GAZA: hiltzaileen eta esperantzaren artean (32)

No idea at all!

Please, #LearnMMT:

@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu

ooo

Switzerland, Norway and Iceland REFUSE to join the EU. Why?

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When someone says “EU”, many first think of  Europe. But this isn’t entirely accurate!  

0:05

The European Union has only twenty-seven member  states, and even though some European countries  

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have long, rich histories with their  EU cousins, they’ve decided to remain  

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outside of the Union. This is the case of  Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland. But why  

0:19

are these three countries, so closely linked to  a shared European identity, not part of the EU?

0:25

As always, let’s take a look at where  these three countries are on the map.

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First up is Norway. This Nordic nation sits  right at the top of the Scandinavian Peninsula,  

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with direct access to the  North Sea, the Arctic Circle,  

0:37

and the mouth of the Baltic Sea. Norway  borders two EU members – Finland and Sweden.

0:42

Second is Iceland. Iceland is by far the  most isolated of the European nations,  

0:48

with many map makers sadly forgetting  to include it in their sketches of the  

0:51

continent. The closest EU neighbour is  Ireland, over 1,400 kilometres away.

0:57

Last but not least is Switzerland. This is the  country that many forget isn’t part of the EU,  

1:02

as it sits at the heart of the continent and  is surrounded by central EU states – France,  

1:07

Germany, Italy, and Austria all share  a border with this Alpine haven.

1:12

Let’s take a look at each one’s relationship with  the Union and why they’ve decided not to join.

1:17

Norway has made attempts to join the EU on two  notable occasions. Initially, the country applied  

1:23

to join what was then called the European  Economic Community (EEC) in 1962. However,  

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when France, under President Charles de Gaulle,  vetoed the UK’s application to join the EEC in  

1:34

1963 and 1967, Norway’s bid was indirectly  affected. Since Norway’s application was  

1:40

contingent on UK membership, along with  the applications of Denmark and Ireland,  

1:44

Norway decided to suspend its application both  times. Eventually, negotiations successfully  

1:50

concluded in 1972, leading to a referendum  where the Norwegian people voted against  

1:56

joining. A subsequent referendum in 1994 also  saw Norwegians voting against EU membership,  

2:02

albeit by a closer margin. Since then, Norway  has not actively pursued full membership.

2:08

Several factors contribute to Norway’s  hesitation to join the EU: The big problem  

2:13

is Fish. Norway places significant emphasis on  maintaining control over its fisheries sector,  

2:19

which is a vital part of its economy. If Norway  were to join the EU, it would have to follow  

2:24

the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This  policy would allow other EU countries to fish  

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in Norwegian waters, albeit with strict rules.  Additionally, Norway would be subject to the  

2:34

EU’s Total Allowable Catches system, designed  for the sustainable management of fish stocks,  

2:39

which might differ from Norway’s  preferred management practices.

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There are also economic concerns beyond  fisheries: Norway’s vast natural resources,  

2:48

especially oil and gas, play a pivotal  role in its economy. Some Norwegians  

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are concerned that EU membership might impact  the country’s autonomy over these resources.

2:57

Then there is National Sovereignty:  Many Norwegians are cautious about  

3:01

ceding aspects of their sovereignty to Brussels  and the broader EU administrative structure.

3:06

So what about Iceland?

3:07

Iceland applied to join the EU in 2009,  in the aftermath of the financial crisis,  

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with many believing that membership might  offer greater economic stability. However,  

3:17

with a change in government in 2013,  

3:20

the country’s direction toward EU accession  shifted, and the application process stalled.

3:25

Central to Iceland’s hesitation, similar to  Norway, is the desire to protect its vital fishing  

3:31

industry from potential disruptions under the  EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Beyond fisheries,  

3:37

concerns about maintaining national  sovereignty, potential impacts on the  

3:40

small but protected agricultural sector,  and the advantages of having control over  

3:44

their own currency have also influenced the  debate. While Icelanders have never voted in  

3:49

a referendum specifically on EU membership,  public sentiment has shifted over time,  

3:54

influenced by both domestic and international  events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

4:00

Finally, we come to Switzerland.

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The Swiss people have traditionally shown limited  interest in joining the EU. In the early 1990s,  

4:07

the government did pursue an application to join  

4:09

the European Economic Area (EEA) — a  stepping stone to EU membership — but  

4:13

after a rejection by the Swiss electorate in  a 1992 referendum, this effort was suspended.

4:20

In fact, in 2018, a survey found that only 3%  even considered joining the EU a possibility. This  

4:27

reluctance stems not just from their commitment  to neutrality but also from their unique political  

4:31

and economic circumstances. Switzerland’s system  of direct democracy, where key decisions are often  

4:37

put to public referendums, makes ceding any  decision-making power to Brussels problematic.

4:42

Over the years, Switzerland has negotiated a  series of bilateral agreements with the EU,  

4:47

granting them many of the benefits of the  single market without the perceived drawbacks  

4:51

of full membership. These agreements, for many in  Switzerland, represent the ‘best of both worlds.’  

4:58

They allow for economic collaboration while  preserving Swiss autonomy. For example, the  

5:03

Swiss cherish their financial autonomy, especially  given the country’s status as a global banking and  

5:08

financial hub. Thus, concerns about EU regulations  potentially affecting this sector play a role.

5:14

And no, unlike some of their Nordic  neighbours, the Swiss reservations  

5:18

aren’t about protecting a fishing industry.  After all, fish are pretty safe in the Alps!

5:23

But what about now? What agreements do these  countries have with the EU in the modern day?

5:28

None of the three countries  are technically part of the EU,  

5:31

but they’re closely tied in various ways. All  three countries are part of the Schengen Area,  

5:36

facilitating passport-free  travel across borders. However,  

5:39

this doesn’t automatically grant the right to  work; additional permissions might be required.

5:44

Both Iceland and Norway are members of the  European Economic Area (EEA), which allows  

5:49

them to participate in the single market. This  means they have to contribute to the EU budget,  

5:54

adopt certain EU laws without having direct  representation in the European Parliament,  

5:58

and are exempt from some EU policies  – notably in areas such as fishing.

6:02

Switzerland, on the other hand, accesses parts of  

6:05

the single market through a series  of bilateral agreements with the EU.

6:09

All three, along with Liechtenstein, are members  of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).  

6:16

Founded in 1960 as an alternative to  the then European Economic Community,  

6:20

which later evolved into the EU, the EFTA aimed  to promote free trade and economic integration.

6:26

The original members included Denmark,  Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria,  

6:31

the UK, and later, Portugal joined the  fold. Today, only four members remain:  

6:36

Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland.

6:39

EFTA promotes free trade among its members and  with other countries, and its members cooperate  

6:44

closely with the EU, ensuring smooth  trade and collaboration across Europe.

6:49

So, the big question is:  

6:51

which one of these three countries is  most likely to join the European Union?

6:55

We don’t believe any of these three countries  will join the EU any time soon, but we know for  

7:00

sure that Switzerland isn’t keen on the idea at  all. Public opinion on joining is incredibly low,  

7:06

and the country’s dedication to neutrality  is simply too fierce. It would take a string  

7:11

of massive geopolitical events to sway  the Swiss people over to a pro-EU side.

7:17

Overall, Iceland is probably the most likely  to join of the three. As it’s already a part  

7:21

of the EEA, it has close ties to the EU, and a  decisive referendum on joining has never been  

7:27

held. The 2009 recession also showed the Icelandic  people the value the EU’s economic Union offered,  

7:34

and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has many looking  to their European neighbours for solidarity.

7:39

Still, we see no big reason for any of  these countries to join at the moment!  

7:43

They all enjoy close relations with the  EU, take part in many of its agreements,  

7:48

and contribute in their own way to the  European project. The European Union  

7:52

has bigger fish to fry, and these three  are already strong allies as it stands.

7:57

Do you think these countries should join the  EU? Or would you rather they stay outside  

8:00

for now? Let us know your thoughts in  the comments! If you enjoy short and  

8:05

informative videos about the EU, then please  subscribe and like the video. Until next time.

oooooo

@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu

ooo

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMkxAjJGYVk)

Trump Shares Anti-Netanyahu Video, Israeli PM Cancels US Visit | Vantage with Palki Sharma

Donald Trump has re-posted an interview clip where a US professor blames Benjamin Netanyahu for America’s “endless wars” in West Asia. The professor also called Netanyahu a “deep, dark son of a b***h”. Has Trump turned on his close friend and ally? How is Netanyahu responding? Palki Sharma tells you.

Transkripzioa:

0:08

grown up

0:13

[Music]

0:30

[Music]

0:37

No One Is Safe from Donald Trump not

0:39

even his closest buddy Israeli Prime

0:42

Minister Benin Netanyahu they had a

0:44

great Bromance in Trump 1.0 he shifted

0:47

the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to

0:49

Jerusalem he defended Israeli

0:51

settlements in the West Bank and he

0:52

recognized Israel’s rights over the

0:54

Golan Heights in return Netanyahu heaped

0:58

Praises on him he named a settlement

1:01

after Donald Trump he called it Trump

1:03

Heights but could the honeymoon be over

1:06

I asked because of this video it was

1:09

reposted by Donald Trump on social media

1:12

it features American Professor Jeffrey

1:15

saxs he’s being interviewed by Trump’s

1:17

Ally Tucker Carlson the professor talks

1:20

about America’s meddling in Syria and

1:22

Iraq he talks about the endless Wars in

1:24

West Asia and he blames them on

1:28

Netanyahu he calls the isra prime

1:30

minister an obsessive deep dark s

1:34

so now Trump has shared this video the

1:36

question is why why is he trying to

1:38

amplify this does he agree with this

1:40

assessment if he does it’s a rapid

1:42

U-turn because Trump spoke to Netanyahu

1:44

only last month it was said to have been

1:46

a warm friendly

1:48

conversation and this week he threatened

1:51

Hamas he asked them to return Israeli

1:53

hostages before he took charge if not

1:55

all hell would break loose those were

1:57

the words he used so what changed in 24

2:00

hours chances are nothing you see this

2:03

video has a long caption with it it

2:06

talks about how Barack Obama medle in

2:08

Syria how the CIA tried to topple Bashar

2:10

al- Assad but the caption does not

2:12

mention Netanyahu or Israel so it is

2:15

possible that Trump only read the

2:17

caption that he did not hear the whole

2:20

thing and he shared it and frankly I

2:22

don’t know which is worse that Trump is

2:24

reposting abuses against a world leader

2:27

or that he doesn’t listen to what he

2:29

shares

2:30

either way the damage is done Netanyahu

2:32

was supposed to attend Trump’s

2:34

inauguration this month but Reports say

2:36

he has pulled out no one is explicitly

2:40

blaming Trump’s video post but the

2:41

timing is certainly

2:43

suspect and do you know why this

2:45

confusion exists because of his erratic

2:48

policies consider the whole Greenland

2:50

route Trump is asking Denmark to hand

2:53

over Greenland to the US he says he

2:55

needs it for National Security Now

2:57

Greenland is an autonomous region in

3:00

Denmark in simple words it belongs to

3:02

them so Trump is talking about taking

3:04

over Sovereign land that too from a NATO

3:07

Ally and this obsession is not new he

3:11

first floated this idea back in 2019 but

3:13

back then he talked about buying

3:15

Greenland this time though he’s not

3:17

ruling out military action he wants to

3:20

take it any way he can so us allies in

3:23

Europe are worried some of them cannot

3:25

wrap their heads around it like

3:27

Germany’s Olaf

3:28

scholes he says he does not understand

3:31

what Trump

3:34

means in my discussions with our

3:36

European Partners a certain lack of

3:38

understanding has emerged with regard to

3:40

recent statements from the United States

3:43

the principle of inviability of borders

3:45

applies to every country regardless of

3:48

whether it is to the east or west of

3:55

us it is out of the question for the

3:57

European Union to let any Nation in the

4:00

world whichever it is and let me say

4:02

starting with Russia to attack its

4:04

Sovereign

4:07

borders but Trump is not de-escalating

4:10

he genuinely believes that Greenland

4:12

wants to join the

4:14

US think we had push back Greenland is

4:18

uh if you look at the people there we

4:20

got tremendous uh we got Applause as we

4:24

landed yesterday I had my

4:25

Representatives my son Don and

4:27

representatives go there and it was was

4:30

a it was like a Love

4:32

Fest spare a thought for Denmark they

4:35

have no heavy artillery no submarines

4:37

and no air defense systems they’re

4:39

basically at the mercy of NATO and the

4:41

US which is why they’re so cautious

4:44

Denmark has repeatedly said that

4:45

Greenland is not for

4:47

sale but on the ground opinion is split

4:51

apparently some greenlanders do not mind

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the

4:56

idea Denmark doesn’t matter a lot to me

4:59

it’s just a small country we can’t use

5:01

them any longer because there are so

5:03

many great powers in the world so our

5:06

partner should be a great power because

5:07

Greenland is very wealthy we have

5:12

everything because I think US president

5:14

elect Donald Trump is too loud his

5:17

opinions you can’t count on us being

5:19

taken over by force I don’t think

5:24

so Greenland is an autonomous region

5:27

they have also they also have a

5:29

complicated Colonial history with

5:30

Denmark on paper they can become

5:32

independent if they want to but join the

5:35

US that looks like a long shot right now

5:39

honestly this is a wakeup call for

5:41

Europe they Outsource their defense and

5:43

foreign policy to Washington but they

5:45

forgot a crucial question what if the US

5:48

no longer needs them Donald Trump has

5:51

brought that question to the four and

5:53

Europe is struggling to answer it

5:56

Reports say they’re planning a joint

5:58

trip to Washington

6:00

foreign ministers from Germany France

6:02

and Poland will meet Trump later this

6:04

month they’re calling it a show of unity

6:06

well we say good

6:10

luck from breaking news to the day’s

6:12

biggest

6:15

controversies shedding light on the

6:17

world’s top

6:20

headlines detailed analysis on the

6:22

stories that matter the most to you

6:25

catch it all on Spotlight at 600 p.m.

6:28

India time and 12:30 GMT only on first

6:33

post

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FIN DEL BLOQUEO A CUBA: Rusia golpea a Estados unidos

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRcMOdkzIao)

Cuba recibe exportaciones rusas para aliviar la escasez y entra al BRICS, buscando autonomía económica y nuevas alianzas internacionales frente al bloqueo. Putin juega un papel crucial en el fin del bloqueo económico a Cuba, al fortalecer la relación comercial entre ambos países.

Transkripzioa:

0:00

tensión mundial increíble jugada de

0:02

Rusia Putin pone fin al bloqueo a Cuba

0:05

Estados Unidos no lo vio venir en medio

0:07

de una terrible crisis económica marcada

0:09

por la falta de acceso a bienes

0:11

esenciales y la escasez de productos

0:14

básicos la llegada de exportaciones

0:17

rusas a Cuba representa un giro

0:19

significativo para la Habana y su

0:21

población productos como lácteos y carne

0:25

que eran difíciles de conseguir

0:28

comienzan a llenar los estantes de los

0:30

mercados de Cuba ofreciendo un alivio

0:33

inmediato a una sociedad afectada por

0:36

años de limitaciones económicas y

0:39

políticas Este cambio en la política

0:42

comercial de Cuba con Rusia no solo es

0:45

una respuesta directa a las necesidades

0:48

alimentarias del pueblo cubano sino que

0:51

también subraya el poder de la

0:53

cooperación

0:54

internacional especialmente en

0:56

circunstancias tan adversas como las que

0:59

enfrenta la Isla debido al bloqueo

1:01

económico impuesto por Estados Unidos la

1:04

llegada de estos productos rusos a Cuba

1:07

no se trata solo de una simple operación

1:10

comercial representa un acto de

1:12

resistencia y supervivencia ante un

1:15

entorno global hostil durante décadas el

1:19

bloqueo de Estados Unidos ha limitado

1:22

las posibilidades de desarrollo

1:24

económico y abastecimiento de bienes

1:27

básicos en Cuba sin embargo la la

1:30

cooperación con Rusia ofrece a la isla

1:32

una vía alternativa para garantizar el

1:35

suministro de productos esenciales sin

1:38

las restricciones impuestas por el

1:39

gobierno estadounidense un hito clave en

1:42

este proceso fue la aprobación del

1:44

sistema de control sanitario ruso por

1:47

parte del Centro Nacional de salud

1:49

animal de Cuba lo que permitió que

1:52

empresas rusas registradas En

1:54

plataformas de exportación como bets y

1:57

server enviaran productos de primera

1:59

necesidad a la isla sin enfrentar

2:02

barreras adicionales esta aprobación que

2:05

parecía un obstáculo insalvable en el

2:07

pasado se convirtió en una puerta

2:10

abierta para que Cuba pudiera acceder a

2:12

alimentos y productos básicos lo cual se

2:16

valora enormemente en un país donde las

2:19

limitaciones de recursos y la falta de

2:22

abastecimiento han sido una constante la

2:25

colaboración con Rusia en este contexto

2:28

no es solo una estrategia comercial sino

2:31

un símbolo de lo que Cuba y otras

2:34

naciones del Caribe y América Latina

2:36

podrían lograr mediante una cooperación

2:40

mutua en tiempos de crisis esta Alianza

2:44

no solo apunta a la solución de

2:46

problemas inmediatos como la escasez de

2:49

productos en los supermercados sino que

2:51

también es una manifestación de

2:54

resistencia ante un sistema económico

2:56

internacional que a menudo margina a los

2:59

países más pequeños y vulnerables la

3:03

posibilidad de sortear las barreras

3:05

impuestas por las sanciones y abrir

3:07

nuevos canales de

3:09

abastecimiento se convierte en un

3:11

ejemplo a seguir para otros países que

3:14

enfrentan situaciones similares Cuba no

3:17

se limita a esta cooperación con Rusia

3:20

ha intensificado esfuerzos para

3:21

diversificar sus fuentes de

3:23

abastecimiento de bienes esenciales esta

3:26

estrategia es una respuesta directa a

3:29

las de 2021 cuando miles de cubanos

3:33

salieron a las calles para expresar su

3:35

frustración por la crisis económica y la

3:38

escasez de recursos desde ese momento el

3:42

gobierno cubano ha enfocado sus

3:44

esfuerzos en asegurar un flujo constante

3:47

de alimentos y productos esenciales y la

3:50

relación con Rusia ha sido una piedra

3:52

angular en estos esfuerzos gracias a los

3:55

acuerdos comerciales con Rusia Cuba está

3:58

ahora en un una posición más sólida para

4:01

reducir la dependencia de mercados

4:03

externos y encontrar alternativas que no

4:07

dependan de las políticas occidentales

4:09

antes de continuar con el video aprende

4:11

Cómo invertir en un mundo en conflicto

4:13

descarga el informe gratuito con el link

4:15

en la

4:16

descripción este enfoque estratégico

4:19

también se extiende a la entrada de Cuba

4:21

al bloque bricks como miembro asociado

4:24

el ingreso de Cuba al brixs Abre nuevas

4:27

puertas de cooperación con países como

4:29

China

4:30

Brasil Sudáfrica Y por supuesto Rusia

4:35

creando una red de apoyo económico que

4:37

podría ser clave para superar los

4:39

efectos del embargo estadounidense a

4:41

través de este bloque Cuba No solo tiene

4:44

acceso a nuevos mercados sino que

4:46

también se beneficia de financiamiento e

4:49

inversiones que le permitirán fortalecer

4:52

su

4:52

infraestructura algo que Hasta ahora ha

4:55

sido una limitante crucial para el

4:57

desarrollo de la isla

5:00

el ingreso al brigs también le brinda a

5:02

Cuba la posibilidad de reducir su

5:05

dependencia del dólar

5:07

estadounidense lo que podría ser crucial

5:10

en un momento de tensiones económicas

5:12

globales al fortalecer sus lazos con

5:15

países del brig Cuba Puede acceder a

5:18

condiciones más favorables para sus

5:20

acuerdos comerciales y ampliar su

5:23

capacidad para negociar en un entorno

5:25

económico Global en el que las políticas

5:27

del occidente especial mente de Estados

5:30

Unidos han sido durante mucho tiempo un

5:33

obstáculo en este sentido el bloque

5:36

briggs se convierte en una plataforma

5:38

estratégica para Cuba No solo desde el

5:41

punto de vista económico sino también

5:44

como un respaldo frente a las presiones

5:47

internacionales la entrada de Cuba al

5:50

brig también tiene el potencial de

5:53

transformar la vida cotidiana de los

5:56

cubanos a través de los acuerdos con

5:58

Rusia y otros países miembros del bloque

6:02

se espera un flujo constante de

6:05

productos esenciales que aliviarán las

6:08

carencias que han caracterizado La Isla

6:11

durante

6:12

años productos como alimentos medicinas

6:16

e insumos para la industria podrán

6:19

llegar a Cuba sin las restricciones

6:21

impuestas por los actores

6:24

internacionales lo que se traducirá en

6:26

una mejora sustancial en la calidad de

6:29

vida de la población cubana en términos

6:32

de cooperación internacional este tipo

6:35

de Alianza resalta el valor de la

6:37

solidaridad entre países que comparten

6:40

un enfoque alternativo al dominio

6:42

económico y político de las potencias

6:45

tradicionales la relación entre Cuba y

6:48

Rusia en particular se basa en un

6:50

interés mutuo de resistencia ante un

6:53

sistema que ha marginado a Cuba por

6:55

décadas La Isla a través de su relación

6:58

con rus y otros países del brig está

7:02

forjando un camino hacia la autonomía

7:04

económica diversificando sus fuentes de

7:07

ingresos y asegurando el bienestar de su

7:09

población en medio de las adversidades

7:12

Este cambio no es solo una cuestión

7:15

económica sino también una declaración

7:18

política de que es posible construir un

7:21

sistema alternativo de cooperación que

7:23

desafíe las normas del comercio global

7:27

establecido la alianza Cuba Rusia ofrece

7:31

un modelo para otros países de América

7:33

Latina que enfrentando dificultades

7:36

similares debido a las políticas

7:38

hegemónicas de occidente pueden buscar

7:41

alternativas para mejorar su situación

7:43

económica y política a través de la

7:46

colaboración

7:47

mutua este tipo de asociaciones

7:50

demuestra que la solidaridad

7:51

internacional puede ser un recurso

7:54

poderoso para aquellos que a pesar de

7:56

las restricciones externas luchan por su

7:59

supervivencia y desarrollo en un mundo

8:02

Cada vez más interconectado la

8:04

colaboración entre Cuba y Rusia también

8:06

ofrece una lección importante sobre la

8:09

importancia de la cooperación en tiempos

8:12

de crisis global este tipo de Alianza no

8:15

solo beneficia a las partes directamente

8:17

involucradas sino que también sirve como

8:20

un ejemplo para otras naciones que

8:22

buscan formas alternativas de

8:25

desarrollar sus economías y proteger sus

8:27

intereses nacionales

8:30

al final lo que está en juego es la

8:33

construcción de una comunidad

8:34

internacional más equitativa en la que

8:38

los países pequeños y vulnerables puedan

8:41

encontrar apoyo en sus esfuerzos por

8:43

superar la pobreza la escasez y las

8:47

restricciones impuestas por las grandes

8:49

potencias la historia de Cuba y Rusia

8:52

marcada por décadas de resistencia

8:54

conjunta frente a las presiones externas

8:57

es un recordatorio de que los peque

8:59

pasos en la dirección correcta pueden

9:02

generar cambios

9:04

significativos la colaboración

9:06

internacional cuando se basa en la

9:08

solidaridad y el respeto mutuo tiene el

9:11

potencial de transformar vidas y

9:13

comunidades enteras brindando esperanza

9:16

y oportunidades donde anteriormente solo

9:19

había

9:21

desesperación Este modelo de cooperación

9:24

es clave para la integración de América

9:26

Latina en el sistema global ofreciendo

9:29

al dominio económico tradicional y

9:32

construyendo paso a paso una región más

9:35

fuerte unida y Autónoma recuerda

9:37

Descargar el informe gratuito con el

9:39

link de descarga en la descripción

oooooo

@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu

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“33 Hostages, 3 Phases, Complete Withdrawal…” How Will Israel And Hamas Implement Gaza Ceasefire?

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPSjaKOFtgY)

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that negotiators had reached a deal on Wednesday (January 15) for a ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.

At a news conference in Doha, Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday (January 19) and negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps for implementing the deal.

Al Thani said the deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

The ceasefire deal comes after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed tensions across the Middle East.

The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and came just ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.

Ikus bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPSjaKOFtgY

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Norman Finkelstein on Genocide in Gaza and Free Speech

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsR5Yc0CcLA)

The horrors of Gaza, the slaughter of tens of thousands of children is still going on. On a daily basis Israel is killing the civilian population of the world’s largest internment camp—a ghetto—at the Mediterranean Sea. And the Collective West still pretends that Israel is “defending itself” while it destroys every single hospital, mosque, school, shelter, and all other infrastructure to sustain live in a territory its top politicians have officially said they want to cleans of its population. How do we even start to understand the psychopathy of this situation?

Harry Berger speaks with the renowned political scientist Norman Finkelstein, the author of “Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom” (https://www.amazon.com/Gaza-Inquest-i…. They discuss the political background of Gaza and the ramification for Free Speech which in the USA is on an all time low when it comes to expressions of solidarity with the victims of the ongoing and unending genocide.

Transkripzioa:

0:00

Norm thank you so much for for joining me today means a lot my

0:05

pleasure yesterday the land set release a new Port they estimate the death toll

0:10

in the Gaza Strip from October 7th 2023 until June 30th 2024 and the authors

0:17

Begin by addressing the fact that the Gaza Ministry of Health has routinely

0:23

been questioned by pro-israel politicians and pundits who charged that the quote Hamas run Gaza Health min

0:30

produces fraudulent data in a 2014 lecture you predicted that Israel had

0:36

banned human rights monitors uh from Gaza after operation castled so that the

0:41

only reliable source of health and Casualty data during Israel’s assault would be the Gaza Health Ministry who

0:48

Israel would then accuse of being Hamas and making up all of its data which is exactly what Israel and its supporters

0:54

have done but this report that was released yesterday did say that the Gaza Health Ministry figures are inaccurate

1:00

though not in the way that Israel supporters content the lanet found that the Gaza Health Ministry data was too

1:06

conservative not that it was an overcount but rather a gross undercount this is what they said by combining

1:13

three data lists official hospitalists a Ministry of Health survey and social media obituaries we provide an estimate

1:19

of mortality and accounts for Under reporting we estimate a total mortality from traumatic injury of

1:26

64,0 260 people implying that that the Ministry of Health reports underestimated deaths by

1:32

41% and they say that as of October 2024 the official Ministry of Health estimate

1:38

was 41,9 n which would suggest that the true mortality figures probably exceeded

1:43

70,000 people norm and so if you talk to Israel supporters and you confront them with this they’ll tell you that these

1:50

numbers may be high but overall Israel has been justified in What’s Done in Gaza that this is simply war and many

1:58

will even concede that war crimes being committed but they’re often dismissed as one-off incidents or bad apples and not

2:05

routine baked into the way that Israel operates toward the Palestinians and what its Rules of Engagement are in Gaza

2:12

uh you frequently known in interviews that there is no war in Gaza that it’s wrong to call it that there’s not really

2:18

any fighting or battles the first few weeks of the war in fact there were no ground operations at all Israel was

2:23

dropping 2,000lb bombs on apartment buildings un buildings schools ultimately hospitals and

2:30

this has been consistent with how Israel has fought in the past as you have documented you lay out all the evidence

2:35

in your book Gaza and inquests into its martyrdom so historically how does Israel fight its so-called Wars in Gaza

2:43

how do Israeli soldiers behave when they conduct their ground operations in Gaza

2:48

and in what ways did Israel’s previous incursions into Gaza and the support that they have received from its Chief

2:55

backer the United States created the precedent for what we’re seeing today first of all Israel was at one point uh

3:04

the Israeli Army was at one point a fighting force about that I don’t think

3:09

there can be any dispute they began during the uh World

3:15

War I uh there was or in the 30s during what was called the Arab Revolt between 1936

3:24

and 39 they start to get serious training from the British

3:30

uh there was a fellow he seemed to have been a psychopath in the British army named or

3:36

Windgate and he trained he started training the Israelis they then had or I should say

3:43

what was called uh they weren’t yet Israelis the fighting forces in the

3:49

Israeli yesu that was the pre uh Israel

3:54

Jewish community in Palestine y i s y

4:01

UV the ISU and by the uh they also had a lot of

4:07

fighting experience during World War II and by the time the 1948 War comes

4:14

around they are maybe not on the order of the Red Army but they are a competent

4:24

fighting force uh and that was displayed and also they had the morale let’s not you know

4:30

let’s be clear about that uh Leon Trotsky who was the leader of the Russian Red

4:37

Army uh he said in his military writings and there is a book devoted to his mil

4:43

military writings he said morale is the principal factor in war and not technique but morale the

4:51

morale of the soldiers and you have to bear in mind and we shouldn’t poo poo it or dismiss

4:58

it uh this is right after the Nazi Holocaust the Jews were determined to

5:03

get a state by hook or by crook they wouldn’t allow anything to stand in

5:09

their way and they conducted themselves with complete and total

5:15

ruthlessness uh and also effective

5:20

Fighting by the time we get to the 1967 war I’m skipping the war in 1956

5:30

uh the British French uh Israeli assault on

5:36

Egypt uh the Sinai Invasion if we go to 67 there’s a bit of a misnomer about in

5:43

my opinion a misapprehension about the level of competence of the Israeli Army in

5:51

1967 I know it’s widely depicted as The Six Day War in which uh the Jews or the

6:00

Israelis at this point the Israelis uh delivered a stunning

6:06

military Victory to the Arab states it’s not really true

6:13

um there was a decent historian named Patrick Seal s c a l e and he had a

6:22

chapter in one of his books describing 1967 he called it The Six Day War walk

6:30

over the sixth day walkover because believe it or not I know this might

6:35

sound like hyperbole but I think I can confidently say it’s not the Six Day War

6:43

as it’s called was actually over in 6 minutes now I know that sounds like

6:48

hyperbole but I can assure you it’s not because the Israeli Air Force launched a

6:56

preemptive attack on the Egyptian Air Force which was all parked in um on the

7:07

ground the planes were all on the ground once they wiped out the Egyptian Air

7:14

Force it became and now I’m quoting Walt rostow who was the National

7:22

Security advisor to Lyndon Johnson the president of the time he described the

7:27

war as quote this is the first day he described the war as quote a turkey

7:35

shoot because the Egyptian Army had no air support they had no cover the Air Force

7:44

had been wiped out in about 6 minutes or 10 minutes I can’t remember it was like

7:49

6 minutes or 10 minutes the Egyptian Air Force was wiped out and therefore the

7:54

tanks the troops had no air cover air protection so it was a turkey shoot the

8:01

Israeli planes went in killed everything in sight you know it was very

8:06

easy on the on the Jordanian front hardly

8:11

any uh weapons were fired I know people will conf uh uh contest that I can cite

8:19

the sources I’m not saying they’re the definitive sources but they’re good sources so after

8:27

1967 the next major war is 1982 1982 there seemed to have been some

8:36

resistance by the Palestinians in Lebanon by the PLO but there was a very

8:41

on the PLO side there was a very high level of incompetence uh because uh Arafat

8:49

basically chose military leaders who are going to be um flunkies not on the basis

8:57

of competence and many of them fled the field of battle and Israel again with that uh

9:05

that uh lethal Air Force it killed about the estimates are 15 to

9:13

20,000 Lebanese uh and Palestinian civilians overwhelmingly civilians 15 to

9:21

20,000 uh the next major engagement comes in Lebanon again but this time it’s versus the army

9:28

of God Hezbollah and there you see they’re beginning to dis

9:34

display a much lower level of military competence in part I believe because

9:42

they were no longer highly motivated this was not know the fancy term it’s

9:48

not any longer existential Wars Israel fought you could say an existential war

9:55

in 1948 now it’s true as um Benny moris puts in one of his books

10:03

the stronger side one Israel had more troops in 1948 it had more military

10:10

equipment after the first three weeks the first three weeks it was tough but after the first three weeks it had more

10:15

military equipment but it was still a competent fighting force with a very high level of morale because it was

10:22

we’re getting that state we’re getting that state by hook or by crook we’re getting that state by 19 by

10:30

19 uh uh by the 1980s and up until

10:36

2000 uh there wasn’t that same sense of existential threat there wasn’t that

10:41

same sense of there wasn’t that same high morale and you see the competence

10:47

beginning to diminish of the Israeli fighting force uh and in 19 in 200000 the

10:54

Hezbollah managed to expel Israel from Southern

11:00

Lebanon 2006 what um the 34 Day

11:07

War uh I I think it’s correct to say

11:13

Hezbollah one the israelies called the stalemate in any event from there you

11:19

start seeing a downward curve in which Israel is no longer fighting Boors uh if

11:26

you look at operation uh castled in 20089 which you

11:33

mentioned operation uh protective Edge in

11:38

2014 this was not Wars actually to be honest Israel didn’t really describ in

11:45

this Wars they described it as mowing the lawn mowing the lawn is not a a a

11:53

warlike metaphor mowing the lawn uh uh conjures

11:59

the image of some Suburban home where somebody goes out in the with the M Lawn Mower and cuts the grass uh these were

12:08

not Wars uh the Goldstone report described uh

12:13

operation castled as designed to humiliate

12:19

terrorize uh humil humiliate punish and terrorize the civilian population that’s

12:25

what they said its goal was humiliate punish and terrorize a civilian population it’s not a war

12:34

obviously uh and so beginning I would

12:39

say in the so-called mowings of the lawn in Gaza it ceased to be

12:47

Wars there was a difference however between what happened before and after

12:53

October 7th Israel before October 7th it vied

12:59

his goal its objective as periodically you mow the lawn in Gaza

13:05

the Grass Grows in that sense the people of Gaza become more

13:13

self-confident uh and independent minded It’s Time to send in the Air Force and

13:20

the artillery to mow the lawn uh after 2000 uh after October 7th

13:26

there was a clear decision we’re not moaning to one anymore it’s time to

13:32

exter Pate which is the fancy word for pull out by the root after October 7th

13:39

the decision was made we’re going to solve the Gaza question the so-called

13:46

final solution to the Gaza question and so they were no longer mowing the lawn

13:53

they were going to extrateeny

13:59

blades were children uh and that took basically

14:05

three forms there was outright genocide um remember

14:11

amalec the uh and genocidal statements of that

14:17

sort there was uh the attempt at massive ethnic cleansing at the very beginning but that

14:25

didn’t work because Egypt vetoed it and then there was that the probably what

14:32

became the overarching motive which was to make Gaza

14:37

uninhabitable and I think that goal has been achieved there’s nothing left in

14:43

Gaza well I want to ask you about that because right now Israel is uh the

14:49

current operation in in Northern Gaza has been recognized as an ethnic cleansing campaign by a number of

14:55

sources Oxfam Human Rights Watch but also most recently uh very notably former Israeli defense minister mosha

15:02

yon he said the same thing you you’ll really barely read about what’s really going on in this war that there’s not

15:08

much fighting in the US corporate media but in the Israeli press like haratz they routinely document uh all of these

15:14

atrocities in Gaza just the other day they described a culture of Revenge among many of the enlisted and if you

15:21

need any more evidence of this sort of routine Behavior you can look at the social media feeds of the Israeli

15:27

soldiers deployed in Gaza who really enthusiastically post their own war crimes on their Instagrams and Facebook

15:34

openly where does this come from within Israeli Society how do you explain all of

15:41

this there are a couple of comments to make first of all there is something

15:46

unusual about what’s going on at least as compared let’s say if you take the case of the Nazis the Nai

15:54

extermination it had what you might call its ironic aspects we can use that term

16:00

the context of the uh extermination of the Jews uh the Nazis were supposed to

16:08

carry out the final solution with complete

16:14

coolness objectivity and Detachment and that meant you were not

16:22

allowed to give free vent to your sadistic uh as it were animal imposes

16:30

that was contrary to the Nazi Doctrine uh the Nazi Doctrine was most

16:36

famously put in a speech by I guess it was himler at Posen POS Posen or posman

16:46

Posen uh it was the famous speech in which he said poor us poor us meaning we

16:54

Germans poor us that we have been um

17:00

chosen to carry out the final solution of the Jews who are such a menace Pest

17:07

and uh cancer uh in human society and so

17:12

you w you’re supposed to do it carry it out with a certain amount of

17:18

reticence and Detachment so

17:25

um believe it or not it’s actually as I said it’s ironic to the point of irony

17:32

overreaching itself there were many Nazis who were prosecuted for carrying for be for sadistic Behavior they were

17:40

they were prosecuted for sadistic Behavior Uh in the case of the Israelis there is

17:48

a kind of what you might yes it’s I think it’s accurate since you’re in Brazil uh there was a carnivalesque

17:55

atmosphere about the extermination they’re carrying out in Gaza and it’s

18:03

all posted on the web there’s an Israeli historian Lee

18:09

morai and he has a very large compilation documenting the Israeli

18:16

genocide and really the most hard the most harrowing and hard

18:25

ring uh pages of his do is

18:30

his cataloging of one video after another after another after another

18:36

after another after another after another just describing the

18:42

videos just describing the videos that are posted by the

18:47

Israelis soldiers where does it come from I think it comes from many

18:55

sources uh the pure race ISM which it’s true I mean I hate I hate

19:03

slogans like settler colonialism which I think are pretty meaningless but there

19:08

is an aspect of course to settler colonies wiping out indigenous

19:14

populations and that you need a certain ideological justification for that kind

19:21

of activity and the usual ideological activ justification is that the indigen

19:29

population is somehow subhuman so there is that aspect there’s

19:35

this whole secularized version of chosenness

19:41

in Israeli Society this notion that we’re not just better than Arabs believe

19:47

me not just better than all the goyam all the non-jews they have contempt there used

19:54

to be a governor of of New York State named son Rockefeller and he was one of the

20:01

Rockefeller Brothers which originally were the Oil Barons and uh they used to say of Nelson

20:09

Rockefeller Nelson Rockefeller he’s a true Democrat he’s a true Democrat he’s

20:15

a true Democrat he has contempt for everybody and that’s what basically the

20:21

Israelis they have contempt for everybody but they preserve or reserve a

20:27

special contempt for Arabs in general and you could say gazin in particular

20:33

and then compounding the uh settler colonialist aspect the secularized

20:43

chosenness aspect combining it was they did want to exact a real revenge for

20:50

October 7th there’s no question in my mind about that they wanted to exact

20:57

a they were outraged just like Nazis by the way the

21:03

idea that these un mention these

21:08

subhumans could carry out this

21:16

action but the Israelis were not outraged just at the sheer killing on

21:22

October 7 which is a very high order of magnitude they were outraged at the

21:27

technical competence that Hamas had revealed and

21:32

also outraged at the technical incompetence that

21:39

Israel’s uh high-tech Society had revealed so when you combine

21:45

all those factors uh as you point out as you

21:51

pointed out in your introductory remarks if you go back and read the saving

21:56

excuse me um the Israeli testimonies the breaking the

22:01

silence testimonies there’s nothing new Under the Sun but I would say of it’s correct to

22:10

say at some point um quantity turns into quality

22:15

becomes something you know when it’s so massive so intense then it’s

22:21

qualitatively something new and quantity did turn into quality on after October

22:27

7th there was uh one revealing incident

22:33

involving this that I can’t really wrap my head around and maybe you could explain it for me it happened this

22:38

summer um and obviously you know we always hear we’re constantly hearing about the hostages that Hamas has in

22:45

Gaza but as bet selum reported this year in the report Welcome to Hell Israel has

22:50

had over 10,000 Palestinians which is abducted from Gaza and the West Bank in

22:55

detention more than 5,180 two of those people were detained before

23:00

October 7th as hostages if you want to call them that I think you should call them that they’re not detainees they’re

23:08

hostages okay well these hostages were in these prisons like State tmn there

23:14

was a video that was released which showed the sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees this has been uh something

23:21

that’s been reported on for a long time but there was finally a video of this and the reaction in Israel to this

23:26

incident was protests but these were not protests that were on behalf of the Palestinians who were being sexually

23:32

abused these were protests Norm that they had on behalf of the abusers saying

23:38

that they shouldn’t be punished and they they basically barged into this facility and demanded that they released these

23:45

soldiers who were being investigated for rape so how how do you explain that in

23:51

in what type of you know moral framework what does it take for for somebody to to

23:57

view their own own ethnic people as their lives is more valuable than than

24:02

any others to that to that extent I think it’s a combination of two

24:08

things it’s uh first of all the Nationalist fervor of this Jewish State

24:18

this lunatic nationalist fervor and then it’s combined with the fact that Israel

24:26

has a citizen Army now under normal circumstances I would

24:32

say that’s a good thing I think just like everybody has to pay taxes every

24:37

citizen should have to bear the burden of the defense of their country uh and nobody should be able to

24:45

escape that burden which can be in certain circumstances it could be

24:50

mortal uh to bear that burden but I don’t think know during the Vietnam war

24:56

we had the I can’t remember was you know it’s funny to slip my mind but students

25:03

got deferment uh if you were in college you got an automatic deferment for the

25:08

period you were in college and so as you can imagine it was poor people uh who

25:14

have to do the fighting so there is a merit to the notion of a citizen Army but there’s

25:21

also a downside the downside is that you

25:26

can’t use the argument it’s just a few rotten apples who are carrying out this

25:32

horror it’s representative of the entire Israeli Society it’s a crosssection of

25:37

Israeli Society that’s carrying out the horror and so for a lot of Israelis it’s

25:43

there for the but for the grace of God go I namely in that situation I might be

25:50

doing that because it’s your brother it’s your sister it’s your son it’s your daughter

25:57

it’s your cousin it’s your family so they’re very

26:03

protective because this Army you might say it doubles the usual

26:11

normal nationalist fervor of any country in time of War it’s doubled by the fact

26:18

that everybody sees themselves but for the grace of God in

26:25

that Army because it’s a citizen Army it’s a cross-section so when they’re cheering they’re demanding

26:33

exoneration it’s a projection they’re demanding exoneration

26:38

for themselves because they know they could be in that position it’s their

26:46

family you know during the war in Vietnam say we never thought of if you were like myself white lower middle

26:55

class attending college we never saw the soldiers as being ourselves we did not

27:01

they were kind of a a

27:06

um they were several degrees removed from us we didn’t grow up with them you

27:14

know we grew up in neighborhoods where everyone went to college we weren’t in their income bracket you know we didn’t

27:22

of course we identify with them roughly as Americans but beyond that no in the

27:28

case of Israel every Soldier is a citizen every citizen is a soldier you

27:35

know there’s some exceptions but you get the picture and so they see

27:41

themselves in those soldiers it’s not like they say oh those are you know

27:46

they’re uh they’re uh uncivilized or they’re BR they’ll never say that they

27:53

never say they’re uncivilized they’re uneducated you know that’s what we would say you know was a famous case in the

27:59

United States the mili Massacre and um the person who was the

28:06

scapegoat was a guy named Cali Lieutenant Cali and when we looked at Cali he was some hick you know from the

28:13

south and we would say oh he’s uneducated uncultured uncivilized that’s

28:19

how we distance ourselves from the crimes of people like C but they can’t

28:26

do that they would never do that because it’s their

28:31

family so it’s not surprising I the last poll I read I think I read it in Lee

28:39

mori’s compilation but I’m not sure it was uh more than 60% of Israelis were

28:47

against punishing soldiers for wrongdoing including the rape

28:52

charges so I think everybody at this point understands that one of the ways and really way that Israel is able to do

28:59

what it does uh with impunity toward the Palestinians uh its invasion of Gaza but

29:05

also its annexation of the West Bank and invasion of surrounding countries bombing of Syria Yemen and Lebanon uh is

29:14

the United States support for it diplomatic and uh obviously arming and funding those conflicts to the tunes of

29:21

many tens of billions of dollars one of the reasons why this happens and and how

29:27

the system functions so fluidly uh is because if you object in the United States to this funding of Israel and our

29:33

unconditional support for this foreign government you’re instantly accused of anti-Semitism and jew-hating bigotry and

29:40

this is something that you’ve experienced and many others have experienced who try to criticize Israel really across every major American

29:47

institution especially after October 7th we’ve seen this from Academia to government the workplace critics of

29:53

Israel including Jewish ones are consistently met with charges of this

29:59

type of bigotry they’re swiftly punished for their views billionaires like Bill Amman organize blacklisting campaigns

30:05

for college students who criticize Israel or eject Zionism College professors like yourself Steve salaa and

30:12

MAA finlin or Deni tenure or flat out fired for their Israel views professional schools corporations and

30:18

law firms consistently firing Blacklist students and young professionals who merely participate in protests or wear

30:25

cafa scarves entire online databases have been constructed Norm like Canary

30:30

Mission and stop anti-Semitism to render these critics of Israel as unhirable

30:37

anti-semites there has really been a major assault on Free Speech in order to maintain this unquestioning and

30:43

unconditional support that we have for Israel one that you document in your

30:49

latest book I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it and other writings like the Holocaust industry where you show your

30:54

consistency on Free Speech issues by bringing forth critique not only of the suppression of pro pro Palestinian

31:01

speech views that you agree with but you also spend a lot of time critiquing the excesses of the woke left who well

31:09

before October 7th promoted the framework for much of the censorship that we’ve seen do do you recognize that

31:17

those tactics being deployed by the pro-israel lobby against their critics to be kind of exactly the same if not

31:24

more extreme and effective than the so-called woke left which I constantly

31:29

hear these same Israel supporters denouncing when it comes to any other group of people uh number one this whole

31:38

woke Council culture has been a royal disaster for two basic reasons basic

31:46

reason number one is our strongest weapon is the truth the facts in are on

31:53

our side and we should

31:58

not fear any public

32:03

confrontation on the basis of the facts now when you start invoking the

32:11

right to censorship because quote it makes me feel

32:18

uncomfortable or quote it makes me feel

32:25

unwelcome you are now providing the perfect pretense excuse me perfect

32:33

pretext to silence unwanted

32:38

speech but that’s exactly what we don’t want to

32:44

silence because it’s precisely because the facts on our side

32:54

the truth is on our side Justice is on our side so we shouldn’t

33:03

allow for the creation of pretexts on the basis of feeling

33:11

uncomfortable and unwelcome we shouldn’t allow for the

33:16

creation of those pretexts to silence

33:22

speech it’s completely insane what the woke cancel culture

33:31

did and I might add I predicted it if

33:37

you turn to page 37 of my last book I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it I

33:43

explicitly said if Pro Palestinian

33:51

students protest a Israeli coming to campus on

33:56

the grounds that that it makes us feel unwelcome and

34:03

uncomfortable I said it’s only a matter of time before the other side’s going to say the same thing that these slogans

34:11

these speakers are making us meaning Israelis

34:17

and Jews feel uncomfortable it was a complete

34:22

disaster I will just give you one fact I live in New York I’m within you could

34:30

say 20 miles of about 40 universities and colleges and community colleges

34:36

within the you know within the circumference you know about 40

34:41

miles uh excuse me about 40 colleges and universities and community colleges do

34:48

you know in New York since September I didn’t receive one

34:53

invitation to speak I got my first one yesterday from

34:59

Brooklyn College when I come that was the first one

35:05

now everybody’s terrified to invite a dissenting a dissenting speaker on Gaza

35:13

to their campus let let me ask you I’m not I have no idea I have no doubt that

35:20

that attempt would have been made anyway to silence W culture or no W culture

35:26

Council culture Council culture but you provided the

35:31

pretext you provided on a silver platter now all they have to say is we

35:38

feel unwelcome we feel uncomfortable and we feel unsafe and that’s it it’s

35:45

over number two there was one fundamental difference between the pal

35:52

the supporters of the Palestinians in the other side you know what the the fundamental difference is

35:58

money the Palestinian side all they can rely on is moral

36:07

fervor but the other side they then

36:12

enabled the billionaire Jewish supremacist class to

36:19

say we are withholding our alumni

36:24

contributions which were very substantial

36:29

not necessarily as compared to the endowments of places like Harvard yes

36:35

relatively speaking the do the the um donor alumni contributions were relative

36:43

to their endowments were small no question about that but they were still very substantial sums of money we’re

36:50

talking about 50 million here $100 million there uh that’s one of the

36:56

consequences of this massive unequal distribution of wealth in our society

37:01

the super rich now for them literally 50 million dollar100 million it’s nothing

37:09

it’s nothing but from most of humanity it’s a

37:14

significant sum of money and now what did they do we’re withholding our donor

37:20

alumni contributions because Jewish students feel unsafe

37:30

unwelcome you gave the pretext we don’t have that kind of money we just don’t

37:37

our site and so we didn’t have the

37:42

prerogative of going to the college presidents and the Board of Trustees with that sort of threat I didn’t

37:49

realize that aspect by the way I understood the uh you were opening a

37:57

door to a disaster by using the veto of uncomfortable un unwelcome unsafe

38:04

uncomfortable unwelcome unsafe you were opening a u uh a disaster and I knew

38:10

these folks operate behind the scenes oh when I was denied tenure at a

38:16

completely negligible University negligible University I knew

38:23

it was behind the scenes the Board of Trustees were putting pressure on the University it wasn’t Alan dtz it was the

38:32

board of trust people with money uh putting pressure on the University I

38:38

understood that but now it’s just Brazen it’s out in the open uh when

38:45

uh uh William Amman denied the M you know said I’m not

38:51

and he had given money a lot like $50 million a year or something to Harvard uh that was just a tip of the iceberg

38:59

because then a letter was sent to Harvard by about a my memory is but my memory is

39:06

not perfect right now over a thousand Alum Jewish alumni saying they weren’t

39:12

going to give money to Harvard so it began to snowball

39:17

and then the money BEC significant you know the money become significant um even though as I said

39:25

with the two caveats uh that for most people already amman’s

39:31

$50 million is significant but also the caveat that Harvard’s endowment was such

39:37

that it didn’t seem so large um so it was a

39:44

disaster uh and it requires you know part of being on the left as people like

39:50

Rosa luxemborg pointed out a long time ago is you have to be self-critical

39:58

you have to what is politics it’s many things but one of the

40:05

things it is is learning from history learning

40:13

mistakes learning from errors uh when a mistake and error

40:20

occurs or a disaster occurs to critically reflect what did we do wrong if anything

40:28

sometimes you know disasters happen we have no control over it what did we do wrong also of course what did we do

40:35

right that’s important I think for example Bernie Sanders I think he did a lot of things right and I hope the left

40:42

would learn from what we did right but we should not allow our

40:49

ego to Cloud out the reflection on what we did

40:55

wrong and I believe that this whole woke cancel culture has been a

41:02

complete catastrophe which was completely and totally ignorant IG g n o r a an T

41:11

ignorant of our history do you know if you look at the history of the battle for free speech in

41:19

our country because it was a very big battle it’s one thing to have in the

41:24

Constitution but believe me it took a lot to transform what was in the

41:29

Constitution into actual law a good 80% of the cases that say

41:38

came before The Supreme Court they were by people of the left they were fighting

41:44

for the right to Advocate the right to overthrow a

41:50

government advocating the right to unionize there was a huge huge

41:58

body of uh litigation that went eventually to the

42:04

Supreme Court and it was largely by the

42:09

left and then suddenly this so-called left in my opinion it’s not left at all

42:15

but the so-called left this wo councel culture it abdicated and gen it it

42:23

jettisoned that whole history and substitute for it what can

42:29

only be described as a complete disaster but I want to also enter the

42:35

caveat that I do believe of course there would have been an assault by the

42:42

Jewish uh the billionaire Jewish supremacist class yes there would have been Thea but

42:49

it would not have been so easy for them they just had to pronounce three words uncomfortable unwelcome and unsafe and

42:56

that shut down all debate shut down all debate across the country that was a disaster I hope

43:04

people will I I hope some people those who are invested in Dei you know

43:10

obviously that’s their bread and butter the robin D’Angelo the ibram X candies that’s their bread and butter so they’re

43:16

not going to critically reflect but everybody else I think should do some

43:22

soul searching was that a wise

43:28

strategy by the left and on that I’m going to have to get off because I have another

43:36

appointment uh Mr Burger uh we can always you know do it again in the

43:42

future well Professor thank you so much for joining me it was really a privilege to speak with you um let me ask if

43:49

people want to support your work I know you have an upcoming book coming out later this year I don’t look I’m at I’m

43:56

at the on the other side of midnight actually I’m way past the other side of midnight so I don’t look for support um

44:03

I have a roof over ahead I have food in my refrigerator and fortunately I have

44:08

heat um in the winter no air conditioning in the summer though I I Ruled that

44:15

out uh so uh you don’t what we we should do is try to think about ways to support

44:23

Gaza and it’s not so easy actually to come up with ways right now uh so um and

44:31

do our best which is very tough to prevent it from being removed from

44:38

the uh the agenda of our society right

44:43

now it’s gone if you look at the front pages of the papers Gaza is gone uh has

44:50

been already for about a month um we have to do what we can

44:57

all right well well thank you so much for joining me Norm it really means a lot and uh you know we’ll stay in touch

45:02

and I hope to speak to you soon

oooooo