This episode marks the first installation of a new mini-series for the podcast. The series will cover the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and will take as a central text guiding us through this history a book titled The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, which was written by the Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi.
But before getting into the book, we wanted to start with an episode on the very recent history of the conflict—the round of violence that began on October 7th of 2023, when Hamas launched an attack against Israel that claimed the lives of roughly 1,200 people, and during which Hamas-led militants kidnapped about 250 people. As we discuss, what followed was an entirely disproportionate response by Israel, which, according to recent estimates, has left nearly 70,000 Palestinians dead. This response has risen to the level of genocide. That’s not just our opinion. This charge has been levied against Israel by a UN special committee, a UN commission of inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, as well as human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Genocide Watch, and B’Tselem, among others.
Throughout this episode, we cover the death toll in Gaza, as well as other grim statistics about the current situation. We then get into the need for strengthening international institutions that can enforce international law effectively. And we break down in greater detail why it’s accurate to label the Israeli government’s assault on Gaza since October of 2023 a genocide. The episode concludes with some discussion of the current ceasefire in Gaza.
In the episodes following this one, we will return to the origins of the Israel-Palestine conflict and trace the conflict from there up through the present. The plan is to use Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine to frame and inform these upcoming episodes to a substantial degree, but I’m sure we’ll end up incorporating plenty of other sources as well.
Show Notes
UNRWA Situation Report #195 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem (UNRWA, 11/4/25)
The Human Toll of the Gaza War: Direct and Indirect Death from 7 October 2023 to 3 October 2025 (Brown University, 10/7/25)
For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, 11/17/23)
Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, U.N. Inquiry Says (New York Times, 9/16/25)
My U.N. Commission’s Finding: Israel Is Committing Genocide (New York Times, 9/16/25)
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Where is the Gaza ‘peace process’ really going? (Guardian, 11/8/25)
Israel resumes Gaza ceasefire after 104 Palestinians killed in airstrikes (Axios, 10/28/25)
Credits
Theme music by our youngest brother Tate.
Cover art by Arthur Santoro.
