3619 - Trump Allows Israel to Sabotage Ceasefire; Doctor Reports from Gaza w/ Dr. Tarek Loubani

Summary

The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3619 - Trump Allows Israel to Sabotage Ceasefire; Doctor Reports from Gaza w/ Dr. Tarek Loubani

Date: April 9, 2026
Host: Emma Vigeland (in for Sam Seder)
Guests/Co-hosts: Matt Binder, Michael Brooks, Brandon
Interview Guest: Dr. Tarek Loubani

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Majority Report centers on the rapidly escalating violence in the Middle East, particularly Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon and the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Emma Vigeland speaks with Dr. Tarek Loubani, a Canadian ER physician working inside Gaza, for a first-hand account of the devastation and challenges on the ground. The show critically examines the U.S.-Israel relationship, Trump’s foreign policy decisions, and their consequences for regional stability and for civilians caught in the crossfire. The episode blends sobering on-the-ground reporting with sharp political analysis, and features a notable deep dive into the manipulation, misinformation, and political incentives driving continued escalation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Breaking Down the Latest Regional Escalation

Timestamps: 06:50 – 23:22

• Israel's attacks on Lebanon:
  Israel launches major strikes into Lebanon, including ground invasions and civilian evacuations, widely interpreted as ethnic cleansing south of the Litani River. Similar tactics as Gaza—indiscriminate bombing of residential and commercial areas.
  “They're using their tactics in Gaza right now in Lebanon, Dahiya doctrine.”
  —Emma Vigeland (08:16)
• Diplomatic sabotage:
  Talks for a ceasefire, mediated by Pakistan, are undermined by Israeli attacks on Lebanon, despite Lebanon being part of the ceasefire terms. U.S. involvement is central but murky, with Trump allegedly supporting Israel's campaign over maintaining a ceasefire.
• U.S. and Iranian positions:
  Trump is reportedly prioritizing Netanyahu’s aims over diplomacy. U.S. and Israel deny Lebanon was included in ceasefire terms, despite evidence from Pakistani mediators and reporting from Ryan Grim (e.g., edited tweets, White House prior approval).
• Iran’s response:
  Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz amid talks, causing oil prices to spike. Military buildups continue while oil executives lobby the White House to prevent Iranian tolls.
• Historical parallels:
  Matt Binder draws parallels to South Africa's final apartheid years and the Confederacy, noting belligerence and overreach can precipitate sudden regime collapse.
  “That similar thing happened with our Confederate States in America…their mouths got too big for their empire and they collapsed.”
  —Matt Binder (10:46)

2. Domestic Political Fallout in the U.S.

Timestamps: 16:22 – 23:22

• Political lies and accountability:
  Republican figures like J.D. Vance attempt to obscure American responsibility for tacitly greenlighting Israeli operations, denying the inclusion of Lebanon in the ceasefire terms.
  “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
  —J.D. Vance (16:22)
• Netanyahu's Incentives:
  Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumes as state of emergency is lifted in Israel, creating a personal incentive to maintain a state of conflict, which repeatedly postpones his legal accountability.
• American hegemony at risk:
  Discussion on how ongoing wars and military overextension are undermining U.S. power and global influence, potentially shifting the balance of power towards Iran and weakening America’s neoconservative agenda.
  “Even if you're just like a neocon blob person that just cares about American hegemony, you've got to be pretty pissed off too.”
  —Emma Vigeland (22:23)

3. On-the-Ground Report: Interview with Dr. Tarek Loubani

Timestamps: 27:20 – 63:26

[Content Warning: Graphic violence and war crimes]

• Current medical landscape in Gaza:
  Gaza’s medical infrastructure has been “desecrated,” with only 3 out of 36 prewar hospitals functional. The rest reduced to tents, clinics, or destroyed buildings. Supplies are nearly non-existent, with medical equipment deliberately sabotaged by Israeli forces, including setting off explosives in MRI/CT scanners or smuggling in limited supplies via bribery.
• Description of daily dangers:
  Israeli "yellow line" demarcation advances daily, with anything crossing frequently targeted with sniper or drone fire—even clearly marked UN and World Health Organization vehicles. The deaths are indiscriminate; civilians, children, and aid workers are targeted without accountability.
• Criminal gangs funded by Israel:
  Armed gangs in Gaza have received Israeli support and carry out assassinations, looting, and violence, chiefly harming civilians and compounding insecurity.
  “The militias are collaborators…only to harm people and make life worse.”
  —Dr. Tarek Loubani (34:28)
• Personal accounts of violence:
  Dr. Loubani provides harrowing stories:
  • Rescuing a six-year-old on a ventilator during an armed hospital raid.
  • Treating children targeted by drone strikes: "almost everybody who I saw was a child, often alone, shot by a drone missile."
    “She was what's called eviscerated. A little piece of her intestines was hanging out. We had no pain management available…we had to make this terrible decision between her and the nine year old girl who was laying beside her, intubated, as to who would go to surgery first."
    —Dr. Tarek Loubani (42:15)
• Medical shortages:
  Gauze, antiseptics, antibiotics, and even lubricating oil for generators are unavailable. Most recommendations for trauma care are impossible due to destroyed or absent supplies.
• Death toll and undercounting:
  The official death toll severely undercounts the true number, as the Palestinians only count bodies found; many are buried under rubble or died indirectly because of deprivation or starvation.
  “A couple of hundred thousand is a very, very reasonable estimate and is, in fact, the estimate that you see floated internally among Israeli and American circles.”
  —Dr. Tarek Loubani (55:11)
  Graphic details follow: Many returned bodies are mutilated for identification, with “hundreds of Palestinian corpses...with no thumbs” because thumbs are cut off for Israeli databases—alongside signs of organ harvesting or skin grafting.
• How to help:
  Dr. Loubani urges listeners to focus on ending the occupation as the only permanent solution:
  “The best thing you could do for us is put us out of a job, end the occupation, liberate Palestine, literally.” (60:51)
  He encourages donations to Glia, medical volunteer support, and ongoing political advocacy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On U.S.-Israel doubletalk:

“Let’s be clear, Trump is prioritizing and has been Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign in southern Lebanon over the ceasefire.”
—Emma Vigeland (13:41)

On the impossibility of medical care:

“If I were to describe, like, for example, if I were in Canada...I would have to say, no, not available, to the first 20 or 30 things that they suggest in terms of any kind of treatment.”
—Dr. Tarek Loubani (47:34)

On the brutality of the siege:

“The depravity is really crazy. For example, they went through a period over the last few weeks...where they were targeting little kids with drones...almost everybody who I saw was a child, often alone, shot by a drone missile.”
—Dr. Tarek Loubani (42:15)

On loss and exhaustion:

“I think I feel exhausted on every level just sort of trying to recount the new kinds of depravity that have emerged over the last while. And I'm shocked that this far in, I'm still surprised by what I see.”
—Dr. Tarek Loubani (46:56)

On Western ignorance:

"You would also have to ignore that we've lost like our last seven wars."
—Dr. Tarek Loubani (22:47)

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Other Highlights

Broader Political Commentary

Timestamps: 22:51+

• Critique of American military performance and myth-making:
  Commentary that American unwoke-ification and demagoguery haven't led to victory, instead fueling more losing conflicts.
• Media blackout and independent reporting:
  Widespread gratitude toward The Majority Report team for their relentless coverage of Gaza in the face of broader media silence.

Lighter Segment

Timestamps: 65:37+

• After the intense interview, a lighter "fun half" features crew banter, plugs for various shows, and comic impressions—including comedic skewering of media personalities and podcasting tropes, plus a recurring inside joke about "sushi and poker with the boys."

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Key Timestamps

• 06:50 – Main topic introduction: Israel escalates in Lebanon; ceasefire sabotage
• 10:46 – Historical analogies (South Africa, Confederacy)
• 13:41 – U.S. and Israel’s doubletalk exposed
• 16:22 – J.D. Vance’s misleading statement
• 19:04 – Netanyahu’s incentive: ending state of emergency, corruption trial
• 21:28 – Right-wing media backlash and potential midterms fallout
• 27:20–63:26 – Dr. Loubani interview: Gaza medical crisis, daily dangers, death toll, how to help
• 65:37+ – Show transition to lighter topics

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The Middle East conflict has sprawled beyond Gaza, now destabilizing Lebanon with dire civilian consequences, enabled by U.S. policy under Trump and controversial escalation choices by Israel.
• Gaza’s health system is “desecrated,” functioning at a fraction of former capacity, and suffering under a siege so tight that even basic medical items are scarce.
• On-the-ground realities—including the targeting of children, deliberate destruction of hospitals, and the mutilation of bodies—paint a grim picture rarely acknowledged in mainstream media.
• The political calculus in Israel and the U.S. favors ongoing conflict, at tremendous human cost; widespread calls for accountability and genuine diplomacy are multiplying as U.S. credibility and dominance wane.
• Concrete support for Gaza comes via organizations like Glia (glia.org), with appeals for donations, volunteers, and unapologetic advocacy to end occupation rather than just treat its symptoms.

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For more information or to support Dr. Tarek Loubani’s work:
GLIA Project – glia.org (donations, volunteering, advocacy)

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This summary aims to capture the urgency, gravity, and direct testimony of the episode, while highlighting political analysis, notable quotes, and ways to engage and help.

Transcript

[Emma Vigeland]

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[Matt Binder]

Should have helped us when you had the chance, even though we didn't need it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly. Army survivors of the attack in Kuwait that killed six soldiers say that they were left unprepared and exposed. Essentially that Hegseth's lying. The Social Security Administration is beginning to automatically register 18 to 25 year old men for the draft in case of a national emergency. That doesn't seem great. A federal judge Schneider will be happy. He will, right? If he remembers. The next day, federal judges postponed the termination of temporary protected status for Ethiopians, finding the Trump administration action unlawful. All but three three of the nearly 4,500 refugees allowed in the US this fiscal year were white South Africans. The DNC is currently meeting and considering symbolic resolutions related to Israel and AIPAC. Trump is apparently using foreign steel to construct his 400 million dollar ballroom. Great news, everyone. RFK Junior, our health and Human Services secretary, is launching a podcast. It feels a little redundant when you can listen to just the Joe Rogan experience.

[Matt Binder]

The golden voice.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah,

[Michael Brooks]

excellent broadcasting.

[Emma Vigeland]

A voice for radio.

[Matt Binder]

I've produced interviews for RFK4 back in the Ring of Fire days. Tough back then. Hasn't gotten any better.

[Emma Vigeland]

Do you like your podcast hosts who sound like they're going over a bumpy dirt road as they're screeching?

[Michael Brooks]

Brought to you by Uber Eats.

[Matt Binder]

Throw a lavalier mic down a garbage disposal.

[Emma Vigeland]

Voters in the Milwaukee suburb port Washington vote 2 to 1 to oppose a data center project, the first referendum of its kind in the country. And lastly, Janet Mills drops her attack ads on Platner and has no ads booked for the rest of the week, but says she's stuck staying in the race. We'll see. Yeah, all this.

[Matt Binder]

Still taking donations.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, all this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the show everybody. It is an AM Majority Report Thursday. It's been all week basically because Sam is out on vacation. I Could give him crap for that, but I'm the bigger person. It's pretty busy, Newsweek, but, you know, spend time with your family or whatever.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

So

[Emma Vigeland]

we recorded our conversation with Dr. Tarek Labani earlier today just to ensure that we were going to be able to connect. It's quite difficult to connect in Gaza still. Thankfully, we were able to. It's an extraordinary account. It's a difficult conversation, as it always is, with our friends, the heroic Dr. Lubani. So if you can support the Glia project, please do. We will put a link down below wherever people are listening to or watching this. And just in case any of the listeners, you know, maybe are in a place where they don't want to hear certain kind of graphic imagery, just a content warning about that interview that's coming

[Matt Binder]

up or even sounded like explosions or gunfire in the background.

[Emma Vigeland]

You will hear at the beginning of the interview, a drone goes away probably after a few minutes, but you could hear. Yeah. A lot of things in the background as. And he was. He came to us from a tent and a wall tent. Yep. So just. But. But if you. I would encourage everyone to listen to the interview if they feel they can. Let's start here. So Israel has just been absolutely pummeling Lebanon, launching a ground invasion in the south, ordering evacuation orders so they can ethnically cleanse the parts of Lebanon that are south of the Latani River. But they've been striking commercial residential areas in Beirut. Just hundreds dead. Reports of, like, EMTs in Lebanon. Just saying, there's no use. We're driving straight to the morgue. Like, these bodies are just so badly mangled. They're using their tactics in Gaza right now in Lebanon and Dahiya doctrine.

[Matt Binder]

I mean, actually originally in Lebanon, they took it on the chin from Hezbollah decades ago and decided, we're just gonna start bombing civilians now.

[Emma Vigeland]

And they did. So as soon as this ceasefire, in quotes, or the. We shouldn't really call it a ceasefire. It's more of an agreement to diplomacy. Diplomacy that they're supposed to be having talks tomorrow. And it's key to point out that these talks are being mediated by Pakistan, which has a close relationship with the United States government, the government that's in power there now. But the Israelis were trying to sabotage any kind of diplomacy, and that's why they attacked Lebanon so aggressively, because Lebanon was a part of the ceasefire terms. Now, the US And Israel are claiming that that was. That was not the case, but we're about to show you that they're lying. Of course, the fact that Iran feels like they can include Lebanon and kind of link arms with Lebanon and Hezbollah right now. And even the broader resistance, yes, as part of the ceasefire terms, shows how strong their position is and to Matt's point, shows that they are thinking about this resistance beyond the survival of Iran from this barrage from the US and Israel. They are thinking about the day after and how this resistance continues and how the Zionist project can fall apart inshallah, and they want to accelerate that. And perhaps given the lack of preparedness and the arrogance of this operation by the US and Israel, we could see that reality develop potentially if Iran's position continues to be strengthened.

[Matt Binder]

I mean, people were talking about what South Africa did in the final years of apartheid, the complete belligerence and invasion of its neighbors and hysteria, and then it collapsed in a way that nobody expected. That similar thing happened with our Confederate States in America. They tried to take over more states, they tried to force things in the Constitution like slave catching laws, and their mouths got too big for their empire and they collapsed. And, you know, that's what we have to hope for with this.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly, exactly. And so Ryan Grim, our dear friend, has kind of been at the center of some of the reporting on these talks. This morning the New York Times confirmed Ryan's reporting. Of course, they did not credit him about the mediations and the talks that surround Pakistan. So the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shabazz Sharif, tweeted out the terms that we outlined yesterday, the framework, the 10 point framework that Iran had put forward forward that Trump said that they were going to work around, which also did include attacks ceasing in Lebanon from Israel. Ryan had pointed this out and reported that. Huh. In the original tweet here, it was edited because there was something that said draft, which made it seem increasing, incredibly likely that the United States was approving these statements. So the New York Times then a few days later has confirmed that, yes, the White House knew about Sharif's tweet before he sent it out and that they've been consulting with the United States, which, if you know the relationship between the US and that government, it seems like common sense, but they're now trying to lie because they have been the most like, untrustworthy negotiating partners possible, both the United States and Israel, to, to say, no, no, we never agreed that Lebanon was a part of that. Let's be clear, Trump is prioritizing and has been Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign in southern Lebanon over the ceasefire. And Iran believes, of course, naturally, that the Americans are lying about these negotiations. And Trump seemed To confirm that in this truth social post. We'll play this after. But. But Trump, this. I guess this was a few hours ago. I'm not sure exactly when this was. Maybe I can just click on it quickly. Okay. It was nearly right before midnight last night. All US Ships, aircraft, and military personnel with additional ammunition, weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially.

[Matt Binder]

Get to the point, Grandpa.

[Emma Vigeland]

Any enemy.

[Matt Binder]

Stephen Miller.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. I mean, yeah.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

So.

[Matt Binder]

Miller, voice.

[Emma Vigeland]

Trump is as addicted to run on sentences as he is addicted to McDonald's. Necessary for the legal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded enemy will remain in place in and around Iran until such time as the real agreement reached is fully complied with. If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the shooting starts, bigger and better and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed a long time ago. He's. That's when the looting starts, the shooting starts. He's playing the.

[Matt Binder]

Exactly.

[Emma Vigeland]

But this is the key part. It was agreed a long time ago. And despite all the fake rhetoric to the contrary, no nuclear weapons and the Strait of Hormuz will be open and safe. In the meantime, our great military is loading up and resting, looking forward, actually, to its next conquest. America is back.

[Matt Binder]

Yeah, but they love it out there.

[Emma Vigeland]

We have been. We have spoken about how our extremely expensive military equipment, it's been depleted. The stores that you would want for this kind of war in Iran are not where they need to be. And so the Iranians believe that it's quite likely that these negotiations are another attempt by the Americans and the Israelis to lull them into a false sense of security before they bomb them. And. And Trump just truthed out that this is an opportunity for us to reload. So last night, J.D. vance. Who? Him and Marco Rubio were clearly leaking to the New York Times, trying to distance themselves from this war in Iran. We went over that yesterday. He was in Hungary campaigning for Viktor Orman.

[Matt Binder]

For America. Oh, sorry, right.

[Emma Vigeland]

America first.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Foreign influence.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes.

[Matt Binder]

Campaigning for. Yeah. A European Autocrat. Okay, thanks, J.D.

[Emma Vigeland]

yeah. And it would be amazing if the election results go. I mean, it doesn't look great. We'll see what Orban's shenanigans are in terms of the messing with the election results. But if he loses in a humiliating fashion after all of this, I call it the big guns.

[Matt Binder]

Yeah, calling the big guns like J.D. vance and Rob Schneider.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. And Dave Rubin. Oh, yeah, yeah, I was there, too. I don't care that he hates me, because I'm gay. All right, we're getting off track. Here's JD Vance in Hungary on the tarmac now claiming and lying that the US Never agreed to forcing Israel to stop carpet bombing Lebanon things.

[J.D. Vance]

First of all, I actually think, and there's a lot of bad faith negotiation and a lot of bad faith, you know, propaganda going on. I think this comes from a legit misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn't. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case. What we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran and the ceasefire would be focused on America's allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab states.

[Emma Vigeland]

So as I just laid out, the Americans now confirmed by the Times approved the framework that the mediator, the Pakistanis tweeted out. They approved of it. Trump is just prioritizing Benjamin Netanyahu's desire to ethnically cleanse Lebanon over the ceasefire holding. Now, there was some reporting this morning that Trump is trying to get Bibi to tone it down in Lebanon. From NBC, good luck. Welcome back, Joe Biden. Okay, welcome back, Joe Biden. You've always, but you could yank on the leash, but you're choosing not to. You're choosing not to. And this is, I mean, absolutely spiraling out of control as well. Beyond just the genocide in Gaza.

[Matt Binder]

And to be clear, other 10 point plan number three, end the end to Israeli strikes in Lebanon and then five out also attack on there. And to all regional fighting against Iranian allies.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, it was abundantly clear. So that guy, he's just lying for Israel, of course. And so there's also now this morning news that came out that Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial is set to resume on Sunday because Israeli courts have now lifted the state of emergency that had been imposed within Israel because of the war in Iran. You can see that there's a direct link here for Netanyahu, his corruption trial resuming and there no longer being a state of emergency like that's his direct incentive to continue this war in Iran beyond just Israel's broader incentives and the way that the society is structured, which is about building out Greater Israel and stealing Lebanese land and committing genocide in Gaza and atrocities in the West Bank. His trial's been delayed over and over again since 2020. And you can delay that if you're constantly at war. And here is Benjamin Netanyahu, but there's a translator over it speaking about how no fighting's going to keep going in Iran. Don't worry about it.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

And Israel is stronger than ever. This is the bottom line of this campaign up until now. Let me say there are still additional objectives for us to achieve and we will achieve them either by agreement or by resumption of the fighting. And we are ready to resume the fighting at any moment. Our finger is on the trigger. As you know, two weeks ceasefire has been announced between the US And Iran. No, we were not surprised in the last moment. And I want to emphasize this is not the end of the war. This is a step in order to achieve all the objectives.

[Emma Vigeland]

There you go.

[Matt Binder]

He sounds like a Democrat in the Senate.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, right. We will get to Chuck Schumer's statements later. I didn't want to raise my blood pressure that high this early on in the show. You just didn't do it the right way.

[Matt Binder]

We have all these objectives about Iran that we need to still do. It's high on my priority list.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's not even him saying that the war in Lebanon is not over, which would be an accurate assessment of their complete bloodthirstiness. It's him saying, no, we're going to continue to drag the United States into this war in Iran. And how if Israel is acting outside of what the United States wants, which I don't believe. How does a two sided ceasefire work when there's a third party and also a fourth party involved? The third party being Israel and the fourth party being Lebanon?

[Matt Binder]

Israel needs us to do this to Iran. Remember when Marco Rubio and all those guys were stumbling over themselves over how we got into this war and they said basically Israel is going to do it, so we need to join in. If Israel had just attacked Iran and we stayed out of it, our regional allies wouldn't have been targeted. It would have just been, once again, Israel and Iran going back and forth. And Israel can't have that. Israel needs to focus on its littler neighbors close by and they need us to be the big boats that come in and deal with Iran, Iran.

[Brandon]

Right.

[Matt Binder]

It is disgraceful. We have. The strategic imperative for Americans right now should be to remove anyone from Congress that wants to play that role for Israel. And that includes, you know, of course, J.D. vance and Donald Trump right now.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, we'll play. I mean, I was shocked to hear right now there are voices in the right wing media sphere that are just calling it exactly like it is. Like Megyn Kelly went on Piers Morgan and I couldn't even believe it, but I agreed with everything that she said about how Trump has failed on this and how Israel has dragged us into this horrific war. So it's deeply unpopular. There's also a piece in our packet about how Republicans are worried that this is gonna cost them the midterms. Like, yeah, buddy, yeah. It turns out when you campaign on no more wars and then start one of the worst ones possible, there may be consequences that might prove to be

[Matt Binder]

a watershed in American hegemony and prove America did not have the might that we've been investing toward. You might have lost more than the midterms with this stupid war.

[Emma Vigeland]

Holy, holy. I mean, Iran is going to emerge much more powerful and the United States is ability to show demonstrate military dominance has been severely weakened. So even if you're just like a neocon blob person that just cares about American hegemony, you've got to be pretty pissed off too.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

You would also have to ignore that we've lost like our last seven wars.

[Emma Vigeland]

You would. That's exactly right.

[Matt Binder]

That's what the pills are for.

[Emma Vigeland]

But. Right. But the other people were better at hiding that humiliation. You know, this is just what happens when you unwoke our military guys. I mean we would have been winning. We would have been winning if all of the wokes were back and the woke people and if you they stop blocking these promotions of all of these black people and women instead.

[Matt Binder]

We renamed the bases after losers of a civil war that happened 170 years ago.

[Emma Vigeland]

Why do we do that? I mean, honestly, do we like losing? The anti wokes are addicted to losing. In a moment you will hear that conversation with Dr. Tarek Lubani of the Glia project. But first a word from one of our sponsors. Starting something new isn't just hard, it can be terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not sure will entirely work out. And it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, I know. When we I started off here at the Majority Report, I was really nervous to make a career change and I wasn't sure what was ha would happen and where it was going to go. But I know that I was right to kind of trust my instincts, believe in myself. And we still have the same feelings about fear and stuff like that. But it really helps when you have Shopify on your side to help. We have Shopify that helps us with our merch store, which is something that I know does not necessarily come naturally to Sam. It's the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of of all e commerce in the US from household names to brands. Just getting started here at the majority report, we are Shopify users for our merch store as I mentioned. But also it's great for me as a customer. I have the app and I'm able to track all my purchases and everything like that. It makes it super easy. Shopify works. I think it's good both ways. Get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand's style. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. And what if I get stuck? Well, Shopify is always around to share advice with their award winning 24. 7 customer support. You can tackle all those important tasks in one place from inventory to payments to analytics and more. Doesn't need to be dispersed over multiple websites or trying to, you know, work, working overtime to try to figure out which platform works for this and this and this. Well, everything is one place here. It makes your life easier and your business operations smoother. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that is being used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify is the best at converting checkout on the planet. It helps boost conversions, making less carts go abandoned and more sales for you. I can speak to that as a customer. It makes it incredibly easy to online shop. It's time to turn those what ifs into Ka Ching with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com majority. Go to shopify.com majority shopify.com majoritykaching link down below in the video and episode descriptions and at Majority fm. Quick break and when we come back you will hear my conversation with Dr. Tarek Labani. And again, a little bit of a content warning for folks that may not want to hear about some things that are quite difficult about what's happening in Gaza. We are back and we are joined Once Again by Dr. Tarek Lubani, Canadian emergency room physician, founder of the Glia Project which seeks to provide medical supplies to impoverished locations. And Dr. Lubani is we're speaking to him from Gaza right now. Thanks so much for coming back on the show, Dr. Lubani.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Thank you so much for having me, Emma. Appreciate it.

[Emma Vigeland]

It's great to see you. I'm happy you're safe. You are in Gaza right Now, which hospital are you working out of?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Well, I worked out of Nasser Hospital, which is based in the southernmost. I guess it's the southernmost hospital that's available and the most functional. It used to be the case. I've been working in Gaza at this point for over 15 years and my only interactions with Nasser were very, very brief because it was such a tiny, tiny hospital, not even a secondary hospital back in the day. And all of a sudden it went from seeing a couple of hundred patients a day, having just a few beds, to having to serve almost a million people. It's been really crazy to sort of see that. But right now it's the most functional hospital in the entire Gaza Strip. The other two semi functional hospitals being Al Aqsa in Deir El Bala, which is the middle part, and then Shifa Hospital, which I saw again and has been so thoroughly destroyed and devastated. But yeah, I'm based out of the south, but right now, traveling between the hospitals, doing a couple of projects.

[Emma Vigeland]

How many hospitals were there in Gaza before the genocide began?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

The public sector hospitals were 14. And then overall there were about 36 hospitals once you counted in the NGO funded hospitals and the hospitals that were private or semi private. And of those 36, truly there's only three functioning hospitals, the ones that I mentioned, which are Nasser Medical Complex, Al Aqsa and Shifa. And then other than that, everything has been reduced to basically tents, like you see behind me, Glia's tent. And this is a place where we used to run a medical clinic and now have been able to move it to yet another tent that's in the NASA or medical complex. So the medical system has been completely, completely ravaged. It's been, I think probably the right word is desecrated as well. Because the reality is every time the Israelis came into a hospital, they vandalized things, they smashed things, they burned things, they would. For example, I visited the MRI machines and CT scanners that were left and the Israelis would go in there, set off explosives, MRIs and CTs and then leave the place. Occasionally they would plant little explosives or put, for example, a gun inside some of the devices to pretend like, you know, there were things that were in there. But the reality is that they have absolutely devastated the hospitals, destroyed the equipment, burned the supplies, and now are not allowing anything in since, since about January, nothing has come in in terms of medical supplies. And even before then, the few medical supplies that came in were minimal. There was almost nothing coming in even before.

[Emma Vigeland]

And how did those medical supplies come in at all?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Do you mean before the war or

[Emma Vigeland]

the last batch that you were able to receive?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Yeah, there are a couple of things that were happening in the last little bit. I mean, one of the things that happened that is now pretty much public knowledge is that there were some corrupt Israeli officials that literally had to be bribed with large sums of money to allow some medical equipment to enter. And just to kind of show you some of the Israeli mentality, when those people were caught, they'd been smuggling, they're from the Israeli military system, they were related to some high up people, and when they were caught, it was treated like high treason. You know, why would you allow in solar panels? Why would you allow in medical supplies? Even crazier is that the Israelis knew that there was smuggling happening, that there was a problem, because they knew that they weren't allowing in any medical supplies of these variety. They knew that they weren't allowing in things like batteries and solar panels. Now these types of things, batteries, solar panels, medical devices, medical equipment, these are not something that should ever be embargoed or part of any siege. And yet here we find ourselves, and of course the medical system and the Palestinians, as resourceful as they are, when they saw that opportunity, that's what they focused their smuggling on, was medical supplies and the basics for minimal quality of life.

[Emma Vigeland]

I remember seeing a report, it might have been from Drop Site News some months ago, that Israel was letting in certain kinds of narcotics for people, but not medical supplies. I mean, I'm not sure how widespread that is, but it just gives people a sense of what their priority is here and what the amount of control that they really do have, including in these gangs that are funded by Israel. I know that there are gangs within Gaza that have been responsible for massacres and Israel is basically funding them as some sort of counterweight to Hamas. What can you tell us about what that situation is like on the ground?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Yeah, in terms of the gangs, the gangs are still very active. I don't know if you and I had discussed this the last time that we had spoken, but I was there when Abu Shabaab's gang had broken into Nasser Hospital, killed five of the people who were in the emergency department and then rampaged through. I was there. I had pulled down some of the patients who were on ICU beds, on ventilators, including a six year old girl, pulled them to the ground so that if somebody came in and opened fire in that trauma bay, that they wouldn't be hurt. I was the only medical person left. You know, we had everybody else was younger than me. I'd sent them off and, you know, sort of stayed to take care of the patients. And I fully understood that if they got into that room, they would probably have killed me and they would have probably killed all the patients who were in there. Abu Shabaab ultimately has been more or less dismantled by one of the units of the resistance that has been dealing with them. They've been attacked repeatedly. One of their leaders was assassinated by the resistance. And so now you see some weaker, smaller sort of parts of the gang, but they are still very active. Sometimes I see them going around. Like, for example, when we were driving to the hospital, one of their. They have very brand new cars that are heavily armored, and it sort of drove by us while they were kind of riding and trying to prove that they were still there. Of course, they were very, very, very close to Israeli arm. So if the Palestinians tried to stop them from stealing or doing anything else, the Palestinians knew that they would be attacked in a case this week. So just about a week ago, the gangs went into a school that was serving as a shelter to ostensibly try to assassinate somebody who the Israelis had instructed them to go assassinate. And they were all of the people who were around them started resisting them, initially unarmed, but then when people with guns showed up, then they resisted them with arms as well. And the Israelis just figured, well, whatever, and then bombed the whole place, killing about 10 people who. 10 civilians. You know, women, children. Obviously not even the people who were targeted by this militia. And also even killing some of their own militiamen who were dragged out by the Israelis afterwards. So the militias are collaborators. They are clearly responsible for an immense amount of suffering, and they are active participants who just can't be and aren't strong enough to really make a difference in the equation militarily, only to harm people and make life worse.

[Emma Vigeland]

And could you describe for people when you drive around Gaza, obviously you are in the part of Gaza that has not been seized by the Israelis. People will remember the yellow line. Israel has stolen, at this point, 53% of the Gaza Strip. And if you cross that line, you will be shot at and killed. That happened to two young boys amongst many others, but their faces stick out in my mind about this. If you could just give people a sense of what it smells like, what it looks like, what it's like to be in the Gaza Strip right now.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Yeah, I've watched the yellow line crawl over the days since I got here. I've now been here three months, and when I first got here, there's a very main highway called Salahdin street that separates, that was considered to kind of be 100 or even 200 meters away from the yellow line. And our bus to the hospital, you know, people from Glia arrived on the Ministry of Health buses as an act of solidarity and protection for our colleagues. And our bus from Gliaz hub, our centre, to the hospital takes Salahdin Street. And as time has gone on, we've had to turn off of Salahdin street sooner and sooner. There are also these yellow bricks that are by the road, and we've seen them advance, you know, half meter, meter every day until finally they reach Salahdin Street. Right now they are basically just on the other side of Salahdin. And all of us know that on any given day we could be shot at. The bus that we're riding in has multiple bullet holes that have been put there by the Israelis on that very street. And in fact, just this week, literally a few days ago, you know, I was walking to the bus stop, and on our way there, one of my old students, a resident doctor who I had taught several years ago, who is now a World Health Organization doctor, stopped this beautiful white World Health Organization vehicle to sort of say hi and check in. I gave him a big hug and off he went. And I went my way too, all the way to the hospital. Now, just to tell you what his job is with the World Health Organization, this doctor's job is to liaise and interact with the Israelis and to transport sick patients out of Gaza. And so he was on his way to do that, as he had done every single day for months since the ceasefire had began, and especially since the Rafah crossing had opened, allowing a trickle of medical patients to travel in either direction. He is cleared by the Israelis at such a high level that on occasion he was allowed to travel with patients into Israel to hand them to do what's called a warm handoff to other ambulance organizations. And while he was driving, while he was driving on Salahdin street, hundreds of meters away from this yellow line, a bullet hit the head of his driver. A sniper bullet. And of course, that driver slumped over. And when everybody sort of realized what had happened, you know, he grabbed. Obviously, the first thing he did was duck. And then he grabbed the steering wheel and steered their vehicle into some rubble so that it would stop. You know, how else was he going to get it to stop? Once that happened and the car came to a stop, the Israelis lit it up. They put dozens, if not hundreds of bullets through the thing, and were shooting everywhere and every which way. When the Israelis came to the vehicle. The only reason why this man and the doctor who was with him weren't probably killed on the spot was that he was yelling out were from the WHO and was waving his vest. The Israelis obviously made them take off their clothes just in case. They were the kind of World Health Organization doctors who, you know, posed some danger to them. Obviously, they knew that they weren't. And then they made them walk and abandon their deceased, their martyred colleagues for 500 meters. And what was the word that the Israelis put their first reports? That this was an attacker. Now, when I heard about him, I was confused because I thought I had already received patience from the shooting at Salahdin street, because just five to ten minutes before that, the Israelis had shot up an entire bus of people commuting in a private bus to work. They were tailors and seamstresses who were going to sew in Khan Younis. And mercifully, even though that bus sort of caught fire, they were able to exit it safely. And there was another UN bus right behind them that they were able to get onto and that was able to escape, even though it was also targeted and shot at. So when we talk about the yellow line, we're talking about yet another act of depravity. Even if the yellow line were as declared, it took about half of all of Gaza. But the Israelis don't use the yellow line as a limit. They use it as a suggested starting point from which they can shoot with no accountability. You and I both know. You and I both know that there will never be accountability for the sniper who shot that innocent man. There will never be accountability for the tank gunners who lit up that WHO vehicle. There will never be any accountability. And that's on the Israeli level, which we expect because it's a broken society, but also on the international level, because international humanitarian law and international justice has so badly failed.

[Emma Vigeland]

You were shot by the Israelis during a peaceful demonstration a few years ago. Great March of Return, and blast that. Last time you were on the show, I believe you were speaking about how on different days, you can see that the IDF is rotating which body parts to target on individuals. One day it'll be a head, the other, next day it'll be genitals and shooting at children's genitals. That was one thing that you told us last time. I'm just opening that conversation up again. Are those tactics still. Still being deployed by the idf? What are you seeing in terms of their kind of the games that they've been playing.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Yeah, they're still playing games. And the depravity is really crazy. Like for example, they went through a period over the last few weeks since I think in the first couple of weeks of the start of the Iran war, where they were targeting little kids with drones. It's obvious that like you and I probably can't know exactly how the force projection has changed in the air, but what I do see is the victims. And it was about a week in which almost everybody who I saw was a child, often alone, shot by a drone missile. And one of them who I saw that like particularly affected me and bothered me was this really beautiful 3 year old girl who was walking home from school and she still had her little backpack. When she got to us, she was walking home from school, she saw her father, started running towards him when a drone missile hit her. And I don't know exactly how these drone missiles work, but it ended up that most of the injuries were sort of in the upper part of her body. So when she got to us, she was virtually blind. She couldn't really see, she was fully awake and she was just crying out for her Baba and I, obviously we had to do what we could. We worked as hard as we could and we ended up sort of figuring out where everything was. She had, she was what's called eviscerated. A little piece of her intestines was hanging out. So we had to sort of deal with that to stabilize her. We had no pain management available, so we couldn't give her a pain medication. And instead as she kind of sat there, you know, I obviously have to operate as a doctor, not as a parent or as a human being as it were in that moment, you know. And so here we were trying to do our job, trying to figure out where all the shrapnel was, trying to stabilize her and get her to the operating room. We got her to the operating room, they did surgery on her for some time, but unfortunately later that day she died. That particular game was so evident for about a week in fact, while, while we were dealing with her, we had to make this terrible decision between her and the nine year old girl who was sitting beside, who was laying beside her, intubated as to who would go to surgery first. And when we sent this three year old girl, it was because we thought she was the most salvageable, the one who was most likely to survive of the two. And that nine year old girl, her heart stopped while we were waiting for her to go to the operating room. And so we started to do compressions on her, started to get her. The blood from her heart to fill her stomach was so full of blood, was so full of blood that we knew that she just needed to get into that operating room, somebody to open it up and to see if they could stop the bleeding. So we kept as much as we could pouring blood into her from the volunteers who were giving it and trying our best to wait until she could go to the operating room. But unfortunately, she didn't survive that week. I can't tell you how many kids we had, and they were all the same stories, hit by drones. Now, I don't know how good their cameras are, but I find it very, very hard to believe that anyone would mistake a child for an adult. From the views that you and I have seen from some of these leaked camera drone footages, I find it very hard to believe that they didn't know that those were kids. But, you know, that's kind of what we saw right now in terms of the games that are being played. They just rotate. Right now they're doing sniper shots to the head. Again, we see that in kids. Almost everybody who's getting hit right now as kids, we see all kinds of other depravity, like, you know, the killing of that entire family, like a. Another sort of drone missile or bombs that happened to tents. I mean, honestly, I think I feel exhausted on every level just sort of trying to recount the new kinds of depravity that have emerged over the last while. And I'm shocked that this far in. I'm still surprised by what I see.

[Emma Vigeland]

I don't mean to make you relive the worst of, of what you've experienced. And of course, I mean your heroism and everybody that your colleagues, it can't be overstated what medical supplies are available, which are in dire, what shortages are most dire. And if you could just give people a sense of what even the hospital looks like comparatively to say like a western hospital, we might be more familiar with.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Like I said, you know, you see behind me the tent type material. Lots of our hospital work at this point is happening in tents. So, for example, we have different kinds of emergencies, one of them being a traumatic emergency, one of them being a medical emergency, the trauma emergency. We've had to maintain it as it is and where it is, but the medical emergency is an attempt. When it rained, that emergency flooded. We just haven't been able to really accomplish very much in terms of moving things forward or rebuilding in theory. There's a ceasefire Right now, despite that, we're still sometimes getting 20 or 30 patients a day who are shot or bombed by the Israelis. We still have no reconstruction supplies. For example, Glia just opened a wound care service with a wound care, an outpatient clinic, and that clinic is serving out of a tent. You know, you have people who are coming in with terribly infected wounds, and we have to treat them out of a tent. The tent cities here are more and more and more. There is just no way that we're able to kind of move forward. So, in theory, there is a ceasefire. And in fact, the Palestinians have ceased firing. They have been incredibly restrained. They have made sure to comply with the terms, but the Israelis have not. They've not allowed in medical supplies. Simple gauze is difficult to access. Antiseptics are difficult to access. Antibiotics. If I were to describe, like, for example, if I were in Canada, in my hospital, like in the teaching hospital where I teach, or in one of the community hospitals where I often work. If I were in one of those hospitals and I asked doctors, okay, how would you treat one of the patients who I saw, I would have to say, no, not available to the first 20 or 30 things that they suggest in terms of any kind of treatment, any of the kinds of fluids that we would want to use, blood products that we would want to use, tests that we want to use, medical devices that we want to use. They're all absent or broken. And that is, of course, the deliberate policy of the Israelis. There's really. It's very difficult to sort of speak of it in any way other than to congratulate the Palestinians for their absolute and incredible steadfastness in meeting all of these challenges and in surviving through the worst and most depraved siege that I've ever heard of.

[Emma Vigeland]

Can you speak about the differences in what conditions are like on the ground since the Iran war began?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Yeah, I really didn't know what to make of the Iran war, because in June, I was also here during the war then. And then the Iran war gave us a little bit of relief. And indeed, in some ways, there is some relief. Right. Like, there aren't as many drones flying overhead. So at the beginning of our interview together, there was a drone flying overhead. But right now, I don't hear it. That's because they've had to spread thin their drones. It used to be that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you would hear the drone overhead. So things like that have. Have decreased, the bombings have decreased. Right now, it's mostly drones that are hitting us rather than the F35s or whatever planes they're flying over here. And so those things have indeed decreased. But at the same time they have turned so tight the siege as a result of this war. And I expect that that's probably going to get worse as Israel is hammered harder and harder. Now, I want to remind you, Egypt is right there. So Egypt is a direct participant in the siege. They're a junior partner for sure. They're not calling the shots, the Israelis are calling the shots. But. But Egypt's right there. There's no reason why we should have this kind of siege happening and why we should be this deprived. But Israel has turned everything down. So, for example, we don't have enough petroleum or petroleum products, that is to say like diesel for the cars, diesel for the generators, and gasoline for. For the cars that don't take diesel. But not only that, we now are running low on oil. So, for example, in order to run any kind of engine, especially 24 hours a day, seven days a week, like the generators, you need not just the combustible sort of oils, but you also need the lubricating oils, and those are completely unavailable. So you have these machines that are being run right up to the limits of their capabilities and sometimes burning out, which means that those generators are no longer able to. And the hospitals have had to just kind of go dark for periods of time. The oils have been conserved so that they're now pointing only towards the hospitals. And it's very clear that as this thing stretches, Israel, if not forced by the rest of the world, and I would dare say by Iran, and the resistance, will continue to strangle Palestine until it dies.

[Emma Vigeland]

Does it give you any hope that it seems like Israel is, I mean, I'm sorry, Iran is including Lebanon in its demands to the United States and to Israel. My hope is that they, in binding themselves to Hezbollah, that perhaps that creates some sort of deterrence in Gaza for at least a little bit.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

I'm not a political analyst, so this is really tough. It's a tough question. But you know, liberating the northern front only frees up soldiers so that they can attack us.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right?

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

So I'm not sure what ends up happening as a result of this. I do know that if there isn't a comprehensive agreement that forces Israel to behave differently, it won't. You know, right now, the Palestinians in good faith went into a ceasefire. The Palestinians in good faith ceased firing. And the Palestinians in good faith have been following all of the things that they're supposed to follow. And in return, the Israelis have allowed in a very tiny fraction of the food supplies that they're supposed to allow and have allowed in 0% of the reconstruction supplies that they were supposed to allow in, and especially through the winter, and have also, in terms of medical supplies, allowed in virtually zero medical supplies. So I don't know how what happens when slash, if the war ends with Iran and Lebanon, but I do sincerely hope that whatever the new status quo is, it will include a Palestine that is free from the kind of occupation and siege that Israel has imposed upon it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Just a few more questions, Dr. Lubani. Last time we spoke, I asked you about the death toll and the undercount and how there are. And you spoke about how it's widely understood that there are hundreds of thousands of people under rubble that are unaccounted for. If you could remind people of that dynamic and give us a sense of where, if there's any clarity right now on the true death toll,

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

every single day there are more people who are pulled out from the rubble who were killed during the war, during the first year or two years of the war. We haven't been able to go to Rafah. Even if we do make our way to Rafah. Rafah is flat. You know, it's been bulldozed over. I doubt very much that we're going to be able to realistically figure out who all the people are who are buried under that rubble. So right now, indeed, there isn't a very clear count of how many people are dead. And a couple of hundred thousand is a very, very reasonable estimate and is, in fact, the estimate that you see floated internally among Israeli and American circles. I think they know that that's about the number who have been killed because they have a better sense of kind of the population flows of what's happening and so on, especially when there's been an entire family wiped out, what the Palestinians call wiped from the civil registry. It's very hard to track those people because ultimately you can only track the people who somebody tells you are missing. The other problem here as well is that the Palestinians have chosen the most conservative way of counting their dead. They will not count a dead person until they have a body. And they generally don't record the unidentified within their big list of deaths unless they have a very, very, very good sense of who that person is. They're identified by their clothes, by their families, etc. I went to Nasser. I went to Nasser and to their morgue. And I was with the forensic doctors who were There when they received some of the trucks that were sent in by Israel, the bodies that were there, I mean, some of them prisoners, some of them who were sort of killed and brought in for one reason or the other by the Israelis, some of them who were taken out of graves, there is the most. I guess I don't know even really know what word is left. Depraved again. Treatment to these bodies, for example, many of them are missing thumbs. And it was just one after the other after the other missing thumbs. So I asked the doctor, and he looked at me like, well, isn't it obvious? Like, the Israelis cut off all their thumbs so that they have a database of all the people who they've killed, either because they want to identify them or they want to check them against some other list of people so they. They will cut and collect thumbs. And you can just imagine, like, take that mental image of a soldier going around with shears cutting thumbs off and doing what? Putting them in a bag. I mean, what exactly are they doing? But hundreds of Palestinian corpses of our people, of our people who were killed by the Israelis there with no thumbs. Lots of them had all kinds of incisions, wide openings. Some of them were missing organs, which is something that has been discussed quite a bit in the media. Lots of them were missing parts of skin as well, like blocks of skin, which I don't think that the Palestinians have formally accused the Israelis of, but definitely sounds an awful lot like collection of skin grafts for the Skin Bank, Israel's skin bank. So these are the kinds of things that I saw myself, that I witnessed myself in that morgue. And I think right now, when we look at the total dead, it's clear that we'll never know how many have died. But when you count for the direct war dead, which is all the Palestinians are doing, I think the number is going to end up being 200,000 or so. But I want to just add one other thing, Emma. Sorry, before you. Before I end, which is that there are the indirect dead also, for example, you know, I have seen little babies who've come in so malnourished and undernourished that they died. And when I saw them, those the Palestinians refused to count. I tried. I tried. There was a baby who clearly was malnourished to death by the Israelis, you know, in the sense that they. The Israelis have again been cutting off baby formula. The parents couldn't give the child baby formula. And so we're mixing whatever baby formula they could find in the market with whatever it is that they could, that they could give them. And the baby eventually died. And so I tried to record it as a war related death. And the ministry came back to me and said, we can't do that because, you know, this is not how we count the war related death. I was like, how is this not a war related death? He said, I remember what that particular registrar said to me. He said, you know, Dr. Qarat, we're not in a position where people are going to believe us, even with the ones with bullets through their heads now what, mind you, the ones who are malnourished to death. And so I think that these, what we in medicine call excess deaths are probably going to end up being another couple of hundred thousand, and unfortunately, those will keep dying for years to come. One small example of that. 40% of all the kidney dialysis patients in Gaza died. I'm sure some of them died directly from bombs and from gunshots, but most of them would have died because they didn't have access to proper medical care.

[Emma Vigeland]

Dr. Lubani, how can people support the glia project and your work? I know you've been in Gaza for some weeks, some months. If you could just give people a sense of what would be most useful to you and your work as well

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

as your colleagues work, I think every doctor ever will tell you the best thing you could do for us is put us out of a job, end the occupation, liberate Palestine, literally. You could do nothing better for GLIA than to do that. I want to be a KNAFA salesman. I don't want to be a doctor. My grandmother told me that she wanted me sort of tending our olive groves after liberation. I could just be a doctor. Until then. I want her dream to come true. But until then, the big things that we're looking for, obviously if people want to donate their donations, your donations as viewers are really helpful. They are what make a lot of our work possible. We need doctors who are here, we need people who are here. We need to support Palestinians, and that all costs money. So donations are very helpful. Medical volunteers are also very useful, especially people who have an understanding of the politics and the need for liberation. Glee is a little bit of a different organization in the sense that we fully understand that our medical work is only happening because the liberation work hasn't succeeded yet. And so people who kind of have that mindset and are able to approach medicine and the care of our patients with that mindset are very valuable, as obviously so many of your viewers are. So if there are any medical people who are looking to come to Gaza, please reach out. And then the third thing is also just kind of the continued political advocacy. Exactly what you're doing. I want to also I feel like a lot of the time doctors, medical care workers are recognized for the important work that we and they both, my Palestinian colleagues do. But people don't recognize the work that people like you do. Raising awareness, keeping the issue alive, and really putting yourselves in uncomfortable and dangerous positions. Because as I've witnessed for you, Emma, and for your colleagues, you know, you are constantly under attack and constantly in danger. And you do deserve, and I say this like, I don't know even the English term, like, anyway, I say it without the intent of flattering or anything that truly the work of journalists is so key and so important and so essential. So I hope that your viewers keep talking about what's happening. I hope they support with their words, they support with their actions, they support with their money, and they support with their lives.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I will attempt to take that compliment, Dr. Duphani. Thank you so much. Glia.org we will put a link wherever people are listening to or watching this and I look forward to our next conversation, hopefully with some better news on that front. But wishing you so much safety and sending you love and support from here in New York. We are back folks. We plugged it, of course, at the end of that interview. But down below if you can support, if you have any thing to spare, the GLIA project. I'm not even gonna plug Mr. Membership today. I would prefer if you have some extra change if you could send it to the GLIA project instead. Shingle box says Emma, I'm so grateful for this interview and I'm so proud of you for keeping it together. Thank you. Ben from Washington, another amazing and extremely powerful interview. Thank you so much for this. Sarah from Texas. IDF soldiers cutting off the thumbs of slain Palestinians to identify and add them to their database of murder victims is reminiscent of notoriously organized documentation Nazis kept during the Holocaust. Despicable. During that portion of the interview, I was thinking about the shoes at the Holocaust Museum and a bunch of, you know, other kind of just tokens that the Nazis kept sickle up economy says. Thanks TMR for having Dr. Tarek Loubani on. You folks are relentless in your coverage of Gaza and I really appreciate subscribing to TMR because of this. The media blackout regarding Gaza continues and you're helping to dispel that every day. Appreciate that the media will get to

[Matt Binder]

it right after they put some More Hasan quotes out of context.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, we have Brandon, I believe. Here he is. We're bringing him in. Hey.

[Brandon]

Hey, hey. How's it going?

[Emma Vigeland]

It's going all right. It's going all right. How's it going on your end? What's happening on the discourse?

[Brandon]

Well, first I'll say that was a very moving interview that you just had with Dr. Loubani. I was watching it as it was going on. And so, you know, I know coming in for the fun half on the tail end of that can be a hard pivot, but on my show, we, you know, we've been covering some of the various happenings around, like, the ceasefire, the pilot rescue narrative that's been being floated by the White House. I don't know what you guys have made of that on this show for me. I mean, there's no real good explanation for, like, what occurred today. We watched Tim Pool's, I guess, review of the new Animal Farm movie, and so.

[Matt Binder]

Oh, yeah, I got a lot of thoughts on that.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. But Matt wants to save it for

[Matt Binder]

tomorrow, but maybe we can do it today.

[Emma Vigeland]

Maybe we should.

[Brandon]

I mean, I feel like I've talked about it enough, so if you want to save it for Sam, or I guess Sam is out. So.

[Matt Binder]

I mean, I did want to make a point on the pilot, which is that, I mean, I think the thing we all are dancing around, obviously, is that the pilot's name is Jesus H. Christ. And he is.

[Brandon]

Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. No, like, what's his face? Pete Hegs. Pete Hegs. Gath. As Dave Portner. Portnoy says, like, he said. He said it. He said it in that press conference. He said he was downed on Friday and he rose on Sunday, amongst other miraculous elements of the story.

[Matt Binder]

All that foreshadowing, folks.

[Brandon]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

I need to look more into this and like, because I know that the. The government's claims, they're definitely not, of course, telling the truth. Of course not. But I want to know, like, I want to know what the evidence is to support what people are saying that they think it was a part of a failed operation.

[Brandon]

Well, I think the interesting part about that is that clearly the cost of executing this mission was very high. Even if we can say that you can't put a cost on human life. And so what some people are saying is that maybe it was a double duty mission. The COVID of the rescue provided obfuscation for going in to secure the loose nuclear materials from Isfahan, which went poorly, which is why they're not talking about it. But Even if that didn't happen. Right. So let's say that that's not what happened. And instead of losing a half a dozen aircraft doing that, we lost it just because they got stuck in the mud in like the middle of the Iranian desert. That still shows like the flaw of that plan. Right. So it doesn't matter if they actually tried to do it or not. Like the cost was so high for this getting this one guy back that that mission would have failed even worse if they had done it. And so in reality, if they didn't do it, that's actually worse from for them because they lost like half a billion dollars worth of planes to get like one guy back who also lost like half a billion dollars worth of planes in the first place. And that's in a successful war that we're having where it was a rescue mission and not in like an extraction.

[Matt Binder]

But what if Messiah is my question.

[Brandon]

So are you trying to imply that he's Palestinian? That's why they can't tell us who he is? Because his name is like he's clearly Palestinian.

[Michael Brooks]

Right.

[Emma Vigeland]

Jesus does not look like we thought the whole blonde blue eyed thing, that wasn't what, what he looked like, actually. Huh. A little weird.

[Brandon]

Also, Jesus didn't need rescuing. That's right. That's right. Oh, but I will say we are only about 600 people away from 20,000 on YouTube and a lot of people are saying that that's a pretty big number. I don't think so. I think we can do better. People are saying that, yes, we have

[Matt Binder]

Trump a new record.

[Brandon]

20,000 people are saying no channel has ever gotten to 20,000 subscribers. Many people are saying I'm the first and if I'm lucky I'll be the last. But I need your help or I'm

[Emma Vigeland]

pulling out troops from NATO countries.

[Brandon]

Oh, yeah, no, that's already in the cards. I'm already pulling troops out of NATO countries as a result. But the only thing that you can choose is where those troops go next. Because we got to get them somewhere.

[Emma Vigeland]

We do. Matt, what's happening on Left Reckoning?

[Matt Binder]

So big Left Reckoning news, first of all, Follow me on Instagram at matlec. But kind of interesting little news on Instagram this morning is get ready to put this up, Brian. You can sleep at the wheel there. A new endorsement has just dropped. Hannah Einbinder of Hacks Comedian has recommended Left Reckoning as part of the thing she likes along with her friend and likening butterflies and, you know, some other dishes.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is not breaking News. You've already breaking news.

[Matt Binder]

Yeah, straight out of the.

[Brandon]

Not to steal your thunder, but I love butterflies, too. I saw a moth, which is a type of, like, you know, lepidoptera, the other week that was mimicking a hummingbird, and it was beautiful.

[Matt Binder]

Whoa.

[Emma Vigeland]

Wow. I was just thinking about life now. So, Matt got a big plug for Left Reckoning. Now, what's happening on Left Reckoning, my friend?

[Matt Binder]

We had a really good show, actually, this week where I lost my temper at the Bulwark for their encouraging this Hasan panic that AIPAC and Third Way decide we need to all be talking about as we are at war with Iran. So I think it's a little bit ridiculous. And I talk about why you shouldn't think you're getting anything nutritious from the Bulwark, even going back to my time listening to National Review podcasts in, like, 2014, thinking I'm getting some kind of informational and some knowledge advantage through that. You're wasting your life. Go donate. Go volunteer for something instead of listening to former Republicans talk about what the Democrats should do. But if you need more evidence that and want. Or want to see somebody tee off on the Bulwark some more, go check that out. Patreon.com left reckoning show was live on Tuesday.

[Emma Vigeland]

We don't have Matt Bender today, but of course, everybody check out Leftist Mafia and all that he has been working on.

[Matt Binder]

Best wishes to the family.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, exactly. All right, folks, we will see you in the fun half. Okay.

[Michael Brooks]

Okay. Emma, please.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the Majority Report.

[Michael Brooks]

Wait, look, Sam is unpopular. I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

to welcome Emma to the show.

[Emma Vigeland]

It is Thursday.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

I think you need to take over for Sam. Yes, please. No, no, no.

[Emma Vigeland]

I'm. I'm.

[Michael Brooks]

I'm going to pause you right there. Wait, what? You can't encourage Emma to live like this, and I'll tell you why. So it was offered a tour. Sushi and poker with the boys. Tour, sushi and poker with the boys who was offered a tour.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah.

[Michael Brooks]

Sushi and poker with the boys. What? Twerk sushi and poker.

[Emma Vigeland]

Tim's upset.

[Michael Brooks]

Twerk, sushi and poker with the boys was offered with twerp sushi. And that's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and pulker with two boys.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right.

[Michael Brooks]

Twerk sushi and we're gonna get demonetized. I just think that what you did to Tim Pool was mean free speech. That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about him. I think you're responsible.

[Emma Vigeland]

I probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.

[Michael Brooks]

Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh, my God. Wow. Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Someone's offered a tour. Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. Tour. Sushi and poker with the boys. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a kid. Tour. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Had this debate 7,000 times. A little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a dick. I'm losing my mind.

[Matt Binder]

Some people just don't understand.

[Michael Brooks]

So I'm not trying to be a dick right now, but, like, I absolutely think the US should be providing on

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

me with a wife and kids.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's not what we're talking about here.

[Michael Brooks]

All right. That is not a fun job. Twerk. That's a real thing. That's got a real thing. Real thing. Willie Walker. Twerk. That's a real thing. That's real. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing that's offered Twerk. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Rogan has done it it again. That's a real thing.

[Brandon]

Oh, I think he might be blowing

[Michael Brooks]

it out of proportion. Real thing. That's a real thing. That's poker. Let's go, Joey.

[Emma Vigeland]

Twerk.

[Michael Brooks]

Sushi and poker. Take it easy. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with the boys. Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Sam has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

[Emma Vigeland]

I want to do this show anymore.

[Michael Brooks]

Anymore.

[Emma Vigeland]

It was so much easier when the majority report was just you.

[Michael Brooks]

Let's change the subject.

[Brandon]

Rangers and Knicks are doing great now.

[Michael Brooks]

Shut up.

[Emma Vigeland]

Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.

[Michael Brooks]

That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is the Pro Killing podcast.

[Michael Brooks]

I'm thinking maybe it's time we bury the hatchet.

[Emma Vigeland]

Left is one best trump.

[Michael Brooks]

Violet, don't be foolish. And don't tweet at me.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

And don't. The way this.

[Michael Brooks]

All of these people love it.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honors thesis about it.

[Michael Brooks]

She wrote an honest thesis.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

I guess I should hand the main

[Michael Brooks]

mic to you now. You are to the right of the un.

[Emma Vigeland]

We already fund Israel, dude. Are you against us?

[Michael Brooks]

That's a tougher question I haven't answered to. Incredible theme song.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hi, bumbler.

[Michael Brooks]

Emma.

[Dr. Tarek Lubani]

Vin.

Absolutely one of my favorite people, actually.

[Michael Brooks]

Not just in the game, like, period.