Hi Trish - I'm really glad you are thinking about creating a bigger platform. We are desperately in need of something credible to replace our corrupted mainstream media. We also need to stop the brain drain to the US (i.e. Rupa, Freiheit). I appreciate all the independent outlets like Bright Light News, Rebel, Countersignal, however they will never fill the place of the mainstream in the eyes of the great majority of Canadians in the way that you can. It is also obvious you are at the limit of your capacity right now and need to make some changes to leverage your talents. I saw early on where Bari Weiss was headed and hoped you would do the same. I'm not a billionaire unfortunately but I'm behind you 100%.
Incredibly insightful Trish. Woah. So many points stand out yet Shapiro's statement in 2002, is shocking! He's changed his tune, not for the better - at all.
I agree that we are in a scary situation. As your guest Jeffrey Sachs said, it looks like we are moving towards ‘war everywhere’. Unfortunately, this isn’t extraordinary for humanity. For all of known history we have had periods of relative peace followed by descent into bloodshed and chaos. It is naive to think that we are somehow better than our ancestors. We are fundamentally the same as them, so we can expect the same results. Some of the anxiety and tension between what I might call the “Trish Wood perspective” and the “Bari Weiss perspective” is an over-belief in institutions, authorities and elites. We believe in the authorities to deliver the “good world” to us, but the evidence from the past 4,000 years strongly suggests they cannot. When we realise they cannot, we panic and often fall back to tribalism, and chaos ensues.
So where do I look for hope? Firstly, I do hope that the authorities get their act together, that we minimize bloodshed and that we create peace. There is always a possibility that we get this right in the short term. But on a longer term basis I put my hope in people. The “good world” needs to come from us, not from the authorities. This was the fundamental difference between Jesus and Caiaphas, the political-religious leader who oversaw Jesus’s crucifixion. To create the ‘good world’, Jesus believed in a grassroots movement of people practising radical neighbour love; in building an ‘alternate society’, right in the midst of the violent chaos of the world. Caiaphas believed in the ruling class that he was at the top of. Because Caiaphas was responsible for the ‘good world', he was comfortable making ‘sacrifices’, like crucifying Jesus, to ensure nothing got in his way. After all, the safety of everyone depended on him and his ruling class. The same choice is still in front of us. Do we give our allegiance to our favorite ‘Caiaphas’ and whitewash all their human-sacrifices? Or do we commit ourselves to the important task of transforming humanity from the bottom up? I acknowledge this is a long-term play, but couldn’t we use more long-term thinking now? Once the killing starts and the bombs are flying it is difficult to be rational. The reality is this conflict is not just the fault of Israel or Hamas - it is a reflection on all of us. I salute those who are doing what they can to mitigate the short term violence, but just as much I salute those who are doing the behind the scenes work needed to build a sustainable peace.
Now that no one of any credibility is still claiming that Israel bombed the Gaza hospital, will you issue a correction and apology? Or will you stubbornly insist that the issue is unresolved and unclear, and that even if the Israelis didn't do it, they are the kind of people who could have/ would have done it?
Thanks, @Trish for trying to provide some measure of objectivity. As you've noted it has been crazy to see what I would otherwise considered level-headed commentators throw caution to the wind and let emotion and outrage guide them through the last few weeks. I think that actually warrants an entire discussion in and of itself, but that is not my reason for commenting. Mostly I wanted to share some observations as I've listened to everyone from Jimmy Dore to Ben Shapiro on what I see as the total double standards of both sides:
People who (after being deceived and lied to by the media throughout COVID) are so quick to accept and regurgitate what the media tells them now.
People who believe (without questioning) information coming from those directly impacted by the conflict. On the one hand you have Israel which clearly wants to win people to their side in order to justify a response. On the other you have Hamas which strictly controls what is said, by whom and how. Both should give people pause.
People who argue all life is precious and even in cases of rape say you shouldn't kill the baby (why kill the innocent baby for the crime of the rapist) but will also argue that Israel needs to defend itself even if that results in the death of innocents (killing innocents for the crimes of Hamas).
People who believe the post-attack "intelligence" coming from the upper echelons of the military, but don't question why that intelligence was so lacking as to allow the attacks to happen in the first place. Are we really supposed to believe, in the wake and chaos of the 10/7 attacks, that the information gathering apparatus has actually improved?
People who believe that Hamas has complete control over the people in Gaza and that they are using them as human shields, and using that as justification that they have done all they can. Isn't that just giving Hamas what it wants? If you believe that Hamas uses people as shields (and there is evidence to suggest that in some cases they do), then you must also believe that they do it to justify their terrorism. By acknowledging their tactic and then killing innocents anyway you are, in effect, giving them exactly what they want.
People who have denounced and acknowledged all the mistakes of the last 20+ years of conflict in the Middle East (frankly the last 100+ years), but think that this time will be different.
People who say Israel should de-escalate and be the first to call for peace, but would be burning buildings and rioting if Israel had entered Gaza and murdered, maimed, raped and mutilated innocent people and taken hostages.
People who think Israel would be justified in leveling Gaza, but do not explain what happens next? Who takes over for Hamas? Does it result in even more militant offshoots like we saw in Iraq? What then?
Those are just the ones on my mind this morning. I do think Israel has the right (and the obligation) to defend itself. I also believe that includes taking active steps to seek out and destroy those responsible for attacks on 10/7. Unfortunately, I think the only way Israel can win this war (both in real terms and in the court of public opinion) is by sacrificing blood and treasure, even if that means going door-to-door, to achieve their objective. It's one thing to say you are doing all you can to limit casualties and then drop a bomb on a building, it's another to actually have to go through that building, room by room risking severe bodily harm and death. I'm not saying it's fair to ask that of Israelis, but at least in my view (limited as it is) I don't see any better way. I pray that people will find answers and solutions that will bring the conflict to a quick and decisive resolution.
My feeling is that, during the 9/11 era, she and others like Douglas Murray would have been salivating over the Iraq War and going along with the idea that any dissent meant you were pro-terrorist. Very disappointing.
Trish, I tried to repost my comment from the other day that you accidentally deleted inline, but it didn't take. So, I'm putting a similar comment here.
You wrote:
Sam -- I mistakenly removed your comment. I was responding and wanted to edit my response and then hit the wrong button. Please feel free to repost your thoughts... I do apologize. I did this other day to someone else. Ugh.
My repost:
I suspect it was just a "Freudian slip." ;-). You probably didn't like that I wasn't buying your stance on this issue, not even for a moment. I respect your work on the WEF and the Pandemic, but you are quite off-base in your reflections here about Gaza. If this was a matter of revenge, Israel could have carpet-bombed Gaza immediately after the massacre and slaughtered tens of thousands of Arabs in a few hours. Instead they issued warnings and gave time to the populace to evacuate so that they can demolish the warren of tunnels and missile silos which Hamas has developed (with the financial support of well-intentioned, clueless philanthropic donors.) Tit-for-tat thinking does not apply here because there is no moral equivalency between the actors. When someone punches you in the face without provocation and knocks out a few teeth, and you punch her back, this doesn't make you "just as bad as she is." In EVERY Gaza conflict, Israel has been attacked and has responded. Israel's primary effort has been to knock out the missile launching sites from which Gaza fires deadly rockets directly into Israeli civilian communities. When Israel responds, avoiding civilian casualties has been rendered impossible because the Hamas missiles are launched from schools, mosques, private homes, and commercial centers. So Israel is always faced by the choice of doing nothing while being bombarded, or responding to the attack knowing that there will be collateral damage in which civilians will be killed. Hamas has a network of tunnels into which they escape, but they have not built a single bomb shelter to protect their own people.
There are intelligent, informed observers like Thomas Sowell, Victor Hanson, Douglas Murray who understand what's going on, but most of your readership feels they have betrayed them. It saddens me that so many intelligent, well-intentioned people who can see through the WEF's propaganda have been totally conned by Palestinian psy-ops into sympathizing with genocidal killers.
Glad you reposted. Thank you. But we will just not agree on this. Sowell, Hanson and Murray are people I used to admire. I have covered the region and written a book about the Iraq War and I know my way around propaganda. Legacy media is a nightmare right now. And the average person doesn't understand - because they are not told -- how dire the situation for Pals has been since 1967. This does not excuse the attack.But the attack does not excuse Israel's arbitrary attacks on children in Gaza. Remember what Nietzsche about men who fight monsters. I also don't agree with your analysis of who shoots first. But I'm glad you came back to post it and you are welcome here.
Trish, the assymmetry of evil in this situation is so obvious and so glaring that it baffles me that anyone can fail to see it. As for 1967, I believe that was the year that the Israelis survived a planned assault by multiple Arab armies intent on annihilating them. And they also managed to recover access to their desecrated holy sites in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem from which they had been forcibly expelled 20 years earlier. Ditto for Judea and Samaria. I confess that I don't feel much sympathy for the pain of Palestinians forced to live next door to Jews once again after all the hard work of carrying out a successful ethnic cleansing.
The accusation that Israel blithely commits war crimes and arbitrarily attacks the children of Gaza is libelous and worthy of Al Jazeera. It serves only to excuse the barbarity of Hamas and to create a phony equivalence between the two sides.
Truth be told, anyone who can't sympathize with the Israelis in the face of the blood-curdling massacre they have just experienced fails my litmus test for being a decent human being. So, thank you for extending the welcome mat, but I have little patience for the practice of sympathizing with terrorists and demonizing their victims so as to create a "balanced" perspective.
This is a quotation I harvested while doing anti-nuclear work (for many years). It's more in response to your latest podcast. “What Dr. Gerstein shows is that reasonable people, who are not malicious, and whose intent is not to kill or injure other people, will nonetheless risk killing vast numbers of people. And they will do it predictably, with awareness … They knew the risks from the beginning, at every stage … the leaders chose, in the face of serious warnings, to consciously take chances that risked disaster … Men in power are willing to risk any number of human lives to avoid an otherwise certain loss to themselves, a sure reversal of their own prospects in the short run.” – Daniel Ellsberg, quoted in the Marc Gerstein book 'Flirting with Disaster – Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental' https://flirtingwdisaster.wordpress.com/about/
I have long admired your work on Covid and find now that I do even more so your stance on Israel/Palestine. It is the picture of moral and intellectual integrity.
It is unfortunate that so many pro-Israel partisans inhabit a cartoon-like world in which Israel is unconditionally in the right and all is the fault of the Palestinians.
Dispassionate discussion of this hopelessly complicated issue with them becomes all but impossible, which may or may not be the aim.
Hamas’ first charter, published in 1988, states “ Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
TW , I much admire your substacks and podcasts.
This article Imo only warrants a B minus . Reason - you allowed yourself to get sidetracked by the hospital bombing narrative , average age of a Palestinian , condi rice , netananu selling out his people, and on and on . All true .
But you do not focus on the overriding reality that the radical Islamists , who do control their populations, will never , ever agree to peacefully coexist with Jews ( not to mention with Christians, with gays and the lgbt, with feminists, and in fact with everyone that does not accept Allah as their god and Mohammed as his prophet ). This matter is the essence of their faith and is clearly evident in reading their scriptures. The violence against a Jew is actually proscribed.
Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023Liked by Trish Wood
Hamas’ first charter, published in 1988, states “ Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
TW , I much admire your substacks and podcasts.
This article Imo only warrants a B minus . Reason - you allowed yourself to get sidetracked by the hospital bombing narrative , average age of a Palestinian , condi rice , netananu selling out his people, and on and on . All true .
But you do not focus on the overriding reality that the radical Islamists , who do control their populations, will never , ever agree to peacefully coexist with Jews ( not to mention with Christians, with gays and the lgbt, with feminists, and in fact with everyone that does not accept Allah as their god and Mohammed as his prophet ). This matter is the essence of their faith and is clearly evident in reading their scriptures. The violence against a Jew is actually proscribed.
Hi There -- this is a thoughtful response and I thank you for it. I'll take the B- and try to book a guest to deal with your thoughtful points. I'm a bit of a punching bag right now....so forgive me.
Trish- thank you for your response. I would never suggest the suspension of fee speech. That’s why we’re all here is it not? For that critical voice of reason and restraint. . And you’re right, criticism of journalism is essential. Voices like yours are valued and essential.
I just hate to see my heroes/heroines of the type of journalism that once appearing divided. I feel as emotional as Bari Weiss. We’ve barely caught our breath after this barbaric atrocity occurred... we all know something went very wrong and we have a good idea of who/what/ and why this was allowed to happen.
Perhaps in my quest for voices of reason and compassion my expectations were and are different. I would have expected for all of you to stick together first as a family. I hope that’s not too Pollyanna of me to idealize about. Support one another during this awful time and then conduct the post mortem.
I don’t think my suggestion was so awful. But maybe that’s me. I think it never ever hurts to humble ourselves at times like this and step back and have a bit of restraint and give grace. I don’t know. I really don’t.
All good points and stepping back is smart. But it is at times like this that people who are emotional about a subject as she is and has been for years -- then her persistence to platform discredited people needs a check. She is influential. Most people don't know who these two Iraq War architects are and would listen and read their words with more credibility than they deserve. We are at a moment when criticising the Israeli response gets you labelled anti-semitic or worse. Myself included. So I am probably touchy. Sorry. I do worry about another round of censorship and propaganda fueled by this issue. Critiquing Bari -- who is powerful certainly doesn't help my career and I wish her no harm at all....but I am a journalist first and try to do my best work when the world is in chaos. Plus I spent a year interview the young men and women who lost limbs, hope and their minds after a tour or two or hell -- with nothing to show for it. So, like Bari maybe I am too emotional about that.
Thank you again for your response. You’re right. We’re about the same age Trish. I know all too well who those vile architects are/were. Heaven knows how my emotions have disoriented me as well. To me, the up close nature of 10/7 took my breath away like nothing else has.
I’m not a journalist so I can’t see things through your lenses but what you’ve just said has given me a glimpse and I see where your coming from.
Your coverage through COViD helped keep me sane as I listened to you articulate the thoughts in my head and heart.
I value your work, I value your compassion because I know you have so much compassion.
Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023Liked by Trish Wood
There is absolutely no logical or moral connection between TW's comments and the graffiti outside BW's office. I say this as someone whose stance is probably closer to that of BW than to Trish's.
I have a legit question asked in good faith, but how “should” israel handle the Hamas killings? Eg what’s best way for dealing with a group calling for the destruction of a county, in the here and now? I am not talking about perceived past wrongs or grievances etc - but if you were elected PM of Israel and had to deal with this situation, how do you actually do it? Like I said, a genuine question asked in good faith
I am not a military strategist but bombing women and children is not going to make Israel safer -- I guarantee it. These are war crimes. If we lived in a world not governed by fools and grifters, and world leaders cared about diplomacy and not just rage-driven talking points -- a strategy to protect Israel while special forces/Mossad removed Hamas militants is one idea -- or how about a little back door diplomacy with Arab nations to intervene and sort it out while protecting civilians on both sides. Or how about a ceasefire to get the innocents actually to a safe place where they can be protected? There was a plan like this in the UN last week and America voted against it. Killing and removing everyone in Gaza will set the world on fire and involve us all. Many thoughtful Israelis hold this view but you will not here it in legacy media, who support forever-war as always. One was just suspended from the Knesset for saying so. Israel has two options -- one is to sort out a dignified life and autonomy for the Pals and the other is to wipe them of the face of the earth which seems to be happening right now. There are daily demos against BiBi in Tel Aviv. Legacy media was terrible on Covid -- Ukraine -- Trump/Russia and supports only approved narratives. Do you actually think that all of a sudden they have changed their ways?
Thank you for this! I didn’t know 90% of what you wrote in that reply about the UN or protests in Israel ... am so grateful for your counter cultural pushback,characterised by facts and evidence,against the dominant narrative which seems to focus on manufacturing emotions to advance agendas. I have heard some good discussion with Darryl cooper ... maybe a potential future guest? Thank you again for helping us navigate and discern amidst the noisy confusion!
Tim, I suggest you read his books. They are the best representation of his viewpoint. Everyone is attacking pretty much everyone on credibility these days, and I've since learned that the video I just recommended is probably an edit of several previous ones - it's hard to keep up with the hijinks in social media. In any case, Dr. Mate never stated that it is the ONLY cause of addiction, he is simply pointing it out as a probable cause, based on his decades of experience. I'm a recovering addict, and it speaks to me. We each have to make our own decisions about truth; if you don't find him credible, I hope you find someone who does speak to you. (I'm also a medical researcher, and the fact that there is little support for his theories is not surprising; the current players are very much influenced by Big Pharma, which has been corrupted to the point of creating an entirely new problem of polypharmacy and dependence on prescription drugs.)
I’m so with you on that sentiment. Disappointed. It’s really just you and Glenn Greenwald who are staying sober. Matt Taibbi is usually level headed so hoping he is coming out with a clever take. And yes – where is Tucker?
Hi Trish - I'm really glad you are thinking about creating a bigger platform. We are desperately in need of something credible to replace our corrupted mainstream media. We also need to stop the brain drain to the US (i.e. Rupa, Freiheit). I appreciate all the independent outlets like Bright Light News, Rebel, Countersignal, however they will never fill the place of the mainstream in the eyes of the great majority of Canadians in the way that you can. It is also obvious you are at the limit of your capacity right now and need to make some changes to leverage your talents. I saw early on where Bari Weiss was headed and hoped you would do the same. I'm not a billionaire unfortunately but I'm behind you 100%.
Thanks Stefan. I am burned out. But I am talking to people about what to do next.
Incredibly insightful Trish. Woah. So many points stand out yet Shapiro's statement in 2002, is shocking! He's changed his tune, not for the better - at all.
I agree that we are in a scary situation. As your guest Jeffrey Sachs said, it looks like we are moving towards ‘war everywhere’. Unfortunately, this isn’t extraordinary for humanity. For all of known history we have had periods of relative peace followed by descent into bloodshed and chaos. It is naive to think that we are somehow better than our ancestors. We are fundamentally the same as them, so we can expect the same results. Some of the anxiety and tension between what I might call the “Trish Wood perspective” and the “Bari Weiss perspective” is an over-belief in institutions, authorities and elites. We believe in the authorities to deliver the “good world” to us, but the evidence from the past 4,000 years strongly suggests they cannot. When we realise they cannot, we panic and often fall back to tribalism, and chaos ensues.
So where do I look for hope? Firstly, I do hope that the authorities get their act together, that we minimize bloodshed and that we create peace. There is always a possibility that we get this right in the short term. But on a longer term basis I put my hope in people. The “good world” needs to come from us, not from the authorities. This was the fundamental difference between Jesus and Caiaphas, the political-religious leader who oversaw Jesus’s crucifixion. To create the ‘good world’, Jesus believed in a grassroots movement of people practising radical neighbour love; in building an ‘alternate society’, right in the midst of the violent chaos of the world. Caiaphas believed in the ruling class that he was at the top of. Because Caiaphas was responsible for the ‘good world', he was comfortable making ‘sacrifices’, like crucifying Jesus, to ensure nothing got in his way. After all, the safety of everyone depended on him and his ruling class. The same choice is still in front of us. Do we give our allegiance to our favorite ‘Caiaphas’ and whitewash all their human-sacrifices? Or do we commit ourselves to the important task of transforming humanity from the bottom up? I acknowledge this is a long-term play, but couldn’t we use more long-term thinking now? Once the killing starts and the bombs are flying it is difficult to be rational. The reality is this conflict is not just the fault of Israel or Hamas - it is a reflection on all of us. I salute those who are doing what they can to mitigate the short term violence, but just as much I salute those who are doing the behind the scenes work needed to build a sustainable peace.
Now that no one of any credibility is still claiming that Israel bombed the Gaza hospital, will you issue a correction and apology? Or will you stubbornly insist that the issue is unresolved and unclear, and that even if the Israelis didn't do it, they are the kind of people who could have/ would have done it?
Thanks, @Trish for trying to provide some measure of objectivity. As you've noted it has been crazy to see what I would otherwise considered level-headed commentators throw caution to the wind and let emotion and outrage guide them through the last few weeks. I think that actually warrants an entire discussion in and of itself, but that is not my reason for commenting. Mostly I wanted to share some observations as I've listened to everyone from Jimmy Dore to Ben Shapiro on what I see as the total double standards of both sides:
People who (after being deceived and lied to by the media throughout COVID) are so quick to accept and regurgitate what the media tells them now.
People who believe (without questioning) information coming from those directly impacted by the conflict. On the one hand you have Israel which clearly wants to win people to their side in order to justify a response. On the other you have Hamas which strictly controls what is said, by whom and how. Both should give people pause.
People who argue all life is precious and even in cases of rape say you shouldn't kill the baby (why kill the innocent baby for the crime of the rapist) but will also argue that Israel needs to defend itself even if that results in the death of innocents (killing innocents for the crimes of Hamas).
People who believe the post-attack "intelligence" coming from the upper echelons of the military, but don't question why that intelligence was so lacking as to allow the attacks to happen in the first place. Are we really supposed to believe, in the wake and chaos of the 10/7 attacks, that the information gathering apparatus has actually improved?
People who believe that Hamas has complete control over the people in Gaza and that they are using them as human shields, and using that as justification that they have done all they can. Isn't that just giving Hamas what it wants? If you believe that Hamas uses people as shields (and there is evidence to suggest that in some cases they do), then you must also believe that they do it to justify their terrorism. By acknowledging their tactic and then killing innocents anyway you are, in effect, giving them exactly what they want.
People who have denounced and acknowledged all the mistakes of the last 20+ years of conflict in the Middle East (frankly the last 100+ years), but think that this time will be different.
People who say Israel should de-escalate and be the first to call for peace, but would be burning buildings and rioting if Israel had entered Gaza and murdered, maimed, raped and mutilated innocent people and taken hostages.
People who think Israel would be justified in leveling Gaza, but do not explain what happens next? Who takes over for Hamas? Does it result in even more militant offshoots like we saw in Iraq? What then?
Those are just the ones on my mind this morning. I do think Israel has the right (and the obligation) to defend itself. I also believe that includes taking active steps to seek out and destroy those responsible for attacks on 10/7. Unfortunately, I think the only way Israel can win this war (both in real terms and in the court of public opinion) is by sacrificing blood and treasure, even if that means going door-to-door, to achieve their objective. It's one thing to say you are doing all you can to limit casualties and then drop a bomb on a building, it's another to actually have to go through that building, room by room risking severe bodily harm and death. I'm not saying it's fair to ask that of Israelis, but at least in my view (limited as it is) I don't see any better way. I pray that people will find answers and solutions that will bring the conflict to a quick and decisive resolution.
Bari Weiss has been a huge disappointment on Covid and other topics. I'm only half-in on her, so not really surprised by any of this.
Totally with you. I think she generally is for "business as usual" minus the woke stuff.
My feeling is that, during the 9/11 era, she and others like Douglas Murray would have been salivating over the Iraq War and going along with the idea that any dissent meant you were pro-terrorist. Very disappointing.
Trish, I tried to repost my comment from the other day that you accidentally deleted inline, but it didn't take. So, I'm putting a similar comment here.
You wrote:
Sam -- I mistakenly removed your comment. I was responding and wanted to edit my response and then hit the wrong button. Please feel free to repost your thoughts... I do apologize. I did this other day to someone else. Ugh.
My repost:
I suspect it was just a "Freudian slip." ;-). You probably didn't like that I wasn't buying your stance on this issue, not even for a moment. I respect your work on the WEF and the Pandemic, but you are quite off-base in your reflections here about Gaza. If this was a matter of revenge, Israel could have carpet-bombed Gaza immediately after the massacre and slaughtered tens of thousands of Arabs in a few hours. Instead they issued warnings and gave time to the populace to evacuate so that they can demolish the warren of tunnels and missile silos which Hamas has developed (with the financial support of well-intentioned, clueless philanthropic donors.) Tit-for-tat thinking does not apply here because there is no moral equivalency between the actors. When someone punches you in the face without provocation and knocks out a few teeth, and you punch her back, this doesn't make you "just as bad as she is." In EVERY Gaza conflict, Israel has been attacked and has responded. Israel's primary effort has been to knock out the missile launching sites from which Gaza fires deadly rockets directly into Israeli civilian communities. When Israel responds, avoiding civilian casualties has been rendered impossible because the Hamas missiles are launched from schools, mosques, private homes, and commercial centers. So Israel is always faced by the choice of doing nothing while being bombarded, or responding to the attack knowing that there will be collateral damage in which civilians will be killed. Hamas has a network of tunnels into which they escape, but they have not built a single bomb shelter to protect their own people.
There are intelligent, informed observers like Thomas Sowell, Victor Hanson, Douglas Murray who understand what's going on, but most of your readership feels they have betrayed them. It saddens me that so many intelligent, well-intentioned people who can see through the WEF's propaganda have been totally conned by Palestinian psy-ops into sympathizing with genocidal killers.
Glad you reposted. Thank you. But we will just not agree on this. Sowell, Hanson and Murray are people I used to admire. I have covered the region and written a book about the Iraq War and I know my way around propaganda. Legacy media is a nightmare right now. And the average person doesn't understand - because they are not told -- how dire the situation for Pals has been since 1967. This does not excuse the attack.But the attack does not excuse Israel's arbitrary attacks on children in Gaza. Remember what Nietzsche about men who fight monsters. I also don't agree with your analysis of who shoots first. But I'm glad you came back to post it and you are welcome here.
Trish, the assymmetry of evil in this situation is so obvious and so glaring that it baffles me that anyone can fail to see it. As for 1967, I believe that was the year that the Israelis survived a planned assault by multiple Arab armies intent on annihilating them. And they also managed to recover access to their desecrated holy sites in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem from which they had been forcibly expelled 20 years earlier. Ditto for Judea and Samaria. I confess that I don't feel much sympathy for the pain of Palestinians forced to live next door to Jews once again after all the hard work of carrying out a successful ethnic cleansing.
The accusation that Israel blithely commits war crimes and arbitrarily attacks the children of Gaza is libelous and worthy of Al Jazeera. It serves only to excuse the barbarity of Hamas and to create a phony equivalence between the two sides.
Truth be told, anyone who can't sympathize with the Israelis in the face of the blood-curdling massacre they have just experienced fails my litmus test for being a decent human being. So, thank you for extending the welcome mat, but I have little patience for the practice of sympathizing with terrorists and demonizing their victims so as to create a "balanced" perspective.
This is a quotation I harvested while doing anti-nuclear work (for many years). It's more in response to your latest podcast. “What Dr. Gerstein shows is that reasonable people, who are not malicious, and whose intent is not to kill or injure other people, will nonetheless risk killing vast numbers of people. And they will do it predictably, with awareness … They knew the risks from the beginning, at every stage … the leaders chose, in the face of serious warnings, to consciously take chances that risked disaster … Men in power are willing to risk any number of human lives to avoid an otherwise certain loss to themselves, a sure reversal of their own prospects in the short run.” – Daniel Ellsberg, quoted in the Marc Gerstein book 'Flirting with Disaster – Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental' https://flirtingwdisaster.wordpress.com/about/
Heartbreaking quote. Thank you.
I have long admired your work on Covid and find now that I do even more so your stance on Israel/Palestine. It is the picture of moral and intellectual integrity.
It is unfortunate that so many pro-Israel partisans inhabit a cartoon-like world in which Israel is unconditionally in the right and all is the fault of the Palestinians.
Dispassionate discussion of this hopelessly complicated issue with them becomes all but impossible, which may or may not be the aim.
Hamas’ first charter, published in 1988, states “ Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
TW , I much admire your substacks and podcasts.
This article Imo only warrants a B minus . Reason - you allowed yourself to get sidetracked by the hospital bombing narrative , average age of a Palestinian , condi rice , netananu selling out his people, and on and on . All true .
But you do not focus on the overriding reality that the radical Islamists , who do control their populations, will never , ever agree to peacefully coexist with Jews ( not to mention with Christians, with gays and the lgbt, with feminists, and in fact with everyone that does not accept Allah as their god and Mohammed as his prophet ). This matter is the essence of their faith and is clearly evident in reading their scriptures. The violence against a Jew is actually proscribed.
Hamas’ first charter, published in 1988, states “ Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
TW , I much admire your substacks and podcasts.
This article Imo only warrants a B minus . Reason - you allowed yourself to get sidetracked by the hospital bombing narrative , average age of a Palestinian , condi rice , netananu selling out his people, and on and on . All true .
But you do not focus on the overriding reality that the radical Islamists , who do control their populations, will never , ever agree to peacefully coexist with Jews ( not to mention with Christians, with gays and the lgbt, with feminists, and in fact with everyone that does not accept Allah as their god and Mohammed as his prophet ). This matter is the essence of their faith and is clearly evident in reading their scriptures. The violence against a Jew is actually proscribed.
Hi There -- this is a thoughtful response and I thank you for it. I'll take the B- and try to book a guest to deal with your thoughtful points. I'm a bit of a punching bag right now....so forgive me.
Trish,
Will you consider apologizing to Bari Weiss after the comments you made on your latest podcast?
https://x.com/bariweiss/status/1716196517613281517?s=46&t=0IFYte_xYQ5DO-WM9C1gAQ
Respectfully, Barbara
What an awful thing for you to suggest.
Should we cease all criticism of journalism for the time being?
Do we suspend free speech entirely now -- which is where this is going?
Is there anything in what I have written or said that was incorrect?
Should I add criticism of Israeli war policy and journalism that supports it to the list of things we can't write or talk about?
Trish- thank you for your response. I would never suggest the suspension of fee speech. That’s why we’re all here is it not? For that critical voice of reason and restraint. . And you’re right, criticism of journalism is essential. Voices like yours are valued and essential.
I just hate to see my heroes/heroines of the type of journalism that once appearing divided. I feel as emotional as Bari Weiss. We’ve barely caught our breath after this barbaric atrocity occurred... we all know something went very wrong and we have a good idea of who/what/ and why this was allowed to happen.
Perhaps in my quest for voices of reason and compassion my expectations were and are different. I would have expected for all of you to stick together first as a family. I hope that’s not too Pollyanna of me to idealize about. Support one another during this awful time and then conduct the post mortem.
I don’t think my suggestion was so awful. But maybe that’s me. I think it never ever hurts to humble ourselves at times like this and step back and have a bit of restraint and give grace. I don’t know. I really don’t.
Respectfully yours,
Pollyanna
All good points and stepping back is smart. But it is at times like this that people who are emotional about a subject as she is and has been for years -- then her persistence to platform discredited people needs a check. She is influential. Most people don't know who these two Iraq War architects are and would listen and read their words with more credibility than they deserve. We are at a moment when criticising the Israeli response gets you labelled anti-semitic or worse. Myself included. So I am probably touchy. Sorry. I do worry about another round of censorship and propaganda fueled by this issue. Critiquing Bari -- who is powerful certainly doesn't help my career and I wish her no harm at all....but I am a journalist first and try to do my best work when the world is in chaos. Plus I spent a year interview the young men and women who lost limbs, hope and their minds after a tour or two or hell -- with nothing to show for it. So, like Bari maybe I am too emotional about that.
Thank you again for your response. You’re right. We’re about the same age Trish. I know all too well who those vile architects are/were. Heaven knows how my emotions have disoriented me as well. To me, the up close nature of 10/7 took my breath away like nothing else has.
I’m not a journalist so I can’t see things through your lenses but what you’ve just said has given me a glimpse and I see where your coming from.
Your coverage through COViD helped keep me sane as I listened to you articulate the thoughts in my head and heart.
I value your work, I value your compassion because I know you have so much compassion.
Thanks for helping me see my blind spots.
Opportunistic, manipulative, and absurd.
Do explain.
There is absolutely no logical or moral connection between TW's comments and the graffiti outside BW's office. I say this as someone whose stance is probably closer to that of BW than to Trish's.
I respectfully and emphatically disagree.
I have a legit question asked in good faith, but how “should” israel handle the Hamas killings? Eg what’s best way for dealing with a group calling for the destruction of a county, in the here and now? I am not talking about perceived past wrongs or grievances etc - but if you were elected PM of Israel and had to deal with this situation, how do you actually do it? Like I said, a genuine question asked in good faith
I am not a military strategist but bombing women and children is not going to make Israel safer -- I guarantee it. These are war crimes. If we lived in a world not governed by fools and grifters, and world leaders cared about diplomacy and not just rage-driven talking points -- a strategy to protect Israel while special forces/Mossad removed Hamas militants is one idea -- or how about a little back door diplomacy with Arab nations to intervene and sort it out while protecting civilians on both sides. Or how about a ceasefire to get the innocents actually to a safe place where they can be protected? There was a plan like this in the UN last week and America voted against it. Killing and removing everyone in Gaza will set the world on fire and involve us all. Many thoughtful Israelis hold this view but you will not here it in legacy media, who support forever-war as always. One was just suspended from the Knesset for saying so. Israel has two options -- one is to sort out a dignified life and autonomy for the Pals and the other is to wipe them of the face of the earth which seems to be happening right now. There are daily demos against BiBi in Tel Aviv. Legacy media was terrible on Covid -- Ukraine -- Trump/Russia and supports only approved narratives. Do you actually think that all of a sudden they have changed their ways?
Thank you for this! I didn’t know 90% of what you wrote in that reply about the UN or protests in Israel ... am so grateful for your counter cultural pushback,characterised by facts and evidence,against the dominant narrative which seems to focus on manufacturing emotions to advance agendas. I have heard some good discussion with Darryl cooper ... maybe a potential future guest? Thank you again for helping us navigate and discern amidst the noisy confusion!
Tim, I suggest you read his books. They are the best representation of his viewpoint. Everyone is attacking pretty much everyone on credibility these days, and I've since learned that the video I just recommended is probably an edit of several previous ones - it's hard to keep up with the hijinks in social media. In any case, Dr. Mate never stated that it is the ONLY cause of addiction, he is simply pointing it out as a probable cause, based on his decades of experience. I'm a recovering addict, and it speaks to me. We each have to make our own decisions about truth; if you don't find him credible, I hope you find someone who does speak to you. (I'm also a medical researcher, and the fact that there is little support for his theories is not surprising; the current players are very much influenced by Big Pharma, which has been corrupted to the point of creating an entirely new problem of polypharmacy and dependence on prescription drugs.)
I’m so with you on that sentiment. Disappointed. It’s really just you and Glenn Greenwald who are staying sober. Matt Taibbi is usually level headed so hoping he is coming out with a clever take. And yes – where is Tucker?
Tessa Lena, Simon Elmer, Mark Crispin Miller, David Icke (yes, David Icke), Viva Frei, and Bret Weinstein have all remained pretty sober.
A note of caution: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
We don't really know anything, other than what we've seen as it happens on video.