Noura Erakat and Yousef Munayyer on Gaza Assault: Interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes

In a repetition of its aerial and ground offensive in Winter 2008/09, Israel has once again embarked on a military campaign against the Palestinian population in Gaza. This assault comes just after US Presidential elections and just before Israel's Parliamentary elections. Israel claims that its objective is to diminish Hamas's military capacity, yet most analysts attribute the war to PM Netanyahu's domestic electoral considerations. The latest round of armed force began on November 8, when an Israeli bullet killed a 13-year old boy playing soccer. Palestinian fighters responded with force by blowing up a tunnel on the Gaza-Israeli border, injuring one soldier. The exchange of fire reached its apex when Israel assassinated Ahmad Ja'abari, the head of Hamas's military wing, as he reportedly reviewed the terms of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel. Since then, Israel's assault has escalated and caused significant destruction and casualties. As of Monday, 19 November, the fifth day of Israel's aerial offensive, 102 Palestinians had been killed. Rocket fire from Gaza killed three Israelis.

On Sunday morning, Jadaliyya co-editor Noura Erakat, together with the Palestine Center's Executive Director Yousef Munnayyar, joined Chris Hayes on his MSNBC program, "UP With Chris Hayes" to discuss these latest developments. The program also featured David Frum, former economic speechwriter for George W. Bush, and Noam Sheizaf, independent journalist and editor presently with +972 Magazine. The program is unique for hosting two Palestinians with a critical perspective on the Palestinian-Israel prolonged conflict and thus marks a  shift, or an anomaly, in the American mainstream media cycle. Erakat and Munnayyar emphasized the structural issues underpinning the conflict, including a lack of accountability for Israeli aggression, the ongoing military occupation and siege of Gaza, as well as emphasizing the asymmetry between the Palestinian people and the Israeli State. It is included below in four parts (Time-code marked for Jadaliyya Co-Editor interventions above video).

[Significant highlight occurs at 5:45 when Noura Erakat questions David Frum on illegal Israeli settlements in Part 3]

Part I [Starts at 4:10. Noura at 7:00]

Part 2  

Part 3 [Noura at 00:32 and 5:45 on Settlements]  

Part 4  [Noura at 00:40]