If you’ve listened to my show, you know that I often refer to myself as an “atheist Jew”. My Judaism comes by way of heritage, family, generational stories and history. I have real disdain for organized religion of every stripe, and have often commented about how virtually every war ever fought had its basis somewhere in religion.

I’ve been struggling since the news broke of the Oct 7 attack by Hamas terrorists with the images that play on a loop in my mind. Making it worse is the reception I’ve gotten from some listeners, former friends and former political allies, and complete strangers who think that, because I believe that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, that I am a “Zionist who loves genocide.”

I do my best to explain my feelings, but these people who resort to calling me names and worse don’t want to listen, they want to tell me how I feel. They have no clue.

I hope they’re listening today.

I happened upon a thread on Threads.net from a man named Mo Husseini that captured my attention through all 55 parts. I immediately identified with him when he described himself:

“I am a proud Palestinian-American. I care deeply about Palestinian rights to freedom, security, and self-determination.

But I am also profoundly aware that true long-term freedom, security, and self-determination for Palestinians cannot exist without creating a reciprocal reality for Israelis.

There is no path to freedom that begins with oppression of the other.

That is not freedom.

That is a Pyrrhic victory that will turn to ashes in your mouth.

We are, both peoples, stuck on the world’s worst fucking amusement park ride, an eternally shitty and utterly predictable carousel of suffering.”

It goes on and I hope you’ll read the whole thing. It’s posted on Medium in article form here:

Mo joins me in conversation on today’s show. I hope you’ll join us.

***Post show note from Nicole: I truly appreciate Mo joining me today. We didn’t agree on everything, but we did find common ground where it was most important. That is the need for both sides to stop the shit and start talking. That’s an oversimplification, but so it goes.

In the meantime, there are two films you should watch: Oslo and Screams Before Silence.

And here’s today’s show