We hope you enjoyed the first ZeroHedge live debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict, featuring libertarian comedian Dave Smith and conservative journalist Laura Loomer. By spending two hours on a singular topic, allowing each side to scrutinize the other’s arguments, we hoped you found last night’s debate informative and productive.
For those who could not watch it live, here were some notable exchanges with the FULL discussion posted at the end:
Smith began his opening remarks by attacking the war-time “binary” thinking that “you’re either with us or against us,” adding that he does not support Hamas – and that “what’s happening in Gaza is horrific.“
Loomer brought attention to the religious feuds that have driven this conflict by reading from Article 8 of the Hamas charter that calls for Islam to “obliterate” Israel:
Smith pressed Loomer by arguing that: if radical Islam is such a dangerous threat, how much blame should we place upon the western governments and intel agencies that have propped it up, including Israel for its support of Hamas?
On the issue of whether supporters of Hamas are “innocent,” Loomer posed the question: “Don’t people in all societies have a responsibility to challenge or overthrow governments if their governments are not serving the people?”
Smith gave the audience a couple thought experiments to illustrate how extremism takes hold and to question the morality of Israel’s current military strategy:
“[We should] make a real effort to put ourselves in their shoes and go, ‘What would we do in that situation”
— @ComicDaveSmith in the Israel-Palestine @zerohedge debate with @LauraLoomer pic.twitter.com/WSuXJC8ziG
— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) November 16, 2023
Watch the FULL debate here:
Let us know who you thought was the winner.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 11/16/2023 – 13:45