Unchecked MSNBC Guest Rails Against ‘Bromides’ Granting Israel the Right to Defend Itself [incl. Rashid Khalidi]

Wednesday MSNBC segment focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict quickly devolved into a bashing of the Jewish State, with a guest seemingly likening Israel’s response to Hamas rocket attacks to killings of African-Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Left-wing host Joy Reid allowed the guest to go unchecked as he railed against “bromides” that grant Israel “the right to defend itself,” arguing instead that Palestinians must defend themselves from the Jews.

“The media itself is starting to air both sides of the dispute,” Rashid Khalidi, Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, told Reid.

“Social media is doing things you all are not willing or able to do. The images people are seeing on social media, they cannot unsee. I think you have changes going on, things like the Tulsa riots, things like Black Lives Matter, are seen as connected by a very large number of people. Not just in the Democratic Party but particularly young people on campuses, young people all over the country. And I think this is something that is actually happening not just in the United States.

Khalidi said that while there is “a lot of pushback,” he believes “people are moving in the direction of understanding that much, many of these bromides, that ‘Israel has the right to defend itself....’ do Palestinians have the right to defend themselves?” he stopped short.

“‘Israel’s security’ -- the most insecure people in Palestine and Israel are Palestinians and we talk about Israel’s security. If people are people and we believe in human rights, which the United States supposedly stands for, then the kinds of things we expect for ourselves, we should expect for people, not just in Israel but also in Palestine,” Khalidi continued.

Reid nodded along before claiming that “we’re even seeing Jewish organizations characterizing what we’re seeing in Israel as apartheid which is something that used to only a small number of people would be willing to say publicly.”

“I wonder, does that end up moving?” she said. Reid then questioned whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has a political interest” in delaying a cease-fire “because this might get him past his corruption issues and keeping prime minister.”

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