VIDEO: Is The Crisis In Gaza A Reflection Of Apartheid? Interview With Miko Peled

Hey everyone, and welcome to #MintCasts, our MintPress podcast series.

I’m Mnar Muhawesh, editor-in-chief of MintPress, and I will be your host. Thanks again for joining today’s conversation, where we will be discussing the latest on the ground in Gaza as Israel continues its brutal offensive there, dubbed “Operation Protective Edge” and what the media’s responsibility is in covering this massacre.

This past week, Gazans witnessed the deadliest shelling by Israel yet since the operation began nearly a month ago. Just this week, Israel struck a UN-run school that housed over 3,000 Palestinian civilians seeking refuge from all the violence, in which several children died. Israel continues to justify the civilian deaths, saying that Hamas hides rockets inside tunnels, schools and hospitals making civilians human shields by Hamas. Israel’s economic minister has even gone far enough to say that Hamas is committing self-genocide, taking no responsibility for the devastating civilian deaths. Israel continues its offensive targeting hospitals and schools where Gazan residents have taken refuge.

The death toll in Gaza has reached nearly 2,000, most of which are women and children, and injuries have reached over 4,000, with over 8,000 civilian homes destroyed. Those numbers continue to rise. According to Israeli officials, 56 Israeli soldiers have died in this conflict. In addition to this, it was recently discovered that Israel is using banned DIME weapons that emit micro-shrapnel and Flechette shells, which release thousands of lethal metal darts in the air.

But the media continues to cover this massacre as an equal playing field between Hamas and Israel, who are supposedly exchanging fire, as the media has framed it. The corporate and Western media is coming under fire by human rights groups and millions of people around the world who say this assault on Gaza is part of a greater problem of colonial occupation, apartheid ethnic cleansing and racism.

Joining me today to talk about the latest on the ground in Gaza and to discuss this conflict for what it really is Israeli activist and author of the General’s Son Miko Peled, son of an IDF General  and grandson of one of the founding fathers of Israel who is outspoken against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. In fact Miko, just returned from the West Bank after protesting with the Palestinians against Israeli violence in Gaza.

You can find this podcast through our MintPress iTunes channel. But the conversation is far from over, as we’d like to hear more from our readers and listeners about the violence in Gaza, media coverage of this human rights crisis, and if you think Israel is indeed an apartheid? You can also post on our Facebook page in our comments section to our pinned post featuring this podcast. Make sure to “like” this video on YouTube and subscribe to our Youtube channel for more #MintCasts interviews.

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