Podcast Summary: Todo Concostrina (SER Podcast)

Episode: “Acontece que no es poco | Ben Gurion proclama el estado de Israel: arranca el plan de exterminio de los palestinos”
Host: Nieves Concostrina
Date: May 14, 2024

Overview

This episode marks the 76th anniversary of the proclamation of the State of Israel by David Ben Gurion on May 14, 1948. With her characteristic irreverent and critical style, Nieves Concostrina dissects the historical and ideological underpinnings of the Israeli state's foundation. She frames the narrative as the initiation of the systematic expulsion and extermination of Palestinians—analyzing biblical, historical, and political arguments used to justify these events, with humor, critical skepticism, and open denunciation of religiously justified violence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Birth of Israel and the "Plan of Extermination"

• [00:47] Concostrina opens by asserting the declaration of the State of Israel also marked the beginning of an internationally sanctioned plan to displace and destroy the Palestinian people.
• She reminds listeners that the Jewish project to seize Palestinian territory is rooted in much older myths and justifications, predating 1948 by decades if not millennia.

Quotes on Religion and Violence

• [01:40] Four notable secular quotes are read aloud, linking religious faith with violence and irrationality:
  • José Saramago: “Si todos fuéramos ateos, el mundo sería más pacífico.”
  • Michel Onfray: “Dios elimina todo lo que se le resiste. En primer lugar la razón, la inteligencia, el espíritu crítico. El resto sigue por reacción en cadena.”
  • Carl Sagan: “La idea de que Dios es un enorme hombre de raza blanca… ridícula.”
  • Voltaire: “Quienes pueden hacer que creas cosas absurdas, pueden hacer que cometas atrocidades.”
• These are used to foreground the episode’s core critique—that atrocities have been perpetrated in the name of invented gods, including by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Examining the Biblical "Right to the Land"

• [03:51] Discussion segues to the religious myth that underpins the Zionist claim on Palestine:
  • The Jewish justification is “un mito fundacional… que reclaman la propiedad de la tierra porque supuestamente se lo dijo Dios. ¿Hace cuánto? Hace ya tres mil y pico de años.”
• Concostrina satirically dismantles the logic of inherited divine property rights and the absurdity of literal belief in foundational religious stories.

The Biblical Narrative Dissected

• [05:34–11:55] Concostrina walks listeners through passages from Genesis and Numbers, exposing how “Dios” supposedly granted every bit of land to Abraham, with comically precise geographic instructions:

  • She summarizes and mocks the specificity (“hasta la subida de Akrabín y pasará hasta Zin...”) and the seriousness with which this fiction is treated in modern geopolitics.
  • She satirizes the story of ancient circumcision (“Abraham tenía 99 años cuando le circuncidaron la carne del prepucio…”) and other physical metaphors turned literal dogma.

• Memorable quote [08:06]:

  • “Esta historia es muy perversa, porque por un lado es absolutamente cómica y estrafalaria, pero a la vez ha provocado centenares de miles de muertos por culpa de esa creencia.”
    —Nieves Concostrina

The Fabrication of History and the Realities of Jewish Identity

• [12:01] Delving into scholarship, Concostrina outlines what historians (including Israeli ones) now know:
  • “Se supone que los judíos habrían huido de Egipto en el año 1250 antes de nuestra era… Pero resulta que el judaísmo no existía aún.”
  • Debunks the claim that Moses wrote the Torah (Pentateuch) at the time, referencing modern scholarship that points to a much later, priestly authorship.
  • “Mucho después de las milongas del Éxodo, que nunca existió… Ni del tal Moisés, que es mentira. Ni de la promesa de una tierra que aparece en un libro de Chiste por el que continúa un genocidio en Palestina.”

The Irreverent Approach and Call for Critical Thinking

• Concostrina suggests a regular podcast segment lampooning the “disparates bíblicos” to highlight the absurdities that underpin so much of conventional history and modern conflict.

• Notable dig [09:58]:

  • “Que nadie me pida respeto a semejante estupidez, porque eso está en el mismo libro donde se especifican los límites de una tierra inventada.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sobre la fe y el crimen:

  “Eso han cometido y cometen los judíos, cristianos y musulmanes en nombre de su dios inventado atrocidades.”
  — Nieves Concostrina [02:48]

• Sobre la literalidad bíblica:

  “El cuento bíblico… debería empezar como empiezan los cuentos. Érase una vez en el espacio interestelar, un señor blanco, heterosexual, con un solo ojo dentro de un triángulo y con barba…” [05:34]

• Sobre la evidencia histórica:

  “Eso lo dicen… historiadores, los serios, israelíes de la Universidad de Tel Aviv. Está dicho y publicado.” [12:18]

• Contra la fe ciega:

  “Así que que nadie me pida respeto a semejante estupidez… porque eso está en el mismo libro donde se especifican los límites de una tierra inventada.” [13:20]

Comedy Break—Monty Python

• [13:36–14:05] Interlude: “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python, underlining the program’s satirical tone amid grim subject matter.

Closing / Teaser

• [14:31] Announcement of a future crossover with Alejandro Dolina, renowned for his own irreverent historical radio show.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:47 – Proclamation of Israel and the start of Palestinian expulsion
• 01:40 – Four secular quotes on faith and war
• 03:51 – Unpacking religious myth as the basis for occupation
• 05:34 – Comedic retelling of biblical land “contracts”
• 08:06 – The perversity of literalist belief, its modern consequences
• 11:57 – Discussion of when “the script” was actually written
• 12:01–13:20 – Modern scholarly (and Israeli) debunking of Exodus, Moses, and biblical land claims
• 13:36 – Monty Python musical satire

Tone and Style

True to the show's tagline, the episode delivers potent historical analysis with “peculiar mirada y estilo de Nieves Concostrina”: deeply skeptical, caustically funny, and openly critical of religious and political dogma. The humor is sharp—sometimes irreverent—yet always in service of a passionate call for critical thinking and historical responsibility.

For more from Nieves Concostrina, subscribe to Todo Concostrina on SER Podcast.