Misperceptions on both sides. Think when the japanese side some people really believed that americans cannot schuster because their noses were too big at the same time in american there were a diaz with the japanese because of the orient to launder eyes with a shoestring. So the stupidity of people is usually boundless. I am sure japan 1941 was not the topic of your. But you probably talk a lot about it at dinner. A lot to thank you both for being with us this afternoon. [applause] youre watching book tv. No the Political Landscape in israel since the collapse of the oslo Peace Process and to those inland. He argues that the government of israel has moved increasingly to the right. This event from the National Press club in washington d. C. Is an hour and 20 minutes. [applause] know where to put this water. Thank for that. I think that the free begin will soon be reporting the you attended my promise of. This is a terrible act and your part. Thank you, to john henry and empire salon for hosting the hearing, back to his firm. Opening of what i think is killing to be an essential discussion. This is the largest meeting so far of what Eric Alderman of the nation, must book club. So welcome. I think john is know the interior minister. Thank you to bill and hillary clinton. And just kidding. My book is for sale outside. Think we have lots of copies of the book. I hope youll low support what im doing here, and i will be happy to sign your copies. There is going to be a really lovely q a session after i finish my talk. In betweenyou amounts to heckle me, i just want to warn you that Medea Benjamin is your. She will take care of you. It has been a pretty interesting few weeks, as it, and this issue. Israel, palestine, and a run it is actually an interesting few months. We have seen a pack in marriage against the will of the American Public to promote war. First attack on syria, and it failed. Failed before of the was even held in congress, a vote which would have met a pet with and that a historic defeat. And it failed again to stop the Historic Deal between the u. S. , the administration brought obama, and theyre wrong with the demonstration. Apec has been exposed as the pro more lobby. It has also been exposed for not having Restaurant Base of like the most powerful lobby in the u. S. , the National Rifle association. All apec seems to have in its fighting retreat is a whole lot of learning. And i want to say that they have failed to shut me down on my book tour. They have actually acted and attempted to stop events that have already been held on a book tour, and the heavenly failed. And this week there has been an attempt to suppress my talks and the discussion and were having here, the discussion about the facts on the ground, and is to his failed. So i think we should welcome this failure as a victory for free speech. [applause] thank you. There have been interesting new developments related to the iran deal in israel. It is there were my book take place. And over again to the geopolitics in my book. I dont deal with washington on the israel lobby to read my book is really an intimate, on the ground portrait of Israeli Society in israel, palestine, the single state under 01 discriminatory regime. At the culmination of the transitional phase that began after the crushing of the second with the rise of what israeli planners, also done, which is hebrew for separation and theres your residence of the upper, stern apartheid which simply means separateness. This is manifested in the separation wall which cuts deep into the west bank which was built in the words and then deny it to prevent demographics the lover. Manifested in the season gusher, and its manifested inside israel as an going to discuss, but it also led to a psychological transition in Israeli Society in the political transition which has resulted in what which seems to be a permanent arrive when the jury, at least permit right wings dominance of the key institutions of his reallife. This week the Israeli Democracy Institute took a poll, and the majority of jewish israelis declared that their wish was to end the special relationship with the United States and find new allies. At the same time 70 percent of jewish israelis declared that they dont believe israel will find llewellyns. In other words, israel should simply go alone. The working title from a book which i proposed was masada referring to the second air roman fortress, the second 80 second century a. D. Roman fortress where a band of jewish fanatics hold up and committed mass suicide. Lenders impose this tunnel, goliath, me. As we look at developments of the past few weeks, the first settlement of been more prepared. So my book begins in the gaza strips in and around the gaza strip. And right now i think its important to mention that while israel celebrates the festival of lights the gaza strip is placed into darkness and its one powerplant is unable to function. This is in the case for about a month, and its because of israels siege, the u. S. Supported israeli siege on the gaza strip. This transitional phase that i mentioned culminated with operation cast led to the Israeli Attack and the gaza strip in 2008 and 2009 in which over 49 residents said, mostly civilians according to the Israeli Human Rights Group were killed. Over 300 women and children, most children were killed at home. And six developments were taking place in israel at this time. It was a National Election under way. The current Peace Initiative for the Israeli Government, Israeli Society. Our troops behave like hooligans in the gaza strip during this operation, which i demanded of them. Israelis had gathered on our show with journalists who had been barred from entering the gauzes trip to skype as they have a shame. They gathered there to cheer on the attacks as americans did. One woman was killed declaring to a danish tv crew they should lift the whole thing off the map. Yep. Of a little bit faster. In these kinds of proclamations were gaining in popularity. 95 percent of the jewish israeli public in the first week declared their support in the schools in israel during this assault, collections were held. The party that won by an overall majority was the party says. Lieberman and the gain in the Third Largest amount of votes in becoming the foreign minister, israels top diplomat here really guerrillas is cleared of various charges relating to his mafia ties, by the way. Some people were not able to testify against him because they mysteriously disappeared. Now he has reemerged as one of the most popular politicians in israel. But we are in 2009 still. He campaigned on a simple platform. He rents over and over declaring no loyalty, and the citizenship. In other words, if you fail to declare loyalty to the jewish state, to the jewish state you would be stripped of your citizenship rights. This applied to the top 2 percent of the israeli public who are launches, palestinian citizens of israel. And lieberman moved to fulfill his promise as he entered his party as the Third Largest party and coalitions with your andrew members and would support from and would support even a leader of the labor party who supported an initiative which passed to require all leases as of israel to swear loyalty to the jews to credit state loyalty oaths. These loyalty of this was first introduced by a rabbi who was banned in 1988 for incitement and advocate the establishment of the theocratic fractious state in what he referred to as jeter in summary, the west bank. The total force of the transfer of all palestinians and non jews who were refusing to swear loyalty to the state of israel. So the headline declaring that he had one with the liberal Party Support. Wall after law was passed like this. Laws like the excepted to communities law which are prized unease among the 500 to discriminate on the basis of race or religion and even sexually. The banning of the most outspoken palestinian legislator who i interview and write about extensively in my book who is currently the most hated woman in his row, banned in 2008 in 2012 by the central elections committee. Both bands were overturned by the Supreme Court, and there is now an effort not only to staff the Supreme Court with rightwing justices including the first religious and nationalist solar who is now sitting on the bench, but also to allow the veto of Supreme Court decisions. All relates to this, all law allowing settlers to sue any israeli citizen who is seen as harming their business because the call for a boycott of settlement goods also passed. And i went and interviewed one of the most important members who very few of you have ever of who is the author of many or most of these laws who had at least cosponsored them, a key deputy. He lives in the settlement which is a very large settlement. Cuts deep into the west bank. Was one of the original homes. David rakowski was just appointed to martins team of a socalled Peace Process and has issued a map in which it will be incorporated into a future state of israel. So i met him and he was very welcoming to me. He speaks in a very straightforward way. You tell it straight. I really appreciate this because when i challenge to on these laws that he was introducing and said, what youre doing is consolidating, what Thomas Jefferson would have called the maturity of the majority. Let me in the hands of the charity of the majority is the essence of democracy. And that is the way many people, many of the key figures understand democracy. The head of the Constitution Committee which is one of the most important committees because israel has the constitution for a variety of reasons including that a constitution generally requires you to set national borders. And israel has never had any International Recognized borders. Actually has no borders are no. I dont know where it is. So when someone accuses me of wanting to wear a prisoner of the members of the aisle and the men that evidence that the dollar is for me. They rarely are able to do that. Another reason that israel has no constitution as it requires you to define in National Identity. Israel has no National Identity. Batman the Supreme Court last month ruled that there is no such a thing as an Israeli National and the. Identity can only be afforded according to ethnic lines. Either you are jewish war era. This is, of course, the basis of institutional discrimination or apartheid. An interesting law was introduced in 2011. One of the authors of it. And it was actually an amendment to a preexisting law and ill talk about a second. This law was an amendment to the entire infiltration law, and under the solyndra any of the 60,000 nonjewish african refugees who have fled the sudan, have fled from oppression , fled from extreme poverty seeking sanctuary in a jewish state which they believed embody the lessons of dollar cost any of them can be detained and held without charges will without trial for as long as three years. Currently thanks to this law which passed there are thousands of nonjewish africans, entire families sleeping in the desert facility which was built basically decide the prison where palestinian Political Prisoners were held during the first intifada. You can read a fascinating account of the present in a book called prisoners by Jeff Eagleburger who was a guard there. They are sleeping, and the Supreme Court was issued a challenge by an israeli civil Rights Groups about this detention facility which has the reminiscence of this country where japanese citizens of the United States were held basically in an Internment Center for years because there were deemed to have any raise blood. According to this decision the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment should be invalidated. Already there has been a street Level Campaign to expel the nonjewish african who have lived in south tel aviv, basically concentrated in the poorest neighborhood, forced to sleep in parks, work permits. There have been attacked and what can only be described as race riots. On may 23rd 2012 a group of leading israeli members and the Israeli Government including deputy Prime Minister can interior Committee Chair person spoke before thousands of israelis. The africans are canceling israels body which according to a majority of jewish israelis agreed with. Following his rally for hours hundreds of thugs right it through african areas of south tel aviv smashing store fronts of african businesses, attacking any African Defense ministry. Days of firebombings including of an african kindergarten extremely disturbing episodes which reported in the back of the new york times. Very little attention in this country. It led to this amendment to the anti infiltration lot. That amendment has now been overturned. There is a new initiative that will provide an alternative solution that will be held in this adelle facility. They will have to check in three times a day, but they are allowed to leave during the day. They basically have to sleep there at night so that they can be sequestered from the jewish israeli public. This reminds me of so equity historian called sundown ton in the u. S. During the 1940s and 1950s. There were many towns including chevy chase, md. , which had ordinances that for bait africanamericans. And with this alternative solution that Benjamin Netanyahu has introduced and supported his role will become the largest sum downtown in the world. The amendment that i just mentioned to the entire infiltration act is actually an amendment to a law passed in 1954. These laws, these discriminatory laws are not necessarily right wing loss. There is nothing new. There is simply an extension of laws that have already been passed to consolidate israels character, the jewish state as an athlete toward jewish state to consolidate the jewish telegraphic majority of israel. Under the 1954 anti infiltration that any palestinian who of their home between the time of the u. N the passage of the un partition plan and the cessation of hostilities in the 1948 war was considered an infiltrator. Thousands upon thousands of the 750,000 palestinians who were expelled in 1947 and 48 were uprooted from their communities where they try to reunite with their families and move back to their homes and tend to their land to being violently uprooted and turn up first. This is a continuous process. Palestinians refer to it as not or the catastrophe. Take a water break here. And based on my experience the palestinian get up until the where there were five understanding eviction orders of applying to palestinian homes going to places which is to renew and seeing entire palestinian labor is demolished colossuses of israel because they can get permits. I see this as a continuous process. There is an interesting book by a journalist, an israeli columnist as been praised. Hosted and charlie rose. He is basically the toast of the town in new york. And he wrote an article for the new yorker which and the passes his arguments and his ideas in this book. The Promised Land in which she described in pretty full in terms the ethnic cleansing of the city where tens of thousands of palestinians were basically there were massacres. There are central was basically a death march never to return. He presented this in pretty frank terms, but he went on to justify. This is someone from communal of the liberal wing, the son of consensus. He justified it and said that were it not for this Massive Campaign of ethnic cleansing, i would have never been bored. To grapple with the moral implications is to institute. In other words he would like to see the Refugee Status of palestinians who have been expelled, currently 7 million Palestinian Refugees living row, to be consolidated. This is kind of a consensus view of the zionist left in israel. It is why he has been sort of celebrated in this country. It is helping. Think that the efforts to promote his book are helping psychologically prepare people here for the coming discussion about 1948 sense of discussion no longer focuses on two states in 1967. It is going to go back to 1948. Then you have rightwingers like lieberman, like its new. To his right lung rightwingers like the sarah palin of israel and you actually speak better english than sarah palin. She is 32 years old. Shes very pretty intelligent and well spoken. And she is the deputy transportation ministers europe. And she held hearings against assimilation or jewish arab relationships. And it is valid to expel of pathe palace and the legislators who fail to take the sort of loyalty oaths and convert to zionism. These people are really the future of israeli politics and and it is because they had taken a different you a 1948 the liberals who excepted but dont want to carry any further. They also i know is that this happened love that they believe it is an unfinished project that israels at a victory is not consolidated. And their battle cry, their chants, the two words that really elevate their politics are finished 48. We hear the cry of finished