Episode 24: "Israel's masterplan…to ethnically cleanse Gaza" | Norman Finkelstein | UNAPOLOGETIC

In an extended interview, Norman Finkelstein, the political analyst and author who has studied Palestine and Israel for decades, speaks to us about the fate facing Palestinians.

Finkelstein gives his frank views on how Israel, along with the Trump administration, will continue and accelerate its plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians as much as they can in the area between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the course of the discussion, Finkelstein speaks about how the current ceasefire is just a temporary respite. We discuss the feasibility of Donald Trump and Benjamin

Netenyahu’s idea to transfer the people of Gaza elsewhere, how Jordan and Egypt will react to that, what it means for broader Israeli and Arab normalisation, international law and Israel’s record of trying to evade international justice, the tenuous position of the current president of the International Court of Justice, Julia Sebutinde. We also take in a short history of Palestinian resistance and Hamas’ historical efforts at diplomacy. And we speak about Finkelstein’s reflections over the last year on the devastation that Israel’s genocide has wreaked, his family and why he has dedicated so much of his time to studying and advocating for justice.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:57 Ceasefire and potential transfer

13:05 How feasible is a forced exodus

31:04 Scale of destruction and annexation of the West Bank

47:04 What about Egypt and Jordan

53:06 Israel and the long arc of history

01:05:00 Israel’s dark arts with international justice

01:24:00 Julia Sebutinde compromised

01:42:00 Does international law still matter?

01:53:00 A short history of Palestinian resistance

02:08:00 Finkelstein’s family and interest in Palestine

02:16:30 Is this the lowest point for the Palestinian struggle?