Episode 022: Meltdowns and Knockoffs

Lara and Michael are back to the Palestine Pod after a few weeks off (shout-out self-care) and start the episode with a survey of stories from the last few weeks on the ground in Palestine. The Israeli settler colony and its Apartheid regime are up to business as usual, expelling Palestinians from their homes, using the colonial courts to entrench ethnic cleansing, and shooting and killing Palestinians who dare protest against living under Israeli siege. Lara and Michael discuss one of the biggest stories of this summer: the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling their infamous ice cream on settlements built on stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and the Israeli government’s ensuing global public meltdown and disproportionate response. Lara points out that Apartheid Israel’s reaction is an indication of its recognition that it is losing legitimacy (despite its frantic efforts to control its image) and fear that other high-profile companies will follow suit calling into question its ever-expanding settlement enterprise and colonial project more generally. Lara and Michael cover a new twist in the Ben & Jerry’s saga that is so absurd it could only be satire (but it’s real-life). Lara covers Palestine Legal’s new infographic laying out the services and support it provides to activists who are being targeted, surveilled, or censored encouraging all activists in making themselves aware of the support available for carrying out the work of the liberation struggle. Lara and Michael comment on the sinister nature of Naftali Bennett’s visit to the US to meet with President Biden on the heels of his latest declaration that he would be expanding the illegal settlement enterprise.

To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:

Books

1. The Jerusalem Uprising: Intl. & Regional Dimensions (Noam Chomsky, Noura Erakat, Sinan Antoon) (Institute for Palestine Studies)

Articles

1. U.S. Aid's involvement in 1950's Afghanistan

2. The strategic mind of Zbigniew Brzezinski: How a native Pole used Afghanistan to protect his homeland (Louisiana State University)

3. Anti-Soviet warrior puts his army on the road to peace: The Saudi businessman who recruited mujahedin now uses them for large-scale building projects in Sudan. (1993 Independent article)

4. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza in retaliation for incendiary balloons, in first flare-up since May truce (Washington Post)

5. UN: Israel demolished, confiscated 24 structures in West Bank in two weeks (Middle East Monitor)

6. Palestinians in Silwan ache under Israeli oppression (Daily Sabah)

7. JOINT MILITIAS On a Single Day in May, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers Cooperated in Attacks That Left Four Palestinians Dead (The Intercept)

8. 81 Palestinian homes demolished by Israel in East Jerusalem in 2021 (Anadolu Agency)

9. Gaza child shot in neck by Israeli sniper dies (Electronic Intifada)

10. Palestinians in Gaza pledge to defy Israel to protest at border (Al Jazeera)

11. Palestinians Have a Right to Defend Themselves (Jacobin). "In 1982, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution asserting “the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.” The resolution refers to the Palestinians eleven times, explicitly describing them as “under foreign and colonial domination.”

12. West Bank church stands with unjustly incarcerated parishioner Layan Nasir (Mondoweiss)

13. Mariam Barghouti reports on detainments of Palestinians by the Palestinian Authority. (Twitter) Barghouti later shares their updated release from political imprisonment due to global pressure and solidarity.

14. Israel's Occupation: 50 years of dispossession (Amnesty). On apartheid Israel's illegal presence in East Jerusalem.

15. Mohammed El-Kurd reports on apartheid Israel's Hebrew-only courts regarding forced transfers in Sheikh Jarrah. (Twitter). El-Kurd shares that Israel's apartheid courts are refusing them Arabic translators. One of the judges on the court is an illegal settler in the occupied West Bank. Hind Hassan reports how the Israeli judges and lawyers are making jokes in the courtroom while Palestinians await home evictions and violence.

16. Statement: Ben & Jerry’s Will End Sales of Our Ice Cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

17. Lapid: Ben & Jerry’s move a ‘disgraceful capitulation to antisemitism’ (Times of Israel)

18. Israel Warns Of Severe Consequences ‘Legal And Otherwise’ After Ben & Jerry’s Settlement Ban (Forbes)

19. Israeli envoy urges 35 US states to activate anti-BDS laws against Ben & Jerry’s (Times of Israel)

20. Ice cream that leaves a bad taste in our mouths (Israel Hayom)

21. Kashrut orgs under pressure to remove certification from Ben & Jerry's (Jerusalem Post)

22. Unilever moves to block Israeli knock-off of Ben & Jerry's brand (Jerusalem Post)

23. Ben & Jerry's: Israel-backed app urges 'troll army' to criticise company (Middle East Eye)

24. We got Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling in Israeli settlements. Here’s how we did it. (The Guardian)

25. Michael's video: what type of zionist are you? i think we should live in peace"

26. Palestine Legal's infographics and resources for censorship and retaliation. (Instagram post)

27. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.

28. On Nelson Mandela and armed resistance. "Armed and Trained: Nelson Mandela's 1962 Military Mission as Commander in Chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe and Provenance for his Buried Makarov Pistol (South African Historical Journal)".

29. ‘We may lose US’ if liberal Jews continue backing BDS, BLM — Diaspora minister (Times of Israel)

30. Poll finds a quarter of US Jews think Israel is ‘apartheid state’ (Times of Israel)

31. Daniel Hale, who leaked information on U.S. drone warfare, sentenced to 45 months in prison. (Washington Post)

32. Potential Gains for Israel After Azerbaijan’s Victory in Nagorno-Karabakh (Just Security)

33. Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks (Biography)

34. 40 Years After Leak, Weighing the Impact of the Pentagon Papers (PBS)

35. Ahead of Washington visit, Bennett pledges growth of Israeli settlements (Jerusalem Post)

36. Israel confiscates Palestinian chocolate bars, claiming they would fund Hamas (Middle East Eye)