Listener's questions for Richard Seymour
Added 2023-10-17 09:57:38 +0000 UTCThis Sunday Richard will be returning to answer your questions on the situation in Gaza and the broader regional and international ramifications. If you have a question for him please comment below, or email politicstheoryother@gmail.com with 'Seymour Listener's Questions' in the subject line. Please free also to respond to Richard's comments from the most recent episode. Thanks as ever for your support!
Comments
Unfortunately perhaps a bit too late for the consideration of these astounding comments from Mitch McConnell! https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/22/mitch-mcconnell-israel-ukraine-biden-aid “I view it as all interconnected,” he said during the interview. “If you look at the Ukraine assistance, let’s – let’s talk about where the money is really going. A significant portion of it’s being spent in the United States in 38 different states, replacing the weapons that we sent to Ukraine with more modern weapons. So we’re rebuilding our industrial base,” he said. He added: “No Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We’re rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that. I think it’s wonderful that they’re defending themselves.”
Jon
2023-10-23 10:55:08 +0000 UTCHi! I was wondering if you think this has had a unifying effect on the Israeli state and governing parties? A common enemy to rally against, etc. If not are the fault lines continuing from the past year's divisions or are new coalitions forming?
Alex l-f
2023-10-22 12:04:29 +0000 UTCHi Richard and Alex, your shows are great. Just wanted to hear your thoughts on attempts across Europe and the West to discredit, criminalise and demonise Solidarity with Palestine. There were massive demos in Dublin, Cork and other parts of Ireland yesterday, but the context here is somewhat different. What do you think will be the short and long term consequences of these attacks on solidaity? Rosie
Rosie Meade
2023-10-22 09:15:24 +0000 UTCVery simple one, could Richard comment on the al ahli hospital bombing? There's an impulse, given the openly known atrocities undertaken by the Israeli military and their tried process of denial and misdirection, to assume that it must have been them. What does Richard make of the evidence that he's seen so far?
Alexander McLellan
2023-10-20 18:47:54 +0000 UTCHey - Love the show and always tune in to the ones with Richard. Given Richard's academic background I wonder whether he would be able to comment on the US's historical support for Israel and whether the past reasons for supporting Israel are still relevant today. I confess near total ignorance but could it be said that Israel has become a liability to an overburdened American foreign policy rather than a stalwart/bulwark in a fragile region. Just as Ukraine became an unfortunate distraction as the US tries to pivot to Asia, has US support for Israel now reopened an old wound just as some (e.g. Jake Sullivan!) were celebrating relative calm and détente, the US and China had been forging new alliances and the US seemed to be moving on from the post-9/11 war on terror era? What geopolitical interest exactly did the US have and what interests does it have in supporting Israel now? Is the new Israel, emboldened by the relative peace, even a desirable ally? If that doesn’t lead anywhere interesting then I would be interested in a broad survey of the geopolitical interests. China, Russia, Brasil and India have no real interest either way and appear to be enjoying watching America squirm. It certainly plays to Russia’s interests in Ukraine by distracting the West and to China’s and Russia’s interests by corroborating their propaganda about failing western liberalism. The “global south” has been notably ambivalent in its response to the recent events.
Jon
2023-10-19 08:03:43 +0000 UTCAlex, given the huge number of deaths of civilians from the horrific initial reports of the air strike on the Gaza hospital tonight, what is the potential or political capacity for young people and activists in US/Israel-aligned Arab countries to cause unrest in their own countries in protest about this? Or, could these Arab political leaderships be realistically moved to change their positions regarding deep economic and military ties with US-Israel as a result of this new escalated situation in Israel-Palestine?
Danny McShane
2023-10-17 19:35:37 +0000 UTCHi Alex/Richard I have two questions. The first relates to ‘the Two-State Solution’. This seems to have been dead for many years, yet is still referred as the answer by most politicians, on most sides, from Keir Starmer/Rishi Sunak (probably cynically – happy with the status quo) to Jeremy Corbyn (probably naively). When/how can this be abandoned, for a ‘One-State Solution’ with a genuinely democratic & non-discriminatory state ‘From the River to the Sea’ for both Jews & Arabs. Secondly, while not condoning the methods used by Hamas, how can one accept thar armed resistance to oppression/occupation is justified, where they seem to be the only alternative to the Palestinian Authority, which seems to be a Quisling regime acting as the police force on behalf of Israel. Hand wringing does not seem a very attractive option. Your thoughts are appreciated. Konrad
Konrad
2023-10-17 13:27:37 +0000 UTCHey Alex, I would be interested to know what Richard’s thoughts are on how climate change impacts the current situation in the Middle East? Cheers, Fergal
Fergal MacDomhnaill
2023-10-17 10:00:18 +0000 UTC
