Peter Beinart: What does it mean to be Jewish after the destruction of Gaza?
Amid Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza, its illegal annexation of land in the Occupied West Bank, and belligerent warmaking in Iran and Lebanon, antisemitism around the globe is rising—but so is an international chorus of anti-Zionist Jews speaking out against Israel’s crimes. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with renowned author and commentator Peter Beinart about his new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, and about the “civil war” within the Jewish world over Israel.
Guests:
Peter Beinart is a renowned author, professor, and analyst whose commentary regularly appears in The New York Times and MSNBC. Beinart is a professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and he is the editor at large of Jewish Currents. Beinart is the author of numerous books, including his most recent work, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He lives with his family in New York City and writes regularly for his Substack, The Beinart Notebook.
Credits:
Producer: Rosette Sewali
Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us. And once again, we’re joined by Peter Beinart. He’s jumped with an incredible writing recently. He’s the 2026 Pan America Literary Award for nonfiction, his atest book being Jewish after the discussion of Gaza, a reckoning, which I encourage everyone to read and wrestle with. He’s a professor of journalism, political science
‘This is piracy’: Israel condemned for seizure of Gaza-bound flotilla near Greece
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on April 30, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Palestine defenders on Thursday condemned Israeli forces’ raidb of the latest Global Sumud Flotilla—which was sailing off the Greek coast while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza—and the arrest of more than 200 of its participants, with some prominent critics calling the seizure an act of piracy.
Greenpeace International—whose MY Arctic Sunrise is the flotilla’s most prominent ship—said that the maritime convoy’s 58 vessels were “boarded and harassed by Israeli forces in international waters 45 nautical miles west of the Greek island Kythira and 600 nautical miles from Gaza.”
Flotilla organizers said on X: “Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic weapons ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees. The boat communications are being jammed and an SOS was issued.”
The Israel regime’s attack on yet another humanitarian flotilla is a grave breach of international humanitarian law, a violation of the law of the sea, an extension of its genocide in Palestine to international and Greek waters, and a product of the impunity granted to it by… https://t.co/PTsS9zyDbh— Craig Mokhiber (@CraigMokhiber) April 30, 2026
The organizers said 211 flotilla participants were seized by Israeli forces. Flotilla activist Yasmine Scola said members were “kidnapped.”
Global Sumud France spokesperson Helene Coron said that 10 French nationals, including communist Paris City Council Member Raphaelle Primet, were seized.
“We don’t have the information for the other nationalities, but the boats were mixed in terms of nationality, so there were crew members from all 48 delegations,” Coron added.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that “approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats… are
Politico boss reportedly demands allegiance to Israel from editorial staff
This article was originally published by Truthout on April 29, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
The CEO for the parent company of Politico reportedly told editorial staff at the outlet this week that they should wholly embrace the company’s corporate “values,” which include support for Israel, or find work elsewhere, new reporting reveals.
Jewish Insider reported on the meeting held this week between Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner and Politico staffers and executives.
He told staff on the call that “nobody should work for Axel Springer despite the essentials or in disagreement with one of the essentials.” Appearing to suggest that staff should find work elsewhere if they disagree, he went on to note that “there are many options where values do not play such a role — or where other values play a role.”
The CEO is referring to a set of corporate values, which it calls the “Essentials,” written by German founder Axel Springer in 1967. According to the company’s website, the second of the company’s five values is: “We support the right of existence of the State of Israel and oppose all forms of antisemitism.” Other values include that the company works to “uphold the principles of a free market economy.”
The meeting came after Politico staffers sent a letter on Friday to their new editor-in-chief and former Politico executive, Jonathan Greenberger, expressing concerns over Döpfner’s “repeated use of POLITICO to promote his political agenda.”
The letter, per Semafor, referred to two recent op-eds by Döpfner for Politico Magazine. One, in March, cheered on the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran and called for European states to take action against the “terrorist state,” which he claims aims for “the destruction of Israel and all
‘We’ve all been changed by this’: Sharif Abdel Kouddous on documenting Israel’s (ongoing) war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon
Sharif Abdel Kouddous has reported from war zones and disaster areas across the world—from Egypt, Syria, and Libya, to Iraq, Algeria, Haiti, and the United States—but nothing compares to what he’s seen in Gaza. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Abdel Kouddous about the impossible task of documenting the full scale of devastation Israel has wrought on Gaza and, increasingly, on Lebanon.
Guests:
Sharif Abdel Kouddous is a journalist and editor for DropSite News based in New York and Cairo. He has reported from across the Arab world, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, and Algeria as well from across the United States and internationally. He received a George Polk Award for his investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an Emmy award for his coverage of the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban, and an Izzy Award for his coverage of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
Additional links/info:
Sharif Abdel Kouddous, DropSite author page
Kavitha Chekuru & Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Fault Lines, “The Night Won’t End: Biden’s War on Gaza”
Credits:
Producer: Rosette Sewali
Studio Production: Cameron Granadino
Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us. Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Dropsite’s editor for the Middle East and North Africa. He’s based in New York and in Cairo and has reported from across the globe, in the Arab world, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, and Algeria, as well as from across
‘These are murders’: Trump killing spree hits at least 185
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on April 27, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
The murder spree being conducted by the US government under the direction of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth climbed to an estimated 185 people on Sunday after the Pentagon announced another bombing of a boat it claims was trafficking illegal narcotics.
“On April 26, at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” the US military stated in a social media post. “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed.”
While no specific evidence was provided publicly to back up the claims made by SOUTHCOM about Sunday’s strike, human rights experts and legal scholars have made clear for months that such lethal operations at sea—whether or not those targeted are in fact trafficking drugs—have no justification under international maritime law and that the extrajudicial killings should be seen for what they are: cold-blooded murder.
Footage released by SOUTHCOM showed the moment the vessel was attacked, and those aboard were killed:
On April 26, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/br2znnUM1x— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) April 27, 2026
In a separate attack on April 24, also carried out by SOUTHCOM, two other individuals were murdered when their boat, filmed stationary in the