On this week’s ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ Mehdi unpacks Israel’s “violent and reckless” assault on Lebanon and the false propaganda behind it.
“The Israeli government wants you to believe that this is all about security, about protecting ordinary Israelis at the Northern border. And that this war isn’t against Lebanon or the people of Lebanon, but only against Hezbollah,” Mehdi explains. “The problem is that, like with Gaza, their ministers can’t stop sounding genocidal in public when they talk about Lebanon.”
American University of Beirut professor Karim Makdisi joins the show to discuss Israel’s latest attacks on Lebanon – including Israel’s explosive pager attacks – and how Israel’s offensive is only increasing Lebanese support for Hezbollah.
“It is a pure act of terrorism,” Makdisi tells Mehdi. “They didn't even want to kill. They wanted to maim and blind people, you know, several thousand people… and these are the kinds of things, ironically, where those that deeply oppose Hezbollah in Lebanon become a lot more sympathetic.”
Watch the monologue and panel interview – which also features the Center for International Policy’s Matt Duss, former Bernie Sanders foreign policy advisor – to hear more about the humanitarian toll in Lebanon, how likely it is that Iran will get involved, and how another war could impact the US presidential election.
Also on the show, Mehdi is joined by renowned author and historian William Dalrymple to discuss his latest book, ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World’. The book makes the case that, for over a millennia, India was an international powerhouse that shaped civilizations around it – it was ‘the heart of ancient Eurasia’ – and that its advances and influence have been erased. The two also discuss Israel’s war in Gaza and why William has been so outspoken while other authors and historians have remained silent.
“I have the freedom to speak out,” he tells Mehdi. “If, as an author, you know something to be untrue and you know a great injustice is going on, it's your duty to do this.”
Be sure to watch this week’s episode above and tell us what you think about Mehdi’s monologue, the discussion on Lebanon and William Dalrymple. We love hearing from you!
CNN is reporting about a possible Israeli “incursion” into Lebanon. Is an incursion anything like an INVASION? Is an “incursion” an act of War? When Russia did their “incursion” of Ukraine, western media called it an INVASION. Does an INVASION become an “incursion” only when Israel does it? Just like the GENOCIDE in Gaza is only Israel “defending” itself.
Over the past 12 months I’ve realised how deeply corrupt and duplicitous most mainstream news outlets are. Honestly I’m so glad that at least we now have Zeteo. I’ve learned so much all reporting is backed by evidence. I can’t even engage with CNN anymore .. it’s poor journalism
An invasion is when people forced from their homes by violence, instability and usually US policy (including the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels) seek shelter in the US…
Jazakallahu Kheiron ☝🏾 Bravo Medhi, another 👏 excellent show. It educates so many. Thank you. NEVER STOP TALKING 🇵🇸 🤲🏾 🇱🇧
Netanyahu seems angry & hate filled, one wonders if he intends to blow up everyone, including Israel & USA?
A point was made yesterday that extremists Israeli Settlers empower Netanyahu, but also beholden him to do their bidding. If Netanyahu softens his tone, terrorist settlers will turn on him, tear him apart.
These Yahus can’t be separated into different entities anymore. They’re one entity gone mad by their own psychotic deeds.
Even before Oct 7th many Liberals Israelis had began a mass exodus from israel bcz they didn’t feel safe with the extremist settler savages. They didn’t want to live in that kind of environment.
Gideon Levy says Israelis are bipolar society, made so by their own thought pattern.
Of the 6.5 million non Arab/ non Semite Israeli Jews remaining in israel, 40% are extremists, they said they will not leave but will stay & kill as many Arabs as possible.
We’ve seen them even turn on local indigenous nonzionist Arab Jews.
And they been subjected to intense psychological conditioning all their live. they may not be able to return to a unified, cooperative, harmonious thought pattern to coexist with others.
The Ultra-Orthodox are a cult and not that similar to Judaism. Their beliefs are the opposite of the tenets of Judaism. Name only, but not the same religion.
Clearly they don’t believe in nor practice the 10 commandments! 😉
An understatement!
What an EXCELLENT show!! Zeteo is simply the BEST.
Thanks for your support!
I highly recommend Dalrymple’s podcast “Empire,” which he co-hosts with Anita Anand. Anyone interested in gaining a broad scope of historical context in a conversational style will find it enjoyable. In addition to hearing Dalrymple’s inexhaustible knowledge of India, they host several notable historians specializing in other specific regions and eras. This strategy whets their listeners’ appetites for history, giving them a list of authors to focus on when pursuing further reading individually.
Dalrymple’s books are incredible, too. Thank you, Zeteo, for interviewing him.
That sounds good. I haven't read his books yet but he is so interesting.
I have to correct whoever on the show said India invented zero though . . . Zero was invented twice before India came up with it, the second time by the Mayans in 4 AD, then by India after that. The Mayan's zero even looked like a zero, or at least like a football.
That is a good point. The Sumerians (about 4,000 years ago) used spaces to denote absences in counting systems. The Babylonians (circa the 3rd century BC) had a sign (not resembling zero) to discern between magnitudes when counting. The Mayans used an actual zero sign to mark their calendars. The commonality to all these previous uses was that they were all counting systems, using the sign without its mathematical significance.
Historians have documented Brahmagupta (in what is now India) as the first person to expand zero’s significance beyond counting systems and exhibit it as a mathematical concept. It would be remiss not to point out that the mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi (located in what is now Iraq) is known as the person who synthesized zero into formulas. His work went on to form the foundations for algebra.
Not all historians. The Mayans are credited with being ahead of anyone in India with zero, and not just as a counting system.
“From a philosophical perspective, the zero is understood through a Maya worldview, and from a mathematical perspective, the zero is a well-defined concept and symbol within the Maya vigesimal system.”
- from Harvard and also https://baas.aas.org/pub/2021n1i336p03/release/2
"Career issues." The White House is committing genocide because of career issues. I know it's true, but it's beyond unacceptable. That's burn shit to the fucking ground unacceptable.
The only thing that really bothers me about CNN, Faux News, MSNBC, NY Times and host of other Western Corporate Media is that they think they are any better than RT or other News agencies.
I am looking for one of those car stickers that shows a boy pi$$ing on Corporate News in the USA.
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertazzitheother/p/friday-mezze-open-letter-to-arab?r=1i7es2&utm_medium=ios
I subscribe to Robert Azzi’s Substack. I think readers of Zeteo will appreciate his columns, which at the present have been in defense of Palestine and an outcry against Israel’s genocide and destruction of Gaza.
What an excellent program!!
Thanks!
Since Netanyahu has literally gotten away with genocide in Gaza, he believes he can now terrorize the Lebanese people with impunity. And the United States of America, with its own hands stained with Iraqi and Afghan blood, will continue to provide weapons of mass destruction and political cover for its proxy in the Middle East. 😔
Don't ever stop... my blood boils against Netanyahu.& company.... may all the land they steal lay fallow forever
I love that you interviewed William Dalrymple, one of my favorite authors. May the Jinns be kind to you😅
So glad I subscribed to Zeteo. Very informative and educational. Just what we need in this day and age. Thank you.
I wonder how many of us feel that horrible sense of dread waking up each morning. Almost now a year short of a week, we witnessed the horrors of the holocaust and genocide wreaked upon the people of Gaza. The horrors continue with accelerating degrees of inhumane depravity aided in no small measure by a malignant president, a remnant of imperialism and a faux progressive. He doesn’t care about Palestinian lives…neither does Harris. The entire democratic establishment is as putrid as Trump. I hold no faith in Stein, nothing but a spoiler who people fawn because they believe her inept and illusory campaign. To me, we have to be smart and strategize by boycotting, organizing beyond marches and chants. Gaza has changed my perspective. It is hard at times not to be despondent witnessing the arrogance and the power of a fascist zionazi regime but our so called democratic defenders of the constitution have violated every aspect of international agreements, humanitarian law, federal law and are blatant abusers of human and civil rights! A big FU to Biden, et al.
Great work Mehdi. So important.
Wasn't the attack on October 8 a response to Israel's response to the Hamas attack? I don't know the exact timing--when Israel first started the bombing after the attack, what time on the 8th Hezbollah lobbed its own attack?
I enjoyed the informative discussion. But Mehdi didn’t hold Karim Makdisi’s feet to the fire (as he so often recommends in his ‘How to Win…’) about Lebanon’s failure to disarm and remove Hezbollah from the border area. Of course, I understand that the Lebanese armed forces aren’t up to it, but he should have pressed him on that point and on the consequences of that failure.
It is worth remembering that the South African political strategy during apartheid was to keep the neighbouring countries unstable by supporting opposition factions. SA, with full support from the US & UK was actively destabilising Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, etc. This was not only to ensure the ANC did not find support from these countries, but also to make sure these countries could never threaten SA militarily. Has Israel been doing the same wrt its neighbours, especially Lebanon & Syria??
Israel is justified in attaching Hezbollah