Episode 032: (Apartheid) South Africa but Make it Dave & Busters

This week Lara and Michael discuss the bombshell Washington Post article exposing a vast dragnet surveillance system used by the IOF against Palestinian society. Programs Blue Wolf and Wolfpack use state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to track and identify all movements by Palestinians, and has been called "a secret Facebook for Palestinians" according to an IOF soldier. Palestinians are given ratings and the programs use flashing colors to indicate whether the Israeli soldier should arrest, detain, or leave Palestinians alone. Squid Game anyone? The system was built in part by incentivizing the occupation's military units to take pictures of as many Palestinians as possible from children to elders by awarding prizes to those units that took the most pictures. The Palestine Pod covers the work being done to expose the occupation by Citizen Lab in Toronto and provide an update on the use of Israel's Pegasus spy software against Palestinian human rights organizations recently deemed "terrorist" organizations by the Apartheid State. Michael also discusses how Zionism is suffocating academic freedom in the UK with the termination of Professor David Miller and Lara reminds that these restrictions are related to the adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism, which has so far been adopted by around 30 countries. Lara and Michael chuckle at Biden's milquetoast platitudes towards funding UNWRA as their financial situation deteriorates by the day. Finally, we talk about how the occupation is attempting to acquire Bunker Buster bombs from the USA because bombing above ground is so early 2000s.

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

Videos:

1. Palestine Pod, Episode 8: Do Not Comply! with Miko Peled

2. Palestine Pod, Episode 23: The Caged Bird Paints with Malak Mattar

Articles:

1. Israeli settlers push Palestinians out of West Bank playground (Jerusalem Post)

2. Israel escalates surveillance of Palestinians with facial recognition program in West Bank (Washington Post)

3. Diaspora pedophiles increasingly use Israel as ‘a haven,’ activists charge (Times of Israel)

4. US sanctions NSO Group over Pegasus spyware (CNET)

5. Dr. Yara Hawari on Pegasus (Twitter)

6. A call from Palestine: Unite against cyber-surveillance & repression (BDS)

7. NY’s pension fund halts investments in Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s Israel stance (Times of Israel)

8. Ben & Jerry’s will end sales of our ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Ben & Jerry statement)

9. Israel won’t let US open Jerusalem consulate, Bennett said to tell visiting Dems (Times of Israel)

10. UNRWA chief seeks funding to avert financial collapse (Al Jazeera)

11. Palestinian NGO head: Calling us terrorists imperils Israeli democracy (The Jerusalem Post)

12. Poland recognized the IHRA antisemitism definition. Critics aren't impressed. (Haaretz)

13. Italy's top soccer league adopts IHRA anti-Semitism definition (Israel National News)

14. Australia endorses IHRA definition of antisemitism (Jerusalem Post)

15. Bristol University: Professor David Miller sacked over Israel comments (BBC)

16. Defining Anti-Semitism (U.S. Government)

17. From 'Shield' to 'Edge': How Israel names its military ops (Anadolu Agency)

18. Israel's Gaza war is like no other military operation in history (Jerusalem Post)

19. Israel seeks $8B arms deal at White House: F-35s, V-22s, KC-46s (Breaking Defense)

20. Settlers use club to break Palestinian’s arm. Israeli cop returns the weapon. (Haaretz)

21. Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy in occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera)