Below is my appearance on the Makers Bar YouTube show. I was unfamiliar with the program before receiving the invite, which isn’t surprising, since most of the interviews are outside my realm. They’ve built a following of almost 400,000 subscribers by interviewing business and tech executives. A few recent episodes have discussed politics, featuring interviews with
and Jake Broe, a former Air Force officer who discusses foreign affairs.The host, Troy, invited me to discuss my writing, DSA, and Israel/Palestine. I agreed and listened to some of his previous episodes, in which he described himself as center-left and believed ‘the Jewish state’ had a right to exist. Going in, I envisioned he’d be a typical liberal Zionist, condemning the genocide but arguing that Israel should remain a Jewish state. I thought it would be a reasonable discussion where I could argue that Zionism was the source of the violence, which I assumed we’d both condemn.
The first part of the conversation went as expected. We discussed capitalism, socialism, DSA, Zohran Mamdani, and my political background. It was cordial, and when Troy disagreed with my points, he did so respectfully. But, as you’ll hear, when we got to the topic of Israel, the tone changed drastically. I went in expecting an interview, not really a debate. Makers Bar didn’t seem like that type of show, but that’s what it became.
There are a few claims Troy made during the recording I want to correct. He claimed Yasser Arafat didn’t sign the Oslo Accords. This is false. Not only did Arafat sign the deal, he signed a letter saying Israel had the right to exist.1 Shortly after the deal, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Zionist for collaborating with the Palestinians.
He also claimed Minneapolis defunded the police, which, according to him, made North Minneapolis too dangerous to visit. As the site of George Floyd’s murder, the Minneapolis City Council pledged to defund the police, but didn’t end up doing so. The 2021 city budget moved $8 million from the police to mental health services, but the cops still had $170 for the year. Police staffing was unchanged.2
I’m unsure how I did here (the comments are disabled on YouTube), so if you have any feedback on my performance, I’d love to hear it in the comments.
Enjoy — Joe
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oslo-Accords
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/what-s-in-the-2021-minneapolis-police-budget
Most people seem completely unaware of the history of the Middle East. We’ve also been brainwashed on many levels, one of which is that a group of people need to have a functioning government & military ti be accepted as an official state/regime. Since the UN hasn’t allowed Palestine a place at the table & Israel demolishes/emasculates any group attempting to form a Palestinian government we are left with only Israel’s version of events. I won’t watch your interview. I used to believe the Israel miracle but now see how much of it was lies. I am not sure that the future looks rosy for any of us.
I thought that both you and Troy did a great job of explaining your positions. obviously, the situation right now is overwhelming and there may never be a solution that is acceptable to both sides. But it was helpful for me to hear both sides in a very clear and understandable way. so, thank you for that.