We’ve Hit A Turning Point..

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:01]I've never seen something so shocking where they're like, "I'm so oppressed.

[00:00:08]>> I'm oppressed. I'm an oppressed person."

[00:00:10]>> All right, I'm going to say something here that I think may sound a little hyperbolic, but I believe it'll bear out in reality. This conversation on subway takes with the frontman for the strokes, Julian Casablancas, will mark a turning point in the pop culture discussion around Israel and Zionism because this discussion went farther than I ever imagined a discussion around Zionism and Israel to go. And it's hard to disagree with anything he said. So, first before I play the clip, I want to show you or just uh acknowledge that over the weekend, the Strokes condemned decades of US imperialism and war at Coachella with uh their performance oblivious that, as Rolland Stone writes here, included a montage of calling out US backed assassinations of foreign leaders, as well as more recent footage of destruction in Gaza and Iran. It's an incredible performance that I wish I could play here, but for copyright reasons, I of course can't play music, but you can look it up. They also showed um Israel destroying the last university standing in Gaza, which gets to our discussion here around Israel and also get us some recent polling around how Democrats, Democratic voters thoughts around that have changed as well as how it's impacted elections. a lot to get to in this video, but first I got to play this absolutely um incredible Subway take, which you know, this is a show that that you know supposed to be a little a little light-hearted, a little a little funny. Uh but this is I mean this is uh yeah just worth playing here.

[00:01:47]Um, American Zionists are get the benefits of, you know, white privileged people, but talk like they are black people during slavery.

[00:01:59]>> 100% agree. I've never seen something so shocking where they're like, I'm so >> oppressed. I'm oppress I'm an oppressed person. I'm like, you are going to a wedding in Tel Aviv >> right now >> when there are 80,000 dead people or and more 80,000 plus dead people including women and children half a mile away.

[00:02:27]Absolutely and totally you know what I don't think it's bad to say that.

[00:02:32]I mean, just for the people that are going to be like, "Hamas, October 7th, um, yes, bad, but you know, Native American rebellions didn't mean it was, you know, okay to do what we did. Slave rebellions that were violent didn't mean that, you know, slavery is not bad." You know what I mean? So, that's the scope of that answer, just to be for the haters, for the media illiterate. All right, it goes on. But the point worth focusing on there, Zionism, American Zionists act like they're oppressed when they clearly are not.

[00:03:15]And you have a state of Israel that is a genocidal state destroying obviously destroying Gaza.

[00:03:27]The impact on Palestinians living in Israel and also of course those in the West Bank is ongoing. There are daily occurrences of uh human rights violations, human rights abuses that anyone that has any awareness or care at all for human rights just for for humanity can see what is going on and understand how disgusting it is to have a discussion like this, including the discussion around, you know, slave rebellions and that comparison to Hamas. like we are in uncharted territory when it comes to pop culture discussions around the Israeli state and Zionism and I think this is helpful to a larger discussion around what has gone on and what we have allowed this this gets to why this genocide in particular is uh is one that really animates people and that's Because the west is a in terms of the US, Canada, the UK, other neighboring countries support Israel, continue to support Israel, continue to defend them. And even at times when there is, you know, criticism, it is mild criticism compared to the criticism you see lobbed at, for example, Russia, which have also committed war crimes against Ukrainians.

[00:04:48]But those are always clearly uh stated.

[00:04:52]The condemning of of Putin is always clear in all of those reactions. And of course, not just in terms of, you know, statements, but how countries like Canada, the US, the UK have treated Russia since their invasion of Ukraine in terms of sanctions, in terms of cutting Russia off, that is night and day to how the Israeli government has been treated since their genocide.

[00:05:18]And people are tired of it. You're seeing it not only, you know, here in this pop culture video, but in in polling and elections. I'll get to some of that in a second. I do want to share as well though, just what I see on a on a regular basis, on a daily basis, if not hourly basis on my timeline, when I look at the news, see what's happening in the world, you see stories like this.

[00:05:41]This is from the Guardian here. Israel escalates attacks on medics in Lebanon with deadly quadruple tap. Lebanese health ministry says killings of 91 healthcare workers shows total disregard for international law. Anyone that's followed Israel's actions in Gaza in the West Bank. This is not surprising to anybody. This is what Israel does. They bomb a place, wait for healthcare workers to come and help those people.

[00:06:04]Bomb again to kill the healthcare workers. And in this case, they bombed four different times to try and eliminate anybody trying to help the victims.

[00:06:12]This is an ongoing regular occurrence and it's rarely ever called out from Western or by Western allies. Uh Andre X who is a journalist shared this.

[00:06:23]Palestinian children were prevented from going to school by razor wire and Israeli soldiers. So they sat down and studied right in front of them. And this is uh my larger report, a video that he shared here that I will share below of just Palestinian children trying to get to school being blocked by razor wire and Israeli soldiers because the West Bank is facing ongoing attacks by the Israeli government. Another example of what I see on a regular basis. A horrifying video shows dozens of Israeli settlers setting a Palestinian home on fire in the village of Bait Imrin in the West Bank tonight, attempting to burn the family alive. Eight people were injured in the attack, including a one-year-old baby.

[00:07:06]And then, of course, the UN, to their credit, does call this out on a regular basis. UN experts condemn Israel's unprecedented bombing in Lebanon after ceasefire announcement, demand immediate halt to hostilities. I saw reports stating that Israel has violated the ceasefire around 220 times since it was implemented, showcasing once again anytime there's a so-called ceasefire, you can guarantee that the Israeli government is going to violate it. Yet the US in addition to of course other allies continue to give Israel money and weapons. The US, this is by by the way a report from October. US has given at least 21.7 billion in military aid to Israel since war in Gaza, genocide in Gaza began. According to a report, this gets us to polling on how Americans feel, or should say Democratic voters feel about Israel, how it has changed.

[00:08:04]>> As we said, this is a Democratic primary. How might this be emblematic of Democratic positions on Israel at large?

[00:08:10]Okay. So, you see Alsai going up and there's all this discussion, oh, there's this divide on Israel within the Democratic party. I'd make the argument there was a divide four years ago. I'm not quite sure there's a divide anymore because just take a look here. Okay, Democrats net favorability of Israel.

[00:08:26]Not liberal, those who are moderate conservative versus those who are liberal. You go back to 2022. Those who are not liberal slightly more likely to hold a net favorable view of Israel than not liberals were against Israel by that point, minus 26 months. Come on over to this side of the screen. That divide is simply put gone. There is no divide within the Democratic party when it comes to views towards Israel. The net favorable rating amongst those who are moderate, conservative, not liberal.

[00:08:50]Look at this minus 55 points. That's a shift of 58 points in just four years time. Those who are liberal, it's nearly a 50 point shift minus 74 points. But now moderates and conservatives as well as liberals, those within the Democratic electorate are united on their views towards Israel. It is unfavorable at this point.

[00:09:09]>> Does age factor into this?

[00:09:10]>> Does age factor into Okay, age was another divide that we saw. But that age divide is breaking down. Look at this.

[00:09:17]Democrats net favorability towards Israel. Age 50 plus back in 2022 was plus 10 points. Those under the age of 50, age 18 to 49 minus 25 points. Come over to this side of the screen again.

[00:09:28]These are just dramatic dramatic shifts.

[00:09:30]Look at this. Age 50 plus now minus 54 points. That's a shift of what, Johnny B? That's a shift of 64 points. 64 points in the negative direction. Age under age 50, it's a shift. And normally this would be a huge shift, but it's 45 points as compared to what 64 points.

[00:09:48]But the bottom line is this. The age divide that there was on Israel within the Democratic party that has gone again basically uniformly negative views towards Israel among Democrats. And that in my mind is playing out in Michigan right now as Elsa's chances are going up. And I'm going to get to another poll in a second here that adds another layer to this. But this is incredibly encouraging. You know, I'm somebody that because I I work online, I'm online all the time, I can't help but feel, are we really better off with the internet and social media as we have seen the damage it has caused. But seeing something like this, I think was only possible because of people's access to information, because they can see with their very own eyes what the Israeli government has done.

[00:10:36]This has allowed people to wake up and change their minds regardless of age.

[00:10:42]So, it's very encouraging to see people more aware of this and elections being impacted by it, politicians having to adjust. For example, as Hyetsz reported, in further blow to Apac, Democrat who accused Israel genocide wins New Jersey special elections. So, of course, Anna Mahia recently won her election at least in part because of uh Apac's involvement and their failure to get their candidate elected. As CNN reports here, as the politics around Israel shift, many Democrats are seeking distance from Apac. So this has affected election after election in uh recent months. Political reporting here Apac faces calls to recess strategy after split results in Illinois. As they reported, Apac aligned super PAC spent nearly $22 million in the Illinois primaries. More than 15, the total of a 100 million war chest it has in hand so far for the 2026 midterms to win two of four open seats races while losing the one that drove the most national attention. So, worth pointing out, money still plays a factor. That's why Apac is putting all this money in. They won two out of the four elections that they wanted to win. But it's not everything.

[00:11:59]People's awareness of their issue and the ability for other candidates in the race to gain some, you know, uh, grassroots support, small donor support has allowed these candidates to, in some cases rise above all the money being spent against them. And when the issue of Apac comes up, people are very clear about their feelings. This gets to the other poll I want to show here. This was uh shared by Dropsite. Again, I will link to all my sources below the video in the description box. I write here, voters think candidates who won't stand up to Apac won't fight on other issues either. This is why, at least part of why this issue is so animating, because it tells voters, if you're willing to stand up against this big money as opposed to take the money to help you, you are also likely willing to stand up on other issues where you may also be at the money disadvantage. For example, healthcare, which I'll get to with Abdul Al in a second here, but their poll shows candidates for Michigan's Democratic primary are in a three-way tie, while one-third of voters are undecided. I've seen other polling showing that Abdul Alsad is actually in the lead, but by a small margin as people become more aware of who Abdul Aliad is and his support for issues like Medicare for all and his criticisms of the Israeli government and Apac again showcasing his willingness to stand up to big money has benefited him and his ability to uh get people to believe in his message. This gets to the last poll before I get to a clip I want to share.

[00:13:32]Nearly two-thirds of voters agree that candidates unwilling to stand up to Apac are less trustworthy on other issues.

[00:13:37]Going to what I said, if you are willing to stand up to big money, Apac being one of the biggest, then you are likely willing to speak the truth and dedicate your life to actually helping people.

[00:13:47]That gets to this clip from MS Now. This is Abdul Alsad discussing his support for Medicare for all.

[00:13:54]>> And right now, people are being destroyed by our healthare system.

[00:13:57]You're talking about deductibles that are $6,000 and that's putting people into medical debt to the tune of hundred million people, $225 billion of medical debt in this country in the richest, most powerful country in the world as they burn a billion dollars a day on war that we don't need to be fighting. So when you sit down and have a conversation and say, "Hey, listen. I'm a doctor. I literally trained in this system." I promise you we could do this right if we were willing to forego the corporations that tell us what we cannot have and the politicians who tell us what we should not fight for. So yeah, I want to fight a fight so everybody can have healthcare. If I accomplish nothing less in my my career in politics, I want everybody in this country to have healthcare. Imagine what that would feel like for people.

[00:14:35]>> Yeah, I mean that's great and all, but have you seen Mallalerie McMorro, your competitor in the primary dancing around the Democratic convention in Michigan?

[00:14:48]This is just incredible stuff.

[00:14:54]Reminds me exactly of the Kla Harris campaign in 2020 doing the exact same thing and Harris didn't even make it to the first voting state.

[00:15:04]You have to have a real message for people.

[00:15:09]You have to The dancing is throwing me off. You have to be able to speak to people's needs and do it from a place of honesty. Do it from a place of I'm actually I actually care about this. I I actually want to help you. And when you are willing to call out Israel's genocide in Gaza, when you are willing to call out Apac, that is a signal to people that you can actually be trusted because you're willing to call out the money and power that you could have accepted and helped yourself in accepting that, but you aren't. You are standing up, meaning you are willing to also stand up for the average person. Abdul say I think is the obvious choice for the Democratic primary in Michigan. But let me know your thoughts on uh that race and everything else that uh I discussed in this video below in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, please hit like and subscribe and check out some of the other videos I have on this channel.