Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, WhoWhatWhy's William Dowell, a former TIME Magazine correspondent in Cairo who has also covered such pivotal events as the Vietnam War, the Iranian Revolution, Operation Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and the Civil War in Beirut, join us to discuss his articles "Hiding in the Rubble of Israel and Palestine: Opportunity" and "Biden’s Visit May Have Kept Gaza From Boiling Over". He will also discuss his experiences as a journalist who has interacted with such figures as Yasser Arafat. Moreover, William and I discuss the figure of Hamas military leader Mohammed Masri aka Mohammed Deif, William's analysis of Biden's diplomatic moves in response to the October 7th attack in Israeli and Israel's bombing of Gaza, Hamas as having set "a trap" for Israel that could lead to an Israeli quagmire in Gaza, the possibility of divisions/fissures within Hamas (particularly between its military wing and its political wing), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's right-wing government, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Steve Simon, Professor of Practice in Middle East Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies of the University of Washington,National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism in the Clinton White House and for the Middle East and North Africa in the Obama White House, and author of Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East, joins the show to discuss his Foreign Affairs article "What Comes After Hamas?". We discuss what he sees as being at stake in the current situation in Gaza, the possible "eternal dystopia" facing Gaza, what eradication of means, the role the United Nations could play in a post-Hamas Gaza, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Israel/Palestine coverage continues as Israeli Twitter/X user Tamara (@tamars) joins the show for a 3 hour episode providing her perspective from within Israel on political turmoil within Israel, the West Bank settlements, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Benjamin Netanyahu, the bombing of Gaza, Hamas, the October 7th attack, repression of Israeli-Palestinians or Israeli-Arabs, the debate over the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital explosion, the Israeli bombing of a Palestinian church, the relationship between Hamas and the Israeli government (specifically the work visa programs for Gazan), ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel and the harassment of ultra-Orthodox left-wing Israeli Israel Frey, settler violence, and much, much, much

On this edition of Parallax Views, Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University, joins Parallax Views to discuss the Israel-Hamas War, U.S. foreign policy failures in regards to Israel/Palestine, and his latest Foreign Policy column "Israel Could Win This Gaza Battle and Lose the War". We also discuss the two-state solution vs. one-state reality (see: Ian S. Lustick's Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality), misconceptions about Walt's book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (co-authored with John J. Mearsheimer), "kicking the can down the road" on the Israel/Palestine Question and its consequences, what the late international relations scholar (and one of Walt's mentors) Kenneth Waltz's would make of currents events involving Israel/Palestine, the Hamas attack of October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu, the grievances of Palestinians and the reasons for their desire for a Palestinian state, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, in the first portion of the program I speak with Palestinian-American lawyer and activist Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, to discuss the bombing of Gaza, the October 7th attack, and more. In the second half of the program Jeff Halper of the Israeli Commitee Against House Demolitions and the One Democratic State campaign joins the show to offer his thoughts and commentary on Israel/Palestine.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Fathi Nimer of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, joins us from Ramallah to discuss his perspective on the events unfolding in the Middle East, Israel/Palestine, Gaza, the Hamas attack, prospects for a solution, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Zachary Foster of Palestine Nexus joins the show to discuss recent news of the Netanyahu government's crackdown on Israeli dissidents as well as the history of Hamas and how Netanyahu's divide-and-conquer strategy in relations to the Palestinians has arguably led to what those in foreign policy circles call "blowback". We also discuss the plight of Palestinians not only in Gaza, which many describe as an open-air prison, but also the occupied West Bank.

Links:

Likud Minister Formulates Emergency Regulations to Imprison Citizens Who 'Harm National Morale': Communications Minister Karhi is promoting regulations that would allow him to direct police to arrest civilians, remove them from their homes, or seize their property if he believes they have spread information that could harm national morale or served as the basis for enemy propaganda - Haaretz - October 15th, 2023

For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces
The premier’s policy of treating the terror group as a partner, at the expense of Abbas and Palestinian statehood, has resulted in wounds that will take Israel years to heal from - The Times of Israel - October 8th, 2023

On this edition of Parallax Views, Prof. Ian S. Lustick of the University of Pennsylvania and author of Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality joins the show to discuss his Foreign Policy op-ed "Vengeance is Not a Policy". We discuss Gaza as a prison, the need for historical context in discussing unfolding events, the intelligence/military/operational failure of preventing the Oct. 7th attacks, the dangers of irrationality in responding to unfolding events (and the comparisons being made to 9/11 and the chilling effect on speech and dialogue that happened in America during the War on Terror), the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and why events like that need to be discussed in relation to events unfolding today, Benjamin Netanyahu, the West Bank, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue our coverage of the horrific events unfolding in Israel/Palestine, the comparisons being made between 9/11 and October 7th (and the comparisons to the events that aren't being discussed), the theory of blowback and the thesis of the Adam Curtis documentary THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES as it relates to the unfolding events, Netanyahu's propping up of Hamas in the years leading up to the attack in an effort to divide Palestinians, the siege of Gaza, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, Union University's Christopher W. Jones joins me to discuss the potential calculus of Hamas in their brutal attack over the weekend. Christopher brings his knowledge as specialist in ancient history and ISIS/ISIL aka Islamic State (which he has written about) to this conversation. In the later portion of the discussion we discuss what Christopher calls the "Strategy of Atrocities" as used in warfare as well as the comparisons being made between the tactics of Islamic State and Hamas. In the earlier part of the conversation we discuss calculus of Hamas, normalization of relationships between Arab states and Israel and the role that may have played in motivating the attack, Hezbollah, the Second Intifada, the trained professional military of Hamas, Turkey, Qatar, demographics and the role it could play in this war, and much, much more.