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Mar 5Liked by Adaam James Levin-Areddy

Excellent conversation with a courageous and intelligent human being. Respect to John Aziz. People might also be interested in this conversation: A fascinating conversation with two courageous warriors for peace - Israeli Yossi Klein Halevi, author of “Letters to my Palestinian Neighbor” and Professor Mohammed Dajani Daoudi - the Palestinian professor who brought his students to Auschwitz to learn about the holocaust. Listen to how they address the current conflict and how to continue the important efforts towards a future of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. RFK Jr. Apple Podcast - “Path To Peace” - Episode One: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4glSIGqoocjCu0VHNImXp8?si=bp3bCwKhQPGENL57VKvV7A

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Feb 25Liked by Adaam James Levin-Areddy

i love John Aziz, saw him today at a vigil for hostages, against terrorism, gives me hope

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In response to the American Woman on this podcast's question - you might find this of interest: Einat Wilf - Unraveling The Israeli - Palestinian Conflict: An Insightful Exploration of History and Delusions - https://youtu.be/Epj1iVVxWZU

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We had Einat on our pod too :)

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Really? That's great! Can you throw me a link to view it please? Glenn@Teamkennedy.com Thank you!

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Thank you! She's brilliant. Also love Haviv Rettig Gur

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When you mentioned the truth of the Palestinian Refugees following the Wart of Independence, you neglected to also mention equal amounts of Jews who were refugees fleeing violence in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon. What was the difference? Israel and other countries (America, France, England) absorbed them while the Arab countries they fled to did not AND the UNRWA was created to keep them as perpetual refugees to this day.

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So What do you think about the views of Yuval Noah Harari?

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I studied under him for a couple years in Jerusalem. I respect him, while disagreeing with some of his analysis. So far I mostly share his thoughts about 10/7. Which of his views are you thinking about?

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Nov 18, 2023Liked by Adaam James Levin-Areddy

Loved his recent Making sense appearance. Some non-acute Things I wanted to get your perspective on were

I guess Blaming Netanyahu vs blaming security state

support of elitism...

general support of a global order through military.

[Seems like the security state should be held to civic duty even when they don’t like whose in charge....when I heard him describing how devastating Netanyahu was for democracy and elites and that’s why this happened - I could hear that being said about the cia/fbi boycotting trump. Not to make it about America or trump, just sounded familiar. Not sure if a security state would sacrifice people to get their way/make a point. So far Support of a global order seems to mean more/longer cia/military involvement in other countries. Seems like economics could be used instead. I’ve had the impression the security state in America needs reeling in. Sort of wondering if this was the Israeli security state boycotting.]

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I'd say that there's always a tension between populism and elitism and both ends serve a purpose in a liberal democracy. We need a "deep state" that maintains the country's complex long-term interests and resists public whims, but we also need an infusion of popular reaction as a corrective for when the elite becomes too sclerotic and self serving.

In Netanyahu's case, my take is that his rejection of the Israeli professional class had very little to do with actual reform and public interest and much more to do with his own self preservation. Even some of the strongest voices who've been calling for a judicial reform for decades (like Daniel Friedman) have criticized Bibi's overhaul as reckless, illiberal, and dangerous. This is very telling.

I don't think any single person bears responsibility for the colossal failures of 10/7. Certainly both the government and the security state share the blame. But I will note that (1) Netanyahu has been the almost uninterrupted head of state for 15 years. There's no deeper state than him. If the buck stops with anyone it should be with him; and (2) part of Netanyahu's survival strategy in recent years has been to purge the ranks of the security state of anyone who might oppose him, filling many key roles with cronies and yes men. We don't know yet how directly this affected 10/7, but we do know that many of the old workflows of the police, the IDF and the Shin Bet have been in upheaval because of these changes.

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