On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Peter Beinart, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and Author of ‘Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning’. He discusses why Israel has become unsafe for Jews thanks to its structural violence against Palestinians and occupation, how the rise of Zionist ultra-nationalism has swallowed the universalist values of Judaism, the fierce opposition he has faced within the Jewish community for speaking out against Israel’s actions, the similarity of America’s and Israel’s founding myths, Donald Trump’s crackdown against pro-Palestinian protesters, the growing opposition to Israel of young American Jews, the nature of the Palestinian struggle being resistance against settler-colonialism, his realisation in his 30s that the Israeli state was more brutal than he had recognized and how the Palestinian experience forced him to rethink his stance on the Israeli state, why Netanyahu feared Trump and accepted a Gaza ceasefire, and much more.
