Joan Esposito is joined by Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, professor of journalism at the City University of New York, and author of the 2025 book “Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.”

In the interview Beinart described the Israeli destruction of Gaza as possibly "the worst series of war crimes of the 21st century." 

"Gaza only has 2 million people," he told WCPT, "but the number of people who've been killed just dwarfs, for instance, Ukraine, which has, I think, 40 million people. You have most of the buildings, most of the hospitals, most of the schools, most of the universities, most of the bakeries, most of the agriculture destroyed. You have mass starvation. So yes, this is a historic set of crimes. And we also have a situation where Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said it crosses into genocide. So this is going to be something that is going to be haunting all of us, especially those of us who are Americans, whose government provided these weapons, I think, for decades and decades, maybe the rest of our lives."

Beinart criticized the Biden administration for giving "Israel an unlimited, unconditional supply of weapons, even as it was clear that Israel was killing huge, huge numbers of civilians, destroying massive amounts of infrastructure, even after Netanyahu was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, even after the International Court of Justice said it was a plausible case that this was genocide, even as it was clear that the war was failing on its own terms, that Hamas was not destroyed and that Israel was not freeing the hostages with military force. So, yes, I think this will be the defining legacy, certainly on foreign policy, of the Biden administration." 

Beinart highlighted the historical context of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians and the potential for increased radicalization among Palestinians due to the military actions. He also addressed the concept of "new anti-Semitism" and the media's role in portraying the conflict. 

"There's a tremendous amount of attention to what might constitute discrimination against Jews," he said. "Very little is focused on what might constitute discrimination against Palestinians. I think it is bigoted against Jews to say they don't deserve to be treated equally, but almost everybody in American politics thinks it's OK to not treat Palestinians equally. It's basically almost kind of taken for granted that Palestinians should basically live without equal rights under Israeli control. People constantly ask themselves, how do Jews feel about certain pro-Palestinian slogans? Do people ever ask how Palestinians feel about pro-Israel slogans, when many of those Palestinians might have family members being killed in Gaza and the West Bank? There's this huge asymmetry in which Jewish life is considered to matter a lot. I mean, I'm a Jew; I obviously believe Jewish life is precious. But Palestinian life is precious too, but it's not treated that way in a lot of the mainstream media discourse."

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

 

Joan Esposito is joined by Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, professor of journalism at the City University of New York, and author of the 2025 book &ldquo;<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775348/being-jewish-after-the-destruction-of-gaza-by-peter-beinart/">Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning</a>.&rdquo;
In the interview Beinart described the Israeli destruction of Gaza as possibly "the worst series of war crimes of the 21st century."&nbsp;
"Gaza only has 2 million people," he told WCPT, "but the number of people who've been killed just dwarfs, for instance, Ukraine, which has, I think, 40 million people. You have most of the buildings, most of the hospitals, most of the schools, most of the universities, most of the bakeries, most of the agriculture destroyed. You have mass starvation. So yes, this is a historic set of crimes. And we also have a situation where Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said it crosses into genocide. So this is going to be something that is going to be haunting all of us, especially those of us who are Americans, whose government provided these weapons, I think, for decades and decades, maybe the rest of our lives."
Beinart criticized the Biden administration for giving "Israel an unlimited, unconditional supply of weapons, even as it was clear that Israel was killing huge, huge numbers of civilians, destroying massive amounts of infrastructure, even after Netanyahu was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, even after the International Court of Justice said it was a plausible case that this was genocide, even as it was clear that the war was failing on its own terms, that Hamas was not destroyed and that Israel was not freeing the hostages with military force. So, yes, I think this will be the defining legacy, certainly on foreign policy, of the Biden administration."&nbsp;
Beinart highlighted the historical context of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians and the potential for increased radicalization among Palestinians due to the military actions. He also addressed the concept of "new anti-Semitism" and the media's role in portraying the conflict.&nbsp;
"There's a tremendous amount of attention to what might constitute discrimination against Jews," he said. "Very little is focused on what might constitute discrimination against Palestinians. I think it is bigoted against Jews to say they don't deserve to be treated equally, but almost everybody in American politics thinks it's OK to not treat Palestinians equally. It's basically almost kind of taken for granted that Palestinians should basically live without equal rights under Israeli control. People constantly ask themselves, how do Jews feel about certain pro-Palestinian slogans? Do people ever ask how Palestinians feel about pro-Israel slogans, when many of those Palestinians might have family members being killed in Gaza and the West Bank? There's this huge asymmetry in which Jewish life is considered to matter a lot. I mean, I'm a Jew; I obviously believe Jewish life is precious. But Palestinian life is precious too, but it's not treated that way in a lot of the mainstream media discourse."
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (<a href="http://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive">heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive</a>).
And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2yqdk3eg4GZzkuV3dxkrce">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driving-it-home-full-episodes/id1772728749">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Joan-Esposito-(Full-Episodes)-p4553843/">TuneIn</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-joan-esposito-full-episod-224680480/">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLquOHBYhhrLPSPl6zwW-_zH6q0Tng18S3">YouTube</a>, and <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/3511174e-20b7-400f-badb-40862505c17a/joan-esposito-full-episodes">Amazon</a>.
&nbsp;

Here are full episodes of "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago), a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics.  

A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.    

Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC.  Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). 

Here are full episodes of "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820/">WCPT Chicago</a>), a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics.  
A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.    
Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC.  Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

Joan Esposito (Full Episodes)

"Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago) is a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics. A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.    

Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC.  Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). 

"Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820/">WCPT Chicago</a>) is a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics. A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.    
Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC.  Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

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