Two discussions of the Gaza genocide

Peter Beinart is the Editor-at Large for Jewish Currents who has done a lot of solid critical analysis of Israel’s current situation in the Gaza genocide and the various other wars in which it is more-or-less currently involved: the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen.

In this video, he discusses the current conflicts with Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the left-liberal Zionist group, J Street. J Street is part of what is now commonly called the Israel Lobby, but it has taken a more critical view of Israel’s policies on Palestine than some of the more famous players in the Lobby, like AIPAC or Christians United For Israel. (1)

The discussion gives a glimpse of the larger American Jewish discussion and debate over the current situation.

The following video has Dean Obeidallah interviewing the Israeli-American historian and genocide scholar Omer Bartov. (2) (I recently posted another Bartov interview here.)

Ryan Cooper also warns about the maximum goals of the real existing policies of the State of Israel:

One of the most grisly humanitarian crises in history is happening right now in Gaza. The Israeli military has reduced the enclave to ruins with constant bombing—killing perhaps 59,000 people in the process, at least three-quarters of them civilians, and 18,000 of them children. Gaza’s economy is buried in the rubble, and it is desperately short of food, water, and medicine. Thousands of tons of aid are sitting just miles away from Gaza’s border, but the Israeli government refuses to let most of it through. On the contrary, at the handful of aid stations that remain, Israeli troops are routinely massacring dozens of people queueing for food. A total of 1,000 people have been killed seeking food since May, according to the United Nations, mostly near sites operated by the shady American contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has taken over aid distribution from the U.N. [my emphasis] (3)

The number of Palestinians killed in the current war is certainly understated in most reports because the conditions in Gaza don’t allow for any kind of reasonably definitive count of how many people have died there as a directed result of war and genocide since October 2023.

Cooper’s following description of the situation is on the mark:

In short, the Israeli government, with considerable support and backing from the United States, is deliberately and explicitly causing a famine in Gaza, and for good measure gunning down starving Gazans as they beg for their lives.

The endgame for Israel’s war against Palestine is coming into view: a Greater Israel, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River (and perhaps beyond), created by the destruction of Palestine and the genocide of its people. Unless Israel is stopped, Gaza will be bombed and starved until the entire population is either dead or shipped off somewhere. Then the West Bank will receive the same treatment. [my emphasis]

One of the most cynical criticisms from the pro-genocide advocates during this war has been accusing antiwar activists who use the slogan “From the river to the sea/Palestine will be free” of advocating the killing of all Jews in Palestine when the official goal of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the goal of his government is just that, except for the “free” part.

Cooper also cites the findings of a poll in May that shows how jaded and supportive of the Israeli government’s current war and it’s the way it is being waged most Israelis were at the time of the poll, as reported here by Haaretz:

A recent survey of Israeli Jews reveals a growing comfort with the idea of forcibly expelling Palestinians – both from Gaza and from within Israel's borders. The poll also found that a significant minority supports the mass killing of civilians in enemy cities captured by the Israeli army. These disturbing trends reflect the radicalization of religious Zionism since Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, and the failure of secular Israeli Jews to articulate a vision that challenges Jewish supremacy. …

According to the results, 82 percent of respondents supported the expulsion of Gaza's residents, while 56 percent favored expelling Palestinian citizens of Israel. These figures mark a sharp rise from a 2003 survey, in which support for such expulsions stood at 45 percent and 31 percent, respectively. (4) [my emphasis]

Notes:

(1) Word on the Street LIVE with Peter Beinart. J Street YouTube channel 07/28/2025. <https://youtu.be/PB6cVVpuROo?si=S8KqYox7nIpcje8r> (Accessed: 2025-24-07).

(2) Omer Bartov- Prof of Holocaust and Genocide Studies-tells brutal truth of what is happening in Gaza. Dean Obeidallah Show YouTube channel 07/28/2025. <https://youtu.be/yt065Soixn8?si=YoM73_KSpP49h1hP> (Accessed: 2025-28-07).

(3) Cooper, Ryan (2025): Israel’s Endgame Is Obliterating Palestine. The American Prospect 07/25/2025. <https://prospect.org/world/2025-07-25-israels-endgame-obliterating-palestine/> (Accessed: 2025-28-07).

(4) Hazkani, Shay & Sorek, Tamir (2025): Yes to Transfer: 82% of Jewish Israelis Back Expelling Gazans. Haaretz 05/28/2025. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-28/ty-article-magazine/.premium/yes-to-transfer-82-of-jewish-israelis-back-expelling-gazans/00000197-12a4-df22-a9d7-9ef6af930000?gift=046a2fa08fda4b3c998bc72d8fd818b9> (Accessed: 2025-28-07).