Dave Smith: belief

Transcript context

…But Lex, I mean, the dynamic here is from 2007 to today, Israel’s had a full blockade around the country. They won’t let potatoes in. They won’t let sugar in, and the justification is because they’re dual use, they can be used to make rockets as well as they can be used to feed starving children. So we can’t let that in because it’s dual use. But cash to Hamas, does that not have dual usage? Is there nothing else that they can… So yeah, it’s like, yes, when you have a full blockade around the country, you take on certain responsibilities. And I think this is the essence of really the whole struggle here, which is very tough, I think, for the pro-Israel side to grapple with. But the bottom line is that Israel hasn’t occupied Palestine for a few months after a war or even a couple of years after a war, while they’re figuring out what we’re going to do with them. It’s been over 60 years. We’re talking about a one-week-long war, or a day short of a week long war, in 1967. Israel’s had control of them ever since. And much in the same way that if you kidnap someone and you lock them in your basement and you don’t feed them, you murdered that person. So in other words, stated differently, you’re not allowed to kidnap people and lock them in your basement, but once you do, you take on a responsibility to feed those people. You know what I mean? You’re not allowed to keep someone and not feed them. That is a worse charge than just keeping them. So yeah, anyway, I guess my point is the solution to that, if you go like, “Well, I’m a bad guy if I fund Hamas, I’m a bad guy if I don’t let the aid in,” was to let the reputable international aid organizations bring aid in to the people of Gaza. Don’t pressure the Qataris to send in briefcases full of cash, allow internationally recognized, reputable human rights organizations who are lining up trying to do it. Stop turning them away, let them in. And this is just, it’s so long past due. I mean, it’s just… I’m not defending Arab terrorism. I think really it’s a tragedy that the Arabs embraced terrorism. I don’t think it’s unique to them. And in fact, I think it was the Zionist militias who introduced terrorism to that part of the world, but there was also… Look, terrorism persists because it works. This is true with state terrorism and with non-state terrorism. Terrorism has often worked for people. I think the thing… Early Yasser Arafat I know was very influenced by the Algerians who successfully kicked the French out, embracing terrorism. -state terrorism. Terrorism has often worked for people. I think the thing… Early Yasser Arafat I know was very influenced by the Algerians who successfully kicked the French out, embracing terrorism. And it was almost like the major miscalculation of those Palestinian Arabs who did embrace terrorism, was that this isn’t the French hanging out in some colony with their home country back home where maybe a few acts of violence could work enough to… The liberal population back home is like, “Oh, I really didn’t like the response to that terrorism. We killed so many people. Forget it. This is too much of a headache. Let’s get out of here.” The Zionist settlers were there to stay. They weren’t going anywhere. They weren’t going back to Eastern Europe. You know what I mean? And so it’s a tragedy that this whole thing went the way it did. But you always… Whenever you’re talking about a conflict like this, the person who has… Or the party who has the power is the one who needs make concessions, and it’s just indefensible that the status quo of the Palestinian people having no rights, literally no rights, being ruled by a government that they do not get to vote for or against, no right to do commerce with the outside world, no freedom of travel, no freedom of movement, no basic property rights, you can be kicked out of your home at any time, no right to a fair trial, no right to a lawyer, no right to a jury of your peers, I mean, the fact that that has been the status quo since 1967 is just indefensible. And then in the context that that has been the status quo, I guess I’m just not, even though I’m against it, it’s like when you’re just lecturing about the way in which they resist this. I think it’s very tough to be on a strong moral footing. Yeah, you have to really empathize with decades of suffering in the region. I suppose my question was grounded in how can the Israeli government, how can the world help the Palestinian people flourish? So you suggested allowing reputable aid organizations in, but that’s kind of almost patching, just helping humans who are suffering. But that’s not how you have a nation flourish. You have to build up the infrastructure. You have to build up a culture, the education system, the democratic processes of electing and regular elections so that the people are represented. And you have to form partnerships, friendships, normalization of relations with the Arab world, with Israel. You can travel back and forth and lessen the chokehold, the security chokehold, that you could say is justified in a militaristic situation, but why is it a military situation? The question is there, where do we go from here? If we… We will talk about Netanyahu some more. He is very criticized inside Israel as well.…

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