Antony Loewenstein's Blog, page 21
October 8, 2024
The Palestine Laboratory podcast series
I’m excited to announce the release of The Palestine Laboratory podcast, inspired by my global best-selling book of the same name.
This has been 12 months in the making (though I’ve been reporting on the issue for years). The 4-part series is being released by the great US media outlet, Drop Site News.
Here’s the video trailer:
The Palestine Laboratory Podcast: A New Investigative Series from Drop Site News by Drop Site News
The first episode of The Palestine Laboratory premieres October 10. Paid subscribers get exclusive early access to all episodes.
Here’s the audio trailer:
The Palestine Laboratory Podcast: A New Investigative Series from Drop Site News by Drop Site News
I’ve written an introductory story for Drop Site News about the podcast and its genesis:
Israel’s brutal onslaught in Gaza since October 7, 2023 has been apocalyptic for Palestinians. But for Israeli weapons makers, it’s been an unprecedented time of financial success and a unique opportunity to show off their latest tech.
In December last year, the CEO of Israeli defense company, Smart Shooter, told the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, how proud she was of assisting Israeli forces in Gaza because her product had allowed them to eliminate a swarm of seven attack drones.
Gaza was the first time Smart Shooter’s SMASH had been used in active war and the company was receiving orders from militaries across the globe including the US and Britain. Business was booming.
CEO Michal Mor was asked about her “vision” for the future and she proudly explained how “the ultimate goal is to make our technology a standard on every rifle in all armies, and to continue developing features for non-combat purposes as well, such as dispersing demonstrations; when you don’t want to kill but deter, the system will know how to hit, for example, only below [the] knee.”
During the Great March of Return in 2018 and 2019, when thousands of Palestinians marched in Gaza to the “security fence” with Israel, Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing hundreds and injuring tens of thousands. Some Israeli snipers proudly recounted how many Palestinians knees they’d hit, making them disabled for life.
I’ve spent more than a decade investigating the Israeli arms industry, regularly reporting from Israel and Palestine since 2005 and living in East Jerusalem between 2016 and 2020. I’m an Australian, German Jewish independent journalist and film-maker, my work and life was recently featured in a film broadcast by , and my latest book is the global bestselling The Palestine Laboratory.
Understanding the Israeli weapons trade, an industry that’s worked with some of the most repressive nations on the planet since the Jewish state’s birth in 1948, is vital to decode a key rationale behind the Israeli military mindset; endless occupation and war is so profitable that it’s seen as literally insane to even think about stopping them. War in Gaza and the West Bank and exploding pagers in Lebanon are a unique opportunity to teach, sell, and inspire other states who want to repress their own minorities, unwanted populations, or dissidents. Israel will show them how.
This four-part podcast series will take listeners on a global journey into the Palestine laboratory, how it developed, how it works, why it’s so attractive for many nations, how it’s fueled by anti-Palestinian racism and been deployed on a massive scale since October 7, 2023.
This project has been a collaborative effort since late 2023 with a team of experienced producers, researchers, artists, musicians and sound designers. We’re honored to feature voices from Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and across the globe.
The first episode of The Palestine Laboratory premieres October 10 across all podcast platforms and on DropSiteNews.com. As a thank you gift to paid subscribers to Drop Site News, we are making all episodes in this series available right away on October 10. For everyone else, episodes will be released every Thursday. You can become a paid subscriber today by heading to DropSitenews.com/PalestineLab for a 20% discount on your subscription.
Don’t miss out. Subscribe to Drop Site News on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your favorite podcast platforms to get The Palestine Laboratory Podcast delivered straight to your feed every Thursday.
Here’s my Instagram post detailing the huge cast of collaborators to make this project happen:
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Blind US support for Israel is killing the country
On the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023, Al Jazeera English asked me to comment on the role of Washington towards the Jewish state.
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October 6, 2024
The Times of India editorialises about the Palestine laboratory
Following the recent release of the Indian edition of my book, The Palestine Laboratory, I’m in shock that the biggest English speaking newspaper in the country, The Times of India, has editorialised about my book. In essence, it’s a book review that seems to endorse its narrative.
It’s moments like these when I realise that my book and work is really impacting huge numbers of people (in this case, the biggest nation on the planet) and helpfully guiding them to understand the Israeli state and its arms industry.
Here’s the editorial, published on 5 October:
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“None of these activities, the killings, the assassinations, the destruction, none of that is making Israel safer”
Following the recent release of the Turkish edition of my book, The Palestine Laboratory, I was interviewed by the Turkish news agency, Anadolu Agency (here’s the Turkish and English versions):
“None of these activities, the killings, the assassinations, the destruction, none of that is making Israel safer,” Loewenstein said, noting that many countries, some of them supporters of Israel, saw Oct. 7 as a disaster for Tel Aviv, and that watching the events in Gaza and Lebanon might lead them to believe that ”its deterrence has strengthened.”
“There are still 5 million Palestinians under occupation. Their lives have gotten much worse in the last year. Their lives are not going to get any better in the near future because of the Israeli government, because of the ideology, because of the occupation, all these reasons,” he said. “Israel might think that it has defeated or is defeating a key enemy in the region, but none of it is making Israeli Jews particularly any safer. Their position in the Middle East has not become more secure in the last 12 months.”
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Washington is the key enabler of Israeli action
The Biden administration is the key backer of every Israeli action since 7 October 2023 (and long before that, too).
Here’s my interview with Australia’s SBS News about Washington’s role as enabler and how it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
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“Occupation is not a Jewish value”
Today I went to the Palestine rally in Sydney, alongside a huge crowd, and spoke to ABC News about what occupation and endless war mean:
I was proud to attend today’s Palestine rally in Sydney and explain to @abcnews, the clip is below, that endless war and occupation aren’t Jewish values and I and many other Jews oppose them vigorously: https://t.co/dZj4jnfuYx
— Antony Loewenstein (@antloewenstein) October 6, 2024
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October 5, 2024
CNN interview on Israel’s increasingly precarious position in the Middle East
My interview with CNN on Israel’s extreme actions from Gaza to Lebanon and how it places Israel in an ever-more precarious position in the region.
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Al Jazeera English on the growth of global Jewish dissent
My interview on Al Jazeera English about the surge in dissent within the global Jewish Diaspora over Israel/Palestine.
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October 3, 2024
ABC Australia radio interview on one year since 7 October 2023
My interview today with ABC Australia’s Radio National Breakfast program on the one year since 7 October, 2023, Israeli violence in Gaza and beyond and the desperate need for critical Jewish voices in a time of mass slaughter.
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October 2, 2024
Sky News interview on how Israel’s irrational actions will haunt it
My interview with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News on Israel’s wild and violent actions across the Middle East.
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