Unshocked with Naomi Klein

In the newest episode of ‘Unshocked,’ Mehdi and Naomi debunk the myths around the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement – a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement that works to pressure Israel into complying with international law using some of the tactics of the South African ‘Anti-Apartheid Movement’. 

“When a call like that is made – especially when the call is to comply with international humanitarian law, the rules that we have all supposedly already agreed to – I think there's a moral responsibility to rise to that call,” Naomi tells Mehdi. 

As a part of Climate Week, the BDS Movement is focusing their energy on a target environmental activists like Naomi have been calling out for years: Chevron. The company is Israel’s largest supplier of energy, which not only includes power to the Israeli government, but also to Israeli military bases. 

“[Chevron] is entangled with Israel's military machinery. It operates and partially owns Israel's largest gas fields offshore. It's gotten very rich off of these fields… but the Israeli government takes a big piece of that, so gets hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue directly from Chevron,” Naomi explains. 

Mehdi and Naomi also get into why the BDS Movement gets so much backlash in the United States; why Israel “gets a special pass” despite the US having a long history of sanctions; and they address the charges of anti-Semitism against BDS. They also discuss recent gains of the movement. 

Watch this deep-dive episode above. You can also listen to ‘Unshocked’ wherever you get your podcasts:

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‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation with acclaimed author and activist Naomi Klein, where she and Mehdi pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history.

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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com

On this new episode of ‘Unshocked’, Naomi and Mehdi unpack and examine the disingenuous attempts by top Democrats, aided and abetted by the ‘liberal’ media, to give the impression that they are trying to secure a ceasefire deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza. They also get into Israel’s settlement strategy going back to Ariel Sharon, a man who the Israeli press is now calling the ‘governor of Gaza,’ and much more. 

Watch the full conversation above. 

Last week at the Democratic National Convention, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris claimed to be “working around the clock” with President Joe Biden to secure a ceasefire deal. However, what she failed to mention was how her administration’s unwavering support for Israel has not only enabled their horrific assault on Gaza, but has also allowed Israel to sabotage the ceasefire negotiations and delay the release of their own hostages.

“It's Netanyahu who has been moving the goalposts. It's Netanyahu who came along when we were so close to a deal…then says, ‘Oh, no, no, no, we're going to keep the Philadelphi corridor. We're going to keep the Netzarim corridor,’” Mehdi says. “These are two parts of Gaza that even the Egyptian government says cannot be part of any deal.”

Meanwhile, Naomi calls out the “international charade” that has come from these endless negotiations, as US officials continue to falsely promise that a deal is almost done and Hamas is the only block on it.

“I think we have to understand that this is worse than dishonest. This is part of the genocide. This allows it to unfold because if there's no pretext that it might stop, then the urgency to stop it would be greater,” Naomi tells Mehdi. 

At the Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago, the Democrats tried to rebrand themselves through promoting the message of ‘joy.’ But, as Naomi and Mehdi point out, that branding directly conflicts with Democrats’ refusal to stop all the pain and suffering that Israel is continuing to unleash on the people of Gaza. “I do think there's a cognitive dissonance here amongst grassroots Democrats.” Mehdi says. 

Paid subscribers can watch the full episode above (free subscribers get a five-minute free view); or listen to ‘Unshocked’ wherever you get your podcasts:

Apple:

Spotify:

‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation with acclaimed author and activist Naomi Klein, where she and Mehdi pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com

NOTE: This discussion focuses on sexual violence. The specifics discussed may be disturbing for some.

On this week’s episode of ‘Unshocked’, Naomi Klein speaks with fellow Zeteo contributor Rula Jebreal about the alarming pro-rape riots in Israel that made international headlines earlier this week and, as Naomi put it, “the impunity that produced these shocking scenes.”

In case you missed the news, for months now, there have been leaked reports about rampant torture and rape of Palestinian prisoners at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman detention center. Israel announced earlier this week it detained nine Israeli soldiers for questioning over the suspected rape and abuse of a Palestinian man from Gaza in the prison. But news of the investigation led to hundreds of citizens, including government ministers, protesting against the probe in support of the soldiers and their right to rape Palestinian prisoners. Angry mobs stormed Sde Teiman and another military base. 

If it sounds shocking, it is – and that’s exactly why this week’s episode of ‘Unshocked’ took on this story, to step back and talk about the bigger picture. 

“I never seen in my lifetime any entity, any regime, any soldier, or even a mob, protesting and raiding military bases, demanding or defending the right of soldiers to rape and use rape as a weapon of war,” Rula tells Naomi. “Israeli politicians are demanding to protect rapists in the name of self-defense… promoting the policy as a legitimate tool of war.”

Naomi talked about how governments use torture as a kind of propaganda. “Torture is always mass communication,” she explains, “You want people to know because it's part of how you discipline a population. You want the warning. But you also want the plausible deniability in the face of international courts. And so, there is a level of secrecy that has to coexist with that. There's a reason they released the photos from Guantanamo, right?” 

Naomi and Rula’s timely conversation discussed the use of rape as a tool of war, including October 7, the double standards from the international community when it comes to this topic, what the riots say about Israel today, and the U.S. role in all of this, especially what might be the positions of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

As Naomi says in the episode, “It has been very difficult to have honest conversations about sexual violence… and yet, we have to have these honest conversations.” 

Paid subscribers can watch the full episode above (free subscribers get a five-minute free view); or listen to ‘Unshocked’ wherever you get your podcasts:

Spotify:

Apple:

‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation with acclaimed author and activist Naomi Klein, where she and Mehdi pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com

Support for Israel, once a bipartisan issue across the West, has now become a wedge issue for the right. 

In New York’s 16th district, Republican donors joined with AIPAC to help defeat an outspoken critic of Israel, Jamaal Bowman, in the House Democratic primary there on Tuesday night. 

Naomi tells Mehdi on this episode of ‘Unshocked’: “I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It was a blow.” For Mehdi, “the idea that 14 or $15 million from AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby in this district didn't play a role? Come on! That's just an insult to our intelligence.”

Over in France, as elections approach, the center right and center left have together blamed the anti-Israel far left for rising antisemitism - and given the French far right a pass in the process! There are reports that many French Jews may now vote for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally for the first time. 

Naomi says “European politics is a world upside down,” and says it is “chilling” to think that the “charge of antisemitism is potentially going to facilitate the resurgence of fascism in Europe”. 

Although all these far-right parties are staunch supporters of Israel, Mehdi explains how “the old anti-Semitism is still very much alive and well.” A mind-boggling idea regardless of which side of the coin you choose to see it from, so mind-boggling that Mehdi says: “I feel like screaming that no one sees the obvious disconnect… these people are still anti-Semitic and they're pro-Israel. What does that tell you about them?”

What does it also say about Zionism? Mehdi and Naomi discuss Zeteo’s upcoming documentary ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism’ and Mehdi’s participation in the Munk Debate on anti-Zionism in Toronto earlier this month. 

**The full video of this episode is only available to paid subscribers.

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‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation between Zeteo Editor-in-Chief Mehdi Hasan and author and activist Naomi Klein, where they pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history. 

Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump put his brazen corruption on full display for America’s top oil executives, promising to rollback the Biden administration’s environmental policies as he asked for a small campaign donation of $1 billion. 

“It's almost a caricature of big oil. It's like a scene out of Hollywood movies,” Mehdi says, in this latest episode of ‘Unshocked.’ “You've got the presidential candidate sitting in his wedding holiday resort in Florida eating chopped steak with 20 big oil executives saying, ‘Give me $1 billion and I'll make you $100 billion.’ ”

Since that first meeting was reported, Trump has only doubled down on his quest for big oil money, visiting Houston last week to meet with fossil-fuel execs, just days after the city suffered their own climate disaster. 

“The oil companies must have been just so stunned because they're not hurting. They are posting record profits. All of these wars are fantastic for their bottom lines,” Naomi Klein tells Mehdi. 

In their latest conversation, Mehdi and Naomi explore what’s really behind Trump’s “drill baby drill” obsession, and what it says not only about our future, but also about the right’s preoccupation with brute force, masculinity, and of course, climate denial.

“You are here on this planet, and you do have to navigate and negotiate with the force of nature, which is actually stronger than us,” Naomi said. “I think that is perceived by people like Trump as an insult to their masculinity, like the idea that nature is speaking back to them and that their worldview really is about a hierarchy where you have white men at the top.”

Later in the conversation, Naomi went on to explain how the genocide in Gaza ties into America’s apathy towards climate disasters, a point made by Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza. 

“In October, Gustavo Petro said, this is global 1933. And he said that what they were seeing in Gaza was a glimpse of their future in the Global South,” Naomi said. “They see Gaza as part of a process of normalizing mass death, of habituating the planet to just allowing people to die.” 

‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation between Zeteo Editor-in-Chief Mehdi Hasan and author and activist Naomi Klein, where they pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history. 

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

In a conversation with Mehdi for her new contributor segment at Zeteo called ‘Unshocked,’ Jewish activist, academic, and author Naomi Klein calls for an “exodus from the ideological shackles of Zionism.” 

Naomi also reacts to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu comparing student protesters at Columbia University to Nazis, telling Mehdi that when it comes to Netanyahu, “there is nobody more adept at exploiting Jewish trauma, historical trauma, and turning it into a political weapon for his own advantage.”

Mehdi also opens up to Naomi about why he decided to boycott the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. 

“I can't call out what Israel is doing to Palestinian journalists with American-made bombs and then go to a fun, comedy-type dinner with the President of the United States — who's not just responsible for that, but is also not even acknowledging it,” Mehdi tells Naomi. 

In 2007, Naomi wrote The Shock Doctrine, a best-selling book that explains what happens when a national crisis throws citizens into a state of shock and how the powerful exploit those moments.

Although it may be one of her most popular books, Naomi tells Mehdi that she dreams of a day where The Shock Doctrine will no longer be relevant, where people can stay grounded even in times of chaos. 

“The idea for calling this segment ‘Unshocked’ — it's not to communicate a kind of world weariness, like nothing can shock me… It's the idea of what I'm hoping we can do together, which is yank us out of shock through analysis, facts, history, and really rooting us in reality,” Naomi explains.

Look out for ‘Unshocked’ with Naomi Klein every month, where she and Mehdi provide deeper analysis on various topics related to current events, religion, politics, ideology, and more. To sign up, click your profile icon in the top right corner of the Substack page, go to “manage subscription,” and scroll down to select.

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