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14 Mar 2024 Lex Fridman Podcast #418 – Israel-Palestine Debate: Finkelstein, Destiny, M. Rabbani & Benny Morris
“I think there’s a very easy way to find out is to have an independent- Forget independent.”
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- Recorded
- 14 Mar 2024
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- Lex Fridman Podcast
Transcript context
…Let me finish my point. More journalists have been, more UN- I understand, and more children, and the- He doesn’t want to hear it, it’s so boring. No, because it’s virtue signaling. Virtue signaling! You don’t have a material, a substantial… It is virtue signaling. Yes, like when you say children, over and over again, that’s virtue signaling. You know you have this habit of mocking the dead. But talking about how many Israelis were killed, that’s not virtue signaling, because that’s human life. I don’t care if a hundred are killed or a thousand, I’m curious who you’re assigning blame to. You just interrogated him, 51%, 90%. The question, yes, that’s not the number, that’s the responsibility, Norman. And then Mouin mentions that more journalists were killed in Gaza than in all of World War II. That doesn’t further any part of the conversation. And more medics were killed in Gaza. No, that’s silly. And then he says, it’s virtue signaling. Journalists weren’t in the area. But when Israelis get killed, that’s serious. I never said that. It’s serious on both sides. I didn’t say, respectfully- It’s called [inaudible 04:51:29]. No, you called it virtue signaling. No, I’m not virtue signaling, I’m asking a substantive question of who do you assign blame to, or do you play into Norm Finkelstein’s conspiracies that the ambulances should have known immediately who was dead, that the numbers were changed because they were fake. Mr. Borrell, Mr. Borrell- Or that maybe 51% of the people were killed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but 29% were killed by IDF helicopters. You asked me a direct question, and you got a direct answer. I didn’t, I got majority, which could be anything from 51 to 99. I said a clear majority. What percent is a clear majority as opposed to a majority? They live in ambiguity. A clear majority, in my view, is well over 50%. Please don’t ask me to be more precise, because I can’t. You could say 80, 90, 95%. If I knew that, I would say it. I think it’s reasonable. It’s a reasonable supposition. Perhaps it is, but I… Mr. Morris, you are not the best person to be asking that question. I read when you described Operation Defensive Shield, and you said a few dozen homes were destroyed. You’re talking about what happened in a Judean refugee camp. Yeah. And you said- No, the Arabs said 500. You said a few died- You guys said 500 Palestinians were killed in a Judean- I never said that. No, but that was the statement from the PLO, the Palestinian Authority. You said a few dozen homes- And that there were massacres there. Yes, a few dozen homes. Yeah. That’s right. Well, it turned 140 buildings were destroyed- That’s a few dozen. … 5,000 people were left homeless. How many people were killed? 5,000. How many were killed? You described it… No, I’m talking about homes destroyed. So you are not the best person to be criticizing what Mouin says when he says clear majority, but he can’t say more. You know why he can’t say more? He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. Yeah, I understand that. I understood that point. I hope as a historian you understand that. ys clear majority, but he can’t say more. You know why he can’t say more? He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. Yeah, I understand that. I understood that point. I hope as a historian you understand that. If I was trying to belittle, I would give you a very different answer. I would just say I don’t know. I do know that some were shot, but- You know what the right phrase there would be? The overwhelming majority were killed by Arab gunmen, and a very small number were killed by Israelis by accident or whatever. You’re not speaking as a historian now. That’s probably true. I can state with confidence, a clear majority. Overwhelming majority? You may be correct, but I can’t state that with certainty. I think there’s a very easy way to find out is to have an independent- Forget independent. Well, of course you forget independent. I know you want to forget the law- Well forget, that doesn’t mean anything. Forget the law- Independent is the UN High Commission for- – forget the independent commissioner. No! … Human Rights, whatever it’s called. Not necessarily. Just repeat the numbers. They’re all from barbaric countries. You know, a Syrian was the head of the UN Commission for Human Rights. But if it was an Israeli, it would have been okay? He certainly would have been more honest than a Syrian. Oh yeah, sure, of course. Of course. Oh yeah, from your perspective. Well, to disagree with Steven, I thought this was extremely valuable, and at times really the view of history, the passion. I’m really grateful that you would spend your really valuable time. One more question, since we have two historians here. Briefly, from a history perspective, what do you hope your legacy is as historians, Benny and Norm, will be of the work that you’ve put out there? Maybe Norm, you can go first, and try to say briefly.…
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