In the Grip of a Foreign Power: America and the Israel Lobby

Send us Fan MailFor this episode of Understanding Israel Palestine: Beyond the Walls, Jeremy Rothe-Kushel speaks with Stacy Gilbert about the background of her public resignation from the Biden State Department, the longterm humanitarian crisis deepened by the ending of US financial aid and political support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, and why all of this deeply haunts her and should publicly and politically haunt all those on up through President Biden who facilitated these crimes against humanity, and against American and International law.Stacy Gilbert is a former Senior Civil-Military Advisor in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, where she worked for more than 20 years in humanitarian emergencies and refugee crises worldwide. She advised U.S. and foreign militaries on humanitarian principles, civilian protection, aid worker security, and emergency response, and deployed to major crises including Kosovo, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In May 2024, she resigned from the State Department in protest after it concluded that Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, a decision that drew national and international attention. She continues to advocate for humanitarian issues, adherence to law, and public accountability.Stacy will be a panelist on this month’s Voices From the Holy Land film and discussion salon titled The Palestinian Exile - 78 Years and No Future about the ongoing reality and necessary humanitarian resolution to the decades long and recently escalated Palestinian UN refugee camp crisis. The salon will take on place on Sunday September 20th, 2026 at 3pm Eastern time. You can go to VoicesFromTheHolyLand.org to find out more and gain access to the films and salon.------Understanding Israel Palestine archives: kkfi.org/program/understanding-israel-palestine/Beyond the Walls newsletter: beyondthewalls.substack.com

Send us Fan MailHow is anti-Muslim animus driving races around the country, from Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan to Zohran Mamdani in NYC? What accounts for the way in which Muslims, a religious group entitled to freedom of religion, instead are targeted for their participation in American politics? Dr. Sahar Aziz of Rutgers Law School joined the show to unpack these questions. Follow Sahar Aziz on social media @saharazizlaw and learn more about the Center for Security, Race and Rights at csrr.rutgers.edu and on social media @RutgersCSRR and @RUCSRR

Send us Fan MailIan Lustick speaks to Margot Patterson about his and Eli Clifton's new book, "Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power." He discusses how changes both in the United States and in the world have affected the Israel lobby over the last 20 years, altered its strategy and made it more dangerous to Americans' freedom. Lustick is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and a specialist in the history and politics of the modern Middle East.

Send us Fan MailSparked by the International Criminal Court's prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamnin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared in July that the United States was launching a government-wide campaign to dismantle the ICC. Richard Falk, Princeton University professor emeritus of international law and chairman of the board of trustees of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, discusses the history of the International Criminal Court, the United States' fluctuating attitudes to the ICC and international law, why some Western member states are also reluctant to support the ICC's prosecution of Israeli leaders ,and the geopolitics behind this.

Send us Fan MailNo Peace Prescription for Gaza, and Dr. El-Sayed's Proscription of AIPAC Impunity (with Richard Silverstein)For this episode of Understanding Israel Palestine: Beyond the Walls, Jeremy Rothe-Kushel is joined by Richard Silverstein. Richard is an independent journalist, a Jewish American moral essayist, and the creator of the Tikun Olam blog, where he has for more than two decades reported on Israel Palestine, the broader geopolitical machinations in and of the Middle East, and how this all intersects at the heart of American politics. After an overview of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, the episode focuses on Richard's recent article: As Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan primary, is it the end of AIPAC?www.newarab.com/opinion/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigan-primary-it-end-aipac--------Richard Silverstein' Tikun Olam blog: www.richardsilverstein.comUnderstanding Israel Palestine archives: kkfi.org/program/understanding-israel-palestine/Beyond the Walls newsletter: beyondthewalls.substack.com

Send us Fan MailBryce Greene, organizer, student, and writer based in Bloomington, Indiana, joins the show to discuss hasbara. Most Americans have never heard of hasbara"the Israeli governments official global propaganda and influence program"yet they are targeted by it every day. At $730 million, the 2026 budget is more than 11 times what it was in 2023. Hasbara fuses traditional PR with AI-driven digital psy-ops, coordinated social-media manipulation using chatbots"including a $145 million foreign-ministry campaign to influence AI tools like ChatGPT"paid grassroots influencers, and church-targeted initiatives that push Israeli-aligned narratives on congregants cell phones without disclosure. These tactics brainwash the public, suppress free speech, silence dissent, drive hatred of Palestinians, and manufacture the illusion of public consent for pro-Israeli policies. For many, the truth will be shocking"and that shock is overdue. Bryce is a panelist on the voicesfromtheholyland.org film salon on Sunday, August 16.

Send us Fan MailMargot Patterson talks to Robin Andersen, professor emerita of communications at Fordham University, about Andersen's new book, The Complicit Lens: U.S. Media Coverage of the Genocide in Gaza. In it, Andersen writes that the mainstream media in the United States abandoned journalistic standards of accuracy and impartiality in its coverage of events following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Recycling Israeli talking points without adequate scrutiny, U.S. legacy media became stenographers of genocide, she asserts.Andersen is on the Board of Directors of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, (FAIR), for which she writes regularly. She is the author, or co-author, of a dozen books, including A Century of Media, A Century of War, for which she won th the  Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award.

Send us Fan MailFor this episode, we return to a 2021 interview with Zahir Zaydani, the penname of a grassroots Palestinian intellectual from the West Bank.As the news cycle escalates, returning to deeper, historical lines of analytical frameworks closer to the source ensures that we don't let the headlines obscure the forest for the trees. But first, some news...Story 1:When Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to seal Spain’s 1–0 World Cup victory over Argentina, the street celebrations and reactions from Madrid to Buenos Aires—and across Gaza's displaced tent camps—played out as a direct geopolitical clash.The match followed a complete rupture between Madrid and Tel Aviv. After Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recognized Palestinian statehood, imposed an arms embargo, and banned Israel-bound military cargo from Spanish ports, Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement in Hebrew accusing Spain of "waging a diplomatic war" and warning that Madrid "will pay an immediate price". Netanyahu’s office accused Sánchez of issuing a "genocidal threat," escalating diplomatic hostility to an unprecedented peak.On the pitch, 19-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal carried that political weight; his waving of the Palestinian flag during Barcelona's title parade had drawn public condemnation from Israeli officials. Opposing him was Lionel Messi’s Argentina, aligned with Javier Milei’s pro-Israel stance. Messi’s commercial ties to Tel Aviv AI firm OrCam—founded by Israeli military intelligence veterans—and his reliance on Israeli private security details gave Argentina’s team a distinct perceived Israeli alignment.For some global audiences, Spain’s victory served as a public assertion of Palestinian rights and international law over state-backed & corporatized military intelligence powers of persecution and intimidation.Story 2: Capitol Hill is currently locked in legislative standoff over the future of binational U.S.-Israel security ties.At issue is Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act—derived from the U.S.-Israel FUTURES Act—which creates a Department of War executive agent to hardwire cyber-military intelligence integration between Washington and Tel Aviv. The provision authorizes joint operations in AI target processing, autonomous systems, quantum computing, missile defense and real-time data fusion.  The bill has now triggered severe deadlock. House leadership blocked a bipartisan amendment by Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie to strip the measure. Shortly after, Senate leadership brought the broader NDAA to a procedural vote, where a 50–46 majority blocked the bill. Opposing lawmakers cite warnings from former intelligence officials that structural integration risks installing surveillance backdoors and bypassing congressional oversight. The legislative battle now moves to conference committee negotiations.  -----You can find the Understanding Israel Palestine archives at its show page at https://kkfi.org/program/understanding-israel-palestine/and the Beyond the Walls newsletter on Substack at https://beyondthewalls.substack.com

Send us Fan MailThe life and work of journalist Amy Goodman, host of "Democracy Now," is the subject of award-winning film-makers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's new documentary film, "Steal This Story, Please." Goodman has provided close amd consistent attention to  Gaza and the Occupied West Bank since and even before Oct. 7. She talks about the role her Jewish upbringing has played in highlighting the oppression of Palestinians.  She and Lessin discuss Israel-Palestine, the importance of independent media to that and other critical stories,  and the threat to journalism posed today by media conglomeration, a repressive president, and corporate ownership of the media. "Steal This Story,Please," has won multiple awards in international film festivals.

Send us Fan MailDo you want to take action but don't know where to start? Ben Case, organizer, author, and co-founder of Project for Responsive Democracy joins the show to talk about Not on Our Dime Pittsburgh, a local campaign to divest from genocide by direct vote. He details how the effort started, its results, and his advice for people hoping to take action.