Interview
Mohammed El-Kurd: Palestine | Lex Fridman Podcast #391
- Expectations for continued U.S. public opposition to foreign aid, citing figures of $3.8 billion annually and $150 billion since WWII, with increasing resistance to funding actions described as apartheid.
- Predictions regarding the land registry process in Israel, anticipating that the Supreme Court will likely disregard pre-1948 Ottoman and Jordanian documents, resulting in a classification of 90% of historic Palestine as state-owned and causing a massive loss of Palestinian property.
- Forecasts that the Israeli government will persist in rejecting 95% of Palestinian building permit applications in East Jerusalem and the West Bank while reclassifying residential areas as firing zones or military zones to facilitate expulsions.
- Outlooks on the judicial system expecting the Supreme Court to uphold laws preventing family reunification, acquit soldiers who kill civilians including disabled individuals, and treat legal disputes as political battles regarding demographics rather than real estate.
- Anticipated continuation of military tactics including raids involving 1,000 soldiers, drone strikes, and the use of sound bombs and rubber bullets to dismantle infrastructure and force residents out of areas like Masaf Riat and South Hebron Hills.
- Predictions that the Israeli government will maintain the "existential threat" narrative involving Iran to justify military expansion, despite holding the region's only nuclear weapons, while using this rhetoric to silence opposition.
- Expectations that Arab regimes normalizing relations with Israel, such as Morocco, will prioritize arms and economic deals over reconciliation, potentially leveraging these ties to gain international recognition for claims like sovereignty over Western Sahara.
- Forecasts regarding the Palestinian Authority's continued role as a security subcontractor, prioritizing its own interests, killing opposition activists, and benefiting from the status quo rather than pursuing liberation.
- Anticipated persistence of censorship and bias where journalists face hurdles using terms like "Palestine" or "Nakba," while American politicians and the ADL allegedly focus on suppressing Black liberation movements and surveilling activists.
- Predictions that the "two-state solution" remains impossible due to the expansion of settlements housing nearly one million settlers, which fragment the West Bank into a "Swiss cheese" landscape.
- Expectations for the continuation of severe movement restrictions where West Bank residents with "green IDs" require permits to travel, face checkpoints, and live in communities separated by walls.
- Forecasts that Gaza will remain an "open-air prison" with uninhabitable conditions due to blockades on water, air, and land, compounded by ongoing bombardment and the withholding of slain bodies as bargaining chips.
- Expectations that the Palestinian diaspora will continue to exert political influence through grassroots campaigns and education, mirroring efforts from the 1970s and 1980s, while journalists fight to report on the occupation despite limited institutional backing.
- Predictions that the conflict will perpetuate itself as military violence in refugee camps like Jenin is expected to generate further resistance rather than quell it, alongside continued racialization of Palestinians as Muslim in the West.
- Outlooks on the psychological and social resilience of Palestinians, anticipating that families will maintain national identity, mothers will honor their fallen sons to show spirit, and writers will continue to document suffering despite the "relentless onslaught" of news.
- Anticipated continuation of systemic policies where Israel frames colonialism as a real estate dispute, cites religious decrees to claim land, and honors historical figures associated with racist acts and genocide.
- Expectations that the legal system will continue to treat Palestinian ownership documents as fabricated while accepting Israeli documents without authentication, thereby facilitating ongoing land theft and evictions.
- Predictions regarding the US public shifting away from "Israel-first" politics, driven by a growing refusal to fund foreign aid and increasing awareness of the asymmetry of power and violence in the region.