On this edition of Parallax Views, University of Massachusetts Amherst professor of communications Sut Jhally and acclaimed musician Roger Waters, the front man of Pink Floyd, joins Parallax Views to discuss the propaganda matrix around the Israel/Palestine conflict and breaking through it. In 2016 Sut made the documentary The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States, which was narrated by Roger Waters and detailed the information war over the plight of Palestinians. Sut, Roger, and I discuss the recent Amnesty International report arguing that Israeli is practicing a form of apartheid against Palestinians, their article “The Smearing of Emma Watson” on the Harry Potter star being branded an antisemite for posting a picture on Instagram featuring the Palestinian flag and the words “Solidarity is a Verb”, the very real issue of antisemitism today and its misuses and abuses in the discussion around Israel/Palestine, the changing of public perception (especially among millennials and Generation Z) in relation to Israel and Palestine), the issues Roger has faced with his concert touring due to his activism on behalf of Palestinians, the hasbara public relations campaign and its effect on news coverage of Israel/Palestine, Roger’s thoughts on the 1% ruling class and how they’re the “Emperor With No Clothes”, the lack of education in the United States and the lack of support for teachers, the debate in the Democratic Party that has emerged over Israel/Palestine and Sut’s thoughts on Bernie Sanders use of the term Palestinian on the campaign trail, the connection between the Black Lives Matter and Palestinian Solidarity movements, how Roger first became aware of the Palestinian plight, the B in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, evangelical support for Israel and the Biblical apocalypse, the Asia Pivot and the potential decline in Israel’s geostrategic significance, and much, much more!
,Then, in our second segment, Nick Cleveland-Stout and Taylor Giorno of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft joins Parallax Views to discuss the latest developments in the scandals of Israeli spyware firm NSO Group. NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used by unseemly forces around the world, including authoritarian regimes, to target activists, journalists, diplomats, and others. In their article for Responsible Statecraft entitled “Israeli spyware firm in hot water over alleged interest in US data, CIA/FBI links”, Nick and Taylor delve into the most recent revelations about NSO Group including attempts to use the Global Magnistky Act to impose sanctions on the firm, NSO Chairman Asher Levi’s resignation, NSO Group’s dealings with the U.S. government vis-a-vis its Phantom spyware, and the bombshell reports on the firm by The Washington Post and the New York Times in the past week. We discuss all of this as well as the history of the NSO Group/Pegasus spyware scandal, the targeting of U.S. diplomats in Uganda using Pegasus, the cyberweapons arm race, the Oregon connection to the story, and much, much more!
