Podcast Summary: The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3536 – Good Settler, Bad Settler – Update from the West Bank w/ Jasper Nathaniel
Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Sam Seder
Guest: Jasper Nathaniel, Publisher of Infinite Jazz Substack

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Jasper Nathaniel, who has just returned from a reporting trip to the West Bank. The conversation focuses on settler violence, the dynamics of “good” vs. “bad” settlers, updates on legal proceedings against Israeli settlers, and the struggle to free an American teenager from Israeli military detention. Throughout, the hosts and guest critique both Israeli and U.S. handling of these human rights concerns and reflect on media coverage and political accountability.

Major Segments & Key Insights

1. Tennessee Special Election: National Repercussions

[05:44–15:49]

• Discussion on the Tennessee 7th District special election where Democratic candidate Afton Bain is facing Republican Matt Van Epps in a heavily GOP district.
• The race is seen as a bellwether for GOP morale and possible further retirements if Democrats perform well.
• Notable Clip: Donald Trump’s odd, rambling phone-in endorsement of Van Epps, with exaggerated claims about the Democratic opponent ("She hates Christianity. Number two, she hates country music. How the hell can you elect a person like that?" – Trump, [12:47]).
• Bain’s campaign is centered around “Feed kids, fix roads, fund hospitals.”
• The panel observes that Trump's focus remains on tax cuts, out of touch with economic anxieties.

Quote:
"If this election is close... Republican congressmen around the country are going to say, 'It's just not worth it.' ...There's going to be Republican congressmen who say it's exhausting to run for office. I can go out and get a corporate job... while the gettin's good." – Sam Seder [15:49]

2. Updates from the West Bank: Interview with Jasper Nathaniel

[28:12–68:56]

A. Arrest & Charges Against a Settler

[28:22–32:01]

• Nathaniel recounts that an Israeli settler he filmed attacking a Palestinian grandmother was indicted on terror charges—a rare act by Israeli authorities.
• The charge is serious (analogous to a hate crime), but Jasper notes skepticism about whether it signals systemic change.
• Quote:
  "It's the equivalent to like a hate crime charge... it's serious. He could do real time. It doesn't mean that he will... but it's serious. This is extraordinarily rare." – Jasper Nathaniel [30:19]

B. The Detention and Release of Mohammad Ibrahim

[32:10–55:43]

• Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American, was held in an Israeli military prison for over nine months after being accused of throwing a stone (which he denied, later confessing under beating and duress).

• He was released on Thanksgiving after extensive, relentless pressure from family, activists, and select U.S. lawmakers (notably Chris Van Hollen).

• The family endured months of silence, procedural delays, and lack of U.S. governmental action.

• Quote:
  "There was like literally no effort whatsoever from anybody in the US Government for the first five, six months of his detention." – Jasper Nathaniel [38:20]

• Lawmakers "deep in the pockets of AIPAC" secretly assisted without public credit due to fear of political backlash.

• Memorable Anecdote: Jasper shares how his own mother led a campaign of daily calls to lawmakers’ offices to shame them into acting, pressuring Sen. Gillibrand and others to finally intervene.
  "The message to them has basically been just wait until I leak the call logs that shows... I've called you every single day and you did nothing." – Jasper Nathaniel [42:11]

• Mohammed’s release led to the release of the three Palestinian non-American teens accused of the same offense.

• Conditions in Israeli military prison are described as barbaric, with children — charged as “security prisoners” — treated like Hamas fighters, subjected to beatings and starvation.

• Quote:
  "The kids who they pick up on rock throwing charges are known as security prisoners. That puts them in the same category as a Hamas fighter... They are treated under the same terror laws in Israel." – Jasper Nathaniel [49:01]

C. Good Settler/Bad Settler – Systemic Analysis

[56:44–67:18]

• Nathaniel discusses the "Good Settler, Bad Settler" narrative, arguing that so-called fringe anarchist violence is intimately connected to the broader settlement movement.

• Military and government authorities publicly condemn "violent fringe" settlers while quietly authorizing and legalizing previously “illegal” outposts, integrating them into mainstream settlements.

• Quote:
  "The violent settlers are essentially the tip of the spear... they terrorize Palestinians, and at a certain point... the 'good settlers' come in and start to build a 'good settlement,' and then the state comes behind them and authorizes it." – Jasper Nathaniel [58:09]

• The distinction between “good” and “bad” settlers is a fiction that obscures the violence inherent to the entire settlement project.

• Liberal Zionists’ material and political support of settlement organizations, even under the guise of legality or moderation, ultimately upholds ethnic cleansing.

• Sam Seder expands the argument, noting that the absence of a real effort among any Israeli coalition to dismantle settlements proves how structural the occupation and expansionism are.
  "There is no meaningful movement to extract the settlers from the West Bank and to dismantle the settlement movement... unless the ostensible left wing in Israel is willing to actively dismantle the settlement movement... they're part of the settlement project." – Jasper Nathaniel [65:10]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Trump’s wild attack ad:
  "She hates Christianity. Number two, she hates country music. How the hell can you elect a person like that?" – Donald Trump [12:47]
• Jasper Nathaniel on international pressure:
  "The more you document these things, the more they are willing to react... pressure is working." [29:16]
• On American political cowardice:
  "They want to help, but if word gets out that they're trying to help this American kid, they will get in trouble with AIPAC." – Jasper Nathaniel [40:50]
• On the settlement project:
  "This is how they get new land that they then build settlements on... it's all part of this machine." – Jasper Nathaniel [58:09]

Important Timestamps

• [05:44] – Tennessee 7th Election as a bellwether
• [09:53] – Trump-and-Johnson fundraising for Van Epps
• [14:20] – Afton Bain’s key campaign issues and closing pitch
• [28:22] – Jasper Nathaniel on settler indictment in Israel
• [32:10] – Details of Mohammed Ibrahim's detention and release
• [38:20] – On U.S. Government inaction and grassroots pressure
• [49:01] – The draconian logic of 'security prisoner' designation
• [58:09] – The “good settler, bad settler” dynamic as state policy
• [65:10] – Structural impossibility of an anti-settlement movement inside Israel

Final Thoughts

• The episode underscores the importance of reporting from the West Bank; the media vacuum encourages misinformation and undercuts advocacy.
• Independent journalism and grassroots activism, rather than establishment media or institutional channels, proved decisive in achieving justice in the case Jasper reported.
• Nathaniel and Seder urge American listeners to recognize the extent of U.S. leverage – as well as the obstacles posed by political cowardice and lobby pressure – in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Links:

• Subscribe to Jasper Nathaniel’s reporting: Infinite Jazz on Substack