The Beinart Notebook

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Shabbos Kestenbaum was a student at the Harvard Divinity School and famously has sued Harvard, charging they failed to adequately deal with antisemitism on campus. He has been an outspoken defender of Israel and critic of Palestinians and their advocates, so, as you can imagine, we disagree strongly on many thi...

A new way to donate to people in Gaza. Friday Zoom Call This Friday’s Zoom call, for paid subscribers, will be at 1 PM Eastern, our usual time. Our guest will be the renowned activist and educator Angela Davis . We’ll talk about how the Palestinian freedom struggle resembles, and differs from, the struggles of other oppressed groups, and what US policy toward Israel-Palestine says about the United...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Mohsen Mahdawi , a Palestinian-American green card holder abducted by the Trump administration in retaliation for his activism at Columbia University— and later released. We discuss… Growing up in a refugee camp His conversion to Buddhism His abduction and confinement Columbia’s abandonment and why...

Rabbi Dr. Ismar Schorsch is chancellor emeritus of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Distinguished Professor of Jewish history. He’s had a long, illustrious career of service to the Jewish community, so some where surprised by his recent essay, A Hard Tisha B’Av , which is critical of both Israel and the lack of response from Jewish leadership. I’m honored he ag...

A new way to donate to people in Gaza. Friday Zoom Call This Friday’s Zoom call, for paid subscribers, will be at 1 PM Eastern, our usual time. Our guest will be Mohsen Mahdawi , a Palestinian-American green card holder abducted by the Trump administration in retaliation for his activism at Columbia University— and later released. We’ll talk about his childhood in the West Bank, his experience at...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Abdul El-Sayed, a child of Egyptian immigrants to the US, a Rhodes Scholar, a graduate of Columbia University Medical School and currently a Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan. I’m not endorsing Abdul’s candidacy (or anyone else’s), but I was keen to talk to him about being an Arab and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Emeritus, has been a strong defender of Israel and has been critical of what he sees as a lack of leadership from institutions like Harvard in condemning antisemitism on campus. We have some sharp disagreements on these issues, so I appreciate hi...

A new way to donate to people in Gaza. Friday Zoom Call This Friday’s Zoom call, for paid subscribers, will be at 1 PM Eastern, our usual time. Our guest will be Abdul El-Sayed, a child of Egyptian immigrants to the US, a Rhodes Scholar, a graduate of Columbia University Medical School and currently a Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan. I’m not endorsing Abdul’s candidacy (or anyone e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com I was honored to speak with the Hungarian-Canadian physician Gabor Maté . We’ve never talked before, but I’ve long been struck by the psychological insight he brings to discussions of Israel-Palestine and the Jewish experience.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is children’s educator and entertainer Rachel Griffin-Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel , who is often described as this generation’s Mr. Rogers . She has been outspoken on behalf of children in Gaza.

A new way to donate to people in Gaza. Friday Zoom Call This Friday’s Zoom call, for paid subscribers, will be at 1 PM Eastern, our usual time. Our guest will be the children’s educator and entertainer Rachel Griffin-Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel , who is often described as this generation’s Mr. Rogers . We’ll talk about her decision— despite outside pressure— to denounce the killing and sta...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg . We talk about the Democratic Party, the media, and the politics of Israel-Palestine in the age of Gaza and Trump.

Please consider supporting Medical Aid for Palestinians , which is trying to help Palestinians in Gaza and beyond. Friday Zoom Call This Friday’s Zoom call, for paid subscribers, will be at 1 PM Eastern, our usual time. Our guest will be New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg . We’ll talk about Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party, and the politics of Israel-Palestine in the age of Gaza and Tr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Aharon Dardik , a Columbia University undergraduate with a remarkable story. The son of an orthodox rabbi, he spent part of his childhood in a religious settlement in the West Bank. After studying in yeshiva in Israel, he went to prison rather than serve in the Israeli military, and then enrolled a...

Every week I link to the GoFundMe page for Hossam and Mariam Alzweidi, who live in Gaza with their four children and have been injured by Israeli bombs and displaced ten times since October 7, and are trying to leave. I know putting up a Go Fund Me for one family is totally inadequate given the scale of the horror in Gaza, and the millions of people there who need our help— and most of all, need a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He has recently called Israel’s assault on Gaza a “war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel” but denies that Israel is committing genocide and believes its actions were legitimate until the spring of 2024.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com I spoke with Avey Rips and Seph Mozes , two members of Jewish Voice for Peace Chicago , who recently participated in a hunger strike to protest the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. We talked about… Why they took this extreme step The responses they got How historic victimization of Jews leads some to compass...

Every week I link to the GoFundMe page for Hossam and Mariam Alzweidi, who live in Gaza with their four children and have been injured by Israeli bombs and displaced ten times since October 7, and are trying to leave. I know putting up a Go Fund Me for one family is totally inadequate given the scale of the horror in Gaza, and the millions of people there who need our help— and most of all, need a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guests are Gaza-born Palestinian writer Ahmed Moor, a regular contributor to The Guardian and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and Mairav Zonszein , Israel analyst for the International Crisis Group, and a regular contributor to the New York Times . Topics discussed include… How what people...

Every week, I link to the GoFundMe page for Hossam and Mariam Alzweidi, who live in Gaza with their four children and have been injured by Israeli bombs and displaced ten times since October 7, and are trying to leave. I know putting up a Go Fund Me for one family is totally inadequate given the scale of the horror in Gaza, and the millions of people there who need our help—and most of all, need a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Brad Lander , the Jewish City Comptroller of New York, and mayoral candidate, who cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani and helped propel him to victory. In my opinion, Lander’s behavior modeled what a decent Jewish politics in America might look like. Topics discussed include… Andrew Cuomo How Lander’s re...

Every week I link to the GoFundMe page for Hossam and Mariam Alzweidi, who live in Gaza with their four children and have been injured by Israeli bombs and displaced ten times since October 7, and are trying to leave. I know putting up a Go Fund Me for one family is totally inadequate given the scale of the horror in Gaza, and the millions of people there who need our help— and most of all, need a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who, along with Republican Thomas Massie, has introduced legislation invoking the War Powers Act to bar the US from attacking Iran absent congressional approval. Questions included… What lessons can Democrats take from Zohran Mamdani’s upset vict...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Jonathan Chait recently wrote a piece for the Atlantic criticizing Zohran Mamdani for not condemning the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” I called Chait to discuss it. Questions I raised include: * What is your problem with this particular use of the word uprising? * If someone explicitly said “globalize the in...

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