Jonny Gould's Jewish State

"An urgent ceasefire, get humanitarian aid in without further delay, release the hostages. Oh, and let's move towards a Two-State Solution".  When we switch on the news, that's the agenda-setting drumbeat from politicians, aided and abetted by international institutions and their media lackies. The unrepentant, unaccountable BBC and others don't care about the mess they leave. Welcome back for the third time to Jonny Gould's Jewish State, Imshin, Jacqui Peleg. Her sources are impeccable, transparent and open source and they tell the REAL story in Gaza. Because they come from videos uploaded to social media by Gazans themselves. This is how they want us to see and hear them. They’re all available now on her X account, Imshin. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find more of Jonny’s podcasts and writing here. Israel is fighting an existential war on seven fronts but an eighth one always seems to be discounted from the reckoning.  It’s the battle of narratives, played through media, both legacy and social. Somewhere since October 7th 2023, the truth has been trampled down a long deep rabbit hole.  What you’re about to listen to is totally irreconcilable with the shorthand, throwaway phrases you get from mainstream bulletins.  Mosab Hassan Yousef, born in 1978 is a child of the Israel Gaza conflict.  He’s "The Green Prince," son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, co-founder of Hamas.  Raised in a family deeply entangled with Hamas, Mosab seemed destined for a life of terrorism. But he defected to Israel in 1997 and worked as a spy for Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service for a decade until he moved to the United States.  He helped them prevent numerous suicide bombings and other terror attacks leading to the capture of several Hamas operatives.  His autobiography, "Son of Hamas," details his life, his disillusionment with Hamas and his espionage. He converted to Christianity too, distancing himself from his roots still further - adding a layer to his own transformation. Not enough delegates turned up to the European Parliament in Brussels to listen to him and he declares his disappointment at the start of this speech - so let's gets his stark message out still further. Share this episode to your friends. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education. You can also help Jonny by supporting him here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a rather different and special episode of Jonny Gould’s Jewish State. It's year 2 of our “Schools Podcaster of the Year” award, presented this year by Dangoor Education.  It stars our winner, 11-year-old David Green from Year 6 at North West London Jewish Day School, who won the chance to make this episode with me.  David has the open mind of a young man blessed with great intelligence and the capacity for profound uncluttered insights.  And he secured time for us with Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum, a man of great learning. His latest book is "Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt”, reconciling Judaism with modernity, addressing profound questions that intersect faith, science, and contemporary life. He’s Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) and holds the Rabbi Sacks Chair of Modern Jewish Thought, named in honour of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory, our late Chief Rabbi’s' legacy in contemporary Jewish philosophy and education. With the Dangoor Education “Schools Podcaster of the Year”, I'm encouraging the next generation to think seriously about journalism and storytelling - not just to take in the TikTokers and YouTubers. And the word is spreading, a second school is joining the title chase. So if you’d like yours to have a separate competition, have a word with your head and put them in touch with me. Here is Rabbi Zarum with competition winner, David Green. The podcast series is supported by UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy Help Jonny to continue making these podcasts: buy him a coffee here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support Jonny's work here. “After The Pogrom” - what now for Israel and the Jewish diaspora? And for western civilisation for that matter?  The swirling dust of conflict has brought with it significant changes to our world and yet amid Israel’s fight on seven fronts, Brendan O’Neill’s coherent methodic analysis explains what we’re witness to.  Brendan’s not on X, you’ll only find “burntoakboy” as he’s known on Instagram “because the rest of social media is far too rough and ugly” for him. And it’s where since October 7th 2023, he’s been ever present with stout, sometimes uncensored defences of the State of Israel. You’ve seen him writing for Spiked Online and on TV and radio.  But he’s no Johnny Come Lately: he’s not jumped on the Israel bandwagon. In our first interview here on Jonny Gould’s Jewish state in 2020, Brendan compared the Jewish and non-Jewish people’s takeaways from the Second World War.  While Europeans declared that to end all wars, we needed “happy clappy borders”, Jews on the other hand recognised that secure borders were absolutely essential to our survival.  How right he’s proved to be. Scroll back to episode 51 for a gripping interview during the Brexit and Covid years. But right now, recorded on this most poignant date in our recent history, it’s always a pleasure to spend time with Brendan O’Neill. Buy “After The Pogrom” here. And you can help support Jonny's efforts by following this link. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices