Episode 014: Existence is Resistance with Anwar Hadid and Vin Arfuso
This week, Palestinian Dutch American musician, entrepreneur and activist Anwar Hadid and Palestinian Italian American filmmaker Vin Arfuso join the Palestine Pod.
To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:
Books
Articles/Videos
Israel releases Sheikh Jarrah activists after hours-long arrests (Al Jazeera)
IDF cuts mandatory military service for men to 2.5 years (Times of Israel)
The young Israelis imprisoned for refusing to serve in the IDF Refusenik redefined (Huck): This article, published in 2018, states that fewer than 1% of conscripts refuse to serve on moral and ethical grounds. The article notes that: “To outsiders, the decision not to serve may appear simple, but the cost is high: A prison sentence is all but guaranteed for conscientious objectors who must defend their principles before a committee of officers. When their claims are rejected, as they usually are, objectors are sent to military prison for “disobeying military commands”.”
60 High School Seniors Refuse to Serve in the Israeli Army Because of the Occupation (Haaretz): This article confirms that refusenik Hallel Rabin served a 56 day prison sentence for refusing to serve in the Israeli military following which she was awarded an exemption from military service as a conscientious objector.
Israel’s separation wall endures, 15 years after ICJ ruling (Al Jazeera)
12 years strong: Hundreds march against Israel’s wall in Bil’in (972+)
Before Zionism: The shared life of Jews and Palestinians (972+)
Remembering 1948 and looking to the future (Electronic Intifada): As the noted Israeli historian and staunch Zionist Benny Morris put it in 2004, “a Jewish state would not have come into being without the uprooting of 700,000 Palestinians. Therefore it was necessary to uproot them.” He went on, “there are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing.” [Note that the figure cited by other scholars refers to between 750,000 to one million Palestinians who were displaced during the Nakba of 1948 however we cite to this quote to show the connection between the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians to the realization of the Zionist settler colony in Palestine].
According to Professor Rashid Khalidi’s Book, 100 Years War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonialism and Resistance, by 1945, Zionism had attracted more than 500,000 Jewish settlers to a country whose population was 2 million. The only problems were that (i) the Zionists had only managed to buy up 7% of the land of Palestine up until that point and (ii) even though they had managed to increase their numbers, they were still a minority in a country where they wanted to be the exclusive nation. In order to solve this “problem,” the Zionists needed to expel the Palestinians if they were ever going to compete their settler colonial project. This of course is exactly what followed during the Nakba in 1948.
Olive Groves in the West Bank Have Become a Battleground. That's Why Volunteers Come From Around the World to Help at Harvest Time (Time): Time wrote in 2019 that “over 800,000 Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted by Israeli authorities and settlers since 1967, according to research from the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem. In 2012, two E.U. heads-of-mission reports found that violent Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians especially targeted farmers. Between 2005 and 2013, Israeli NGO Yesh Din found that, out of 211 reported incidents of trees that were cut down, set ablaze, stolen, or otherwise vandalized in the West Bank, only four have led to police indictments.”
Israel's settlements: Over 50 years of land theft explained (Al Jazeera)
Israel's Occupation: 50 Years of Dispossession (Amnesty International)
Renowned International Law Professor Richard Falk’s latest views on the situation of Israel’s de facto control over Gaza and thus Israel’s continued occupation of Gaza can actually be found in the amicus brief that he submitted before the International Criminal Court in 2020.
The figure of 8 million Palestinian refugees in 2020 out of a global population of 13 million comes from the Oxford University Press book “Palestinians Refugees Under International Law”.
For the analogy comparing Zionism to the scenario where Muslims from around the world decide to ethnically cleanse Spanish people from Southern Spain because of Muslim presence in Spain 800 years ago, see Malcolm X’s oft-cited article, Zionist Logic.
Jewish Voice for Peace has been advocating against the planned destruction of Lifta. It wrote: “Lifta, the only Palestinian village that Israel has not demolished or resettled after the Nakba, is set to be razed to the ground and replaced with Israeli settlement housing units. Unlike the 400+ other villages from which Zionists violently expelled Palestinians, Lifta has remained empty and frozen in time since 1948. The preservation of Lifta has kept alive its refugees’ dreams of return, which — contrary to international law — Israel has continually denied them. By demolishing and Judaizing Lifta, Israel is ensuring those Palestinian refugees will never return to their homes and erasing Palestinians’ history on and ties to their land.”
Israel’s Jewish National Fund is Uprooting Palestinians – Not Planting Trees
Remembering the massacre at Deir Yassin (Middle East Monitor)
Testimonies From the Censored Deir Yassin Massacre: 'They Piled Bodies and Burned Them' (Haaretz)
Factsheet: Jewish Terrorism under the British Mandate (CJPME)
Lindsey Graham: Israel to request $1 billion from US to replenish Iron Dome (Times of Israel)
U.S. Finalizes Deal to Give Israel $38 Billion in Military Aid (NYT)
Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel (Reuters)
US House gives $500 million to Israel, only $600 per person in Covid relief (TRT World)
The Impact of Coronavirus on Food Insecurity (Feeding America)
Diana Buttu - The New Nakba: Israel's Annexation Plan (Diana Buttu Lecture)
Irish parliament denounces Israeli West Bank policies as ‘de facto annexation’ (Times of Israel)
The anti-Semitic theology behind the Christian Zionist lobby (Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb): As of 2019, “Pastor” John Hagee was known to have more than 5 million followers in the US.
Christian Zionists: A Documentary: At minute 8:25, the narrator describes that on CUFI’s site is “an impressive telecommunications system broadcasted in America and around the world. According to his website, he's seen weekly in an astonishing 99 million homes.”
For more on demographics of evangelicals in the US more broadly see here.
Pastor John Hagee (CUFI): Started in 1981, Pastor John Hagee’s Night to Honor Israel is one of the country’s longest-running Christian Zionist events, and has amassed donations of more than $100 million to Israeli and Jewish charities. Many of these donations go to funding the illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories.
Secretary Pompeo Delivers Remarks at Christians United for Israel Washington Summit
Vice President Pence at CUFI Summit: “President Trump and I stand without apology for Israel today”
Christian Zionists push bill to bolster US action against campus anti-Semitism (The Times of Israel)
D.C. Rabbi Apologizes for Accusing Israel of “Ethnic Cleansing” (Jewish Journal)
Facebook takes down page of Palestine news site (Middle East Monitor)
Bella Hadid’s Post Showing Mohammed Hadid’s birthplace as Palestine is taken down from Instagram before being restored due to public outcry.
The Israeli lawyer on Facebook’s independent Oversight Board (Jewish Insider)
Facebook's Secret Rules About The Word “Zionist” Impede Criticism of Israel (The Intercept)
Mark Ruffalo walks back his comments about the Israel-Palestine conflict (AV Club)
For more on Zionist settler-colonialism and the connection between early Zionist colonists and European setter colonists in Turtle Island, please see Episode 10 of the Palestine Pod with Dr. Steve Salaita.
Al Qaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society
Report: Israel treating al-Qaida fighters wounded in Syria civil war (The Jerusalem Post)
Isis fighters “attacked Israel Defense Forces unit, then apologised” claims former commander (The Independent): “‘There was one case recently where Daesh [Isis] opened fire and apologised,’ Mr Ya’alon said speaking at an event in the northern city of Alufa, during which he was was being interviewed about Israel’s policy on Syria. A spokesperson for Mr Ya’alon refused to elaborate on how Isis expressed its apology to Israel after the attack and the Israel Defense Forces also refused to comment.”
Syrian government accuses John McCain of entering country illegally (The Guardian): “According to the letter [by Syria’s Ambassador to the UN], McCain entered Syria in May 2013 and ‘met with terrorist groups, including leaders of the Nusrah Front’ which has been designated by the security council as an al-Qaida linked terrorist organization.”
More than 33,000 Americans sign petition urging defeat of McCain idea to arm Syrian rebels
USS Liberty survivor tells his story on Veteran’s Day (Michigan Daily): “According to Bowen, the U.S. Government told the survivors of the attack to never mention the USS Liberty incident and that the government has maintained this position — even today, he said, the issue is currently being treated this way.”
Veterans allege U.S., Israel covered up 1967 attack on U.S. ship (The Hour)
McCain Cuts Ties to Pastors Whose Talks Drew Fire (NYT): “Senator John McCain on Thursday rejected the endorsements of two prominent evangelical ministers whose backing he had sought to shore up his credentials with religious conservatives.”
Meghan McCain Breaks Down in Tears Over Ilhan Omar’s ‘Scary’ Israel Comments: At 3:30, McCain speaks of “Netanyatoo.”
Gen. Wesley Clark on Pentagon Memo to Take Down 7 Countries (Democracy Now)
Naftali Bennett will most likely serve as Israel's next prime minister, but who is he? (AJ+)
Former Prime Minister Netanyahu testified about potential military action in Iraq (CSPAN)
