It’s Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Ilan Pappe, professor of history at the University of Exeter and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, author of Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic, to discuss the state of affairs in the Middle East a year after October 7th, 2023. Then she speaks with Rakan Abed El Rahman, correspondent at the National News stationed in the Gaza Strip, to discuss what it has been like reporting on the Israel/Gaza conflict since October 7th of last year. First, Emma runs through updates on today’s voter registration deadlines, Israel’s decimation of Gaza, the IDF’s failing invasion of Southern Lebanon, Blinken’s role in approving the IDF’s bombing of aid trucks in Gaza, France’s military aid to Israel, the Harris campaign, SCOTUS, Biden’s immigration policy, and the impending Hurricane Milton, before parsing through Elon Musk’s simultaneously cringeworthy and genuinely concerning appearance at Trump’s rally in PA. Professor Ilan Pappé then joins, diving right into the rapid escalation and exacerbation of Israeli society and the Israeli state’s genocidal desires, first tackling the clear signs of the citizenry’s right-wing turn and the Netanyahu Administration’s messianic nature in the wake of the 2022 elections, before unpacking his thoughts on how the rapid radicalization during Israel’s brutal ethnic cleansing of Gaza (now expanded into a regional conflict) has exposed extensive cracks in the state of Israel. After briefly touching on the role of Israeli’s backlash to Netanyahu’s fascistic judiciary reforms – and the particular dearth of any connection between the violence imposed on Palestinians and the fascism coming home to roost – in demonstrating the precarious state of the country, Professor Pappé steps back to explore this evolution as a natural progression of right-wing colonial ideology in direct conflict with the world it’s invading, bolstered by Israel’s proactive violence in stamping out any conditions for change. Ilan then walks Sam and Emma through the evolution of the super-alliance that backs the Zionist state, exploring the movement’s roots in an Evangelical Christian movement that sought to capitalize on anti-Semitic sentiment and the growing aims of the British Empire, putting together an overwhelmingly powerful coalition before the Jewish community even came to the fore, also looking at the incredible evolution of the Zionist lobby in the United States and how Israel’s ability to stamp out conditions for change extends well beyond its border. After expanding on the ever-growing international backlash to Israel’s genocidal apartheid regime, Pappé dives deep into the need to recenter Palestinian actors in this fight, and what must be done to achieve decolonization in the region as quickly and with as little violence as possible. Rakan Abed El Rahman then looks to the ongoing devastation Israel is inflicting on the Gaza Strip, unpacking the ever-rising death toll, the debilitating material and mental conditions, and the complete decimation of civilian sectors in the region, before stepping back to outline how very real (while certainly less extreme) all of those issues were *prior* to October 7th of last year. Expanding on this, El Rahman walks Emma through the near-total nature of Israel’s reign of terror in Gaza since Hamas’ attack last October, even in contrast with Israel’s other major offensives against Gaza over the last two decades, before wrapping up by sharing his (and others’) experiences of Israel’s explicit and targeted terrorizing of journalists and medical personnel, and the insane need for the West (and Israel) to recognize Palestinians as humans rather than terrorists.

And in the Fun Half: Emma and the MR Team reflect on the Veepstakes after last week’s debate, parse through Donald Trump’s recent comments on the real estate value of colonizing Gaza, and watch Google’s former CEO attempt to argue that providing infinite growth for AI is more important than tackling climate change. Plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Professor Pappe’s book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lobbying-for-Zionism-on-Both-Sides-of-the-Atlantic/Ilan-Pappe/9780861544028

Follow Rakan on Twitter here: https://x.com/Rakanabdrahmn

Check out the National News here: https://www.thenationalnews.com/

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