EDITOR—This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present. This story starts in 1799, outside the walls of Acre in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, when an army under Napoleon Bonaparte besieged the city. It was all part of a campaign to defeat the Ottomans and establish a French presence in the region. In search of allies, Napoleon issued a letter offering Palestine as a homeland to the Jews under French protection. He called on the Jews to ‘rise up’ against what he called their oppressors. Napoleon’s appeal was widely publicised. But he was ultimately defeated. In Acre today, the only memory of him is a statue atop a hill overlooking the city. Yet Napoleon’s project for a Jewish homeland in the region under a colonial protectorate did not die, 40 years later, the plan was revived but by the British.
JEWISH QUESTIONS
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ERIC ZUESSE—As the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas enters a fourth month, combat in Gaza has advanced farther south, and Palestinians fleeing the violence — many of them for the third, fourth or even fifth time — have packed themselves into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost major city.
More than a million displaced people are estimated to be taking shelter in the city, on top of its prewar population of 270,000. Apartments and other dwellings are housing dozens, even hundreds of people, as Israeli airstrikes continue. Shelters operated by the United Nations in Gaza are full far beyond their capacity, the U.N. says.
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EDITOR—Armed with unique first-hand knowledge of the history of Zionism, Palestine, Israeli politics, Gaza, Hamas, the Israeli lobby, and congressional cravenness, Max Blumenthal and Miko Peled will explore the ongoing post-October 7th war in Gaza: Hamas, genocide, war crimes, the probable end game, the successes or failures of the IDF, the fate of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a one-state solution, a two-state solution, or indeterminate upheaval, the role and co-belligerency of the United States in the Israeli government’s freely confessed eagerness to exterminate Palestinians, the responsibility of American citizens for Israel’s war crimes, and the likely spread of the war to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran risking nuclear exchanges.
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WM VAN WAGENEN—A cell phone video from a concert attendee shows Israeli police and security forces using their vehicles to block the road near the festival site and exchanging fire with Hamas fighters. When gunfire erupted, those trapped on the road fled east into open fields, whether in their cars or by foot. Many made it past the fields and hid near trees, under bushes, and in ravines. But body cam footage shows heavily armed Israeli police units taking up positions on the road and firing across the open field into the trees where civilians had taken cover.
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JOEL STEIN—As a proud Jew, I want America to know about our accomplishment. Yes, we control Hollywood. Without us, you’d be flipping between “The 700 Club” and “Davey and Goliath” on TV all day.
So I’ve taken it upon myself to re-convince America that Jews run Hollywood by launching a public relations campaign, because that’s what we do best. I’m weighing several slogans, including: “Hollywood: More Jewish than ever!”; “Hollywood: From the people who brought you the Bible”; and “Hollywood: If you enjoy TV and movies, then you probably like Jews after all.”