Israeli-American activist Miko Peled had strong words for Israel, which he accuses of torture, genocide, and “all kinds of crazy, sadistic policies for 76 years.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia this week seeking funds for Gaza’s postwar reconstruction.
The visit comes as Israel continues its military operation in the besieged Gaza Strip where nearly 32,000 Palestinians have been killed per local authorities. In recent weeks people in the enclave’s northern sector have begun to succumb to starvation as Israel enforces a tight blockade, with UNICEF director Catherine Russell calling the number of child casualties in the conflict “staggering.”
The continued suffering in Gaza caused Political Misfits host John Kiriakou to suggest the Biden administration is “putting the cart before the horse” with the trip. “First don't we have to ensure that there will still be living Palestinians in Gaza?” asked the former CIA officer. Anti-Zionist activist Miko Peled, who came to support the Palestinian cause after being born to a prominent Israeli general, joined Kiriakou on Tuesday to discuss the country’s continued assault on Gaza.
“I think he's a servant of the Zionist state, of the state of Israel,” Peled said of Blinken. “I don't think there's any question about that.”
Peled criticized Blinken’s focus on asking other states in the region to help fund aid for Palestinians, noting that, “a five minute drive from any spot in the Gaza Strip there's all the food, all the water, and all the medical aid that anybody could possibly need. Israel is denying them.”
“The party that needs to pay to rehabilitate Gaza is the party that created this catastrophe, which is Israel,” said Peled. “Can you imagine any scenario on Earth where the world begs Hitler for a ceasefire and trying to find the terms that are most favorable to Hitler as the genocide of the Jews and so many others is taking place in full force? Can you imagine a scenario like this?” The activist recounted the similarities between Israel and other extremist governments, noting that “Israel has never had any problem with the most right-wing, antisemitic fascist regimes.” Throughout the Cold War Israel retained cordial relations with apartheid South Africa, even offering to sell nuclear weapons to the white supremacist regime.
Israel was also a key ally in the United States’ Cold War campaign of violence and state terror in Latin America known as Operation Condor. For decades Israel helped train police, militaries, and death squads in the region to repress popular movements. Israel also served as a key conduit for supplying weapons to Latin American dictatorships as the US Congress attempted to stem the flow from America.
Israel’s dark history of support for violence and repression in Latin America was noted recently by Colombian President Petro Gustavo, who has sharply criticized the country in the past months. Chile, Colombia, Honduras, and Brazil have all recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv while Bolivia has opted to suspend relations with the country entirely.
“A regime like [Israel] should not have a seat on the table, they should be thrown out,” said Peled, noting the documented mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. “Palestinian suffering has got to stop, and it's got to start from this point on and forever.”
Peled agreed with Kiriakou that Israel should be sanctioned and diplomatically isolated as happened to the apartheid South African regime in the 1980s.
Many observers have noted the similarities between Israel’s system of governance and the proposals of racial supremacists. Israel was once even praised by American neo-Nazi activist Richard Spencer, who views the country’s “Jewish nation state” law as a model for his desired white ethnostate. The comments caused significant embarrassment for Zionist groups, who were quickly forced to distance themselves from the endorsement of the notorious neo-fascist.
“Support for Israel and right-wing politics both here and in Europe – particularly in Europe – those go hand in hand,” noted Peled, as Israel has seen strong support from rightwing figures like Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Italy and Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders. “Israel has to be brought to its knees and as quickly as possible. The international community needs to impose severe sanctions. Israel should not be part of the conversation.”
“This is an insane state, an insane regime that's been involved in torture and genocide and all kinds of crazy, sadistic policies for 76 years,” he added. “And it's time to stop it and forever, not to bring it to the table, but to bring it to a point where it's over, it's ended.”
“My friends in the pro-Palestinian movement who are the most reliable in their support of Palestine by and large happen to be Jewish,” added Kiriakou. “There's not this Israel-first mentality just because people happen to be Jewish.”
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