Author Peter Beinart discusses "the reckoning" Jews must have after Israel's genocide in Gaza, the mainstreaming of extremism, & a Trump Administration that promotes antisemitic conspiracies.
As an American who is Jewish, I am appalled at the actions of Netanyahu and the IDF - and I know I’m not alone. I can understand wanting to destroy Hamas, but not at the expense of 45,000 innocent civilian lives. And a BIG NO to Israel annexing the West Bank/East Jerusalem. Netanyahu and Trump are the biggest threats to the world.
Missing from this conversation is the Christian Zionist movement, which bankrolls the fascists on the idea that Jews should be in Israel where they, along with Muslims, will be destroyed in the Second Coming of Jesus if they don't convert to Christianity. I'd like to learn a bit more about these wingnuts especially with one of them being the new ambassador to Israel from the US.
I very much like Professor Beinart's way of looking at the Jew/Israel relationship. "Israel" is not a matter of geography so much as a system of values and obligation. I have always felt that strategic alignment with fundamentalist Christians was entirely inappropriate for a "Jewish" state. ("Religions" in general are supposed to be about how one lives, not where.)
As an American who is Jewish, I am appalled at the actions of Netanyahu and the IDF - and I know I’m not alone. I can understand wanting to destroy Hamas, but not at the expense of 45,000 innocent civilian lives. And a BIG NO to Israel annexing the West Bank/East Jerusalem. Netanyahu and Trump are the biggest threats to the world.
I agree with you and both are wrong.
There is an effort within the current Israeli government to equate "Palestinians" with "Hamas" similar to the conflation of "Israeli" and "Jewish."
Missing from this conversation is the Christian Zionist movement, which bankrolls the fascists on the idea that Jews should be in Israel where they, along with Muslims, will be destroyed in the Second Coming of Jesus if they don't convert to Christianity. I'd like to learn a bit more about these wingnuts especially with one of them being the new ambassador to Israel from the US.
Maybe the question is What is the future of trump.
I very much like Professor Beinart's way of looking at the Jew/Israel relationship. "Israel" is not a matter of geography so much as a system of values and obligation. I have always felt that strategic alignment with fundamentalist Christians was entirely inappropriate for a "Jewish" state. ("Religions" in general are supposed to be about how one lives, not where.)
"And please, don't be a fascist." I am going to adopt that as my meme. (I appreciate simplicity.)
Thank you for having Peter on your Substack!
Thank you for this excellent interview.
A few words to my fellow Jews who think that Trump is "good for the Jews"
https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/when-it-looks-barks-and-bites-like