I think what is needed here is a change of verbiage and attitude. Instead of saying this side is bad, or that side is wrong, we should be saying "NO MORE WARS". Singling out sides as bad and worse also forces us observers to take sides, and it divides us at a time when we need to be united in our concern for Mankind, Singling out sides causes everyone to fight each other, not just the two opponents in war. I think we all can unify, however, if we focus on a common goal - "NO MORE WARS". I do not want to hear "Hamas (or Russia) this", or "Israel (or Ukraine) that", blame creates division and hate, let's ALL work together to END WARS for good!
I am so tired of sharing the planet with all kind of religious fanatics ... Why there is nobody talking about a single secular state for all people living on the historical land of Palestine ? Nobody has any piece of land given by "god" ( if you ask me, the entire concept of divinity is failing human kind miserably, it is sufficient to look at this "holy" place - in 4 thousand years, they did not learn to treat their neighbour as equal ). Watching the war in Ukraine for 18 months, I thought I saw it all - but that's without counting on brave israeli army, which proudly killed at least five times more kids in two weeks. Can somebody explain to them that we would stop Hamas terror attack had we known about the plan, and that we have to use all means we have to stop them, since they announce a flood of war crimes coming ? If you cannot treat all kids of Earth as your own, you can't count yourself a part of civilized world - is it so difficult to understand ??? Thanks for all your work - maybe you can get the message through ....
Michael, are you Jewish? Have you been to Israel? Have you read Thomas Friedman? He understands this complex issue as someone well versed in the Middle East- where he lived and raised his children.
Have you listened to the son of the Hamas leader who now lives in hiding for speaking the truth!
I am a Jew. I want a free Palestinian state WITHOUT Hamas. Hamas is killing their own children while they store fuel, food, medicine in their tunnels. Their covenant do not want a separate state. They want Jews annihilated. No other option. Do you understand that.
Read Thomas Friedman's articles since October 7.
Netanyahu will be removed by his people! He should. The Palestinians need to get rid of Hamas. Both were elected by their people.
Netanyahu should go, but you make it so simple. Children that were castrated on October 7 is no longer a concern. Israel should just lay down their arms.
We are .02 percent of world population. Two tenths of one percent. Maybe we want peace too.
Hamas must go! Palestinians need to be free and not be used by HAMAS.
WHERE is Egypt? Why are they not saving the Palestinian children? Why are they not opening the gate to let them be safe? Oh no- they want HAMAS to win! The Palestinian children are their shields also, if not why not open the gates? Yet, you say nothing about them. Why?
No simple solution. But you sound to many not for peace but for the end of Israel. An antisemitic proponent. Certainly not the person I thought was better. I seen the better in Traverse City where I live.
Go there - talk to the Israelis whose children were butchered. Read Thomas Friedman. Talk to Friedman.
Don't simplify this nightmare.
Remember- the Jews
First they came for the - LGBTQ+
and we stood up because 'Love Is Love and we are LGBTQ+.
Then they came for the & women
and we stood up because 'Women's Rights Are Human Rights and we are women.
Then they came for 18 immigrants
and we stood up because 'Families Belong Together' and we are immigrants.
Then they came for the Black community
and we stood up because 'Black Lives Matter and we are Black.
This is a gut-wrenching topic. Thank you Michael for your podcast. I've only done a short search, but find very little if anything in the "major" print media covering this. OK, I only searched on NYT and Washington Post specifically in their sites. A few YouTube videos from 2 days ago. Have others found any coverage? The "current" problem, in my opinion, goes back those 70 some years ago. Cease fire now seems a darn good idea. Palestinian people don't equal Hamas. Israeli people don't equal Bibi's government. New elections all around. What a freaking mess. Don't forget Ukraine, however, and they are fighting for a democracy; they lose and we all lose. So complicated.
You are on the wrong side of history here. Since its founding Israel has been surrounded by neighbors who want it gone. They've gone to war against Israel repeatedly. It's lovely to ask for peace and a cease fire however the enemies of Israel all want it gone. How do make peace with an enemy that does not abide by cease fires and has never seen a proposed 2 state solution it would accept?
Thank you so much, Michael. This was very moving and encouraging. I’ve been writing President Biden advocating for the same things. Stop sending money for Israel’s wars, etc. I’m not Jewish, either, but like you I love JVP.
What we need is ONE state with equal rights for all. No one group favored over another, and everybody’s tradition respected. Israel wants all the land. No more of that! No state based on one religion or ethnicity has ever worked.
Thank you for playing the song, but most of the words were not clear. I know I can look up the poem.
Thank you for caring, Mike, and for talking to the demonstrators. I loved what the pediatrician said, in particular. Everybody spoke well.
Incredibly moving. I think the overall vision we can all adopt is love not fear. I’m pretty sure the bottom line will always be to stop the killing and live together in peace. But maybe that’s just naive on my part. The interviews with the Jewish people protesting at Grand Central were very clear and eloquent, with a deep commitment to a peaceful resolution, never discounting the horror of Oct 7. And I align with Michael Moore that we cannot condone any killing. The people that do are involved in vengeance which perpetuates the whole thing. That’s why groups like JVP and Plowshares appeal to my worldview. And Imagine has always been my favorite song. Sharing what I think is an aligned view which begins with a long quote from Rabbi Alan Lew:
It is too bad people who want to live in peace and safety can't do so.
It is too bad that Iran and other Muslim and/or Arab countries primarily fund terrorism and the use of Palestinians and others as human shields.
It is too bad nations other than Israel don't warn people before they drop bombs.
It is too bad we haven't come up with compassionate ways to wage war (e.g. use of a chemical that brings people happiness; arm wrestling.)
========
No pause, no cease-fire, no discussions until EVERY Israeli hostage is home safe and sound.
=============
History is easy to forget.
Here is where you can see a timeline of some of the persecution Jews faced from the year 250 C.E. until 1945 C.E. Keep in mind Judaism has been in existence 5784 years, so this timeline only represents the time since Christianity arose, and later Islam.
Of course, I don't expect sympathy for Jewish people . . . those of us who know history, know that Antisemitism inexplicably rises and falls in cycles, and there is no truly safe place. As the Jewish humor goes: "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat."
I continue to ask that the land mass which comprises Israel and Palestine be redrawn. The map drawn up around 1947 makes no sense.
Split the land 50/50,
Split the Mediterranean coastline 50/50.
Split Jerusalem 50/50.
No fences. A friendly border. Figure out by mutual agreement who settles in the south and who settles in the north.
Equal amounts of land and nothing but love for all nations going forward. The current map is a tragic joke. Thank you, Michael, for pushing us to demand peace.
The spelling is all wrong... it is not the WORLD, it is the WARLD, because that is all we humans understand. Hatred, death and war, and money. WAR IS AT THE CENTER OF OUR CIVILIZATION.
Michael, thank you for taking this stand along with so many people who want to see peace in the world.
Thanks for always taking the side of humanity, and holding in your mind and heart both Jewish people and Palestinian people.
There are no human enemies. All life is precious. And heaven knows there is enough resource for every person on this planet to have a good life. As long as we have economic structures that support the insanity and irrationality that it is justifiable for some to have (and that is really a very very few number of humans) and the rest not to have, nobody is safe on this earth.
"History did not begin on October 7." I hope readers will consider that Hamas owes its existence to Israel.
Listen to former Israeli officials such as Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Segev, who was the Israeli military governor in Gaza in the early 1980s. Segev later told a New York Times reporter that he had helped finance the Palestinian Islamist movement as a “counterweight” to the secularists and leftists of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah party, led by Yasser Arafat (who himself referred to Hamas as “a creature of Israel.”)
“The Israeli government gave me a budget,” the retired brigadier general confessed, “and the military government gives to the mosques.”
“Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official who worked in Gaza for more than two decades, told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. Back in the mid-1980s, Cohen even wrote an official report to his superiors warning them not to play divide-and-rule in the Occupied Territories, by backing Palestinian Islamists against Palestinian secularists. “I … suggest focusing our efforts on finding ways to break up this monster before this reality jumps in our face,” he wrote.
I think what is needed here is a change of verbiage and attitude. Instead of saying this side is bad, or that side is wrong, we should be saying "NO MORE WARS". Singling out sides as bad and worse also forces us observers to take sides, and it divides us at a time when we need to be united in our concern for Mankind, Singling out sides causes everyone to fight each other, not just the two opponents in war. I think we all can unify, however, if we focus on a common goal - "NO MORE WARS". I do not want to hear "Hamas (or Russia) this", or "Israel (or Ukraine) that", blame creates division and hate, let's ALL work together to END WARS for good!
I am so tired of sharing the planet with all kind of religious fanatics ... Why there is nobody talking about a single secular state for all people living on the historical land of Palestine ? Nobody has any piece of land given by "god" ( if you ask me, the entire concept of divinity is failing human kind miserably, it is sufficient to look at this "holy" place - in 4 thousand years, they did not learn to treat their neighbour as equal ). Watching the war in Ukraine for 18 months, I thought I saw it all - but that's without counting on brave israeli army, which proudly killed at least five times more kids in two weeks. Can somebody explain to them that we would stop Hamas terror attack had we known about the plan, and that we have to use all means we have to stop them, since they announce a flood of war crimes coming ? If you cannot treat all kids of Earth as your own, you can't count yourself a part of civilized world - is it so difficult to understand ??? Thanks for all your work - maybe you can get the message through ....
Michael, are you Jewish? Have you been to Israel? Have you read Thomas Friedman? He understands this complex issue as someone well versed in the Middle East- where he lived and raised his children.
Have you listened to the son of the Hamas leader who now lives in hiding for speaking the truth!
I am a Jew. I want a free Palestinian state WITHOUT Hamas. Hamas is killing their own children while they store fuel, food, medicine in their tunnels. Their covenant do not want a separate state. They want Jews annihilated. No other option. Do you understand that.
Read Thomas Friedman's articles since October 7.
Netanyahu will be removed by his people! He should. The Palestinians need to get rid of Hamas. Both were elected by their people.
Netanyahu should go, but you make it so simple. Children that were castrated on October 7 is no longer a concern. Israel should just lay down their arms.
We are .02 percent of world population. Two tenths of one percent. Maybe we want peace too.
Hamas must go! Palestinians need to be free and not be used by HAMAS.
WHERE is Egypt? Why are they not saving the Palestinian children? Why are they not opening the gate to let them be safe? Oh no- they want HAMAS to win! The Palestinian children are their shields also, if not why not open the gates? Yet, you say nothing about them. Why?
No simple solution. But you sound to many not for peace but for the end of Israel. An antisemitic proponent. Certainly not the person I thought was better. I seen the better in Traverse City where I live.
Go there - talk to the Israelis whose children were butchered. Read Thomas Friedman. Talk to Friedman.
Don't simplify this nightmare.
Remember- the Jews
First they came for the - LGBTQ+
and we stood up because 'Love Is Love and we are LGBTQ+.
Then they came for the & women
and we stood up because 'Women's Rights Are Human Rights and we are women.
Then they came for 18 immigrants
and we stood up because 'Families Belong Together' and we are immigrants.
Then they came for the Black community
and we stood up because 'Black Lives Matter and we are Black.
Now they are coming for = us,
but we stand alone because we are Jews
This is a gut-wrenching topic. Thank you Michael for your podcast. I've only done a short search, but find very little if anything in the "major" print media covering this. OK, I only searched on NYT and Washington Post specifically in their sites. A few YouTube videos from 2 days ago. Have others found any coverage? The "current" problem, in my opinion, goes back those 70 some years ago. Cease fire now seems a darn good idea. Palestinian people don't equal Hamas. Israeli people don't equal Bibi's government. New elections all around. What a freaking mess. Don't forget Ukraine, however, and they are fighting for a democracy; they lose and we all lose. So complicated.
I love you Micheal, you are always in the right side of the history.
You are on the wrong side of history here. Since its founding Israel has been surrounded by neighbors who want it gone. They've gone to war against Israel repeatedly. It's lovely to ask for peace and a cease fire however the enemies of Israel all want it gone. How do make peace with an enemy that does not abide by cease fires and has never seen a proposed 2 state solution it would accept?
Thank you so much, Michael. This was very moving and encouraging. I’ve been writing President Biden advocating for the same things. Stop sending money for Israel’s wars, etc. I’m not Jewish, either, but like you I love JVP.
What we need is ONE state with equal rights for all. No one group favored over another, and everybody’s tradition respected. Israel wants all the land. No more of that! No state based on one religion or ethnicity has ever worked.
Thank you for playing the song, but most of the words were not clear. I know I can look up the poem.
Thank you for caring, Mike, and for talking to the demonstrators. I loved what the pediatrician said, in particular. Everybody spoke well.
Incredibly moving. I think the overall vision we can all adopt is love not fear. I’m pretty sure the bottom line will always be to stop the killing and live together in peace. But maybe that’s just naive on my part. The interviews with the Jewish people protesting at Grand Central were very clear and eloquent, with a deep commitment to a peaceful resolution, never discounting the horror of Oct 7. And I align with Michael Moore that we cannot condone any killing. The people that do are involved in vengeance which perpetuates the whole thing. That’s why groups like JVP and Plowshares appeal to my worldview. And Imagine has always been my favorite song. Sharing what I think is an aligned view which begins with a long quote from Rabbi Alan Lew:
https://joshliveright.substack.com/p/break-the-endless-cycle-of-violence
War is not healthy for anyone.
It is too bad people who want to live in peace and safety can't do so.
It is too bad that Iran and other Muslim and/or Arab countries primarily fund terrorism and the use of Palestinians and others as human shields.
It is too bad nations other than Israel don't warn people before they drop bombs.
It is too bad we haven't come up with compassionate ways to wage war (e.g. use of a chemical that brings people happiness; arm wrestling.)
========
No pause, no cease-fire, no discussions until EVERY Israeli hostage is home safe and sound.
=============
History is easy to forget.
Here is where you can see a timeline of some of the persecution Jews faced from the year 250 C.E. until 1945 C.E. Keep in mind Judaism has been in existence 5784 years, so this timeline only represents the time since Christianity arose, and later Islam.
https://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/HistoryJewishPersecution/
=============
Of course, I don't expect sympathy for Jewish people . . . those of us who know history, know that Antisemitism inexplicably rises and falls in cycles, and there is no truly safe place. As the Jewish humor goes: "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat."
Thank goodness! Love and compassion emanates from these beautiful souls. So much gratitude for the work you do Michael. All the best, Linda
The insanity goes on. and will. We are watching it.
Michael, thank you for your heart! Bless you.
I continue to ask that the land mass which comprises Israel and Palestine be redrawn. The map drawn up around 1947 makes no sense.
Split the land 50/50,
Split the Mediterranean coastline 50/50.
Split Jerusalem 50/50.
No fences. A friendly border. Figure out by mutual agreement who settles in the south and who settles in the north.
Equal amounts of land and nothing but love for all nations going forward. The current map is a tragic joke. Thank you, Michael, for pushing us to demand peace.
The spelling is all wrong... it is not the WORLD, it is the WARLD, because that is all we humans understand. Hatred, death and war, and money. WAR IS AT THE CENTER OF OUR CIVILIZATION.
Michael, thank you for taking this stand along with so many people who want to see peace in the world.
WITH LOVE AND RESPECT.
RANDY
Right after Israel rids Gaza of the stench of Hamas. FYI most of the people in Gaza support Hamas in some way, shape or form Michael.
Thanks for always taking the side of humanity, and holding in your mind and heart both Jewish people and Palestinian people.
There are no human enemies. All life is precious. And heaven knows there is enough resource for every person on this planet to have a good life. As long as we have economic structures that support the insanity and irrationality that it is justifiable for some to have (and that is really a very very few number of humans) and the rest not to have, nobody is safe on this earth.
"History did not begin on October 7." I hope readers will consider that Hamas owes its existence to Israel.
Listen to former Israeli officials such as Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Segev, who was the Israeli military governor in Gaza in the early 1980s. Segev later told a New York Times reporter that he had helped finance the Palestinian Islamist movement as a “counterweight” to the secularists and leftists of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah party, led by Yasser Arafat (who himself referred to Hamas as “a creature of Israel.”)
“The Israeli government gave me a budget,” the retired brigadier general confessed, “and the military government gives to the mosques.”
“Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official who worked in Gaza for more than two decades, told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. Back in the mid-1980s, Cohen even wrote an official report to his superiors warning them not to play divide-and-rule in the Occupied Territories, by backing Palestinian Islamists against Palestinian secularists. “I … suggest focusing our efforts on finding ways to break up this monster before this reality jumps in our face,” he wrote.