Sam Harris Explains What Israel's Critics Keep Missing | Making Sense  

Making justification on the ground of sense of proportion is equated saying that a distinction has to be drawn between good and bad evil.

I want a debate between Sam and Kyle Kulinski.

We’ve lost the ability to articulate arguments that effectively demystify propaganda

The world kitchen volunteers were bombed 3 times. That wasn’t a “mistake”. Have some common sense and discernment in your criticism of Israel with the same fervor as your criticism of Palestinians

Sam has lost his absolute mind on this issue. Beyond blind and ridiculous. Bow out of rhis debate, Sam, because it is impossoble to respect you as a serious ethicist and philosopher.

Been a big fan of yours for over a decade, Sam, but this reflexive action of defending Israel at the expense of objective reality is not going to age well...at all. I have enough optimism about your pragmatic intelligence that at some point the light will come on and you will see the unfolding events of this war for what it really is, not what you NEED it to be.

Is it within the realms of possibility that there’s a non zero percent chance that these “mistakes” might’ve been intentional?

If Sam believes that the building of settlements is wrong, does he think that Palestinians have the right to resist this? If so, how should they go about doing this?

Dear Sam Harris, You claim that quote (0:05): "... this kind of thing happens in every war." Ok... fair enough. However, here are some facts you need to reflect on if you want to make a coherent argument. 1. The percentage of civilians killed in WW2 (which is considered to be the most lethal war in human history) is around 60% to 67%. This is from a time before Geneva Convention and before UN Charter of Human Rights. This is from a time when we were throwing atom bombs on civilian population and we were burning people in gas chambers on an industrial scale. *IDF's own numbers put the civilian deaths in Gaza in that same ballpark.* And we know that IDF's methodology is suspect, because the whole system for counting casualties collapsed weeks ago, independent journos are not allowed in, and IDF is not counting missing people who are lying under the rubble as potential casualties. *Every other report puts the civilian deaths at well above 70%.* I won't even go into the whole planned mass starvation and the inhumanity of aid prevention. How can you claim that these numbers, which are most likely far worse than what we have seen in WW2 (the most lethal war in human history), can possibly be justified as just "par for the course"? 2. You need to clarify whether or not you think there is a point where the civilian death toll becomes too high? If that is the case... where exactly do you draw the line? At 80%? 90%? 99%? Do you believe the aid to Isreal should be unconditional? If not... again... where do you draw the line? 3. The human shield argument doesn't fly anymore, Sam. We know about Israelis intentionally delaying strikes on Hamas officers until they return home to their families in order to maximize the death toll - and then they use the narrative of human shields to deflect criticism. We have seen the Israelis kill unarmed people waving white flags. We have heard with our own ears and seen with our own eyes the interviews with Israeli officials who claim that there are no innocent Palestinians. You can always pull the argument how "mistakes happen in war", but the numbers just don't support this. The words from Israeli officials don't support this. Video evidence where they are killing unarmed population in front of cameras doesn't support this. The bombing of hospitals doesn't support this. The aid prevention doesn't support this. Wake up, man! 4. Please spare us of doing lip service for the civilian deaths if it is then followed by "shit-happens-in-war" type of arguments. It is clear that for you this is an ideological war between civilizations. And I think you are smart enough to know that you can defend any monstrosity through the lens of ideology. So, why are you repeatedly doing it? Where do you draw the line, Sam?

Journalists in the Ukraine conflict targeted: 1 Journalists in the Gaza conflict targeted: 200+ Get real Sam.

I can see why Sam doesn’t want to engage with conspiracy theorists…but this is not a matter of conspiracy. Sam needs to return to the ring of debate if he’s going to be seen as someone with any valuable input. Douglas Murray has become a highly emotional and one sided voice in this debate and does not seem capable of dealing with this issue as the facts have evolved over time. These guys are not responding to new information. They are not applying an ounce of cynicism to Israel’s motivations. They are not grappling with a certain mundane reality which is: you can be a “liberal democracy” and still inflict more violence and bloodshed than a group of fanatics. The caliphate boogeyman cannot be invoked to explain and diminish each and every outrage.

Unless the Palestinians get their own state, I don't see any of this coming to an end. People need to be given the opportunity and security to build their lives and businesses, so they can stop focussing on fighting the occupiers, and get on with normal life goals.

'Who is putting out their children at the front? To say that all who died were children of some fighter and were purposefully put out at front is absurd, as if none were killed in air strikes?'

Can Sam admit that the initial idea of forcing an Israeli state on that region was an obviously insane thing to do, regardless of hindsight?

Hearing the thoughtful but divergent views here, I'm struck by how much both sides seem to ultimately want the same thing - for their children to grow up in a world without fear and violence, with opportunity and dignity. Whatever our disagreements about history and politics, perhaps that fundamental shared hope for a better future is a place to start. Can we challenge ourselves to ask: what would it take to build a reality where both Israeli and Palestinian children can thrive, free from the traumas of war and the weight of historical grievances? That's an immensely difficult question given the current realities, but isn't grappling with it the only way out of this cycle? If we care about human life and human potential, on a long enough timeline we have to find a way for both peoples to live in peace. That doesn't mean erasing disagreement or papering over injustice. It means balancing our moral outrage with pragmatic recognition of the other side's humanity and legitimate hopes. Maybe that's naive. But if we can't imagine both peoples thriving together, then we're condemning future generations to endless conflict. Self-reflection, uncomfortable compromise and a commitment to building a shared society are the only alternatives to doom. So while I don't have the answers, I'd suggest we ground this conversation not just in the very real injustices of the past, but in the necessities for a better future - even as we acknowledge how difficult the path between them is.

So so disappointed in you Mr Harris and your blinkered and discombe passionate views here

In his pursuit of moral clarity Sam has traded the truth of complexity with the illusion of simplicity. His use of “the good guys” when talking about Israel and the US during its invasion of Iraq reflects this reductionism. Painting one side as the “good guys” requires and enables a distortion of reality. This is how a person can believe that the people who have killed over 13,000 children (and have left hundreds of thousands of others to face famine and immense trauma) somehow care more about those children then their own parents. Palestinians who have lost their children have been ending their own lives. There is endless footage of mothers screaming as they hold their children’s bodies in their hands. I am yet to see any Israelis screaming in emotional agony over the lives of Palestinians. It is bizarre and absurd to think the people who are responsible for the loss of so many children care more about them then their own bereaved parents. It’s worse than dehumanizing to Palestinians. Even animals care about their own offspring. The belief that they don’t care is an inversion of Palestinian’s humanity. It paints them as anti-human. This is the outcome of reducing conflicts to “good guys” and “bad guys”.

How could I bought your Waking Up subscription and listened so many of your podcasts and meditations... Unbelieveable. I know your renowned dislike of any Islamic cause and I join you in that. But your severe dismissal of killing 35k civilians as "war casualties that just may happen" is simply disgusting. Jesus. How come did I learn loving kindness meditation from you? :(((

Does this warmongering and extreme war propaganda sounds like something out of an enlightened nirvana level meditation guru who microdoses on magic mushrooms? Or it sounds more like something from a frustrated, egotistic politician who is trying hard to promote war propaganda from one side?

Ryan McBeth is a good military analyst.

If someone was doing to Israel what Israel is doing, you'd be singing a very different tune. Imagine your argument if it was a Muslim nation doing this, and thie links you'd be making to the Quran.

Sorry Sam, I think you're so clear minded on most topics but this one your bias is just clouding your judgement.

Understanding Sam needs a dive into Islam itself as a religion and how deeply rooted it is in their actions and reactions. Most people merely stop at a humanitarian point of view and see death, suffering and atrocities which means the only way they could stand is on the side of the weak, although just because they're weaker doesn't mean they're right.

Sam Harris is an articulate hypocrite

The war between Russia and Ukraine has about 11.000 civilian deaths total in 2 years. Israels attack on Gaza has killed over 30.000 civilians in less than 6 months. Add the fact that over 70% of those killed are women and children. Also over 200 aid workers and more than 90 journalists. None of these numbers are anywhere close to normal for a modern war, or any war for that matter, not even when the aggressor is a brutal dictatorship like Russia, and here those numbers are being generated by a supposed democracy. That statistics alone should tell you this isn't a normal military operation in any way shape or form. And it gets worse when you factor in deliberate starvation and blocking of aid. In addition, Israel does not recognise Gaza or any other region as a sovereign state, nor do they recognise Hamas as a legitimate government. This means that by Israels own logic, Hamas is a terrorist network operation out of a certain area, NOT a government representing a population. This means that attacking the population for something done by this terrorist network makes absolutely no sense by their own standards, nor dos it make sense to treat Gaza as a "foreign power" of the type that would let you invoke self defence principles according to international law. It still wouldn't fly since an indiscriminate attack against a population wouldn't qualify as self defence anyways, for example it wouldn't count as self defence if Ukraine attacked a Russian village. But still. I'm sorry, but this is completely abnormal. It qualifies as genocidal and ethnic cleansing by international standards. And none of it can be excused or even explained by the terrorist attack in Oktober. Edit: One more thing. The question about why Americans publicly protest the war in Gaza rahter than the war in Ukraine, a question I heard you ask in another video as if it was somehow a moral conundrum, is very simple, . US citizens ARE directly responsible for the US part in enabling Israels actions in Gaza and the west bank, this includes military aid, economic aid and the ridiculous vetoing (for decades) of any and all UN resolutions attempting to move towards a solution to the conflict. Resolutions supported by pretty much all other countries in the world. US citizens, by contrast, ARE NOT responsible for Russia attacking Ukraine. How such a basic moral principle escapes your normally keen sensibilities is frankly beyond me. I have to wonder if you aren't simply trapped in your own prestige and just can't back down.

This is seeking revenge in the name of seeking justice. Trying to justify it as a proportionate response is like justifying mass killings by saying there should be a correct proportionate amount of innocent human lives that can be lost. Where is human rights in that? I am extremely disappointed in Sam. 😢 If destroying a country and killing innocent civilians to replace a regime worked, then America would have seen success in Afghanistan. No lessons have been learned.

By referencing Pat Tillman here, Sam gives the game away.

Sam speaks of sides: right sides and wrong sides, good sides and bad sides. I choose the side of the innocent, the victims, those caught between these sides that Sam designates. This then gives me the right to denounce both the IDF/Israeli Government and Hamas. Both have lost their way. Both deserve the designation of criminal, and history will mark them as such. Sam's limbic complex proves to be all too common.

What I find difficult to embrace isn’t the logic of your argument, it’s that it is made from the proverbial armchair, and doesn’t face the horrors of the sheer efficiency with which Israel is wiping human beings off the planet. Ultimately, neither side is exercising their humanity in this war, and therefore from this perspective, they are equivalent-no matter the moral superiority.

For somebody that claims to be "awake" you have put on display your utter blindness.

Gaza was a Palestinian state. Completely independent and having received billions of dollars in aid.

And then they take a needle and dip the tip of that needle into shit and then stir your tea with it. And he would say "it's just a little bit of shit".

Sam, 100, 000 people are on the brink of starvation. Many of them are children. Linger on that for a while...

It never should have been the dominant world powers in 1948 to decide how the Palestinian people should deal with the conflicts in their own country with the Jewish minority at the time. We created the monster. Same thing with Taiwan. Strange how we ignored Rwanda in their crisis.

Iran is an interesting case because its people seem significantlly more educated and secular than virtually every other country in the region. My fear however is that the current theocracy will transition into some sort of right wing authoritarian regime like Putin in Russia, instead of a liberal democracy.

I have the upmost respect for Sam Harris. For all he has done , does and will do in the future. I fear though on this issue he sees through one eye only.

I agree with much of this but not all for sure. Israel will not destroy Hamas only weaken it, they are not even all in Gaza. So stating that any harm done in that effort still puts Israel in the right is just something I cannot agree with.

Tbh, would it have been possible to imagine in some alternate universe, that the US would have ONLY prioritized a defensive strategy after 9/11, and almost entirely adhered to the non-aggression principle? Sure. But, is this type of response realistically possible? No, we need to incorporate some degree of realpolitik: if you always play defense, and let your enemies grow and fester elsewhere, you'll ultimately just undermine your defenses. So, I think it's safe to say Israel needed to engage, and from there, we start getting into the inevitable horror show of urban warfare. To continue the comparison, of 9/11 and 10/7 responses: how far should we have gone, to try to stabilize a perpetually destabilized region, for the sake of our own security? I think we now know, that we should have been as surgical as possible, and practically did the opposite. Can Israel now take this lesson from the US, and avoid similar mistakes? Can they avoid an extended conflict, with an eventual pseudo-stalemate, in several countries? I obviously hope so, I'm not a military strategist, but I assume they need to avoid engaging the entire Middle East.

Loving that Israel lobby bag.

These takes are absolutely awful, and this is coming from someone who admires you greatly.

Gee I can't imagine why my comment was deleted. Someone didn't like the fact that I expressed my disagreement with Sam Harris and probably flagged it under false pretenses. Seems that every time I ever post on anyone's video condemning the IDF for what they are doing, my comments always seems to disappear even though I condemn Hamas as well. I guess some people are just in favor of innocent people being hurt or why else would my comments be getting deleted.

Where did my previous comment go?!? Professor-Marty.

When you're position leads you to defend the murder of children, maybe you should re think it

Sam this is frankly embarrassing. You sound more like Douglas Murray than I'd like to admit, and for people who are often intellectually prosperous on the majority of topics you are so blind and lost on this particular topic and everyone in the comments can clearly see that.

It’s amazing how Sam’s sharp wit becomes so dull in matters Israel! Disappointed. A true indication of human bias and bounded rationality. Not to mention shame!

Don't weaken the protesters as if they cannot read and make up their own mind. I'm actually taken quite aback how calm and rational the presentation is and how horrific the reasoning is.

Very disheartening to hear someone like Harris, who I will always admire, try to justify the unjustifiable in this case.

It’s rare to see someone so clearly on track to a hiding … SH’s reputation is taking as severe a beating as that of Israel. I suspect he feels the need to show Jewish loyalty and fealty to vipers such as Douglas Murray et al. Highly regrettable.

All of these claims need heavy citations. Otherwise it's just as good as "They are the good guys, trust me bro"

Atheism is a cult of feelings, so you can't expect this guy to offer a view that isn't biased towards his own self interests.

There is a big difference between one incident of friendly fire and tens of thousands of innocent people getting caught in the "crossfire." What an awful comparison.

Champions morals without religion. Ignores his morals on behalf of a religion. The acrobatics and ignorance in a 4 min clip is outstanding. BRAVO Respect meter went from about full to empty in 4 mins.

Amazing how little it takes for people to support crimes against humanity. Breathtaking

I remember when I used to respect Sam Harris’s opinion.

Very grateful for your work Sam, you are my hero in many respects, but when it comes to Israel and Palestine I can recognise you. How can you be so blind. Yes, obviously mistakes happen at every war, it is not a point. The point is that Israel killed 30000+ peaceful people in Palestine and will kill many more. This is the issue, 7th of October didn’t give the licence to kill everyone. It just seams that there is no number of lost human lives in Palestine can stop Israel and make you say that’s enough, that’s not right, there must be another way. Your work has change my life, but fucking hell man, Palestinian people and hamas is not the same thing.

This is very simply an apology for genocide. As Sam might say ‘That’s all we need to know about it’.

He is right about Hamas. As I've said numerous times: I'm yet to hear pro Palestinian condemn Hamas and/or the Oct 7 attacks. Not one.

These are just all the talking points that have been successfully argued against

Sam what do you think about the occupation of Palestinian land and the history of this?

I’m confused about the human shield accusations. If your invaded by a hostile force and your fighters are made up of the people who normally live in the lands being invaded, then wouldn’t that automatically, by default, mean that you could be accused of using civilians as human shields since you are “hiding amongst the civilians”? Because the Hamas fighters are all just people that already live in Gaza and the areas surrounding. They obviously all have families and many have children so wouldn’t it make sense for you to want to stay near to your family, your home, and your land because you would want to protect what’s important to you? Where else are the Hamas fighters supposed to go? Are they expected to designate a specific battle ground where they can then send all their fighters so that they can safely be blown up away from their women and children? If you don’t have a professional military and you don’t have tons of resources and military vehicles/jets then that means you have no choice than to fight and resist using gorilla warfare tactics. That means, when you don’t have a professional, well funded army/military then the fighters are going to be the men that live in the region that’s being attacked. And when this is the situation you’re in, wouldn’t the default location that the fighting occurs be wherever the opposing force is bombing/attacking? And since Israel is bombing/attacking civilian areas then where else would Hamas fighters be fighting? If where you lived was being bombed/attacked/invaded, wouldn’t you want to stay close to your family, your home, and your land so that you could protect those things? You could literally say that in every conflict that has ever happened in history, one side could be accused of using human shields because one side “hides amongst civilians”. But those civilians are the family and friends of the fighters who are resisting/being invaded. You could say that in Vietnam, they were all using human shields because the Vietnam fighters all lived amongst the civilians. But since we were bombing/attacking Vietnam, which has lots of civilians living there, then where else would vietnams fighters be? They’d obviously be fighting/living amongst the civilians because that’s where the fighting is taking place and the Vietnam fighters obviously want to protect their families and their fellow countrymen so where else would the fighters all be other than amongst the civilians? It’s not like it’s the old days where a battle field would be chosen and then soldiers would line up with their muskets and take turns shooting at each other. Ya know, back when war was civilized. Point being, I am always hearing from the people who believe that Israel should have 100% unconditional support no matter what Israel does, they always say that “hamas hides amongst civilians and uses them as human shields” but where else are they supposed to go, if not where their families, homes, and land is being bombed/attacked? Isn’t that where you would be so that you could protect what’s important to you? There’s always going to be one side whose fighters “hide amongst civilians”. Where else would they go/be exactly? I’d really love to know because this whole human shield argument is confusing me like crazy.

But why ISN'T Sam Harris himself a critic of Israel? One of the most religious countries in the world, where parties in the government preach Armageddon and women in Jerusalem cannot walk safely in the street. Sam Harris is an atheist when it comes to criticism of all other countries, but deeply religious in his defense of Israel.

What Hitlers critics keep missing.

If what happens to Gaza is just the result of war ,,,,, then why you blame hamas when they do the same .... regarding civilians ????

Sam, you gain my admiration during the Religion Debates of mid 2000's. What happened? Your judgment ain't right. We are witnessing a 76 year cumulative human rights violations bursting into a genocide in PLAIN VIEW... and you somehow decide to justify it? Let's actually make sense, shall we? Firstly, This is not a war.... a war requires two armies. Here you have one of the most advanced and well financed military in the world, with a budget of $24 billion per year, part of it paid by US Taxpayers. with half a million well trained and well equipped soldiers; More than 2,000 tanks, Hundreds of artillery units, 339 combat capable aircraft, an Advanced missile surveillance systems or Air Dome, 14 Corvettes, 8 Missile boats, 5 Submarines Dolphin class, 45 Patrol boats, another 45 Support ships. The Israeli navy also has an aircraft carrier, battlecruiser, destroyers, frigate, and a huge drone arsenal. And who is this mighty army "fighting" anyway? About 20.000 starving teenagers or men in their early 20s, using AK-47 that are 50 years old, riding civilian Hi-Lux pickup trucks, making rockets out of fertilizer and old PVC water drainage pipes... Lets not forget, that army is responsible for the 30.000 civilian children, women and elderly plus another 10.000 who are still buried under the rouble... What an even war, says nobody... What we witnesses on october the 7th, 2023 was a Concentration Camp breakout, carried out in desperation for over 76 years of illegal military occupation and oppression under apartheid conditions. Here is why; Please Think about this: Who are the natives of the land? The Palestinian people. Of the estimated 950,000 Palestinians that lived in the territory always called Palestine that later became Israel after the 1947 UN resolution, over 80% were illegally and forcibly expelled from their own land (read Nabka) and 20%, some 156,000, remained. Currently, 5 million Palestinian people living under the territory occupied militarily by Israel today, are largely composed of the people who remained and their descendants. None of the 80% percent of Palestinians who were forcibly displaced has been granted the right to return to their land. That means, there are no Palestinians living under occupation, who were not actually BORN in the land. Who is (illegally) Militarily Occupying Palestinian territory for over 76 years? That mighty Israeli army, described above. There were about 500,000 jews living in Palestine in the 1920, but all of them carried a Palestinian Passport, including prime minister Golda Mier, by her own words in a British TV interview in 1970: "I am a Palestinian" despite being born in Kiev Ukraine. From 1922 to 1947, there was a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe to Palestine. The number of immigrants increased in the 1930s due to Nazi persecution of Jews. A recent DNA study By THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM (November 30, 2022) found that current Ashkenazi Jewish linaje comes from West Germany and Eastern European countries. Far, far from Palestine. Then, PLEASE THINK LOGICALLY, as we all know you can; Who has the native-born Inherent right to defend themselves from invasion, colonizing, land-grabbing and dispossession? Yes again: The Palestinian people. Moreover, Israel has been unable to adopt a constitution, because of a conflict over what constitutes fundamental law, human rights, and responsibilities within Israeli FOR ALL THE PEOPLE BORN IN THE LAND. this lack of Constitutional basic protections of human rights has allowed the Israeli goverment to form a de-facto apartheid state since 1948. According to Amnesty International, Israel has imposed a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians that amounts to apartheid, which is prohibited in international law. This system includes: - Separate systems of law: Israel has applied two separate systems of law in the same area, based on nationality - Discrimination: Israel has created a regime of separation based on discrimination - Benefits Jewish Israelis: Israel has established and maintained a Jewish demographic majority, and maximizes control over land and resources to benefit Jewish Israelis - Exclusions: Israel has excluded Palestinian refugees - Fragmentation: Israel has left Palestinians fragmented geographically and politically - Poverty: Israel has left Palestinians frequently impoverished - Fear and insecurity: Israel has left Palestinians in a constant state of fear and insecurity According to The Human Rights Watch, apartheid is a crime against humanity, and consists of three primary elements: - An intent to maintain domination by one racial group over another. THIS IS VERIFIABLY TRUE. - A context of systematic oppression by the dominant group over the marginalized group. THIS IS VERIFIABLY TRUE - Inhumane acts such as “forcible transfer” and “expropriation of landed property”. THIS IS ALSO VERIFIABLY TRUE. All the necessary conditions for apartheid check in the current state. This is not only illegal. its inmoral and more importantly, unsustainable. What's needed is a written Constitution, on which Jewish and Palestinian people ACTUALLY BORN IN THE LAND have the same rights, freedoms and opportunities. A Constitution which will allowed for a truly democratically elected self-goverment by the people and for the people ACTUALLY BORN IN THE LAND A Constitution which will DECIDE THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY by a truly democratically process including ALL THE PEOPLE ACTUALLY BORN IN THE LAND Now this would Make Sense! Anything else, including of course the status quo, is nonsense, unacceptable, impracticable and unsustainable; wouldn't you agree?

So sad… used to be a fan but clearly such a biased podcaster. This is what I heard: “Some murder is worse than others. So support the version of murder that Israel is doing” The whole reason people are protesting is because Hamas is seen as evil for murdering innocent people but for some reason it isn’t bad when Israel does the same. There is no justification for murder no matter what group or side you are in. 0:02

Wow. From what I’ve read of most of the negative comments people are not really listening to what Sam is saying. I may not agree with everything he says but I did make the effort to understand what he’s saying. Apparently nuance escapes the notice of angry people.

Sam's final words in this clip - "WE HAVE TO HAVE SOME SENSE OF PROPORTION" - I know you're not big on humour Sam but that would be hilarious if the reality wasn't so tragic.

Killing is not a solution.

S.H is speaking out of his S.H.

" ... we have to have some sense of proportion." True. First, though, elements of the media and armchair "analysts" must ATTEMPT to have some sense of proportion. Unfortunately, they don't even appear to have the remotest interest in facts, logic, and fairness.

The "Early life" test never fails.

Sam Harris is a great example of how good presentation can hide low-quality thinking. He speaks well. But everything he says is either obvious, simplistic, biased, or just plain wrong.

I like when you talk about science but your views on this topic are biased.

Desperate people do desperate things.

Stalin. Stalin did it the same way

I am very impressed with Sam Harris's steadfastness in the face of the four-way communist-fascist-Islamist-wokeist alliance The last soldier defending Enlightenment, Rationalism, Liberalism, Modernity and Western civilization

How can anyone defend Killing 13.000 innocent children?! Under no circumstance should this be morally right. I think Sam should maybe do a bit more empathic Meditation.

Sam I have all the respect for you and enjoyed listening to you views and wisdom. But like many of your peers who have deep ties with Israel, there is some problematic deep rooted harmful bias, that I fail to understand. It’s a shame to see you on the wrong side of history is when it’s done with

Even Destiny isn't buying that killing the aid workers was a mistake. Sam has the blinders on.

Sam has been saying this for as long as i can remember. Odd that it is only now that I'm wondering what the evidence is that backs up these claims. Anyone ever seen it?

Would Sam be saying this if he wasn’t Jewish and he was in there position and that was his children and family in Gaza?

Sam if you have no one on your show to challenge your views, then these one-sided echo chamber discussions with Douglas Murray are not convincing or helpful unless you are already biased as a pro-Israeli viewer. The whole art of finding the truth, is seeking out debate and having meaningful discussions on these issues, not just feeding your own biased perceptions.

To be called the "good guys", it is not sufficient to simply be better than your opponent. It's not a relative measure. It is a measure in and of itself. I think you are missing the mark here, Sam.

i) Using recent conflicts, especially ones that the US has been involved in, to 'justify' what Israel is doing is nonsensical. When the US does it - illegal war and mass murder in Vietnam, illegal invasion of Iraq, obscene support for genocidal dictators in Latin America, Indonesia, etc. - it's wrong. Wrong! And when Israel does it it's also wrong. ii) Defending Israeli behavior as 'unavoidable' because of how Hamas positions its tunnels and rockets amidst civilian populations has some merit. It might seem lame, but one might respond to this by also pointing out: a) it's a sort of irregular guerilla warfare against an illegal quasi-colonialist power (no, Gaza has not been 'free' since Ariel Sharon closed the Jewish settlements there in 2005, Israel quickly started a blockade after Hamas won free elections, and Israel pursued a clear strategy of separating the West Bank and Gaza economically and politically so that is could continue annexing the West Bank and 'containing' Hamas with the help of intermittent massive econocidal bombing campaigns; see Sarah Roy and other scholars in the recent book "Deluge: Deluge: Gaza and Israel from Crisis to Cataclysm"); b) As such, Harris totally neglects the history of Gaza up to this point; c) Israel's behavior is consistent with its 'Dahiya Doctrine' of destroying the village from which a shot comes (= collective punishment = dismantling of infrastructure = mass murder), iii) Going on to assert that Israel must also dismantle the Islamic state of Iran is lunatic; dismantle the state that resulted from blowback against the Shah's dictorship, which we installed because Iran's secular democracy dared to nationalize the precursor to BP, i.e. the 'Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.', which was a state within a state after WW II? iv) Israel's settlements have been infinitely more destructive to Palestinian society than Jihadists have been to Israeli society. Suicide bombings, shootings and kidnappings of unarmed civilians are horrible, but Israel has been engaged in the demographic, economic and political dismantling of Palestinian society since... Well, I start at 1967. Yes, terrible things happened on both sides before then, but rather than argue over how we should 'judge' early Zionism - Uri Avneri, the great Israel peace activist, said 'We Jews were fleeing a burning house, and we fell on someone else' -- I like to to start with '67 and the huge question: what would Israel do with the territories it conquered? And what we did was colonize, annex, dispossess, humiliate, arrest, deport, and destroy.

There should have been TWO states from 1948 . That being said mess with the bull and you’re going to get the horn. Netanyahu is a criminal. That should be in jail for many reasons.

Sam wrote a book about lying. You couldn't even make that one up.

One side in this war is: Anti-democratic, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, homophobic and jihadist surrounded by a couple dozen autocratic Arabic govts like the one in Iran that beats young girls to death for wearing the wrong headwear. The other is a tiny liberal, Democratic prosperous nation, where its Arabic citizens enjoy political equality, and that would live in peace with its neighbors if only its neighbors would stop trying to snuff it out at every opportunity. Don’t overthink it.

The shameless gaslighting is astonishing

Do you believe the creator of everything gave a specific piece of land to a specific ethnic group? Yes or no. That's the question. Everything else is obfuscation.

Sam is always ahistorical when discussing politics, particularly of non-western peoples, and that's why many of his arguments end up being inhumane

Way too simplistic and unnuanced...

Keep sharing the truth Sam

This is very baffling for me. A prominent atheist, and a well-educated one at that, biased for a religious group that his descendants belonged to. I thought that only religious people can be blinded by their faith. Human beings are really weird.

if only any of this was true... sam is usually someone that i respect but his insistence on condemning violence from hamas but celebrating it from israel never ceases to amaze me. he always brings up hamas using their own children as human shields but the IDF quite literally does the same thing.

As an Iranian, i thank you for this amazing clip. ❤

Thank you! every word. I keep thinking "Am I missing something?" I am a progressive leftie, and my pond has me feeling like I am mad. Thank you.

in general i agree, but i dont call israel "the good guys." i dont call anyone in war the good guys. even if the reason for war is just/"good" on one side, no one is really "good" in war

German army in Europe in 1944 was facing resistance in occupied territories ,,, they could say the same thing : resistance uses human shields ...by just ...resisting so we have to ..........innocent population ...

This needs known b4 anything else is considered, b4 peace can b discussed.

I wish I didn’t listen this, the fact that this guy justifies a criminal state is mind blowing