the promised podcast – full show

The “Lessons of War” Edition

We discuss 1) an essay headlined “There is No ‘Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’” 2) the campaign videos of former IDF Chief of Staff and present PM pretender Benny Gans 3) historian Benny Morris’ prediction that, in a few decades time, Jews will be a persecuted minority in Palestine

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The “Son of God, with a Side of Fries” Edition

We discuss 1) the Labor Party’s campaign to persuade other parties to commit to never joining a coalition with PM Netanyahu 2) demonstrations over an exhibit in Haifa’s art museum that includes “McJesus,” with Ronald McDonald on the cross 3) the proposal to quadruple, or maybe octuple, tuition fees in Israel

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The “Goose, Gander & Duck” Edition

We discuss 1) the detention and interrogation of 5 Yeshiva kids accused of murdering a Palestinian woman 2) the argument between a professor and student over wearing an army uniform to class 3) the claim that kids who join “educators’ kibbutzim” have been brainwashed

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The “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” Edition

We discuss the upheavals on Israel’s Right, Center, and Left, as parties fall and rise, careers crash and burn and rise like a phoenix, some political leaders abandon the parties they head, and others are defenestrated. The drama!

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The “Elections!” Edition

We discuss 1) Bibi’s decision to dissolve the government and hold elections in April 2) a traditional “Ethiopian farm” in Israel, with mud storehouses and subsistence farming, challenge the way the rest of us live 3) a new law nudging us towards a “cashless society.”

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“The Grinch and the Jewish Question” Edition

We discuss 1) the French-inspired “Yellow-Vest” protests against rising prices and what they auger for Israeli politics 2) the 2018 Democracy Index and its finding 3) the decision by shopping mall in a Jewish neighborhood to install a big honking Christmas tree.

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The “Us & the Others” Edition

We discuss 1) a documentary about a leftist from Tel Aviv who sets up cameras in Tekoa, interviewing settlers who wander into her frame 2) surveys showing that Israelis prefer not to have anything to do with folks with disabilities 3) a proposed law that would require ISP’s to block porn sites unless explicitly asked not to

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The “What?!? Some Europeans Don’t Like Jews?!?” Edition

We discuss 1) the complicated Mid-East legacy of US President George H.W. Bush 2) a poll finding that just over half of Europeans think Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state 3) a cache of old photos purloined from Israel’s archives and select some of our favorites

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The “AirBDS?” Edition

We discuss 1) Airbnb kicking Jewish settlers off their site 2) whether West Bank Palestinians working in Israel is a path to peace or a path to maintain the status quo 3) how a majority of Israelis will have no choice but to live in skyscrapers in 2050.

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The “Sometimes They’ll Give a War and Nobody Will Come” Edition

We discuss 1) Bibi’s decision not to go to war 2) what is happening on the further reaches of Israel’s right, after the expected war was cancelled 3) the “theory-of-change” of the Women Wage Peace movement

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