Loading summary
Transcript3 lines
- [00:03]
Julian Walker
Today I'll be taking a deep dive into a controversial pro Palestine group headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, called Within Our Lifetime. And in discussing their ideas and methods, I'll ask questions like what's the relationship between anti Zionism and anti Semitism? And how do you make sense of differing interpretations of slogans like Globalize the Intifada and from the river to the Sea? On our recent episode about the success of New York City mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani in June's Democratic primary, I praised his handling of one of the most electrified third rails in today's pro Palestine protest slogans. Now, given that he's a democratic socialist and a Muslim whose background includes exactly that kind of protest, and given that he wants to be mayor of the city that is home to more Jews than anywhere else outside of Israel, these kinds of questions are actually inevitable. The adjustments he made and how he handled them in the weeks before that election showed an ability to do something as a political communicator that is rare, especially on this topic. His stance on the slogan Globalize the Intifada became a central focus, and by his third or fourth time facing this question on the public stage, he ended up eventually answering that it is not language that he himself uses. And and he also expressed empathy for Jewish New Yorkers who may find it scary, while acknowledging the rise of anti Semitic attacks. This is brilliant because he pulled off something very difficult by resisting the kind of whataboutism that could have been used against him. And look, the truth is that the absolutely hellish collective punishment that Israel has unleashed on Gaza is an atrocity in the eyes of reasonable people with any conscience or empathy. Doubly so then for someone involved in the pro Palestine movement. But Mamdani understood in those moments he was being asked to put himself in the shoes of the Jewish New Yorkers he might serve and effectively address their fears. This approach is an example of what I believe needs to happen if we're to build a coalition that can defeat maga. And no, that doesn't mean ignoring or whitewashing the genocide in Gaza. Not at all. Now, given that I'm already wading into the most loaded and intractable topic of our time, the Israel Palestine conflict, here's my thumbnail on what I think goes wrong in in that debate. Americans who emphasize only the Palestinian people and Israeli aggression tend to leave out the significant complicating factor of Hamas. But Americans who emphasize only Israeli civilians and hostages and the actions of Hamas militants tend to deny or overlook the reality of Palestinian oppression and seemingly justify the inexcusable carnage rained on the people of Gaza over the last almost two years. For the first group criticizing Hamas or American protest groups who seem to support Hamas betrays an unacceptably presumptuous privilege. Like who are we to say how oppressed people should fight for their freedom? For the second group criticizing Israel or American organizations that support Israel, denies the atrocities of October 7 and the suicide bombings of the second intifada and betrays an anti Semitic openness to the annihilation of the Jewish state. I'm not doing any fallacious version of both sides ing here, but I want to ask you honestly, if you identified strongly with either of those positions, how much do you actually know about Hamas? Or how familiar are you with the word Nakba? So wherever you're starting from, stick around and think this through with me. I can't promise I'll solve the Middle east or satisfy any hardline activists, but if you join our Patreon to hear the whole bonus episode, I can promise there'll be a heated and potentially very interesting conversation in the comments. I'm Julian Walker and this is Conspirituality Podcast. As I said, my main focus today will be the New York based group Within Our Lifetime, which is small and getting smaller each time another member goes to jail. But more on that later. But they're very active, they're influential and vocal, and by their own account, more radically revolutionary in their focus than any of the other pro Palestine groups they criticize. In a tweet from last week, the group's leader, Nurdine Keswani, proudly claims to have popularized the phrase globalize the intifada as far back as 2021. The group's social media post in the immediate aftermath of October 7th read, we must support Palestinian resistance in all its forms, by any means necessary, with no exceptions and no fine print. And weeks later, as reported by Newsweek, abc, New York Post, and Times of Israel, they posted at least two strategic maps on Instagram, one showing the LOC of Jewish organizations in New York and one showing corporate and governmental organizations. And emblazoned above and below the maps were phrases like know your enemy, blood on their hands, and globalize the intifada. The account has since been banned, so those posts are gone. But the question remains, what did they mean? And do their actions and statements understandably induce fear?
- [05:00]
Patreon Ad
You've been listening to a Conspirituality bonus episode sample. To continue listening, please head over to patreon.com conspirituality where you can access all of our main feed episodes ad free, as well as four years of bonus content that we've been producing. You can also subscribe to our bonus episodes via Apple subscriptions. As independent media creators, we really appreciate your support.
- [05:37]
Malk Ad
Ever turned your almond milk around and couldn't even read the ingredients? At Malk, we believe less is more delicious. Just almonds, water and a pinch of salt. That's it. No gums, no oils, nothing you can't pronounce. It's clean, creamy, and made for your coffee, cereal and smoothies without the added junk. Always organic, simple, and most importantly, delicious. Find Malk at your nearest store. Taste the difference today.