Palestine This Week

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we are joined by Palestinian political analyst Muhammad Shehada to examine the major developments of the past seven days.

The episode covers the latest Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations, the role of Gaza in exposing dark money and foreign influence in US politics, Israeli-funded efforts to “poison” AI-generated information and important legal victories protecting anti-Zionist speech in the UK and Germany.

We also discuss why Israel and the US are being mentioned in connection with the Ceuta migration crisis, as well as the debate sparked by Green Party plans to twin Greater Manchester with Ramallah and the history of terrorism in Palestine.

1. Latest developments in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations
2. Gaza is the "ultimate revealer"
3. Israeli-funded efforts to “poison” AI-generated information
4. Legal victories in the UK and Germany
5. Israel, the US and the Ceuta migration crisis
6. Green Party plans to twin Greater Manchester with Ramallah and the origins of terrorism in Palestine

In this week’s episode, we begin with the growing normalisation of rhetoric aimed at erasing Palestinian identity and ask how Israel’s war on Gaza could reshape the global politics of genocide. We also explore the deepening crisis within Zionism, the surge in settler violence across the occupied West Bank and the future of the International Criminal Court following the removal of its chief prosecutor. The discussion also considers Zohran Mamdani’s call for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest, Washington’s escalating hostility towards international institutions that challenge Israel and the strategic calculations surrounding a Saudi-US nuclear deal tied to normalisation with Israel.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

00:46 The Normalisation of Calls to Erase Palestinian Identity

10:55 How Gaza Could Redefine the Global Politics of Genocide

17:48 Has Zionism Reached the Edge of the Abyss?

28:08 Settler Violence Surges Across the Occupied West Bank

33:55 Karim Khan’s Removal and the Future of the ICC

42:51 Zohran Mamdani’s Bid to Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu

47:36 The US Targets International Institutions Challenging Israel

52:05 The Saudi-US Nuclear Deal and Normalisation with Israel

In this episode, we examine Trump’s drastically reduced Gaza recovery plan, growing criticism within Hamas over the consequences of 7 October and Israel’s covert efforts to downplay the scale of death, starvation and destruction in Gaza. We also discuss the failure of a major pro-Israel influence campaign in the US, rising congressional resistance to military aid, Mahmoud Abbas’s proposed Palestinian elections, legal challenges to US sanctions on the International Criminal Court and Mahmoud Khalil’s case against Trump administration officials and pro-Israel groups. The episode also explores Palestinian claims to ownership of land designated for a new US embassy in Jerusalem, reports that Trump urged Israel to withdraw from Syria and Lebanon and FIFA corruption.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

01:11 Trump’s Board of Peace scales back Gaza recovery plan

10:36 Disagreement within Hamas over 7 October

15:25 Israeli-linked Arabic media campaign targeting Arab audiences

19:39 Israel’s failed US influencer campaign and shifting political support

25:39 Mahmoud Abbas announces decree allocating seats to Christian Palestinians

29:56 US groups challenge Trump’s ICC sanctions

37:24 Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump officials and pro-Israel groups

44:07 Palestinian families challenge planned US Embassy site in Jerusalem

49:00 Trump reportedly asks Netanyahu to withdraw from Syria and Lebanon

52:59 Argentina, Lionel Messi and FIFA corruption

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine the EU’s new Gaza initiative, claims that Gaza’s authorities obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid, the escalating campaign against UNRWA and Washington’s attack on the International Criminal Court. We also discuss Ro Khanna’s detention by Israeli settlers, shifting US and UK political attitudes towards Palestine, Lindsey Graham’s legacy, the renewed Iran conflict and reports of an alleged Israeli plan involving Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine Hamas’s decision to dissolve its government and the wider implications of Trump’s so called peace plan, as Israel moves ahead with proposals for “controlled humanitarian zones”.

We also discuss whether Hamas remains a major threat or has become a convenient justification for continued Israeli domination, before turning to new claims about 7 October, debates over just war theory, Zionism’s erasure of Palestinians, Mike Huckabee’s remarks in Jerusalem and reports that US officials feared Israel was plotting to kill Iranian negotiators.

This episode of Palestine This Week opens with Israel’s renewed push to promote the so-called “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, asking whether ethnic cleansing is now being pursued without even the pretence of concealment. We also look at Trump’s proposed Gaza board and warnings that it could create a legal black hole for officials and contractors, before turning to the unprecedented lawsuit filed by ICC judges against US sanctions they describe as an attempt to punish and coerce the court.

The episode also explores growing threats to journalism, from the UK’s State Threats Bill to double standards in how the media defines press freedom, alongside new revelations about the Hannibal Directive during the events of 7 October. We then assess whether Israel’s confrontation with Iran has punctured the myth of Israeli military invincibility, and close with Lebanon, where Israeli media figures speak openly about pushing the country towards civil war as part of a wider regional strategy.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

00:20 Israel revives plans for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza

06:24 Trump’s Gaza board and the creation of a legal black hole

12:11 ICC judges sue the Trump administration over sanctions

21:25 UK State Threats Bill raises alarm over press freedom and journalism

31:11 New Hannibal Directive revelations from 7 October

38:18 Iran, Gaza and the crisis of Israeli military invincibility

45:43 Israel’s strategy for Lebanon: escalation, fragmentation and civil conflict

This week, we begin with Hannah Arendt, the Jewish intellectual who warned that a state built without Palestinian consent would be condemned to permanent war. Her warning now feels less like abstract history and more like a description of Israel today: a militarised society, trapped in endless war and dependent on propaganda to justify the violence needed to sustain its project.

We also look at the casual anti-Muslim racism used by Israel advocates to dismiss equality for Palestinian, the UN Human Rights Council’s findings on Israel’s targeting of children in Gaza, and the rise of settler violence in Hebron and around Al-Aqsa Mosque. The episode ends with Trump’s U-turn on Iran, Lebanon’s central role in US-Iran diplomacy and the pro-war commentators already trying to explain away another Middle East disaster.

Get your copy of ‘Gaza Apocalypse’ by Mouin Rabbani: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

01:13 Hannah Arendt’s warning: Was Zionism destined for permanent war?

10:14 The casual anti-Muslim racism of Israel advocates

18:41 Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in Gaza

26:50 Hebron, Smotrich and the collapse of the Hebron agreement

36:51 Trump’s U-turn on the Iran war: What explains the shift?

40:57 Lebanon as the make-or-break arena for US-Iran diplomacy

46:59 Iran war cheerleaders and the making of another American debacle

In this episode, we examine whether Gaza features in the Iran ceasefire calculation, the crisis facing Israel’s security doctrine and its fear of US abandonment. We also discuss whether the Iran deal signals a deeper rupture in US-Israel relations, Al Jazeera’s shocking investigation into Israel’s abuse of Palestinian detainees and Israel’s strangling of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Get your copy of ‘Gaza Apocalypse’ by Mouin Rabbani: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/

Watch the Al Jazeera documentary ‘Bodies of Evidence’ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pApprHfrY 

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

00:19 Did Iran sell out Gaza in the ceasefire deal?

12:05 Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran: Axis of resistance or sectarian politics?

22:10 Why did the UAE unlock billions for Iran while others brokered peace?

27:38 Israel defies Washington: Can it wage war on Iran without the US?

33:42 Israel’s biggest fear: What if America stops coming to the rescue?

38:37 Is the Iran deal the beginning of a US-Israel split?

43:19 Al Jazeera exposes Israel’s torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees

52:23 Is Israel deliberately strangling the Palestinian Authority to death?

With the Iran war passing its 100-day mark, we take a bird's-eye view of what this war has truly revealed. From its roots in the unresolved question of Palestine, to the limits of US power, fractures in the US-Israel relationship — including reports of Israeli intelligence spying on American negotiators — and the crisis of Zionism itself, we ask whether this war has backfired on its instigators and made Palestine more central than ever.

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine Israel’s addition to a UN blacklist over sexual violence in conflict, Dr Nick Maynard’s harrowing testimony from Gaza and the wider backlash to evidence of abuse against Palestinians.

We also discuss plans to turn Gaza’s destruction into an investment opportunity, tensions between Trump and Netanyahu over Lebanon, stalled ceasefire diplomacy with Iran and the UAE’s reported role in the regional war. The episode closes by looking at US efforts to integrate Israel’s military with its own, the Democrats’ refusal to confront Gaza’s electoral impact and Western crackdowns on critics of Israel.

Get your copy of ‘Gaza Apocalypse’ by Mouin Rabbani: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction & Overview
02:03 UN report exposes Israeli sexual violence against Palestinians
11:00 Dr Nick Maynard’s Gaza testimony and Israel’s targeting of healthcare workers
22:45 The plan to turn Gaza’s destruction into an investment project
28:57 Trump-Netanyahu tensions over Lebanon 
36:52 Iran war ceasefire deadlock
42:36 UAE airstrikes on Iran and the fallout for Gulf politics
47:14 Congress moves to integrate Israel’s war machine with the US military
52:22 DNC autopsy ignores Gaza genocide
57:48 UK bans Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker amid crackdown on criticism of Israel