Donald Trump and Israel decided it would be a brilliant decision to not only attack Iran during Ramadan but also assassinate the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini who serves as a religious guide for millions of Shia Muslims around the world.
To win hearts and minds, they also bombed a school in Iran and killed nearly 200 girls. Donald Trump trusted his “feeling” and followed war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu into a disastrous quagmire without an exit strategy, a credible story to sell to the American public, or a plan to protect US troops and tourists who are now caught in the chaos
Just to pour gasoline on the raging fire, Netanyahu decided to strike during the holiday of Purim, when Jews celebrate the destruction of Amalek, a symbol of perennial oppression. Meanwhile, Christian nationalists, who now populate the Trump Administration, are openly framing this illegal war as a “religious war” and a necessary precondition for the second coming of Jesus and the Rapture.
(Uncredited / Army Chaplain William Dykes Instagram post.)
If this war is labeled and seen as a “Crusade” by the “West,” then how do you think Muslims around the world will respond? We saw a taste during the War on Terror. That will be a walk in the park compared to what happens now, especially as Iran has proxies and allies in the form of Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis, excluding individuals who might become radicalized and perform acts of terrorism.
While this is happening, AIPAC remains a toxic force in US politics and is dividing the Democratic base. Gavin Newsom, a Presidential candidate, sees where the wind is blowing and decided to flip-flop and allege that Israel might be an apartheid state.
How is this affecting Israel and Palestine? How are Jewish communities responding to extremist leaders who claim to be waging war on their behalf? What will be the blowback in the Middle East and beyond?
To answer and unpack these questions, I invited a friend of the show, Debra Shushan, an expert on Israel and Palestine and editor of The Debrief Substack.
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Thank you Amy Gabrielle, Stephanie G Wilson, PhD, Dani Smart, Margaret Williams, MS, ACC, Allie Blum, and many others for tuning into my live video with Debra Shushan! Join me for my next live video in the app.
