rant · moment 14 of 16

Israel, Palestine, Hummus, and Female Genital Mutilation

from The Long Island Way · #45

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

5 min

A sprawling riff on Israeli settlements, a story about Saudi fans telling Tim they only kill people who yell, complaints about hummus and Middle Eastern food, then a tangent into female genital mutilation and why hands get chopped off more than feet.

In this bit10 moments
  • 45:45Tim says Israelis aren't great at PR as a people, despite his PR team being all Jewish.
  • 46:19The settlements aren't about projecting strength—they're about saying 'we're gonna blow them up.'
  • 46:50Tim questions whether the idea of Israel being America's only Middle East ally seems manufactured given the context.
  • 47:20Tim's opening move with Palestinians at the table: 'Your food sucks. Your hummus, your flatbread, it's shit.'
  • 47:41His workplace gives him free hummus that makes him very gassy.
  • 48:02There's a lot of anti-Semitism on college campuses saying Israel is the source of all the world's problems.
  • 48:14The Holocaust is terrible and justifies being defensive, but Israel is not the benevolent victim in every situation.
  • 48:34Saudi Arabia does horrible things but receives less anger than Israel despite killing people who yell.
  • 49:20Discussion of female genital mutilation in parts of Africa, which the speaker opposes.
  • 50:25You can't get mad at Israel alone when these human rights abuses exist elsewhere, but settlements must stop.
Mentioned here

female genital mutilationIsraelSaudi ArabiaPalestinians

All 16 moments in this episode →