The Palestine Pod

This week Lara and Michael sit down with famed Palestinian human rights lawyer, scholar, and professor of law, Dr. Noura Erakat. We discuss how international law was shaped by colonial powers in order to facilitate imperial expansion and how international law in practice has favored the settler-colonial project far more than Palestinians. We chat about a time when Palestinians used "guerilla diplomacy" to their advantage to champion the cause of Palestinian liberation. Dr. Erakat tells us that there is no silver bullet for what will bring down the occupation, but we all ought to be kinder to each other in our various pursuits whether our strategy is armed resistance, legal, political, or cultural. She posits that it is the combination of all these things will provide Palestinians the ability to claim freedom one day.

This week Lara and Michael cover the heinous assassination by the Israeli occupation of the beloved Palestinian journalist for Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh. Lara and Michael discuss the audacity of murdering Shireen in broad daylight while still trying to gaslight people into believing something else happened. We note how Israel murdering journalists is actually par for the course, having murdered over 45 journalists since 2000. Lara and Michael cover Shireen's funeral procession which was attacked by Zionist occupation thugs while the world watched and the persistence of the Palestinian spirit to fend off the occupation army and honor Shireen in the streets of Palestine. Lara points out how Abbas is always late the to the party, and Michael honors the memory of Shireen as well as her body of work which lives on through every person she inspired.

This week Lara and Michael discuss the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to ethnically cleanse 2400 Palestinians from their homes in the south Hebron hills in the region of Masafer Yatta. The IOF designated land that Palestinians have lived on for many generations as a “firing zone,” as a means to confiscate the land and confiscate Palestinians from their homes. This move comes on the heels of news that the occupation approved thousands of illegal settlements on Palestinian land for Jewish settlers only. Lara and Michael cover the continued effort by settlers to break into the Al Aqsa compound. Lara and Michael talk about the Apartheid State’s pathetic attempt to dress up the apartheid wall. Michael comments on cases where Israeli police are pressured to drop murder cases where Jewish Israelis are the suspects and Palestinians are the victims and concludes by commenting on the recent news that the ADL has declared war on anti-zionists and leftist groups.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with actor, musician, and strong Palestinian ally Michael Malarkey. We talk about how Michael Malarkey came to his understanding of the situation in Palestine, what motivated him to speak out in support of Palestinians, and we do a deep dive into Michael's family history where we learn his grandfather was born in Nazareth. Malarkey's research into Palestine sent him down a rabbit hole of US imperialism, and the global domination of capitalist interests. We discuss using social media as a tool to educate people and the material consequences of being so outspoken in support of Palestine. Michael Malarkey talks about the importance of siding with your own humanity over a collective or individual identity. We cover the ways in which history has been whitewashed in Palestine and connect that to the ongoing debate about Critical Race Theory in the United States. Finally, we wrap up by discussing Michael Malarkey's upcoming music and film projects and how he hopes to make more art with Palestinian filmmakers and musicians.

This week Lara and Michael discuss the deja vu of watching Zionists desecrate portions of the Al Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. The occupation also assaulted journalists, men, women, and children, locking people inside the mosque so that Israeli settlers could waltz around the Al Aqsa compound. We held space for the seemingly neverending list of Palestinians murdered by the occupation in recent weeks. We talk about western media never affording Palestinians the opportunity for self-defense, whereas those same media outlets provided how-to guides for resistance in Ukraine. We talked about how every time the occupation murders a Palestinian, the only thing they have to say is "we'll look into it" and nothing ever comes of those so-called investigations.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Rabbi Brant Rosen of Tzedek Chicago. They made headlines by becoming the first (progressive) Jewish congregation in the United States to add anti-Zionism to their core values. We discuss why they changed from non-Zionist to anti-Zionist. Rabbi Rosen talks about uplifting Jewish life in the diaspora and how diasporic consciousness serves our understanding and solidarity with all marginalized groups. We cover, what it means to be a Jew? Does being a good Jew mean supporting a settler-colonial apartheid state or are there other ways to express your Judaism? Rabbi Rosen explains how Zionism not only has nothing to do with Judaism but it's not supported by Jewish tradition. We discuss the internet's reaction to the decision to identify as anti-Zionist and the media coverage. Rabbi Rosen makes the point that Zionism actually requires anti-semitism to prosper. This explains the various ways Zionists have collaborated with antisemites over the years, including collaboration with Nazis, which continues to this day with support for the Azov Battalion in Ukraine. We talk about defining Zionism by its actions. We close by reliving Rabbi Rosens' personal path to anti-Zionism, and how it's never too late to change your mind when confronted with the facts and morality.

This week Lara and Michael celebrate the 50th episode of The Palestine Pod. We do a quick recap of guests and share our appreciation for everyone who has enjoyed the project so far. We cover the various shootings that occurred over the past few weeks. Some at the hands of the occupation, and some at the hands of Palestinians resisting. We discuss the difference in reaction when Ukrainians resist using violence vs. when Palestinians resist using violence. We dissect how the Israeli media is trying to justify the occupation of Palestine while supporting the right to self-defense from the occupation in Ukraine. We discuss the real origins of terrorism and the gravity of the violence that Palestinians face every single day. A former Israeli general promises Palestinians another Nakba. The so-called “safest place for Jews” needs to recommit itself to security apparently, by beefing up its police budget. We cover the occupation's reaction to Palestinian resistance which includes a stupidly named “Operation Break the Wave” and how that includes tear gassing hospitals. US Senators obstruct justice in the name of “fighting antisemitism” and we also cover Land Day and the various protests around the world commemorating the Palestinians who lost their lives protecting their land. We talk about how the Israeli lobby is gunning for Lowkey, and the New York Times finally mentions the Amnesty International Apartheid Israel report, some 52 days late, and only as a footnote.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Palestinian journalist, documentary filmmaker, and GQ heartthrob, Ahmed Eldin. Ahmed joins us to discuss his upcoming documentary (which is still under wraps) and how the terminology surrounding Israeli apartheid and occupation of Palestine is shifting in the public arena. We chat about overt and subtle media censorship from Instagram deprioritizing certain videos to outright banning accounts, and the inability to speak freely when working in a major newsroom. We cover some of the most recent egregious double standards from the Russia/Ukraine situation. We also talk about how Palestinian resistance has been criminalized in an effort to scare people away from talking about justice for Palestine. We end with a lighthearted conversation about how the Palestinian people are not waiting around for their so-called leaders to take action. Individual Palestinians both on the ground and in exile are taking liberation into their own hands.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with the New York-based revolutionary activist and organizer Nerdeen Kiswani. Nerdeen is a 3L at the CUNY School of Law where she is the head of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). She's the chair of Within Our Lifetime a Palestinian-led community hub that organizes Palestinians in the diaspora whose goal is to revitalize the revolutionary spirit of the Palestinian community abroad in pursuit of a free homeland. Her account @wolpalestine and @thepalestinepod were deleted off Instagram without warning or explanation. We discuss the efforts we underwent to get our accounts back, censorship, and the erasure of all Indigenous peoples in the world and on the internet.

This week Lara and Michael do a deep dive into the hypocrisy, double standards, and outright racism exhibited by media when covering Ukraine vs. Palestine. We muse about what makes someone civilized and why the media glorifies armed resistance in Ukraine but deems any such action by Palestinians as terrorism. We cover how both pictures of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi and videos of bombs being dropped in Gaza were manipulated to garner support for Ukraine until people found out both happened in Palestine. We cover the preferential treatment Ukrainian refugees receive in contrast to refugees coming from Africa and the Levant. We also discuss how Black people are being stopped from fleeing in Ukraine and the existence of Nazis (funded by the US and Israel) within the ranks of Ukrainian resistance. We talk about a former Air Force Captain for the IOF who says the Israeli government and military are "terrorist organizations run by war criminals" and has started a movement to encourage soldiers to quit. Finally, we discuss an article about young Jews dedicating their social media presence to undoing the brainwashing of Zionism, where Michael is mentioned by name.

This week Lara and Michael speak with Nisreen Salem, a photojournalist from Occupied East Jerusalem. She conducts the interview from inside a family’s house in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah where she documents protests that occur every night. We provide updates on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah with the Salem family and others. Nisreen breaks down the specifics of the Jerusalem court freezing (but not cancelling) expulsions, and ordering Palestinian families to pay the courts and the Israeli police. She explains how Sheikh Jarrah is the last stand for Palestinian freedom of movement in Jerusalem because 4 of the 6 areas in East Jerusalem have already been ethnically cleansed by the Apartheid state. Nisreen tells us about the Afro Palestinian experience, including racism from both Israeli and Palestinian society amounting to what she describes as “double apartheid.” Nisreen describes how she was assaulted and abducted by the IOF for doing journalism. We discuss how the occupation uses the trauma of Black Jews to advance settler-colonial aims while deporting Black Jews, invalidating their Jewishness, and in some cases sterilizing Ethiopian women. We conclude with the story of how Nisreen's family was displaced first in Africa, and then again from 1948 Palestine.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Diana Buttu, a fierce human rights lawyer, former PLO negotiator, Palestinian citizen of Israel and political analyst at the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Diana offers her views on the Amnesty International Report and on current events on the ground in the aftermath of the May 2021 uprising. She tells the Palestine Pod the story of how her father’s family was ethnically cleansed from his village near Nazareth. Lara and Diana analyze Israel's absurd relationship to the law, and Michael asks Diana what we can learn from the South African anti-Apartheid struggle. Diana also shares behind the scenes stories from her time negotiating for the PLO.

This week Lara and Michael discuss how several Palestinian youth were murdered, execution-style, by the Apartheid State’s Yamam Brigade responsible for dressing up as and infiltrating Palestinian circles. Michael reminds us that zionists do not just murder people for armed resistance, but they also assassinate thinkers, people who can sway public opinion, foreign generals, and most recently scientists. Michael also throws back to the very first anti-zionist Jew murdered by the Haganah in 1924, Jacob De Haan. Lara provides a BDS update that includes Texas lawsuits, Harvard students boycotting Sabra, and Death on the Nile. Michael covers how Lebanon broke up an Israeli spy ring and the Palestine Pod discusses the latest in US and Israeli reactions to Amnesty International’s report finding Israel guilty of running an Apartheid regime.

This week Lara and Michael hash out the good and the bad from Amnesty International’s recent report documenting Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians and dissect the Zionist response (i.e loose cannon false accusations of antisemitism and/or terrorism). Lara queries how many more reports we need before we will believe Palestinians and demand an end to the Apartheid regime? The Palestine Pod somewhat rejoices following news of Meta’s (formerly Facebook) recent removal or various Israeli cyberstalking accounts because as Michael reminds us: only Facebook gets to spy on our data! Lara relishes in the fact that FOX News inadvertently promoted the arguments against zionism and settler-colonialism in one of its articles by heavily quoting a recent University of Chicago SJP Instagram post and failing to present any convincing rebuttals. Lara and Michael conclude this week’s episode by chatting about Yair Lapid's response to the ADL letter on settler terror, calling it a “stain" on Israeli society that he will totally look into and not ignore.

On this episode of The Palestine Pod, Lara and Michael do a deep dive into firsthand accounts/primary sources of the massacre at Tantura. We cover it both from the testimonies of the perpetrators and the few people who survived. Lara reads a survivor's account included in The Palestinian Right of Return Under International Law, a book by Professor Francis Boyle. Michael dissects footage from an upcoming documentary entitled Tantura that just premiered at Sundance as well as the attempts by Dr. Illan Pappe and graduate student Theodore Katz to bring the horrors of the massacre to light, and everything the Israeli government did to silence those who dared to speak out. Michael covers the demolition of the Salhiya family home and provides updates on what has been happening in Sheikh Jarrah since much of the world stopped paying attention. We reference the Occupation’s war on Palestinian elders and the ADL asking Israel to tone down the terrorism. Lara provides a brief update on the Burnat brothers, and the episode concludes with updates on the successes of Palestine Action in their efforts to kick Elbit Systems out of the UK.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with the talented and outspoken Palestinian rapper, Tamer Nafar. We speak to Tamer about his music, the recent uprising in May, his family history and what it's like being a Palestinian living inside the occupation. Lara contemplates what it would mean for her to return to Palestine, and Tamer talks about the inspiration for his songs, including a song about refugees returning home and why he would want them there. Michael geeks out about Tamer's rap lyrics, and we discuss living in the moment, especially when the moment is historic.

This week we recap episodes 16-38 and rediscover some of the highlights with guests including Farah Nabulsi, Laila El-Haddad, Qaher Harhash, Lyla June, Hadar Cohen, Malak Mattar, Rifk Ebeid, Jon Elmer, Joe Gaza, Joudie Kalla, Max from Palestine Action, Noam Shuster, Noor Elkhaldi, and Samer Fidy. It's an episode that catches you up to the present with some of the best of from 2021. We'll be back next week with brand new content!

This week we take a stroll down memory lane and relive the best moments from the first 15 episodes of The Palestine Pod. From its inception in March 2021, we hear the most influential moments from guests including Amer Zahr, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Miko Peled, Dr. Steve Salaita, Massoud Hayoun, Adnan Barq who reported live from the ground in East Jerusalem during the assault on Sheikh Jarrah and Gaza in May 2021, Anwar Hadid & Vin Arfuso up through the interview with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela from the Royal House of Mandela. It's an episode full of highlights you won't want to miss!

This week Lara and Michael sit down with the founder and CEO of Palestinian Hustle, Samer Fidy. Samer shares the journey that led him to start the Palestinian-owned small business that donates a portion of every sale to charities in the United States fighting food insecurity, and NGOs on the ground in Gaza providing clean water. Samer speaks of his desire to teach his children about responsibility and giving back to both local and global communities. Michael jokes about Samer’s affinity for Starbucks and contemplates whether or not one should strike up a conversation with your barista about Palestine. Samer surprises the Palestine Pod with stories of his past career pursuits then shares wild memories from his time living in Palestine. Finally, The Palestine Pod announces a limited apparel drop in collaboration with Palestinian Hustle, available on both our websites.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Noor Elkhaldi, Palestinian-American fashion model/influencer, and host of the popular podcast Arab-American Psycho, discussing the success of her podcast, its origins, and the meaningful conversations she has had on it with Palestinians like her mother, Hawaiian activists, and other people impacted by colonialism. Lara and Michael do a deep dive into Noor's family history learning that she only found out her parents were refugees this year because of their reluctance to relive past trauma. Noor reflects on traveling to Palestine as an American citizen and the privileges she experienced over Palestinians on the ground. Noor reminds us of Zionist cultural appropriation of Palestinian food, and the beautiful and rich Palestinian food community in New York. Finally, Noor enlightens the Palestine Pod on her experience being a visibly Muslim woman in fashion, with the perils and the joys included.

This week Lara and Michael discuss RIFQA, Mohammed El-Kurd's newly released book of poetry, pondering some of the book's messages like "anger is a luxury we cannot afford." Indeed, Palestinians are expected to be calm and composed while being ethnically cleansed. Lara and Michael talk mental health and the toll Palestinian liberation takes on the lives of those who engage in the work. Lara considers the passages of the book that resonated the most with her, including the reflection "I cried not for the house but for the memories I could have made inside.” Lara imagines what could have been if not for the gangs of Zionist militias who stole Palestine, and expelled and murdered much of the native population. Mohammed El-Kurd writes it's been over "70 years and we have not yet lived a day." Life and time stand still for Palestinians who are waiting to return to Palestine, waiting for rights, waiting for justice. Finally, we discuss a recent B'tselem report that connects settler violence to the state policy of stealing Palestinian land (duh). Michael makes the parallel between the extracurricular terrorist activities of the settlers in Palestine and the KKK in the US.

This week Lara and Michael sit down with Israeli comedian and activist, Noam Shuster Eliassi. We talk about Noam's family history, her mother is an Iranian Jew and her father was born in Jerusalem to Romanian parents who survived the Holocaust. We chat about Noam's desire to preserve the traditions and return even just to visit the birthplace of her mother and honor her Iranian lineage which spans back thousands of years. She expresses her empathy and understanding of Palestinians desire to return to Palestine. We discuss why both Noam and her father refused to serve in the IDF, and the trials and tribulations they faced as a family for being refuseniks. Michael discusses the story of Givat Amal a once Palestinian village ethnically cleansed by the European zionists who resettled the Mizrahi's in areas without adequate infrastructure. Only to also kick them out violently in order to build high rise condominiums. Noam talks about how her Mizrahi identity and her upbringing around Palestinians allowed her to better sympathize with the plight of Palestinians. We conclude by cementing that we all play our own roles, Noam from on the ground, Lara as a Palestinian in exile, and Michael as an American Jew. It is not radical to demand equality among people, and freeing Palestine will free Israeli Jews from being occupiers.

This week Lara leads us on a deep dive into the legal frameworks that came into place in the aftermath of the Nakba, including the absentee property law, the law of return, and the nationality law. All these legal devices helped codify the actions of ethnic cleansing and land theft by the rogue Zionist militias into the "legal" actions of a state. We also cover the various ways Zionists stopped Palestinians from returning to their native lands. Lara discusses the examples of Iqrit and Kufr Bir'im, both towns where the Supreme Court of Israel had in one case already ruled in favor of Palestinian return, and the other where the case was pending before the court. In both cases, the IOF demolished the villages so as to render the return of Palestinians impossible. Lara talks about the many thousands of Palestinians who did try to return despite these measures who were murdered in cold blood. We discuss how these policies like the Nakba are ongoing and not something rooted in the past. Finally, we switch gears, covering the censorship of Palestinian content on Tik Tok as a strategy passed down from region-specific moderation teams where Israeli moderators set the standards and Arab moderators were kept in subordinate positions.

This week Lara and Michael talk to one of Lara's dear friends Max from Palestine Action. Palestine Action is an activist collective engaging in direct action in the UK to shut down the factories of weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, one of the largest suppliers of weapons to Apartheid Israel. Max guides us through recent actions including one where he chained himself to the gates of the Elbit Systems factory, and others where activists have staked out the factory roofs to halt production for as long as possible. Max explains how Palestine Action's strategy is actually to end up in court so that it can leverage the discovery process to request documents that would expose Elbit's dealings and possible violations of international law and/or UK laws on human rights and weapons trade. Max enlightens us on the difference between jails in the US and the UK.... (spoiler alert: only one of them has a call button for tea and ramen). Max and Michael discuss the lack of any true radical anti-zionist Jewish organizations in the United States and Max bemoans that the only Jewish organization getting arrested in the US is the one group that does not support BDS. We talk about the importance of showing up, not just once, but consistently, in order to build a movement that the representatives in power cannot ignore.

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.

Trigger warning: Rape, sexual assault, coercion. This week, we cover the phenomenon of rape, sexual assault, and psychological warfare threatening rape and sexual assault employed by Apartheid Israel against Palestinians, whether they be political prisoners, male or female, younger or older, friends and family of political prisoners, or simply Palestinians on the land of Palestine. Lara notes how this phenomenon is nothing new and goes back decades to the Nakba of 1948 and the founding of the state of Israel when these violent tactics were employed against Palestinians by Zionist militias, in a manner fully consistent with the express beliefs of Zionist leaders like David Ben-Gurion, during documented massacres in order to intimidate and threaten the indigenous population to flee their homes. Lara also ponders the intersection between the celebration of the military, advanced weaponry, and mandatory service, which is at the center of Israeli society and the propagation of rape culture. She concludes that rape and sexual assault (or the threat of it) is used as a tactic in a systemic matter by the colonizer against the colonized reinforcing the colonial violence central to settler colonialism, the inequality at the heart of the Apartheid system, and the dehumanization required to sustain both forms of oppression. Michael covers recent stories illustrating the connection between Israel and human trafficking as well as the emergence of Israel as a “safe haven” for Jews fleeing prosecution in the US for sex-related crimes. There are not many jokes in this episode.

This week we sit down with Joudie Kalla, also known to the world as @palestineonaplate. A Palestinian-British chef hailing from a family of Nakba survivors who spent time in Syria before settling in London and author of two best selling Palestinian cook books, Palestine on a Plate: Memories from my Mother’s Kitchen and Baladi: A Celebration of Food from Land and Sea. Joudie talks to us about anti-Palestinian media bias she experienced, how divide and conquer manifests in the culinary world, and whether Palestinian cuisine would make a good fusion cuisine. Listen to find out Joudie’s recommendation for the best introductory recipe for a newcomer to Palestinian cuisine and hear Michael instigate bamya-gate part 3. Joudie’s dogs provide the soundtrack to this episode. If you liked this episode, join our Patreon where you will get exclusive access to an additional 45 minutes of footage from this conversation where we dive deep into trauma, memories, and exile and play a round of rapid fire questions to get to know Joudie better.

This week Lara and Michael discuss Instagram censoring our profile by announcing that as of October 25, 2021 we would no longer have access to the link button on @thepalestinepod account for purported violations of community guidelines. Lara queries what threshold Instagram is applying to make this decision to deprive users of critical features since @thepalestinepod account has only ever had one post removed from its account (which in any event did not violate Community Guidelines). Several other Palestinian content creators have received the alert that they too would lose access to the link button with the application providing no recourse to challenge this decision. This unfortunate move appears to be a coordinated effort to continue to crackdown on free speech on the platform especially as it concerns Palestinian human rights. This is all the more so since Instagram’s decision to deprive certain users of the link feature comes only a week after a Human Rights Watch report detailing censorship of posts and accounts by Instagram including with specific reference to posts unjustly removed from Lara’s account @gazangirl. Instead of heeding the call by Human Rights Watch to carry out an independent investigation into the censorship of Palestinian content, Instagram has doubled down by unjustly depriving Palestinian content creators of their right to link to further sources through their profiles. Lara and Michael also cover the recent meeting of the UN Security Council where the US envoy to the UN made some ludicrous statements condemning Hamas for allegedly holding two Israelis prisoners while nearly five thousand Palestinian men, women, and children languish inside Israeli political prisons. Lara provides an update on the Burnat brothers, and sadly Muhammad Burnat, the younger brother remains imprisoned by the Apartheid State without charge with a so-called court date that continues to be postponed. The Palestine Pod also discusses the pivotal role Colin Powell played in getting the United States on the course to invade Iraq, something the Israeli lobby took credit for. Michael covers an article in Jewish Currents that exposes American Jewish businessmen who are funding the Palestinian activist blacklist, Canary Mission.

This week, the Palestine Pod hosts Yousef Mema aka @JoeGaza93. Yousef is a nurse, social media activist, and humanitarian. His Instagram profile rose to prominence during the May 2021 Israeli assaults on Gaza where he spent every day of the 11-day attacks showing the world first-hand accounts from life in Gaza. He shared photo and video (including live) footage from his home in Gaza City during the shelling as well as from Al Shifa Hospital, one of the main hospitals in Gaza where he was working at the time as a nurse in the orthopedic department. Joe talks to us about what it was like to survive these Israeli assaults. Lara recalls filming an Instagram live with Joe in May while he was at home during the shelling and the sound of Israeli drones and missiles interrupting the conversation every couple of seconds. Lara and Joe discuss one of the most brutal nights of the May assaults, May 16, 2021, when Israel committed the Al-Wehda Street Massacre, and heavily shelled one of the most prominent residential and commercial streets in Gaza, leveling entire apartment buildings and killing entire families including Dr. Ayman Abu al-Ouf, one of Gaza’s leading doctors, and several of his family members as they slept. The Israeli occupation forces are said to have used 11 advanced precision-guided missiles along several meters of Al-Wehda Street without warning, leading to the killing of around 50 Palestinians and significant damage to the street and infrastructure. In response to international condemnation, the Occupation forces said that the casualties were an unforeseen “freak” consequences of an attempt to target tunnels under the street. Michael queries whether anyone really believes their outrageous claim that this was unforeseeable (they did use advanced weaponry designed specifically to kill on one of the densest residential streets in Gaza after all - what else would you expect to happen?). Joe reminds us that the Israeli siege is intended to keep Palestinians in Gaza preoccupied with basic needs such as food and electricity to hinder the pursuit of liberation. Michael compliments Joe’s beard and Lara suggests Michael’s facial hair resembles that of Julian Assange.

This week Lara and Michael speak with Jon Elmer, Canadian writer and photojournalist specializing in the Middle East and Canadian foreign and military policy. He has lived in and reported extensively from the occupied Palestinian West Bank and Gaza - specifically based in occupied Jenin, Bethlehem, and Gaza City. He has covered the al-Aqsa intifada, the so-called Israeli "disengagement" of Gaza which was followed by the imposition of a siege on Gaza as well as factional strife in Gaza. His work appears in the Journal of Palestine Studies, Le Monde diplomatique, and The Progressive. He is also the co-host of an amazing podcast called “The Brief” with Nora Barrows Friedman, a dear friend of the Palestine Pod. In light of the recent 21st anniversary of the Second Intifada, Jon speaks to us about his time reporting on the Second Intifada while he was in Palestine. With first-hand accounts from occupied Jenin, to analysis on the tactics used by Palestinians to resist Israeli colonial violence as well as the impact of the Second Intifada on Palestinian life until today, Jon paints a complex, layered picture of life in occupied Palestine, the cost of resistance to daily life, and the bravery and heroism of Palestinians fighting for their freedom. Lara reminds us that Palestinians are in a rights-based struggle and Michael recalls that Jews of the Warsaw ghetto used similar tactics of resistance as Palestinians, calling anyone who supports the former but not the latter fundamentally inconsistent in their approach to the right to freedom.

This week Lara and Michael cover the recent UK Labor party’s passing of a motion recognizing the “ongoing Nakba in Palestine” and declaring Israel an apartheid state, echoing the findings of Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations. It also called for sanctions against Israel’s illegal settlements that usurp Palestinian land as well as a halt to the UK’s sales of arms to Israel. Delegates further demanded an end to Israel’s belligerent occupation of the West Bank and 15-year siege of Gaza, and upheld “the right of Palestinians to return to their homes” - the right of Palestinians to return to the homes they were expelled from by Zionist militias and later Israel since 1948 that is enshrined in international law but increasingly ignored by western states. Lara applauds the passage of this motion by a prominent political party in the UK and hopes that it can serve as an example for US counterparts. Michael reminds us that AOC did cry though after switching her vote to “present” during the vote on funding the Apartheid State’s Iron Dome. Lara and Michael also discuss the Israeli occupation army’s killing of 5 young Palestinians in Occupied Jenin and Jerusalem this week as well as the anniversary of the Second Intifada and what it meant to Palestinians in exile. Lara breaks down some of the news from the UN General Assembly including Mahmoud Abbas’ curious ultimatum giving Israel one more entire year (they have already had 54) to withdraw from the occupied territories failing which the PA would revoke its recognition of Israel. Michael reminds us that attacking 3 year old children and maiming a farmer’s goats on his land are - despite what the Zionists suggest - not part of Judaism.

This week we talk to the brilliant Palestinian-American author Rifk Ebeid whose children’s book “Baba What Does My Name Mean?” was recently censored by the “Free” Library of Philadelphia (yes it's really called that) in online anti-racist blog posts created by a librarian for the library’s social media connecting the Palestinian struggle to the struggle for Black liberation in the US. Lara goes line by line to deconstruct and rebut the painfully anti-Palestinian, contradictory and incoherent statement issued by the so-called "Free" Library to support its decision to censor this and other Palestinian content on its social media platforms. Michael shows us how the Free Library statement supporting censorship, in equating support for the Zionist Organization of America as a rejection of anti-semitism, is actually a statement of anti-Semitism itself. Rifk recalls other instances of censorship she has faced for producing Palestinian content at the hands of allegedly liberal organizations. On a related note, the Palestine Pod also discusses the York, Pennsylvania diversity book ban which has recently been reversed due to outcry from black and brown communities following the taping of this episode. Lara and Michael recall the importance of unlearning the mainstream white supremacist narrative that many young Americans are indoctrinated with in middle and high schools across the country.

This week Lara and Michael discuss all things related to the Great Escape, the real-life prison break of Mahmoud Abdullah al-Ardah, 46, Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri, 49, Zakaria Zubeidi, 46, Mohammad al-Ardah, 39, Ayham Nayef Kamanji, 35, and Munadel Infaat, 26 from the high-security Israeli dungeon known as Gilboa prison. On September 6, 2021, the 6 Palestinian political prisoners dug their escape tunnel with a rusty spoon while the colonial guard in the watchtower directly above them had fallen asleep. The photo that shocked and humiliated the Apartheid State seen around the world shows a colonial officer standing above the tunnel on the other side of the prison bewildered. Lara and Michael provide the context for the arrest and imprisonment of these political prisoners by the Apartheid State, insisting that their participation in resistance against the occupation is their recognized right under international law making the Apartheid State’s deprivation of their freedom a grave human rights violation. Lara goes through the history of Palestinian prison breaks and Michael addresses the broader story of Israel’s imprisonment of Palestinians as part of its settler-colonial regime. Lara summarizes reactions to the Great Escape and Michael describes Apartheid Israel’s ballistic retaliation and revenge against family members of the escaped political prisoners as well as against other illegally detained Palestinian political prisoners across its different prisons. Michael shares a recent video posted by Subhi Taha on Instagram recalling the history of Palestinian ingenuity and the development of a coded language often used by female family members of political prisoners to describe escape routes. Though four of the six escaped prisoners have since been recaptured and tortured by the Apartheid Regime, Lara emphasizes that this courageous move is a testament to the human will to be free and in line with over 100 years of Palestinian resistance to colonialism, reaffirming that freedom is non-negotiable and on the horizon. Lara provides an update on the Ben & Jerry’s saga and Michael talks zionist spyware.

This week we sit down with the vibrant 21-year old Palestinian female artist, painter, and activist Malak Mattar coming to us straight from Gaza, Palestine. Malak takes us through her experience growing up in Gaza under Israeli siege and surviving four Israeli military assaults from early childhood to adulthood. She tells us about her path to painting, the inspiration behind the subjects in her art, her favorite Palestinian painters, and how the Israeli siege on Gaza has affected her ability to travel as an artist and sell her art (she operates an Etsy store based in Turkey to avoid censorship by the Apartheid State which would have to approve the packages she sends out of Gaza). She describes the current situation in Gaza since the latest assaults in May including heightened restrictions on the entry of goods due to Apartheid Israel's blocking of chocolate, wedding dresses, and certain acrylic colors (like white and black paint colors). Malak evokes the meaning of living as a free Gazan woman against the backdrop of the brutal siege and occupation. She critically reminds us that "Peace is no longer a priority; Freedom is" and takes us through her dreams for the future. The Palestine Pod queries whether there are breakfast burritos in Gaza.

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.

This week on the Palestine Pod, we sit down with Hadar Cohen, a Mizrahi feminist multi-media artist, healer and educator originally from Jerusalem with lineage from all over the Middle East including Iran, Iraq, Syria and and Palestine. Hadar is a Jewish mystic with Sephardic roots who works to build decolonial frameworks for worshiping God. Her artistic mediums include performance, movement, writing, weaving, sound and ritual. During the global intifada of unity, Hadar came out as a strong anti-Zionist Jewish voice from on the ground. She speaks to us about her family's presence in Palestine harkening to a time long before Zionism, the power of memory as a liberation tool, and the meaning and importance of decolonizing the mind. Lara quotes Hadar's fierce rebuke of Zionism while imagining a life in Palestine post Zionism. Hadar insists on reclaiming the Arab Jewish identity as something separate and unique from European notions of Judaism in response to Arab Jewish trauma that resulted from the Zionist movement. Michael and Hadar dive deeper into the Zionist weaponization of anti-semitism and Michael reminds us that "nobody does anti-semitism like Zionists do."

This week, the Palestine Pod interviews Lyla June, an Indigenous public speaker, artist, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) nations from Taos, New Mexico. Lyla speaks to us about the ill-effects of colonialism in Turtle Island (i.e. the United States) especially on food and ecosystems and Lara draws comparisons to Palestine. Lyla describes what makes a sustainable culture and recalls the sustainability of indigenous culture as well as the suitability of indigenous food to indigenous communities on a personal level. We speak about the importance of Land Back in Turtle Island and the Palestinian right of return and Lyla shares with us her journey to learning about and supporting the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Michael queries how white settlers in Turtle Island can best get involved in a Land Back movement.

We sit down this week to cover news stories from the ground including the murder of Nizar Banat, a fierce defender of freedom of speech and Palestinian human rights by the Palestinian Authority, the story of Palestinian political prisoner and administrative detainee, held without charge for no crime, Ghandafar Abu Atwan who successfully secured his release after 65 days on a hunger strike, and the continued torture and medical experimentation on political prisoner Iyad Hraibat, as well as the occupation’s brutal unwillingness to let the Jarrar family grieve the sudden death of Suha Jarrar in peace. We shout out the successful resistance in Beita and recall the continued demolitions and forced expulsions in occupied Silwan. We wrap up by noting that even Evangelicals and Jews in the US are falling out of love with the occupation leading the Zionists to desperately recruit new settlers from Brazil and other South American countries for their settler-colonial project known as Israel.

This week, Palestinian model Qaher Harhash joins the Palestine Pod. Qaher speaks first hand about his experience receiving a barrage of anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic messages from Zara's head of design, Vanessa Perilman, in response to an Instagram story he posted from his room showing the infamous black water tanks on top of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem compared to the Jewish Israeli rooftops which have no tanks at all since they are hooked up to water 24/7, highlighting the racist distribution of resources on occupied Palestinian land to favor to occupier and disadvantage the occupied. Michael recalls Zara's long history of racist policies and practices towards employees and shoppers alike. Lara dismantles Vanessa's racist diatribe and the Pod revisits how some of Vanessa's comments are an extension of Israeli pinkwashing, the official government policy to paint Israel as being this haven for LGBT+ folks in an effort to conceal its apartheid policies towards Palestinians and divert international condemnation by associating itself with freedom and liberal values. Qaher reminds us that even the notion of Israel being an LGBT+ safe haven is an awful distortion of the reality of life for LGBT+ folks in Israel. Qaher lets us in on what it is like to work as a Palestinian in high fashion and Michael reminds us why Palestinians can never see "eye to eye" with their colonizer.

This week, Laila El-Haddad, co-author of the Gaza Kitchen, joins the Palestine Pod. In honor of the publication of the third edition of the book, Laila shares with us some of the new recipes that she learned on her last trip to Gaza in 2019. Laila paints for us a culinary picture of Gaza and explains how intimately the history and politics, including in particular the Nakba of 1948, affect the local cuisine. Laila and Michael go back in time to recall a rich history of Gaza since Alexander the Great. Laila provides an update on her family in Gaza further to Israel's latest assaults which she notes focused on Gaza's commercial hub and city center unlike previous Israeli assaults which tended to focus on the periphery of the besieged enclave. Lara queries where Gaza's love for the chili pepper came from. Laila recalls that conversations about Gaza's resistance should never lose sight of the fact that resistance itself is not the goal: Liberation is the goal and resistance is the means. Michael instigates bamya-gate part two.

This week we sit down with Farah Nabulsi, Palestinian-British Oscar-nominated, and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker and human rights advocate. We do a deep dive into The Present exploring its themes, the thought process behind certain characters and exchanges, and the notion that we learn just as much about Palestinian cultural tendencies of hospitality and compassion as we do about the realities of life under Israeli military occupation. Farah also clues us into the only part of the Present which is fictional and reveals why she chose to focus this film around the checkpoint - just one of the settler-colonial state’s violent many structures and apparatuses. We discuss the importance of language in a liberation struggle and the interplay between the dehumanization of the Palestinians and the oppressor’s capacity to oppress (shoutout Stanley Milgrim). Farah and Lara talk Fanon and Michael recall Chomsky’s warnings about the emergence of Judeo-Nazi tendencies in Apartheid Israel. Farah suggests Lara and Michael go into radio.

This week, Lara and Michael sit down with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Amir of the Royal House of Mandela, tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, member of Parliament (MP) in the South Africa National Assembly since 2009, grandson of the anti-apartheid revolutionary and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and a fierce advocate of Palestinian liberation. This episode is a deep dive into Apartheid South Africa, the parallels between South African Apartheid and Israeli Apartheid, and the deep bonds between Palestinian liberation activists and South African anti-apartheid activists. It is also a moment of education into what the Palestinian liberation struggle can learn from our comrades in South Africa. Nkosi Mandela speaks of the importance of armed resistance, BDS, and direct action, the politics and legacy of President Mandela, the importance of youth activism and more. Lara queries how far are we from liberation in Palestine by drawing from the history of South Africa and Michael asks Chief Mandela to set the record straight on letting the oppressor define modes of resistance and identity politics.

A Palestinian-American Lawyer & Jewish-American comedian break down the latest Palestine-related news with commentary & interviews every week.

This week's main story is the arrest of Abdul Khaliq Burnat and Muhammad Burnat, two brothers from the occupied village of Bil'in and the children of Lara's dear friend Iyad Burnat, a community organizer from the village. Abdul Khaliq and and Muhammed were kidnapped by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in two separate middle of the night raids on Iyad's house in May 2021 where the IOF destroyed the Burnat family's personal belongings including their personal electronics and beat the boys before throwing them into the back of a military vehicle. No charges have been brought against Abdul Khaliq and Muhammad and all evidence suggests that these arrests have been entirely arbitrary. As of June 2, 2021, Iyad and his wife still have no idea of the whereabouts of their two children who join the hundreds of other children being unjustly held by Israel. Iyad Burnat is a key figure who, for years now, has been resisting Israel's land theft of his village's land. Israel started uprooting Bil'in's olive groves and stealing thousands of dunams of the village's land in order to build the Apartheid wall (which was deemed illegal by the ICJ in 2004 and which Israel has yet to dismantle in 2021). The portion of the Apartheid wall that cuts through Bil'in separates people like Iyad and his family from their land which was intentionally placed on the other side of the wall to allow the illegal Jewish settlement Modi'in Illit to expand in line with Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing and illegal settlement. Lara and Michael discuss BDS wins like the campaign named Musicians for Palestine where over 600 musicians signed a letter pledging to boycott Israel and calling on other musicians of conscience to do the same as well as the news that over 600 Amazon employees urged Jeff Bezos to cut ties with the Israeli military following the recent news that Amazon was entering into a billion-dollar contract with Israel, in which they would be providing cloud services for the government and Israeli armed forces for at least seven years. Michael brings us more news of anti-Zionist rabbis and goes down the rabbit hole to expose the link between Israel's economy and the (blood) diamond industry which funds its military and intelligence services. Lara and Michael affirm that they are not depressed and have no suicidal tendencies.

This week we first provide updates on some BDS wins (go Abby Martin!) and recent actions by workers and activists to disrupt the sale and manufacturing of weapons intended for Israel. Lara and Michael also share their thoughts on the wins and losses of this ongoing global intifada of unity before getting into this week's interview with journalist and author Massoud Hayoun. Together with Massoud, we discuss his book When We Were Arabs, a colorful tale of his family's origins, which interweaves personal anecdotes, political vignettes and elements of cultural history that paint very clearly for the reader what the Jewish Arab identity meant to this family, not only in the past, but also how Massoud understands and lives his identity today, which includes Massoud's ethical stances as an anti-Zionist Jewish Arab in support of Palestinian liberation. Lara makes a Ja Rule joke.

This week, our guest is Adnan Barq, a young Palestinian student of English literature and journalism from occupied East Jerusalem. Adnan offers his perspective on the latest Palestinian uprising which was born out of resistance to two forms of colonial violence in Occupied East Jerusalem: the settler-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and interference and violence inflicted by the IOF against Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa mosque during the month of Ramadan and in particular on the most holy day of Ramadan - Laylat Al Qadr. Lara shares updates from the latest military assaults on Gaza which have, by May 19, 2021 killed over 210 Palestinians, half of them being women and children with, in numerous cases many members of families being massacred together. She also shares reports from her friends living on the ground in '48 including by reference to the widespread destruction of Palestinian businesses as well as the lynching of Palestinians in the streets by Zionist mobs. Lara and Adnan, a Palestinian refugee in exile and a Palestinian in occupied Palestine comment on the meaning of this uprising, its possibilities for the future as well as its role in the history of the struggle for a liberated Palestine. Michael gets kicked off the call 7 times most likely due to heavy censorship.

This week, we catch up with the prolific and thoughtful Palestinian-American scholar-activist, author, and speaker Dr. Steve Salaita and do a deep dive into settler-colonialism. What is happening in Palestine is often reduced to unexplainable cycles of violence in a “conflict” between two sides who both make good points (the liberal zionist narrative) and between "chosen" people and terrorists (the zionist zionist narrative). Neither frameworks are rooted in the historical reality. Dr. Steve Salaita helps us understand Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine by explaining its deep ideological connection to settler-colonialism in America. We also discuss the notion of indigeneity and its implications as well as the US and Israel's philosophical justifications for their policies and the ways in which Palestinians and Native Americans have been and are responding to systematic land theft and ethnic cleansing. Steve describes the basis of Native-Palestinian solidarity starting in the 1960s which mirrors the solidarity between Black Power and Palestinian activists in the same time period and offers a solid basis for continued solidarity today. This conversation also explores the role of reparations and how (if at all) it may fit into the broader conversation on justice in Palestine. Steve offers a word of the wise to oppressed peoples calling on them never to concede a right in an attempt to advance the cause. Lara points out that this approach as always failed to yield any results in the struggle for justice in Palestine. This conversation is an essential primer on the source of the so-called "conflict" in Palestine. It provides the historical context needed to understand the plans of early Zionist leaders to arrive as "settlers" in the land of Palestine and establish a Jewish colony at the expense of the native population - the Palestinians. It also allows us to make sense of all Israel's polices today towards Palestinians including the apartheid system, house demolitions, the building of Jewish settlements on stolen land, the uprooting of olive trees, the forced expulsions, restrictions on movement, the brutal violence committed against Palestinians in Gaza (and more) as all parts of the settler colony's ongoing policy to rid Palestine of its native population to the benefit of a foreign settler population. In doing so, this conversation centers the "setter-colonial" framework in the discussion around the Zionist movement and is especially useful for understanding the most recent efforts by Israel to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem, including Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreePalestine

This week, Lara and Michael discuss the absurdity of "settler Jacob," the American settler who can be seen in a recent viral video brazenly attempting to the steal the home of Mona al-Kurd, a young Palestinian woman who hails from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem which is currently facing a mass ethnic cleansing campaign at the hands of Zionist settlers who are protected in their colonial pursuits by the Israeli army on a daily basis. #SaveSheikhJarrah because Palestinians, like all humans, deserve to live in their houses without foreign settlers invading and taking over talking about "God said so." Lara provides an update on the lawsuit before the Israeli Supreme Court in relation to the ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Jarrah and spoiler alert, it is loads of garbage and can only be described as quintessentially "Zionist logic." Michael considers that Zionists are like "New York and New Jersey mobsters who intimidate people by hanging them off a bridge" except they do that with logic (lol). Lara insists that the horrific expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah demonstrate that Israel is only interested in stealing more and more land, and that no amount of stolen land will ever be enough when the goal is a Greater Israel, which "map" covers several other countries in the region. Lara and Michael also reveal how Israel's repressive policies extend beyond its borders. For example, Israel provides Mexico with training and weapons in its counterinsurgency against the Zapatistas in Chiapas. Michael underscores the importance of connecting Palestinian activism with May Day solidarity by pointing to Israel's extraction of wealth from Palestinians. Lara provides an update on the Palestinian legislative elections and (spoiler alert), it's not looking good. Lara and Michael share the disturbing results of a global study on the effects of tear gas on reproductive cycles and also shoutout Foodbenders, the Toronto restaurant made target of several baseless lawsuits brought by the Israel lobby (including the terrorist JDL) seeking to crush its displays of Palestinian solidarity. Lara proposes an unusual solution to ending Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid in Palestine.

This week we are joined by Israeli-American author, activist, and speaker Miko Peled. Author of The General's Son and Injustice, Miko Peled reflects on his path from growing up the son of an Israeli war general in as "strong of a zionist family as you could possibly have" to becoming an anti-zionist activist for Palestinian rights, and supporter of BDS and the creation of one democratic state with equal rights for all in historic Palestine. Miko dismantles the myth that there can be a liberal zionism concluding "there never was, there never is, and there never can be a good version of a racist ideology" and that "zionism is a form of neo-fascism." The Palestine Pod sends its solidarity to Palestinians in Jerusalem who are currently resisting expulsion from their homes and racist violence by Israelis and Miko refers to the "Judaization of Jerusalem" as "ethnic cleansing 101" and warns that Israel is hell-bent on destroying Jerusalem, an ancient city and its Muslim holy sites. Miko reveals the antisemitic origins of the Zionist movement. Lara commends a recent episode of Miko's podcast which shed light on demonstrated attempts by the zionist lobbies to suffocate Palestinian history by infiltrating the US K-12 educational system and intimidating teachers who dare depart from pro-zionist lesson plans. Miko offers a word of advice to Palestinians in the diaspora who encounter Israeli intelligence at the airport or crossings when trying to visit Palestine.

This week, Lara and Michael talk HR 2590 - the monumental new bill proposed by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn) on April 15, 2021 and co-sponsored by over a dozen other representatives that seeks to hold Israel accountable for land theft of Palestinian land, Israeli house demolitions of Palestinian houses and Israel’s jailing of Palestinian children. The bill is wider in scope than previous bills related to Palestinian human rights co-sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum and establishes annual certification and reporting obligations on the Secretary of State to show that no U.S. funds have been used by Israel to support the prohibited activities included in the legislation. The bill also requires oversight reporting detailing Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians. Lara and Michael break down the significance of its co-sponsors and 75+ supporting organizations (including Movement for Black Lives, Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Detention Watch, Center for Constitutional Rights and more) as well as the ensuing public meltdown by AIPAC who, as Rep. Betty McCollum tweeted earlier this week, apparently *wants* US tax dollars to be spent on demolishing houses and jailing children. While it is notable for example that “liberal Zionist” group J Street has endorsed the bill, Lara and Michael remain critical by recent attempts of so-called “progressive Zionists” to paint Zionism as rooted in Judaism and compatible with Palestinian human rights by citing to the scholarly work of Rabbi Shapiro who explains clearly in his interviews and writings that Judaism has nothing to do with Zionism and that the latter was born out of secular European settler colonial movements. Lara and Michael put out a call to action encouraging everyone to call their representatives and ask them to support HR 2590. In other Palestine-related news, Michael reports a recent BDS win in Canada where the New Democratic Party, passed a resolution, “[e]nding all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine,” becoming Ottawa’s first major political group to endorse a partial boycott of Israel, with 80% of the party voting in favor of the boycott. In an extension of last week’s discussion on political prisoners, Lara mentions Israel’s recent arrest of a Palestinian dabke dancer whose only known “crime” is dance and recalls the story of the Holy Land 5, five Palestinian-American political prisoners in the US who were prosecuted more than a decade ago on dozens of charges including material support to a foreign terrorist organization, even though there was not a shred of evidence against them. Lara and Michael roast Ted Cruz and bond over homemade pizza dough.