I find Mahmoud Khalil a fascinating figure. His brutal arrest, lengthy detention, and the apparent violations of his first amendment rights are understandably an inspiring cause for advocates of free speech, accountable government, and Palestinian human rights. That said, if these text messages are real, he was outspoken in his defense of violently overthrowing the Israeli government and, if you take the metaphor he’s using to its logical end, expelling millions of Jews.

If you’re familiar with the decades-old argument that Palestine is the Algeria to Israel’s France, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the other side of the argument, whether you’re open to being convinced or not. Nowhere have I heard it better and more accessibly articulated than in this lecture by the Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur:

Now is a good time for me to share these texts from a groupchat of Mahmoud Khalil's from October 8th 2023. 

He was and is a bloodthirsty twerp. https://t.co/bUn2Trxd5e

Jacob Ben-David Linker 🪬🕎✡️🕎🪬

I find Mahmoud Khalil a fascinating figure. His brutal arrest, lengthy detention, and the apparent violations of his first amendment rights are understandably an inspiring cause for advocates of free speech, accountable government, and Palestinian human rights. That said, if these text messages are real, he was outspoken in his defense of violently overthrowing the Israeli government and, if you take the metaphor he’s using to its logical end, expelling millions of Jews.

If you’re familiar with the decades-old argument that Palestine is the Algeria to Israel’s France, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the other side of the argument, whether you’re open to being convinced or not. Nowhere have I heard it better and more accessibly articulated than in this lecture by the Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur:

https://youtu.be/QlK2mfYYm4U


https://x.com/jacobalinker/status/1947822831489720418?s=46

Reporter, writer and analyst. I cover energy, climate change and geopolitics. Contact me via my website www.alexanderckaufman.com and subscribe to kaufman.nyc.

Haviv is such a refreshing voice in all of this. Brings so much depth and sanity to a conversation that tends to lack it.

This is complicated, and I feel the tension. It’s possible to care deeply about civil rights and still feel uneasy about some of what’s being said.