturous situation for any human being to live in and keep in mind that we're still talking about a population of people where about 50% of them are under the age of 18. Many of these people are literally children and they're living in those conditions. Now, if Israel carries out some sort of ground operation in Rafa, the border town of Rafa, That means that the civilian death toll is going to be higher, much higher, considering how densely populated Rafa is at the moment. So basically the U.S. is saying we are against the ground invasion in Rafa, and we want to make that clear through this rival U.N. resolution.
Starting point is 00:15:50 Then there are some more statements about Rafa I want to get to. The U.S. draft text determines that under current circumstances, a major ground offensive into Rafa would result in further harm to civilians. and their further displacement, including potentially into neighboring countries. But remember, neighboring countries do not want to aid and abet Israel in their attempt at ethnically cleansing the Gaza strip of Palestinians. So a ground invasion doesn't mean that they're going to be displaced into another country. It means that they will be slaughtered. That is what the U.S. is actually warning about. Israel plans to storm Rafah, where more than one million of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have sought shelter,
Starting point is 00:16:29 prompting international concern that an assault would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UN has warned it could be a slaughter. And the draft US resolution says such a move would have serious implications for regional peace and security and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances. And the US is right about that, if they really mean it. And I do question if they really mean it. Let's watch. If Israel does go ahead with an offensive in rougher, despite mounting international criticism, it's these people who suffer, including children who've already lost their innocence. I've seen a father hold his daughter's hand while her body was cut to pieces, says this 15-year-old
Starting point is 00:17:21 girl. I've seen a woman killed by a sniper. In this war, we've seen a woman, we're We've seen things that nobody could imagine. It's just absolutely horrible. And you know, the US is also saying in their rival resolution that they are not in any way supportive of Israeli settlements being built into Gaza or for the borders of the Gaza strip to change. But I think this is a really important point to bring up. Let's go to Graphic 5 here where the United States does not plan to rush to a vote and and intends to allow time for negotiations, a senior U.S. administration official speaking on condition of anonymity said on Monday.
Starting point is 00:18:02 In other words, they're not even feeling any sense of urgency jank to get the UN Security Council to vote on and pass their own resolution, their own rival resolution that does not call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire. Yeah, I can't tell if this is 2% in the right direction or meant to actually trick all of us and go in the wrong direction while pretending to go in the right direction. So if the U.S. actually meant it. And they said to Israel, no, you're not going to put any settlements in Gaza. No, you can't change the territory of Gaza. And yes, we want you to stop bombing. Do not do a ground invasion of Rafa. If they thought, if I thought they. meant that and it was just words and they put nothing behind it. I'd say, hey, okay, that's the first sign of like, of morality in the U.S. government on this issue to date, even though it's just words and it's meaningless. There's only one thing that matters, which is the money.
Starting point is 00:19:08 As we're saying that we're partly condemning maybe, but later don't, we're the same Biden administration is like, please, we're. We have to rush $14 billion to Israel so they could slaughter more Palestinians with no checks on it at all. Please get him the money. Oh, tut, tut, Israel, we are so concerned about what you're doing to Gaza. Wink, right. But even so, even in that scenario, I'd say, okay, 2% in the right direction. But it might all be a trick that, oh, hey, we put some good words in there of this proposed resolution.
Starting point is 00:19:44 But for the meanwhile, what's actually happened, veto. So there's no resolution at all. Giant delay, maybe we might help you with this resolution down the road. And in the meanwhile, one of the things that's in the resolution that also makes it impossible is, in order for anything to happen, for us to agree to any of this, Hamas must release the hostages first for nothing. Okay, I would love for Hamas to release the hostages for nothing. I would love that. I want them back home.
Starting point is 00:20:20 But that's not usually how things work. So we, you know, we could shake our fists at them go, Ah, Hamas, you're so bad, you're so bad, terrible, okay? But they have the hostages. You have to go do a negotiation. That's how it works. So the entire thing might be torpedoed by that poison pill, thereby meaning we're just lying to try to get Arab American votes in Michigan.
Starting point is 00:20:47 This is all just meant to help Israel delay things while we appease the voters in Michigan and Minnesota and there's some Muslim voters in Georgia. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're trying so much to help. Go ahead, slaughter them. Here's more money. You know, it's interesting. I did not know that, while, yes, the United States has vetoed previous ceasefire resolutions that were passed by the UN Security Council, the U.S., which, of course, has been vociferously claiming, that it is in favor of more humanitarian aid getting into the Gaza Strip,
Starting point is 00:21:46 on two occasions abstained when the Security Council was voting in favor of allowing for more humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Why would the U.S. abstain? If the U.S. is so in favor of allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, wouldn't they be right there voting yes? Well, why would they abstain? I'm going to say something that apparently is verboten, but obviously true. we did not receive Israel's permission and the U.S. government will not do anything until they receive Israel's permission. Prove me wrong. Don't tell me your feelings are hurt. Show me facts
Starting point is 00:22:22 where America has defied Israel in the last 20 years, 40 years. Show me one. Show me one. I can show you many where the prime minister of Israel says, yeah, I didn't listen to Biden. I slapped them around a little bit. And then I asked him if he was going to bleed all day. I told him, I'm not going to do a goddamn thing, he says. And I told him he's going to do what I say. And it turns out he was right. Nanyahu has said that on many occasions. And it's been true. So what do you want me to say? Do you want me to lie and pretend that America doesn't ask Israel for permission on what to do? Because that would be a bald-faced lie. No, that is unsupported by any fact in American politics in the last 40 years. Show me evidence. Show me one fact
Starting point is 00:23:06 that proves that wrong. You can. So if you're wondering why, guys, It's not because the Jews run the world and all the crazy stuff that drives me nuts, okay? It's because the American system got built on donor money. So Lockheed Martin, the defense contractors, etc., have giant amounts of donor money. And yes, A-PAC Democratic majority for Israel, et cetera, also has donor money. That doesn't mean they're the only donors. There's a lot more Christian donors, there's Muslim donors, the corporate donors are the biggest. But do the politicians care about Apex money, et cetera?
Starting point is 00:23:43 If you say no, you know you're lying. Either you don't know a single thing about politics or you're lying on purpose for some other agenda. But yes, our politicians are 100% controlled by the donors. That's a fact. Finally, I wanted to talk about what would happen if there were a ceasefire right now, an immediate and permanent ceasefire. What would happen? Even with the ceasefire, the situation on the ground in Gaza is so disastrous that a lot of people, even with the, you know, ceasefire, the situation on the ground in Gaza is so disastrous that more people would die as a result of the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in the Gaza Strip. And that's based on a new study that was put out by independent researchers in the United States and Britain. So they found that hospitals and Gaza have been devastated by the fighting and more than 85% of its 2.3 million inhabitants
Starting point is 00:24:42 have been left homeless with rising cases of diseases like diarrhea, as well as malnutrition and overcrowded shelters. So these figures come from the report by these academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health in the United States, and here's what they found. Even with the ceasefire, about 11,580 people could still die in the same period if a disease outbreak compounds and the challenges of rebuilding the sanitation and health system in Gaza. And this is between now and August. So between now and August, they found that 11,580 people would still die. Roughly 3,250 of these deaths would be due to long-term complications from trauma injuries and 8,330 from other causes the report
Starting point is 00:25:36 estimates. So I mean, it really does emphasize how incredibly important it is for a ceasefire to occur immediately. Because even if it were to occur today, due to that humanitarian catastrophe, more people would continue dying. The death toll would continue to rise. But at least we wouldn't see more people dying from aerial bombardments or, you know, the IDF, uh, shelling buildings. It's just, I, it makes me, this whole thing makes me sick. I don't, I don't even know what else to say about it. It's just absolutely gut wrenching and soul crushing day after day seeing what's happening in Gaza and seeing our government's complicity in, in what's happening and support for what's happening, really.
Starting point is 00:26:23 Yeah, um, I just read a member comment and it got me to got me to realize something a little bit more definitive about the story. So thank you. Camp Coronad wrote in at t-y-t.com. So the U.S. opposes an invasion of Rafa under current conditions. So that means there are conditions under which we would support it. What conditions do the Israelis have to concoct in order for the U.S. to support the invasion of Rafa? Okay, but as I was reading that, I thought also, wait,
Starting point is 00:26:52 we're going to vote on a resolution to not do a ground invasion of Rafa, later, and that's the American plan. But they're about to do the Rafa invasion imminently. So that means the Americans are definitely lying. Yes, yes, yes, yes. They don't mean a word of that resolution. Yeah, they don't mean a word of it. They're going to do the ground invasion into Rafa.
Starting point is 00:27:18 The U.S. knows it. Israel knows it. The international community knows it. The U.S. is lying. Biden doesn't like the fact that he's a deeply. unpopular president. He was already deeply unpopular, who has been made even more unpopular due to his unwavering, undying support for Israel, regardless of what Israel does, regardless of how far right that government is, regardless of the indiscriminate bombings that Israel has carried out in Gaza. And I say indiscriminate because he himself has declared that the bombings
Starting point is 00:27:49 have been indiscriminate. And so what Biden wants to do is have his cake and eat it too. And he's really failed in doing that, which I love seeing. He wants to make it seem as though he's this empathetic figure who's really looking out for the best interests of the Palestinian people, when in reality, this rival resolution is null in void, considering that there's no urgency in bringing it before the UN Security Council, and also considering the fact that Israel is planning to do this ground invasion into Rafah very, very soon, probably by this week, if not next week. So what is the point of bringing up this rival resolution to fool you into thinking that the Biden administration is really wagging its finger at Israel? It's not. So let's stop pretending, please. Let me add one last quick thing here. I know for a fact that the Biden campaign team is all over Michigan right now. The Michigan primary is coming up. So they're on a charm offensive with Arab and Muslim voters when they need them in a couple of days to convince them that they're the good guys. And golly, gee, there was. anything they could do to stop Israel, they would.
Starting point is 00:28:55 But there isn't, he's only the poor president of the United States. And we're a tiny little powerless country. And so obviously we have to do everything Israel tells us to do. So that's the game that's being played. And if you fall for it, you're a giant sucker. Okay, he's, he, Joe Biden is a deeply immoral man who doesn't care about the lives of Arabs or Muslims at all. And there's nothing you can say about how.
Starting point is 00:29:22 hurt you are that I've offended your dear leader. And I know a lot of Democrats are outraged. If you're in media, your job is not to do the news. It is to kiss the ass of the Democratic leader. How dare you say the truth about him? Show me one time that Joe Biden has ever cared about Muslims or Arabs. All he's ever done is voted to kill them and they kill them more. Those are facts.
Starting point is 00:29:49 When we come back from the break, we'll hear from Nancy Pelosi, who was actually asked why the U.S. continues to provide weaponry to Israel if it is against what Israel is carrying out in Gaza. A pretty incredible moment that I can't wait to share with you, so don't miss it. All right, back on Young Turks, Jenk, Anna, Stephen Hackett, Morvot, Shaheen, Pavel Langez, V, Chris, and Clinton Walsh. They all just join, and we need you guys, and we appreciate you guys. We're, as you can tell here, doing our darndest to actually do the news here of a rarity in American media. and we don't have the shiny corporate sponsors like Raytheon, etc. So we need you guys to become members and I appreciate that you did.
Starting point is 00:30:57 Embox Al-Conejo, Malo, and Lady F&T, thank you for gifting memberships on YouTube. We appreciate you. Anna. All right, let's get to our next story. If you don't like what Israel is doing and the president has made it clear that some of what Israel is doing, he doesn't like. And you go on supplying them. hardware to do those things, you own this operation every bit as much as they do, don't you? No, we don't, we don't.
Starting point is 00:31:27 Nancy Pelosi was asked some rather tough questions about the United States and its support for Israel's war on Gaza while at the Munich Security Conference. Now, I'm happy that she was asked this difficult question. I wish we had more journalists here in the United States who would ask this specific question to Democrats in charge, including including Joe Biden, but one DW reporter, that's an outlet in Germany, asked what we've all wondered. If Biden believes that Israel is carrying out indiscriminate bombings in Gaza, if Biden does in fact have problems with how Israel is carrying out this war in Gaza, why does he keep sending them weapons? Why is he asking for 14 billion additional dollars to send in military
Starting point is 00:32:12 aid to Israel? Well, here's how Pelosi responded to that question. We have always supported Israel as our national security friend, largely because it was in our interest to do so. Largely because it was in due so. We had shared values that only democracy in the region. The behavior of Netanyahu is, in my view, inexcusable in terms of how it is affected, the collateral damage to children and families and the rest. But nobody can take away the right of any country to defend itself. It has been brutally attacked in that way. Oh, wow, Jenks.
Starting point is 00:32:54 So Pelosi has a problem with what Netanyahu is doing. And she's kind of mildly speaking out against it in her answer at the Butick Security Conference. Does that mean that she's getting paid by Russia now for having moral issues with Netanyahu and his far right government and the atrocities that they're committed? in Gaza, because that's what she's claimed of pro-Palestinian protesters in the United States. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, look, everything she says is nonsense. We, there are national security ally, why we share values?
Starting point is 00:33:30 What values? Yeah, what does that even mean? Even if it was true, what does that mean? Why is that a national security issue? And the most common lie, it's the only democracy in the region. Number one, if you're imprisoning five million people, you're not exactly. million people, you're not exactly a stellar democracy. Number two, Turkey's in the region. They're a democracy. So should we, oh, by the way, should we just give them $14 billion right now?
Starting point is 00:33:54 Oh, no, no, no. We, what, we don't share their values? What's the values exactly? Anyway, all this is nonsense. She's good. They're all going to support Israel 100%. And she says that there, they're not going to question them. And so all this talk of like, oh, tut, tut, Netanyahu. Well, yeah, the Israelis hate Netanyahu too. And so it's a safe thing to say when you're making sure that you're doing absolutely nothing to fix this problem. So she was asked again, why are you sending weapons to Israel if you're being critical of Netanyahu and how this war is being carried out? And I have to say, her answer was one of the most dishonest things I have heard her say. And that's a very high bar.
Starting point is 00:34:40 Nancy Pelosi says all sorts of dishonest things. This is among the worst. Let's watch. Last week, the EU's foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell wondered aloud why the US isn't doing more to have its warnings taken seriously in Jerusalem. If you believe, he said that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide fewer arms in order to prevent so many people being killed.
Starting point is 00:35:05 He's got a point, hasn't he? Israel is very well equipped with weaponry. There's nothing that we have sent since October 7th that has contributed to this brutality. In the longer run, they're in a dangerous neighborhood, and we will continue to support Israel. So the idea that the United States hasn't sent more weapons to Israel since this war began is a complete and utter lie. First of all, we're all familiar with Biden's call for an additional $14 billion in military aid to Israel. Now, luckily, that keeps failing in Congress because of how dysfunctional Congress is. But I have no doubt that eventually that military aid will pass.
Starting point is 00:36:00 But I also want to remind you of something that Biden did. He actually went around Congress to do something that, I don't know, since he went around Congress to do it, maybe Pelosi is completely unaware and ignorant of this fact. But Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, had told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination covering a $147.5 million sale for equipment to Israel, including fuses, chargers and primers that is needed to make the 155 millimeter shells that Israel has already purchased function. And then Blinken made a similar decision earlier on December 9th to approve the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million. So there is a
Starting point is 00:36:48 loophole that allows for the executive branch to send military aid to our so-called allies, without having to deal with Congress, the ability to do so unilaterally. And they did it twice. So she's a liar. She's a complete and utter liar. She wants to support what Israel's doing while kind of like wiping her hands clean of any wrongdoing by the United States government. As if the U.S. government hasn't vetoed three UN resolutions for a ceasefire.
Starting point is 00:37:20 as if the United States hasn't provided support both rhetorically and through their actions to the far right government of Israel. And you're right, Jenks, she said it right there. We're going to continue supporting Israel. So I'm just getting real tired of watching Democrats blale at having their cake and eating it too. You guys support everything Israel's doing. So just be honest about that. Don't try to walk that fine line because they're not actually walking a fine line. They're providing Israel with everything Israel wants. And the only thing that has stopped the passage of that 14 billion dollar supplemental military aid package to Israel is the dysfunction that we're currently experiencing in Congress. Yeah. So I'll tell you why she's doing it in a second. But she said
Starting point is 00:38:06 that Israel's very well equipped. We don't need to send them any more money. Oh, good news. Then let's not. Oh, wait a minute. You're the one trying to push $14 billion through to Israel to do more bombings. That's military equipment. But, Chank, why are they well equipped? Why are they well equipped? Well, and that's the second thing I was going to get to. Why are they well equipped? Because we've already given them $3.8 billion every year. If somebody gave you $4 billion for the last 40 years, you'd be really well equipped too. And who did that? Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party.
Starting point is 00:38:42 They all did that. And then on top of that, Joe Biden sent $250 million on top in the middle of the war. So every part of what she said is a giant lie. And we're an honest news show, so we don't care what party you're in. If you lie, we're going to call you a liar. If you say that on mainstream media, their heads would explode. That is the beloved angelic Nancy Pelosi. You can't call her a liar.
Starting point is 00:39:10 That's true. You can't say things that are true. Well, how else are you going to do propaganda for the Democratic Party? Well, we're not. That's your job if you're in mainstream media. Our job is to tell the truth. So why are they pretending? Because in the past, they wouldn't pretend.
Starting point is 00:39:24 They'd say the things that she said there and be done with it. Well, they got a right to defend themselves. I mean, 2,900 people, 29,000 people kill 290,000 people. 2.9 million. There's no limit to defending yourself, right? In the beginning, if you were going after the hostages, that's defending yourself. They're not going after the hostages, and they've leveled 90% of Gaza. Who the hell are you kidding?
Starting point is 00:39:49 But in the past, they would just say that, and they would say, oh, did you notice that racist things she said? They're in a scary neighborhood. Okay, all right. So, Michigan, Michigan is the answer. It's a five alarm fire within the Democratic Party. They cannot win the general election without winning Michigan. Michigan has a lot of Muslim and Arab voters.
Starting point is 00:40:16 That is why every Democrat out there right now is out there pretending that they care about Palestinian lives. 99% of them are giant, giant liars. They go on TV and they're like, oh my God, Arabs, we found out they're human too. We just thought they were scary, but it turns out they're also human beings. Oh, we care so much about them. And then they turn around, they're like 14 billion. Send it. Kill them all, kill them all.
Starting point is 00:40:43 Send 14, 17. Who cares? Kill them. Oh, I mean, I am so concerned. I am, oh, golly, gee. Our Palestinians dying. Oh, Israel, don't do that. 14 billion, send it.
Starting point is 00:40:54 Send it or come on, send it. Kill them, kill them. Oh, I mean, I care so much about them. That is what your actions are screaming, Nancy Pelosi. And anyone honest would say the same exact thing. When we come back from the break, we'll talk a little bit about a U.S. based group that is doing some pretty in-depth opposition research on any reporter that
Starting point is 00:41:20 dares to talk about the situation on the ground in Gaza. So we'll get to that story and more when we come back. All right, back on TYT, Jankana, Alexander Karevsky and T. Wilbur 34, they hit the join button below. It makes a giant difference. You could also do it at tyt.com slash join. You could also do contributions there. We need it and we appreciate you. And N. Gritcher became a member there.
Starting point is 00:42:01 And that's fantastic. Thank you. Anna. Well, this war in Gaza is a little different from previous wars in that we're finally seeing some journalists report on what Palestinians, what Palestinian civilians are dealing with. But apparently there are some groups in the U.S. that are not in favor of that, and so they're taking action. A pro-Palestinian, I'm sorry, a pro-Israel group is working hard to discredit American journalists who they claim are biased against Israel. Now, in reality, these journalists tend to cover both what has happened to Israelis on October 7th, while also covering what Palestinian civilians are dealing with on the ground in Gaza.
Starting point is 00:42:45 And that doesn't look so great for the Israeli government. And so now you have this group working pretty hard to discredit these specific journalists. Now, I want to give you some background on the group itself, and then we'll talk about a very specific journalist they're going after over at the Washington Post. So the group is known as SKDK. They have close ties to President Biden and the White House, which is not surprising, considering what we're seeing from Biden in his never-ending support for Israel's far-right government. SKDK has been running communications for the 10-7 project,
Starting point is 00:43:21 a consortium of five Jewish organizations founded last year to promote continued U.S. support for Israel and counter misinformation about the Israel Hamas war. Now, over the past several months, that work has basically consisted of sharing daily memos to journalists pointing out what the group sees as flaws in their reporting. No problem with that. I mean, if you want to say that you have an issue with the way a journalist has reported something, or if they didn't get a fact right, if you contact the publication or if you contact the journalist and ask for correction or clarification, I don't think there's anything
Starting point is 00:43:57 wrong with that. But they argue that there has been a lack of coverage, under coverage, if you will, in regard to Hamas's sexual assaults of Israeli hostages, which is news to me because I feel like that has been covered pretty extensively. They also call into question failures to acknowledge that the U.S. government's assessment agrees with Israel that Hamas had a military presence at the El Shifa hospital. Now remember, we had CNN reporters go to the El Shifa, not the El Shifa hospital, but we've had arguments that there's a military presence at a grave site, for instance, a graveyard. And then you have CNN reporters go to the graveyard because they want to see the tunnels. They want to see the shaft entrance into the tunnels. And then they find out that
Starting point is 00:44:48 the IDF in the Israeli government wasn't entirely accurate and honest in what they were claiming. But nonetheless, they don't like the negative coverage of what the IDF is carrying out. SKDK also has been keeping tabs on reporters that it felt were reporting and tweeting unfairly about Israel and putting pressure on major national news organizations to punish or remove these reporters from the beat. And they have a very specific target. That target is a reporter over at the Washington Post. Her name is Louise or Louise Love Luck. And I've actually read a lot of her reporting on this matter.
Starting point is 00:45:28 I think she's doing a really good job. And in a five page document that was shared with Semaphore, which broke this story, the group included a list of grievances about her coverage of Gaza and tweets about the conflict. The group's issues with Love Luck included recent corrections and editor's notes on her stories that it said demonstrated her erroneous or biased reporting. So they provided a specific example. And the example has to do with a piece written by Love Luck and others titled Israel's War with Hamas separates Palestinian babies from their mothers. Now, there was an editor's note right at the top of that piece. And an editor's note happens for further clarification or to correct something.
Starting point is 00:46:13 that wasn't exactly right in the reporting. That is what honest, sincere journalists do. And it is a good thing that they had that editor's note. Look, when it comes to war, oftentimes there's the fog of war, things change, facts on the ground change. And so it is important to correct your reporting. And that's what they did. And here's what the editor's note said.
Starting point is 00:46:35 An earlier version of this article about Palestinian mothers in Gaza who have been separated from their newborns mischaracterized some aspect. of Israeli rules for permits that allowed some Palestinian women before October 7th to travel from Gaza to give birth at hospitals in the West Bank in Israel. The article incorrectly said that all Palestinian mothers who received authorization to leave Gaza for humanitarian reasons had to return to Gaza to reapply after their permits expired. In fact, it was not always necessary for mothers to return to Gaza. So they corrected the error. And for correcting the error, this pro-Israel group is trying to punish Lovelock for her reporting. Now there's more, Love Luck was also won the group's ire by failing at times to note that Gaza's health ministry is controlled by Hamas.
Starting point is 00:47:29 So since she doesn't note that Hamas controls the Palestinian health ministry, they're going after her. after her because you must note that in an effort to discredit the civilian death toll that's been reported, which by the way is a conservative estimate of the civilian death toll, because it does not take into account Palestinians who have been trapped under the rubble and are presumed to be dead. So I mean, I would love for Israel to allow reporters into the Gaza Strip to do actual reporting. I mean, you have some reporters on the ground there, Palestinian reporters, many of whom have dealt with the violence, hundreds of whom have died as a result of the violence. But those are the only journalists we can rely on. And I don't know how many of them are going to be left if
Starting point is 00:48:14 this war continues on. The real question is, if you don't trust the Palestinian Health Ministry, which historically has been trusted and historically has been proven correct in the death toll figures that they've released, will you allow an independent party to go into the Gaza Strip and do an actual count? They probably won't do that, will they? because the numbers for the Palestinian Health Ministry are actually accurate. It's just gross. And then they're going after her tweets. They dug into her tweets from when she was in college.
Starting point is 00:48:44 And they argue that she's been too critical of Israel all the way back to her college years. And as a result, she's not suitable to report on this story. Jank. I think there's some gold in those things that they're criticizing for in the past. And I want you guys to know how this character assassination business works. So I'm going to go back to that in a second. But first, I wanted to point out, look, I get it. The people that are funding this are American citizens, but they love Israel, and so they
Starting point is 00:49:12 want to attack and destroy anyone who dares to criticize Israel. And if you think, well, it doesn't sound like you get, it sounds like you're hostile to them. No, I really do get it, because I know Turks who think that it is the worst crime in the world to criticize Turkey or fellow Turks. And they would do the same thing. And they would proudly do it, right? So I'm not blaming somebody based on their religion or background, et cetera, right?
Starting point is 00:49:37 But is it weird and unacceptable? Of course it is. It would be unacceptable if anybody did it. In fact, think about it, imagine that there was a group of Russian Americans who got together, collected a lot of money, and then put pressure on anyone who ever wrote critically about Putin or Russia. Would American media be like, oh, that's okay, yeah, we're getting pressure. Okay, sorry, sorry, we'll change. We'll change this, we'll change that, what else do we need to do to please Putin?
Starting point is 00:50:06 I mean, I would hope that they wouldn't do that. How about if there was Chinese Americans who said, no, we funded a group to make sure that no one ever criticizes China. Well, we would all criticize that, right? We say that's not the right way. I know why you're doing it and maybe you're doing it with great intent, but we can't have it, right? So obviously the same exact thing, not more, not less. Same exact thing applies to this group that is supporting a foreign government and trying to intimidate American reporters into being biased in favor of them and against Palestinians who are being slaughtered. So how does this work? Not only do they nitpick tiny little details. Now is there people on the other side, really well-funded Palestinians who are going around nitpicking things?
Starting point is 00:50:53 Are you kidding me? There's been one article in The Intercept that showed definitively that mainstream media is massively biased towards Israel. And this is after they got better. In previous conflicts, it was way worse, right? So Intercept does a wonderful job of reporting, but outside of there's no group. There's no every time somebody's bias against Palestinians, nobody nitpicks them, et cetera, totally uneven playing field.
Starting point is 00:51:17 But that's not enough. They had to go back into her past, this is what I call needle in a haystack. They dig for needles in that haystack to try to find one thing or two things wrong and go, aha, and this is who she is. Now get a load of the absurdity in this case. Quoting semifor again, graphic eight. For many years, Lovelluk's online presence was that of a far left activist. So she was not allowed to have opinions apparently before working at the Washington Post.
Starting point is 00:51:45 And besides which almost everything this group says is lies. So she has voiced negative opinions about pro-Israel American leaders and Israeli. leadership is she as a reporter not allowed to criticize our government or other governments has been a proponent of the anti-Israel Qatar-owned Al Jazeera TV. There are a lot of Jewish Americans who worked at Al Jazeera. So now if you just don't hate Al Jazeera, you're an anti-Semite, okay, and took part in the, this is my favorite, and took part in the Cambridge University occupation in 2010, which protested against proposed tuition fee rises. Where she attended university, the group wrote in a memo.
Starting point is 00:52:28 So if you ever protested against tuition increases at your school, a pro-Israeli group might come for you one day and demand that you be fired. It's absurd. What is this? Absolutely absurd. What is this? Absolutely absurd. The Washington Post should say, hey, we love you brothers and sisters, but go ahead and F off.
Starting point is 00:52:49 We don't give a damn what you, what propaganda you would like us to print. I'm not gonna humor you. I get why you're doing it and you think you have good intent, but your intent is just terrible. You're telling me about how she did what it lower tuition when she was going to school and I should fire her for it? Are you nuts? They also complained that she was angry about George Bush's memoir back in 2011. If you read George Bush's memoir about how he tortured people and did warrantless wiretapping on all of
Starting point is 00:53:19 all Americans and broke all international law and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. And that didn't make you angry. I think you're a deeply immoral person. Yep. So look, Jank, I want you to really internalize the story. I'd like deeply want you to internalize the story because this is where our power lies. And what I mean by that is we're never going to get validation from corporate media. We're never going to get validation from establishment.
Starting point is 00:53:49 politicians or an establishment party. And you know what? I don't want their validation. What I want is to serve our audience and give people to the best of my ability, accurate details about what's happening in our country and around the world. And no one can stop us from doing it because you built this place. That is where your power lies. And I don't think you realize that. I want you to really internalize it. Because can you imagine this group coming to you and demanding to fire me or take me off the Israel Gaza beat because I'm too biased, you'd laugh in their faces. Yeah, I would, Anna, but I hear you.
Starting point is 00:54:29 That's power. I hear you and I appreciate you. But I don't need their approval. I need their amplifier. The reason this group does this, it's not, they're not dumb. They're smart because they know that if they can get everyone to stop criticizing Israel, then Israel can do whatever they want. They could run roughshod.
Starting point is 00:54:48 They can kill it as many Palestinians as they want. They could grab gods, they could do whatever they want, as long as they make sure that that voice of protest never gets out. The voice of reality and honesty never gets out. So we have the young Turks and TYT and we have our audience and we love you guys. And you guys spread our videos and you share in that makes a giant difference. And we've gotten through the young, not just us, but a lot of people online. But yes, we were a large part of that 22 years.
Starting point is 00:55:18 here, right? And so they hate us because we showed young people the truth. But at some point, we have to get power so that we can change things. And in order to get that power, we need a larger amplifier to reach enough voters to make a difference. So I hear you, and you're not wrong, I've given up on mainstream media completely, and I've given up on politicians completely. they're never ever going to do the right thing voluntarily. So instead we have to rise up through social media and we have to organize the internet. We have to work together. That is incredibly hard.
Starting point is 00:55:58 But that's the only choice we have left. Otherwise, the powerless will continue to have no voice and the powerful will reign and this injustice will reign forever. So we have to work together online to create our own amplifier. We have to eventually get the power to get the change. All right. That does it for our first hour. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit about electoral politics, Nikki Haley and Donald Trump feuding in some of the most childish ways imaginable, but it is entertaining. So stick around for that and more. Don't miss it.

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