The Beinart Notebook

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Our guest is State Representative Chris Rabb, who recently won the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s third congressional district, part of a wave of recent victories by members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Topics include:

Whether multi-racial democracy will survive

How Hillary could have won

What it’s like to have to raise money

Josh Shapiro, John Fetterman, and Democratic infighting

Why so many black politicians aren’t on the side of equality when it comes to Israel-Palestine

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Our guest is Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, the public relations liaison for Chabad Headquarters, as well as the founder of the Jewish Future Alliance and Director of Operation Survival.

We discuss:

The biblical mandate for human equality

How West Bank settlements makes a two-state solution less likely

Why did Chabad host Itamar Ben-Gvir?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

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Our guest is Rozina Ali, a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and the author of the new book, just released this week, Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America.

We discuss:

Why anti-Muslim bigotry has become so prominent in America

The various ways American Muslims navigate Islamophobia

The different Islamophobic strategies employed against Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed, and their different responses

Tensions between black and Muslim communities

The difficulty of building coalitions between Muslims and Jews, given powerful Jewish organizations’ support of Israel

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Our guest is Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the Director of Community Relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and the Rabbi of Kehillat Etz Chaim in Oak Park, Michigan.

I’ve known Rabbi Lopatin for a long time. He’s not only a great teacher of Torah, he’s also a mensch. Which makes his willingness to support Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed even more distressing to me. Nonetheless, we had a respectful conversation. I’m grateful to him for having it.

We discuss:

El-Sayed’s condemnation of AIPAC

El-Sayed’s views about Israel

The allegation that El-Sayed is singling Israel out

Mike Rogers’ refusal to say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election

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Our guest is Norman Finkelstein, the longtime critic of Israel, and critic of the way the memory of the Holocaust—which both his parents survived—has been exploited to justify Israel’s actions. He has written a new book, titled Gaza’s Gravediggers.

I talked to Norman about what it’s like—after decades as a political outcast—to see his views becoming mainstream. I asked him about his concern, which I share, that legitimate fury at Israel is fueling conspiracy theories that exonerate the United States. And I asked about his friend and mentor, Noam Chomsky, and what he thinks Chomsky might have said in response to October 7 and the Gaza genocide.

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Our guest is Rahm Emanuel, who has served as Chief of Staff for Barack Obama, a member of Congress from Illinois, mayor of Chicago, and US Ambassador to Japan. He recently gave a speech at Tel Aviv University that advocated US pressure on Israel, but also made claims about the history of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with which I disagree.